Building a rule
Use the rule builder to choose a trigger and the customers a rule covers, then save it and switch it on.
The rule builder reads like a sentence: When something happens, For these customers, If these conditions hold, Then do this, in order. The panel on the right holds the rule's switches and owner, the rule written out In words, its recent runs and its history.
Making a rule
- Go to Settings > Automation rules and click New rule, then choose From scratch or a template.
- Under When, choose the Trigger and fill in its settings (below).
- Under For, choose which customers the rule covers.
- Under If, add any conditions. See Conditions and placeholders.
- Under Then, add the actions in the order they should happen. See Actions.
- In the right-hand panel, give the rule a Description, check the Owner, and decide whether it starts On and whether it is a Dry run.
- Click Test to try it against a recent real event. See Testing, dry run and versions.
- Click Save the rule (Save on a rule that already exists).
Mistakes are shown next to the field as you go, and the rule cannot be saved until they are fixed: for example a condition on a field the trigger cannot supply, or a placeholder the trigger does not offer.
Triggers
Click the trigger to open the picker. Triggers are grouped by what they watch.
| Trigger | Settings |
|---|---|
| An alert is raised | Also when an open alert is seen again. Off, it fires only when an alert first opens |
| An alert clears | Whether it counts when the source cleared it, someone resolved it, or either |
| A ticket is created | Where from: email, the portal, a phone call, the app, an alert, a quote or automation. Empty means every ticket |
| A ticket is updated | Which changes: status, priority, assignee, queue or type changes, a customer reply, an internal note, an SLA warning or an SLA breach. Empty means any of them |
| A metric crosses a value | The Metric, a comparison and value, and For at least a number of minutes (0 fires on the first value past it) |
| A device is enrolled | None. Fires when the agent is installed on a new device |
| A device goes offline | Offline for a number of minutes, counting from when nothing was heard from the agent or monitoring |
| On a schedule | How often (every few minutes, hourly, daily, weekly or monthly), the time, the days, the Time zone and Run once for each customer |
| A chat starts, A chat ends | Shown when chat is in use |
| A visit is booked, A visit is completed | Shown when scheduling is in use |
| A checklist is completed | Optionally only chosen checklists from the library |
| Time passes on an open ticket | Needs a condition on a ticket time, such as how long the customer has waited. Runs once per ticket until something happens on it |
| A webhook is received | Another system calls the rule's own address. See Webhook triggers and inbound alerts |
| A quote is accepted, A quote is declined | |
| A contract is ending | A number of days before the end, checked once a day per contract |
| An invoice becomes overdue | When an invoice passes its due date unpaid |
| A customer is created, A contact is created, A contact is marked as a leaver | A leaver is a contact switched off because they left the customer |
| A poor satisfaction rating arrives | A bad rating, or okay and bad if you choose |
| A software install finishes | Software installs on a device, or fails to |
| Software is installed or removed | The device's inventory shows software installed, removed or updated |
| Hardware or system changes | Memory, processor, disks or network adapters, serial or model, the operating system version, the domain or the local administrators changed |
| A script run finished | A script run ends on a device: succeeded, failed, timed out or cancelled, with its exit code |
| A backup job fails, A patch job fails | Only when there is no open alert about it already |
| A project is created, A project changes status, A project's health changes, A project task is completed, A project task is overdue, A milestone is reached, A customer signs off a milestone, A change request is approved or declined | Shown when projects are in use |
| A purchase order is received, A purchase order is overdue | Goods arrive in part or in full, or an order passes its expected date |
| A Microsoft 365 user is created, A Microsoft 365 user is disabled | |
| A timesheet is overdue, A leave request is made | |
| A change request is decided | Approved, rejected or either |
| A form is submitted, A form answer is approved | Which forms, Which kinds and Service requests from. See Form triggers and the ready-made starter and leaver rules |
| A lead is created, An enquiry comes in, A deal changes stage, A deal is won or lost, A deal is going cold, A sales task is overdue | MSP edition. The lead sources, where an enquiry came from, the stages, won or lost, the days without activity, or the days overdue. See Form triggers and the ready-made starter and leaver rules |
| Mail arrives at a sign-up address | Once per message, after Tenvara has recognised it. Narrow it with conditions on the kind of mail and the vendor. See Sign-up mail: codes, links and renewals |
| A phone call comes in, A call is answered, A call is missed | Shown with the Telephony and connectivity module. They fire when a phone system sends live call events. See TV screens, doorbells and phone calls |
A few details worth knowing:
- Metric triggers use the same logic as monitoring: they fire once when a device stays past the value for the time you set, and are ready again once it recovers. The metrics include CPU, load, memory, swap, disk used and free, disk reads and writes, network in and out, errors, processes, uptime and temperature.
- Offline only counts spells that begin after the rule was made, and fires once each time a device goes offline.
- Enrolment only counts devices enrolled after the rule exists, so switching the rule on does not replay every device you already have.
- SLA warning fires before a response or resolution target is missed, once per ticket and target. How long before is part of each SLA policy, along with who is told.
- Also for devices in maintenance, on triggers that concern a device, lets the rule act on a device in maintenance mode. Off, the rule leaves such a device alone.
Scheduled rules
A scheduled rule runs at the times you choose: every few minutes or hours, daily, weekly on chosen days, monthly, quarterly or yearly, and on the first or last weekday of the month. With Monthly, day 31 means the last day of the month. A schedule can skip public holidays. The panel shows the Next run.
By default a scheduled rule runs once, for nobody in particular, which suits a daily post to a Slack channel. Turn on Run once for each customer to run it once for every active customer the rule covers, with that customer's details available to its actions, for example to open a monthly check ticket for each customer.
Choosing customers
Under For, choose:
- All customers: every customer, including new ones.
- Chosen customers: only the customers you add.
- Customers matching: customers with a given Customer status (for example Active) and Contract (Either, With a contract or Without). New customers join automatically when they match.
- Chosen sites or Chosen device groups: for device rules, only devices at those sites or in those groups.
A customer's, site's or group's Policies tab shows the rules that reach it and can take it into a rule or leave it out.
A scheduled rule without Run once for each customer has no customer, so this step is not used.
The rule panel
- On: the rule runs when its trigger fires. Off, it does nothing and records nothing.
- Dry run: the rule logs what it would do, filled in with real values, and does nothing. See Testing, dry run and versions.
- Owner: whose permissions the rule uses, checked every time it runs. Replies to customers go out in the owner's name.
- Description: what the rule is for, for the next person.
- In words: the whole rule written out as a sentence, which is the quickest way to check it says what you meant.
- Recent runs: the latest runs, with All opening the rule's run log.
- History: every version of the rule, with Compare with current and Restore this version. See Testing, dry run and versions.
- Tell on failure: who besides the owner hears when the rule fails or is stopped, and whether it is Critical. A critical rule can page on-call when it fails and comes first in the failing rules on Home. See The run log.
The ... menu next to Save has Its run log, Duplicate and Delete. To export a rule, tick it in the rules list and press Export; see Templates, import and export.
Tip: Duplicate a rule that works and change the copy, rather than editing a busy rule in place. Leave the copy in dry run until you are happy.
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