Integrating third-party products with BMC Helix Discovery on-premises

Use connectors in BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations to connect third-party monitoring tools, such as Dynatrace and AppDynamics, and collect the configuration items (CIs) or topology data from them into BMC Helix Discovery on-premises.

BMC Helix Discovery links the imported CIs to build an accurate service topology. You can then use this topology to create business service models for faster troubleshooting and root-cause analysis.

Before you begin

Before you start configuring a connection with a third-party product to collect topology data, perform the following tasks:

• Create a user account of type API Access with the following permissions in BMC Helix Discovery on-premises, and then generate an API token for this user account:
  • admin
  • api-access
  • discovery
  • never de-activate
    For more information about creating user accounts and generating API tokens, see Managing system users in the BMC Helix Discovery documentation.
• Deploy the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations on-premises gateway.
  For more information, see Deploying the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations on-premises gateway.
• Make sure that all requirements for the third-party product from which you want to collect topology data are met. 
  For information about the requirements, see the documentation for the corresponding connector in the Integrating by using BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations section.

Task 1: To configure the source and destination connections

1. Access the BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations on-premises gateway by using the following URL: https://hostName:portNumber/swpui.
2. On the CONNECTORS  tab, click Add   in the SOURCES panel.
3. Click the tile for the third-party product from which you want to collect topology data.
4. Specify the details for the source connection. 
   For information about source connection details, see the documentation for the corresponding connector in the Integrating by using BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations section.
5. Click VALIDATE AND CREATE.
   The specified connection details are validated, and the corresponding source connection is created in the Source Connection list.
6. Perform one of the following actions:
   • If you are configuring the destination connection for the first time, click the BMC Helix tile and go to step 7.
   • If you have already configured the destination connection, make sure that the option for the destination is selected, and then go to step 8.
7. Enter the following details for BMC Helix Discovery on-premises:
   • Hostname: Specify the name of the host on which BMC Helix Discovery on-premises is installed.
   • Allow Unsigned Certificates: Select this option if BMC Helix Discovery on-premises is using unsigned certificates. 
   • Access Key: Enter the API token owned by the user account of type API Access that you have already created.
8. Click VALIDATE AND CREATE.
9. In the Data Types section, clear options for all other data types except for the Topology data type.

Task 2: To configure data collection and distribution parameters

1. Configure the collectors for the topology data type in the Collectors section. 
   For information about the collection parameters, see the documentation for the corresponding connector in the Integrating by using BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations section.
2. To create the collector stream for the topology data type, click CREATE COLLECTORS.
3. Configure the distributors for the topology data type in the Distributors section.
   For information about the distribution parameters, see the documentation for the corresponding connector in the Integrating by using BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations section.
4. Click CREATE DISTRIBUTORS to create the distributor stream for the topology data type.
5. Perform one of the following actions:
   • Click SAVE STREAM if you want to edit the connector before starting the streams for data collection. After you save the stream, the connector that you created appears in the SOURCES panel. You can start the data collection later, from either the Connectors page or the Streams page. 
     For information about editing connectors, see Editing and deleting connectors.
   • Click SAVE AND START STREAM to start data collection immediately.
     For information about data streams, Managing data streams.

Task 3: To verify data collection and distribution

1. In the SOURCES panel, confirm that the topology data stream for the connector you created is running. 
   A moving light blue arrow () indicates that the topology stream is running. Topology data is pushed according to the configured Collection Schedule interval. 
   
2. On the Streams page, verify the Collector > Distributor Status column. 
   If the icons for both the collector and distributor appear green for a stream, it indicates that the collector is collecting data and the distributor is distributing it to BMC Helix Discovery on-premises. 
   

3. Verify the Last Run Status column, which displays the start and end time of the last data collection run and the number of items collected in the last run. 

   Important
   For a data stream, the Run Latency (max/avg), Items (Avg per Run), and Last Run Status columns might show the status as No Runs during the data collection process. After the process is complete, these columns are updated with an appropriate status.

To view the topology data in BMC Helix Discovery on-premises

1. Log on to BMC Helix Helix Discovery on-premises. 
2. Select Explore > Data, and click <count> Import Records in the Miscellaneous section.
   The Import Record List page shows the CI records received from the third-party product.
   For information about records, see Managing your IT infrastructure.
   

Related topics

Editing and deleting connectors