Visualizing data as geo maps

Important

The features and improvements in this topic are under controlled availability to select customers.

As a user with the Editor or Admin role, use the BMC Helix Maps visualization plug-in to analyze IoT and edge devices on a geo map. Use the location-specific data points for these devices to derive meaningful insights for analysis.

Related topics

Visualizing-data

Example: Monitor the status of ATMs deployed across the country

Jim is an operator in a bank. He is responsible for monitoring the ATMs that are deployed across the country. He needs to make sure that these ATMs are up and running without any issues to meet the required service-level agreements.

To know the status of ATMs, Jim uses a custom dashboard that is configured by using the BMC Helix Maps plug-in. Jim observes the geo map on the dashboard and filters all the ATMs according to their critical status. He also filters data according to high-impact regions and continents containing ATMs that have issues. He informs the appropriate team members to resolve issues in these ATMs.

Before you begin

Make sure that the following prerequisites are met:

  • You have the latitude and longitude coordinates of the edge devices that you want to monitor. 
  • You have the following products:

    • BMC Helix Discoveryto fetch the device details, such as name and location. Make sure that you add the latitude and longitude details to BMC Helix Discovery by using TPL. For more information, see Using TPL to enrich discovered data.

    • BMC Helix Operations Managementto fetch the status information of devices.
    • BMC Helix ITSMto open an incident for remedial action.

To configure the BMC Helix Maps visualization plug-in

  1. On the Home page, select Add > Visualization.
  2. Configure the data sources.
    For details, see To configure data sources.
  3. From the list of visualization types, select BMC Helix Maps.
  4. In the Panel options section, specify a name and an optional description for the panel:
    1. (Optional) In the Panel links section, add one or more links to navigate to other content.
    2. (Optional) In the Repeat options section, select a variable to create a new panel for the variable value.
  5. In the Basemap layer section, select the required layer type from the list.
  6. In the Map view section, perform these steps:
    1. From the View list, select a location to be viewed after opening the map.
      Select Fit to data to fit the map according to the data extent of map layers.
    2. In the Zoom box, specify a zoom level.

  7. In the Map layer section, configure data rendering options.

    Data rendering options

    From the marker options list, select one of the following options to render data.

    • Markers: Select to render each data point. You can further customize the map by configuring the following options:
      • From the Data list, select the type of data to be collected.
      • From the Location Mode list, select one of these options:
        Auto--Detect location data automatically based on the default fields.
        Coords--Specify the coordinates manually.
      • From the Symbol list, select a visual pointer to display data points on the map.
      • In the Size field under Styles, specify one of the following options:
        • Fixed value - Enter the marker size, which is applied to all the markers on the map.
        • Size - Select a parameter and define a scale for the marker size in the Min and Max fields.
          The marker size is adjusted and displayed according to the parameter value and scale range. 
      • From the Color type list, select whether you want to apply the same color to all the markers or apply different colors based on the severity, or apply colors based on value mappings.
      • In the Fill Opacity field, select or specify the transparency level for the marker.
      • From the Values for Device Severity list, select whether you want to display the device severity, host name, or device address on the map.
    • Cluster: Select to aggregate small data points for better visualization. As you zoom in and out, the clustering changes according to your current extent. Clusters are sized proportionately based on the data points within them.
      • From the Data list, select the type of data to be collected.
      • From the Location Mode list, select one of these options:
        Auto--Detect location data automatically based on the default fields.
        Coords--Specify the coordinates manually.
    • Donut cluster: Select to render data in the donut form with status.
      • From the Data list, select the type of data to be collected.
      • From the Location Mode list, select one of these options:
        Auto--Detect location data automatically based on the default fields.
        Coords--Specify the coordinates manually.
      • From the Values for device severity list, select a parameter to calculate the severity status values displayed on the map.

  8. In the Map layer Options section, configure these settings:

    Map layer configurations
    • Display Legend: Show or hide the legends on the map, such as severity status.
      The value that you select in the Value for Device Severity list is displayed as a legend on the map.
    • Display Searchbox: Show or hide the search box on the map. From the Search data list, select a search criteria; for example, select com-address to search for a device based on the device address.

    • Display & Customize tooltip: Show or hide a tooltip for a device.
      The tooltip is displayed when you click the device location on the map. The tooltip displays the device details, such as location, address, host name, or time zone and the configurable links to navigate to relevant resources.

      tooltip.png

      To customize the tooltip
      1. Enable the tooltip.
      2. From the Locations list, select the device details that you want to view in the tooltip, such as severity status, host name, or address.
        We recommend selecting an address.
      3. From the Devices list, select a unique identifier for the device, such as host name or address.
        We recommend selecting a host name.
      4. From the Tooltip common fields list, select a field that you want to display in the common area of the tooltip.
        You can select multiple fields.
      5. From the Tooltip filters list, select a field that you want to hide from the tooltip.
      6. In the Details link, specify the link to the relevant page to view additional details related to the map.
        When you click Details on the tooltip, you are directed to this page.
      7. Under Cross Launch links, configure the links to navigate to other pages:
        • If you have BMC Helix ITSM, edit the Create Incident link to navigate to the BMC Helix ITSM UI where you can open an incident to report device-specific issues.
          When you click Create Incident in the Actions list, you are directed to the BMC Helix ITSM page.
        • Click Add link and define a link to navigate to the relevant page.
          You can define multiple links. These links are added to the Actions list.
      8. To show or remove common parameters from the tooltip:
        1. Under Query, navigate to the BMC Helix API data source.
        2. To remove a parameter from the display, delete com from the alias name.
          Example: To remove the address parameter, delete com from the address alias.

          customize_tooltip_parameters.png
          This parameter is displayed as a part of the host name details.

  9. In the Map controls section, configure these settings:

    Map controls settings
    • Show or hide zoom controls.
    • Enable or disable the full screen view.
    • Show or hide the map scale.
  10. Save the changes.
     

Tip: Quick access from the Home page

To quickly open the dashboard from the Home page, mark it as a favorite by using the star icon. Additionally, after you open a dashboard, it is available under Recently viewed dashboards on the Home page.

Configuring data sources

Configure the BMC Helix Discovery and BMC Helix Operations Management data sources to retrieve data. After configuring the data sources, join the queries of these data sources to view the device and status details on the map.

geo_map_data_sources.png

To configure the BMC Helix Discovery data source

  1. From the Data source list, select Mixed.
  2. Change the query name to Discovery.
  3. On the Fields tab, click + to add the following fields:
    - Field: $.[0].results[*][0]
    - JSONpath
    - Type: Auto
    - Alias: Latitude
  4. Repeat the earlier step to add the following mandatory fields with these alias names:
    - Longitude
    - Address (if a tooltip is enabled)
    - hostname (if a tooltip is enabled)
  5. On the Path tab, select GET and type the following expression:
    /smart-graph-api/api/v1.8/data/search
  6. Save the changes.

discovery_data_source.png

To configure the BMC Helix Operations Management data source

  1. Click Add query.
  2. From the list, select BMC Helix.
  3. Change the query name to BHOM.
  4. From the Query type, select Events.
  5. In the Query field, type status: OPEN
  6. Change Count to Raw data.
  7. In the Size field, specify the size as 5000.
  8. Save the changes.

bhom_data_source.png

To join the BMC Helix Discovery and BMC Helix Operations Management queries

  1. On the Transform data tab, click Add transformation.
  2. Select Join by field and configure these settings:
    1. From the Mode list, select Outer (Time Series).
    2. From the Field list, select hostname.
  3. Save the changes.

join_data_source.png

 

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