FAQ

Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions about the BMC Helix Intelligent Automation product. 

Connectors

  1. How many connectors does BMC Helix Intelligent Automation support?

    As of now, the product supports connection with the following automation tools and applications: 

    • Amazon Web Services
    • Ansible Tower
    • Kubernetes
    • BMC Helix Innovation Studio
    • TrueSight Orchestration
    • TrueSight Server Automation
    • Generic REST API connector

    For more information, see Connecting-with-automation-tools. 

  2. What versions of each automation tool or application are supported?

    For supported versions and other dependencies, see System-requirements.

  3. What are the hardware and software requirements for configuring on-premises connectors?

    For minimum hardware and software requirements, see System-requirements. Apart from this, if a connector has any specific requirements, they are specified in the Before you begin section in each of the connector configuration documentation.   

  4. How do I connect with an application not supported by the product?

    If the application uses REST API, you can use the Generic REST API connector to run jobs by invoking REST APIs.

  5. I downloaded and installed the plugin but do not see any configured connectors. What am I missing?

    You also need to create credentials and perform a few more steps before you can view the connector in the Configured Connectors tab. 

  6. Why am I not able to configure a connector?

    BMC Helix Intelligent Automation uses role-based access control for user management. Only Automation Engineers can configure connectors. For more information about supported roles, see Roles-and-permissions. 

  7. Does the product support any other user roles?

    Currently, there are two roles, Automation Engineer and Automation Developer. To learn more about the capabilities available for each role, see Roles-and-permissions.

  8. Why does an automation developer see only a few connectors? 

    An automation developer sees only the configured connectors and does not have access to the connectors available in the product.

  9. Does the product support other jobs such as the BLPackage or Deploy in TrueSight Server Automation?

    No. Currently, BMC Helix Intelligent Automation can run only the NSH script jobs.

  10. Can any other role other than BLAdmin be specified in the TrueSight Server Automation connector? 

    No. Currently, you must use the BLAdmin user while configuring the connector. 


Automation policies

  1. Can an automation developer see the results of a policy run? 

    Yes. An automation developer can view the policy history details on the History page and view the output for a policy.

    For a list of capabilities available for each role, see Roles-and-permissions.

  2. Does BMC Helix Intelligent Automation have the capability to automatically sync workflows or jobs while adding actions? 

    No. Currently, the user must use the Sync Actions option available while adding actions to a policy. 


Proactive Service Resolution

  1. What is Proactive Service Resolution?

    Proactive Service Resolution is an end-to-end solution available in BMC Helix Intelligent Automation that integrates an event monitoring solution with the IT service management system to create trouble tickets or incidents automatically for events. In BMC Helix Intelligent Automation, you can configure Proactive Service Resolution to integrate BMC Helix Operations Management and BMC Helix AIOps with the supported trouble ticket management and IT service management systems. 

  2. What are the benefits of Proactive Service Resolution?

    The benefits of Proactive Service Resolution are:

    • It bridges the gap between the operations and service desk teams. When an event is generated in any monitoring solution, a trouble ticket or incident is automatically created in the service management system. 
    • The trouble ticket or the incident includes enough details to help service desk agents perform faster root cause analysis of the issue leading to an improved mean time to resolve (MTTR).
    • For BMC Helix ITSM, it provides additional incident noise reduction by creating a single consolidated incident for correlated events that form a situation in BMC Helix AIOps.  The incident is enriched with the causal CI, impacted service name, and details of the qualifying events. It also includes a URL to the situation to help a service desk agent investigate the situation further in the BMC Helix AIOps console. 
  3. What are the supported trouble ticket or ITSM systems?

    BMC Helix Intelligent Automation supports two variants of the Proactive Service Resolution solution:

    • Proactive Service Resolution for TM Forum's 621 (TMF621) trouble ticket management system for the following applications:
      • ServiceNow Telecommunications and Media Assurance Workflows
      • BMC Helix for CSP
    • Proactive Service Resolution for BMC Helix ITSM
  4. What are the levels of incident creation supported by Proactive Service Resolution?

    Proactive Service Resolution creates trouble tickets or incidents automatically in the supported endpoint system based on the following levels of service resolution:

    • Level 1 – Event-based service resolution: An incident is created.  
    • Level 2 – Infrastructure-based service resolution: An incident is created and includes the CI details obtained from the event.
    • Level 3 – Infrastructure-based service resolution: An incident is created and includes the CI details and the name of the impacted service. 
  5. How is incident noise reduced in BMC Helix ITSM by enabling Proactive Service Resolution?

    Proactive Service Resolution provides incident noise reduction for ML-based situations in BMC Helix AIOps. When events are correlated into situations, a single incident is created in BMC Helix ITSM, which includes the causal CI, details about the qualifying events, and the situation URL thus leading to noise reduction. Typically, when events are generated, BMC Helix Intelligent Automation waits for a maximum of two minutes, and if a situation is formed, creates a single incident for the situation with the details of the events that qualify for the incident creation. If no situation is formed, the incident is created for the event only. 

  6. Can I edit the configuration details for the ITSM system from the Solutions page? 

    No. You can only view the configuration details. If you want to use another instance of the IT Service Management (ITSM) or Trouble Ticket Management system, you must delete the current solution and configure a new one. 

  7. What happens when I delete the configuration from the Solutions page?

    The automation policies and connectors are deleted from BMC Helix Intelligent Automation. Automation policies that use the templates stop working. Event policy is not deleted from BMC Helix Operations Management.  

  8. Can I edit or delete the BMC Helix for CSP or ServiceNow connector like any other connectors?

    No, you cannot edit or delete it from the Connectors page. To delete the connector, you must delete the entire Proactive Service Resolution from the Solutions page. 

  9. Can I edit or delete the automation policies created for Proactive Service Resolution? 

    No, you cannot edit or delete the automation policies. To delete the policies, you must delete the entire Proactive Service Resolution from the Solutions page. 

 

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