Virtual machine pre-built topics for ITSM Virtual Agent

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 4 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Virtual machine pre-built topics for ITSM Virtual Agent

    The ITSM Virtual Agent includes pre-built conversation flows to manage virtual machines (VMs) efficiently. Users can perform key VM operations such as starting, stopping, terminating, describing, and provisioning VMs through guided dialogues. These topics support AWS and Azure cloud providers and utilize different integration methods depending on the required functionality.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Two categories of VM management topics:
      • Cloud Access Interface (CAI) topics: Allow users with the snmanagevmva.caivmuser role to start, stop, terminate, and describe VMs provisioned on AWS and Azure without needing Cloud Provisioning and Governance.
      • Cloud Provisioning and Governance (CPG) integrated topics: Require the com.snc.cloud.mgmt plugin to provision, manage, and describe VMs using the governance framework.
    • Configurable variables: Administrators can adjust maxrecords to control the number of VM records fetched per API call and carouselentriesthreshold to determine how many records display before switching to a reference choice list for user selection.
    • Role-based access: Users must have the snmanagevmva.caivmuser role to perform CAI-related VM actions.
    • Incident creation: If AWS returns an error during operations, the Virtual Agent prompts users to create an incident for further investigation.
    • Provisioning flow: Users can request new VMs via Virtual Agent, which provides links or catalog listings from the Cloud User Portal for submitting provisioning requests, leveraging Cloud Provisioning and Governance.

    Key Outcomes

    • Empowers end users to manage their assigned virtual machines directly through conversational interfaces, improving efficiency and reducing manual effort.
    • Supports seamless interaction with AWS and Azure environments, including VM lifecycle operations without requiring deep technical knowledge.
    • Ensures controlled and secure VM management by enforcing role-based permissions and integrating incident management for error handling.
    • Offers flexible integration options, allowing organizations to use simple CAI topics for basic VM control or full Cloud Provisioning and Governance for advanced VM lifecycle management and provisioning.
    • Provides a user-friendly experience by displaying VM details, actionable notifications on operation success or failure, and guided next steps such as login instructions or incident creation.

    ITSM Virtual Agent helps you manage a virtual machine (VM) using conversation flows. With this conversation flow, you can start, stop, terminate, describe, and provision a virtual machine.

    There are two categories of virtual machine management topics:
    Topics that support AWS and Azure providers
    Topics that are labeled CAI use the Cloud Access Interface to take action on virtual machines provisioned on AWS and Azure. The user must have the sn_managevm_va.cai_vm_user role to perform these actions. The Virtual Agent admin can set the script variable max_records (default value=100) to denote the number of records to be fetched from Azure in a single REST API call. The script variable carousel_entries_threshold denotes the number of records the carousel input shows. If the number of records are greater than the specified value, a reference choice list is shown to the user.
    Cloud Provisioning and Governance is not required to describe, start, stop, and terminate a VM for AWS and Azure. You can perform the following actions with the Cloud Access Interface (CAI) topics for Virtual Agent:
    • Start a Virtual Machine CAI
    • Stop a Virtual Machine CAI
    • Terminate a Virtual Machine CAI
    • Describe a Virtual Machine CAI
    Topics that use the Cloud Provisioning and Governance plugin (com.snc.cloud.mgmt)
    The following topics integrate with Cloud Provisioning and Governance (required):
    • Manage Virtual Machine
    • Provision Virtual Machine

    Describe Virtual Machine CAI

    Users can see details of any assigned VM instance associated with the credential set up by the system administrator.​ If AWS encounters an error, Virtual Agent asks the user to create an incident for further investigation.

    Returned details include Provider, Region, and Instance ID. The user can specify which VM to describe, or Virtual Agent can provide a list of available VM instances and the user can select the desired VM to describe.

    Requirement: User must have the sn_managevm_va.cai_vm_user role to perform these actions.

    This topic uses the following topic blocks:
    • Virtual Machine Operation AWS
    • Virtual Machine Operation Azure

    Describe Virtual Machine CAI topic.

    Manage Virtual Machine

    This topic calls the appropriate topic block (describe, start, stop, and terminate) to complete an end-to-end fulfillment of the request.

    This topic calls the appropriate topic block (describe, start, stop, and terminate) to complete an end-to-end fulfillment of the request. This pre-built topic is read-only. Duplicate the topic in the Virtual Machine Management for Virtual Agent scope and activate it to use the conversation flow.

    Requirement: Cloud Provisioning and Governance plugin (com.snc.cloud.mgmt)

    This topic uses the following topic blocks:
    • Describe Virtual Machine
    • Start Virtual Machine
    • Stop Virtual Machine
    • Terminate Virtual Machine

    Provision Virtual Machine

    Users can request a new VM in a Virtual Agent conversation. Virtual Agent sends a link to the Cloud User Portal to submit the catalog item.

    Requirement: Cloud Provisioning and Governance plugin (com.snc.cloud.mgmt)

    Basic flow:
    1. User requests a virtual machine.
    2. Virtual Agent does one of the following:
      • Provides a link to the Cloud User Portal, along with instructions for requesting a VM from the catalog.
      • Displays items in the VM catalog that are assigned to the user.

        If the user can't find the desired catalog item, the user can either go directly to the Cloud User Portal or end the conversation.

    Provision Virtual Machine topic.

    Start Virtual Machine CAI

    Users can start any assigned virtual machine instance associated with their credentials set up by the system administrator.​ If AWS encounters an error, Virtual Agent asks the user to create an incident for further investigation.

    Requirement: User must have the sn_managevm_va.cai_vm_user role to perform these actions.

    This topic uses the following topic blocks:
    • Virtual Machine Operation AWS
    • Virtual Machine Operation Azure
    Basic flow:
    1. User specifies which VM to start, or Virtual Agent provides a list of available VM instances for the user to choose from.
    2. Virtual Agent sends the user an actionable notification when the requested VM starts.
    3. User can choose to see details, request additional instructions to log in to the virtual machine, or skip the notification.

      Virtual Agent also notifies the user if the operation was unsuccessful.

    Start Virtual Machine CAI topic.

    Stop Virtual Machine CAI

    Users can stop any assigned VM instance associated with the credentials set up by the system administrator.​ If AWS encounters an error, Virtual Agent asks the user to create an incident for further investigation.

    Requirement: User must have the sn_managevm_va.cai_vm_user role to perform these actions.

    This topic uses the following topic blocks:
    • Virtual Machine Operation AWS
    • Virtual Machine Operation Azure
    Basic flow:
    1. User specifies which VM to stop, or Virtual Agent provides a list of available VM instances for the user to choose from.
    2. Virtual Agent sends the user an actionable notification when the requested VM stops.
    3. User can choose to see details, request additional instructions to log in to the virtual machine, or skip the notification.

      Virtual Agent also notifies the user if the operation was unsuccessful.

    Stop Virtual Machine CAI topic.

    Terminate Virtual Machine CAI

    Users can terminate any assigned virtual machine instance associated with the credential set up by the system administrator.​ Because termination is a permanent action, Virtual Agent displays the VM details and asks for confirmation.​ If AWS encounters an error, Virtual Agent asks the user to create an incident for further investigation.

    Requirement: User must have the sn_managevm_va.cai_vm_user role to perform these actions.

    This topic uses the following topic blocks:
    • Virtual Machine Operation AWS
    • Virtual Machine Operation Azure

    Terminate Virtual Machine CAI topic.