Configuring Proactive Service Resolution for incidents


As an administrator, you must configure Proactive Service Resolution as a solution to establish a connection with BMC Helix ITSM and ServiceNow Incident Management systems.

 

Currently, BMC Helix Intelligent Automation supports the following levels:

PSR Level

Description

Level 1 (L1): Event-based service resolution

For a critical event, an incident is created in the configured ITSM system.

Level 2 (L2): Infrastructure-based service resolution

For a critical event, an incident is created along with the associated configuration items (CI). If CI details are unavailable in the event, or not specified in the solution, an incident is created without associating any CIs. 


Level 3 (L3): Infrastructure-based service resolution

For a critical event, an incident is created along with the associated configuration items (CI) and the impacted service details. If CI and impacted services are unavailable in the event, or not specified in the solution, an incident is created without associating any CIs or impacted services information. 

Currently, only a single incident for an event is created in BMC Helix ITSM that contains information about all affected CIs or impacted services. 

Note that Level 3 is only supported if your ITSM system is BMC Helix ITSM. 

Before you begin

Before configuring the solution, ensure that the following conditions are met:

Product/area

Actions required

BMC Helix ITSM

  • BMC Helix ITSM is configured and available for your BMC Helix tenant.
  • (For Level 2 and Level 3) BMC Helix Configuration Management Database and BMC Helix Discovery are available. 
  • Credentials such as the URL, username, password to connect to BMC Helix ITSM are available.
  • You have credentials for a BMC Helix ITSM user with the following permissions:
    • BMC Remedy AR System Administrator
    • Asset Viewer
    • Config Group Mapping Admin
    • Incident Master
    • Incident User
      For more information, see Roles and permissions in BMC Helix ITSM documentation.

  • Consolidate incidents option is enabled in ITSM to avoid creating redundant incidents.
    For more information, see Consolidating incidents.

ServiceNow Incident Management

  • Credentials such as the URL, username, password, and so on to connect to ServiceNow Incident Management are available.
  • (For Level 2) ServiceNow Configuration Management Database is integrated with the incident management application. 

BMC Helix Operations Management

Proactive Service Resolution with BMC Helix Integration Service is NOT enabled from BMC Helix Operations Management.

BMC Helix Intelligent Automation

You have the required BMC Helix Intelligent Automation permissions to configure the solution.
For more information, see Roles-and-permissions.


To configure Proactive Service Resolution

To configure the solution, you must set up a connection to ITSM, map event fields to incident fields, and map incident fields to the information event fields. This automatically creates artifacts such as the event policy, automation policies to create incidents, and an information event. 

The following graphic illustrates the steps involved in configuring Proactive Service Resolution.

ITSM PSR Configuration Process.png


Step 1: To set up a connection with the IT Service Management System

  1. Click Solutions > Proactive Service Resolution and click Configure.
  2. Click Set Up.
    By default, BMC Helix ITSM is selected.
    1. For BMC Helix ITSM, enter the following details:

      Field

      Description

      BMC Helix ITSM Endpoint URL

      The REST API URL for BMC Helix ITSM.

      For example, https://helixtrial-restapi.onbmc.com.

      Username

      Username to log on to the application. 

      Password

      Password that matches the username.

    2. (Optional) If you want to connect to an on-premises deployment of BMC Helix ITSM, download and install the connector before performing the next steps. 
      For more information, see Configuring-BMC-Helix-ITSM-connector-for-Proactive-Service-Resolution
    3. If using ServiceNow Incident Management, select the option and enter the following details: 

      Field

      Description

      ServiceNow Endpoint URL

      The URL for the application.

      For example, https://host.service-now.com.

      Username

      Username to log on to the application. 

      Password

      Password that matches the username.

      Grant Type

      Specify the ServiceNow API Grant Type.

      Client Id

      Specify the ServiceNow API Client ID.

      Client Secret

      Specify the ServiceNow API Client Secret.

    4. (Optional) If you want to connect to an on-premises deployment of ServiceNow Incident Management, download and install the connector before performing the next steps. 
      For more information, see Configuring-ServiceNow-Incident-Management-connector-for-Proactive-Service-Resolution.
  3. Click Save.


Step 2: To define a trigger condition

By default, the trigger condition is set to Severity = Critical, which indicates that BMC Helix Intelligent Automation creates an incident when the event severity is critical. If there are more than two conditions, click Click here to view additional details to view them. 

Important

After the solution is configured, the Predefined Policy for Incident is created in . If you edit the trigger condition in the notification policy, it gets updated here. You can also add  multiple and complex trigger conditions in . The solution works based on the specified conditions. 


Step 3: To provide the event to incident fields mapping

By default, BMC Helix Intelligent Automation provides mapping of event fields to the incident fields. Based on these mappings, an incident gets created. You can choose to specify custom values for the default fields, add more fields, or apply transformation based on your requirements.

As part of this step, the Create or Update Incident Ticket automation policy is created. 

Do I need to make any changes in the default mapping?

No. The minimum required fields for creating an incident are already mapped with default values and transformation is applied on some of the fields. You can choose to update the existing values or add new fields to be used while creating a ticket. A ticket gets created or updated based on these values. 

However, if you have customized any field in  or , ensure that you map them based on your customized environment. 

BMC recommends that you do not delete any existing field mappings. 

  1. To view the default mappings, click Configure against the Configure mapping : Event → Incident field.
  2. (Optional) Click Add Incident Field to add more fields to be updated while creating a trouble ticket.
    The field names in the list appear based on the fields supported by BMC Helix ITSM
    Event to Incident Mapping.png
  1. When you add a field, you must map it to a field in the incoming event, or add value based on the selected field.
    For example, if you add the StatusReason, you can add any reason in the event field. 

    Fields for associating CIs and service details for L2 and L3 incidents

    • By default, the ADDMIntegrationId field looks for the node_service_key_mapping in the event, if not found, the ComponentAliases field looks for the component aliases in BMC Helix ITSM, and if found, creates an incident with component alias information.
    • If there is no such information available in the event, the solution uses the CILookupProperties field to retrieve the configuration items (CIs) information from the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). The CI information is passed as a related entity to be associated with the incident. 
    • If any of these fields are unavailable in the event, or the CI Lookup criteria is not specified in the solution, an incident is created without associating any CIs or service details. 
  2. (Optional) If your organization uses Reconciliation ID and Reconciliation Service ID in the event, in the CMDBLookupKey field, enter the ReconciliationIndentity and ReconciliationIndentity_NodeCI.

    Using Reconciliation ID and Reconciliation Node CI for L1, L2, L3 incidents

    If the event contains Reconciliation ID and Reconciliation Service ID, and you have specified ReconciliationIndentity in the mapping, an L3 incident gets created. If only ReconciliationIndentity_NodeCI is specified in the mapping, an L2 incident is created. If the event doesn't contain any reconciliation IDs, an L2 incident is created without any CI information.

    However, if an event contains incorrect Reconciliation Service ID, no incident is created. In case of an incorrect Node Reconciliation ID, an incident is created without any CI information. 

     

  3. In the ADDMIntegrationId field, click +Add Condition and add the following condition:
    1. In Condition field, enter $.event.status=CLOSED.
    2. In the Map with field, leave the value field blank. 
      workaround.png

      Important

      If using  20.02, the ADDMIntegrationId field is not supported. To be able to create Level 1 and Level 2, BMC recommends that you delete the field. However, L3 incidents are not created because the ADDMIntegrationId field is not supported. 

  4. (Optional) To add a condition to a field, click +Add Condition and add the ticket field and map it to the event field. 

    Note

    If using custom values, you can specify multiple same values in the conditions.
    PSR improvement same values.png

  5. (Optional) Against any field, click Transform fields and select the transformation type:
    • Source value to target value: Enables you to map the event source fields to the target incident fields. 
    • String: Enables you to concatenate or extract a part of a string.
  6. (Optional) To add multiple functions to process the strings for a field, go to a field and specify the conditions based on your requirement:
    For example, in the following MP4, you can add another function to process the value available in the Summary field in the event:

     

    Important

    • The following functions are supported to transform the string data:
      • concat
      • substr: Specify values for Start and Length of the string to process
      • substrAfter: Specify the character and everything after the character gets processed
      • substrBefore: Specify the character and everything before the character gets processed
      • toLowerCase: Transforms the entire string to lower case
      • toUpperCase: Transforms the entire string to upper case
    • When you add more than one function to transform data, conditions are applied in the order in which they are displayed.
    • You can use more than one function while mapping any field, for event to incident mapping or for incident to information event mapping.
  7. (Optional) To add date and time function, add a new field and click Configure Text and perform the following steps:
    1. Click Add.
    2. Select the transformation type as Date & Time.
    3. To transform the date, select the getDate function.
      The time zone format is generated based on your system settings. 
    4. Select an output format: 
      • ISO
      • yyyy-dd-MM hh:mm:ss
      • ddMMyyyy
      • MMddyyyy
    5. To transform time, select the getTime function and select the output format as hhmm.
    6. Save changes. 
  8. Click Save.
    A Policy published successfully message appears.  


Step 4: To provide the incident fields to Information Event mapping

By default, BMC Helix Intelligent Automation maps trouble ticket fields to Information Event fields. Based on these mappings, an information event is created in BMC Helix Operations Management. Every time the ticket is updated, the information event is updated too.

As part of this step, the Create an Information Event automation policy is created.

  1. To view the default mapping, click Configure against the Configure mapping : Incident → Information Event field.
    Incident to Event mapping.png

  2. If required, make changes, and click Save.
  3. Click Enable to enable the solution. 
    The Proactive Service Resolution enabled successfully message appears. If you skip any of the steps, the status on the Solutions page shows the pending step. To make any changes to the field mappings after the solution is enabled, disable the solution first and then continue with the updates. 

About Blackout Policy and Proactive Service Resolution solutions

If you have also configured the Blackout Policy solution, incidents get created in  for critical events generated in  even in the blackout period.
If you need to stop creating incidents automatically in the blackout period, modify the event selection criteria in the Predefined Policy for Incidents policy in to not process events with the status as Blackout.
Event Selection Critera.png

Artifacts created after configuring Proactive Service Resolution

Consult the following table to learn more about the artifacts created after configuring the solution: 

Artifact name

Type

Available in product

BMC Helix ITSM connector

Connector

BMC Helix Intelligent Automation

Create or Update Incident Ticket 

Automation Policy

BMC Helix Intelligent Automation

Create an Information Event 

Automation Policy

BMC Helix Intelligent Automation

Predefined Policy for Incident

For more information, see Out-of-the-box event policies and templates

Event policy

BMC Helix Operations Management

Proactive Service Resolution

If there is a downtime for any of the integrated products, you can disable the solution temporarily. This ensures that the artifacts and the customizations are not deleted when you enable the solution again. You must also disable the solution before you make any changes to the field mappings. 

  1. Click Solutions > Proactive Service Resolution.
  2. Use the toggle key to disable the solution.
    The message Proactive Service Resolution disabled successfully appears. Use the toggle key to enable the solution as required. 
    After the solution is enabled again, if there are any events for which you need to create an incident, you can manually create them by using the Create Incident option in BMC Helix Operations Management or BMC Helix AIOps. For more information, see Performing event operations.


Important

BMC recommends that you disable or delete the solution from  only. 

If the Predefined Policy for Incident gets disabled or deleted in , the solution is disabled in . However, if incidents are already created for events, information events about the status change in those incidents or events still get updated in . If the event is updated, the corresponding incident also gets updated. 


To modify Proactive Service Resolution

To modify the solution, you first disable it. 

  1. Click Solutions > Proactive Service Resolution and use the toggle key to disable the solution.
  2. Click Modify.
    You cannot update the connection details to the Trouble Ticket Management System. You can only update the field mappings. 
  3. Click Enable.

To delete Proactive Service Resolution

To delete the solution, you must perform the following steps:

  1. Disable the solution in BMC Helix Intelligent Automation:
    1. Click Solutions > Proactive Service Resolution and use the toggle key disable the solution.
    2. Click Delete.
      On the warning message that appears, click Yes.
  2. (For on-premises 

    BMC Helix ITSM

     connector only) Delete the webhooks created in BMC Remedy AR System:

    1. Log on to BMC Remedy AR System as an AR administrator and go to the AR System Webhook form:  
      https://<midtier>/arsys/forms/onbmc-s/AR+System+Webhook
    2. Search for the webhook by using the following criteria and then delete the webhook:
      1. Form Name : HPD:IncidentOutboundEvent
      2. Tenant ID  : <tenantid>
      3. Callback URL: https://<ingress_hostname>/intelligent-automation/restplugin/api/v1/tmf/callback?helix_itsm=true

When you delete the solution, the Create or Update Incident Ticket and Create an Information Event automation policies, the BMC Helix ITSM connector, and any custom mappings get deleted. If you configure the solution again, you have to provide the custom values for field mappings again. 


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