BMC Discovery


TrueSight Network Automation supports integration with BMC Discovery (formerly BMC Atrium Discovery and Dependency Mapping or BMC Atrium Discovery). This integration, which is done through an API leverages the NetworkDevice nodes discovered by BMC Discovery by importing specific attributes of these nodes into TrueSight Network Automation. BMC Discovery automatically discovers physical and virtual IT assets and applications, and the relationships between them. Once the devices are discovered, you can use TrueSight Network Automation to manage network devices and automate network configuration changes and compliance processes. 

Supported versions

TrueSight Network Automation version 23.x supports the following versions of BMC Discovery:

  • Helix Discovery
  • 22.2
  • 11.3.00.005 
  • 11.3.00.004 
  • 11.3
  • 11.1
  • 11.0

Important

We do not support the integration of multiple configurations of Discovery with a single instance of TrueSight Network Automation.

BMC does not recommend that you configure both on-premise and Helix Discovery on the same instance of TrueSight Network Automation.

Integrating with BMC Discovery

The integration between TrueSight Network Automation and BMC Discovery is HTTP URL based, and is performed by creating a device import task in TrueSight Network Automation. For more information, click the following topics:


Adding a file access device import task
Mapping for the BMC Discovery formats

The topics in this section describe the mapping for the BMC Discovery (formerly known as BMC Atrium Discovery and Dependency Mapping or BMC Atrium Discovery) formats.

Important

In version 20.02, the following device import task formats have been marked for deprecation: 

  • CiscoWorks Data Extraction Engine XML
  • HP Network Node Manager 7.x Data Warehouse
  • BMC Atrium Discovery and Dependency Mapping 10.2 (XML API)

BMC Discovery 11.0 and later (REST API) format

BMC Discovery versions 11.0 and later (specified as 11.0+ in the GUI) use the REST API to perform the import task, unlike earlier device imports. 

Enter these details in the REST API Access fields.

  • URL: Format the URL in the following format: https://Discovery_Server:port/api/v1.0/data/search
  • User Name: Discovery UserName
  • Password: password
  • Query Parameter Name: query
  • Query Parameter Value: search NetworkDevice show name,#InferredElement:Inference:Associate:DiscoveryAccess.endpoint, sysobjectid

Substitute the following values in the query URL:

Note

The TrueSight Network Automation application server automatically performs URL encoding on any blank spaces or other special characters.

The API call returns the following response:

[
    {
        "count": 2,
        "headings": [
            "name",
            "#InferredElement:Inference:Associate:DiscoveryAccess.endpoint",
            "sysobjectid"
        ],
        "kind": "NetworkDevice",
        "offset": 0,
        "results": [
            [
                "bcan-cisco1200-01.bmc.com",
                "172.19.216.22",
                "1.3.6.1.4.1.9.1.525"
            ],
            [
                "bcan-cisco7010-01",
                "172.19.216.68",
                "1.3.6.1.4.1.9.12.3.1.3.612"
            ]
        ]
    }
]

The results element contains the device details, such as device name, device address, and snmpoid.

BMC Discovery version 10.2, 11.0 and later (XML API) format

Note

The BMC Atrium Discovery and Dependency Mapping 10.2 (XML API) format has been marked deprecated in version 20.02 of Network Automation. This format will not be available in future versions.

BMC Discovery versions 10.2, 11.0 and later (specified as 10.2 (XML API) and 11.0+ (XML API) in the GUI) use the XML API to perform the import task, unlike earlier device imports.

Note

For BMC Discovery version 11.0+, ensure that your Discovery user is added to the api-access group in BMC Discovery. For more information, see XML-API in the BMC Discovery documentation. 

Format the URL as shown in the following example (all on a single line). Enter this URL on the import page into the Source field in the File Access section.

https://DISCOVERY_SERVER/ui/api/XmlApi?query=search NetworkDevice show name,#InferredElement:Inference:Associate:DiscoveryAccess.endpoint, sysobjectid&username=DISCOVERY_USERNAME&password=DISCOVERY_PASSWORD

Substitute the following values in the query URL:

Note

The Network Automation application server automatically performs URL encoding on any blank spaces or other special characters.

The query returns the following values:

 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*