Creating service blueprints


To create a service blueprint, you can either directly select the existing CIs and include their relationships or add available CI Kinds from the list and establish their relationships.

Watch the following video (3:44) to learn how to create service blueprints in BMC Helix AIOps:

icon_play.pngWatch the YouTube video about creating Service Blueprints in BMC Helix AIOps.

To create a service blueprint from the available CIs and their relationships

  1. Select Configurations > Manage Service Blueprints.
  2. On the Service Blueprints page, click Create Service Blueprint.
  3. Specify the name, description, and provider (domain) details for the blueprint.
    For example, Kubernetes (K8s) Upgrade Deployment, K8s deployment template, .itbiz.com.
    create_new_service_blueprint_22101.png
  4. In the Select CIs section, perform the following actions:
    1. Click + Add CIs to Service.
      The Add CIs page displays a list of all available CIs for selection.
    2. Filter and add the required CIs by performing one of the following actions:
      • Type the name of the CIs (minimum three characters).
      • Select a category to narrow down the list of CIs.
        The filtered CIs are listed.
    3. Click Close to close the Add CIs page. 
    4. Select one or more CIs to add the CIs to the service.
      When you select only one CI, by default, the Include Related CIs check box is selected, which indicates that all the related CIs of the selected CI will also be added. If you don't want to add related CIs, clear the check box.

      Important

      You can add multiple CIs at the same time. However, you cannot add multiple CIs with their related CIs at the same time.

    5. (Optional) To undo the selected CIs and start over, click Clear Content and perform steps 4 a to 4 d again.
    6. (Optional) Set the service topology display option as either Organic or Hierarchic (default).


  5. Click Next Step.
    The blueprint is created. A default filter with the Name attribute is added to the start node. 


  6. If you observe an error on any of the CI nodes, resolve it.
    For more information, see To resolve the errors when selecting a CI kind
  7. (Optional) Edit the default filter criterion or add more filter criteria:
    1. Select the start node.
    2. On the Define CI Rule page, from Actions, select Edit.
    3. On the Define Filter Criteria page, from Actions, select Edit.
    4. Click Set as variable and update the message in the Define user prompt message text box if needed.
    5. Select a named attribute.
    6. (Optional) Select an extended attribute:
      1. From the Actions menuaction_menu.png, select Use Extended Attributes.
      2. Select extended attributes from the displayed list.
    7. Click Add New Filter Criteria to add more filter criteria.
    8. Save and close.
    9. Save and close the Define CI Rule page.
  8. (Optional) To change the list view, from the Available CI Kinds section, select view as icons view_as_icons.pngor view as type view_as_types.png.
  9. (Optional) In the Available CI Kinds section, type the name of the CI Kind or directly select the CI Kind of your choice from the list to add to the CI rules.
  10. Click the selected class to define CI rules.
  11. (Optional) Change the kind from the list by selecting one or more node kinds.
  12. (Optional) Include (default) or exclude the content of a CI kind.
    You have an option to exclude the content of a CI kind and keep only the related nodes as part of a blueprint. 
  13. (Optional) To assign any other CI kind as the start node kind:
    1. Select the CI kind that you assign as the start node kind.
    2. In the Define CI Rule page, click Specify Blueprint Start Node Kind.
      When you assign any other CI kind as the start node kind, blueprint is automatically re-computed.
  14. (Optional) Click Next step to preview the blueprint model.
  15. In the right pane, select a configuration to preview the blueprint model in the left pane. 
  16. Save the blueprint.
    For information on viewing the list of blueprints, see To view the service blueprint libraries.

Important

The newly created service blueprints are disabled by default. For information about enabling a blueprint, see To enable a service blueprint.

To create a service blueprint from the available CI kinds

  1. Select Configurations > Manage Service Blueprints.
  2. On the Service Blueprints page, click Create Service Blueprint.
  3. Specify the name, description, and provider (domain) details for the blueprint.
    For example, Kubernetes (K8s) Upgrade Deployment, K8s deployment template, .itbiz.com.
    create_new_service_blueprint_22101.png
  4. Click Next Step and do the following actions:
    1. (Optional) To change the list view, from the Available CI Kinds section, select view as icons view_as_icons.pngor view as type view_as_types.png.
    2. (Optional) In the Available CI Kinds section, type the name of the CI kind or directly select the CI kind of your choice from the list to add to the CI rules.
      A default filter with the Name attribute is added to the first node. 
    3. If you observe an error on any of the CI nodes, resolve it.
      For information about resolving the error, see To resolve the errors when selecting a CI kind.
    4. Click the selected class to define CI rules.
    5. (Optional) Change the kind from the list by selecting one or more node kinds. 
    6. (Optional) Select an unwanted CI kind from the map and delete it.
    7. (Optional) Set the service topology display option as either Organic or Hierarchic (default).
    8. (Optional) Include (default) or exclude the content of a CI kind.
      You have an option to exclude the content of a CI kind and keep only the related nodes as part of a blueprint. 
    9. (Optional) Add or edit the filter criteria and save the changes.
  5. Click Next step to preview the blueprint model.
  6. In the right pane, select a configuration to preview the blueprint model in the left pane.  
  7. Save the blueprint.
    For information about viewing the list of blueprints, see To view the service blueprint libraries.

Important

The newly created service blueprints are disabled by default. For information about enabling a blueprint, see To enable a service blueprint.

To resolve the errors when selecting a CI kind

When you see an error icon above a CI kind while you create or edit a service, hover over the CI kind for the tips error_icon_ci_kind.pngand based on the error tips, do one of the following actions:

  • Ensure that there are no unconnected nodes. There must be only one starting node in the model.
  • If there is only one starting node with an error icon, perform the following steps:
    1. Click the node to display the Define CI Rule page.
    2. Either select Add New Filter > Add New Filter Criteria to add filter criteria or select Edit > Edit to edit filter criteria.
      You can add only one filter to a root node and a maximum of three filters to a child node.
      1. Click Set as variable and type a message in the Define user prompt message text box.
      2. Select a named attribute.
      3. (Optional) Select an extended attribute:
        1. From the Actions menuaction_menu.png, select Use Extended Attributes.
        2. Select extended attributes from the displayed list.
    3. Save and close.
    4. Save and close the Define CI Rule page.
      The error message on the node disappears.

To view the service blueprint libraries

You can view a list of all enabled or disabled service blueprints from the Service Blueprints page.

  1. To view the list of all enabled and disabled blueprints, click Show disabled (default).
    The button label changes to Hide disabled.
  2. To view only the list of all enabled blueprints, click Hide disabled.

To create a service blueprint from another blueprint

  1. From the Service Blueprints page, select a blueprint from the list and select Action > Create new Blueprint from option.
    For example, you selected the existing Blueprint Host to Storage System blueprint to create a new blueprint from it. A copy Blueprint Host to Storage System (copy) of the blueprint is created.
  2. Edit the name, description, and provider details as required.
  3. Edit the blueprint rules.
    For more information, see steps 4 to 6 of To create a service blueprint from the available CI kindssection.
  4. Save the new blueprint.

To view the details of a service blueprint

  1. From the Service Blueprints page, select a blueprint from the list and select Action > View option.
  2. (Optional) Change the display to Organic or Hierarchic (default) view. 
  3. View and click Close.

To view the details of a service blueprint from BMC Helix Discovery

Alternatively, you can also view the blueprint created in BMC Helix AIOps from BMC Helix Discovery. For more information, see Managing blueprint definitions.

However, in BMC Helix Discovery, the blueprint name is suffixed with the text RULES_TEMPLATE as shown in the following image:
View_blueprint_in_discovery.png


To edit a service blueprint

  1. From the Service Blueprints page, choose a blueprint from the list and select Action > Edit option.
  2. Edit the blueprint rules as required.
    For more information, see step 4 and step 6 of the To create a service blueprintsection.
  3. Click Next Step (Preview result) to preview the blueprint model.
  4. Save the blueprint.

    Can I edit a blueprint from BMC Helix Discovery?

    No, you can only edit a service blueprint in BMC Helix AIOps.

To list the related services of a service blueprint

  1. From the Service Blueprints page, choose a blueprint from the list and select Action > List related Services option.
  2. (Optional) Use the action menu action_menu_icon.pngto sort the list in ascending or descending order.
  3. Click Close.

    Important

    A blueprint that is part of a service cannot be disabled or deleted.

To enable a service blueprint

Enabling a blueprint makes it available for a service model. 

Tip

Ensure that you are viewing the disabled service blueprints to see the Enable option.

  1. From the Service Blueprints page, choose a blueprint from the list and select Action >Enable to enable the blueprint to be used as part of a service model.  
  2. Click Hide disabled to view the list of all enabled service blueprints.
  3. Check for the newly enabled blueprint in the list. 
  4. (Optional) Verify that it is available for a service model by clicking Services and selecting a service to edit.
    1. Click Add Dynamic content.
    2. Search for and check that the enabled blueprint is available for selection.

To disable a service blueprint

Disabling a blueprint makes it unavailable for a service model.

Important

A blueprint that is part of a service cannot be disabled.

  1. From the Service Blueprints page, choose a blueprint from the list and select Action > Disable to disable the blueprint to be used in a service model.
  2. Click Show disabled to view the list of all disabled service blueprints.
  3. Check for the disabled blueprint in the list.
  4. (Optional) Verify that it is not available for a service model by clicking Services and select a service to edit.
    1. Click Add Dynamic content.
    2. Search for and check that the disabled blueprint is not available for selection.

To export a service blueprint

Best practice
Export the blueprints before you delete them. If you them at a later stage, you can simply import them.

  1. From the Service Blueprints page, choose a blueprint from the list and select Action >Export to save the blueprint as a JSON file into your default download folder.
  2. (Optional) Open the JSON file and verify it is exported correctly.

To import a service blueprint

You can import files only with .json extension.

  1. From the Service Blueprints page, click Import Service Blueprint.
  2. Navigate to the folder where you have saved or downloaded the exported blueprint file.
    The maximum file size is 1 MB.
  3. Click Show disabled to view the imported blueprints in disabled state.

To delete a service blueprint

Best practice
Export the blueprints before you delete them. If you need the those at a later stage, you can simply import them.

Consider the following when deleting a blueprint:

  • You can only delete the blueprints that are not part of a service. The Delete option is disabled for a blueprint that is part of a service.
  • Deleting a blueprint removes the blueprint from BMC Helix AIOps and BMC Helix Discovery.
  • From BMC Helix Discovery, you can unpublish but cannot delete a blueprint.

Do the following steps to delete a service blueprint:

  1. From the Service Blueprints page, choose a blueprint from the list and select Action > Delete.
  2. Click Proceed to delete the blueprint.

Where to go from here

Creating-service-models

 

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