Filters for integration with BMC Helix CMDB

Previously, when the InstallerFramework package was used, the BCMConfig.properties file contained the database configuration details. Now, with removal of this file, this configuration is done through a new form called BCM:Configuration. You have to access this form and modify the configuration or use the default values. For more information, see Managing-the-Development-to-Production-D2P-Package.

Hardware jobs

The integration component can be configured to import data only from selected device groups by entering the device group IDs into the HARDWARE_GROUPID parameter in the BMC Client Management configuration form. For example, to retrieve data from groups whose IDs are 100,101, and 200, this parameter should be entered as follows:

HARDWARE_GROUPID=100,101,200

If you are not sure which group IDs correspond to the groups you would like to import, see topic Identifying device group IDs for further instructions on identifying group IDs.

Software jobs

The integration component can also filter software inventory data based on device group ID in a similar way to the filtering for the hardware job, using the SOFTWARE_GROUPID parameter in the BMC Client Management configuration form. The syntax for filtering a software import by group ID is the same as that for the hardware import, and as an example, we will also show the filter configured to collect data only from devices in groups with IDs of 100,101, and 200:

SOFTWARE_GROUPID=100,101,200

In addition to the device group ID filtering, the software import can also be filtered based on the status of the software which was set via the BMC Client Management console. The possible statuses which can be filtered are:

Managed - Supported
Managed - Unsupported

For example, to import both Managed - Supported and Managed - Unsupported software, you would use the following filter line in the BMC Client Management configuration form:

SOFTWARE_STATUS='Managed - Supported', 'Managed - Unsupported'

Identifying device group IDs

Assuming the name of the device group is known, the group ID can be identified using a simple SQL statement (replace YOUR_GROUP with the name of the group whose ID you would like to find):

select groupid from groups where GroupTypeID=101 and GroupName='YOUR_GROUP'

The group ID which is returned can then be used in either a hardware or software group filter.

Best practices with reconciliation

The jobs created by the installer should be run sequentially and not concurrently, because this may cause duplication of records.

Within the Atrium reconciliation engine, the default dataset precedence is 100 for any new database, it is recommended that BMC ADDM has a higher precedence set than BMC Client Management for the various tasks.

For more information on setting the precedence, please review the Atrium documentation.