The Machines panel
Work on many machines from one desktop thread: see their health, select them, check them, run a runbook, and see exactly what ran on each.
On this page
The Machines panel shows, beside a thread, every machine the thread can reach through a gateway and everything that has run on them. Use it to check a fleet’s health, select machines, and run a runbook on them from the conversation. Open it with the Machines button in the thread’s header; for the workspace’s full list, see Machines.
The rule#
The panel knows machines by name only. Its footer says so: Addresses and keys stay on edge-gw. Ysra only knows names.
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| The header | through gateway · online, or offline |
| The left edge | Drag it to resize the panel |
| Open as a page | Gives the panel the whole window |
The four tabs#
| Tab | Shows |
|---|---|
| Machines | Every machine, with its health |
| Runs | Runs started from this thread, with each machine’s result |
| Approvals | Signed approvals. See Approvals and automatic runs |
| Schedules | Runs that repeat |
Runs, Approvals and Schedules appear in threads that work through a gateway.
The health bar#
A bar at the top counts machines by state:
| Count | Meaning |
|---|---|
| n ok | The last check was fine |
| n fixed | A check failed and Ysra fixed it |
| n need you | Something needs a person. Always shown, even at zero |
| n not answering | The gateway couldn’t reach them |
| n not checked | Ysra hasn’t looked at them yet |
Click a count to show only those machines. Click it again to clear the filter.
Find machines#
The search box (Find, or kind:jetson status:person) takes plain words and prefixes. Every word has to match.
| Prefix | Matches | Examples |
|---|---|---|
kind: |
The kind of machine | kind:linux, kind:jetson, kind:esxi, kind:network, kind:oss |
status: |
Its state | status:ok, status:fixed, status:person, status:down, status:unchecked |
group: |
A group’s name | group:cameras |
site: |
The gateway that reaches it | site:edge-gw |
tag: |
A tag. tag:prod also matches production machines |
tag:gpu |
A plain word matches a machine’s name, kind, groups or tags.
By group, By kind and By gateway change how the list is grouped. Machines in no group appear under Not in a group.
Cards and tiles#
Up to 24 machines are shown as cards; more than that, as small tiles, so a large fleet fits on one screen.
A machine carries a badge when it needs noticing: Fixed, Needs you or Not answering. It also shows production, and can change or look-only.
Select machines#
| Cards | Tiles | |
|---|---|---|
| Open one | Click | Double-click |
| Select | Cmd+Click (Ctrl+Click on Windows and Linux) | Click |
| Select a range | Shift+Click | Drag a box |
| Select a whole group | Select on the group’s heading | Select on the group’s heading |
With machines selected, a bar at the bottom shows n selected and three buttons:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Clear | Clears the selection |
| Check | Ysra looks at those machines again, read-only |
| Run… | Opens the run sheet for those machines |
Run a runbook#
Run… opens a sheet titled Run a runbook.
| Field | Options |
|---|---|
| Runbook | A saved runbook and its version |
| Run on | A group, These machines, or The n selected |
| Run automatically (with your approval) | Off: a dry run that changes nothing. On: a dry run on each machine first, then the steps |
| When | Now or On a schedule |
With Run automatically ticked, the sheet checks whether a signed approval covers every step before you can start:
| The sheet says | Meaning |
|---|---|
| “✓ Covered by your signed approvals. If a step fails, I look into it and fix it only from your runbook or documents.” | You can start |
| “! Not covered: no signed approval covers every step.” with Approve… | The start button stays off. Approve… opens the approval form |
The button reads Start the dry run, Start the run or Save the schedule, depending on your choices.
Follow a run#
The Runs tab lists each run with its runbook, version and machines, then a running count or the result, such as 3 done, 1 fixed and done, 1 need a person, 0 not ready, 0 not answering, 0 skipped.
Each machine in a run shows one of ready, not ready, not answering, skipped, done, Fixed, failed or needs a person, with the step it stopped at.
The thread says the same in words when a run starts and when it finishes.
Open a machine#
Open a machine to see everything about it:
| Section | Shows |
|---|---|
| Findings | What Ysra found on its last look |
| Kind, Groups, Tags, Reached via, Approval | Its labels, its gateway, and the approval a change ran under |
| What ran · open one to see its output | Each command: its kind, when, and its exit code |
Check it (or Check again) looks at the machine now. Copy name copies its name.
Open a command to read its output. The viewer has Find, Wrap, Copy and Open in a window.
When the gateway is offline#
The panel still opens, and says edge-gw isn’t connected. I can only show the
machines this thread already looked at. Start ysra serve on the gateway to
see the rest.
Threads that need you#
A thread whose latest run left machines needing a person is listed under Needs you in the sidebar, like any thread waiting for an answer. It says, for example, 3 machines need a person after “Camera check”.
Related#
- Machines: the workspace’s whole list of machines.
- Runbooks: what a run does on each machine.
- Approvals and automatic runs: signing, and running without asking at each step.