Creating and updating configuration items
You can create and update configuration items (CIs) to represent a physical, logical, or conceptual entity that is part of your IT environment. A CI instance has configurable attributes. Examples include computer systems, buildings, employees, software, and business services. To be able to create and update a CI, the system administrator must enable CI management, and assign you the required Remedyforce CMDB user permissions for the CI Management View. For more information, see Enabling CI management and Managing Remedyforce CMDB user permissions.
Note
You can also create instances of the type CI/Asset, which can be categorized as a CMDB record which is both a CI and an asset. To be able to create and update CI/Asset instances, the system administrator must enable both CI and asset management, assign you the required Remedyforce CMDB user permissions for both CI Management View and Asset Management View.
To create or update a configuration item
Click the Remedyforce CMDB tab.
Note
If you do not have the Create, Edit, and Delete permissions on the class of a CI, the New and Save toolbar icons on the Remedyforce CMDB tab are disabled. For more information, see Managing permissions for CMDB classes.
In the left navigation pane of the Remedyforce CMDB tab list view page, select the class in which you want to create or update a CI.
Classes and related CMDB instances (such as CIs, assets, and CIs and assets) are displayed on Remedyforce CMDB list view page depending on the CI and asset management configuration set by the system administrator and the CMDB user permissions assigned to you. For more information, see Overview of the Remedyforce CMDB tab.Note
You cannot create CIs of abstract classes. For more information about abstract classes, see BMC Remedyforce CMDB 2.0 architecture.
- In the right pane of the Remedyforce CMDB tab, perform one of the following actions:
To create a new CI, click New.
To update an existing CI, select that CI on the right panel and click Edit.
To access the Remedyforce CMDB tab, and create and update CI and CI/Asset instances, the system administrator must assign you the required CMDB user permissions. For more information, see Creating and updating configuration items.
- On the General tab of the Attributes section in the CMDB Instance Editor, enter the attribute values for the CI.
The Class Name attribute indicates the class whose CI you are creating. - (Optional) On the Specifications tab of the Attributes section, enter more attribute values for the CI.
The Specifications tab contains attributes that are specific to the CI class. If you are creating a CI for the Base Element class, no attributes are displayed on the Specifications tab. For more information about the out-of-the-box attributes which are specific to a class, see BMC Helix Remedyforce CMDB Common Data Model. - (Optional for CMDB 1.0 only) On the Custom tab of the Attributes section, enter the custom attribute values for the CI.
The Custom tab appears in the Instance Editor when the system administrator creates custom attributes for a CMDB class and makes these custom attributes available for a class. When you create a CI of the class, these custom attributes appear in this tab as custom attributes of the CI. - Click Save.
For the saved records, the Source field is set to Remedyforce UI. You can use the Source field to generate reports and also when you enable and configure reconciliation. This field is not available on the Instance Editor by default.
The following attribute fields on the Attributes > General tab are automatically populated:- Created Date–This attribute is set to the date and time at which the CI is created.
- Last Modified By–This attribute is set to the user who last modified the CI.
- Last Modified Date–This attribute is set to the date and time at which the CI was last modified.
- To return to the Remedyforce CMDB tab list view page, click Back.
Attributes on the General tab
The General tab contains attributes that are common across all the CMDB classes. However, the system administrator can add more attributes to the form. The following table describes the attributes that are available on the General tab by default.
Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
Instance Name | Type a unique alphanumeric identifier for the current CI. |
| Model Name | Select the model of the CI. Other attribute values of the model you select are also applied to the CI. For example, if your system administrator has defined Manufacturer Name and Supported By attribute values in a model, these two attributes are also populated with the defined values when you select that model for a CI. When you move your mouse over the Tool tip icon, details about the selected model are displayed in the Model Details pop-up window. Contact your system administrator to customize details that are displayed in the Model Details pop-up window. To view additional details about the selected model, click the model name in the Model Details pop-up window. Note: If your organization was upgraded from version 20.15.02 (Spring 15) or earlier to version 20.15.03 (Summer 13), you might continue to see the Model attribute (data type: Text) and not the Model Name attribute in the Instance Editor. After upgrade, your system administrator has to manually enable the creation of models and hide the Model attribute. For more information, see Enabling models. |
Description | Type a description of the CI. |
Short Description | Type a short description of the CI. You can configure the CMDB Explorer to display the short description of the CI to quickly view information about the CI. |
| Model Manufacturer | After you save the CI instance, this attribute automatically displays the manufacturer that is defined in the selected model. If a manufacturer is not defined for the selected model, no value is populated in this attribute. You cannot manually type the name of the manufacturer. Note: If your organization was upgraded from BMC Remedyforce 20.15.02 (Spring 15) or earlier to version 20.15.03 (Summer 15), you might continue to see the Manufacturer Name attribute (data type: Text) and not the Model Manufacturer attribute in the Instance Editor. After upgrade, your system administrator must manually enable the creation of models and hide the Manufacturer Name attribute. For more information, see Enabling models. |
Notes | Type general notes about the CI. |
Version Number | Type the version number of the physical entity represented by the CI. |
| Serial # | Type the serial number of the physical entity represented by the CI. |
Supported | Select whether technical support is provided for the CI. If you select No, the CI is deprecated and support might not be provided for it in the future. If support is not required for the CI, select N/A. |
Asset # | Type the tag number of the physical entity represented by the CI. |
Warranty Exp Date | Select the date when the warranty expires for the CI. |
Token ID | Type a unique identifier that you want to assign to the CI. |
Site | Type the site where the CI is located. |
Priority | Select the priority of the CI from the list. |
| CI Status | Select the status of the CI. You can use this attribute to track the operational status of an instance, such as deployed, in repair, or decommissioned. |
| Asset Status | Select the status of the asset. You can use this attribute to track the status of the instance in the asset lifecycle, such as ordered, shipped, deployed, in stock, in repair, or retired. This attribute is displayed only under the following conditions:
|
Stage | Select the appropriate stage of the CI. This attribute is typically used to track the various stages of business service CIs in your organization. For example, for a business service CI that is available to your users, select the Operational stage. When your organization stops offering that business service, you can update the stage of that CI to Retired. |
Primary Client | From the list of all existing clients, select a client who primarily uses the CI. When you select a client in this attribute and save the CI, the CI is assigned to the client and the information is updated in the Details > Clients tab. In the list of clients on this tab, the (Primary Client) suffix indicates the primary client who uses the CI. When you move your mouse over the Tool tip icon, client details such as email address and phone number are displayed in the User Details pop-up window. Contact your system administrator to customize details that are displayed in the User Details pop-up window. To view or update additional details about the selected primary client, click the username in the User Details pop-up window. The client record is opened on the Remedyforce Workspaces > Configuration > Clients tab in a new browser tab or window. However, if you do not have permissions to access the Remedyforce Workspaces tab or the Client form, the Remedyforce Self Service tab is opened in a new browser tab or window. |
| Supported By | From the list of all existing users, select the user who is responsible for supporting the CI. This user can be contacted if there is an issue with the CI. When you move your mouse over the Tool tip icon, client details such as email address and phone number are displayed in the User Details pop-up window. Contact your system administrator to customize details that are displayed in the User Details pop-up window. To view or update additional details about the selected user, click the username in the User Details pop-up window. The user record is opened on the Remedyforce Workspaces > Configuration > Clients tab in a new browser tab or window. However, if you do not have permissions to access the Remedyforce Workspaces tab or the Client form, the Remedyforce Self Service tab is opened in a new browser tab or window. |
| Location | Select the appropriate location of the CI. Alternatively, you can type two or more characters in the Location attribute. Location records in which the Location Name, City, or Country field values start with the specified characters are displayed. When you move your mouse over the Tool tip icon, details about the selected location are displayed in the Location Details pop-up window. Contact your system administrator to customize details that are displayed in the Location Details pop-up window. To view additional details about the selected location, click the location name in the Location Details pop-up window Notes:
|
| Mark As Deleted | Select this check box to mark the CI as deleted. When a CI is deleted, you can exclude it from searches and other activities by using the Mark As Deleted attribute in your conditions. Additionally, you can preserve its relationships if you want to reuse the CI at a later stage. Note: If this check box is selected, the CIs are shown in the CI list views but not in CI lookups, Impact Analysis window, or CMDB Explorer. |
Updating the class of a CMDB instance
Updating the class name of a CMDB instance (CI, asset, or CI and asset) is not supported from the CMDB Instance Editor. In BMC Remedyforce CMDB 2.0, if you wish to update the class of a CMDB instance, you must perform one of the following actions:
- If the number of CMDB instances are few, you must note the details of those CMDB instances, delete those CMDB instances, and create new CMDB instances of the required class with the details you have noted.
- If the number of CMDB instances are high, you must first export those CMDB instances to a .csv file, update the class name on the .csv file, delete the existing CMDB instances on the Remedyforce CMDB, and import the CMDB instances from the .csv file to the Remedyforce CMDB using an import tool (for example, Data Loader). For more information about importing data using an import tool, see Importing data into BMC Remedyforce using data import tools other than Pentaho packages.
Related topics
Linking supporting information to a configuration item
Managing relationships between a configuration item and other CMDB instances
Managing relationships between an asset and other CMDB instances
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