As a CA Process Automation administrator, you build out the Domain by installing Orchestrators and agents. You partition the Domain by creating environments, where each environment has its own Library. You configure touchpoints for content designers to specify as targets for operators. Click the Configuration tab and open the Configuration Browser palette to display these entities.
The following rules govern cardinality between pairs of entities that can have an association:
- Domain, Environments, Orchestrators, Agents
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Orchestrators and agents are software components that are physically installed on hosts. The Domain and environments are logical entities.
- A CA Process Automation system has one, and only one, Domain.
- When a new CA Process Automation system is installed, the Domain has a Default Environment. The Default Environment contains the Domain Orchestrator.
- The Domain can have many environments. You can add environments to separate libraries. For example, you can dedicate the Default Environment to designing and testing new content. Then, you can create a separate production environment. Each environment must have at least one Orchestrator.
Note: Typically, an administrator exports content from the Default Environment and then imports it to the production environment. You can also transfer content across Domains.
- An environment can have one or more Orchestrators. Each Orchestrator is installed on a separate host.
Note: An Orchestrator can be standard or clustered. A clustered Orchestrator has multiple nodes. Each node is installed on a separate host. An Orchestrator appears as a single entity in the Configuration Browser, whether it is clustered or standard (nonclustered).
- The Domain can have as many agents as necessary. Agents are installed on hosts and are independent of environments.
- Environments and Touchpoints
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Environments and touchpoints are logical entities.
- Each touchpoint belongs to one environment.
- Each environment can have many touchpoints.
- For each touchpoint used in a release version of a process in the design environment, there must be an identically named touchpoint in the production environment. This enables the nonmodifiable process to run in the production environment.
- Orchestrators and Touchpoints
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After you install an Orchestrator, you create a touchpoint that associates the Orchestrator with a specific environment. Operators in a process target the touchpoint that is associated with the Orchestrator. The touchpoint association determines the environment in which the process runs.
- The Domain Orchestrator has a predefined touchpoint.
- Each Orchestrator is associated with only one touchpoint.
- A touchpoint that is associated with an Orchestrator cannot be associated with an agent. Touchpoint-to-Orchestrator and touchpoint-to-agent associations are mutually exclusive.
- An operator runs on the Orchestrator touchpoint that runs the process if the operator target is blank.
- Agents and Touchpoints
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To make an agent available as a target for an operator, associate the agent with a touchpoint, a proxy touchpoint, or a host group.
- You can associate an agent with one or more touchpoints.
- When you associate an agent with one touchpoint, operators can run directly on a host with an installed agent by targeting the touchpoint.
- When you associate an agent with multiple touchpoints on the same host, the touchpoints typically target different components on the host. For example, you could define one touchpoint to access a database and another to access a third-party product.
- Each operator in a process runs on a touchpoint, which can be associated with an operator, an agent, or multiple agents. If operator-1 runs on Touchpoint-ABC in the design environment, it runs on a different touchpoint named Touchpoint-ABC in the production environment. Each member of this touchpoint pair is associated with a different environment. Each member of the touchpoint pair can be associated with the same agent or with different agents. This type of association provides the mechanism for defining processes that you can migrate across environments without changing the target host information.
- You can associate a touchpoint with one or more agents. You can assign the same priority to multiple agents, or you can assign a different priority to each agent.
- When the agents have different priorities, operators run on the agent with the highest priority. If the highest priority agent is unavailable, operators run on an available agent with a lower priority. This design ensures that a target host is available.
- When multiple agents with the same priority are associated with a touchpoint, operators run on a randomly selected agent. This design promotes load balancing.
- A touchpoint that is associated with an Orchestrator cannot be associated with an agent.
- Agents, Proxy Touchpoints, and Remote Hosts
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A remote host refers to a host that is an operator target when installing an agent is not practical.
- You can associate an agent with one or more proxy touchpoints.
- A proxy touchpoint is a touchpoint that is configured with an SSH connection to one remote host. The remote host typically has no agent.
- When you associate an agent with a proxy touchpoint, operators in a process can target the proxy touchpoint to run on the remote host.
Note: An Orchestrator can distribute workload to a remote host without going through an agent by using the Run SSH Script operator in a process. The content designer defines configuration parameters (in the operator) that specify the host address and credentials to use to SSH into the remote host and run a script. See the Content Designer Reference for details about the Run SSH Script Operator.
- Agents, Host Groups, and Remote Hosts
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A host group is a group of remote hosts. You typically configure host groups with a common host name pattern or with an IPv4 subnet expressed in the CIDR notation.
- You can associate an agent with one or more host groups.
- You can associate a host group with one or more agents.
- When an agent is associated with a host group, you configure the SSH connections manually. Configure an SSH connection from the agent host to each remote host that the host group references.
- When an agent is associated with a host group, operators in a process can run on a referenced remote host. Operators target the IP address or FQDN of the remote host.
Note: For non-interactive SSH communication with a remote host, use a proxy touchpoint or a host group. For interactive SSH communication with a remote host, use the Run SSH Script operator. See the Content Designer Reference for details about the Run SSH Script Operator.
