Features

Dashboard

Sigma’s Dashboard provides a unified operational view across all connected compute environments, cloud providers, and automation modules. It surfaces real-time infrastructure health, global resource distribution, cost insights, and AI-driven recommendations — all within a single interactive workspace.

Note

The Dashboard automatically aggregates data from all Sigma modules (Compute, VDI, ITSM, AI, and Orchestration) and refreshes continuously without manual reloads.

Global View

Visualize every connected region, datacenter, and cloud provider on a dynamic, interactive map.

Key Features

• Geo-Aware Map: Displays all active resources across AWS, Azure, GCP, VMware, and OCI.

• Provider Outage Overlay: Integrates with public cloud status APIs to highlight current or recent outages by region.

• Resource Density Heatmap: Uses color gradients to show VM, storage, and network concentration globally.

• Real-Time Status Indicators: Green/yellow/red icons reflect current availability, performance, or maintenance states.

• Drill-Down Navigation: Click any region to open an environment-level summary (hosts, cost, compliance, tickets).

Tip

Hover over any region marker to see active VMs, provider status, cost trend, and recommended next actions.

Actionable Insights

AI-powered analytics surface the most impactful operational improvements automatically.

Example Insights

• Migration Opportunities: Identify VMs that would benefit from migration to a more cost-efficient or better-performing provider (e.g., move non-critical workloads from AWS to OCI).

• Performance Imbalance: Detect uneven load across hosts or datacenters and suggest balancing tasks.

• Cross-Cloud Failover Suggestions: Highlight which workloads are unprotected and recommend replication or DR configurations.

• Idle Resource Detection: Flag stopped or underutilized VMs with estimated monthly cost savings if decommissioned.

Each insight includes: - Description of the detected condition - Affected resources and estimated impact - Recommended Sigma Action or Task Sequence to resolve it

Important

Insights are generated by Sigma’s internal analytics engine using performance and cost telemetry — no external AI or data export is required.

Cost Optimization

Track spend, forecast trends, and receive automated cost-saving recommendations.

Cost Analytics

• Current Spend Overview: Breaks down cost by provider, environment, and resource type.

• Savings Recommendations: Highlights potential monthly savings through power scheduling, right-sizing, or storage tier changes.

• Forecasting: Projects monthly and annual spend using rolling 30-day averages.

• Anomaly Detection: Automatically flags cost spikes caused by unexpected resource growth or configuration drift.

• “What-If” Simulator: Model savings by simulating VM migrations or scale-in actions before applying changes.

Note

Cost data is pulled directly from connected provider billing APIs and stored securely. No billing credentials are retained beyond API access tokens.

Trends and History

Monitor key metrics and events over time through Sigma’s interactive charting engine.

Historical Dashboards

• Compute Trends: CPU, memory, and storage utilization per environment over custom time ranges.

• VDI Trends: User session counts, FSLogix mount times, and host uptime analytics.

• Automation History: Completed, failed, and pending Task Sequences with timestamps and outcomes.

• Change Impact Visualization: Correlates infrastructure changes (patches, power actions, migrations) with performance metrics.

Tip

All dashboards support filtering by environment, provider, tag, or time period. Charts can be exported as PNG, PDF, or CSV for reporting or governance reviews.

Alerts and Notifications

Receive contextual alerts directly in the dashboard when conditions require attention.

• Provider Outages: Real-time notifications of service disruptions from AWS, Azure, or GCP.

• Compliance Drift: Triggers when CIS or configuration baselines deviate.

• Automation Failures: Summarizes failed actions or scripts with direct links to retry or view logs.

• Budget Thresholds: Sends cost alerts when monthly spend exceeds defined limits.

Important

All alerts are integrated with Sigma’s notification system and can be routed to email, Teams, Slack, or ITSM change tickets.

Customization

Tailor the Dashboard to match your role and focus.

Options

• Widget Library: Add or remove tiles for compute, cost, or automation metrics.

• Saved Views: Create custom dashboard layouts (e.g., Operations, Finance, Security).

• Role-Based Access: Restrict or share dashboards by user group.

• Dark/Light Themes: Match dashboard visuals with your workspace preferences.

Tip

Administrators can set a default organizational dashboard while allowing users to maintain their personalized layouts.

Compute

Sigma’s Compute module provides a centralized interface for provisioning, managing, and optimizing compute workloads across cloud and on-prem environments.

Note

This module supports multi-cloud and hybrid compute environments including AWS, Azure, VMware, GCP, OCI, and bare metal, with no agent required.

Compute Actions are powerful, one-click automations for operational tasks across your infrastructure. Each action can be executed using different proComputetocols (SSH, WinRM, cloud APIs, etc.) and logs execution results for audit or ticketing systems.

Important

Most Quick Actions support: - Cross-platform execution (Linux/Windows/cloud-native) - AI-generated workflows via natural language input - Real-time output streaming and logging - Change ticket integration (ServiceNow, Jira, etc.)

Scripts

Execute, generate, and govern automation scripts across all connected environments — securely, intelligently, and with full change management visibility.

Sigma’s Scripts module allows engineers and IT operators to run ad-hoc or saved scripts using agentless protocols, or to generate new ones automatically using Sigma’s AI engine. Each execution is tracked with logs, outputs, and ITSM linkage for compliance and audit readiness.

Key Capabilities

• AI-Assisted Script Creation: Generate Bash, PowerShell, or Python scripts automatically by describing your intent in natural language. Example: “Restart IIS on all Windows servers in QA” instantly produces and validates a PowerShell script. Scripts can be further refined or parameterized before execution.

• Protocol-Agnostic Execution: Run scripts across multiple environments using the most appropriate protocol — SSH, WinRM, VMware Tools, or cloud-native APIs (e.g., AWS SSM, Azure RunCommand). Sigma automatically selects or suggests the optimal transport per target platform.

• Real-Time Streaming & Output Capture: Monitor script output live in the browser. Each line is streamed in real time and stored with timestamps for later review or download. Execution results, return codes, and environment details are preserved for post-task reporting.

• Reusable Templates: Save commonly used scripts as reusable templates with metadata (category, tags, environment, author). Templates can include parameters, variables, or secrets, and can be version-controlled through Sigma’s internal repository.

• Cross-Environment Execution: Target one, many, or all VMs in an environment simultaneously. Sigma manages concurrency, batching, and error isolation so large-scale runs remain stable and auditable.

Change Management Integration

Sigma Scripts are tightly integrated with ITSM workflows and approval policies to ensure every automation action is properly authorized and documented.

• Change Ticket Association: Each script execution can automatically reference an existing ServiceNow or Jira change record, or create one on the fly. Sigma includes execution metadata (who ran it, when, where, and what was changed) in the ticket’s notes or attachments.

• Pre-Approval & Peer Review: Configurable rules can require approver sign-off or peer validation before execution in production environments. Scripts awaiting approval appear in Sigma’s Pending Changes queue.

• Rollback & Snapshot Hooks: Optionally trigger environment snapshots or backups before running potentially disruptive changes. Rollback commands or reverse scripts can be predefined and executed automatically if a task fails.

• Change Correlation: Post-execution data (output, logs, and drift deltas) are automatically correlated with change records for compliance tracking and MTTR analysis.

Governance and Security

• Role-Based Access Control: Limit script execution to approved users or groups based on environment and impact level.

• Execution Policies: Define guardrails like maximum runtime, command whitelists/blacklists, and restricted directories.

• Secret Handling: Credentials and tokens are securely injected at runtime via Sigma’s encrypted vault — never exposed in plaintext.

• Audit Logging: Every script run records user, timestamp, command, arguments, affected systems, and results.

• Immutable Storage: Logs and artifacts are retained per compliance policy and optionally exported to SIEM or ITSM.

AI and Automation Enhancements

• Natural-Language to Script: Convert operational requests into validated executable code instantly.

• Script Optimization: AI analyzes previous runs for inefficiencies, suggesting cleaner or faster logic.

• Anomaly Detection: Machine learning identifies abnormal behavior in output streams or excessive error rates.

• Summarization & Context: Sigma generates a human-readable summary for each execution (e.g., “Patched 4 hosts successfully; 1 host failed due to permission error”).

• Continuous Learning: The AI adapts over time from approved scripts and patterns, improving recommendations.

Integration and Automation

• Task Sequences: Embed script executions as steps in larger workflows (e.g., “Provision VM → Configure Network → Run Hardening Script → Verify”).

• Scheduler: Automate recurring scripts (daily, weekly, monthly) with time zone awareness.

• API Access: Run scripts or fetch results programmatically via Sigma’s REST or WebSocket APIs.

• Notification Hooks: Send execution summaries to Teams, Slack, email, or ITSM when runs complete or fail.

Compliance and Reporting

• Execution Evidence: Every script run generates structured evidence (inputs, outputs, version, status, and linked ticket).

• Report Exports: Export execution logs as JSON, PDF, or CSV for audits or root-cause analysis.

• Metrics Dashboards: View aggregated script activity by user, environment, and success rate.

• Drift Awareness: Automatically trigger configuration validation after scripts modify system state.

Note

All Sigma script operations are agentless, idempotent, and change-ticket-aware. They form a core component of the Sigma platform’s “no-code + governance” automation model.

Tip

Use AI-generated scripts for rapid prototyping, then convert them into approved templates to enforce consistency, change traceability, and compliance across teams.

Package Deployment

Configure and deploy software packages across compute instances using Sigma’s powerful no-code interface. This action enables IT teams to define the exact parameters of a software deployment — including installation path, execution flags, and delivery timing — while abstracting platform-specific complexity.

Key Capabilities

• Define installation parameters including: - Executable command-line arguments (e.g., /S for silent installs, custom flags) - Target install directory (e.g., C:Program FilesVendorApp or /opt/app) - Environment-specific overrides

• Choose push protocol based on the target environment: - SSH for Linux systems - WinRM for Windows systems - Cloud-native mechanisms (e.g., AWS SSM, VMware guest operations)

• Upload custom installers (e.g., .msi, .exe, .deb, .rpm, .tar.gz) or link to a remote repository or cloud object store

• Schedule deployments for future execution (e.g., after business hours, during maintenance windows)

• Track execution status and logs in real time across all targets

Note

Sigma validates package availability, command syntax, and permissions before deployment begins. Failures are captured and correlated to affected hosts with detailed logs for each node.

Tip

Combine Package Deployment with a Task Sequence to automate full onboarding or remediation workflows — e.g., “Install Agent → Apply Config File → Start Service → Notify ITSM.”

File System

Explore, retrieve, compare, and manage files across any connected compute environment — all directly from Sigma’s web interface.

Sigma’s File System Explorer provides a real-time, agentless view into remote directories, allowing administrators to browse folders, retrieve or delete files, and perform cross-VM comparisons securely over protocols such as WinRM, SSH, or VMware Tools.

Key Capabilities

Interactive File Browser: Navigate the full directory structure of remote machines (Windows, Linux, or cloud-native) through Sigma’s UI. Expand folders dynamically, preview file metadata (size, modified time, checksum), and search across subdirectories in real time. File Retrieval and Upload: Download configuration files, logs, or scripts directly to your local system or Sigma’s secure storage. Upload new or updated files remotely, maintaining existing permissions and ownership attributes. Execute uploads, deletions, or comparisons across multiple systems simultaneously. Sigma automatically queues operations and streams real-time status updates per host, ensuring transactional consistency. Retrieve and Delete: Securely retrieve critical files for troubleshooting or compliance retention, or delete outdated or orphaned files. Deletions are permission-aware and require explicit user confirmation to prevent accidental data loss.

AI and Automation Enhancements

Sigma integrates AI-driven intelligence to make file management smarter and safer:

• Smart File Insight: Automatically classifies uploaded or retrieved files (config, log, binary, script) and suggests recommended next actions (e.g., “Would you like to diff this file against baseline?”).

• Automated Drift Detection: Sigma’s ML engine periodically compares known baselines or golden images to current configurations and highlights differences automatically.

• Change Summaries: AI generates natural-language summaries of detected changes between versions or across environments (e.g., “Line 12 modified: logging level increased from INFO to DEBUG”).

• File Health Analysis: Detects corrupted, truncated, or duplicate files and suggests cleanup or repair.

Security and Compliance

• Fully Audited Operations: Every browse, retrieve, upload, and delete action is logged with username, timestamp, target host, and checksum.

• Role-Based Permissions: Restrict which users or roles can browse or modify certain directories.

• Tamper Protection: File integrity checks ensure downloads or edits match original content hashes.

• No Persistent Agent: All operations use secure, short-lived connections via SSH, WinRM, or guest tools — no agent software required.

Integrations and Automation

• ITSM Integration: File retrievals or uploads related to change requests can automatically attach to ServiceNow or Jira tickets. Sigma appends context, checksums, and timestamps to each file artifact for compliance records.

• Task Sequences: Use file actions within orchestration workflows (e.g., “Upload Config → Validate → Restart Service”). Combine with AI to generate or modify configuration templates automatically.

• Event Triggers: Configure policies to trigger alerts or follow-up actions when specific file changes are detected — for example, “Notify Security if /etc/passwd is modified.”

Performance and Reliability

• Adaptive Transfer Engine: Uses multi-threaded upload/download logic optimized for latency and throughput. Automatically resumes interrupted transfers and verifies integrity post-transfer.

• Cross-Provider Compatibility: Works seamlessly across VMware, AWS, Azure, OCI, and on-prem hosts without requiring shared storage.

• Large File Support: Stream files of any size directly to and from Sigma’s backend with chunked compression and encryption.

Summary

Sigma’s File System module replaces traditional manual file operations with a secure, auditable, and AI-assisted explorer — allowing teams to browse, compare, retrieve, and synchronize files across any number of virtual machines in real time, with zero agents and full compliance visibility.

CIS Benchmarks

Profile & Scope Aware: Select CIS profiles by OS (Windows, RHEL, Ubuntu, Amazon Linux, etc.), version, and environment (Prod/Dev/VDI). Supports level 1/2 controls and server/desktop variants. Policy Tailoring & Exceptions: Disable or tune rules per environment; add approved exceptions with justification, expiration, and ticket IDs. Baseline & Drift Tracking: Establish a baseline per fleet; Sigma highlights newly failing controls and improves MTTR with change correlation. Auto-Remediation (Optional): One-click or scheduled remediation for supported controls with pre/post checks and safe rollbacks. Evidence Collection: Captures command output, registry values, file permissions, and timestamps for each rule evaluation.

Output

• Per-rule pass/fail with evidence, rationale, and expected state

• Risk scoring (overall and category/benchmark family)

• Remediation guidance (CLI, GUI, or Sigma script template)

• Trend lines (daily/weekly) and drift delta since last scan

Note

Results can be written back to ITSM change/incident records (ServiceNow/Jira) with evidence attachments and approver notes.

Tip

Export reports as PDF, CSV, or JSON for audits. Use scheduled scans and alerting when high-risk controls regress.

Patches

Identify and apply missing patches across Windows and Linux systems directly from Sigma’s unified interface — without agents or manual logins.

Sigma’s Patch Management capability scans your connected environments, lists all missing updates per host, and allows you to execute patching jobs across one or many machines, either immediately or on a scheduled basis.

Key Capabilities

Automated Patch Discovery: Sigma remotely queries Windows and Linux systems to detect missing operating system updates and security fixes. Results are categorized by severity and date of release. Multi-VM Patch Execution: Apply updates across multiple systems at once. Sigma handles sequential or parallel patch execution, displaying real-time status and results for each target VM. Scheduling & Maintenance Windows: Choose to patch immediately or schedule during a defined maintenance window. Sigma automatically queues jobs and executes them at the specified time to reduce service disruption. Change Logging & Audit Trail: Every patch action — discovery, execution, and completion — is logged with timestamps, VM details, user, and command results. Sigma can associate patch runs with ITSM change tickets or export logs for compliance reports. Result Tracking: View summary and detailed outcomes per machine: success, failed, pending reboot, or skipped due to policy. Logs can be downloaded for troubleshooting or attached to change requests.

Typical Workflow

1. Scan: Initiate a patch scan to identify missing updates on one or more VMs.

2. Review: Review the patch list with severity, size, and description.

3. Schedule: Choose to apply immediately or set a scheduled window.

4. Execute: Sigma runs the patch installation remotely using the appropriate protocol (WinRM, SSH, or guest tools).

5. Verify: Post-execution logs confirm success or failure, stored automatically for audit and compliance.

Note

Patch operations are agentless, executed securely over existing remote management channels. All activity is tracked in Sigma’s change history for full accountability.

Tip

Use scheduled patch jobs to align with maintenance windows and automatically document every change for compliance review.

Configuration Management

Define and enforce desired state across fleets using Sigma’s declarative configuration sets. Detect drift, preview changes, and apply idempotently with audit trails.

What You Can Manage

• System Identity: Hostname, domain/workgroup, time zone, locale

• Network & Name Resolution: DNS search/order, resolv.conf, hosts entries

• Time & NTP: NTP servers, chrony/ntpd configuration, Windows Time service

• Services & Daemons: Enable/disable, start mode, health checks (systemd/SCM)

• Files & Templates: Managed files with Jinja-style templating and variable substitution

• Kernel & OS Settings: sysctl, limits, SELinux/AppArmor modes, firewall policies

• Windows Policies: Registry keys/values, local security policy primitives

• Users/Groups & SSH/RDP: Local accounts, authorized keys, password policies

Policy Model

• Declarative Sets: Versioned config “bundles” applied to tags/environments.

• Variables & Secrets: Scoped values (org/env/host); secrets stored encrypted.

• Preview & Diff: Dry-run to show proposed changes and per-line file diffs.

• Guardrails: Can require ITSM approval or peer review before apply.

Drift & Enforcement

• Watch Mode: Continuous drift detection with alerting.

• Auto-Reconcile (Optional): Re-apply source of truth on drift, with rate limits and exception windows.

• Evidence: Before/after snapshots, file hashes, and command outputs.

Note

All applies are idempotent. Sigma records who/what/when and links runs to tickets and releases.

Tip

Use a golden image + config set combo: keep images thin and move fast via config deltas.

Troubleshoot

Diagnose and resolve issues quickly with guided diagnostics, data collection, and AI-assisted summaries. Launch one-off checks or full runbooks.

Built-In Diagnostics

Connectivity: DNS resolution, ICMP, TCP port checks, MTU/mss, traceroute Auth & Directory: Kerberos/LDAP bind tests, domain join verification Certificates/TLS: Chain validity, expiry, protocol/cipher tests OS Health: CPU/mem/disk pressure, I/O wait, kernel logs, Windows Event channels Services: systemd/SCM status, restart with dependency graph Storage & FS: Mounts, latency probes, SMART (where available), FS permissions Network Path: Route changes, BGP hints (cloud), NSG/SG firewall checks

Support Bundles

• Collect logs, configs, journal/Event Viewer exports, process lists, open ports, and recent changes.

• Bundle is compressed, hashed, and attached to ITSM tickets automatically if enabled.

AI Assistance

• Root-Cause Hints: Summarizes symptomatic logs and correlates with recent changes or incidents.

• Next-Step Suggestions: Proposes verified remediations (“increase fs.inotify, restart kubelet, rotate cert”).

• Similarity Search: Finds prior incidents with matching signatures and shows what fixed them.

Collaboration

• Remote Connect Tie-In: Jump straight into a live console for failing nodes; record and attach replay.

• Runbooks & Task Sequences: Encode fixes as repeatable steps; require approvals where necessary.

• Notifications: Push updates to Teams/Slack on state change or when human action is needed.

Remote Connect

Establish secure, real-time remote access sessions across one or more virtual machines, directly from Sigma’s web interface.

Sigma’s Remote Connect engine provides instant browser-based access via SSH, RDP, or native hypervisor consoles, without requiring local credentials or VPN access. Each session is fully audited, recorded, and enhanced with AI-driven analytics for replay, automation, and anomaly detection.

Key Capabilities:

Browser-based terminals: Launch SSH or RDP sessions directly in the browser using Sigma’s secure WebSocket gateway. Provider-native consoles: Connect seamlessly to VMware VMRC, Azure, Serial Console, AWS Session Manager, or OCI Cloud Shell. Credential-less access: Sigma injects one-time tokens for authentication through its Connect Gateway, keeping credentials hidden. Multi-VM remote connect: Open multiple concurrent sessions (e.g., connect to 10 VMs simultaneously) and optionally broadcast commands across them. Real-time streaming: Terminal and console output is streamed live for audit and monitoring. Cross-platform support: Linux, Windows, and cloud-native hosts — all from a single dashboard.

AI-Enhanced Session Intelligence

All remote sessions can be recorded, analyzed, and summarized automatically using Sigma’s machine learning engine.

• Every console interaction is captured as a replayable session, complete with keystrokes, screen frames, timestamps, and events.

• AI summarization generates a readable summary of what happened during the session (e.g., “Patched kernel, restarted service, verified uptime”).

• Event tagging automatically labels critical actions like configuration changes, restarts, or deletions inside the replay timeline.

• Anomaly detection identifies unusual patterns such as mass deletions or unauthorized access attempts.

• Recordings are encrypted at rest and masked to exclude sensitive input.

Collaboration and Control

Operators can collaborate and manage multiple live sessions simultaneously.

• Live share: Invite teammates or supervisors to view or co-control an active session.

• Observer mode: Compliance teams can watch sessions silently without user interference.

• Session takeover: Administrators can assume control of a session for escalation or remediation.

• Broadcast mode: Run approved commands across all connected sessions in real time.

Security and Compliance

Remote Connect enforces enterprise-grade security and detailed auditing.

• End-to-end encryption (TLS 1.3) ensures all session data remains secure in transit.

• RBAC enforcement limits who can initiate, observe, or replay sessions.

• Session policies define maximum duration, idle timeout, and concurrency limits.

• MFA enforcement for all interactive access.

• Comprehensive audit trails record who connected, to which resource, and for how long, with links to recordings and AI summaries.

Integration and Automation

Remote Connect is tightly integrated across Sigma’s platform.

• ITSM writeback: Attach AI summaries or session recordings to ServiceNow or Jira tickets automatically.

• Task Sequences: Use Remote Connect steps as part of orchestration pipelines (e.g., validate → patch → verify).

• Notification systems: Trigger Slack, Teams, or email alerts for long-running or abnormal sessions.

• API access: Launch or replay sessions programmatically through Sigma’s REST or WebSocket APIs.

Performance and Scalability

Sigma’s gateway architecture supports hundreds of simultaneous connections with adaptive compression, auto-reconnect, and minimal latency. Connections automatically route through the nearest regional gateway and survive transient network interruptions without disconnecting the session.

Summary

Remote Connect transforms basic console access into a secure, intelligent, and collaborative automation layer — combining instant browser access, AI-based insight, and full auditability across any number of VMs or environments.

Power On/Off

Control instance power states from the UI or API.

Immediate or scheduled power actions Start, stop, reboot individual machines or environment Integrated with provider-native tools (AWS EC2, vSphere, etc.)

Delete

Safely decommission machines with full audit visibility.

Confirm action via user validation Writeback logs to change record Auto-deregister from Sigma inventory.

Resource Utilization

Monitor compute metrics in real time or over custom time ranges.

Metrics include:

CPU % (avg, peak) Memory usage Disk I/O Network bandwidth

Tip

Use resource graphs to identify underutilized workloads or noisy neighbors.

Task Sequence

Design reusable automation workflows with step-by-step logic.

Examples

• Provision → Patch → Configure → Notify

• Shutdown → Clone → Reboot → Apply Policy

Each step can include: - Scripts - Quick Actions - Conditional logic - Notifications

Note

Task Sequences can be triggered manually, scheduled, or integrated via API or CI/CD pipelines.

VDI

Sigma’s VDI module centralizes management, optimization, and troubleshooting for virtual desktop environments across Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and VMware Horizon. It enables administrators to right-size host pools, monitor session health, and automate image lifecycle management — all through Sigma’s no-code automation engine.

Note

Sigma supports hybrid VDI architectures, including Azure Virtual Desktop, VMware Horizon, and Citrix integrations (preview) — with no agents or connectors required.

VDI Quick Actions provide one-click automation for common operational tasks such as user session resets, FSLogix maintenance, and image rollouts. All actions are logged, auditable, and can write results back to ITSM systems like ServiceNow or Jira.

Important

Most VDI actions support: - Cross-platform execution across AVD and Horizon - Real-time metrics and diagnostics - AI-driven optimization recommendations - Change ticket correlation for compliance

Host Pool Management

Monitor, scale, and maintain host pools with ease.

Key Features

• Host Pool Discovery: Automatically detect AVD and Horizon host pools with associated resource groups or clusters.

• Dynamic Scaling: Schedule or automate scaling operations based on time of day, active sessions, or performance thresholds.

• Power Management: Start, stop, or deallocate VMs intelligently to minimize idle cost.

• Draining Mode: Gracefully log off users before host maintenance or patching.

• Health Status View: Consolidated dashboard showing session host heartbeat, connection status, and compliance tags.

Tip

Use AI-based recommendations to identify underutilized hosts and automatically adjust pool sizes for optimal cost and performance.

User Sessions

Gain visibility and control over active user sessions.

Common Actions

• View active sessions by user, host, or resource group.

• Disconnect or log off problematic sessions safely.

• Send in-session messages to notify users before maintenance events.

• Shadow or assist sessions (where supported) for troubleshooting.

• Session performance metrics: latency, CPU/memory per user, bandwidth utilization.

Note

User session actions require no direct RDP access — all operations are performed securely via Sigma APIs.

Troubleshooting and Diagnostics

Run automated tests to isolate and resolve common VDI issues.

Diagnostic Capabilities

• Connection Analysis: Check gateway reachability, DNS resolution, and authentication flow.

• FSLogix Profile Validation: Identify profile mount errors, corrupted VHDs, or misconfigured storage paths.

• Session Log Collection: Gather RDP logs, event viewer entries, and FSLogix traces into a single support bundle.

• Policy Drift Detection: Compare applied GPOs or registry values against a known-good baseline.

Tip

Combine diagnostics with a Task Sequence to auto-remediate failed profiles or reconnect users after issue resolution.

Image Management

Automate golden image creation, update, and deployment pipelines.

Image Pipeline Capabilities

• Image Capture: Snapshot existing AVD or Horizon VMs as new golden images.

• Image Validation: Automatically boot captured images to run smoke tests and compliance scans.

• Versioning: Maintain image history and rollback capability.

• Deployment: Push new images to host pools during scheduled windows with minimal disruption.

• Integration: Supports Azure Shared Image Gallery (SIG), Horizon Instant Clones, and custom template repositories.

Note

Sigma can chain image builds with patching and compliance checks before publication to ensure every image is secure and standardized.

FSLogix Integration

Manage and monitor FSLogix profile containers natively within Sigma.

Features

• Profile Mount Monitoring: Detect slow or failed container mounts.

• Profile Reset: Clear corrupted user profile containers with one click.

• Storage Health Check: Validate permissions and free space on FSLogix storage shares.

• Profile Migration: Move user containers between storage accounts or file shares automatically.

Tip

Combine FSLogix management with AI-assisted analytics to identify users most impacted by profile performance issues.

Cost Optimization

Right-size and optimize VDI environments using Sigma’s AI-driven analytics.

Optimization Insights

• Idle Host Detection: Identify hosts that can be powered off or resized.

• Session Density Analysis: Recommend optimal host-to-user ratios based on usage trends.

• Cost Forecasting: Estimate daily and monthly spend based on current utilization.

• Automated Scaling Rules: Implement dynamic policies to scale in/out automatically.

Important

Cost recommendations are generated by Sigma’s AI engine using performance and utilization data — no external data sharing required.

Task Sequences

Design repeatable automation workflows for your VDI lifecycle.

Examples

• Morning Startup: Power on hosts → Validate FSLogix storage → Notify users.

• Patch Cycle: Drain sessions → Apply updates → Reimage → Resume pool.

• User Remediation: Detect failed profile → Reset FSLogix → Reconnect session.

Each sequence can include: - Power actions - Scripts (PowerShell, Bash) - Condition checks - Notifications to ITSM or Teams/Slack

Note

Task Sequences can be scheduled, triggered by monitoring alerts, or invoked manually for on-demand maintenance.

Reporting and Compliance

Generate detailed reports on VDI usage, cost, and compliance.

• Session Audit Logs: Track who connected, when, and from where.

• Change History: Record configuration and image changes across all environments.

• Resource Utilization Reports: Highlight over/under-utilized hosts and user activity peaks.

• Export Formats: CSV, PDF, or JSON for governance and review.

Tip

Combine with Sigma’s ITSM integration to automatically attach usage or cost reports to ServiceNow or Jira change tickets.

Orchestration

The Orchestration interface enables users to define multi-step workflows that automate infrastructure tasks across environments. Each step in an orchestration can execute a predefined task on a selected environment, and logic-based components, such as delays and decisions, can be added to control the execution flow.

Overview

Orchestration is composed of sequential steps. Each step includes the following settings:

• Select Environment Type – Choose the type of environment (e.g., Compute, ITSM, AI).

• Select Environment – Choose from the list of connected environments within the selected type.

• Select Task – Choose the action or task to be executed in the selected environment.

You may add multiple steps to build complex automations.

Building a Workflow

1. Click the + icon to add a new step.

2. For each step: - Select the Environment Type (e.g., Compute). - Choose a connected environment from the dropdown (e.g., vcenter-lab). - Select a task from the available task list.

You can collapse, remove, or reorder steps using the icons located at the top right of each step panel.

Toolbox: Delay and Decision

On the left side of the screen is the Toolbox, which allows you to drag logic controls into your orchestration:

• Delay – Pause workflow execution for a defined duration before continuing to the next step.

• Decision – Introduce conditional branching based on the output of previous steps. This enables dynamic flows within your orchestration.

Execution Logs

On the right-hand panel, you can view the status of the orchestration:

• Current – Shows active orchestration runs and their real-time progress.

• History – Displays previously run orchestrations, including step results and timestamps.

Saving and Loading Orchestrations

At the top-right of the interface:

• Click Save Orchestration to save your current workflow for future reuse.

• Click Load Orchestration to retrieve and edit a previously saved workflow.

Validation

Before execution, ensure all required fields in every step are completed. A warning bar at the top will indicate if any step is incomplete.

Builds Wizard

The Builds module in Sigma Automate provides a streamlined, guided workflow for provisioning and customizing virtual machines across cloud and on-prem environments. Whether you’re building a new VM from scratch, migrating an existing workload, or standardizing VM templates across environments, Sigma’s intuitive, step-by-step process ensures consistency, compliance, and operational efficiency — all without requiring deep infrastructure knowledge.

Note

Sigma’s Builds module supports major hypervisors and cloud platforms including VMware vSphere, AWS, Azure, and OCI. The workflow is platform-aware, allowing for intelligent defaults and provider-specific configuration options.

Key Use Cases

• Provision New VMs Spin up virtual machines based on a consistent, policy-driven template. Teams can define compute specs, OS images, storage, networking, and post-provisioning configuration through a single UI or API.

• Migrate Existing VMs Use the build process to migrate workloads from one environment to another (e.g., on-prem VMware to cloud). Sigma supports importing existing configuration parameters and applying them to new destinations, minimizing downtime and manual reconfiguration.

• Standardize Environments

  Input how many VMs you want to create. The allowed range is from 1 to 50.

  • Enter VM name: Define the base name. Sigma will automatically append numbers if you’re creating more than one VM (e.g., web-server becomes web-server-01, web-server-02, etc.)

  • VM Names Table (Preview): Once you enter the values above, this section populates dynamically to preview VM names and numbers.

2. Destination Environment * (Center Panel)

   Choose where the build should be deployed.

   • Build Destination Environment: Select from a dropdown list of available environments (e.g., Production, QA, Dev, Edge).

   • Target Location: This area displays the full path or infrastructure segment where your VMs will reside (populated automatically after environment selection).

3. Build Type * (Right Panel)

   Choose how to start your build:

   • New (Default): Begin the configuration from scratch. Ideal for custom or one-off deployments.

   • From Template: Use a previously saved VM build template. This pre-fills the configuration based on saved values from earlier builds.

Actions (Top Right)

• Save Build: Saves current selections and configurations for later use.

• Load Build: Opens a saved build to continue or reuse.

Notes and Tips

• Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

• Hover over the yellow info icon (!) to get in-context help.

• Templates help enforce standardization across teams and environments—use them to reduce errors and save time.

• Ensure the environment selection aligns with your deployment region and compliance requirements.

Navigation Controls

Click Next to proceed to Step 2: Select Operating System, where you will define the OS for your VMs.

Step 2: Operating System

In Step 2 of the VM build workflow, you will select the operating system (OS) or base image to install on the virtual machines. This step ensures your VMs are provisioned with the correct system environment.

Sections on This Screen

1. Supported Operating Systems *

   Choose from a list of common OS families. Each option represents a category of available base images.

   Available OS options:

   • Windows - All Windows Server versions and client builds (e.g., 2022, 2019, 10)

   • Ubuntu - Popular open-source Linux distribution for developers and cloud workloads

   • Red Hat - Enterprise Linux distribution for secure, stable environments

   • Mac - macOS images (typically available only in specific hardware-licensed environments)

   • Marketplace - Community and partner images available via your cloud provider’s marketplace (e.g., hardened OS builds, DevOps tool images, etc.)

   Tip

   Hover over each OS tile to view version availability or licensing notes, if supported in your environment.

2. Select OS/Image

After choosing an OS family, this dropdown (or secondary list) will populate with specific versions or custom images available in your environment.

Examples:

• Selecting Windows may present: - Windows 10 - Windows 11 - Windows Server 2022

• Selecting Marketplace may display: - Bitnami Jenkins Stack - Palo Alto NGFW VM-Series - CentOS 7 Hardened

Navigation Controls

• Previous - Go back to Step 1: Select Details

• Next - Proceed to Step 3: Select Compute Resource (only enabled after choosing an OS/Image)

Notes and Best Practices

• Fields marked with * are mandatory

• The Marketplace section requires appropriate cloud permissions to list or deploy third-party images

• Use organization-approved custom images when available to align with internal compliance policies

• Some OS choices may affect downstream options in hardware, storage, or licensing

Common Use Cases

Use Case	Suggested OS/Image
Windows-based application hosting	Windows Server 2022
Linux-based web development	Ubuntu 22.04
Legacy system compatibility	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Testing with third-party tools	Marketplace images

Step 3: Compute Resource

Assign the compute resource that will host your virtual machines. This determines the physical or virtual host cluster where the VMs will run.

Sections on This Screen

1. Compute Resource Selection *

   Choose the appropriate compute resource for this build from your organization’s available infrastructure.

   Tree View Navigation:

   Displays a hierarchical view of available data centers and compute nodes.

   Example:

   ha-datacenter
   └── esxi01.acmecorp.com
   

   Click on the desired compute node to select it. This selection determines the hypervisor or cluster that will host your VMs.

2. Compatibility Check Panel

   After selecting a compute node, Sigma automatically runs compatibility checks to verify whether the selected OS, VM specifications, and resource requirements can be met.

   • Success: “Compatibility checks succeeded.”

   • Failure: Error messages will indicate issues like CPU generation mismatch, insufficient memory, or unsupported features.

Navigation Controls

• Previous - Select Operating System

• Next - Select Storage (enabled only after a compatible resource is selected)

Notes and Best Practices

• Choose compute nodes based on location, workload capacity, and compliance requirements

• Compatibility validation helps prevent common provisioning failures by detecting hardware mismatches or unsupported configurations early

• The system may auto-filter hosts that do not meet the minimum requirements

Example Use Cases

Scenario	Recommended Action
You need VMs on a specific ESXi host	Select the corresponding node (e.g., esxi01.sigma-automate.com)
Building VMs in a DR site	Navigate to the appropriate secondary datacenter branch
Target node fails compatibility check	Choose an alternate compute resource or modify VM specs

Step 4: Storage

Assign a datastore to hold the virtual machine files (e.g., OS, application binaries, VM snapshots). This ensures sufficient space and the correct type of storage for your VM workloads.

Sections on This Screen

1. Datastores *

   This section displays all available datastores accessible from the compute resource.

   Each datastore is listed with the following attributes:

   • Datastore Name - The label identifying the storage target (e.g., datastore1)

   • Datastore Type - Type of file system (e.g., VMFS, NFS, etc.)

   • Datastore Free Space - The available capacity in gigabytes (e.g., 197.49 GB)

   How to Use:

   • Select a datastore by clicking the radio button beside it.

   • Only one datastore can be selected per VM build.

   • The Next button becomes active after a valid selection is made.

Selection Criteria & Recommendations

Criteria	Guidance
Available Space	Ensure the free space exceeds the total estimated VM size.
Performance Tier	Choose SSD-backed storage for high-performance workloads.
Redundancy	Prefer datastores backed by fault-tolerant or RAID-configured arrays.
VMFS vs NFS	VMFS is optimized for VMware-based VMs; NFS is suitable for shared access.

Navigation Controls

• Previous - Returns to Step 3: Select Compute Resource

• Next - Proceeds to Step 5: Customize Hardware

Notes and Best Practices

• Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

• Insufficient space or unsupported datastore types will prevent VM provisioning.

• If no datastore is available, verify permissions or go back to select-storage and select a different compute resource.

Example Use Case

If you’re deploying a development VM that needs around 100 GB of disk space:

• Select a datastore with at least 150-200 GB free to allow for logs, snapshots, and system overhead.

• In this case: datastore1 with 197.49 GB of free space is acceptable.

Step 5: Hardware

Define the virtual hardware specs for your VM—specifically CPU and memory. This step helps ensure the VM is provisioned with the right amount of compute power for its intended workload.

Supported Hardware

Configure your VM’s virtual CPU and memory allocation.

Hardware Types:*

Type	Setting Fields	Description
CPU	Count: Number of vCPUs Ratio: CPU overcommit ratio (e.g., 1:1, 2:1) Compatibility dropdown	Assign compute processing power. Higher vCPU counts improve performance for CPU-intensive workloads. Flag for hardware compatibility with selected compute node.
Memory	Size: RAM in MB or GB Compatibility dropdown	Memory allocation for the VM. Ensure it meets workload needs. Similar compatibility flag as with CPU.

Warning

If compatibility is flagged as False, check the selected compute node (Step 3) for resource availability or reduce CPU/Memory requests.

Configuration Panel (toggle to enable advanced hardware settings)

Customize Advanced Configuration

When enabled, additional fields may appear for:

• NUMA settings

• Virtual device passthrough

• Boot order configuration

• Hardware acceleration support (e.g., nested virtualization)

Best Practice Guidelines

Scenario	Recommendation
Lightweight utility VM	1 CPU, 512 MB - 2 GB RAM
Web or app server	2-4 CPUs, 4-8 GB RAM
Database server/analytics	4-8 CPUs, 16+ GB RAM
Enable advanced config	For performance tuning or hardware-specific features

Notes

• All fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

• Hardware settings must pass compatibility checks based on the compute resource selected.

• The platform may offer guardrails or display warnings if the requested specs exceed available resources.

Step 6: Configuration

This step provides advanced configuration options for finalizing how the virtual machine is initialized, connected, secured, and provisioned. It includes five tabs:

Tabs & Fields

1. Authentication *

   Define how local credentials are configured for initial access.

   • Use Sigma-generated SSH key - Toggle to auto-generate and inject SSH credentials.

   • Autologon - Enable automatic login on VM startup (for Windows).

   • Local Username - Required field; initial login user.

   • Local Password - Required field; ensure strong password policies.

   • Organization Name - Optional label for licensing or compliance tagging.

2. Domain (Windows only)

   Allows the VM to join a domain automatically at boot.

   • Domain Join (toggle) - Enable to join a domain.

   • Domain Name - FQDN (e.g., corp.internal.local)

   • Domain User - User account with permissions to join machines to the domain.

   • Domain Password - Password for the above account (stored securely).

   Note

   Domain join typically requires that networking be configured correctly (see the next tab).

3. Network (Optional)

   Configure a static network assignment if DHCP is not used.

   • Network Configuration (toggle) - Enable to manually configure.

   • Subnet - Select from predefined network segments.

   • IP Address - Assign static IP.

   • Subnet Mask - Typically 255.255.255.0.

   • Gateway - Default gateway IP.

   • DNS Domain - e.g., internal.company.com

   • DNS Server List - Comma-separated list of IPs (e.g., 10.0.0.2,10.0.0.3)

4. Task Sequence (Optional)

   Specify a pre-configured automation workflow to run on the VM.

   • Task Sequence (toggle) - Enable to attach a predefined automation runbook.

   • Task Sequence dropdown - Select from available sequences (e.g., InstallPatches, InitializeDatabase, BaselineConfig)

   Tip

   Used to auto-install software, apply security policies, or run provisioning scripts.

5. User Data (Optional)

   Insert raw initialization scripts to execute on first boot.

   • Script Language - Choose from Bash, PowerShell, etc.

   • User Data Script - Paste the script here. Supports base64 encoding for cloud-init.

   Hint

   This is ideal for advanced IT automation workflows or cloud-native provisioning.

Navigation Controls

• Previous - Customize Hardware

• Next - Confirm and Review

Notes

• Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required to continue.

• The more configuration options you use, the more automated the provisioning becomes.

• Use Task Sequences or User Data if integrating with CI/CD or compliance baseline requirements.

• Ensure consistency with internal IT policy for domain credentials and networking standards.