Efficient IT Operations via Runbooks
Key Points
- Aneta, an IT operator, spends a lot of time manually checking event consoles, searching manuals, logging into remote systems, and executing commands, which is time‑consuming and prone to errors.
- She looks for a way to make incident handling faster, less skill‑dependent, and more reliable.
- IBM Runbook Automation integrates with the event console, letting her launch a pre‑defined runbook directly from an event to automate tasks such as checking server status and restarting services.
- The runbook combines automated and manual steps, provides immediate feedback, removes the need to remember host names, credentials, or commands, and lets all operators share consistent, vetted procedures, leading to more efficient and reliable problem resolution.
Full Transcript
# Efficient IT Operations via Runbooks **Source:** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjBYeiUhi38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjBYeiUhi38) **Duration:** 00:03:16 ## Summary - Aneta, an IT operator, spends a lot of time manually checking event consoles, searching manuals, logging into remote systems, and executing commands, which is time‑consuming and prone to errors. - She looks for a way to make incident handling faster, less skill‑dependent, and more reliable. - IBM Runbook Automation integrates with the event console, letting her launch a pre‑defined runbook directly from an event to automate tasks such as checking server status and restarting services. - The runbook combines automated and manual steps, provides immediate feedback, removes the need to remember host names, credentials, or commands, and lets all operators share consistent, vetted procedures, leading to more efficient and reliable problem resolution. ## Sections - [00:00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjBYeiUhi38&t=0s) **Automating Web Server Incident Handling** - An IT operator explains the tedious, error‑prone manual steps for fixing a down web server and demonstrates how IBM Runbook Automation streamlines the process into a guided, reliable workflow. ## Full Transcript
hi I'm aneta and I am an IT operator on
my daily shift I carefully monitor the
event console displaying all events that
pop in for example an event indicating
that the web server is down now I take
the following steps based on the event
ID I check in our wikis manuals or I
search in the web to find out which
steps I have to take to solve the
problem I log into the remote system
using my credentials for this specific
system I manually execute the required
commands on the command console I lock
out I manually remove the event from my
to-do list the problem is that all of
these steps require a lot of time and
they are failure prone I can type in the
wrong credentials or I can use the wrong
commands besides that I need to be
highly skilled to be able to work with a
lot of different machines and a huge
infrastructure isn't there anything out
there that makes my work more efficient
effective and
reliable IBM runbook seems to have a
solution for my problem so let's check
it out what changes running my daily
working task if I use IBM runbook
automation
in my event console I can directly see
that a runbook is available for an event
I can launch the Run book using the
event menu and then I can run the
Automation and what happens
now let's look at a very simple example
start and restart a web
server the runbook guides me through the
steps that I have to take to solve the
problem of the event so here are my
steps
check status of the web server start the
web server in case the status check
failed check again the status of the web
server if everything is up and
running in this example my steps are
automated actions a a run book can also
be a combination of manual and automated
steps I can click run to start the first
automated step I get immediately
feedback within the Run book I get
guided through all steps that I have to
take and the actions are automated I do
not need to remember the host name the
user credentials or the
command because every operator can write
his tasks in a run book everybody can
exploit the experience of other
operators in a consistent way so what do
you think does this sound like your
working day is more effective
efficient and reliable using run books
solving problems requires less time
because I can automate complex and
repetitive
tasks many thanks for listening