Transport objects from one environment to another

With Building Blocks, you can store all settings related to objects in an environment's Library (Modules, Projects, Run Books and/or Resources) as external XML and/or XBB files. Because you can import these settings again in a Ivanti Automation environment at a later stage, this makes it possible to back up these objects and to transport them from one environment to another. See also Import Building Blocks unattended

Create Building Block

To create Building Blocks in the Management Portal:

  1. Click the Building Blocks icon from the navigation bar.
  2. Select Create Building Block and follow the steps in the wizard.
    • Select the Module(s), Project(s) and Run Book(s) you want to include in your Building Block.
    • Select whether or not you want to include the Resources referred to in the selected items.
      • With resources: the referenced Resources are saved as a separate XBB file. Both XML and XBB file will be available in a ZIP file.
      • Without resources: the referenced Resources are not saved. Upon import, it is possible to add new Resources for the relevant items. This is useful when distributing Building Blocks to other Ivanti Automation environments: because it minimizes large Building Blocks, it becomes easier to distribute them. In addition, it makes it possible to comply to security policies of organizations in which the use of external Resources is not allowed.
    • Generate a passkey to secure the Building Block (for AES-256 encrypted Building Blocks only) and Copy to clipboard. This password needs to be specified again when importing this Building Block.
  3. After downloading, you will have the possibility to open and/or save the file.
    • In certain browser versions (e.g. Safari and Opera), the created Building Block will be available in the Downloads section of the browser.

Import Building Block

To import Building Blocks in the Management Portal:

  1. Click the Building Blocks icon from the navigation bar.
  2. Select Import Building Block and follow the steps in the wizard.
    • Import Building Blocks created by the Console or Management Portal.
    • Browse for the XML or ZIP file, including the XML and XBB file, on your computer.
    • Specify the required Building Block passkey (for AES-256 encrypted Building Blocks only).
  3. The receiving environment may contain previous versions of the imported items. These are identified by their Global Unique Identifier (GUID). Select whether to:
    • Create new objects (Modules, Projects, Run Books and Resources) with new GUIDs if items with the same name at the same level already exist in the receiving environment. This may create duplicate items.
    • Overwrite existing objects in your environment with the original GUIDs of your Building Block. If related items don't exist in your environment, they are created with the data of the Building Block.
  4. In the last step, you can also:
    • Place (optionally) the items in a new root folder, using new GUIDs (for example, folder\subfolder). This makes it easier to retrieve any item that you imported. This is useful when importing the Building Block in DTAP environments or at customer sites.
    • Select (optionally) whether or not to ask for parameter input. If selected not to ask, the parameter input settings are overruled when importing Building Blocks. This is useful when importing large Building Blocks that contain many parameters, and whose default values do not need to be changed: selecting the option drastically reduces the required configuration.
  5. Click OK to finish.

You may want to change the default values of Module, Project and Run Book parameters when importing items into another Ivanti Automation environment. For example, the receiving environment may need a different default domain, or different credentials. To set Ivanti Automation to prompt for new default parameter values when importing a Building Block, set the Parameter input settings to When importing Building Block. This allows you to create generic Modules, Projects and Run Books that can be customized when you import them as a Building Block.