Automate the Onboarding Process for New Riva Syncing Users

Overview

(Riva 2.4.51 or higher.) An onboarding chain or sequence of sync policies can be used to initialize new syncing users. Then the new users can be integrated into the business-as-usual sync policy for the group of users that they are joining.

• Why use an onboarding chain? To minimize or prevent the following potential issue. The initial sync of new users can be very time-consuming. If the new users are added directly to the business-as-usual sync policy, the new users' initial sync can affect the performance of the other users' sync.

• Example of an onboarding chain:

  • A first sync policy runs in off-peak times to sync all the relevant contacts to the new users.

  • A second policy syncs the calendar.

  • When the new users have been successfully synced by both policies, they are integrated into the business-as-usual sync policy.

• The policies in an onboarding chain:

  • The first policy or policies in the chain are the onboarding policies.

  • The last policy in the chain is the business-as-usual sync policy for the group of syncing users that the new users are joining.

• The users cannot be configured to sync on two business-as-usual sync policies.

• Onboarding flow:
  The following flow description is an example based on a chain that has two onboarding policies.

  • The first policy executes as often as it takes for every user to have an empty sync cycle. A sync cycle is empty when there are no errors, skipped items, item creations, or item deletions. It means that all the items that had needed to be created or deleted have been created or deleted — there is nothing left to sync by the first policy — and the sync has been successful for that user. As soon as one or more users have a successful sync, they are automatically moved to the second policy in the chain, and this policy starts syncing those users.

    • Fixing any encountered syncing errors requires the local administrator's attention.

    • If any users were added to the second onboarding policy instead of the first, the users are not moved back to the first onboarding policy for processing. They are processed by the second policy, together with users who have been moved from the first policy.

  • Eventually, all the users in the first onboarding policy have successfully synced and have been moved to the second policy. The first policy stops executing,

  • The second policy executes as often as required for every user to sync successfully. In this example, as soon as one or more users have an empty sync cycle, they are automatically moved to the business-as-usual policy. The next time that policy is executed, it syncs the newly onboarded users with all the other users synced by that policy.

  • By the end of the onboarding process, all the users have successfully synced in both the onboarding policies and have been moved to the business-as-usual sync policy for all users.

• How to create the onboarding chain of sync policies:

  • The chain is created in the Edit Onboarding Chain window.

To access the Edit Onboarding Chain window:

1. In the Riva Manager application, near the top, if you see a horizontal menu bar, then select Tools and choose Try New UI.

   Note: In the new UI, the menu bar is vertical, to the left.

2. In the new UI, on the menu bar, select Tools, and choose Edit Onboarding Chain.

Edit Onboarding Chain

Overview.

To create or edit an onboarding chain in the Edit Onboarding Chain window:

1. In the left list box, Available policies, select the onboarding policy or policies for the new users, and select Add >>.

2. In the Current Chain list box, arrange the policies in order of execution: Select a policy and click Up or Down, and repeat until the onboarding policies are in order.

3. In the Available policies list box, select the business-as-usual policy that syncs all the onboarded users, and select Add >>.

4. In the Current Chain list box, place the business-as-usual policy last.

5. Near the bottom right corner of the window, select Save.

   Result: The onboarding chain is ready for use.
    

To use the onboarding chain for a group of new users:

1. Enable all the policies in the chain except the first onboarding policy.

2. Edit the first onboarding policy.

3. On the General page, add the users that need to be onboarded.

   Note: If users are added to another onboarding policy instead of the first, they are not moved back to the first onboarding policy for processing. They are processed in the policy they were added to and in any subsequent policies in the chain.

4. Enable the first onboarding policy.

5. Save the policy.

   Result: The first onboarding policy starts executing. For the complete process description, see onboarding flow.

Notes:

• After the users have been moved out of onboarding policies, the policies can be re-used to onboard more new users.
• To delete a chain, access the Edit Onboarding Chain window and remove all the policies from the Current Chain list box.