Importing data from Dell KACE

Dell KACE is a provider of systems management appliances. You can use the appliance-based approach to manage desktops, laptops, and servers. For more information, see http://www.kace.com.

You can import data from Dell KACE into BMC Remedyforce CMDB by using the Pentaho Data Integration tool.

The following topics are provided:

For information about enabling staff members to work with the Dell KACE Console, see Integrating BMC Remedyforce with Dell KACE.

Before you begin

Before importing data from Dell KACE, you must meet the following requirements:

• Install JRE.
• Download the Pentaho Data Integration tool.
• Register at the BMC Communities website.
• Add the MySQL connector file to the \pdi-ce-4.x.0-stable\data-integration\libext\JDBC or \pdi-ce-5.x.1-stable\data-integration\lib folder.
• Ensure that the Enable database access option under Settings > Control Panel tab > Security Settings > General Security Settings section in the Dell KACE Management Centre (Dell KACE console) is selected.

For more information about these procedures, see Prerequisites for importing data to BMC Remedyforce.

KJB and KTR files for importing data from Dell KACE

In Pentaho, metadata is stored in XML format in the file system as KTR (transformations) or KJB files (jobs).

Depending upon the CMDB version that you are using, you must use different Pentaho package folders. For more information about which Pentaho folder is applicable to you, see Pentaho packages for CMDB 1.0 and 2.0.

A KTR file contains a single transformation. The KTR files that are provided to you include the following transformations for all the CI types:

A job file contains a series of transformations. A KJB file that is provided to you includes the following steps:
The KTR files contain mapping of the fields in Dell KACE to the fields in the BMC Remedyforce CMDB. In CMDB 1.0, the Dell KACE fields are mapped to the CMDB staging object that contains a flat structure of all the fields of the CMDB database as columns. The imported data is first saved into the CMDB staging object before being saved in the CMDB database. In CMDB 2.0, the imported data is saved in the CMDB directly.

List of KJB files for importing data from Dell KACE

Different job files are provided for different jobs. These job files are bundled with related files and provided to you in folders. The following table provides the names of the folders and a description of the jobs for which the job files in these folders are used.

To import data from Dell KACE by using Pentaho packages

Before importing data from BMC FootPrints Asset Core, perform all of the actions in Before you begin.

1. To download the job files from the BMC Communities website, perform one of the following actions:
   • If you are using CMDB 1.0, click https://communities.bmc.com/docs/DOC-21752.

   • If you are using CMDB 2.0, click https://communities.bmc.com/docs/DOC-28433.
     If you have already downloaded the job files, skip this step.

     Note

     If you have upgraded to CMDB 2.0 and you were using CMDB 1.0 packages, you can continue using the CMDB 1.0 packages. However, BMC recommends that you use packages for CMDB 2.0 for faster imports.

     BMC recommends that you download the job files in the folder in which you have unzipped the Pentaho Data Integration tool. For more information about the job files, see KJB and KTR files for importing data from Dell KACE.

     Note

     Do not change the folder structure because doing so can interfere with the running of the batch files provided in the CombinedJobs folder.

2. To launch the Pentaho Data Integration tool, in the \pdi-ce-4.x.0-stable\data-integration or pdi-ce-5.0.1.A-stable\data-integration folder, double-click the Spoon.bat file.
3. From the Pentaho tool menu bar, click File > Open.
4. Select the required KJB file, and click Open.
   For example, open the \ComputerSystem\TransferDELLKACEComputerSystemInfotoCMDB.kjb file.

5. To open the KTR file, based on the CMDB and Pentaho version that you are using, perform one of the following actions:

   CMDB version	Pentaho version	Action
   1.0	4.4	Right-click the Updatestaging table with Dell KACE <CI type name> information step, and select Open transformation.
   1.0	5.0.1	Right-click the Update staging table with Dell KACE <CI type name> information step, select Open referenced object, and then select Transformation.
   2.0	4.4	Right-click the Update BE table with Dell KACE <CI type name> Information step, and select Open transformation.
   2.0	5.0.1	Right-click the Update BE table with Dell KACE <CI type name> information step, select Open referenced object, and then select Transformation.

6. To provide details to access Dell KACE database, perform the following actions:
   1. In the KTR file tab, double-click the Dell KACE Input step.
   2. Besides the Connection list, click Edit.
   3. In the Database Connection window, enter the host name, database name, user name, and password.
      The host name is the name of the computer where the Dell KACE database is installed. Ensure that MYSQL database is selected as the Connection Type and Native (JDBC) is selected as Access value.
   4. (Optional) To verify the connection, click Test.
   5. Click OK.
7. To provide details to access Salesforce organization, perform the following actions:
   1. Double-click the Upsert into class <CI type name> step.

   2. In the Salesforce Upsert window, enter your Salesforce organization user name and password.

      Note

      If you are using a previous versions of Pentaho data integration tool (for example, Pentaho 4.1 or 4.2), you must modify the Salesforce Webservice URL to https://www.salesforce.com/services/Soap/u/20.0. If you are running the package in a Sandbox environment, modify the Salesforce Webservice URL from https://www.salesforce.com/services/Soap/u/20.0 to https://test.salesforce.com/services/Soap/u/20.0.

   3. (Optional) To update the predefined mapping between the Dell KACE fields and the Salesforce CMDB staging object, click Edit Mapping.
      For more information about mapping, see Overview of how CIs are imported in CMDB 1.0.
   4. (Optional) To verify the connection, click Test connection.
   5. Click OK.
8. (For CMDB 2.0 only) To provide Salesforce access details in the Salesforce Input[CMDB_Class] step, perform the following actions:
   1. Double-click Salesforce Input[CMDB_Class].
   2. In the Connection section, enter the Salesforce organization access details.
   3. (Optional) To test the connection, click Test connection.
   4. Click OK.
9. (Optional) If you have enabled the setting to access your Salesforce organization from limited IP addresses, to enable communication between Salesforce and the Pentaho Data Integration tool, perform the following actions:

   1. In Salesforce, navigate to Setup > Reset My Security Token.

      Note

      If you have enabled the improved Setup user interface in your Salesforce organization, navigate to My Settings > Personal > Reset My Security Token. For more information, see http://help.salesforce.com/apex/HTViewHelpDoc?id=admin_setup_improved.htm&language=en_US.

   2. Click Reset Security Token.
      An email message is sent to your email address stored in Salesforce.
   3. In the Password field of the Upsert into class <CI type name> step, append the security token to the password.
      For example, if your password is mypassword and your security token is XXXXXXXXX, then you must enter mypasswordXXXXXXXXX in the Password field.
10. To save the KTR and KJB files, click .
11. In the KJB file tab, click .
12. In the Execute a job window, click Launch.
    Data is imported into the appropriate CMDB class.
    Transformation status is indicated by using the following icons:
    •  — Complete
    •  — Running
    •  — Unsuccessful
13. Verify whether the entries are correct in the Relationships Editor of the appropriate CMDB class.

14. (Optional) To view logs, in the Execution results section, click the Logging tab.
    All errors are displayed in red.

    Note

    The relationship between the Computer System as a source and the Software Server as a destination is not displayed in the Configuration Items Explorer because the Configuration Items Explorer can display only a limited number of relationships (due to platform limitations). Displaying Computer System and Software Server relationships might hide other important relationships between the Computer System and other CIs.

    Warning

    If you are using two different computers, two records are imported from the Person package in CMDB for the same user.

    
    
    You can launch the Dell KACE console to view the details of the records that has been imported from Dell KACE.
    
    The BMCServiceDesk_AssemblyId_c field is required to create a relationship between the computer system and various CIs. The source is the computer system and the destination can be operating system, processor, LAN End Points, software server, or person.
    
    For example, the value of the BMCServiceDesk_AssemblyId_c field is 1 for a computer system record and a processor record has a Assembly ID value as 1, a relationship is automatically created between the computer system (source) and processor (destination).

User scenarios for importing data from Dell KACE

David is a member of the Infrastructure team for Downtown Bank, responsible for managing the laptops for ABC project.

He signs up for BMC Remedyforce and expects to use the pre-configured, ITIL based incident and problem management processes for managing CIs. Also, David wants to use the CMDB to represent the physical, logical, and conceptual items and to track the relationships between the different CIs. 

Related topics

Overview of how is data imported in BMC Remedyforce

Importing data to custom attributes

Scheduling jobs to import data

Troubleshooting issues with importing data