Integrating with BMC Helix CMDB

Use the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations BMC Helix CMDB connector to collect topology data from BMC Helix CMDB, and view the collected data in the following BMC Helix applications and derive actionable insights: 

  • BMC Helix Discovery (Topology)
  • BMC Helix AIOps (Services)

Related topics

Supported-out-of-the-box-integrations-for-BMC-Helix-Intelligent-Integrations

Editing-and-deleting-integrations

Event-deduplication-and-suppression-for-reducing-event-noise

As a tenant administrator, perform the following steps to configure a connection with BMC Helix CMDB, verify the connection, and view the collected topology data in various BMC products.

Connector steps.png

Important

  • Starting with version 22.4.01, while configuring integration with BMC Helix CMDB, you can choose to extract data both from the business process level (BMC_BusinessProcess) and the business service level (BMC_BusinessService). In 22.4.00, you can choose to extract data only from the business process level (BMC_BusinessProcess).

  • After you choose a business process, data is extracted only for the following CMDB CI instances: 

    • BMC_Application
    • BMC_ApplicationService
    • BMC_ApplicationSystem
    • BMC_BusinessProcess
    • BMC_BusinessService
    • BMC_Cluster
    • BMC_ComputerSystem
    • BMC_ConcreteCollection
    • BMC_DataBase
    • BMC_IPEndpoint
    • BMC_LANEndpoint
    • BMC_LogicalSystemComponent
    • BMC_NetworkPort
    • BMC_PhysicalLocation
    • BMC_ResourcePool
    • BMC_ServiceOfferingInstance
    • BMC_SoftwareServer
    • BMC_VirtualSystemEnabler


    These instances must be related to the selected top-level business process directly or indirectly (transitively) via impact relationships.

  • BMC_BusinessService is mapped to DSM Business Service and BMC_ComputerSystems is mapped to Hosts. All other types are mapped to DSM GenericElements. For GenericElements, the name, type and InstanceId attributes are imported.

Plan for the connection

  • Choose the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations deployment mode and review the corresponding port requirements. For information about various deployment modes and port requirements, see Deployment-scenarios.
  • Based on the deployment mode, either use BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations or deploy the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations on-premises gateway. For more information, see Deploying-the-BMC-Helix-Intelligent-Integrations-on-premises-gateway.

To integrate with BMC Helix CMDB

  1. In BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations, on the CONNECTORS tab, click add_icon.pngin the SOURCES panel.

  2. Click 

    BMC Helix CMDB

    .

  3. Specify the source connection details:

    1. Specify a unique instance name. 

      Recommendation

      We recommend that you specify the instance name in the following format:

      <sourceType>_<sourceControllerServerName>{_<InstanceQualifier>}                   

      The instance qualifier helps you to distinguish the multiple instances configured from the same source server. For example, you can name your instances as CMDB_Host_PROD, CMDB_Host_TEST, and so on.

    2. Specify the BMC Helix CMDB host name and port number (default value is 443).
    3. Select the HTTPS check box to indicate that you plan to use an https connection to the BMC Helix CMDB  host.

    4. Specify the user name and password. Ensure that the specified user can access the BMC Helix CMDB REST API.

      Warning

      We recommend that you do not select the Allow Unsigned Certificate option in a production environment. You might want to select this option to allow unsigned certificates in a test environment. See the BMC Helix CMDB documentation to learn how to install SSL certificates.

    5. Specify the number of maximum concurrent REST API requests that should be executed during a data collection schedule (default value is 5).
    6. Specify the time, in seconds, after which no attempt should be made to establish the connection (default value is 30 seconds).
    7. Click Proxy and specify if you want to configure a proxy server. If yes, specify the host name and port number (default value is 8888).
  4. Click VALIDATE AND CREATE.
    The specified connection details are validated and the corresponding source connection is created in the Source Connection list.

  5. Select the source connection that you created from the list if it is not selected already.

    Important

    The destination host connection is created and configured automatically for each tenant when the source connection is created.

  6. Expand BMC CMDB Topology and specify the configuration parameters in the Collectors section as described in the following table:

  7. Click CREATE COLLECTORS to create the required collector streams for the selected data type.
  8. Click a data type and specify the configuration parameters in the Distributors section as described in the following table:
  1. Click CREATE DISTRIBUTORS to create the required distributor streams for the selected data type.
  2. Click one of the following buttons:
    • SAVE STREAM: Click this button if you want to edit the integration details before creating the instance. After you save the stream, the instance that you just created is listed in the SOURCES panel. Move the slider to the right to start the data stream.
    • SAVE AND START STREAM : Click this button if you want to save the integration details and start receiving data immediately.

          For more information about data streams, see  Starting-or-stopping-data-streams.


To verify the connection

In BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations, on the SOURCES panel, confirm that the data streams for the integration you created are running. Data streaming is indicated by moving colored arrows.

CMDB_Stream.png

A moving light blue arrow (TopologyStream_Icon.png) indicates that the topology stream is running. topology data will be pushed according to the configured Collection Schedule interval.

To view data in BMC Helix applications

View data collected from BMC Helix CMDB in multiple BMC Helix applications.

To view topology in BMC Helix Discovery

  1. In BMC Helix Discovery, select Explore > Data.

  2. Click the folder link corresponding to the entity for which you have collected data from BMC Helix CMDB. 

    Important

    • When configuring the connector if you have selected a business service, the business service and the hosts that have impact relationship with the business service are imported into the Business Services folder. Any other entities are imported into the Generic Elements folder.
    • When configuring the connector if you have selected a business process, the associated business services and the hosts that have impact relationship with the business services are imported into the Business Services folder. The business process is imported into the Generic Elements folder.

    For example, if you have collected topology for a business service, click the <count> Business Services link. 
    The <entity> List page shows the list of entity names and its other attributes received from BMC Helix CMDB. For information about entities in the infrastructure, see Managing your IT infrastructure..

  3. Click the entity name to view its topology.

To view services in BMC Helix AIOps

Before you view services in BMC Helix AIOps, create a Business Service model (for example, Blackberry_Service) in BMC Helix Discovery for the topology. For information about creating models, see Creating a model.

  1. In BMC Helix AIOps, go to the Services page.
    This page shows Blackberry_Service for which you have created the Business Service model. 
    ServiceNow_Services.png
  2. To view the impact on the service, hover over the service.
    The impact score in percentage and Situations, events, incidents, or configuration items (CIs) associated with a service are displayed.  
  3. Click the service to view the health summary, causal analysis, health insights, and other key metrics of interest.

For more information about services, see Monitoring services.

 

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