Automation: Graphical authoring improvements June 2015

We are continually improving the Graphical Authoring feature in Azure Automation to make authoring easier. Here are features just released:

• Activity parameter configuration functionality was combined into fewer blades to make the actions more efficient.
• In activity parameter configuration, new data sources are available: variable, credential, connection, and certificate assets.  This eliminates the need to use extra activities in the runbook to get these values.

• In the test pane, input parameter values are saved so that you can reuse them between tests.
• In the test pane, the test job status and any exceptions are shown in a separate window from the runbook output.
• When you define the input parameters for a runbook, you have two more types to select from: Int64 and Decimal.

• The activities and links in the canvas can be deleted by using a right-click context menu.

Other new improvements to Graphical Authoring currently being worked on include:

• Runbook input parameters as a data source for activity parameter configuration
• Export and import graphical runbooks to allow you to store and share them
• In tests, get information on the input and output for each activity to help debugging
• Configure an activity to checkpoint the workflow when the activity finishes
• Choose to run tests on a hybrid worker for faster testing
• Easily create link conditions with a UX helper
• Graphical runbook samples in the automation gallery

We would love to hear your feedback and suggestions. Please tell us what you think in Azure User Voice. We’re listening!