Building Blocks

Building Blocks can be used to export or import items in an environment, for backup purposes and to transport objects from one Ivanti Automation environment to another.

  • Teams, Modules, Projects and Run Books are exported to a regular XML file (*.XML).
  • Resources are exported to an encrypted XML file (*.XBB).
  • Variables and related categories that are used in Modules, Projects and Run Books are also exported to the XML file. When importing a Building Block, the used Variables and related categories are retained.
  • Building Blocks of Modules, Projects, Run Books and Resources include versioning information. When importing a Building Block in an environment, these version numbers and version comments will be included.
    • Objects that do not contain version numbers and version comments will be referred to as version number "1.0.0" and version comment "Initial version" in the Building Block.

AES-256 encryption

  • In an AES-256 encrypted Ivanti Automation environment, you can only create Building Blocks using AES-256 encryption. You are able to import legacy Building Blocks in an AES-256 encrypted environment.
  • Although Ivanti does not recommend it, it is possible to import Building Blocks created from an AES-256 encrypted Datastore into Ivanti Automation version 10 or lower. However, the following needs to be considered: since the legacy Datastore is not aware of AES-256 encryption, you will need to re-enter all password values used in Modules, Projects and Run Books.
  • When creating an AES-256 encrypted Building Block, you need to generate a passkey. It is not possible to fill in a password manually or leave the Building Block password blank. The generated passkey can be copied to clipboard for future reference. When importing the Building Block, this passkey needs to be provided again.
  • In these Building Blocks, all credentials and passwords (and parameters or Variables based on this type) used in Modules, Projects, Run Books and Resources are encrypted and decrypted with AES-256. You can identify the used encryption method by the m=aes256 label in the XML file.

Access control

  • You can only create Building Blocks of items that relate to nodes and sections in the Console to which your administrative role(s) grant at least Read access. For example, a user who is denied access to the Resources node cannot create Building Blocks that include Resources.
  • You can only import those Building Block items into the related nodes to which your administrative role(s) grant Modify access, including all (sub)folders. For example, if a Building Block contains Resources and Modules, but you only have Modify access to the Resources node, it will only be possible to import Resources: the Modules in the Building Block will be disabled in the Import Building Block window.
  • If you only have Read access to the Console, it will not be possible to import Building Blocks and the import Building Block functionality will be disabled in the Console.

Creating Building Blocks

Importing Building Blocks