Setting up standard data categories

The standard data categories define areas of basic data, specific to your organization, that cannot be obtained from data discovery. This includes the locations, product groupings, status values and so on that are relevant to your organization. You would normally set up all this data when the system is first configured for your organization, but you can update it at any time, if required.

Viewing the standard categories

To view the standard data categories, from the main menu, click the Administration icon. The Administration page opens. In the Model section, click Custom Categories.

Accessing data in the standard categories

1. The Custom Categories page shows tabs representing the categories of data that you can manage.

2. Click the category tab for the data that you want to view, create or edit. The categories are:

   Category	Details
   Family	Groupings of Business Application Instances that are specific to your organization. See Managing product families.
   Lifecycle Status	Status values that can be associated with the IT components managed in your organization. See Managing Lifecycle Status Values.
   Locations	Physical locations in your organization which can be associated with a managed element or a person. See Managing Locations.
   Organizational Unit	Logical divisions of your organization, such as a department or a business unit in your organization. See Managing Organizational Units.
   Recovery Time	Valid recovery times that can be applied to the IT components that can be managed in your organization. See Managing Recovery Time Values.

Each tab for the standard data shows the data types that are configured on the appliance, along with abbreviations, descriptions, whether that type is active or not, arrow keys to reorder the types, whether the type is standard in BMC Discovery or user defined, and a Delete button to delete that data type. The page also has a New button which enables you to create a new type, depending on the page you are viewing.

Managing product families 

Product families define the groupings of Business Application Instances that are specific to your organization. When you select the Product Family page, all existing families are listed. From this page, you can create a new family or display an existing one in detail.

Creating a new product family

1. From the Custom Categories page, select the Families tab.
   The existing families are displayed.
2. Click the New Family button.
   The Create Family page is displayed.

3. Complete the attributes and relationships of the product family.

   Field Name	Details
   Name	Name of product family.
   Abbreviation	Abbreviation of product family name.
   Description	Free-text description of product family.
   Active	Yes if this product family is currently active, No if it is not active. Defaults to Yes.
   Standard	Yes if this product family is standard in your organization; No if it is not active. Defaults to Yes.
   Applications in Family	Relationship that defines the Business Applications that are included in this product family. This information is normally set up when you set up the Business Applications, or can be set by a pattern, or you can search for and select one or more applications from here.
   Family Owner	Relationship that defines the ownership of this product family. Search for and select the appropriate Person.

4. Click Apply to save the product family details.

Viewing details of a product family

1. From the Custom Categories page, select the Families tab.
   The existing families are displayed.
2. Click an entry to display the View Object page, showing full details of the selected family.
   • To delete the selected family, click Delete.
   • To view audit details of the family, click History.

Managing lifecycle status values 

A lifecycle status object defines a specific status value that can be applied to the IT components managed in your organization. You can assign a status value to each managed element (for instance, each Software Product, Business Application Instance and Host).

You would normally set up all the lifecycle status values appropriate to your organization when you first set up the system, but you can update them at any time.

From the Lifecycle Status page, all lifecycle status values are listed. From this page, you can create a new lifecycle status or display an existing one in detail.

Creating a new lifecycle status value

1. From the Custom Categories page, select the Lifecycle Status tab.
   Existing lifecycle status values are displayed.
2. Click New Lifecycle Status button.
   The Create Lifecycle Status page is displayed.

3. Complete the attributes and relationships of the host type.

   Field Name	Details
   Name	Name of this lifecycle status value.
   Abbreviation	Abbreviated lifecycle status name.
   Description	Free-text description of lifecycle status.
   Active	Yes, if this lifecycle status is currently active; No if it is not active. Defaults to Yes.
   Withdrawn State?	Yes, if this lifecycle status value is Withdrawn; No if it is not. Defaults to No.

4. Complete the relationships of the lifecycle status.
5. Click Apply to save the lifecycle status details.

Viewing details of a lifecycle status

1. From the Custom Categories page, select the Lifecycle Status tab. Existing lifecycle status values are displayed.
2. Click an entry to display the View Object page, showing full details of the selected lifecycle status.
   • To delete the selected lifecycle status, click Delete.
   • To view audit details of the lifecycle status, click History.

Managing locations

A Location object defines a physical location in your organization that can be associated with a managed element or a person. You can create various levels of locations; for example, you can model buildings in sites, or rooms on floors.

You would normally set up all the location values appropriate to your organization when you first set up the system; however, you can update them at any time. If you need to link locations to other nodes, you can do this by means of patterns. A template pattern is available to do this. For information on template patterns, see Pattern templates. 

From the Location page, all locations are listed. From this page, you can create a new location or display an existing one in detail.

Creating a new location

1. From the Custom Categories page, select the Locations tab.
   Existing location values are displayed.
2. Click New Location.
   The Create Location page is displayed.

3. Complete the attributes and relationships of the location.

   Field Name	Details
   Name	Name of location.
   Abbreviation	Abbreviated name of location.
   Description	Free-text description of location.
   Active	Yes, if this location is currently active; No, if it is not active. Defaults to Yes.
   Type	Select type of location (Major or Minor) from drop-down list.
   Address	Address of location.
   Phone	Telephone number of this location.
   Subsidiary Locations	Relationship that defines other locations that are subsidiary to this one. Search for and select one or more locations.
   Parent Location	Relationship that defines the parent location of this one. Search for and select the appropriate location.
   Hosts, MFParts, Mainframes, Network Devices, Printers, SNMP Managed Devices, Management Controllers, Storage Devices, Subnets, Business Applications (at this location)	Relationship that defines the number of Host systems, MF Parts, Mainframes, and other attributes that are in this location.

4. Click Apply to save the location details.

Viewing details of a location

1. From the Custom Categories page, select the Locations tab.
   Existing location values are displayed.
2. Click an entry to display the View Object page, showing full details of the selected locations.
   • To delete the selected location, click Delete.
   • To view audit details of the location, click History.

Managing organizational units 

An Organizational Unit object defines a logical division of your organization, such as a department or a business unit in your organization. You can create various levels of organizational unit; for example, you can model teams in functional areas. Managed elements in your organization (Software Product, Business Application and Host) can be associated with particular organizational units.

From the Organizational Unit page, all organizational units are listed. From this page, you can create a new organizational unit or display an existing one in detail.

Creating a new organizational unit

1. From the Custom Categories page, select the Organizational Units tab.
   Existing organizational units are displayed.
2. Click New Organizatioal Unit.
   The Create Organizational Unit page is displayed.

3. Complete the attributes and relationships of the organizational unit.

   Field Name	Details
   Name	Name of organizational unit.
   Abbreviation	Abbreviated form of organizational unit name.
   Description	Free-text description of organizational unit.
   Active	Yes, if this organizational unit is currently active; No, if it is not active. Defaults to Yes.
   Type	Type of organizational unit.
   Subsidiary Units	Relationship that defines other organizational units that are subsidiary to this one. Search for and select one or more organizational units.
   Parent Unit	Relationship that defines the parent organizational units of this one. Search for and select the appropriate organizational unit.

4. Click Apply to save the organizational unit details.

Viewing details of an organizational unit

1. From the Custom Categories page, select the Organizational Units tab.
   Existing organizational units are displayed.
2. Click an entry to display the View Object page, showing full details of the selected organizational unit.
   • To delete the selected organizational unit, click Delete.
   • To view audit details of the organizational unit, click History.

Managing Recovery Time Values 

A Recovery Time object defines a valid recovery time that can be applied to the IT components that can be managed in your organization. You can assign a recovery time to each managed element in your organization (Software Product, Business Application and Host).

You would normally set up all the recovery time values appropriate to your organization when you first set up the system, but you can update them at any time.
All recovery time values are listed on the Recovery Time page. From this page you can create a new recovery time or display an existing one in detail.

Creating a new recovery time

1. From the Custom Categories page, select the Recovery Times tab.
   Existing recovery times are displayed.
2. Click New Recovery Time.
   The Create Recovery Time page is displayed.

3. Complete the attributes and relationships of the recovery time value.

   Field Name	Details
   Name	Name of this recovery time value.
   Abbreviation	Abbreviation of recovery time value.
   Description	Free-text description of recovery time value.
   Active	Yes, if this recovery time value is currently active; No, if it is not active. Defaults to Yes.

4. Click Apply to save the recovery time details.

Viewing details of a recovery time

1. From the Custom Categories page, select the Recovery Times tab.
   Existing recovery times are displayed.
2. Click an entry to display the View Object page, showing full details of the selected recovery time.
   • To delete the selected recovery time, click Delete.
   • To view audit details of the recovery time, click History.

Related topics

• Managing standard data