The CERF Automaton is a device that uploads files to the CERF lan server from directories that are accessible to the client computer. The uploaded files are registered as CERF Resources on the CERF server and added to existing File Cabinets, Folders, or Notebook Pages that are configured for each job in the Automaton.  In some cases, the Automaton may also extract metadata from the files being uploaded.  The Automaton may be configured to upload files at regular intervals (in which case the device polls the source location) or manually.

A user may not be logged in to the CERF client while he or she is setting up a new Automaton job with the same credentials.  These credentials consist of server and user login information.  We recommend that you use a different set of credentials for the Automaton.  This allows the user to avoid being logged off the CERF client when an Automaton job is being executed (as is the case when the Business Policy for SYSTEM_ALLOW_AUTO_LOGOFF is set to True) or to avoid experiencing a non-critical error when the Automaton fails in an attempt to log in to CERF to upload files (as is the case when the business policy for auto log-off is set to False).  Note that the Automaton will not log in to CERF if there are no items in the source location for upload.  Please see your System Administrator or contact Lab-Ally if you have questions.