Importing data from Dell KACE

Dell KACE is a provider of systems management appliances. You can use the appliance-based approach to manage desktops, laptops, and servers. For more information, see https://software.dell.com/kace/. For information about enabling staff members to work with the Dell KACE Console, see Integrating-BMC-Helix-Remedyforce-with-Dell-KACE.

You can import data from Dell KACE into BMC Remedyforce CMDB 2.0 by using the Pentaho Data Integration tool. The Pentaho package for importing data from Dell KACE is available on the BMC Communities website. For information about how configuration items (CIs) are imported and relationships are created in CMDB 2.0, see Overview-of-how-data-is-imported-into-BMC-Remedyforce.

The following topics provide information about importing data from Dell KACE into BMC Remedyforce CMDB:

• • Before you begin
  • To import data from Dell KACE
  • To schedule jobs to import data
  • User scenarios for importing data from Dell KACE
  • KJB and KTR files for importing data from Dell KACE
  • Troubleshooting
  • Related topics

Before you begin

Before you can import data from Dell KACE into BMC Remedyforce CMDB, you must perform the following tasks:

• Install Java Runtime Environment (JRE).
• Download the Pentaho Data Integration tool.
  If the Require TLS 1.1 or higher for HTTPS connections Salesforce critical update is enabled in your organization, you must use version 6.1 or later of the Pentaho Data Integration tool.
• Register at the BMC Communities website.
• Add the MySQL connector file to the \data-integration\lib folder.
• (Optional) Configure BMC Remedyforce to retain the original Instance Name value of CIs imported from an external source.
• If you have enabled the setting to access your Salesforce organization from limited IP addresses, ensure that you have the security token to log on to your Salesforce organization.
  For more information about the security token, see Salesforce Help.

• Ensure that the Enable database access option under Settings > Control Panel tab > Security Settings > General Security Settings section in the Dell KACE Management Centre (Dell KACE console) is selected.

  Note

  The database name is present in Settings > Control Panel tab > General Settings > Update Reporting User Password section in the Dell KACE Management Centre (Dell KACE console).

• Download the Pentaho package from the BMC Communities website ( https://communities.bmc.com/docs/DOC-28433).
  For information about the KJB (job) and KTR (transformation) files that are included in the Pentaho package, see KJB and KTR files for importing data from Dell KACE.

  Best practice

  BMC recommends that you do not change the folder structure because doing so can interfere with the running of the batch files provided in the CombinedJobs folder.

To import data from Dell KACE

1. To launch the Pentaho Data Integration tool, perform the following actions:
   1. Navigate to the location where you downloaded and unzipped the Pentaho Data Integration tool.
   2. Navigate to the data-integration folder and double-click the Spoon.bat file.
2. In Pentaho Spoon, select File > Open, navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Pentaho package, and open the appropriate KJB file.
   For example, to import LAN Endpoint CIs into BMC Remedyforce CMDB, open the TransferDELLKACELANEndPointInfotoCMDB.kjb file in the LANEndpoints folder.
3. In the KJB file, right-click the Update BE table with Dell KACE <CI type name> information step, select Open referenced object, and then select Transformation.

4. Enter the information required to access the Dell KACE database.

   Click here to see the detailed steps.

   1. In the KTR file, double-click the Dell KACE Input step.
   2. Next to the Connection list, click Edit.
   3. In the Database Connection window, enter the host name, database name, user name, and password.
      The host name is the name of the computer where the Dell KACE database is installed. Ensure that MYSQL database is selected as the Connection Type and Native (JDBC) is selected as Access value.
   4. (Optional) To verify the connection, click Test.
   5. To save your changes and close the window, click OK.

5. Enter the information required to access your Salesforce organization.

   Click here to see the detailed steps.

   1. Double-click the Upsert into class <CI type name> step.
   2. In the Salesforce Upsert window, enter your Salesforce organization user name and password.
      BMC recommends that you do not change the default API version in the Salesforce Webservice URL.
   3. (Optional) To test the connection, click Test connection and then click OK.
   4. To save your changes and close the window, click OK.
   5. Double-click the Salesforce Input[CMDB_Class] step and in the Salesforce Input window, repeat step 5b to step 5d.

   Important

   If you have enabled the setting to access your Salesforce organization from limited IP addresses, you must append the security token to your Salesforce organization password.

   For example, if the password for your Salesforce organization is mypassword and your security token is XXXXXXXXX, specify mypasswordXXXXXXXXX in the Password fields.

6. (Optional) Update the predefined mapping between Dell KACE fields and BMC Remedyforce CMDB.

   Click here to see the detailed steps.

   1. Double-click the Upsert into class <CI type name> step.
   2. In the Salesforce Upsert window, click Edit Mapping.
   3. In the Enter Mapping window, update mappings for fields based on your requirements.
      For information about updating the out-of-the-box mapping, see Field mapping in CMDB 2.0..
   4. To save your settings and close the Enter Mapping window, click OK.
      
   5. To save your changes and close the Salesforce Upsert window, click OK.
7. To save the KTR and KJB files, click Save .
8. In the KJB file tab, click Run this job .

9. Perform one of the following actions based on the Pentaho version that you are using:

   Pentaho version	Action
   6.1	In the Run Options window, click Run.
   5.4	In the Execute a job window, click Launch.

   Data is imported into the appropriate CMDB class.
   
   Transformation status is depicted by using the following icons:

   • — Complete
   • — Running
   •  — Unsuccessful
10. Verify whether the entries are correct in the Relationships Editor of the appropriate CMDB class.

11. (Optional) To view logs, in the Execution results section, click the Logging tab.
    All errors are displayed in red.
    For the imported records, the Source field is set to KACE. You can use the Source field to generate reports and also when you enable and configure reconciliation. 

    Warning

    If you are using two different computers, two records are imported from the Person package in CMDB for the same user.

    You can launch the Dell KACE console to view the details of the records that have been imported from Dell KACE.

To schedule jobs to import data

On the BMC Communities website, the Pentaho packages for importing data from external data sources into BMC Remedyforce page contain a Scheduling Files folder. This folder contains a sample batch file that you can use as a base to create your batch files for scheduling data import. For more information about scheduling a job, see http://wiki.Pentaho.com/display/EAI/Kitchen+User+Documentation.

1. Navigate to the folder where you have extracted the Pentaho package for which you want to schedule import jobs.
2. Open the Scheduling Files folder and create a copy of the sample batch file, such as SchedulingComputerSystem.bat.

3. Open the batch file that you created in step 2, perform the following actions, and save the file:

   1. Update the path of the Kitchen.bat file based on your version of the Pentaho Data Integration tool:KETTLE_HOME="<path>\<PentahoFolder>\data-integration"
   2. Update the path of the Kitchen.bat file and the KJB file:<path>\<PentahoFolder>\data-integration\kitchen.bat /file:"<JobFile>\<JobFileName>.kjb"/level:Detailed
      

   In these steps, the following definitions apply:
   

   • <path> is the location where you have extracted the Pentaho installer ZIP file.
   • <PentahoFolder> is the extracted root folder for your version of the Pentaho Data Integration tool.
     For example, for version 6.1 of the Pentaho Data Integration Tool, the extracted root folder is pdi-ce-6.1.0.1-196.
   • <JobFile> is the location where you have extracted the job files.
   • <JobFileName> is the KJB file that you want to run at the scheduled interval.
   • The level option specifies the level of logging for the job. The values that you can specify for the level option are Minimal, Basic, Detailed, Debugging, and Row Level. The log files are saved in the same folder where KJB files are saved.

   See an example of the updated batch file.

   The following figure shows an example of the updated SchedulingComputerSystem.bat file.

   

4. Go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > TaskScheduler.
5. In the Task Scheduler window, in the Actions area, click Create Basic Task.
6. In the Create Basic Task Wizard, type the name and description of the task, and click Next.
7. Select the appropriate option for starting the task, and click Next.
   For example, you can select Daily or When the computer starts as the option for starting the task.
8. Configure the additional options for starting the task, and click Next.
   The additional options are displayed based on the option that you selected in step 7. For example, if you select the Daily option for starting the task, you must configure the start date and frequency at which you want to run the batch file.
9. Select the Start a program radio button, and click Next.
10. Click Browse to locate the batch file that you have created to schedule the job, and click Next.
11. Select the Open the Properties dialog for this task when I click Finish check box, and click Finish.

User scenarios for importing data from Dell KACE

David is a member of the Infrastructure team for Downtown Bank, responsible for managing the laptops for ABC project.He signs up for BMC Remedyforce and expects to use the pre-configured, ITIL based incident and problem management processes for managing CIs. Also, David wants to use the CMDB to represent the physical, logical, and conceptual items and to track the relationships between the different CIs.

KJB and KTR files for importing data from Dell KACE

The Pentaho packages contain job (KJB) and transformation (KTR) files that are created in the Pentaho Data Integration tool. The KJB files (jobs) and KTR files (transformations) store metadata in XML format. A KJB file contains a series of transformations that are run in a sequence. A KTR file contains a single transformation. The KJB (job) files retrieve data from external sources into BMC Remedyforce CMDB.

For information about the KJB and KTR files in the Pentaho packages for Dell KACE , see KJB files in the Pentaho package and KTR files in the Pentaho package.

KJB files in the Pentaho package

The Pentaho package includes different KJB (job) files for importing different types of CIs, such as computer systems and LAN endpoints, from Dell KACE. These job files are bundled with related files and provided to you in folders. The folder names correspond to CI types in BMC Remedyforce CMDB.

The following table provides information about the job files that you must run to import specific CI types to BMC Remedyforce CMDB:

KTR files in the Pentaho package

All job (KJB) files for importing data from specific CI types contain a series of transformations that are run in a sequence. Each transformation maps to a KTR file that is available, along with the KJB file, in the folder for each CI type.

The following table provides information about the KTR files and the corresponding transformations that the KJB file for each CI type contains:

For example, the ComputerSystem job file (TransferDELLKACEComputerSystemInfotoCMDB.kjb) contains the CreateInitialTimeStampedFile.ktr, TransferDELLKACEComputerSystemInfotoCMDB.ktr, and StoreComputerSystemInfoTimestamp.ktr files.

The following table provides information about the steps that are included in the TransferDELLKACE<CIType>infotoCMDB.ktr file (Update BE Table With DELL KACE <CI type name> information transformation). The Pentaho package runs these steps to transfer data from Dell KACE into BMC Remedyforce CMDB. You can view these steps only when you open the KTR file in the Pentaho Data Integration tool.

Troubleshooting

The following table describes the troubleshooting tips that you can use to resolve common issues that you might face when importing data.

Related topics

Applying-models-while-importing-CIs-and-assets

Scheduling-jobs-to-import-data

Troubleshooting-common-issues-when-importing-data

Starting-the-Dell-KACE-console

Known-and-corrected-issues-for-Pentaho-packages