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BMC Atrium Core 9.1

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The BMC Atrium Core solution works with other BMC Atrium solutions to facilitate the alignment of your IT organization with business priorities. BMC Atrium Core provides tight integration across management tools used in your IT environment, saving your IT organization time and money. BMC Atrium Core includes the following component products. - BMC Atrium Configuration Management Database (BMC Atrium CMDB), which stores information about the configuration items (CIs) in your IT environment and the relationships between them. - BMC Atrium Integrator, which transfers data between an external datastore and BMC Atrium CMDB.

Release notes and notices

updated 22 Sep

This section provides information about what is new or changed in this space, including urgent issues, documentation updates, service packs, and patches.

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Date	Title	Summary
September 4, 2017	9.1.03.001: Patch 1 for Service Pack 3	This release consolidates all the Hot Fixes delivered for BMC Atrium Core version 9.1.03 into a single patch release. Parallel Upgrade feature for server groups is supported in this release.
July 12, 2017	9.1.02.003: Patch 3 for Service Pack	This release consolidates all the Hot Fixes delivered for BMC Atrium Core version 9.1.02 into a single patch release. Service Catalog performance issues are resolved.
June 9, 2017	9.1.03: Service Pack 3	This release consolidates all the Hot Fixes delivered for BMC Atrium Core version 9.1 and later into a single service pack. New REST APIs are introduced as a part of Digital Enterprise Management initiative. Also, the Pentaho version is upgraded to 6.0.1.0.
March 17, 2017	9.1.02.002: Patch 2 for Service Pack 2	This release consolidates all the Hot Fixes delivered for BMC Atrium Core version 9.1.02 into a single patch release. This patch release includes BMC Atrium CMDB and BMC Atrium User Interface related fixes.
February 17, 2017	9.1.02.001: Patch 1 for Service Pack 2	This release consolidates HotFixes delivered for BMC Atrium Core version 9.1 SP2 into a single patch release. This patch release includes various BMC Atrium CMDB, Reconciliation Engine, Product Catalog, and Atrium Impact Simulator related fixes.
December 05, 2016	9.1.02: Service Pack	This release consolidates all the Hot Fixes delivered for BMC Atrium Core version 9.1 and later into a single service pack. The Atrium Integrator user interface is modified for better user experience.
June 23, 2016	9.1.00.001: Patch 1 for version 1	This release consolidates all the Hotfixes delivered for BMC Atrium Core version 9.1 and later into a single patch. The format of describing the component version is modified in order to have a fixed location to get the version information. Hereafter, the versioning of components is as follows: Version Number.Service Pack.Patch.Hotfix
December 22, 2015	9.1.00 enhancements	BMC Atrium Core 9.1 has been enhanced with the following new feature. Hierarchical groups support in CMDB

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Frequently asked questions

This section provides answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about BMC Atrium Core components.

BMC Atrium CMDB Reconciliation Engine FAQs

What is Reconciliation Engine?

The Reconciliation Engine is a component installed with the BMC Atrium CMDB. The main function of the Reconciliation Engine is the creation of a production dataset that contains accurate data from all available sources. Data in the production dataset is then used by consuming applications.

For more information, see the following resources:

Resource	Link
Online documentation	Reconciliation Engine component of BMC Atrium CMDB
BMC Communities Webinar	Atrium CMDB - Understanding the Atrium Reconcilliation Engine - March 14, 2013
BMC Communities Webinar	Atrium Webinar- Working with Reconciliation Engine - 14 August 2014

What should I do to prevent errors that might occur when running Reconciliation Engine jobs?

Before you run a Reconciliation Engine (RE) job, perform the following:

Perform CDM metadata diagnostics - Run the CDMChecker utility to:
- Detect invalid customization
- Detect CDM corruption
  - For information about running this utility, see Using the CDMChecker tool.
  - For information about troubleshooting the errors, see Issues that might arise during the CDMChecker pre-upgrade check.
Perform data diagnostics
- Run the cmdbdiag utility to check if data conforms with the model defined in BMC Atrium Configuration Management Database (BMC Atrium CMDB) and correct it. For information about using this utility, see Verifying your data model using the cmdbdiag program.
Perform Reconciliation Engine-specific data diagnostics
- Run the Data Analyzer tool to check whether the data follows the RE-specific guidelines. BMC highly recommends you to run this tool before running any RE job. See Using CMDB Data Analyzer to Investigate CMDB Data Issues.
Perform manual checks for RE jobs
- Make sure that all the classes and attributes used in standard or custom rules of all the RE jobs exist in your CDM data model. If a certain job is imported in your CDM, the job might fail.
- Make sure that the data sets (source, target and precedence data set) referred in all the RE jobs also exist in the BMC_Dataset class.
Check whether indexes are set
- During upgrade, for optimal RE performance, ensure that the out-of-the-box indexes set up on BMC.CORE:BMC_BaseElement and BMC.Core:BMC_BaseRelationship forms.
- Discrepancies, if any, are logged in the Atrium Installer log file. The following image displays an example message:

What are the best practices that need to be followed before starting reconciliation activity?

Watch the video on Reconciliation Engine best practices:

https://youtu.be/8dykPDe2GDU

Also, review the Best Practices for handling Reconciliation.

Configure recommended settings

Ensure that the System-level settings and Job-level settings are configured as per the recommendations. See the following images for recommended settings:

System-level settings

Job-level settings

For more information, see Configuring Reconciliation Engine system parameters.

Under what conditions should the OOTB configuration settings be changed?

You should consider changing the default configuration settings in the following scenarios:

If you are dealing with large volume of data, increase the value of the Definition Check Interval field.
If you need specific log details, ensure that you change the log level to Debug. (Change the default log value only when you need and reset it back to default log level when you are done). Additionally, set the Maximum Job Log File Size value to 50000 KB.
If the RE Job is not responding for a long period, set Job Idle Time value to the desired time other than the default value (0).

What are standard rules and when should standard rules be used?

Standard identification and precedence rules simplify the process of creating reconciliation jobs. Standard rules use defaults for Identify and Merge activities and automate the creation of reconciliation jobs.

The standard rules work with all classes in the Common Data Model (CDM) and BMC extensions. They identify each class using attributes that typically have unique values, and they merge based on precedence set for BMC datasets. Standard reconciliation jobs always use these standard rules, but you can also use standard rules when you create your own reconciliation job.

You must use standard rules:

When configuration items are published into the CMDB or when the data is pulled from the CMDB.
To uniquely identify attributes of the discovered configuration items.

For more information, see the following topics:

What are custom rules and when should custom rules be used?

A set of rules that are created as per your specific business requirements and are not part of the standard rules are termed as custom rules. You can use custom rules for CI classes.

The following is an example scenario in which you might want to create custom rules:

If you have extended the Common Data Model by adding a new attribute, which is specific to your requirement and which might not be populated by any discovery tool. You might want to define custom rules to identify your assets based on this attribute.

For more information about using custom rules, see Creating an identification ruleset for reconciliation.

What are identification rules and precedence rules and how to define them?

Standard identification and precedence rules simplify the process of creating reconciliation jobs. A reconciliation job is provided with a standard rule sets of identification and precedence rules.

These standard rules work with all classes in the Common Data Model (CDM) and BMC extensions. They identify each class using attributes that typically have unique values, and they merge based on precedences set for BMC datasets. Standard reconciliation jobs always use these standard rules, but you can also use them when you create a custom reconciliation job.

For more information, see Standard identification and precedence rules for reconciliation jobs.

How to define precedence order?

Watch the following video:

For more information, see Configuring standard precedence rules for reconciliation.

What should I not do with my CMDB data?

Do not set a RE ID manually in any dataset.
Do not manually delete data, which is marked as soft delete.
Do not delete datasets manually. You must also need to clean up dataset references from Reconciliation Engine, Normalization Engine etc

How to use qualifications in RE activity?

For most reconciliation activities, you can specify a qualification set for the purpose of restricting the instances that participate in an activity. Qualification sets, which are reusable between activities, are qualification rules that each select certain attribute values. Any instance that matches at least one qualification in a set can participate in an activity that specifies the qualification set.

For example, you might create a qualification set that selects instances that were discovered within the last 24 hours and have the domain "Frankfurt" if your company just opened a Frankfurt office and you are reconciling its discovered CIs for the first time.

For more information, see Using Qualification Sets in reconciliation activities.
For information about conventions to be used in qualification of Reconciliation Engine activity, see Qualification conventions for reconciliation activities.

What is a data analyzer tool in CMDB?

The CMDB Data Analyzer is a collection of tools that enable you to perform data analysis and also identify data inconsistencies in any CMDB dataset.

For more information, see Using CMDB Data Analyzer to Investigate CMDB Data Issues.

What does reconcile only normalized CIs mean?

As a best practice, BMC recommends that you must reconcile only those CIs that have been normalized or those that do not require normalization. To reconcile the appropriate CIs, enable the Process Normalized CIs Only option in the Job Editor.

How to reconcile manually created CIs?

To reconcile manually created CIs, perform the following steps:

Create a custom job.
Define the job for the classes in which you populate the data.
Identify the CIs.
1. Ensure that you adhere to the identification rules for the discovered jobs so that your CI matches with the discovered CIs.
2. Ensure that you populate at least those columns/attributes correctly that are defined in the identification rules (This helps in correct identification of the CI with the existing CI)
Set a lower precedence value for the manual dataset, but set a highest precedence to the manually edited columns/attributes of the dataset.

What are the possible causes of a partial merge? What do I do if CIs merge partially?

CIs are partially merged when the merge process fails due to data issues.

See the following flowchart that explains the checks to be performed if the CIs are partially merged:

How do I find duplicate CIs in the same dataset?

Run the CMDB Data Analyzer utility to find duplicate CIs. See Using CMDB Data Analyzer to Investigate CMDB Data Issues.

How do I find same CI in multiple datasets?

Run Reconciliation Engine's Identification activity across multiple datasets. For example, open the BMC.CORE:BaseElement form and enter the RE ID value and search. If a CI having the same RE ID is found in multiple datasets, it means that the same CI exists in those datasets.

How do I find orphan CIs?

Run the CMDB Data Analyzer utility to find orphan CIs. See Using CMDB Data Analyzer to Investigate CMDB Data Issues.

What are the most common failures in RE and why?

The following table lists the common RE issues and provides access to relevant resources and workaround to these issues.

Issue	Resolution
Duplicate CIs in discovery/source datasets. This error message is logged in the RE Job log.	See Reconciliation Engine multiple CI match issues.
ARERR[120092] The dataset ID and Reconciliation Identity combination is not unique.	Check the instance or data of the source dataset Check whether the instance is duplicate Check if your identification rules are correct (by using multiple attributes)
Multiple instances found in target dataset. This error message is logged in the RE Job log.	Check if your identification rules are correct Check the instances or duplicate data in the target dataset
ARERR[101049] Dataset <> does not exist. Aborting... Activity ended with error.	This error occurs when you delete or rename any dataset and it does not get updated on all required places such as precedence sets etc. Perform the following: Check all existing precedence sets and do a cleanup of dataset in question. Create a dataset with the same name which RE is looking for
Cannot find the endpoint of relationship.	This error occurs if you manually modify a CI and fail to modify its relationship, causing data integrity issues. For more information, see Reconciliation Engine merge activity issues.

How to migrate RE jobs from one computer to another?

To migrate the RE jobs, you must:

Export the RE job data using the Reconciliation Console. See Exporting reconciliation definitions.
Import the ARX data using BMC Remedy Data Import tool. See Enabling the Data Import Utility in the BMC Remedy AR System online documentation.

What to do if RE process terminates or is unresponsive?

The Reconciliation Engine process terminates because:

The AR System server or database is busy and is unable to process the requests coming from RE.
The AR System server is either not responding or not reachable.

In the above scenarios, RE awaits for a response from the AR System server and then terminates itself.

For more information, see the Knowledge Article.

The scheduled RE jobs are not running or are getting delayed. What do I do?

Perform the following:

Check whether the job schedule is deleted or is modified.
Check whether the Application Pending form has an entry for that job.
- If there is no entry for that job, enable the AR API, SQL and Filter logs.
- If the entry exists, check the AR Dispatcher log.
Check whether RE is registered with the AR Dispatcher.
Check the number of entries in the Application Pending form.
- If there are many entries in the form and if you do not need them, delete those entries from the form.
Check whether the RE job entry is in the Queued state in the RE job run. If yes, delete the entry from the Queued state.
If you are using RE in a server group environment, ensure that the Reconciliation-Engine-Suspended flag is set to False (F). Note: You cannot set this value manually.

Changes to RE job, rules, or qualification sets are not reflecting in the Atrium Console. What do I do?

Perform the following:

Enable server-side logs.
1. Edit the log4j.properties file located in the <AR_Installation_Home>\midtier\WEB-INF\classes folder. Add the following lines:
```
log4j.rootLogger=DEBUG, atrium
 log4j.appender.atrium=org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender 
 log4j.appender.atrium.File=C:/Program Files/BMC Software/ARSystem/midtier/logs/atrium-ui.log 
 log4j.appender.atrium.MaxFileSize=25MB 
 log4j.appender.atrium.MaxBackupIndex=10
 log4j.appender.atrium.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout 
 log4j.appender.atrium.layout.ConversionPattern==%d[%t] %-5p %C{1} - %m%n
```
  and
```
log4j.logger.com.bmc.atrium=DEBUG
 log4j.logger.com.bmc.bsm.atrium= DEBUG
 log4j.logger.com.bmc.atrium.flex.ds= DEBUG
```
2. (BMC Atrium Core 7.6.04 or earlier): Edit the <AR_HOME>\ARSystem\midtier\WEB-INF\flex\services-config.xml file.
  
  (BMC Atrium Core 8.0 or later): Edit the <AR_HOME>\ARSystem\midtier\WEB-INF\AtriumWidget\flex\services-config.xml file.
  
  In the services-config.xml file, modify the logging level from Warn to Debug.
  
  For example, change the following line:
  <target class="flex.messaging.log.ConsoleTarget" level="WARN">
  To
  <target class="flex.messaging.log.ConsoleTarget" level=“DEBUG">
Enable client-side logs.
For information about enabling client-side logs, see BMC Atrium Core Console client-side logging.

How to create a RE job for multiple source datasets?

See this knowledge article.

Additional resources from BMC

The following hyperlinks provide information outside of the BMC Atrium Core online documentation that you might find helpful:

BMC Communities, BMC Atrium Core community
Search the BMC Support Knowledge Base filtered by Atrium CMDB
Query to find Top KA Lists across all product communities.
BMC Educational Services, BMC Atrium Core learning path
BMC Global Services, BMC Atrium Core offerings
www.bmc.com information about BMC Atrium Core
Documentation for Related Products

PDFs and videos

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Videos

The following table lists topics that contain videos that supplement or replace the text-based documentation.

The videos are recorded using the earlier version of BMC Atrium Core and are valid for BMC Atrium Core 9.1.

Topic	Duration (in minutes)	Description
Taking Your Data Into Production	12:10	https://youtu.be/UdepbflbFp0 This video explains at a high level, the steps required to take your data into production with BMC Atrium Core, end to end from a third-party source to your production dataset in BMC Atrium CMDB.
Best Practices for handling Normalization	6:45	https://youtu.be/3jexQgQHo0E This video explains the best practices for Normalization in order to achieve improved performance
Atrium Integrator Issues	2.33	https://youtu.be/bVeyhkfEfwM This video explains some of the important tips to troubleshoot Atrium Integrator related issues.
Atrium Core - Home	4:21	https://youtu.be/MtBvuXEA2OA This video explains the concepts of Denormalized CMDB Data Storage (DCDS) in context of the Common Data model.
Atrium Core - Home	2:43	https://youtu.be/MEXRgoYEtVE This video features highlights about the preconfigured integration of BMC Atrium CMDB with BMC Atrium Discovery and Dependency Mapping.
Atrium Core - Home	3:12	https://youtu.be/rQeQ7T-x7PI This video explains the BMC Atrium CMDB integration package for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)
BMC Atrium CMDB and BMC ADDM Integration	2.43	https://youtu.be/MEXRgoYEtVE This video features highlights about the preconfigured integration of BMC Atrium CMDB with BMC Atrium Discovery and Dependency Mapping.
Best Practices for handling Reconciliation	2.22	https://youtu.be/8dykPDe2GDU This video explains some of the best practices for Reconciliation in order to achieve optimal results.
Best practices for BMC Atrium CMDB	39.41	https://youtu.be/PmZ7Kbwob3A This video explains some of the best practices for BMC Atrium Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
Limitations of AIE to AI Migration Tool when migrating data exchanges	4.25	https://youtu.be/cXvVGp6shOE This video explains some of the important limitations of AIE to AI migration tool. It is important to know the limitations to ensure successful migration.
Migrating BMC Atrium Integration Engine data exchanges to Atrium Integrator	3:21	https://youtu.be/u81aMz5eQXo This video explains the process of migrating data exchanges from Atrium Integration Engine to Atrium Integrator.
Denormalized CMDB Data Storage	4:21	https://youtu.be/MtBvuXEA2OA This video explains the concepts of Denormalized CMDB Data Storage (DCDS) in context of the Common Data model.
Creating a job in Atrium Integrator Spoon	6:03	https://youtu.be/MV4GlFX9fJA This video explains how to create a job in BMC Atrium Integrator Spoon using a CSV file as an input and check updates to a CMDB form.
Understanding Drift Management	1:13:13	https://youtu.be/H-7s4hCJbs0 This video explains the basic concepts & architectural details related to identifying and managing CMDB drift along with Drift Management concepts and the process of remediating drifts.
Adding intermediate steps to a Atrium Integrator transformation	5:45	https://youtu.be/DMpTugESxjM This video explains how to add qualifications to source data base and how to create delta logic for the job created using wizard.
Adding intermediate steps to a Atrium Integrator transformation	4:00	https://youtu.be/Z799hBYwQAM This video explains to use the Calculator steps within the BMC Atrium Integration transformation.
Planning the data model	1:07:06	https://youtu.be/io7I7AMvAmI This video explains the role of the Common Data Model (CDM), its purpose, its usage, its implementation, and its resources.
Planning the data model	1:24:50	https://youtu.be/XYuaEUIw3ak This video explains the best practices for CMDB Design and Architecture.
Atrium Webinar Series		Atrium Webinar series provides product guidance and best practices for the Atrium product suite.
Overview of BMC Atrium Service Context	4:18	https://youtu.be/dtlbEfiqMuo This video provides an overview on BMC Atrium Service Context.

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Last modified by Vinay Bellare on Sep 20, 2017

atrium_core home videos what's_new version_9_1_00

Comments

Carey Walker

Could we please get an updated whole pdf generated for this space to replace the DEC 15 one?

Apr 14, 2016 09:56
1. Amol Redij
  
  Hi Carey,
  Thank you for your patience.
  I will discuss your comment with my team lead and reply to you.
  Regards,
  Amol
  
  Sep 07, 2016 03:06
1. Amol Redij
  
  Hi Carey,
  We upload the PDF file only during the main and service pack releases.
  However, you can generate a PDF copy for your using, the Export to PDF option from the Tools menu.
  Thanks,
  Amol
  
  Sep 07, 2016 03:22
Stefan Hall

Is it planed to create/update the BMC Atrium CMDB 9.1.00 Common Data Model Diagram to show the flattened CDM?
It could be a nice additional information.

Jul 26, 2016 10:41
1. Amol Redij
  
  Hi Stefan,
  Thank you for your patience.
  Yes, we are updating the CDM diagram and will be uploaded shortly.
  Regards,
  Amol
  
  Sep 02, 2016 02:09
1. Amol Redij
  
  Hi Stefan,
  We have updated the CDM diagram that includes the flattened CDM.
  Thanks,
  Amol
  
  Sep 07, 2016 03:02
Marco Perez

Just a nit.
The current CDM Diagram contains a minor error in the "BMC_BaseElement".
"ReconciliationIdentificationError" is written with some unrecognized character
looking like a checked box instead of the substring "fi".
You may want to fix this as part of the next planned update.

Mar 09, 2017 10:21
1. Anagha Deshpande
  
  Hello Marco,
  Thanks for bringing this to our notice. I will work with SME and will upload the corrected diagram.
  Regards,
  Anagha
  
  Mar 09, 2017 09:47
1. Nidhi Das
  
  Hello Marco,
  We have uploaded the latest BMC Atrium CMDB 9.1.03 Common Data Model Diagram. Please check.
  Regards,
  Nidhi
  
  Aug 17, 2017 04:02
Thomas Hammer

Please have a look at the diagram. Two relationship lines have dead ends.
BMC_HostedAccessPoint
BMC_AccountOnSystem
They just end near the BMC_Equipment box.
In the previous versions they were connected to BMC_System
Please correct the drawing.

Jun 06, 2017 05:06
1. Vinay Bellare
  
  Hi Thomas,
  Thanks for bringing this to our notice. I will coordinate with the SME to ensure that the diagram is correctly updated.
  Regards,
  Vinay
  
  Jun 07, 2017 01:33
1. Nidhi Das
  
  Hello Thomas,
  We have uploaded the latest BMC Atrium CMDB 9.1.03 Common Data Model Diagram. Please check.
  Regards,
  Nidhi
  
  Aug 17, 2017 03:58
Thomas Hammer

Hello,
are there any plans to update the CDM help (https://docs.bmc.com/docs/download/attachments/609847285/BMCAtriumCMDB8.1_CDM_Help.zip?version=1&modificationDate=1445277879980&api=v2 )?
It's still 8.1 from Feb. 2013. Please provide the current model for 9.1.03.
Thank you
Regards
Thomas

Jul 19, 2017 03:00
1. Chaitanya vikas Ghanta
  
  Hi Thomas,
  Sorry for the delay. We have now updated the CDM Help to 9.1.03.
  Regards,
  Chaitanya
  
  Mar 14, 2018 12:23
Vali Vasile

Hello, It would bring real value if CDM help is updated to the latest version, as Thomas suggested. Thank you!

Sep 13, 2017 03:45
1. Nidhi Das
  
  Hello Vali,
  I will discuss this with the concerned SME and will update the topic.
  Regards,
  Nidhi
  
  Sep 15, 2017 05:10
  1. Ivan Pirishanchin
    
    It could be great also if the CDM help is actually part of the CMDB documentation space here in confluence :)
    
    Oct 18, 2017 04:26
    
    Chaitanya vikas Ghanta
    
    Hi Ivan,
    We have now updated the CDM Help to 9.1.03.
    Regards,
    Chaitanya
    
    Mar 14, 2018 12:20
1. Chaitanya vikas Ghanta
  
  Hi Vali,
  We have updated the CDM Help to 9.1.03 now.
  Regards,
  Chaitanya
  
  Mar 14, 2018 12:21

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