Synchronizing the BMC Asset Inventory forms with BMC CMDB

A user with admin permissions can create a UI in BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management from the CMDB classes. For new classes added in the BMC Helix CMDBthat are relevant to BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management, corresponding BMC Asset Inventory forms are required. The synchronization process updates the BMC Asset Inventory forms to include forms for any new classes added to the BMC Helix CMDB.

Before you begin

If you have customized a view for the custom AST form, which is overlaid, ensure that you export the customized view to another environment. After you run the Sync Asset UI with CMDB utility, import the customized view. For more information about import and export of views, see Exporting object definitions, views, and applications.

To synchronize BMC Asset Inventory forms with BMC CMDB

In the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
From the Application Settings list, select Asset Management > Advanced Options > Sync Asset UI with CMDB, and then click Open.

Important
When a custom class is created, it inherits the UI from the AST:BaseElement form. However, when you add fields on your new class, the fields appear on a hidden "custom" tab. You must move the fields to another area on the form to see and use them.
In the Schema Name field, enter the name of the CMDB class for which you want to create a UI in Asset Management. For example AST:Chassis, AST:FileSystem, and so on.
Click Search, and then select the record.
Click Update Asset UI.
The system generates or updates Asset UI for the CMDB class and its subclasses. The classes and its sub classes are updated with changes in the BMC Helix CMDB.
Important
The changes are partially reflected on Asset forms after running Sync Asset UI. For Enum fields, the alias values are not synced to the asset forms.

To create an Asset Inventory form

In the Schema Name field, enter the form name.
Set the Has Asset UI field to Yes, to make the class available in the BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management application.
In the Proper Name field, enter the name to appear in BMC Asset Inventory forms.
Click Update Asset UI.

Important

Sync Asset UI creates duplicate fields (with identical names but different field IDs) if it finds a field with the same name in the Asset Management form and in the CMDB form.
When the Sync Asset UI utility is triggered, it can take up to 30 minutes for records to start getting processed from the application pending form. This is because some of the notifications are lost before the utility is triggered.
The synchronization activities are saved in the CMDBSynchronizeUI.log file. For details about this file, see Generating forms for other applications
If you do not want to display certain relationships available from the menus (when relating one CI to another CI) then set the Show In Menu field to No.

Schema Names

If you open the Schema Names form directly, it displays in Administrator view, by default. This view has Asset Management and Form Lookup tabs visible at the bottom of the screen. The fields on the Asset Management tab are no longer used by the Sync Asset UI, however they are still in use by some menus and workflows. The following table describes the usage of the various fields in Schema Names form.

Asset Management tab fields	Usage
Contracts	Used in menus
People	Used in menus and workflow
Configuration	Used in menus and workflow
SLM	Obsolete
Schedule	Not Used
Financials	Used in workflow
Depreciation	Used in menus and workflow
Outage	Used in workflow
Return	Used in workflow
Purchase Requisition	Used in menus and workflow
In Inventory	Used in menus and workflow

Form Lookup tab fields	Usage
Form Code	Used in workflow name specific to the form
User Defined Prefix	Used by Incident
Locale	Field-id 179 used to store the record locale
Workflow Transition Tag	Used in menu
Generated Entry ID	Indicates main field for identifier
Status Field ID	Indicates which field tracks the state of the form
Data Tags	Stores a tag that identifies the system the form belongs to

To retain custom classes after an upgrade

If you have custom classes, after an version upgrade, they might be deleted from the application or lose their role-based permissions. Perform the following steps to retain the custom classes after an upgrade:

Open the Developer Studio in the Base Development mode.
From AR System Navigator, expand the All Objects branch under the appropriate server.
Double-click Applications.
On the Applications tab, in the Filtering Options area, double-click the Remedy Asset Inventory application.
On the Remedy Asset Inventory tab, expand Forms.
Click Add to add all the missing custom AST form.
The Form Selector window is displayed.
Save the changes.
Perform the steps from To synchronize BMC Asset Inventory forms with BMC CMDB.
In the Schema Name field, enter the name of the custom class.