Resource Properties tab

At Library > Resources, you can manage Resources. Resources can contain any file that is needed to perform a certain Task, such as MSI files, setup files, patches, hotfixes, etc. When configuring Resources, use the Properties tab to view the properties of the selected file. This tab is only available for Resources that are stored in the Datastore or that are located on a file share.

Configuration

If a Resource is Stored in the Ivanti Automation Datastore, the special action Parse environment variables, parameters and functions is available.

Certain file types can contain environment variables, parameters and functions. If these files are Resources stored in the Datastore, Ivanti Automation can replace these items with the actual values that apply on the Agent when the Task that uses the file is executed. This option is available for any file type.

For example, an application may need an INI file to be located on all computers running the application. Each instance of the INI file must contain the actual computer name of the computer on which it is located. To set this up:

  1. Use the environment variable %computername% in the INI file.
  2. Store the file as a Resource in the Datastore, with the option to parse environment variables, parameters and functions selected.
  3. Use the Task Perform File Operations to place the INI file on the relevant Agents.

When the Task is run, each Agent that receives the file replaces the environment variable with the value that applies on that Agent - in this case, the computer name. As a result, each Agent holds an INI file that refers to its computer name.

For certain files, it can be desirable that only Ivanti Automation environment variables are replaced with actual values, not Microsoft Windows environment variables. Select Skip parsing of environment variables to prevent this situation.

  • In order to parse parameters in the contents of a file, those parameters must also be available as Ivanti Automation parameters on the Module, Project or Run Book that uses the Resource. For example, if the file contains the parameter $[USERNAME], then a Module parameter of the same name must exist.
  • The option Parse variables, parameters and functions in contents of this file will replace these items with actual values, when the Resource is used in a Job. When a Resource is downloaded, parameters and functions can be parsed. When the Job is executed on a machine running Unix, Linux or Mac OS X, environment variables will not be replaced. As a results, the option Skip parsing of environment variables also does not work on these machines.