Workflows for Cisco Networking ‒ Workflows Q&A

A.  Workflows for Cisco Networking is a cloud-hosted low-code/no-code network automation tool featuring a simple drag-and-drop user interface natively located within the Meraki dashboard. It simplifies and unifies automation across multi-domain Cisco and third-party environments by automating repetitive tasks with prebuilt and customizable automations, all included at no additional cost.

A.  Workflows provides easy cloud access within the Meraki dashboard. It automates systems in the cloud and on-premises, allowing for seamless reachability regardless of where the systems are hosted. Adapters within Workflows allow you to integrate with other third-party and custom systems so you can leverage existing automations already established within your environment.

A.  As with many network automation tools, Workflows offers benefits around cost and time savings, as well as the reduction of human errors. What makes Workflows different is the benefits it provides to customers who choose to use premade automations that are Cisco Validated. No special coding knowledge is required to utilize the visual, low/no-code workflows editor to modify or create workflows. It also integrates with Cisco AI Assistant, which leverages AgenticOps to streamline and automate IT workflows. Using natural language, Cisco AI Assistant enables real-time workflow automation to deliver operational efficiency.

A.  No, Workflows offers no-code templates that leverage drag-and-drop creation and editing. If you already have basic knowledge of JavaScript, YAML, or other scripting languages, you can build a more complex automation, but it is not required. Begin with the self-learning sample video playlist to explore the fundamentals and build your first workflows.

A.  Given the frequency of which we update and add new integrations, we recommend creating an account for free and visiting the workflow editor pallet to see a list of what’s currently supported.

A.  Workflows allows you to hit the ground running. Utilizing the Exchange of pre-built workflows, users can import these Cisco Validated offerings, and use them as-is or easily customize them using the drag-and- drop visual editor to create customer automations in minutes.

A.  You can access Workflows today from the Automation tab in the Meraki dashboard. You do not need to be a current Meraki customer to use Workflows. Even if you don’t have any Meraki devices, you can self-create a Meraki account without any Meraki devices or Meraki licenses and access Workflows to begin automating across Cisco Networking. You can create a new Meraki account at  account.meraki.com/login/new_account.

A.  Workflows is freely available as a value add, without limits, within the Meraki dashboard. Access to Workflows is included with an active license to any Cisco network management console.

A.  Our existing customers will get the most out of Workflows because it provides outcome-based automation for a range of our products. However, new customers can leverage Workflows to get the most out of the new products they are rolling out within their infrastructure.

A.  Yes, users can easily select workflows from the Exchange and add them into their environments or import workflows from Git or a JSON file.

A.  Workflows allows users to create custom automations from scratch. We recommend that you have a working knowledge of JSON and APIs before creating custom automations.

A.  Generic REST and SSH connectors allow users to create automated workflows for third-party applications. Cisco plans to continually release adapters and premade templates for popular third-party systems over the coming months.

A.  No deep technical expertise is required to get the benefits of Workflows. The low/no code designer allows an operator to customize existing automation or develop their own. Understanding or programing concepts is helpful, but no special syntax knowledge is required.

A.  To communicate with on-premise controllers and devices, Workflows utilizes a 2 vCPU virtual appliance that enables your workflows to securely communicate with resources inside your network that do not have access to the internet. Because many user-deployed devices are not exposed to the internet, Automation Remote bridges the gap between those devices and the cloud so that they can be incorporated into your workflows. For additional details see the Automation Remote documentation.

A.  Workflow execution logs for a parent workflows is retained for 90 days. However, run data for any nested activities such as atomics and sub-workflows is retained for only 30 days. All Workflows data is securely stored in the same Meraki datacenter where your Meraki Organization is hosted.

A.  Workflows integrates with third-party network automation tools, including Ansible and Terraform, to enhance their functionality. It simplifies the execution of the automation templates you’ve already created, making your existing workflows more efficient. If you’re interested in exploring Cisco Workflows further, reach out to your Solutions Engineer to discuss the best approach.

A.  The Workflows Meraki adapter internally will attempt to handle rate limiting. There will be no information bubbled up to the workflow execution when rate limiting was handled gracefully. If the Workflows Meraki adapter receives a 429 from Meraki it will read the retry-after header from the response -> backoff for that amount and try again. It will repeat this up to 5 times if it continues to receive a 429 and then fail the action, in which case the failure will bubble up to the execution context.

A.  Cisco maintains the highest standards across all our cloud-hosted products when it comes to security and data privacy. Please see our privacy policy for additional details.