Starting with CloudForms 4.6, we can make custom buttons visible if certain requirements are met. We can also make the button active or inactive as needed. Both features significantly improve the user experience by simplifying the interface and making it more dynamic.
The Enablement expression is validated to enable or disable the button based on the specified condition. This allows you to enable the button only if some specific requirements are met. In the example below, we want to run an Ansible Playbook inside the VM. The expression validates the VM Power State and the button will be disabled if the VM is not powered on. An explanation text will inform the user why the button is disabled, when the mouse pointer hovers over it. The text can also provide guidance on how to solve the issue.
The Visibility allows you to define an expression which is validated to decide if the button should be shown at all. For example, if the guest Operating System is not Linux, the Ansible Playbook provided in this example will not work. If CloudForms detects a non-Linux VM, the menu will not be shown at all.
Note that the Role Access settings on the bottom of the dialog are the same as in previous CloudForms releases. This option allows us to make the button only available for certain user roles, for example administrators, operators or normal users.
Let’s configure an regular expression which verifies the Virtual Machine is powered on.
Navigate to Automation -> Automate -> Customization.
Click on the “Install Package” Button you created in the previous lab.
Click on Configuration -> Edit this Button.
Click on the Advanced tab.
Click on Define Expression.
Build the following Expression:
Field: VM and Instance : Power State = on
We will guide you through the expression creation process.
Don’t forget to click Commit to save the expression!
Add Disabled Button Text: VM must be powered on to run Ansible Playbook.
Click Save.
The install package Playbook will only work on RHEL Virtual Machines. It will fail on non-RHEL Virtual Machines, because only RHEL 7 repositories have been made available in the lab environment. It is a good idea to not show the button if the guest Operating System of the selected Virtual Machine does not meet the requirements. With the new “Visibility” expression filter, this is easy to implement.
You should already be in this menu if you followed the previous steps.
Click on the “Install Package” Button you created in the previous lab.
Click on Configuration -> Edit this Button.
Click on the Advanced tab.
In the Visibility section of the dialog, create the following expression:
Field: VM and Instance.OS: Product Name STARTS WITH "rhel"
We will guide you through the expression creation process.
Don’t forget to click commit to save the expression!