Import from BMC FootPrints Asset Core

BMC FootPrints Asset Core information may need to be imported in several steps, with the Import Types (see below) imported at different times. Both CI data and relationship information can be imported.

Import CIs

To import CI data from BMC FootPrints Asset Core:

1. From the CMDB homepage, select Admin | Imports. The CMDB Import Data page is displayed.
2. Click the New button.

3. The Data Source step of the Data Import | Add New Ruleset page is displayed. Select BMC FootPrints Asset Core from the drop-down. The Import Type option is displayed.

   • Designate the type of data to import. Options are:

   1. 
      
      • Devices—"Devices" are Desktops, Laptops, Servers, Routers, Switches, and Printers. The terms "Device" and "Asset" are used interchangeably in Configuration Manager.
      • Software Items—"Software Items" are applications that reside on devices.
      • Network Relationships—"Network Relationships" denote connections between switches and routers to desktops, servers, laptops, printers, and other switches and routers.
      • Software Relationships—"Software Relationships" denote which software is installed on each desktop, laptop, and server.

4. Click the Next button. If you selected Devices, the next step is Data Filter. If you selected Software Items, the next step is Data Mapping.  If you selected Software or Network Relationships, the next step is Relationships. Options are as follows:

   • Data Filter—All Device Types from BMC FootPrints Asset Core will be included by default. Remove any types you don't want included from the Included Types field. If you selected Devices, when you click the Next button, the Data Mapping step is displayed.
   • Data Mapping—Complete the sections for Data Mapping.

   1. • Default CI Type—Select the CI type that will serve as the default. Any imported CI will be of this type unless it matches the criteria of subsequent CI type rules defined in the next step. It is best to choose the CI type that is most common for the default. The drop-down field will contain a list of all of the CI types in your CMDB. This field is mandatory. You must choose a default CI type.
      • CI Type Rules—Click the Add button to create a rule. When you click the Add button, the CI Type Rule field is displayed. Complete the fields to filter the CI types to be included. Select a column in the BMC FootPrints Asset Core database on which to filter, then choose the data that would identify the CI Type in that column. For example, you might choose a column called Product Type and enter "Word" in the "contains" field, then select a CI Type, such as "Authoring Application", from the CI Type drop-down field. This means that the CMDB, when it performs the import, will look in that column for each CI and, when it finds a match, will specify the CI Type for that CI as "Authoring Application". You should create a CI type rule for every CI type you want to import that is not the default. You can change the rules later by returning to this page, highlighting the rule in the CI Type Rules field, and then clicking the Edit button.
      • Attribute Mapping—Map the columns from BMC FootPrints Asset Core to CI attributes. This section is mandatory. You must have at least one mapping.

      1. 
         
         • Remove any BMC FootPrints Asset Core columns that you don't want mapped from the list of column names by highlighting the column names and then clicking the Remove button. This allows you to only import the data that you truly want to see as part of the CMDB. Removal of unwanted columns is mandatory.
         • Click the Add button. The Attribute Mapping fields are displayed.
         • Select the column name from the Column drop-down field, then select the Attribute that it so be mapped to that column from the Attribute drop-down field. When the import is performed, the data is extracted from the column field and entered, as appropriate, as that Attribute.
         • Click the Complete button when you have made your selection. Be sure to map every Attribute that you want to import, but again, you do not have to import every column in BMC FootPrints Asset Core.

      • Status—Click one of the radio buttons. You can either apply a single status to every item imported (select the status you want to apply from the drop-down field). This section is mandatory.

        Important

        By default we do not map the status column of the BMC FootPrints Asset Core import view to anything, so you won’t see it in the Attribute Mapping list, but you will see the Status column listed in the columns drop-down if you choose to add a new Attribute Mapping.

      • Contacts—Optionally, use one of the columns in the data you are importing to associate the CI with a contact. For example, you may have a unique identifier in a particular column in BMC FootPrints Asset Core that associates the CI with an individual like “User Name” which will contain the user name of the user logged in at the time of the audit. This can be mapped to a contact field you have set up in the Address Book, such as User ID. To map the column to the field for the purpose of associating CIs with contacts, select the column from the Columns drop-down field and then select the contact field from the Contact Fields drop-down field.
      • Unique Key—The Unique Key identifies whether a CI already exists for the imported data. When FootPrints performs the import, if the Unique Key for an existing CI matches the data to be imported, a new CI is not created, but the attributes for the existing CI are updated. If a match is not found for the Unique Key, then a new CI is created. For example, you might designate a BMC FootPrints Asset Core column named "Serial Number" as the Unique Key, assuming all serial numbers are unique. When Configuration Manager performs an update on the CMDB data, if the serial number of a CI that is being imported matches an existing serial number, FootPrints updates the attributes of the existing CI in the CMDB with any new data. If, however, a CI is being imported and there is no match between the Serial Number column and an existing CI, Configuration Manager creates a new CI for that data. You can add more than one Unique Key if you need to combine multiple columns in order to uniquely identify CIs.

   • Relationships
     
     • Relationship—This option is provided if your import contains information on a single relationship type. For example, the file might have two columns, the first containing the IP addresses of PCs and the second containing the names of printers to which those PCs print. In that circumstance, you can define a single relationship for the data you are importing. Select the relationship that is associated with this import from the drop-down field.
     • From CI Identifier—This field is used to define which column(s) in the file corresponds to which CI attribute in the CMDB. Using our example above, the first column containing the IP addresses of the PCs might be called "IP adds", which could correspond to the attribute "IP Address" in the CMDB. At least one mapping must be defined. To perform the mapping, click the Add button. The Select Identifier fields are displayed.
       
       • Column—Select the name of the column that contains data that will uniquely identify a CI that exists in the CMDB for the From relationship from the drop-down field.
       • Attribute—Select the name of the attribute that contains data that will match the data being imported from the column for the From relationship from the drop-down field.
         If two or more columns of data are needed to uniquely identify the From CI, you can add additional identifiers. Only CIs that match all From identifiers will be selected when the import runs.
5. When you have made your selections, click the Complete button. The mapping is displayed in the From CI Identifier field.
6. Click the Next button. The General Options step is displayed.
7. The General Options step displays fields which may be completed as follows:
   • Save As—Enter a name for this rule set. Saving the rule is required in order to rerun the rule, either on a schedule or manually. If you save the rule set, it will be displayed in a list the next time you select Admin | Imports from the CMDB homepage. At that point, you will also be able to edit the rule set as well.
   • Notes—Enter any commentary you wish in this field.
   • Schedule—Define a schedule for running the import. The import will run automatically on the schedule you set here.
     • Immediately—The import is scheduled to run as soon as you click the Finish button and will start running within 1 minute..
     • Specific Time/Date—When you click this radio button, a field is displayed for selecting the time and date at which to run the import. Click anywhere in the field or on the icon to display the time and date scheduler. This is a one-time import.
     • Recurring—Select Recurring to set up an automatic, recurring import of data. When you click this radio button, a Configure button is displayed. Click the Configure button to display the scheduler. Set the recurring import to occur Daily, Weekly, or Monthly, then set the day of the week or month and the time of day on which to perform the import.
     • Manual Only—Select Manual Only to perform imports only when the system is instructed to do so from the Admin | Imports page by clicking the Run button.
   • Email Summary—The email summary sends a summary when the import is finished. The summary contains some basic information about the import, such as how many CIs were created and/or updated, as well as error messages received.. Enter the email addresses or agent’s user ID of those you want to receive an email summary.
   • Pop-up Summary—The pop-up summary displays the same information as the email summary, only as a pop-up window. The window is displayed either immediately to agents who are logged in or the first time an agent logs in after the import is performed. Enter the agent user IDs of those you want to receive a summary pop-up.
8. Enter your password and click the Finish button. The CMDB Data Import page is displayed with the new ruleset listed in the Ruleset column.