An action is a script, binary, or executable that does something to a host. You categorize your actions as either Pre or Post.
Pre-actions are run before the tasks of a job begins. If a pre-action finishes successfully, it returns a value of zero and the next actions of the job are carried out. If a pre-action returns a non-zero value, the job stops.
Post-actions are run after the other tasks of a job are completed. If a post-action returns a non-zero value, the job ends with a failure status.
For example, you want to install the Apache server. A prerequisite of Apache installation is that /home be unmounted. After it is installed, you want to run other applications that need /home to be mounted.
You create a pre-action unmount_home.sh:
#!/bin/sh -f # unmount home from remote server umount server01:/home if [ $?==0]; then exit 0; fi
You create a post-action mount_home.sh:
#!/bin/sh -f # mount home to remote server mount server01:/home if [ $?==0]; then exit 0; fi
You upload these actions. Then you create a profile to install Apache, and add these actions to the job basket. The job does the following:
runs any probes that you put in
unmounts /home
installs Apache
mounts /home