Simulating normalization by using the NE Simulator utility
As a Configuration Manager, you can use the NE Simulator utility for the following purposes:
- Preview normalization for a specific dataset and class.
- Improve the number of CIs that are normalized.
- Improve the quality of data created in the Product Catalog.
Before you begin
- Configure the dataset for normalization. See Configuring-normalization-settings-for-datasets.
- Update or add class configurations for the dataset, as needed. See Configuring-classes-for-normalization.
- Populate the dataset with the data that you want to normalize. See Managing-data-sources-and-datasets-in-BMC-Helix-CMDB.
- Verify that the Product Catalog is updated and configured as required. See Managing-the-Product-Catalog.
- Download the utility from the link provided in the topic Working-with-CMDB-utilities.
To run the normalization simulation
- Open the Command Line Interface (CLI) application and change the directory to a location where the NE Simulator (nesim) utility file is located.
- Open the utility file in edit mode and specify the appropriate value for the ATRIUM_HOME and JAVA_HOME variables.
For example:
set ATRIUM_HOME="C:\Program Files\BMC Software\AtrimCore"
set JAVA_HOME="C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_25" Run the batch file or shell script with the following syntax:
<script or Batch FileName> <hostname> <portNumber> <username> <password> <datasetID> [HTMLUATatriumcoreNRG:<className> <classID>] <chunksize>- Chunksize is the number of CI's that you want to process in chunks during simulation. If you do not specify a chunk size, the default value of 100 CIs per chunk is used.
- The value for [HTMLUATatriumcoreNRG: ] is optional. If you specify <className> you must also specify <classID>. If you do not specify a class, the utility simulates all configured classes in the dataset.
- If <username> does not have a password, then specify 0 for <password>.
- If <portNumber> port number is not available, specify 0.
Example: nesim.cmd w3k-labtest-vm1 1190 AndyAdmin andyPwd Calbro.disc BMC_Product BMC_PRODUCT 200
- Verify the simulation results in the command window.
- Run the utility separately for each class in the dataset.
CIs that are not configured for normalization and have the attribute NormalizationStatus set to Normalization Not Applicable, are not included in the simulation.
Summary of simulation results
After you run the utility, a summary of the results is displayed as shown in the following figure:
Simulation result | Description |
|---|---|
Total CIs | Total number of CIs that were normalized by the utility. |
Failed CIs | These CIs have a NormalizationStatus value of Normalized Failed. Verify and correct the following attributes in the failed CIs:
Important: Normalization uses the Manufacturer and Model attributes to find Product Catalog entries. If the CIs have values for Manufacturer and Model attributes and still they failed normalization, you might need to create aliases. For more information, see Mapping product and manufacturer aliases. |
Success CIs | These CIs are successfully normalized. Depending on the dataset's normalization settings, these CIs have any of the following NormalizationStatus value:
|
Skipped CIs | These CIs are not normalized because they are not configured for normalization. They have the attribute NormalizationStatus set to Normalization Not Applicable. |
New Product CIs | New Product Catalog entries are created for these CIs. These are created if you enabled Allow New Product Catalog Entry in the normalization dataset settings. The New Product CIs have the following NormalizationStatus values:
|
For each simulation, the utility produces a text file with detailed results in the location where you ran the utility file. The file is named <className_datasetID>_NESimulation.txt. To import the file into a spreadsheet application, open a spreadsheet application and select, File > Open and select file. When prompted to select the delimiter symbol, select Other. Enter the pipe | character as a field delimiter, and click Finish.
After you have corrected the issues from the simulated results, create a normalization job for the dataset. For information about creating a normalization job, see Creating-a-normalization-job.