Importing CIs from BMC Client Management

Data from BMC Client Management (BCM) might need to be imported in several steps, with the different types of data being imported at different times. Both CI data and relationship information can be imported. You can populate the Assignment type field values with users or teams. If you want to import multiple values for the Assignment type field, the values must be separated by a semi-colon (;), for example, User1;User2;Team3. For more information about importing CI relationships, see Importing CI relationships from BMC Client Management.

Prerequisite

Ensure that the following conditions exists: 

• BCM integration must be enabled for your system.
  The integration account needs to have permissions at BCM level to read devices and groups. For detailed information, see Integrating BMC Client Management with FootPrints.
• A value is entered in the Asset ID field to designate an item as an asset. The value in the Asset ID field determines whether the item imported is a configuration item or an asset. 

To import CI data from BCM

1. Select the Administration tab.
2. In the System Management section, click Import.
   A grid appears, showing the scheduled tasks and their status. 
3. Click New Task, and select Import Task > Configuration Items.
   The Import CIs page appears, showing the Source Type pane.
4. In the Source Type field, select BMC Client Management.
5. In the left pane, click Source Configuration.
   The Source Configuration pane appears.
6. In the Source Configuration pane, complete the following fields:
   1. In the Data View Type field, select the type of CI data.
      Options are Devices and Software.
   2. Based on the value you selected, perform one of the following steps:
      • If you accepted the default value of Devices, proceed to step 7.
      • If you selected Software, the page refreshes and the Device fields are hidden. Proceed to step 8.
7. Complete the follwoing  fields for devices section:
   1. In the Device Groups section, select device groups in the Available Groups column and move them to the Selected Groups column.
   2. In the Device Types section, select device types in the Available Types column and move them to the Selected Types column.
8. In the left pane, click Data Destination.
   The Data Destination pane appears.
9. Complete the following fields:
   1. In the Import into CMDB field, select the CMDB where you want to import the CIs.
   2. (Optional) To search existing contacts for matches and link the imported CIs to them, perform the following steps:
      1. Select Link imported CIs to matching entries in address book.
      2. In the Address Book field, select from the address books associated with the selected CMDB.
      3. In the Contact Type field, select the appropriate contact type.
10. In the left pane, click Map Fields.
    The Map Fields pane appears.
11. Complete the fields:
    1. If you selected to link the imported CIs to an address book, the Link to Address Book section appears. Complete the fields:
       1. In Map data source field, select the source field that you want to map.
       2. In To this Address Book field, select the target field in the address book.
    2. In the Map CI Type Rules section, perform the following actions:

       1. In the Default CI Type field, select from the CI types defined for the selected CMDB.

       2. (Optional) To configure rules for import, Click Add.

       3. If you want to customize the import process, perform steps iii through vi. If you want to use the default import process, continue with step 11c.
          With the default process, all CIs are assigned the default type.
       4. In the If Column field, select a condition.
       5. In the Contains Text field, type the text to match.
       6. In the Set CI Type as field, select a CI type.
       7. Click Update.
       8. Repeat steps i through vi to add as many rules as you need.
    3. In the Map Attributes section:
       1. Click Add.

       2. Select values for Attribute and Source field. You must map at least one attribute.
          The available values are based on the selections you already made on this pane. The Attribute Type field is read-only.

          Note

          Ensure that you select one of the mapped attributes as a unique key.

       3. Click Update.
    4. In the Status for all CIs field, select the initial status for the uploaded CIs.
    5. (Optional) To update existing CIs, select Update the Status for existing CIs.
    6. In the Unique Key field, select the fields in the Source Columns list that are used as unique keys and move them to the Unique Key list.
12. In the left pane, click Schedule Task.
    The Schedule Task pane appears.
13. Complete the following fields:

    1. (Optional) In the Task Name field, enter a specific name for this task.

    2. (Optional) In the Notes field, enter any useful information about this task.

    3. (Optional) In the Notify by Email field, enter the email addresses of anyone who should be notified when this task runs.
       You can also enter an agent's user name to send notification to the agent's primary email address. Separate multiple user names and email addresses with semicolons. A notification is sent about the import outcome and includes result, task name, date, and so on. The notification aslo includes the number of records that were rejected, created, updated, and unchanged.

    4. (Optional) Select whether to run this task immediately or at a specific time, and whether and when to run it again.
       If you do not select any settings, the task will only run manually. For more information, see Scheduling tasks.

14. Click Schedule Task.
    Your selections are validated by the system. If no errors are found, the Task Schedule page appears. Local files that will not change between scheduling and running are validated immediately. Web and network server files are validated when the related task is run. Next Run Time is the next or first time a task will be run.

Next step

To import the relationships for these CIs, follow the instructions provided in Importing CI relationships from BMC Client Management.

Related topics

Viewing task logs

Importing CIs from SQL databases

Importing CIs from CSV files

Importing CI relationships from CSV files

Importing CI relationships from SQL databases

Working with mappings