Targeting by computer group

For each step in your Automation Plan, you can target computer groups as well as individual computers. You can do this by saving computer groups as default targets using the Default Settings feature when creating the Automation Plan, or when running or scheduling your Automation Plan from the Take Automation Plan Action screen. When you target a computer group for a step, the list of computers that belong to the computer group is determined at the time that the step is executed. Therefore, if group membership changes between the time you define the step in the Automation Plan and when the Automation Plan is executed, the system determines which computers belong to the computer group that you have targeted at the time that the step action is executed.

To specify a target computer group for a step, you must select an existing computer group and add it to the Selected Targets list. You cannot manually enter the name of a computer group using The computers specified in the list of names below. You can target by computer group either when creating your Automation Plan using the Default Settings feature, or when running the Automation Plan from the Take Automation Plan Action screen.

If you save a computer group as a default target when creating your Automation Plan and if that computer group does not exist when the Automation Plan is being executed, the computer group is no longer included in the Selected Targets list in the Take Automation Plan Action screen. Because the computer group does not exist, it is not a valid target. Only valid targets are included in the Selected Targets list.

It is possible that a computer group that you targeted might have been removed from the system by the time the step is executed. This is particularly likely if you have scheduled Automation Plans. In this case, the step is executed only against computers that can be resolved. If no computers can be resolved, for example, if there is only one computer group targeted for the step and the computer group is either removed or has no members at step execution time, then the step action is not executed and the Automation Plan action is stopped.

For the list of targets for each step, there is a single reference for any one target computer. If a computer is a member of more than one computer group and if more than one of those computer groups are targeted, the system includes the computer once in the step action target list.