Set Up Remediation Actions Execution to Resolve Device Issues

In order to reduce the number of IT tickets and improve user experience, Aternity developed the Remediation feature. Remediation allows IT Service Desk personnel to identify issues that can cause problems and remotely fix them before they will be escalated. Running remediation actions remotely resolves performance issues on end user devices by one-click reducing the problem-solving time and the risk of human errors. Remediation actions can be triggered automatically based on Service Desk Alerts, manually by IT Service Desk personnel or from external systems using REST API. For example, identify that a user has low disk space and trigger the Empty Recycle Bin action before end user is out of disk space, or stop Windows service that should not run on the device.

This functionality applies to Windows end-user devices with Agent 12 or later and to Mac devices with Agent for Mac 3.7 or later. Install the Agent for End User Devices locally on a desktop or laptop. Install the Aternity Agent for Mac on an Apple Mac laptop or desktop.

The workflow involves writing scripts, adding them to Aternity and then executing remediation actions manually (from the Troubleshoot Device Events dashboard or from the Remediation screen) or automatically (triggered by service desk alerts).

Initiate Remediation on End User Devices

Create as many various remediation actions as you need by adding scripts to Aternity. For example, automatically clean disk to free some space or stop Agent before system update, clear cache or disable a problematic add-on to improve the web pages load time.

Use Remediation screen to view, configure, and add remediation actions to Aternity to provide early and easy one-click fixes for performance issues, improve user experience and decrease the volume of IT support cases.

Before you begin

  • Create and validate script(s) and then upload them to Aternity in order to run remediation actions on end user devices. Learn how to create scripts.

  • Self-sign scripts for testing purposes. Learn how to sign scripts.

  • To set up remediation actions, you need administrator privileges.

  • To run remediation actions without being an administrator, you need Execute Remediation Actions privilege (learn more).

  • To run a remediation action on multiple devices at once (mass healing), you need Execute Remediation Action on Multiple Devices privilege (learn more).

  • Use the repository for templates and examples to get the prepared scripts. To use the repository, you are required to log in to Aternity Customer Success site. Learn more.

Procedure

  1. Step 1 Open a browser and sign in to Aternity.
  2. Step 2 Hover over the panel, click the gear icon , and select Remediation.
    Open the Remediation screen to add new remedial actions to Aternity
    Field Description
    Action Name

    Displays the name of the remediation action that you entered while adding new actions.

    The lock icon next to the name indicates it is Aternity out-of-the-box and not editable action.
    Description

    Displays the description of the remediation action that you entered while adding new actions.
    Requires Confirmation

    Displays Yes or No depending on whether you enabled or disabled sending a request for end user confirmation (before executing remediation).
    Attached To Displays the name of SDA alert in case the remediation action attached to an SDA and will be automatically executed upon this SDA alert.
    Last Modified Displays date and time when the action was last edited.
    Context Menu
    Select the row's context menu on the right > to show the available operations. The menu options may vary depending on user permissions:

    • Select Edit to change some details and settings for the selected action. This option appears only for custom actions, it is not available for out-of-the-box action.

    • Select Disable to disable the action. The action will appear grayed out and a user will not be able to run it. On respective dashboards (like IT Service Desk) the disabled action will not show. To enable it back, select the action and then select Enable.

    • Select Delete to delete the action.

    • Select Run to execute the action on a single device.

    • Select Run on Multiple Devices to execute the action on several devices. This option appears for actions that were selected for mass healing. (This option is a new capability and we will be glad to get your feedback.)
  3. Step 3 To add a new action to Aternity, do the following:
    1. a Select Add Action.
    2. b In the Step 1 screen, fill in all necessary fields.
      Field Description
      Enable Action

      Toggle to enable or disable the action.
      Display Name

      Enter the name for the action.
      Description

      Clearly describe to end users what this action will do to their device.
      Action Expiration

      The time period (in hours) after which the action cannot be carried out any more.
      Action Script

      Select Upload to add a script to Aternity. This script will run an action that should remedy the end user device upon an SDA alert or manually by an IT person.
      Script Timeout

      The time during which the script can run on a device. Script execution will be terminated once the specified timeout reached.
      Script Privileges

      Defines whether to run the script with the current user (the default option) or with system account.
      IT Service Desk

      Toggle the checkbox to include or exclude this action from appearing in the IT Service Desk dashboard. For example, exclude the action to prevent service desk technicians from executing it.
      Mass Healing

      Select the checkbox to allow triggering the action on multiple devices.

      Users who run remediation will see the option to run action(s) on multiple devices if the mass healing was checked during configuration.
      Fill in the fields
    3. c Select Upload and then choose the script file to add to Aternity.
      Tip

      Use the Remediation templates repository to find the shared samples of various scripts. To use the repository, you are required to log in to Aternity Customer Success site.

    4. d Click Next.
    5. e In the Step 2 screen, toggle to enable or disable adding an input parameter to the script.
      An optional usage of input parameter enhances remediation action capabilities. It raises the number of possible remediation actions while minimizing the amount of required scripts. You can use a variable as your input parameter to perform a single action in multiple cases. For example, you can now create a script for restarting services and define that the name of the service is your input parameter (variable). So that you can modify the name of the service every time you want to restart some service. Another example, if you have a remediation action that uninstalls malicious apps, you might have the name of an application as a variable.
      Define the parameter and use one script for multiple actions
    6. f Fill in all necessary fields.
      Field Description
      Parameter Name

      Enter the name for this parameter. For example, directory or service name, depending on your action.
      Mandatory

      Once you define this parameter as mandatory, the current action cannot be automatically triggered by Service Desk Alerts.
      Description

      Enter the parameter description. For example, the directory from which to clear files.
      Sample

      Enter the parameter. For example, d://.
    7. g Click Next.
    8. h In the Step 3 screen, toggle to enable or disable sending a request message for end user confirmation.
    9. i (Only if you enable sending the request for end user confirmation) In the Step 3 screen, fill in all necessary fields.
      Field Description
      Message From

      Enter the company name who sends this message. Usually, the IT service provider sends this kind of messages to request from users to run a remedial action on their devices.
      End user confirmation message

      Toggle to enable or disable sending a request message for end user confirmation.

      Enable it in case you want end user to confirm the action. Disable it in case you want to silently initiate a remediation action on end user devices.

      When disabled, all other fields become grayed out.
      Header

      Enter the title of the message. For example: Your device is running out of disk space.

      The maximum number of characters allowed for the header text is 100.
      Question

      Enter the question itself. For example, Do you want to empty a recycle bin to clean some space?

      The maximum number of characters allowed for the message text is 300.
      Accept Button Decide and enter what will be written on the acceptance button. For example, OK or Yes.
      Decline Button Decide and enter what will be written on the declination button. For example, No or Cancel.
      Preview

      It is possible to view how the message will be seen by end users before sending it out.
      Fill in all necessary fields
    10. j (Optional) After filling all necessary fields, click Preview.

    Make sure the message is clear to end users and prompts to confirm the action execution.

    Preview the message before sending it out
    1. a Click Save.
      You can select Cancel to cancel the procedure of adding a new script to the system or Back to go back to the first step and to change the text in the fields.
  4. Step 4 To edit the existing action, like changing the action name or updating its script, select the row's context menu on the right > Edit. (Learn how to connect actions to an SDA for an automatic execution upon alert.)
    Edit the script details

    You can change the name of the button as well as any other text by selecting Edit and typing new texts in the fields.

    1. a In the Step 1 screen, fill in all necessary fields.
      Field Description
      Enable Action

      Toggle to enable or disable the action.
      Display Name

      Enter the name for the action.
      Description

      Clearly describe to end users what this action will do to their device.
      Action Expiration

      The time period after which the action cannot be carried out any more.
      Action Script

      Select Upload to add a script to the system. This script will run an action that should remedy the end user device upon an SDA alert or manually by an IT person.
      Script privileges

      Defines whether to run the script with the current user (the default option) or with system account. The system account is the highest privilege level in the Windows user model.

      Select the checkbox to run scripts with the system account privileges. Unselect the checkbox to run scripts with elevated privileges of a user account.

      Mass Healing

      Select the checkbox to allow triggering the action on multiple devices.

      Users who run remediation will see the option to run action(s) on multiple devices if the mass healing was checked during configuration.
    2. b Click Next.
    3. c In the Step 2 screen, fill in all necessary fields.
      Field Description
      Parameter Name

      Enter the name for this parameter. For example, directory or service name, depending on your action.
      Mandatory

      Once you define this parameter as mandatory, the current action cannot be automatically triggered by Service Desk Alerts.
      Description

      Enter the parameter description. For example, the directory from which to clear files.
      Sample

      Enter the parameter. For example, d://.
    4. d Click Next.
    5. e In the Step 3 screen, fill in all necessary fields.
      Field Description
      Message From

      Enter the company name who sends this message. Usually, the IT service provider sends this kind of messages to request from users to run a remedial action on their devices.
      Header

      Enter the title of the message.
      Question

      Enter the question itself. For example, Your device is running out of disk space. Do you want to empty a recycle bin to clean some space?
      Accept Button Decide and enter what will be written on the acceptance button. For example, OK or Yes.
      Decline Button Decide and enter what will be written on the declination button. For example, No or Decline.
      Preview

      It is possible to view how the message will be seen by end users before sending it out.
    6. f Click Save.
  5. Step 5 To connect Service Desk Alert to a remediation action in order to automatically execute a remediation action upon the Service Desk Alert, go to the Service Desk Alerts configuration screen (learn more).
  6. Step 6 To run a single action, select the row's context menu on the right > Run.

    Only devices with Agent for End User Devices 12 or later support this functionality and are available for selection.

    Fill in all required fields in the open window and then run the action:

    Field Description
    Device Name

    Select the device on which you need to run a remediation action.

    Run Description

    (Optional) Add a description for that specific action run.

    To run the action on multiple devices, select Run on Multiple Devices and fill in the following fields and then run the action:

    Field Description
    Attribute Name

    Select an attribute to determine the list of reporting devices for this action.
    Attribute Value

    Select one value to determine the list of reporting devices for this action. The action will run only on the devices that share the selected value.

    You can start typing to search for the required attribute. The search results will be auto-completed and you save your valuable time.
    Run Description

    (Optional) Add a description for that specific action run.
  7. Step 7 (Optional) Add your company logo to the message you send to end users.

    This setting applies to all remediation scripts, so you do this only once and not per each script.

    1. a Go to the the Gear Icon > and select Remediation.
    2. b Click Settings and go to the Branding tab.
    3. c Enable the functionality by toggling ON. By default, it is disabled.
    4. d Upload an image that meets the requirements.
      Upload the PNG file of the appropriate size
    5. e Select Preview to see the output.
      View the output before sending messages to end users
    6. f Save and exit.

    To view the status of currently running actions, go to the Device Events dashboard (learn more).

    To view and analyze all remediation actions, go to the Remediation Actions dashboard (learn more).

    To customize the dashboard, go to the Remediation Actions (Advanced) dashboard (learn more).

    Only users with administrative privileges can perform the procedure described in this article. Users with the Execute Remediation Actions role can run actions using the Troubleshoot Device Events dashboard (learn more).