Invoking a Neurons Bot

11 min

Ivanti Neurons Bots provide powerful hyper-automation capabilities. Neurons Bots capability within Ivanti ITSM provides an integration between ITSM and Ivanti Neurons, and enables you to invoke a Neurons Bot from ITSM.

You invoke a Neurons Bot by running a Neurons Bot Quick Action from a record. The target type set on the Quick Action determines what the Neurons Bot runs against, and which record must be linked before the Quick Action can run. To Configure Neurons Bot Quick Action refer to Neurons Bot Quick Action.

Target Type	You can invoke from	Required identifier
Device	A Business Object that has relationship to a CI record.	A single linked CI record with an Agent ID is mandatory.
Person	A record that is linked to an Employee record, or an Employee record directly.	A single linked Employee record with a Discovery ID is mandatory.
Universal	Any business object record.	No pre-conditions required.

Neurons Bots can be invoked from a business object that has a relationship (link) to, or can be invoked from, a CI business object record. Also note that, if the business object from which a Neurons Bot is invoked has a relationship with more than one CI record, an error is displayed.

Target types require the Context for Neurons Bots feature flag (EnableContextForNeuronsBots). Without this feature flag, a Neurons Bot can be invoked only from a business object that is linked to a CI record.

Contact the Ivanti Cloud Operations team and request that the EnableContextForNeuronsBots feature flag is enabled.

Supported OOTB (Out Of The Box) business objects you can invoke a Neurons Bot from if linked to a CI record are:

Incident.

Change.

Problem.

Knowledge.

Employee

Target Type

The target type determines what the Neurons Bot runs against, and which record must be linked before the Quick Action can run. You must select a target type before you can select a bot.

Target Type	You can invoke from	Required identifier
Device	A Business Object that has relationship to a CI record or CI directly.	A single linked CI record with an Agent ID is mandatory.
People/Person	A record that is linked to an Employee record, or an Employee record directly	A single linked Employee record with a Discovery ID is mandatory.
Universal	Any business object record	No pre-conditions required

When you configure the Neurons Bot Quick Action, you select the target type first, and then select the Neurons Bot. The Bot list displays only the Neurons Bots that match the target type you selected.

A Neurons Bot Quick Action with the target type set to Universal has no requirements, and you can invoke it from any business object.

For the Device and People/Person target types, record must be linked:

For the Device target type, the record must be linked to a single record with an Agent ID or an error is displayed.

For the People/Person target type, the record must be linked to a single record with a Discovery ID or an error is displayed.

A Neurons Bot can be invoked from a record that is linked to the target record, or directly against the target record. For information, see Neurons Bot Quick Action.

In this topic:

Invoke a Neurons Bot

Invoke a Neurons Bot from a Workflow.

Check a Neurons Bot Invocation and Invocation Results.

Troubleshooting a Neurons Bot Invocation.

For more information, refer to Neurons Bots.

For information on enabling a Neurons Bot you can invoke from within ITSM, refer to Neurons Bots Integration for ITSM.

Invoke a Neurons Bot

Open the business object record that is linked to the CI record you want to invoke a Neurons Bot upon.

The business object selected to invoke the Neurons Bot must only be linked to a single CI record; if it is linked to more than one CI record, an error is displayed.

For the Device target type, open a record that is linked to a single CI record with an Agent ID. For the People/Person target type, open a record that is linked to a single Employee record, or open the Employee record directly. Only the Employee business object has the Discovery ID field. For the Universal target type, open any business object record.

Click More, and select the required Neurons Bot Quick Action. If the Neurons Bot Quick Action requires user input, a dialog box opens.

Enter the required input into the dialog box, and click OK. Skip this step if no input is required. The Neurons Bot is invoked and performs the action.

When the Neurons Bot invokes successfully, a Neurons Bots Invocation confirmation is displayed.

Invoke a Neurons Bot from a Workflow

You can invoke a Neurons Bot from a workflow by configuring it to trigger a Neurons Bot Quick Action. For example, you may want to trigger a Neurons Bot when a record field is updated, or certain field conditions are met.

To configure a workflow with a Neurons Bot:

Create a new workflow, or edit an existing workflow:

To create a new workflow, refer to Creating a Workflow.

To edit an existing workflow, refer to Modifying a Workflow.

Configure the workflow to trigger the Neurons Bot (refer to Configuring a Trigger).

Example:

In this example, a workflow (Run WorkflowAction) is created to trigger a Neurons Bot Quick Action named WorkflowAction. The workflow is configured to trigger the Quick Action when the Source field in an Incident record linked to a CI is updated.

Workflow Properties Block configured to run the WorkflowAction Neurons Bot Quick Action

Screenshot of the workflow designer showing the workflow properties block

Workflow configured to trigger the Neurons Bot when the Source field of a linked Incident record is updated.

Check a Neurons Bot Invocation and Invocation Results

Once a Neurons Bot is invoked, you can check the invocation status and results from the related CI business object record.

The Neurons Bot Invocations workspace displays all Neurons Bot invocations for the tenant, from every business object and every target type. Use this workspace to review invocations for a business object that does not have the Neurons Bot Invocations child panel.

Access the Bot Results Workspace

From the Ivanti Neurons Home page, select More.

In the Search bar, enter Ivanti Neurons Bot Results, and then select the matching result.

The Ivanti Neurons Bot Results workspace opens, displaying a list of all executed Neurons bots.

Ivanti Neurons Bot Results Workspace Details

Bot Name: Name of the bot that was invoked.

Target Type: The target type of the Neurons Bot Quick Action that was invoked.

Completion State: Current state of the invocation.

Invoked On: Date and time the bot was invoked.

Started On: Date and time the bot started running and processing inputs.

Finished On: Date and time the bot finished running.

Failure Code: Contains a failure code if the bot fails to run or complete.

Failure Reason: Contains information on the reason the bot failed to run or complete.

Source Object: The business object that the Neurons Bot was invoked from.

The Target Type and Source Object columns are displayed only in the workspace. The Neurons Bot Invocations tab on a record does not display them.

View Log Messages for a Bot

To view the log messages for a specific bot execution:

In the workspace, select a Bot from the list.

A details panel opens below for the selected entry.

Review the log messages and input parameters in the details panel.

If no log messages are available for a selected bot, the details panel appears empty.

The Neurons Bot Invocations child panel on a record display only the invocations for that record. To identify the target type or the originating business object of an invocation, use the Neurons Bot Invocations workspace.

For a business object that is supported out of the box, or that has the Neurons Bot Invocations child panel configured, you can review invocations on the record's Neurons Bot Invocations tab. For a business object that does not have the child panel, use the Neurons Bot Invocations workspace to review its invocations.

The child panel requires a direct relationship between your business object and the Neurons Bot Invocation object. The internal reference name and the link field must use the exact values given in the following steps; the relationship does not work if you use different values.

Navigate to Settings, and then, under Build, select Business Objects.

Open the business object you want to add the child panel to.

Select the Relationships tab, and then select Add New Relationship.

From the list of objects, select NeuronsBotInvocation.

On the Relationship's Details page, set Internal Reference Name to “ByInvocation”

In the NeuronsBotInvocation pane, select InvocationLink from the dropdown.

Click Save.

Now, the business object will be available under the Neurons Bot Invocation object.

Add the Neurons Bot Invocations Child Panel

On the business object, select the Layouts tab, and then open the layout you want to edit.

Under Views in this layout, select the Form view under the View Name.

Under Child Panels, select Add Child Panel. Enter name under the display name for the child panel.

Use this name so that the child panel matches the panel on business objects that support it out of the box. You can enter a different name if required.

In the Object pane, select Edit.

The FormView Child Panel Relationship Editor dialog box opens.

Select Use only direct relationship to child object(s) radio button.

From the Direct Relationship list, select the Neurons Bot Invocation relationship you created from the dropdown.

Click Save.

Edit the Toolbar as per your requirement.

In the List column, select NeuronsBotInvocations.

Select the checkbox for Show Count in Title to display the number of invocations in the tab title.

Click Save.

Verify the Child Panel Configuration

After you save, compare the child panel row against the following values.

Column	Value
Display Name	Neurons Bot Invocations, or the name you entered
Object	NeuronsBotInvocation
Relationship(s)	<business object>
Display	List
List	NeuronsBotInvocations
Form(s)	NeuronsBotInvocation
Placement	Tab

Assign Workspace to Business Object

Perform the following steps only when adding a workspace to a new business object.

In the Configuration Console, go to Configure > Users and Permissions > Roles and Permissions.

In the Roles and Permissions list, select Admin.

Click on the Top Level Tabs tab.

Click ADD NEW TAB, select Object workspace from the list.

Add Name in the name field.

Under Object Workspace's Configuration:

select Object from the dropdown menu.

Select Layout from the dropdown menu.

Click on ADD THIS TAB.

Click SAVE.

A Neurons Bot that uses the Device target type produces one or more results for each invocation. You check the results from the CI business object record that the bot ran against. The results are viewed in the Ivanti Neurons Bot Result dialog box, or in the Ivanti Neurons Bot Results workspace.

Device Name: The name of the asset to which the messages apply (only displayed in the Ivanti Neurons Bot Results workspace).

Agent Identifier: ID of the agent running on the CI device

Result State: State of invocation, which can be:

In Progress

Complete

Failed

Timed Out

Skipped

Unknown

Log Messages: Displays messages generated for the run. Messages are displayed as they are generated.

Sent: Date and time the message was sent.

Message: Contents of the message. Use the vertical scroll bar to view larger message contents. Use the Next and Previous buttons to move between pages.

Bot Name: Name of the bot that produced the result.

Completion State: Current state of invocation, which can be:

Pending

In Progress

Success

Failed

Timed Out

Skipped

Unknown

Invoked On: Date/time the bot was invoked.

Started On: Date/time the bot started running and processing inputs.

Finished On: Date/time the bot finished running.

Inputs: Contains a log of input parameter IDs (in JSON) against the values sent when invoking the bot.

Administrators can also open the Ivanti Neurons Bot Results workspace from the Workspaces list. Administrators can enable other roles to open this workspace. If you require access, contact your Administrator.

Person Target Type

A Neurons Bot that uses the Person target type is invoked against an Employee record. Check the invocation on the Neurons Bot Invocations tab of the Employee record, or in the Neurons Bot Invocations workspace, as described above. The Neurons Bot Invocations tab is available on the Employee record because the Employee business object is supported out of the box.

Universal Target Type

A Neurons Bot that uses the Universal target type can be invoked from any business object. Check the invocation on the Neurons Bot Invocations tab of the record that the bot was invoked from, or in the Neurons Bot Invocations workspace, as described above. If the business object does not have the Neurons Bot Invocations child panel, use the Neurons Bot Invocations workspace, or add the child panel to the business object. Refer to Adding Neurons Bot Invocations to a Business Object.

If you experience an error and a Neurons Bot fails to run when invoked, check the table below for possible reasons for the error, and possible solutions.

Issue	Possible Reason(s)	Solution
When run, the following Quick Action error is displayed: CI record with Neurons device information must be linked prior to running this Quick Action.	No CI record is linked to the current record, or is not being run directly against a CI record.	Link a CI record that was imported from Neurons to the current record.
When run, the following Quick Action error is displayed: CI record requires Neurons device information prior to running this Quick Action	The Quick Action is being run directly against a CI record, but does not have the Agent ID field populated.	Ensure the Neurons Bots device synchronization has been configured to import the Agent ID, and it has been run successfully. Run directly against a CI record with an Agent ID.
When run, the following Quick Action error is displayed: Unable to resolve relationship from <Business Object A> to <Business Object B> via reference name.	The Quick Action is run against an unsupported business object. Business objects that are supported OOTB are: Incident. Change. Problem. Knowledge.	Only run a Neurons Bot against a supported business object.
When run, the following Quick Action error is displayed: Multiple Agent IDs linked. Cannot determine desired agent to target.	More than one CI record is linked to the current record.	Ensure that there is only a single CI record with a Neurons Agent ID linked to the current record.
When run, the following Quick Action error is displayed: The method or operation is not implemented.	The Action Service feature flag has not been enabled.	Request Ivanti Cloud Operations to enable the Action Service feature flag. Refer to More Information.
You created a Neurons Bot Quick Action in the Graphical Action Designer, but it is not shown when attempting to run it.	The EnableActionService global constant has not been enabled.	Set the EnabledActionService global constant to True. Refer to Working with Global Constants.
When run, the following Quick Action error is displayed: Employee record with Discovery ID must be linked prior to running this quick action.	The Quick Action uses the Person target type, and no Employee record with a Discovery ID is linked to the current record.	Link an Employee record that has the Discovery ID field populated to the current record.
When run, the following Quick Action error is displayed: Employee record requires a Discovery ID prior to running this quick action.	The Quick Action uses the Person target type and is run against an Employee record, but the Discovery ID field is not populated.	Enter a value in the Discovery ID field on the Employee record and then save the record.
When run, an error is displayed indicating that more than one Employee record is linked.	The Quick Action uses the Person target type, and more than one Employee record is linked to the current record.	Ensure that only a single Employee record with a Discovery ID is linked to the current record.
You cannot select a target type when you configure a Neurons Bot Quick Action in the Graphical Action Designer.	The Context for Neurons Bots feature flag has not been enabled.	Request Ivanti Cloud Operations to enable the Context for Neurons Bots feature flag.

Invoking a Neurons Bot

Target Type

Invoke a Neurons Bot

Invoke a Neurons Bot from a Workflow

Check a Neurons Bot Invocation and Invocation Results

To Check Invocation Status

Viewing All Invocations in Ivanti Neurons Bot Results workspace in ITSM

Adding Neurons Bot Invocations to a Business Object

Add the Neurons Bot Invocations Child Panel

Verify the Child Panel Configuration

Assign Workspace to Business Object

To Check Invocation Results

Device Type

Person Target Type

Universal Target Type

Troubleshooting a Neurons Bot Invocation