This documentation supports the 21.3 version of BMC Helix CMDB.To view an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Adding custom Product Catalog entries manually

If some product information is not available in the Product Catalog out-of-the-box, add custom Product Catalog entries by either create entries individually in the Product Catalog form or import them in bulk from the supported data sources. To learn about importing entries in bulk, see Managing-Product-Catalog-entries-in-bulk. 

Each Product Catalog entry must be unique. You can make the entry unique by adding the ManufacturerName and Model attributes to the Product Catalog entry name. 

The following table shows some key CI attributes that map to Product Catalog fields:

CI attribute name

Product Catalog field name

Category

Categorization Tier 1

Type

Categorization Tier 2

Item

Categorization Tier 3

ManufacturerName

Manufacturer

Model

Product Name

VersionNumber

Model/Version

MarketVersion

Market Version

Related Topics

Managing-the-Product-Catalog

Ways-to-populate-the-Product-Catalog

Important

The names of some fields in the Product Catalog do not match their respective CI attribute names. 

Before you begin

  • To create custom Product Catalog entries, you must log in as a user with the Atrium Foundation Admin and General Access permission roles. 
  • To access and use the Product Catalog, ensure that the AR System User Fixed license is installed and assigned to you. 

Important

For custom classes, you must manually create an entry in Product Catalog for CITYPE. To learn how to create the CITYPE entry, see Creating-or-modifying-classes-by-using-Class-Manager. 

To add a Product Catalog entry manually

  1. Log in to CMDB Portal.
  2. Navigate to Atrium Core > Product Catalog
    The Product Catalog Console opens in the PDL:PD_Console AR System form.
  3. Click General Functions > New Product/Suite. 
    The Product Catalog Setup form opens in New mode.
    prodcat1.png

  4. In Product Type, select a product type, such as Hardware, Software, Service, Business Service, or Network Segment. 
    The CI Type list is populated based on the type of product that you select.

    Important

    The Product Type selection is used only to broadly classify product entries within the Product Catalog and to appropriately populate the CI Type list. Product categorization does not refer to the Product Type or CI Type fields to categorize products.

  5. In the Product Category area of the Product Catalog Setup form, click Create. 
    The Product Category Update window opens.
    Product Category Update window
    pc_product_category_update.png
  6. From the CI Type list, select the CI class for which you want to create the product.
    CI Type is the type of configuration item that this Product Catalog entry represents.

  7. Enter the tier1, tier 2, and tier3 categorization for the product. 

    Important

    The Product Categorization Tier 2 list is populated based on the categorization that you select for tier 1, and the Product Categorization Tier 3 list is populated based on the categorization that you select for tier 2.

  8. In the Product Name field, enter the name of the product.
  9. Perform one of the following actions for specifying the manufacturer for the product:
    • From the Manufacturer list, select a manufacturer.
    • Create a new manufacturer.
  10. From the Status list, select the status for the product.
    Specifying a status for an entry enables the application to search for a product based on the status. The status is for information only. It does not cause any actions to occur.
    • Proposed — Temporarily prevents the product category from being selected by an application.
    • Enabled — Enables the product category to be selected by an application. Only product categories that are set to Enabled appear in lists for product fields.
    • Offline — Indicates that the product category is offline and temporarily unavailable.
    • Obsolete — Indicates that the product category is obsolete and no longer available.
    • Archive — Indicates that the selected product category has been archived.
    • Delete— Sets the status of the selected product category to Delete. You can delete the product category entries by using Delete on the Product Category tab on the Product Category Setup form. You must be part of the Action Request System administrator group to be able to delete the record.
    • (clear) — Clears the Status field.

  11. If the product is a suite of products, select Yes for Suite Definition.

    Important

    The Origin field is set to Custom by default and cannot be updated. The Third Party option is used only for products that are provided by BMC.

  12. Click Save and then Close. 
    When the product catalog entry is saved, it is automatically related to the "- Global -" company. This makes the product category available on other forms, such as the Incident form, for all operating and customer companies. 
    You can now create model and version information for the product, or associate the product with a company. For more information, see Product-Catalog-and-multitenancy.


To add a new manufacturer for a Product Catalog entry

  1. Open the Product Category Update window.
  2. Next to the Manufacturer list, click New. 
    The New Manufacturer window opens.
  3. In the Company field, enter the name of the company.
  4. From the Status list, select the status of the manufacturer.
  5. Click Save and then click Close.



 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*