Extending HCL Workload Automation capabilities
You can extend HCL Workload Automation capabilities by integrating with IBM and third-party products, such as IBM Sterling Connect:Direct or MS SQL. This integration allows you to easily start HCL Workload Automation jobs on external products, while using HCL Workload Automation scheduling capabilities. HCL Workload Automation also provides jobs that perform everyday operations, such as file transfer and web services, and utility jobs that automate and simplify operations such as the centralized agent update.
The integration consists of a number of job types with advanced options available with the Dynamic Workload Console and with the composer command.
You can also create custom plug-ins to implement your own job types with advanced options for applications that are not supported by HCL Workload Automation. Before you create a new plug-in, check if the plug-in that you are looking for already exists on Automation Hub. If you do not find what you need, you can access the Workload Automation, Lutist Development Kit through the Automation Hub.
Standard HCL Workload Automation jobs are generic executable files, programs, or commands. You can define jobs to perform specific tasks, such as invoking OSLC providers, performing file transfers, and running commands on remote systems where no HCL Workload Automation component is installed, using the job types with advanced options. You can easily define these jobs without having specific skills on the applications on which the job runs.
For more information about defining standard HCL Workload Automation jobs, see Job definition.
Once job definitions have been submitted into the production plan, you still have the opportunity to make one-off changes to the definitions before they run, or after they have run. You can update the definition of a job that has already run and then rerun it. The job definition in the database remains unchanged.
In addition to these job plug-ins, you can find new integrations on Automation Hub that extend your automation processes.
The following job types with advanced options are available:
| Category | Job Type | Description |
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| Native | Windows™ | Jobs that run on Windows™ operating systems. |
| UNIX™ | Jobs that run on UNIX™ platforms. Jobs that run on limited fault-tolerant agent for IBM i. | |
| Other | Jobs that run on extended agents. Refer to Scheduling Applications with HCL Workload Automation for information about customized task types for supported vendor acquired applications. | |
| z/OS | Jobs that run the specified command in the JCL tab on a JCL system. | |
| Remote Command | Jobs that run on remote computers where no HCL Workload Automation agent installation is installed. Note: On
z/OS® systems, you create it by using the Dynamic Workload Console. |
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| IBM i | Jobs that run a command on IBM i systems. | |
| Executable | Jobs that run scripts or commands with advanced options, such as redirecting standard input and standard output to a file. | |
| ERP | SAP Job on XA Workstations | Jobs that run on an SAP extended agent. This includes the following types of
SAP R/3 job definitions:
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| SAP Job on Dynamic Workstations | Jobs that run on dynamic agent workstations, pools, dynamic pools, and
z-centric agents. The following types of SAP job definition are available:
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| Access Method | Jobs that extend HCL Workload Automation scheduling functions to other systems and
applications by using access methods. The access methods communicate with the external system to
launch the job and return the status of the job. The following access methods are available:
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| SAP PI Channel | Jobs that run SAP Process Integration (PI) Channel jobs to control communication channels between the Process Integrator and a backend SAP R/3 system. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence (BI) | Jobs that enable automation, monitor and control of workflows containing SAP BusinessObjects BI reports (Crystal and Webi reports). For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Oracle E-Business Suite | Jobs that enable automation, monitor and control of workflows containing Oracle E-Business Suite jobs. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Cloud | Workload Broker | Jobs that manage the lifecycle of a dynamic workload broker job. |
| Kubernetes | Jobs that enable submission and monitor of jobs that run on a Kubernetes cluster. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| IBM SoftLayer | Jobs that enable automation, monitor and control of IBM SoftLayer activities. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Apache Spark | Jobs that enable automation, monitor and control of Apache Spark activities and data. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Provisioning | Jobs that span physical computers, virtual machines, and private and public cloud environments creating an on-demand environment. This job type integrates with IBM SmartCloud Provisioning. | |
| UrbanCode Deploy | Jobs that create, run and get information about applications and application processes defined on an UrbanCode Deploy server. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Amazon EC2 | Jobs that enable automation, monitor and control of Amazon EC2 activities. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Microsoft Azure | Jobs that enable automation, monitor and control of Microsoft Azure activities. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Salesforce | Jobs that enable automation, monitor and control of Salesforce activities and data. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| File Transfer and Coordination | Shadow Distributed | Jobs that run locally and map other jobs running in remote HCL Workload Automation distributed environments. |
| Shadow z/OS® | Jobs that run locally and map other jobs running in remote HCL Workload Automation for Z environment. | |
| File Transfer | Jobs that run programs to transfer files to and from a server reachable using FTP, SSH, or other protocols. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| IBM Sterling Connect:Direct | Jobs that run IBM Sterling Connect:Direct programs to transfer one or more files from a primary node to a secondary node. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Hadoop Distributed File System | Jobs that defines, schedules, monitors, and manages file transfer programs between your workstation and the Hadoop Distributed File System server. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| OSLC | OSLC Automation | Jobs that invoke any OSLC provider that is implementing the OSLC Automation Specification. Automation resources define automation plans, automation requests, and automation results of the software development, test, and deployment lifecycle. |
| OSLC Provisioning | Jobs that invoke any OSLC provider, such as HCL Workload Automation and IBM SmartCloud Orchestrator, that is implementing the OSLC Provisioning Specification. Provisioning resources define provisioning plans, provisioning requests, and provisioning results of the software development, test, and deployment lifecycle. | |
| Database and Integrations | Database | Jobs that perform queries, SQL statements, and jobs on a number of databases, including custom databases. You can also create and run stored procedures on DB2, Oracle, Microsoft™ SQL Server, Netezza, Hive, BigSql, and Azure SQL databases. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. |
| IBM Cloudant | Jobs that run actions on the IBM Cloudant database, on its documents, or attachments. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| MS SQL | Jobs that run a Microsoft™ SQL Server job. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| IBM WebSphere MQ | Jobs that enable communications among applications that run in different
distributed environment at different times. Communications are based on the following message
exchange patterns:
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| Web Services | Jobs that run a web service. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| RESTful Web Services | Jobs that send requests via HTTP methods (PUT, POST, GET, HEAD, DELETE) to Web resources. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Java™ | Jobs that run a Java™ class. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| J2EE | Jobs that allow Java™ applications in the same network to send and receive messages to and from a JMS destination. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| JSR 352 Java Batch | Jobs that run Java Batch applications that implement the JSR 352 standard programming specification. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| MQTT | Jobs that run publish and subscribe actions on topics managed by an MQTT message broker. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| EJB | Jobs that run EJB JAR files. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Business Analytics | InfoSphere DataStage | Jobs that run IBM InfoSphere DataStage jobs. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. |
| IBM Cognos Reports | Jobs that run IBM Cognos reports, interactive reports, queries, and report views. For more information, see Scheduling Applications with HCL Workload Automation. | |
| Informatica PowerCenter | Jobs that schedule Informatica PowerCenter workflows and track their outcome from the Dynamic Workload Console and from the HCL Workload Automation command line. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Hadoop Map Reduce | Jobs that define, schedule, monitor, and manage the execution of Hadoop Map Reduce .jar files. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
| Apache Oozie | Jobs that define, schedule, monitor, and manage the execution of Apache Oozie workflows and of the
following Hadoop jobs:
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| IBM BigInsights | Jobs that define, schedule, monitor, and manage IBM BigInsights Workbook data sheets or Applications. For more information, see Scheduling Applications with HCL Workload Automation. | |
| Automation Utilities Jobs that facilitate specific HCL Workload Automation operations |
Job Stream Submission | Jobs that submit a job stream for processing. For more information, see HCL Workload Automation User's Guide and Reference. |
| Job Duration Predictor | Jobs that predict the duration of the jobs with the advanced analytics flag. For more information, see HCL Workload Automation User's Guide and Reference | |
| Variable Table | Jobs that add or modify a variable in a specified variable table. The Variable Table jobs enable variable passing from one job to another, in the same job stream or in a different job stream. For more information, see HCL Workload Automation User's Guide and Reference. | |
| Job Management | Jobs that run actions on a job in a job stream. For more information, see HCL Workload Automation User's Guide and Reference. | |
| Centralized agent update | Jobs that schedule the centralized update of multiple agent instances. For more information, see HCL Workload Automation Planning and Installation. | |
| Other | Ansible | Jobs that schedule and monitor the Ansible automated processes. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. |
| Chef | Jobs that schedule and monitor the cookbooks and recipes configured on a Chef server. For further details, see the related information on Automation Hub. | |
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Note: For detailed information about software requirements, see HCL Workload Automation Detailed System Requirements.
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You can run job types with advanced options only on workstations with dynamic capabilities that is dynamic agents, pools, and dynamic pools. These workstation types use the dynamic functions built into HCL Workload Automation and provide the possibility at run time to dynamically associate your submitted workload (or part of it) to the best available resources. For more information about dynamic scheduling, see Managing dynamic scheduling capabilities in your environment.