Attach file to call from folder (folder watcher?)

David_Johnsen

Sorry if this has been asked before, I couldn't find anything on here (and apologies it's not strictly Cireson related, so tell me to go away if I shouldn't post it here!).

Anyway...

We'd like to be able to save a file in to a folder on a server, that is then picked up (by powershell or orchestrator?) and attached to a SR or IR in SCSM/Cireson.

We'd like to be able to call the file IR123456.pdf and the script know that that file should be attached to IR123456.  

(Also for multiples we'd like to be able to call the file IR123456_2.pdf ​or something and it still know, but that isn't critical)

I guess the orchestrator job would need to poll the folder, to search for files, but would there be a way to put a shortcut in there for the team to double click when they need it (saving system resources).

I'm sure @Geoff_Ross has told me there is a way to achieve something like this previously, but I we hadn't pursued it until now.

Brett_Moffett

here is a quick example:


This just monitors the folder listed for the files shown in the Filters.
Then we can run some PowerShell code to make the magic happen of first enumerating the files (Working out what Work Item number it is for) then finding the Work Item and attaching the file to it.

Finally, move the file to another location so it does not trigger any new workflows.

Hope this helps

David_Johnsen

Hi,

Just an update for reference, if anyone else is lurking.

I've spent the quiet Christmas period working on some runbooks and a bit of powershell to get the Auto Attach process running. Hopefully it won't become redundant in SM 2016!

I'm very new to runbooks and powershell (about 3 months), so apologies that it's probably pretty crude!

There's 2 runbooks, one that monitors the folder and gets the file info and reads the filename for the SR reference.
The second takes this info and attaches the file to the SR.


The powershell in the "Format File Name to SRID" activity is below:

$FileName = "{File name from "Get File Status"}"

If ($FileName.Substring(7,1) -match "[0-9]") {$SRID = $FileName.Remove(8)} Else {$SRID = $FileName.Remove(7)}

This process relies on 1st character after the SR ref in filename not being a number.

The IF statement is to ensure that if a call is older than SR99 999, then it only reads the 1st 7 digits, if newer than this it reads 8 digits.

It'll need amending when we pass SR999 999 (millionth call), but hopefully that'll be around 2025!

Brett_Moffett

Hi @David_Johnsen
This forum is for anyone in the community to ask questions on anything System Center related, so no one is going to tell you to go away.

You are absolutely right that this is possible to do.
It could be done via Orchestrator or via PowerShell or a combination there of.

If you wish to do this via a RunBook, then you could do it using a monitoring activity that could monitor a folder, or your could do it via a scheduled job that could run every x minutes\hours etc.
In addition, you could create a task within the SCSM console that could call the Runbook from within Orchestrator to do a "Manual Sync" of the folder if you wanted to as well.

It all depends on what you want to achieve with the solution and how complex it needs to be as to the length a detail of the solution.

I'm happy to chat with you in more detail here about it if you like.

Regards,
@Brett_Moffett

David_Johnsen

OK that's great Thanks. 

We literally just want to be able to save files to a folder which then automatically attaches the files to a (closed) IR/SR.

Brett_Moffett

Do you want to use Orchestrator or PowerShell?

David_Johnsen

I'm not very experienced in either unfortunately, I have mostly used Orchestrator in the past.
I'd be welcome to take your recommendation on it!

Brett_Moffett

here is a quick example:


This just monitors the folder listed for the files shown in the Filters.
Then we can run some PowerShell code to make the magic happen of first enumerating the files (Working out what Work Item number it is for) then finding the Work Item and attaching the file to it.

Finally, move the file to another location so it does not trigger any new workflows.

Hope this helps

David_Johnsen

Brett_Moffett said:

here is a quick example:

This just monitors the folder listed for the files shown in the Filters.
Then we can run some PowerShell code to make the magic happen of first enumerating the files (Working out what Work Item number it is for) then finding the Work Item and attaching the file to it.

Finally, move the file to another location so it does not trigger any new workflows.

Hope this helps

OK that's great, are you aware of any resources available for the powershell scripting with Service Manager? Or is best just to use google/technet?

Brett_Moffett

Your friendly Cireson Territory manager would be able to put you in touch with either Cireson Consulting or one of our partners who could assist you.

Let me know if you would like me to get you in touch with our UK staff.

David_Johnsen

OK great, I'll get back to you as we have an alternative option of using the Outlook Console.
But I've got a call open regarding that not working when Skype is installed. So I'll see if I get anywhere with a fix for that, and then take it from there.

Thanks.

David_Johnsen

Hi,

Just an update for reference, if anyone else is lurking.

I've spent the quiet Christmas period working on some runbooks and a bit of powershell to get the Auto Attach process running. Hopefully it won't become redundant in SM 2016!

I'm very new to runbooks and powershell (about 3 months), so apologies that it's probably pretty crude!

There's 2 runbooks, one that monitors the folder and gets the file info and reads the filename for the SR reference.
The second takes this info and attaches the file to the SR.


The powershell in the "Format File Name to SRID" activity is below:

$FileName = "{File name from "Get File Status"}"

If ($FileName.Substring(7,1) -match "[0-9]") {$SRID = $FileName.Remove(8)} Else {$SRID = $FileName.Remove(7)}

This process relies on 1st character after the SR ref in filename not being a number.

The IF statement is to ensure that if a call is older than SR99 999, then it only reads the 1st 7 digits, if newer than this it reads 8 digits.

It'll need amending when we pass SR999 999 (millionth call), but hopefully that'll be around 2025!

Brett_Moffett

Splitting your runbooks up like this is a great way to write one runbook and use it multiple times throughout your environment. Now any time you need to save an attachment from a SR you can just call the second runbook.

Nice work.

Geoff_Ross

Yes, very nice work, well done.