Creating snapshots

If you use an existing dataset as the destination dataset, to delete or purge the dataset before running the snapshot job, see Deleting-CIs-from-a-dataset-by-using-the-Delete-activity and Purging-soft-deleted-data-to-optimize-CMDB-performance.

Guidelines for creating a snapshot

The Drift Management snapshot function copies your configuration data by using the following guidelines:

• If the Copy Child CIs option is selected on the Snapshot Job Wizard, the parent CI and only weak relationships are copied.
  This means if the CI is the source member of a weak relationship, the destination member and the relationship between them are also copied.
  Because this action is recursive, all weak relationships and their members below the selected CI are copied.
• If the Copy Child CIs option is not selected, only the CIs selected by the qualification set are copied.
• If the All Objects option is specified in the qualification set, all CIs including weak and strong relationships, are copied from the source dataset to the destination dataset.
• All Objects option overrides the Copy Child CI option.
• If the Custom Qualification Set option is specified in the qualification set, only the selected CIs are copied.
• The snapshot function copies all CIs, including those that have not been given a reconciliation identity.
• When copying to an existing destination dataset that contains data from a previous snapshot job, consider the following guidelines:
  • Existing CIs in the destination dataset that match the currently used qualification set are overwritten; the CIs that do not match the qualification set are untouched.
  • If a CI matching the qualification set does not exist in the destination dataset, the CI is added to the dataset.

To create a snapshot job

1. In the Drift Management navigation pane, select Management > Job Console > Create.
2. From the Specify Type of Job dialog box, select Snapshot Job.
   The Snapshot Job Wizard is displayed.

3. Enter the following information for the snapshot job and click Next:

   Field	Description
   Name and Description	Provide a unique job name and description.
   Status	Indicate if the job can be executed. Select from the following options: (Default) Active - Choose Active if you want the job to run. The job can be run manually or set to run on a schedule. Inactive - Choose Inactive if you do not want the job to run. For example, you might make a job inactive after several runs, but you want to keep it around for historical or record-keeping purposes. You can change the status to Active.
   Accessible To	Specify the permission group(s) that can see the job on the Job Console. This field determines who can view, execute, modify, and delete the job. For example, if this field is set to Drift Master, all users belonging to the Drift Master group can see the job and execute it. You can delete the default (Public). For more information about Drift Management roles and permissions, see Managing-drift-management-permissions.
   Copy Child CIs	Copy the selected CI (parent) and all related child CIs, including the weak CIs.

4. In the Specify Destination Dataset pane, provide a dataset to which to copy your snapshot data, and then click Next.
   1. Select an existing destination dataset or create a new destination dataset.
      • If you select an existing dataset, the Dataset Name menu is populated from CMDB and the dataset names displayed depend on your Drift Management permissions.
      • If you create a new dataset, enter the dataset name.
        The destination dataset is created when the snapshot job runs, not when the snapshot job is created.
        It is saved in CMDB for reuse in a future run of the snapshot job. We recommend you to follow CMDB naming conventions.
   2. In the Accessible To: field, specify the permission groups who can see the destination dataset.
      More than one group can be specified and you can delete the default Public group.

5. In the Specify Source Dataset pane, provide a source dataset from which to copy your snapshot data, and then click Next.
   Your source dataset can come from a variety of data sources: BMC Asset, BMC Configuration Import, BMC Topology Import, a backup or archive, or another snapshot dataset. Only the datasets that you have permission to view are displayed.

   Warning

   If you create a dataset by using Reconciliation to use as the source dataset for a snapshot, baseline, or target, you must add Drift Master permissions to the CMDBRowLevelSecurity attribute of the dataset for the dataset to be visible from the Snapshot Job, Baseline, or Target Wizard.

   The menu is populated from CMDB, which has a list of all available datasets. The dataset names displayed are based on your Drift Management permissions. As a result, different users might see different dataset names.

6. In Qualification Set, specify a qualification set to apply to the source dataset to narrow the number of CIs of interest. Perform one of the following actions:

   Create a new qualification set	Use the Qualification Builder Help or follow the instructions in Creating-qualification-sets-and-include-and-exclude-sets to create a new qualification set to apply to the source dataset. Saving the qualification returns you to the Select Source Qualification Set pane and the details of the qualification set are displayed.
   Select an existing qualification set	The List of Items displays the available qualification sets. Select the qualification set you want to use and click Select Item. The Select Source Qualification Set screen appears and the details of the qualification are displayed.

7. (Optional) Assign a schedule for running the snapshot job by clicking Time Driven and specifying the days of the week and time.

   Important

   If you assign a schedule, the destination dataset is overwritten with each job run.

8. Click Done.
   The job you created appears in Job Console.

To modify and delete a snapshot job

You can quickly modify or update the components of an existing snapshot job instead of creating a new job from scratch. You must be the owner of the job or have the appropriate role and group permissions to modify or delete a snapshot job. 

If you modify a job and run it, the job runs by using the access permissions of the owner. These permissions may not be consistent with your permissions and the job may fail or the job results may vary.

To modify a snapshot job

1. Select Job Console > Jobs, and then select the snapshot job you want to modify.
2. Click Edit.
3. Use the Snapshot Job Wizard and make the changes.
   The Job Console Details pane is updated to display the date the job was last modified and the username of the person who made the modification.

To delete a snapshot job

1. Select Job Console > Jobs, and then select the snapshot job you want to delete.
2. Click Delete.
   A confirmation dialog box appears.