DNS automation: Scheduling tasks using Gateway and Rundeck
Rundeck, an open-source scheduling platform, easily integrates with Gateway using our plug-in available on GitHub. With Rundeck and Gateway, you can create workflows to run when you need them to run.
Key takeawaysThis key takeaway was generated through LLMs crawling the page and coming up with an overview of the content.This article summarizes Episode III of BlueCat's Making Gateway Work for You webinar series, which demonstrated using the open-source scheduler Rundeck together with BlueCat Gateway to automate recurring network-management tasks. It explains the real-world problem of manual, time-sensitive operations (like running reports or cleaning temporary networks) that can impact performance or be forgotten, and shows how Rundeck jobs invoked through Gateway can schedule and run those workflows to reduce manual effort. The session covered installing Rundeck on Linux, using the Rundeck UI, creating scheduled report and host-update workflows, advanced topics like exporting jobs and running jobs across multiple nodes for high availability, and points to recorded clips and resources for hands-on guidance.
What specific operational problems does integrating Rundeck with Gateway solve?
Integrating Rundeck with Gateway addresses several operational issues described in the article: it eliminates manual execution of routine tasks that can be forgotten (for example, cleaning up temporary networks), prevents performance degradation by scheduling heavy tasks (such as weekly reports) outside business hours, and reduces day-to-day manual effort for network administrators by automating repetitive workflows. Additionally, by enabling scheduled and repeatable runs, it improves reliability and consistency of network operations and supports automation at scale through Gateway’s workflows invoked by Rundeck jobs.
What deployment and configuration topics were covered in the webinar for using Rundeck with Gateway?
The session walked through practical deployment and configuration steps: installing Rundeck on a Linux server, an overview of the Rundeck user interface to manage jobs, creating a scheduled workflow that runs a report via an endpoint, and building an update-host-record workflow in Gateway that uses Rundeck on the backend. The Q&A demos also showed how to export Rundeck jobs (with caution about not saving passwords in cleartext) and how to run Rundeck jobs on multiple nodes to support DNS high availability. The article also notes the Gateway plug-in for Rundeck is available on GitHub and references recorded clips for each topic.
Can other scheduling tools be used with Gateway besides Rundeck?
Yes. The article states that although Rundeck is common and was the focus of the episode, any third-party scheduling automation tool that exposes its APIs should integrate easily with Gateway. The guidance and examples shown with Rundeck—installing the scheduler, creating UI-managed jobs, invoking Gateway workflows via endpoints, and handling exports and multi-node execution—illustrate patterns that can be applied to other API-enabled schedulers. The webinar also suggests checking for available paid support plans within your organization for Rundeck if additional implementation assistance is needed.
If you missed it, here’s a wrap-up and clips from last month’s session of our Making Gateway Work for You webinar series. Episode III was focused on scheduling tasks using Rundeck.
Rundeck, an open-source scheduling platform, easily integrates with Gateway using our plug-in available on GitHub. Quick refresher: Gateway integrates with BlueCat platforms to create custom workflows that automate common tasks, reducing day-to-day manual efforts for network admins.
With Rundeck and Gateway, you can create workflows to run when you need them to run. For example, manually running a weekly report that might degrade performance during work hours can be scheduled to run on a weekend instead. Or, if you’re spinning up a lot of networks and are liable to forget to clean them up, you can create a Rundeck job to clean up temporary networks automatically. Automate automation!
In this episode, Solution Consultant Murtaza Haider covered:
- Installing Rundeck on a Linux server
- An overview of the Rundeck user interface
- Creating a workflow to run a report from Rundeck
- Creating an update host record workflow in Gateway using Rundeck on the backend
During the Q&As, he also demoed more specific examples of:
- Exporting Rundeck jobs
- Running Rundeck jobs on multiple nodes to support DNS high availability
Let’s get going with Rundeck!
Install Rundeck on your Linux server:
Explore the Rundeck user interface:
Schedule a workflow with an endpoint—running a report—to run from Rundeck:
Create an update host record workflow in Gateway that uses Rundeck on the backend:
Export a Rundeck job (taking care not to save your password in cleartext):
Run Rundeck jobs on multiple nodes to support high availability:
Be sure to inquire within your organization if there might be a paid Rundeck support plan available for you to utilize for additional assistance with implementations. And although Rundeck is pretty ubiquitous, we should also note that any third-party scheduling automation tool that exposes its APIs, not just Rundeck, should integrate easily with Gateway.
To learn more about scheduling tasks with Rundeck, watch the full session, which includes Q&As. You can also check out our brief introduction to Rundeck integration. And if you didn’t catch it, be sure to check out the previous episode on bulk importing with Gateway.
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Rebekah Taylor is a former journalist turned freelance writer and editor who has been translating technical speak into prose for more than two decades. Her first job in the early 2000s was at a small start-up called VMware. She holds degrees from Cornell University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
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