{"id":5980,"date":"2014-06-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/blog\/azure-automation-runbook-management"},"modified":"2025-09-12T10:37:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T17:37:38","slug":"azure-automation-runbook-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azure.microsoft.com\/en-us\/blog\/azure-automation-runbook-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Started With Azure Automation \u2013 Runbook Management"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Azure Automation is a new service in Azure that allows you to automate your Azure management tasks and to orchestrate actions across external systems from right within Azure. It is built on PowerShell Workflow, so you can take advantage of the language\u2019s many features. If you have not yet signed up for Azure Automation, sign up for our free preview here<\/a>. You can also learn more about Azure Automation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post, you will learn some of the fundamentals for runbook management inside of Azure Automation. I\u2019ll walk through the steps to enable you to quickly create an Automation account, create or import a runbook, test and publish the runbook, manage logging for that runbook, and setup a schedule for starting the runbook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing to do when you start using Azure Automation is create an Automation account. Automation accounts are like Azure Storage accounts in that they serve as a container. In Automation they are a container for all your runbook, runbook executions (jobs), and the assets that your runbooks depend on. Once Automation goes to GA, you will be able to select which region you would like to use for your Automation account. This will enable you to create affinity with the regions that your other services are located in to maximize efficiency. While Automation remains a Preview service, there will only be one region available, East US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To create an account, select Automation > Create<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You will then be prompted to add a name for the account, select a subscription (if you have multiple subscriptions available) and select a region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating Runbooks in Automation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that you have an Automation account, you are ready to start creating runbooks to automate your cloud management. There are two different ways that you can create runbooks in Automation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Quick Create a new runbook<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Import an existing runbook (PowerShell Workflow in a .ps1 file)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Creating a new Runbook with Quick Create<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    To create an empty runbook, use Quick Create. Quick Create can be accessed through +NEW -> App Services -> Runbook -> Quick Create.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \"graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Here you can provide a Name<\/b> for the Runbook, a Description,<\/b> and select the Automation<\/b> Account<\/b> that you would like to create the runbook in. Keep in mind that the name of the runbook cannot be changed, but you will be able to change the description later from the runbook Configuration<\/strong> tab. It\u2019s generally a good practice to follow the PowerShell verb-noun naming convention and to use only approved PowerShell verbs<\/a>. In this example, I\u2019ll use \u201cSet-RunbookConfiguration\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \"graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    When ready, click Create<\/b> and the new runbook will be created and displayed in the Runbooks<\/b> list. Consider this \u201cRunbooks\u201d view your own private library of runbooks you can use to automate various processes. You can perform basic operations on your runbooks from this view including starting, importing, exporting or deleting. I will cover some of these later in the post.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \"graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The Runbook is now created in the Runbooks view and is listed as New. At this point you are now able to select the Runbook, then select Author to begin authoring the Runbook.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \"graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    You are now able to start authoring your runbook using standard PowerShell Workflow syntax. Note that PowerShell Workflows are different from standard PowerShell scripts. You can read more about PowerShell Workflows here<\/a>. If you run into any questions around creating runbooks, check out our forum<\/a> to see if anyone else has had the same problem, or to post a new question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Importing a Runbook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    If you already have a (.PS1) PowerShell Workflow, or runbook that you wrote or discovered earlier, importing it into your Runbooks Library is easy. To follow along with this, you can download a runbook from the Script Center<\/a> and import it to your system. Later on, if you don\u2019t need this runbook, you can delete this runbook to keep your runbooks list clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The \u201cImport\u201d function is located in the command bar of the runbooks tab:<\/p>\n\n\n

    \"graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Sorting and Filtering Runbooks and Jobs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Now that you have a runbook or two in your system, let\u2019s take a look at what you can do in the Runbooks<\/b> view (shown above). This view shows us specific details about the jobs that have been started. Users have the ability to sort by Name, Last Job Start, Last Job Status, Jobs, Authoring or Tags \u2013 let\u2019s talk about some of these in more detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n