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When creating a Workflow, a Workflow type must be selected (On-Demand, Event-Based or Scheduled). Depending on which Workflows type is selected, the Workflows has different run methods available. We provide these run methods to enable users to easily integrate with Blink from external systems.

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On-Demand and Scheduled Workflows

Run methods for On-Demand and Scheduled Workflows include:

Manual

Using the User Interface.

URL

The Workflow URL can be copied and used in Postman or another tool. For authentication one needs to add a header (BLINK-API-KEY).

Rest API

Invoking an HTTP request.
Note: The default run method for a Scheduled Workflows is the frequency set when creating the workflow.
In the Workflow Overview page, you can see all the Run Method options displayed.

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Manually Running a Workflow

1

Hover over the Workflow

Hover over the Workflow you want to run.
2

Click the Run button

A blue ‘Run’ button and a grey ‘Overview’ button will appear.
3

Enter input parameters if prompted

If required, you will be prompted to enter input parameters.
4

Run the Workflow

Click the “Run” button.

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URL

1

Hover over the Workflow

Hover over the Workflow you want to run.
2

Click the Overview button

A blue ‘Run’ button and a grey ‘Overview’ button will appear. Select the ‘Overview’ button and navigate to the run methods section of the overview.
3

Select the URL tab

Navigate to the URL tab.
4

Open the Workflow run URL in your browser

Copy and paste the URL into the browser address bar. A dialog box will open.
5

Enter input parameters

Enter the Workflow’s input parameters.
6

Run the Workflow from the browser

Click ‘Run Workflow’ to start the Workflows execution.

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REST API

Running a Workflow using a rest HTTP call. This methods can be used to run Workflows from other tools or from the command line using the cURL utility like in the following example. The example is using cURL, but any utility that can run an HTTP call can be used.
1

Hover over the Workflow

Hover over the Workflow you want to run.
2

Click the Overview button

A blue ‘Run’ button and a grey ‘Overview’ button will appear. Select the ‘Overview’ button and navigate to the run methods section of the overview.
3

Select the REST API tab

Navigate to the REST API tab.
4

Add your personal API key

Under the Add my personal API key section, choose a personal API Key from the dropdown menu. Your personal API key will automatically be added to the command.
5

Run the command in your CLI

Copy the command and paste it into your CLI and your workflow will run.
curl -XPOST -H 'BLINK-API-KEY: <api-key>' -H 'Content-Type: application/json'  https://app.blinkops.com/api/v1/workspace/aeb40442-ff12-4071-be15-b0709e59030e/playbooks/f6a68c7f-e585-4f8c-b8b2-f8a82192f4e/execute
To supply parameters called x and y to the Workflows execution add the following parameters:
-d '{"x":"y", "a":"b"}'
It is possible to execute the Workflows synchronously, and to wait for it to finish by adding run_sync parameter and optionally timeout parameter. For example:
-d '{"x":"y", "a":"b"}'
If the Workflow succeeds, the response will be the output parameters’ JSON. If not, it will result in an error.

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Activity Status

For more information about the execution queue, please navigate here

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Running Workflows Steps Asynchronously

When using one workflow within another, known as a subflow, you have the option to run it asynchronously. Running a subflow asynchronously can improve overall execution speed, as it allows the subflow to run independently of other steps in the main workflow.
For more information, refer to the Subflow section of the documentation.

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Running Event-based Workflows

Event-based Workflows provide an easy way to execute a workflow when an event happens on an external system. To achieve this, the external system must perform an HTTP POST to the custom webhook’s URL. Meanwhile,other Event-Based Workflows function by periodically polling the external system to check for new events.

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Custom Syslog

Custom Syslog offers real-time event triggering in the Blink system when a Syslog event occurs, by receiving events from an external Syslog client provider. Custom Syslog is a service which converts Syslog messages into webhooks and activates the webhook with the content of the Syslog message as the payload.
Custom Syslog performs the conversion of Syslog messages to webhooks in the following way:
  • Standard Syslog Message (before conversion): 
    <30>Jul 20 10:00:00 app-server-01 kernel: Out of memory: Kill process 12345 (app) score 678 and restart
  • Converted Syslog Message (after being processed by the Custom Syslog service): 
    {
  "timestamp": "Jul 20 10:00:00",
  "hostname": "app-server-01",
  "source": "kernel",
  "message": "Out of memory: Kill process 12345 (app) score 678 and restart"
}
1

Create an Event-based Workflow with Custom Webhook

When creating a new Workflow, choose Event-based > Custom Webhook. You will see the Webhook URL, which you will use in the docker run command later on.
2

Copy the Webhook URL into the Docker command

Copy the Webhook URL from the Event-Based Workflow you created and paste it in the following docker run command:
docker run -d --name blink-syslog -p 514:514/udp -p 514:514/tcp -e WEBHOOK_URL=<your_webhook_url> --restart unless-stopped blinkops/blink-syslog:1.0.224
3

Deploy the Syslog container and run the Docker command

Deploy the Syslog Docker container on any infrastructure of your choice and run the docker command specified above. This could be on-premises hardware, cloud-based virtual machines, or managed services like Amazon ECS or Google Kubernetes Engine.
4

Expose the Syslog container to clients

Ensure that the Syslog Docker container is exposed to the Syslog client. Make sure the necessary ports (UDP and TCP 514) are open to receive messages.
5

Configure your Syslog client to send messages

Configure your Syslog client to send messages to the IP address of the machine where the Syslog Docker container is deployed.
Once the Docker container is running and the Syslog client is configured, the Docker container will start receiving Syslog events. Each received Syslog event will trigger the associated workflow.

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Azure EventHub

Blink Azure EventHub offers real-time event triggering in the Blink system when an Azure EventHub event is ingested. Blink Azure EventHub is a service which converts Azure EventHub events into webhooks and activates the webhook with the content of the event data as the payload.
To enable real-time event triggering in the Blink system using Azure EventHub, follow these steps:
1

Create an Event-based Workflow with Custom Webhook

When creating a new workflow, choose Event-based > Custom Webhook. You will see the Webhook URL and API Key, which you will use in the docker run command later on.
2

Construct your full Webhook URL

Copy the Webhook URL and the API Key from the event-based automation you created. To create your full webhook URL, combine them as follows:
your_webhook_url = <Webhook URL>?apikey=<API Key>
3

Get your Azure EventHub connection string

To acquire your ‘EventHub Connection String’:
  • Log in to the Azure portal.
  • In the EventHub menu, select the EventHub you want to use.
  • Under ‘Settings’, click on ‘Shared access policies’.
  • Create a new SAS policy and select the ‘Listen’ permission.
  • Copy the ‘Connection string–primary key’ from the new SAS policy.
4

Get your Azure Blob connection string and blob name

To acquire your ‘Blob Connection String’ and ‘Blob Name’:
  • Log in to the Azure portal.
  • In the Storage Accounts menu, select the account you want to use.
  • Under ‘Security + Networking’, click on Access Keys’ and copy one of the ‘Connection Strings’.
  • Under ‘Data Storage’, click on ‘Containers’ and create a new container with the ‘Blob Name’ you want to use.
5

Paste your credentials into the Docker command

Paste your credentials into the following docker run command:
docker run -d --name blink-azure-eventhub -e "WEBHOOK_URL=<your_webhook_url>" -e "EVENTHUB_CONNECTION_STRING=<your_eventhub_connection_string>" -e "BLOB_CONNECTION_STRING=<your_blob_connection_string>" -e "BLOB_NAME=<your_blob_name>"  blinkops/blink-azure-eventhub:1.241205-15
6

Deploy the Docker container and run the command

Deploy the Azure EventHub Docker container on any infrastructure of your choice and run the docker command above. This could be on-premises hardware, cloud-based virtual machines, or managed container services like Amazon ECS or Google Kubernetes Engine.
7

Ensure HTTPS connectivity for the container

Ensure that your Azure EventHub container has access to make and receive HTTPS requests.
1

Docker Container Starts Listening

Once the Docker container is running, the Docker container will start listening for Azure EventHub events. Each received event will trigger the associated automation.
An example of the data that the automation will trigger on:
 {
   "Body": "eyJEYXRhIjogIk15IERhdGEifQ==",
   "ContentType": "application/json",
   "CorrelationID": "23:16:08",
   "MessageID": "b43d80eb-deea-4cab-bcd5-e78e62fe4fef",
   "Properties": {
     "MyNumber": 123,
     "MyProperty": "MyValue"
   }
 }

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Polling: Events Occurring on an External Service Provider

There are no manual run methods available from the Blink platform for this type of Workflow. Instead, the Workflow is automatically triggered when the polling mechanism detects new events from the external system.
1

Create a polling-based Workflow

When creating a new Workflow, select ‘Event-based’ and then choose a relevant event from the list.
2

View the polling trigger details

The run methods** section will display the polling frequency or condition defined by the event trigger.