4.6.04 enhancements

This topic provides a list of the enhancements included in version 4.6.04 of the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management solution. It also provides an overview of how to get started with the new version. The topic includes the following sections:

Version 4.6.04 enhancements

4.6.04 is available on the Customer Support website at http://www.bmc.com/support.

The following table outlines the features in this release and where you can find more information:

Category

Description

Cloud Management

Compliance job execution during SOI provisioning

In the earlier versions of BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management (4.6.00 to 4.6.03), new server resources added after an SOI is provisioned, have to wait until the next scheduled compliance jobs are executed to fetch the compliance evaluation results. As a result, the time gap where SOIs are in non-compliant and vulnerable state might be days or weeks.

Starting with 4.6.04, the cloud administrator can specify the compliance requirements for each requestable offering as part of SOI provisioning instead of waiting for the next scheduled execution of the compliance jobs. This ensures that compliance levels are immediately determined and remediated via automation.

To support this functionality, OpsManager refreshComplianceSensors, a new API has been added.

Providers (AWS, Azure, and vCloud)

Any AWS instance type to be chosen

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.04 supports new instance types that are available in Amazon AWS, as listed at https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/. To learn how to add a new instance family for BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management to support, see AWS instance types.

AWS parameters for SGs

By default, Amazon Web Services (AWS) allows a maximum of five security groups for a service offering instance. To assign existing security groups to an AWS service offering instance (SOI) through a BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management blueprint, configure parameters on the blueprint as described in Assigning pre-existing AWS security groups to AWS instances.

External template parameter loading

When you are creating a blueprint, you can click the Discover Parameters button on the Parameters panel to upload the parameters for the JSON file that contains the Azure template information. For more information, see Provisioning for Azure Resource Manager (with or without templates). (The Discover Parameters button also works with blueprints that use AWS CloudFormation.)

Azure Resource Manager support

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management supports Azure Resource Manager with a template-based approach. For more information, see Provisioning for Azure Resource Manager (with or without templates).

Shutting down or stopping an Azure virtual machine to stop billing

When you shut down or stop an Azure Service Manager service and the IP address is public, the IP address is cleared from BMC Server Automation, and billing is automatically stopped. If the IP address is private, the host name is used through DNS, and the IP address is not cleared from BMC Server Automation. (When you shut down or stop an Azure Resource Manager services, billing is automatically stopped, but the IP address is not stored in BMC Server Automation, so no changes occur there.) For more information, see Managing billing of Azure Service Manager services.

Activity log messages

Messages for AWS and Azure provisioning appear in the Activity Timeline Details window. For more information, see Using the Activity Log.

BMC Remedy ITSM Foundation Integration

As part of the enhancement to Integrating with Corporate ITSM for Foundation data, the following updates were made:

The Company Group ID is synchronized in the user records.
No BMC.CORE:BMC_Person data is used if transferred through DSO if BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.04 Corporate Integration Extensions are freshly deployed or upgraded.
User synchronization is automatic, and you need not run the following escalations:
- CMF:USE:00_SyncCompanyGroupID_User_Corporate
- CMF:USE:03_SyncTenantUser_Corporate
- CMF:USE:04_UserSyncCall_EUP

BMC CLM ITSM Brownfield utility

As part of the enhancement to the BMC CLM ITSM Brownfield utility, a new clm.1.syncpassword parameter was added in the config.properties file in the ms-sync folder. This parameter can block the user password synchronization on the User form (that is, the user synchronized from the Corporate ITSM server to BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management would have no password). You must set this parameter to false only if BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management and Corporate ITSM are integrated with AD/LDAP where authentication is done in AD/LDAP.

API and SDK

Activity records for APIs and SDK actions

In BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.03 and earlier, the Activity Log on the End User Portal only shows records for the actions performed via the EUP. Starting from 4.6.04, cloud administrators and end users can now additionally view the Activity Log for end user-supported actions that are performed via the API or SDK.

Downloading the feature pack

To download CLM_FeaturePack_4.6.04_Windows_Installer.zip for Windows or CLM_FeaturePack_4.6.04_Linux_Installer.tar.gz for Linux, see Downloading the installation files.

Preparing to install the feature pack

Before installing the feature pack, ensure that the following conditions are met:

If you are using any of the earlier versions, upgrade to BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management version 4.6.00.
Ensure that the supported products are at the latest service pack or patch level.
For more information about the supported product versions, see Component BMC product service pack and patch levels.
Close any open session of BMC Remedy Developer Studio before running the installer.
Make sure that the Enterprise BMC Remedy AR System Primary server is running.
Make sure that the primary BladeLogic Application Server is running.
Make sure that the Quick Start service is running.
If you have changed the administrator user password for the enterprise AR System and cloud AR System after the last time you installed BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management, you must ensure that the passwords match the installation configuration file. If the passwords do not match, the installation fails.
Perform the following steps to ensure that the passwords match
1. Generate an encrypted password:
  1. On the Cloud Platform Manager, go to C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BMCCloudLifeCycleManagement\Utilities.
  2. Run the BMCCloudLifeCycleManagementMaintenanceTool.bat/sh file.
  3. Click Encrypt.
  4. In the Password and Confirm Password fields, enter the new password.
  5. Click Encrypt.
  6. Copy the new encrypted password.
2. Update the encrypted password in the installation configuration file on the enterprise AR System:
  1. Go to InstallationDirectory\BMCCloudLifeCycleManagement\ and open the BMCCloudLifeCycleManagementInstalledConfiguration.xml file.
  2. Search for the BMC_AR_PASSWORD_HOSTING attribute.
  3. In the value field for the attribute, enter the encrypted password.
3. On the cloud AR System server, follow the same steps to update the encrypted password in the installation configuration file.
Make sure that the BMC Remedy AR System ports specified in the BMCCloudLifeCycleManagementInstalledConfiguration.xml file are accurate.
If the ports are not accurate, stop the enterprise AR System or cloud AR System services, updated the port numbers, and restart the service. For more information, see BMC Knowledge Article 000081555.
Take a VM snapshot and a database backup of the enterprise AR System server and Platform Manager.
Ensure that the JAVA_HOME variable is set on the servers where you are installing the feature pack. On Linux servers, ensure that X11 libraries are installed.
Save any customizations performed in non-overlay mode. Otherwise, they are deleted during the feature pack installation.
Warning

Installing the feature pack can affect the AR objects in a non-overlay mode. Ensure that you follow the best practices for customizations. For more information, see Creating overlays with BPCU for existing customizations.

Installing the feature pack

This section describes the procedure to install the latest feature pack.

Note

For installing the latest feature pack on a single-VM compact deployment setup, place the installer file on the host and extract the files. Perform step 2 to install the feature pack.

To install the latest feature pack

For Small Deployment environment (Multiple VMs), the following installation sequence of Feature Pack 4.6.04 is critical.
For Compact Deployment environment (Single VM), the installation sequence of Feature Pack 4.6.04 does not apply.

Note

In the BMC lab environment, installing the feature pack took about 15 minutes in the Windows Compact Deployment.

Download and extract the Feature Pack 4.6.04 installer (CLM_FeaturePack_4.6.04_Windows_Installer.zip for Windows and CLM_FeaturePack_4.6.04_Linux_Installer.tar.gz for Linux) and place a copy on each of the VMs that have the following components installed:
1. Enterprise BMC Remedy AR System Primary server
2. Enterprise AR System Secondary server, if applicable
3. Cloud Platform Manager
  Notes
  
  Install the feature pack on the enterprise BMC Remedy AR System first and then on Platform Manager.
  For Linux, extract the installer by using the tar –xvf CLM_FeaturePack_4.6.04_Linux_Installer.tar.gz command.
  On the Cloud Platform Manager host, set JAVA_HOME to the bundled JRE (for example, C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BMCCloudLifeCycleManagement\JVM_1.8.0_60).
4. Standalone CLM Self-Check Monitor
5. Standalone Cloud Portal Web Application (clmui)
On the Enterprise AR System server, install patch:
1. Start one of the following installation programs:
  - On Microsoft Windows, navigate to the ..CLM_FeaturePack_4.6.04_Windows_Installer\CLMPatchInstaller\Disk1 location and then run the setup.exe file or double-click the setup.exe file.
  - On Linux, navigate to the .. CLM_FeaturePack_4.6.04_Linux_Installer/CLMPatchInstaller/Disk1 location and run the setup.bin file by using Xmanager.
    With Xmanager, X applications installed on remote UNIX-based computers run seamlessly with Windows applications side by side.
    Note
    
    You can also use the VConsole to launch the installer.
2. On the Welcome panel, review and implement the best practices in your environment, and then click Next.
  For example, take a snapshot of the host, back up the database, and so on.
3. Review the components detected by the installer, and then click Next.
  The installer applies updates to the detected components.
4. On the Directory Selection panel, review the location on the host where you want to install the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management feature pack files and then click Next.
  You can accept the default value if you do not have a specific location for the installation files.
5. On the Installation Preview panel, review the patch installer information (for example, the location of the feature pack) and then click Install.
6. On the Installation Summary panel, review the installation log and then click Done to finish the installation.
Repeat step 2 on the Enterprise AR System Secondary server if you are running a Small Deployment.
This step does not apply to Compact Deployment.
Repeat step 2 on the Cloud Platform Manager host if you are running a Small Deployment.
This step does not apply to Compact Deployment.
Repeat step 2 on the standalone CLM Self-Check Monitor host if you are running a Small Deployment.
This step does not apply to Compact Deployment.
Repeat step 2 on the standalone Cloud Portal Web Application (clmui) host if you are running a Small Deployment.
This step does not apply to Compact Deployment.

Configuring after installing the feature pack

Perform the following post configuration procedures after installing the latest feature pack:

To clear the cache on the primary mid-tier

Use this procedure to clear the cache on the primary mid-tier host.

Log on to the Mid Tier Configuration Tool for the primary mid-tier installed in your cloud environment. This mid-tier is different than the mid-tier running on the enterprise AR System server,
Perform a flush cache.
The flush cache removes all items from the cache that the primary BMC Remedy Mid Tier maintains. The next time the mid tier needs those objects, the most up-to-date versions are retrieved from the AR System server.
Clear the browser cache.

To clear the cache on the secondary mid-tier hosts

Use this procedure to clear the cache on secondary mid-tier hosts. You do not need to perform these steps for the mid-tier running on the Enterprise AR System server.

Log on to the Mid Tier Configuration Tool for the secondary mid-tiers used by the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management console that are different than the mid-tier running on the enterprise AR System server,
Perform a flush cache.
The flush cache removes all items from the caches that the secondary BMC Remedy Mid Tier maintains. The next time the mid tier needs those objects, the most up-to-date versions are retrieved from the AR System server.
Clear the browser cache.
Perform the following steps to hard delete the secondary mid-tier cache:
1. Stop the mid-tier service.
2. Log in to the mid-tier server, and delete the contents of the following folders:
  1. ARSystem\midtier\attstore
  2. ARSystem\midtier\cache
  3. ARSystem\midtier\cachetemp
  4. ARSystem\midtier\dvmodule
  5. ARSystem\midtier\PluginsCache
  6. ARSystem\midtier\WEB-INF\atriumDeploymentPackages
  7. ARSystem\midtier\WEB-INF\AtriumWidget
  8. ARSystem\midtier\WEB-INF\AtriumWidget-7604
3. Delete the atrium-* files in the ARSystem\midtier\WEB-INF\lib folder.
4. Delete the contents of the work and temp folders in the ....\...\Apache Software Foundation\Tomcat X.X folder.
5. Delete the viewStats.dat and viewStats.dat.bak files from the ARSystem\midtier\WEB-INF\Classes folder.
6. Start the Tomcat (JSP Engine) service.