Creating and modifying CIs

If you receive one or more CIs without a formal purchase requisition, you must register them by creating the CIs. To create a CI, you must have Asset Admin permissions. If you have Asset User permissions, you can modify a CI only if the CI is related to your Support Group. Your administrator (or any person with Asset Admin permissions) can relate the CI to your Support Group.

You specify information about each of your CIs and the items that they represent by using forms for different CI types, such as Computer System and Bulk Inventory.

Most CI forms contain similar fields; the only difference is how you categorize the CI. The following procedures show how to create a CI for two different CI types. The procedure is similar for other CI types.

• To create a Computer System CI
• Managing asset inventory

Before you begin

Ensure that you have access to the company selected in the Default Company list in Asset Management Settings. For more information, see Configuring Asset Management settings.

Follow this procedure to create a Computer System CI. The procedure for creating other CI types is similar.

To create a Computer System CI

1. In the navigation pane of the Asset Management console, select Functions > Manage CIs.

2. In the Select a CI Type dialog box, choose System > Computer System, and click Create.
   The Computer System (New) form appears.

   Important

   When creating a CI, only the Quick Links and Functions menus in the left navigation section are active, and will expand. The Advanced Functions and Create Other Requests menus will get activated only after you save the CI.

3. At the top of the Computer System form, specify general information.
   Bold field names indicate required fields.

4. In the CI Name field, specify a name for the CI.
   
   

   Best practice

   When creating a CI name, follow a consistent naming convention. According to the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) guidelines, identifiers should be short and meaningful, CI names for hardware should not be based on supplier device names. For example, the name might include an indicator of the item's function followed by a numeric code, such as MONITOR100.

5. In the CI ID field, type a unique alphanumeric value for the CI.
6. From the Supported list, select Yes or No.
   This field provides information for your records.
7. From the Company list, select the company to which the item belongs.
   For more information about this field, see Providing access to a CI for multiple companies.
8. From the Primary Capability and Capability List fields, select or type the roles this item performs in your company's topology.

9. Select a status from the Status list.
   You can select one of the following options:

   Status	Description
   Deployed	The item has been deployed and in use. This is the default value.
   Received	The item represented by the CI was received in shipping.
   Being Assembled	The item is being assembled.
   In Repair	The item is down for maintenance.
   Down	The item is down, but not yet in maintenance.
   End of Life	The item is no longer being deployed.
   Transferred	The item was transferred to another location.
   Delete	The CI is marked for deletion.
   In Inventory	The item is in inventory, but not yet deployed. If the Search Inventory Locations dialog box is configured, perform the following steps: In the confirmation message window, click OK. In the Search Inventory Locations dialog box, click Search. From the search results, select the required location, and click Return. Important: If the Search Inventory Locations dialog box is not displayed, see Displaying the Search Inventory Locations dialog box to set the CI location.
   On Loan	The item is on loan to another location.
   Ordered	The item has been ordered but is not yet available.
   Disposed	The item is no longer available and was disposed of.
   Reserved	The item was reserved and taken out of inventory.
   Return to Vendor	The item must be returned to the vendor as damaged or unwanted.

10. Select the impact, urgency, and priority that apply when this item goes down (becomes unavailable).
11. In the Users Affected field, specify the number of people who use this item.
    Alternatively, specify the number of users who are affected when the item goes down.

12. Specify the other fields in this area:

    Field name	Description
    Tag Number	The CI tag number. This number is usually placed on the product by a member of your IT department to track the CI.
    Serial Number	The item's serial number
    Part Number	The item's part number
    System Role	The role this item plays in your company
    Status Reason	The reason for the current CI status

13. Click the General tab.
14. In the Product Categorization area, select tiers, product, and so on to categorize the CI. For more information, see Categorizing CIs. 
15. Use the Tier fields to categorize the item, as described in Categorizing CIs.
16. In the Location area, use the lists and fields to specify the location of the item. For more information, see Company and location for CIs.

17. Specify the dates of the CI in the Lifecycle area.

    Field name	Description
    Received Date	This field is automatically populated when the CI is received by using the Requisition, Purchase/Receive feature.
    Installation Date	This field is populated when the CI is in Deployed state.
    Available Date	Enter the date that the CI will be available.
    Return Date	Enter the return date of the CI.
    Disposal Date	Enter the disposal date of the CI.
    Last Scan Date	This field is automatically populated when the CI instance has been discovered using a discovery tool such as BMC BladeLogic Client Automation or BMC Atrium Discovery and Dependency Mapping.

18. Enter the owner information in the Owner Name and Owner Contact fields.

    Important

    Owner information appears only on the Computer System, Application, and Business Service CI forms. For more information about service context, see Using BMC Atrium Service Context.

19. Click the Specifications tab.
    Add additional information about the CI and the item that it represents.
20. Click Save.
    If you see a message instructing you to complete additional fields that might be necessary for this particular CI, do so.

To modify a record

1. Open the record that you want to modify.
2. Click the field, tab, or link in the Navigation pane that contains the information.
3. Make the required changes and click Save.

To modify multiple records

1. From  Asset Management Console, select Functions > Manage CIs.
2. In the Select a CI Type dialog box, select the appropriate CI Type, and click Search.
3. Select the records that you want to modify, and click Modify all.
4. Make the required changes, and click Save.

To categorize CIs

1. Open the CI, as described in  Searching for records in the application consoles .
   
   
2. In the Product Categorization area
   1. Select the value from Tier 1.
   2. (Optional) Select the value from Tier 2.
   3. (Optional) Select the value from Tier 3.
   4. (Optional) Select the value from Product Name+.
   5. (Optional) Select the value from Model/Version.
   6. (Optional) Select the value from Manufacturer.
   7. (Optional) Select the value from Supplier Name+.
      
      
3. Click Save. 
   The CI is categorized.

To delete CIs

1. In Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Asset Management> Advanced Options> CI Deletion, and then click Open. 
   The Delete CI form appears.
3. On the Delete CI form, before you delete a CI, you can view the CI and its relationships to other CIs.
   • To view a CI, select the CI and click View.
     The CI form appears. After you view details of the CI, click Close.
   • To view the relationship of a CI to other CIs, select the CI and click Explore CI.
     The CMDB Explorer appears. After you view the CI relationships, click Close.
4. From the CI Marked for Deletion table, select the CIs you want to delete, and click Delete Selected CIs. 
   When you delete CIs, they are not removed from the database,  but they are marked for deletion in CMDB. The BMC Helix CMDB  reconciliation process deletes the CIs from the database.