Automate BizTalk Tasks Effortlessly Using Predefined Templates

Automated Task is an excellent feature in BizTalk360 that helps users to automate the operations in BizTalk environment at scheduled time. Say user can take action on Applications, Artifacts, Host Instances, NT services, App Pools and even run specific script on the scheduled time.

Why do we bring the Automated Task Pre-Defined Templates?

To ease the creation of Automated, BizTalk360 offers predefined templates that streamline the process, helping you manage and execute workflows efficiently without extensive manual configuration. These templates act as a quick-start guide, providing pre-configured settings and structures for common use cases.

Let see how to create automated task using the templates in this blog post.

Available Predefined Templates

BizTalk360’s predefined templates target specific operational needs with instant workflow steps. Users can choose the pre-defined prompts to configure the workflow steps. Here’s a quick overview of each template:

• Stops chosen application artifacts during maintenance windows. This prevents false transactions and keeps the system stable.

• Simplifies artifact reactivation post-maintenance, allowing you to restore normal operations swiftly.

• Automatically restarts artifacts. This helps manage unhandled or pending files. It boosts the reliability of file processing.

• Cleans up disk and database space by removing temporary or unnecessary files. This helps to optimize system performance.

• You can roll back specific custom workflows to an earlier state. This gives you a safety net for complex tasks.

Manage Artifacts During Maintenance

You can set up server maintenance for many reasons. This could involve applying security patches, updating the BizTalk server, or deploying BizTalk apps. During maintenance, you may need to bring down several BizTalk components and make sure they are up and running again. This helps keep business transactions smooth. Admins usually manually stop and start Send Ports, Receive Locations, Orchestrations, and Host Instances.

Say, during your monthly server maintenance, you may have to turn off BizTalk application artifacts and then turn them back on. Disable all the artifacts at 5 PM and re-enable at 10 PM. Instead of manually managing this every month, you can automate the process using predefined templates.

You can achieve this by:

• 1. Using the “Shutdown Artifacts for Maintenance” template to stop all artifacts at 5 PM.
• 2. Restart all artifacts at 10 PM using the “Resume Artifacts After Maintenance” template.

Shutdown Artifacts for Maintenance

It stops dependent artifacts to avoid false transactions. The quick action steps include:

• Stop Artifacts: Stop all send ports and disable all receive locations for the selected application.
• Stop Host Instances: Stop all host instances mapped to the application.
• Turn off tracking: Disable tracking for ports, schemas, and pipelines.
• Disable Conflicting Alarms: Prevent false notifications during maintenance.
• Disable Event Log Collection: Avoid data collection when the server is down.
• Backup BizTalk Database: Run a predefined script to back up the database, which is recommended before deployment.

Resume Artifacts After Maintenance

This template helps you reactivate artifacts after maintenance. The predefined steps include:

• Start Artifacts: Restart Send Ports and enable Receive Locations.
• Start Host Instances: Bring all host instances back online.
• Turn on tracking: Resume tracking for ports, schemas, and pipelines.
• Enable Conflicting Alarms: Reactivate alarms that were disabled during maintenance.
• Enable Event Log Collection: Resume monitoring and data collection.
• Backup BizTalk Database: Run a script to back up the database post-maintenance.

Restart artifacts to handle unprocessed files

This template automatically handles scenarios where files become stuck due to disruptions. The system tracks file locations. If any files are unprocessed for too long, it restarts the relevant artifacts. Integration of automated actions with alarms reduces the manual intervention.

Imagine a scenario where a logistics company uses BizTalk to manage supply chain.

If a purchase order for Supplier A is in the receive location for 45 minutes because of a network issue, the system will automatically detect that it has exceeded the allowed time. It then restarts the receive location and send ports for Supplier A’s orders. This action reconnects BizTalk and let the system quickly process the file. This way, the order is handled well, and no manual help is needed.

Predefined Steps:

• Restart Receive Location: Automatically restart receive locations when files hit the age limit.
• Restart Send Ports: Restart relevant send ports when the file age exceeds the set limit.

Clean Disks & Database Space

Disk / Database Clean up template has handy scripts. They help you keep your disk and database space clean for better performance.

BizTalk can process thousands of transactions daily. Over time, the Message Box spool fills with unprocessed messages. The tracking database can grow too large. Also, disk space may run low because of temporary and extra files. These conditions cause slower processing times. They also raise the risk of failed transactions and may lead to downtime.

The “Clean Disks & Database Space” template helps the company automate important maintenance tasks. Which includes the following actions.

• Message Box Spool Cleanup: A predefined script is available to monitor the MessageBox spool size. When the spool size reaches its maximum record limit, the cleanup jobs—MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb and MessageBox_Parts_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb—will automatically execute.
• Tracking DTA Purge & Archive: Predefined scripts help monitor the tracking database size. When the size exceeds the defined limit, the script automatically purges the tracking DTA table.
• Disk Cleanup: Over time, old log files and temporary data can accumulate on the server, consuming disk space. Disk clean up script helps to clean up the Recycle Bin and specified folders. Users can define the folder paths and the retention period (number of days to retain records) through the script variables. For example, to remove files older than 30 days in the temp folder, users can provide the temp folder location and set the days threshold to 30 in the script.

Reverse Workflow Action

This feature allows you to undo custom workflow actions. It’s perfect for situations like disaster recovery drills. For Instance, all the artifacts point It automatically reverses before executed actions, effectively stopping components that were activated.

For example, during a disaster recovery drill, you might activate a secondary BizTalk environment. Once completed, this template helps you safely deactivate the environment.

Conclusion

BizTalk360 has predefined templates that automate routine tasks. These templates help you manage application artifacts. They also help with unprocessed files and clean-up tasks. To keep your BizTalk environment running smoothly and efficiently. These automated workflows saves time, reduces manual errors, and enhances system reliability.