Flows

1 What Flows is for

A Patch Flow is created for a Robopack application in the last step of the download and import wizard. From then on SoftwareCentral checks Robopack for newer versions and, when one is published, imports it with the flow’s settings. The Flows page shows all of these applications in one place.

Flows and Downloaded apps Flows shows only the applications that have a patch flow. The Downloaded apps view shows every download. What has to be in place for a flow to run on its own is listed in Automated patch flows.

2 The page at a glance

The page is titled Patch Flow Manager. The toolbar has the Search applications box and the List and Tiles buttons. Each tile is one application: its icon, name and publisher, a status line, and a pill with the number of patch flows. Click a tile to open the application.

Patch Flow Manager with a tile for each application that has a patch flow — The **Patch Flow Manager** in tile view. The toolbar has the search box and the List / Tiles buttons.

On the tile	What it means
Status line (red dot)	A problem with the flow, for example Phase 1 of 2 has no target resources or Service job has expired. Open the tile to see which version and which flow.
Status line (green dot)	The latest job completed, for example Job completed.
Update available (yellow pill)	Robopack reports a newer version than the one the flow has processed. The Robopack card on the Overview tab shows Up to date when there is none.
N Patch Flows	How many patch flows the application has. One application can have more than one flow, for example one for a pilot and one for production.

No Filters panel on this page Flows has no Filters button. To narrow the list, type part of the name in Search applications. The filters for detected software are on Radar.

3 Open an application

Click a tile. The application opens in a panel with its icon, name and publisher, the action buttons on the right and five tabs: Overview, Install status, Patch Flows, Status log and Delete data. Use the close button (×) to return to the list.

Overview tab of an application with its latest version, Robopack status, patch flows and recent jobs — The **Overview** tab of 7-Zip. The top row gives the latest version, the Robopack status, the patch flows and the jobs.

Part of the Overview	What it shows
Latest version	The newest version the flows have processed, with the date and time of its job.
Robopack	Up to date when the latest version in Robopack is the one shown, with the version number.
Patch Flows	How many flows the application has and how many are enabled.
Jobs	All jobs of the application, and how many were canceled, expired or failed.
Version panel	The latest version. Installation shows the installation chart with the counts for each install status; What happened shows, step by step, what happened to this version; Install status opens the install status tab.
Patch Flows and Recent jobs	Short lists with an Open button that goes to the full tab.

Install status The Install status tab shows how the latest version is installing. The steps and buttons used to roll out a version are described in Downloaded apps › Phases and buttons.

4 The Patch Flows tab

The Patch Flows tab shows the flows of the application. The list on the left has one card for each flow with its name, Enabled or Disabled, and its last job. Click a flow to show what it does with every new version, and its jobs on the right.

Patch Flows tab with the list of flows, the description of the chosen flow and its jobs — An opened Patch Flow: **Auto Download 7 zip**. Its description lists what happens to every new version, and **Jobs of this patch flow** is empty until Robopack has a new version.

Part	What it shows
Header counters	Patch Flows (and how many are enabled), the Chosen flow, Jobs of the chosen flow and the Last job.
Patch Flow list	One card per flow. Click a card to choose it.
Description	In plain sentences, what the flow does with every new version: which application template is used for the import to SCCM or Intune, and which phased deployment template rolls it out. This is the same summary as the last step of the wizard.
Jobs of this patch flow	The jobs the chosen flow has created, with the version and status of each.

5 The Status log tab

The Status log tab lists the jobs of the application, newest first, with the time, the version and the status. The counters at the top give the total number of jobs, the share completed, the number of problems (canceled, expired or failed) and the last job.

Status log tab with the versions on the left, status filter chips and the jobs table — The **Status log** of 7-Zip. The versions are on the left; the chips at the top filter the jobs by status; **Search for status entry** finds a job.

Part	What it does
Versions	All versions first, then each version with its status and the number of jobs. Click a version to show only its jobs.
Status chips	One per status, for example Job completed, Service job has been canceled or Service job has expired, with the count. Click a chip to show only those jobs; click it again to remove the filter.
Search for status entry	Narrows the jobs by any text in the row.
Table	Time, Version and Status of each job.

6 Edit, Disable and Delete

The three buttons at the top right of the panel act on the chosen flow. They are shown on the Patch Flows and Status log tabs; they are not shown on the Overview.

Button	What it does
Edit	Opens the flow in the download and import wizard so its settings can be changed. The changes apply to the next versions; nothing is downloaded or changed by saving the wizard for an existing flow until the next version arrives.
Disable / Enable	Switches the chosen flow off or back on. A disabled flow is not updated, but its history and settings stay. The button shows the action that is possible: Disable for an enabled flow, Enable for a disabled one.
Delete	Removes the chosen flow. Applications that were already imported stay where they are; they are simply not updated any more.

Pause with Disable To stop automatic updates for a while, Disable the flow rather than deleting it. When you enable it again, it picks up the newest version at its next check.

7 Delete data

The Delete data tab removes job data for the application in two steps: first choose the jobs, then choose what is deleted and check each job before you confirm. The deletion runs in the background and its progress is shown in a window.

Check step 2 before you confirm Step 2 shows what will be removed. Deleting data can also remove applications in Configuration Manager and Intune, so read the check for each job first. Use Back to leave the chosen jobs unchanged.

8 Best practices

Topic	Recommendation
Check the tiles regularly	Every few days, look for red status lines. A tile with Service job has expired or Phase 1 of 2 has no target resources needs action.
Look at the status log before you rerun	Open the Status log, choose the failing status chip and read the jobs. Fix the cause first, then rerun the job from Downloaded apps.
Pause with Disable	Disable a flow to stop its automatic updates for a while. Use Delete only when the flow is no longer needed.
Edit the flow, not the template	Changing a template does not change existing flows. Use Edit on the flow when its settings should change.
Name flows clearly	Name each flow after its purpose, for example Firefox pilot and Firefox production, so the list is easy to read.
Check the first run	After you create a flow, check its Overview and Status log once the first version has been processed.

9 Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	What to do
Phase 1 of 2 has no target resources	No device matches the first phase of the flow.	Check the collection of the phase and any limits (program name, install collections) in the wizard. See Phased Deployments.
Service job has expired	An import job for a version did not complete. The flow moves on to a newer version when one arrives.	Open the Status log and find the job. Look at the failed job on Downloaded apps to see why it failed.
Update available stays on a flow that is enabled	The service checks Robopack every 30 minutes. A newer version may still be waiting for its turn, or the Robopack check cannot run.	Wait for the next check. If it does not change, check the Robopack settings and the service as listed in Automated patch flows.
The Patch Flow shows No jobs yet	A job starts only when Robopack has a new version for the application.	This is normal for a flow that is up to date. Use the Robopack card on the Overview to check.
An application is not in the list	Only applications with a patch flow are listed. The search box only searches this list.	Create the flow in the wizard, or check the spelling in Search applications.
Edit, Disable or Delete is missing	They are shown on the Patch Flows and Status log tabs only, and only when a flow is chosen.	Open the Patch Flows tab and choose the flow.
There is no Filters button	Flows does not have a Filters panel.	Use the search box, or the filters on Radar for detected software.
The Patch Flows tab cannot be opened	The application has no patch flow.	Create a flow for it from the wizard.