FAQs and additional information

This topic provides information that supplements the BladeLogic Portal documentation.

Frequently asked questions

This section provides answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) about the BladeLogic Portal .

Do users need to organize content within BMC diffferently than they did before or can they continue using it the same way?

Users of BMC Server Automation can continue to organize content in the same way they do currently.

Do users need special permissions to access content in the portal?

Access to content is based on roles in BMC Server Automation. Each security group in the portal maps to a role in BMC Server Automation and grants the permissions assigned to that role. Thus, security groups in the portal should be set up to reflect role assignments in BMC Server Automation rather than the other way around.

I already have lots of jobs defined in BMC Server Automation. Can I use those existing jobs in BMC Automation Portal?

Yes, you can create operations in the portal that use those existing jobs.

Does every operator log onto the portal and create their own operations? Can they share operations across users?

Users in the portal are organized into security groups. Each portal security group maps to a role in BMC Server Automation. If you set up a security group, all users assigned to its corresponding role in BMC Server Automation are members of the same security group. Those users can share operations. Users in different security groups can also share operations if the underlying RBAC roles in BMC Server Automation have permissions to access the same types of objects.

If operators make a mistake in selecting content or targets, can they change it?

Operations that have been created by an operator can also be edited by that operator. From the operations home page, select an operation and then click the Edit icon. Then you can edit the list of targets and rerun the operation.

Does the naming convention for content matter?

When creating objects in BMC Server Automation, you have access to all of the underlying data, but in the portal, all you have is a name. For example, you can see component template rules only when viewing results, not when you create them. A best practice is to use a thoughtful approach to naming underlying content so the name conveys some idea of the content.

If I can only see my operations, how can a user on the second shift see the output of my work?

If the other user belongs to the same portal security group as you, that user can see the output of your work. In addition, if the other user belongs to a role in BMC Server Automation and that role has the same permissions as your role, the other user can see the output of your work.

A customer upgrades to the most recent release of BMC Server Automation and then installs portal. From that point on, what is the best practice for using the portal?

Customers should map out their use cases for BMC Server Automation (for example, patch, compliance, and so forth) along with the types of users that are involved in each use case. This list of users and roles should then be mapped to the functionality enabled through BladeLogic Portal. Using this list, a subset of users can be identified who might want to adopt the BladeLogic Portal to perform their day-to-day tasks. Broadly speaking, BMC Server Automation administrators will continue to use the BMC Server Automation Console to set up and configure the product. Another set of users will then also use the BMC Server Automation Console to create or manage the underlying content required to enable core use cases. Once that content is created, consumers of that content can use the BladeLogic Portal to execute use cases and review results.

Additional information for related products

You can refer to the following online technical documentation links for products related to BladeLogic Portal:

FAQs and additional information

Frequently asked questions

Additional information for related products

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