Note

 

This documentation supports the 20.19.01 version of Remedyforce.

To view the latest or an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Overview of the Remedyforce CMDB tab

The Remedyforce CMDB tab enables you to view the CMDB classes, and manage the CMDB instances. A CMDB instance represents a record in the Remedyforce CMDB, which can be classified as configuration item (CI), asset, or both CI and asset.

The following topics are provided:

The following video (3:37) provides an overview of CMDB in Remedyforce Console. Note that the video does not cover all the features of CMDB. To understand all features, you must go through this topic and other related topics.

https://youtu.be/Nv55Zqks-fE

CI and asset management configurations and permissions

Classes are displayed on the left pane of the Remedyforce CMDB tab based on the CI and asset management configurations set by the system administrator.

On the Remedyforce CMDB tab, the CIAsset, and All tabs are displayed to you only if the system administrator has assigned you the required CMDB user permissions (Update and Delete, Update, or Read-Only) for both CI Management View and Asset Management View

Based on the CI and asset management configurations, you will view the tabs as follows:

  • If only CI management is enabled, the left pane displays only the CI classes and All CIs (Base Element) is displayed at the top of the class hierarchy and is not highlighted.
  • If only asset management is enabled, the left pane displays only the asset classes and All Assets (Base Element) is displayed at the top of the class hierarchy and is not highlighted.

The following table lists the types of class which displayed on the left pane of the Remedyforce CMDB tab, the related CIs and assets of a class which are displayed on the right pane, and the attributes which are displayed the Instance Editor form, based on the CI and asset management configuration. For more information about the out-of-the-box attributes that are specific to a class, see BMC Helix Remedyforce CMDB Common Data Model. For more information about the enabling CI management and enabling asset management, see Enabling CI management and Enabling asset management.

CI and asset management configurationSelected tabClasses displayed on the left paneInstances displayed on right paneAttributes on the Instance Editor
Both CI and asset management enabled 
  



  
CI

CI classes

Classes which are both CIs and assets

CI

The General tab contains attributes of the Base Element field set (including the CI Status field and excluding the Asset Status field).

The Specifications tab contains attributes of classes which are higher in the class hierarchy of the class selected on the left pane, except the attributes of the Base Element field set.

Asset 

Asset classes

Classes which are both CIs and assets

Asset

The General tab contains attributes of the Base Element field set (including the the Asset Status field and excluding the CI Status field) and the attributes of the Asset Common Attributes field set.

The Specifications tab contains attributes of classes which are higher in the class hierarchy of the class selected on the left pane, except the attributes of the Base Element field set.

Rule Based Asset classes

The General tab contains the attributes of the Base Element field set (including the the Asset Status field, and excluding the CI Status field) and the attributes of the Asset Common Attributes field set.
The Class Name field is displayed as Rule Based Asset Class name (Name of the CI class of the Rule Based Asset class). For example, in the Instance Editor of Desktop class, which is an out-of-the-box Rule Based Asset class based on the Computer System CI class, the Class Name field is displayed as BMC_Desktop (BMC_ComputerSystem).

The Specifications tab contains attributes of the CI class based on which the Rule Based Asset class is created and attributes of classes which are higher in the class hierarchy of the CI class on which the Rule Based Asset class is created, except the attributes of the Base Element field set.

All


CI classes

CI

The General tab contains the attributes of the Base Element field set (including the CI Status and Asset Status fields).

The Specifications tab contains attributes of classes which are higher in the class hierarchy of the class selected on the left pane, except the attributes of the Base Element field set.

Asset classesAsset

The General tab contains attributes of the Base Element field set (including the CI Status and Asset Status fields), and the attributes of the Asset Common Attributes field set.

The Specifications tab contains attributes of classes which are higher in the class hierarchy of the class selected on the left pane, except the attributes of the Base Element field set.

Rule Based Asset classesAsset

 The General tab contains the attributes of the Base Element field set (including the Asset Status and CI Status fields), and the attributes of the Asset Common Attributes field set.
The Class Name field is displayed as Rule Based Asset Class name(Name of the CI class of the Rule Based Asset class).

The Specifications tab contains attributes of the CI class based on which the Rule Based Asset class is created and attributes of classes which are higher in the class hierarchy of the CI class on which the Rule Based Asset class is created, except the attributes of the Base Element field set.

Classes which are both CIs and assets

CI

Asset

The General tab contains attributes of the Base Element field set (including the CI Status and Asset Status fields) and the attributes of the Asset Common Attributes field set.

The Specifications tab contains attributes of classes which are higher in the class hierarchy of the class selected on the left pane, except the attributes of the Base Element field set.

Only CI management enabledNo tab is available.CI classesCIs

The General tab contains the attributes of the Base Element field set (including the CI Status field).

The Specifications tab contains attributes of classes which are higher in the class hierarchy of the class selected on the left pane, except the attributes of the Base Element field set.

Only asset management enabledNo tab is available.Asset classesAssets

The General tab contains attributes of the Base Element field set (including the Asset Status field) and the attributes of the Asset Common Attributes field set.

The Specifications tab contains attributes of classes which are higher in the class hierarchy of the class selected on the left pane, except the attributes of the Base Element field set.

Rule Based Asset classes

The General tab contains the attributes of the Base Element field set (including the Asset Status field) and the attributes of the Asset Common Attributes field set.
The Class Name field is displayed as Rule Based Asset Class name (Name of the CI class of the Rule Based Asset class).

The Specifications tab contains attributes of the CI class based on which the Rule Based Asset class is created and attributes of classes which are higher in the class hierarchy of the CI class on which the Rule Based Asset class is created, except the attributes of the Base Element field set.

Navigating the Remedyforce CMDB tab

System administrators can assign the following user-specific CMDB user permissions for CI Management View and Asset Management View to restrict what non-administrator users can view and manage on the Remedyforce CMDB tab:

  • Update and Delete
  • Update
  • Read-Only
  • None
  • Hidden

If the system administrator has enabled both CI and asset management, and has assigned you Hidden permissions for one of the views (CI Management View or Asset Management View), the top of the left pane of the Remedyforce CMDB tab does not display the CI, Asset, and All tabs. You must be assigned at least Read-Only permission for both CI Management View and Asset Management View for these tabs to be displayed. For more information about, see Managing Remedyforce CMDB user permissions.

Following is an example of the Remedyforce CMDB tab when both CI and asset management are enabled and you have been assigned Update and Delete permissionfor both CI Management View and Asset Management View:

AnnotationNameDescription
1CIDisplays the CI and CI and Asset classes. When you select a class on the left pane, the right pane displays the related instances, which could be of the type CI or CI/Asset.
By default, on the left pane, All CIs (Base Element) is displayed at the top of the class hierarchy and is highlighted.
2AssetDisplays the asset, Rule Based Asset, and CI and Asset classes. When you select a class on the left pane, the right pane displays the related instances, which could be of the type Asset or CI/Asset.
By default, on the left pane, All Assets (Base Element) is displayed at the top of the class hierarchy and is highlighted.
3AllDisplays the available CI, asset, Rule Based Asset, and CI and Asset classes. When you select a class on the left pane, the right pane displays the related instances, which could be of the type CI, Asset, CI/Asset.
By default, on the left pane, All Instances (Base Element) is displayed at the top of the class hierarchy and is highlighted.
4Change Views

Changes the view layout. You can select from the following options:

  • Tile View
  • List View
  • Tree View


5NewCreates a new instance for the selected class.
6EditOpens the Instance Editor to edit the selected instance.
7DeleteDeletes the selected instance.
8CMDB ExplorerOpens the CMDB Explorer.
9Multiple Instance EditorOpens the multi edit layout.
10Configuration Management ProcessDisplays documentation for Configuration Management Process.
11Job runRuns a batch job to count the number of relationships in CMDB. The result is provided in the Configuration Items with Relationships report
12View Change ScheduleDisplays change requests that are scheduled for the selected asset or CI.
13Views

From the Views menu, you can perform the following actions:

  • To view instances of subclasses of the selected class, select the Include instances of subclasses option.
  • To view the instances of the selected class, select the Configuration Items option.
  • To view only the Business Services, select the Business Services option.
  • To view the inactive records, select the Include Mark as Deleted option. 

Note

On the Remedyforce CMDB tab, the class type tab (CI, Asset, or All) and view (Tree, List, or Tile) that you select from the left pane for the current session is retained as your preferred selection for subsequent logins. For example, if you select the Tile view and the Asset tab in the current session, on subsequent logins, the left pane of the Remedyforce CMDB tab will display the Tile view and the Asset tab.

The Configuration Items and Business Services options are enabled only if you select the All CIs (Base Element) class in the left pane of the Remedyforce CMDB tab.

14Search boxSearch instances based on specific keywords.
15Advanced SearchOpens the Advanced Search window to create, edit, apply criteria.
16Clear FilterClears all the column filters.

When you click on the All tab, in the Tile and List views, class names are followed by the class type (for example, CI, Asset, and CI and Asset); in the Tree view, the class type is displayed in a tooltip for the Asset and CI and Asset classes.

Irrespective of CI and asset management configuration, the left pane of the Remedyforce CMDB tab does not display any hidden classes in the Tile, List, and Tree views. However, when you search for instances, CIs and assets of hidden classes are displayed in the search results.

Searching for CIs and assets in the list view

The list view on the Remedyforce CMDB tab displays all instances of the class that is selected in the left navigation pane, along with instances of its child classes. You can use the Search box to search for CIs and assets based on specific keywords. Alternatively, you can use the advanced search feature to perform a precise search based on multiple criteria.

User permissions

You can use search filters only if your system administrator has granted the following access permissions to the profile or permission set that is assigned to you:

  • Visualforce page: BMCServiceDesk.AdvancedSearchFilter
  • Objects and fields:
    • Object: Advanced Search Filter Criteria (Read, Create, Edit, Delete permissions)
      Fields: Field Info, Filter Name, Grouping Operator, Operand, Operator, Order Index (Edit permission)
    • Object: Advanced Search Filters (Read, Create, Edit, Delete permissions)
      Fields: CMDB Class, Execution Count (Edit permission)

How the search feature works in the CMDB list view

You can either perform a keyword-based search or apply filters to CIs and assets in the list view. When you apply a filter, the keywords that you have specified in the Search box are cleared. Similarly, when you specify keywords in the Search box, the applied filter is cleared. To indicate that a filter has been applied to CIs and assets in the list view, the filter icon changes from  to .

The following table describes how search works in the list view:

Searh optionDescription
Search box

You can search for CIs or assets based on specific keywords. You can also search for CIs or assets that contain wildcard characters (such as /, #, $, %, -, and so on). For example, you can search for L-series Laptops.

  • All CI or asset records are searched.
  • All fields of a CI or asset record are searched, and not just the fields that are shown in the list view. However, fields of the Lookup Relationship and Formula types are not searched.
  • Text entered in the Search box is treated like an exact phrase and is searched for in the exact sequence that you have specified.
    For example, if you are searching for John Doe, search results for John V. Doe and Johnny Doe are not shown.
Advanced search

You can search for CIs or assets based on defined criteria. For example, you might want to search for all printers in a specific location with the In Repair status.

  • Filters can be applied dynamically or saved if they are frequently used. However, you cannot share saved filters with other users.
  • Filters can be created for all types of CMDB classes (CI and Asset, CI, Asset, and Rule Based Asset) and at any level in the class hierarchy.
  • Filters are applied only to instances of the selected class and its child classes displayed in the CMDB list view.
  • When a class is selected in the left navigation pane, only saved filters for that class are available in the Selected Filter list. Also, the dynamic or saved filter that was last applied to this class is displayed by default in the Selected Filter list.
  • When All Instances (Base Element), All CIs (Base Element), or All Assets (Base Element) is selected, saved filters for all other classes in the left pane are also available in the Selected Filter list.

To create, apply, and save criteria in advanced search

Create criteria to search for CIs or assets based on multiple conditions. You can apply dynamic criteria or choose to save criteria that are frequently used.

Consider the following points when creating a criteria for advanced search:

  • A maximum of 20 criteria can be created. Each criterion can contain a maximum of 20 filters.
    The performance of search criteria might be impacted based on the number of defined filters and the data type of fields in the filter.  
  • Criteria are defined for the specific class that is selected in the Class Name = selectedClass filter criterion. Note the following points about selecting a class in the Class Name filter criterion:
    • When a class is selected in the left navigation pane, you can create filters for that class only.
    • When All Instances (Base Element), All CIs (Base Element), or All Assets (Base Element) is selected in the left navigation pane, you can define filters for any class in the hierarchy.
  • The AND logical operator is used for all filter criteria by default and cannot be modified.
  • In the filter criteria, you can select only one value for fields of the Picklist (Multi-Select) data type.
  • Filter criteria can be defined on all supported fields of the class that you have selected in the Class Name filter criterion and its parent classes.
    You cannot define filter criteria for fields of the Long Text Area and Text Area (Rich) data type. To search for CIs and assets based on values in any fields of these data types, use the keyword-based search box.
  • Operators that are available for a filter criterion are based on the data type of the selected field:

    Data typeSupported operators
    Text=, !=, LIKE, NOT LIKE, STARTS WITH
    Phone, Check box, Lookup, Picklist=, !=
    Currency, Number, Percent, Date, Date/Time, Picklist=, !=, >, >=, <,<=
    Email=, !=, LIKE, NOT LIKE
    Text AreaLIKE, NOT LIKE, STARTS WITH
    Formula

    Supported operators are displayed based on the data type of the Formula field.

    For example, the operators displayed for a field of the Formula (Text) data type are =, !=, LIKE, NOT LIKE, STARTS WITH.

    Geolocation=, !=, >, >=, <,<=

Column filtering

You can use the Column Filtering feature to filter the CMDB records by adding filters dynamically and further narrow down the search result. A Filter icon   is provided on the column header of fields through which you can add criteria and filter the records quickly. You can also use column filtering over Search and Advanced Filter features to further drill down the search result. Column filtering also works along with the View options such as Include Instances of subclasses and Configuration Items. The features that differentiate column filtering from advanced search are as follows:

  • It is quicker than advanced search as with only a few mouse clicks you can filter the current view.
  • Column filtering is limited to columns that are displayed in the list view, whereas advanced search can include fields beyond the columns displayed in the list view 
  • Unlike column filtering, advanced searches can be saved.

Once you have applied the filters, they persist if you toggle between List, Tile, and Tree views, but are cleared if you change between the CI, Asset, and All tabs, or if you select a different class.

Considerations

  • Column filtering is not supported for the following types of fields.

    • Long Text Area and Rich Text Area fields
    • Time type of fields
    • Text Formula fields that have images 
    • Multi-select picklist
  • The criteria displayed for each column header is based on the type of column header field. For example, a column header that is of picklist type will show all options in the criteria as a check box and a column header which is of type lookup will show operators such as Equals, Not equal to, Contains, and Does not contain along with a text box to type or select a lookup value.
  • For the Date and Date Time type of fields, you can use the selector that shows the date and time based on your locale.
  • If you enter contradictory criteria in the advanced filters and column filters, then no records are shown. 
  • For picklist types of fields, such as Impact, Urgency, Status, and Priority,  check boxes are rendered.
  • Unique Priority values are displayed irrespective of different Urgency and Impact combinations.
  • Both typeahead and popup options are available for lookup type of fields.
  • For lookup fields, if you select Equals or Not equal to operators and enter a value in the text box, but do not select any typeahead suggestion or a value from the lookup window, when you apply the filters the search changes the operator to Contains or Does not Contains respectively.

  • For a Date/Time field, the filter is successfully applied even if you delete the time from the date value, but ensure that the date value is in the valid format.

To apply and clear a filter

Perform the following steps to apply or clear the filter:

  • To apply a filter:
    1. Hover the mouse on the required column header and click Filter 
    2. In the criteria popup box, select the required criteria. Note that based on the column field type, the criteria conditions might vary for each column.
    3. Click Apply.
      The filter icon changes to .
  • To clear a filter:
    1. Hover the mouse on the required column header and click Filter 
    2. On the criteria popup box, click Clear.
  • To clear all filters:
    • Click Clear filters.

Supported operators

OperatorsData types

Text, Text Area(255),

Email, Phone, URL

Number, Percent, Currency,

Date, Date/Time

BooleanLookup
Equals, Not equal to(tick)(tick)X(tick)
Contains, Does not contain(tick)XX(tick)
Starts with(tick)XXX
Greater than, Less than, Greater or equal, Less or equal, BetweenX(tick)XX
All, True, FalseXX(tick)X

Working with CIs and assets

The following table lists the actions that you can perform from the Remedyforce CMDB tab. You can perform only those actions for which your system administrator has granted you access.

GoalReference information
Create and manage assets and their relationships with other CIs and assets.
Create and manage CIs and their relationships with other CIs and assert.
Edit attribute values simultaneously in multiple CIs and assets.Editing multiple configuration items and assets

Use the CMDB Explorer to view how CIs and assets interrelate in a graphical manner.

Working with the CMDB Explorer

Start the Dell KACE console from within BMC Remedyforce CMDB to view details of the imported records.

Note: This option is available only if your system administrator has imported data from Dell KACE.

Starting the Dell KACE console

View asset summary of devices imported from BMC Client Management, perform actions and deploy operational rules on the devices, and start the BMC Client Management console from BMC Remedyforce.

Note: These options are available only if your system administrator has integrated BMC Remedyforce with BMC Client Management.

Tasks in a BMC Client Management integrated environment

Related topics

Coexistence of assets and CIs in Remedyforce CMDB

Tracking CI updates by using the Chatter Feed

Configuring BMC Remedyforce CMDB 2.0

Creating and updating assets

Creating and updating configuration items

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