Importing data from BMC Client Management by using the REST Web API

You can import data from BMC Client Management (known before version 12.0 as BMC FootPrints Asset Core) into BMC Remedyforce CMDB 2.0 by using the Pentaho Data Integration tool. The Pentaho packages for importing data from BMC Client Management are available on the BMC Communities website. For information about how configuration items (CIs) are imported and relationships are created in BMC Remedyforce CMDB 2.0, see Overview of how data is imported into BMC Remedyforce.

The following topics provide information about the Pentaho package for importing data by using the Representational State Transfer (REST) web API. For information about the REST web API, see the BMC Client Management Help.

For information about importing data by accessing the BMC Client Management database, see Importing data from BMC Client Management by accessing the database.

Important

The Pentaho package for importing data by using the REST web API supports BMC Client Management and BMC Client Management OnDemand versions 12.0 and later. If you have configured the integration with BMC Client Management OnDemand 12.0 or later, you must import data by using this Pentaho package only.

For information about the BMC Client Management versions that BMC Remedyforce supports, see Supported browsers, mobile devices, and integrations.

Before you begin

Before you can import data from BMC Client Management by using the REST web API, you must perform the following tasks:

Install the JRE.
Download the Pentaho Data Integration tool.
If the Require TLS 1.1 or higher for HTTPS connections Salesforce critical update is enabled in your organization, you must use version 6.1 or later of the Pentaho Data Integration tool.
Register at the BMC Communities website.
Enable the REST web API on the BMC Client Management server.
Configure the BMC Remedyforce external integration on the BMC Client Management server.
Install an SSL certificate on the BMC Client Management server.
(Optional)Configure BMC Remedyforce to retain the original Instance Name value of CIs imported from an external source.
If you have enabled the setting to access your Salesforce organization from limited IP addresses, ensure that you have the security token to log on to your Salesforce organization.
For more information about the security token, see Salesforce Help.
Download the Pentaho package from the BMC Communities website (https://communities.bmc.com/docs/DOC-32929).
For information about the KJB (job) and KTR (transformation) files that are included in the Pentaho package, see KJB files for importing data from BMC Client Management.
Best practice

BMC recommends that you do not change the folder structure because doing so can interfere with the running of the batch files provided in the CombinedJobs folder.

To import data from BMC Client Management

Important

The job (KJB) files in the Pentaho package send a REST web API request to the BMC Client Management server to initiate the export of data to a .csv file. Each job file contains the list of BMC Client Management fields that are available by default in the .csv file.

If you add, delete, or change the order of fields in the .csv file, you must update the Pentaho jobs and map the fields and the order in which they are listed to the .csv file. Otherwise, the data that you import might be corrupted or the import might not complete successfully. For more information, see Data that is imported from BMC Client Management is corrupted.

To launch the Pentaho Data Integration tool, perform the following actions:
1. Navigate to the location where you downloaded and unzipped the Pentaho Data Integration tool.
2. Navigate to the data-integration folder and double-click the Spoon.bat file.
In Pentaho Spoon, select File > Open, navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Pentaho package, and open the KJB (job) file for the CI type that you want to import.
For example, to import computer system CIs, open the TransferAssetCoreCSinfotoCMDB.kjb file.
From the Edit menu, select Settings.
In the Job properties window, click the Parameters tab.

Modify the Default value column for the different parameters.

Click here to see the parameters.

Parameter	Action to be performed
AC_DOWNLOADURL	Perform the following actions: Specify the BMC Client Management server name on which the .zip file that contains the data to be imported is stored. Specify the BMC Client Management server port that is configured for downloading the .zip file that contains the data to be imported. You must enter the URL in the following format: https://BCMServerName:Port In this URL, you must replace BCMServerName with the actual BMC Client Management server name and Port with the actual port from which the .zip file must be downloaded.
AC_ENDPOINT	Perform the following actions: Specify the BMC Client Management server name from which you are importing data. Specify the BMC Client Management server port that is configured for the BMC Remedyforce external integration. You must enter the URL in the following format: https://BCMServerName:Port/api/1 In this URL, you must replace BCMServerName with the actual BMC Client Management server name to which the Pentaho job sends the REST request and port with the actual port that is configured for sending the REST request. Note: If you provide a secure URL, ensure that the SSL certificate that is installed on the port is certified by a Certificate Authority (CA).
AC_USERNAME	Specify the user name of the BMC Client Management administrator that you have configured for the BMC Remedyforce external integration. For more information, see Configuring the BMC Remedyforce external integration on the BMC Client Management server.
AC_PASSWORD	Specify the password of the BMC Client Management administrator that you have configured for the BMC Remedyforce external integration. For more information, see Configuring the BMC Remedyforce external integration on the BMC Client Management server.
AC_LANGUAGE	(Optional) Specify the language into which the internal BMC Client Management keywords must be translated for the import. The default value for this parameter is English. You can change the value to American, Francais, Deutsch, Japanese, Espanol or Brasileiro.
AC_NUMBEROFTRY	(Optional) Specify the number of times the job must check for the availability of the file that contains data to be imported from BMC Client Management. The default value for this parameter is 3.
AC_WAIT	(Optional) Specify the time interval (in seconds) after which the job must check for the availability of the file that contains data to be imported. The default value for this parameter is 10.
SFDC_URL	Confirm that the URL to access Salesforce is specified in this parameter. Note: BMC recommends that you do not change the default API version in the Salesforce Webservice URL.
SFDC_USER	Specify the login ID of the Salesforce account that you will use to upload the imported data.
SFDC_PASSWORD	Specify the password of the Salesforce account that you will use to upload the imported data. Important: If you have enabled the setting to access your Salesforce organization from limited IP addresses, you must append the security token to your Salesforce organization password. For example, if the password for your Salesforce organization is mypassword and your security token is XXXXXXXXX, specify mypasswordXXXXXXXXX in the Password fields.

The various transformations and steps in the job use the values that you specify on the Parameters tab. If you do not specify values for the SFDC_USER and SFDC_PASSWORD parameters, you must provide the user name and password of your Salesforce organization in the Salesforce Input[CMDB_Class] and Upsert Into Class <CI type name> steps.

To access these steps, in the job (KJB) file, right-click the Import Records in Remedyforce CMDB step, and select Open Referenced Object> Transformation.

Note

If you are running a combined job, you can specify the parameter values only in the combined job (for example, TransferAssetCoreComputerSystemAndProductinfotoCMDB.kjb). Each job that is included in the combined job uses the parameter values that you specify in the combined job. However, if you specify parameter values in the combined and individual jobs, values specified in the individual jobs take precedence.

(Optional) Update the mapping between the data from BMC Client Management and BMC Remedyforce CMDB (fields in the Base Element object).
Click here to see the detailed steps.
1. Double-click the Upsert Into Class <CI type name> step.
2. (Optional) In the Salesforce Upsert window, enter the user name and password of your Salesforce organization.
  Based on your requirements, you can replace the Salesforce user name and password with the SFDC_USER and SFDC_PASSWORD parameters.
3. In the Fields area, click Edit Mapping.
4. In the Enter Mapping window, update mappings for fields based on your requirements.
  For information about updating the out-of-the-box mapping, see Field mapping in CMDB 2.0.
5. To save your settings and close the Enter Mapping window, click OK.
6. To save your changes and close the Salesforce Upsert window, click OK.
To save the KTR and KJB files, click Save.
In the KJB file tab, click Run this job.
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.
Data is imported into the appropriate CMDB class. The first time you run the job, all CIs are imported into the appropriate CMDB class. When you rerun the job, only the new and modified CIs are imported into the CMDB class.

Transformation status is depicted by using the following icons:
- — Complete
- — Running
- — Unsuccessful
(Optional) To view logs, in the Execution results section, click the Logging tab.
All the errors are displayed in red.

KJB files for importing data from BMC Client Management

The Pentaho package contains job (KJB) and transformation (KTR) files that are created in the Pentaho Data Integration tool. The KJB files (jobs) and KTR files (transformations) store metadata in XML format. A KJB file contains a series of transformations that are run in a sequence. A KTR file contains a single transformation. The KJB (job) files retrieve data from external sources into BMC Remedyforce CMDB.

For more information, see KJB files in the Pentaho package and Steps in the KJB files for importing data from BMC Client Management.

KJB files in the Pentaho package

Each Pentaho package includes different KJB (job) files for importing different types of configuration items (CIs), such as computer systems and LAN endpoints. These job files are bundled with related files and provided to you in folders. The folder names correspond to CI types in BMC Remedyforce CMDB.

The following table provides information about the job files that you must run to import specific CI types into BMC Remedyforce CMDB:

Folder name	Job file	Description
Computer System	TransferAssetCoreCSinfotoCMDB.kjb	Transfers information about the `BMC_ComputerSystem` CI type
LANEndPoints	TransferAssetCoreLANEndPointInfoto CMDB.kjb	Transfers information about the `BMC_LANEndpoint` CI type
OS	TransferAssetCoreOSinfotoCMDB.kjb	Transfers information about the `BMC_OperatingSystem` CI type
Processor	TransferAssetCoreProcessorInfoto CMDB.kjb	Transfers information about the `BMC_Processor` CI type
Product	TransferAssetCoreProductInfotoCMDB.kjb	Transfers information about the `BMC_Product` CI type. Note: Depending on the organization size, running the Product job transfers large amounts of data to the Salesforce organization, which might lead to exceeding the organization storage limit.
Combined Jobs	TransferAdvancedAssetCoreinfo toCMDB.kjb TransferAssetCoreComputerSystemAnd ProductinfotoCMDB.kjb	The Combined Jobs folder contains the following job files: TransferAdvancedAssetCoreinfo toCMDB.kjb The job file transfers information related to the following CI types: `BMC_ComputerSystem` `BMC_OperatingSystem` `BMC_Processor` `BMC_LANEndpoint` TransferAssetCoreComputer SystemAndProductinfotoCMDB.kjb This job file transfers information related to the following CI types: `BMC_ComputerSystem` `BMC_Product CI`

Steps in the KJB files for importing data from BMC Client Management

All job (KJB) files for importing data from specific CI types include the series of steps and transformations that are listed in the following table.

Step	Description
Start	Starts the job to import data from BMC Client Management by using the REST web API.
Check If Delta Timestamp File exists	Checks for a time stamp file. The Pentaho package utilizes a time stamp file to determine which records have been added or modified since the last time the job was run. This step is used for incremental import. If a time stamp file does not exist, the Create the initial timestamp file step is run. Otherwise, the Send Request for Export step is run.
Create the initial timestamp file	Creates the time stamp file to record the time of import. This step is run only if you are importing for the first time or have deleted the existing time stamp file.
Send Request For Export	Sends a REST web API request to the BMC Client Management server to initiate the export of data to a .zip file. The response from the BMC Client Management server provides either the location and name of the .zip file or an error code.
Check Request REST Response	Checks whether the request for export was successful. If the request for export was successful, the Download File step is run. Otherwise, the Log Request Error from AC step is run.
Log Request Error From AC	Logs an error if the response from the BMC Client Management server includes an error code.
Download File	Downloads the .zip file that is stored on the BMC Client Management server. This file contains the data to be imported in BMC Remedyforce and is downloaded to the folder where you have saved the KJB files. If the .zip file is not available, this step is run again after the specified time interval, which is 10 seconds by default. The default number of times this step is rerun is 3. You can change the default values based on your requirements.
Is File Downloaded	Checks whether the .zip file is downloaded to the computer on which the Pentaho package is running.
Write File Not Available	Creates an error message file if the .zip file is not available for download even after the final run of the Download File step.
Check Download REST Response	Checks for an error in downloading the file from the BMC Client Management server. If the file is successfully downloaded, the Import Records in Remedyforce CMDB step is run. Otherwise, the Log Download Error From AC step is run.
Log Download Error From AC	Logs an error if the file is not downloaded successfully from the BMC Client Management server.
Import Records In Remedyforce CMDB	Extracts records from the .zip file and imports data in BMC Remedyforce CMDB based on the specified mapping.
Delete File From Server	Sends a request to the BMC Client Management server to delete the .zip file.
Check Delete REST Response	Checks whether the file has been deleted successfully from the BMC Client Management server. If the file is not deleted successfully, the Log Download Error From AC step is run.
Log Download Error From AC	Logs an error if the file is not deleted successfully from the BMC Client Management server.
Store the current time stamp	If the data is successfully imported, stores the time at which the data was imported to BMC Remedyforce.