Forwarding events from BMC Helix Operations Management to third-party applications

As an automation engineer, you create an automation policy to collect events from BMC Helix Operations Management and forward them to a target third-party application. Unlike other automation policies, when you create a policy to forward events, you use a schedule to run it at predefined intervals, which runs automatically. You cannot specify any other action as part of the policy. 

After the policy is created, you can view how many events are forwarded by viewing the policy status and details on the History page.

Related topics

Creating-automation-policies

Viewing-automation-policy-runs-history

Consider the following scenario to understand how this capability helps.

Scenario

Susan is an automation engineer at Apex Global. Apex Global has BMC Helix applications and uses them for its IT Operations Management requirements. Apex Global has more than one monitoring tool to track events. Out of all events generated in BMC Helix Operations Management, Susan wants to send the Critical events to the in-house application so that they can be monitored, acted upon, and resolved, while being recorded in the in-house application. 

Susan uses BMC Helix Intelligent Automation to connect with BMC Helix Operations Management and creates a scheduled automation policy, which runs at a frequency of every 2 minutes and gets to see all Critical events in the in-house application. She can also check the policy status in the History page to verify how many events have been forwarded since the policy was created. This helps Susan manage the events based on her organization's policies seamlessly.  

Before you begin

Before creating a policy, make sure that the BMC Helix Operations Management on-premises connector is connected. For more information, see Configuring-the-BMC-Helix-Operations-Management-on-premises-connector. 

 

To create an automation policy

  1. Log in to the BMC Helix Intelligent Automation console and click Policies > Create Automation Policy.
  2. Provide the name and an optional description.
  3. Select the execution mode as Automatic.
    When you select the automatic execution mode, the schedule option is displayed, which is required for forwarding events based on a defined schedule. 
  4. Specify the start date and time, end date and time, or no end date if you want this policy continuously. 
    By default, the policy runs every 2 minutes. You can change the frequency based on your requirements.
    Create Policy_Schedule_251.png
  5. Click Select Action to and perform the following steps:

    1. Select the BMC Helix Operations Management connector.

      I have multiple connectors configured, why do I not see any other connector here?

      You can only schedule a policy for forwarding events from BMC Helix Operations Management to a target third-party application, hence, when you select the Schedule option, only the BMC Helix Operations Management connector is displayed. As soon as you select the connector, the actions appropriate for the connector are displayed. 

    2. Select the Get Events action.
      The Get Events action consists of two actions. First, you retrieve events in JSON format based on the specified parameters and then you add a linked action that forwards these events to the external application.  
    3. In the Request Body field, update the JSON query based on your requirement.
      BHOM Query_251.png
    4. Click Add Linked Action.
      The Generic REST action is displayed. 
      Add linked action_251.png
       

    5. Specify the following parameters: 

      Field

      Description

      Action Name

      Specify the name of the action.

      By default, Generic REST Action.

      HTTP Method

      Select POST.

      API Path

      Specify the API path name followed by /events. 

      Example: /api/v1/events

      Query Params

      Specify any additional parameters you might want to use.

    6. Specify the parameters and click Done.
      The Get Events action is displayed along with a label for composite action. You can edit or delete this action but cannot add any more actions. 
      Create Policy_CompositeAction_251.png

  6. (Optional) Specify tags in a key-value format.  

    Important

    The Change Management, Notifications, and Test Policy fields are not applicable when you schedule a policy and are disabled. 

  7. Select Publish Policy and click Save.
    The automation policy is saved and its status is displayed as Published. On the History page, the policy status is displayed as Running, however, events are forwarded based on the specified schedule.    ​​​​ ​​​​​
  8. Continue with the next step to verify whether events are forwarded to the target application. 
Important

When a policy is published, it runs according to the specified schedule. However, events are forwarded from the time the policy is published. 

 

To verify whether events are forwarded

  1. Log in to the BMC Helix Intelligent Automation console and click History.
  2. Search for the policy that you created for forwarding events.
  3. Click to open the policy details. 
    When the policy is in a running state, the Output tab displays the total number of events forwarded and the response and the last successful execution date and time.
    View History Event Fwd_251.png

 

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