Importing data from BMC BladeLogic Client Automation

You can import data from BMC BladeLogic Client Automation into BMC Remedyforce CMDB by using the Pentaho Data Integration tool only if Microsoft SQL Server data source is used in BMC BladeLogic Client Automation.

The following topics are provided:

Before you begin

Before importing data from BMC BladeLogic Client Automation, you must meet the following requirements:

• Install JRE.
• Download the Pentaho Data Integration tool.
• Register at the BMC Communities website.
• Configure Windows authentication to enable communication between the Pentaho Data Integration tool and BMC BladeLogic Client Automation.

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

KJB and KTR files for importing data from BMC BladeLogic Client Automation

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

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 BMC BladeLogic Client Automation to the fields in the Remedyforce CMDB. In CMDB 2.0, the imported data is saved in CMDB directly.

List of KJB files for importing data from BMC BladeLogic Client Automation

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 the description of the jobs for which the job files in these folders are used.

To import data from BMC BladeLogic Client Automation by using Pentaho packages

Before importing data from BMC BladeLogic Client Automation, perform all of the actions in Before you begin.

1. To download the job files from the BMC Communities website, click https://communities.bmc.com/docs/DOC-28435.
   

   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.

   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 \<PentahoInstallerFolder>\data-integration folder, double-click the Spoon.bat file, and open the required KJB file.

3. To open the KTR file, right-click the Update BE table with BBCA <CI type name> information step, select Open referenced object, and then select Transformation.

4. To provide the details to access BMC BladeLogic Client Automation database, perform the following actions:
   1. In the KTR file, double-click the BBCA Input step.
   2. Next to 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 BMC BladeLogic Client Automation database is installed.

      Note

      If you have configured Windows authentication on the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation database, user name and password are not required.

   4. (Optional) To verify the connection, click Test.
   5. Click OK.
5. To provide the details to access your 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.

   3. (Optional) To update the predefined mapping between the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation fields and the Remedyforce CMDB, click Edit Mapping.
      For more information about mapping, see Overview of how CIs are imported in CMDB 2.0.

      Note

      Starting from January 1, 2016, Salesforce is retiring www.salesforce.com as an API endpoint. To avoid connectivity issues (HTTP Status 404 error), update your Pentaho transformations that connect to https://www.salesforce.com/services/Soap/u/<API version> to https://login.salesforce.com/services/Soap/u/35.0 before the retirement date.
      If you are running the Pentaho package in a Sandbox environment, modify the Salesforce Webservice URL from https://test.salesforce.com/services/Soap/u/<API version> to https://test.salesforce.com/services/Soap/u/35.0 in the updated Pentaho transformation. For more information, see Salesforce API Endpoint Retirement.

   4. (Optional) To verify the connection, click Test connection.
   5. Click OK.
6. You also need to provide Salesforce access details in the Salesforce Input[CMDB_Class] step. To enter the information required to access your Salesforce organization, 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.
7. (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.
   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.
8. To save the KTR and KJB files, click .
9. In the KJB file, click .

10. Perform one of the following actions based on the Pentaho version that you are using:

    Pentaho version	Action
    6.1	In the Run Options window, click Run.
    5.4	In the Execute a job window, click Launch.

    Transformation status is depicted by using the following icons:

    •  — Complete
    •  — Running
    •  — Unsuccessful
11. (Optional) To view logs, in the Execution results section, click the Logging tab.
    All errors are displayed in red.
    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. 
    
    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, IP End Points, 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 BMC BladeLogic Client Automation

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. 

John Doe, a BMC Remedyforce administrator, helps David to import details of the laptops provided to the team members of ABC project from BMC BladeLogic Client Automation to BMC Remedyforce CMDB. 

Overview of how is data imported in BMC Remedyforce

Importing data to custom attributes

Scheduling jobs to import data

Troubleshooting common issues with importing data