Importing data from Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager

You can import data from Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager into BMC Remedyforce CMDB 2.0 by using the Pentaho Data Integration tool. The Pentaho package for importing data from System Center Configuration Manager is available on the BMC Communities website. For information about how configuration items (CIs) are imported and relationships are created in CMDB 2.0, see Overview-of-how-data-is-imported-into-BMC-Remedyforce.

The following topics provide information about importing data from System Center Configuration Manager into BMC Remedyforce CMDB:

• • Before you begin
  • Downloading the jtds driver 
  • To import data from System Center Configuration Manager 
  • To schedule jobs to import data
  • User scenarios for importing data from System Center Configuration Manager
  • KJB and KTR files for importing data from System Center Configuration Manager
  • Troubleshooting
  • Related topics

Before you begin

Before you can import data from System Center Configuration Manager into BMC Remedyforce CMDB, you must perform the following tasks:

• Install Java Development Kit (JDK).
• 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.
• Connect to Windows authenticated MS SQL 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://community.bmc.com/s/news/aA33n000000CglOCAS/how-pentaho-works-and-package-details).
  For information about the KJB (job) and KTR (transformation) files that are included in the Pentaho package, see KJB and KTR files for importing data from System Center Configuration Manager.

  Best practice
  We recommend 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.

• Download the jtds driver. For more information about downloading the driver, see Downloading the jdts driver.

Downloading the jtds driver 

1. Download the latest driver from https://sourceforge.net/projects/jtds/files/jtds/.
2. Download jtds-1.3.1-dist.zip.
3. Unzip the jtds-1.3.1-dist.zip to obtain the jar file jtds-1.3.1.jar.
4. Copy this jar in the folder pentahoRootFolder\data-integration\lib.

To import data from System Center Configuration Manager 

1. 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.
2. In Pentaho Spoon, select File > Open, navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Pentaho package, and open the appropriate KJB file.
3. To import data into CMDB classes, open the file TransferAdvancedSCCMinfotoCMDB.kjb or TransferComputerSystemAndSoftwareSCCMinfotoCMDB.kjb in the CombinedJobs folder.
4. In the Combined Job Properties window, perform the following actions:
   1. Right-click on the screen.
   2. Select Properties.
   3. Click the Parameters tab.

   4. Enter the values for the required parameters.

      
      
      

      Note

      After you enter the credentials for the combined job (top-most parent), the credentials are inherited by all the subsequent jobs or transformations.

5. (Optional) Enter the information required to access System Center Configuration Manager.

1. (Optional) Enter the information required to access your Salesforce organization.

   Click here to see the detailed steps.

   1. Double-click the Upsert into class <CI type name> step.

      Best practice
      We recommend that you do not change the default API version in the Salesforce Webservice URL.

   2. (Optional) To test the connection, click Test connection and then click OK.
   3. Double-click the Salesforce Input[CMDB_Class] step and in the Salesforce Input window, and perform step b.

   Important

   If you configured a range of IP addresses on Salesforce you do not need a securtioy token if your Pentaho is in the same ip range. else you will need a security token.

   For example, if the password for your Salesforce organization is mypassword and your security token is XXXXXXXXX, specify mypasswordXXXXXXXXX in the Password fields.

2. (Optional) Update the predefined mapping between System Center Configuration Manager fields and BMC Remedyforce CMDB.

   Click here to see the detailed steps.

   1. Double-click the Upsert into class <CI type name> step.
   2. In the Salesforce Upsert window, click Edit Mapping.
   3. 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.
   4. To save your settings and close the Enter Mapping window, click OK.
   5. To save your changes and close the Salesforce Upsert window, click OK.
3. To save the KJB and KTR files, click Save.
4. In the KJB file, click Run this job.

5. 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
6. (Optional) To view logs, in the Execution results section, click the Logging tab.
   All errors are displayed in red.
   For the imported records, the Source field is set to SCCM. You can use the Source field to generate reports and also when you enable and configure reconciliation.

To schedule jobs to import data

On the BMC Communities website, the Pentaho packages for importing data from external data sources into BMC Remedyforce page contain a SchedulingFiles folder. This folder contains a sample batch file that you can use as a base to create your batch files for scheduling data import. For more information about scheduling a job, see http://wiki.Pentaho.com/display/EAI/Kitchen+User+Documentation.

To schedule the Remedyforce LDAP Pentaho package to import users, perform the following steps:

(For all other required packages, perform these steps by using the respective batch files.)

1. Navigate to the Remedyforce Package folder.
2. Rename your extracted package folder to SchedulingFiles.
3. Open the folder where you have installed the Pentaho Data Integration tool and minimize this folder.
4. Open the SchedulingFiles folder. 
   The folder contains two .bat files.
5. To create a copy of the batch file, copy SchedulingTransferLDAPInfo.bat file and paste it in the same folder.
6. Right-click the SchedulingTransferLDAPInfo.bat file and click Edit. 
   The SchedulingTransferLDAPInfo.bat notepad opens.
7. Minimize the notepad and open the Pentaho data-integration folder as mentioned in Step 3.

8. Copy the data-integration folder address and navigate to the notepad as mentioned in Step 6.

   The following figure shows an example of the updated SchedulingTransferLDAPInfo.bat file.

   

9. Before the first line of the notepad, type cd and paste the copied data-integration folder address . (Make sure to add a space betweeen cd and the folder address).
10. Paste the data-integration folder address in the Kettle Home folder address and remove the double quotes ("").
11. Paste the data-integration folder address in the kitchen.bat file address by replacing only the part before \kitchen.bat.
12. Navigate to the Remedyforce Package folder and copy the address for TransferLDAPInfo.kjb.
13. Paste the TransferLDAPInfo.kjb address in between \kitchen.bat /file: and /level:Detailed. Remove the double quotes ("") and any additional spaces between the address.
14. Save the notepad.
    
    

User scenarios for importing data from System Center Configuration Manager

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 the ABC project from System Center Configuration Manager to BMC Remedyforce CMDB.

KJB and KTR files for importing data from System Center Configuration Manager

The Pentaho packages contain 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 information about the KJB and KTR files in the Pentaho packages for System Center Configuration Manager, see KJB files in the Pentaho package.

KJB files in the Pentaho package

The Pentaho package includes different KJB (job) files for importing different types of CIs, such as computer systems and LAN endpoints, from System Center Configuration Manager. 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 to BMC Remedyforce CMDB:

KTR files in the Pentaho package

All job (KJB) files for importing data from specific CI types contain a series of transformations that are run in a sequence. Each transformation maps to a KTR file that is available, along with the KJB file, in the folder for each CI type.

The following table provides information about the KTR files and the corresponding transformations that the KJB file for each CI type contains:

For example, the LAN Endpoint job file (TransferSCCMLANEndPointinfotoCMDB.kjb) contains the CreateInitialTimeStampedFileForLANEndPoint.ktr, TransferSCCMLANEndPointinfotoCMDB.ktr, and StoreLANEndPointTimestamp.ktr files.

The following table provides information about the steps that are included in the TransferSCCM<CIType>infotoCMDB.ktr file (Update BE Table With SCCM <CI type name> information transformation). The Pentaho package runs these steps to transfer data from System Center Configuration Manager into BMC Remedyforce CMDB. You can view these steps only when you open the KTR file in the Pentaho Data Integration tool.

Troubleshooting

The following table describes the troubleshooting tips that you can use to resolve common issues that you might face when importing data.

Related topics

Applying-models-while-importing-CIs-and-assets

Scheduling-jobs-to-import-data

Troubleshooting-common-issues-when-importing-data

Known-and-corrected-issues-for-Pentaho-packages