Creating a new custom license type from an existing license type

In the Mid Tier interface, you can create a new custom license type by copying and editing the action sequence of rules for an existing license type.

To create a new custom license type from an existing license type

1. In Mid Tier, in Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Asset Management > Advanced Options > Configure License Type, and then click Open.
   The Configure License Type window lists the current license types.
3. On the Configure License Type window, select a license model, and click Create Copy.
   The license type wizard is launched.
   

4. On the Create License Type page, specify the following fields:

   Field	Description
   Company	Select the company that can use this license type. If this license type can be used by all companies, select -Global-.
   License Type	Enter the name of the license type.
   Status	The field is not editable because you are copying this license model.
   Description	(Optional) Provide a description of the license type being created.
   Groupable	The field is not editable because you are copying this license model.
   License Type Mode	The field is not editable because you are copying this license model.

5. Click Next.
   The answers to the connection questions are used to return a list of CIs that match certain criteria.
   
   
6. On the Connection Questions page, specify each connection question by performing the following steps:
   1. In the Question field, type a question.
      The question name is the question that is displayed to the user who adds a license certificate. In the next stage of the license wizard, you map this question to an attribute in the BMC Helix CMDB. The user's answer to the question is used by the license engine in a query to BMC Helix CMDB.
   2. Select a field type of either Char or Int.
      The field type determines whether the user enters a character or integer answer to the question.
   3. Select the CI grouping:
      • Software — The question is about the software being licensed.
      • Component — The question is about a component on the computer system on which the software is installed.
      • Computer System — The question is about the computer on which the software is installed.
        
        Selecting the CI grouping for the question also determines the CI type attribute you can select to map to it. For example, if the CI grouping question is set as Software, you can only map attributes that belong to the software classes. The CI Type menu is dynamically populated when you select the question to be mapped.

   4. Select the sequence in which the question is asked and click Add.

      Tip

      To delete a question, highlight it in the list and click Delete. If you want to modify a question, you must delete it and add a new question.

   5. To enter questions in other languages, select a question and click Manage Locales.
      The Manage Locales form displays the selected question. You can add translations of the question for other locales.

7. When you have finished adding questions, click Next.
   If you define connection questions, the Map Connection Attributes page is displayed.

   

8. On the Map Connection Attributes page, specify how to map the questions to CIs in BMC Helix CMDB.
   For each connection question, select the CI Type and Attribute and click Map Attribute. You must use the same CI Type for each connection question. The query to connect to the appropriate CI uses a logical AND between attributes. For any CI Type that you select, the Attribute field lists the database names used in BMC Helix CMDB forms.

   Tip

   To delete a mapped attribute, select it from the list at the bottom of the Build Connection Mapping list and click Delete.

9. Click Next.
   The compliance questions are used by the compliance actions to determine compliance for the given license type. The CIs that are connected to a certificate and the number of CIs that are allowed to be connected are analyzed through these actions.
   
   
10. On the Compliance Questions page, specify the compliance questions as follows:
    1. In the Question field, type a question.
       The question name is the question that is displayed to the person who adds a license certificate. In the next stage of the license type wizard, you build compliance actions to get, calculate, compare, or update values based on answers that are entered when a license certificate is created using this license type. The answers to the questions are used by the license engine in a query to BMC Helix CMDB.
    2. Select a field type of either Char or Int.
       The field type determines whether the user enters a character or integer answer to the question.
    3. If you specified Groupable on the Create License Type page of the license type wizard and Int as the field type here, select one of the following values in the Integer Question Type field:
       • None — Indicates that the field accepts an integer value that is operated on according to actions specified in the Build Compliance Actions page of the license type wizard.
       • Summable — Indicates that the field that you specify as summable is rolled up from all the children to the master certificate.

       • Distributable— Uses the summable amount and distributes the number to the children based on the sequence of the children and the value for each.

         Example

         On three separate occasions, 10 licenses, 5 licenses, and 20 licenses were purchased. When their certificates are grouped at the master level, 35 are displayed as summable. The distributable value that is displayed shows the value for each certificate. If a total of 45 CIs are found connected to the certificate, 10 are assigned to the first child certificate, 5 to the second, and the remaining 30 for the last. (Amounts are distributed back to the child certificates based on the sequence in which they were grouped under the master certificate.) Because the last certificate is assigned 30 CIs while it had only purchased 20, it is marked as not compliant. The master certificate is also marked as not compliant.

    4. If you have selected Distributable in the preceding step, specify values for the following fields:
       • Summable Field List — Select the summable field based on how the distributable field should divide the totals amongst the child certificates.
       • Set Compliance Alarm — Select whether to set a compliance alarm. If set to Yes, this distributable field is used to trigger compliance on the child certificates.

    5. Specify whether the question uses a computed value.

       You can specify rules on the next page of the license type wizard to compute values.

    6. Select the field visibility:
       • Visible Read / Write — Identifies fields that are updatable from the certificate.
       • Visible Read Only — Categorizes the fields that do not need to be updated from the certificate, such as those retrieved for comparison or computation. For example, this attribute can be used to determine the results of CMDB queries.
         Selecting this value results in a dimmed, uneditable field when you use this license type to create a license certificate from SAM Console (Software Asset Management).
       • Hidden — Categorizes fields that are used in an operation but do not need to be seen in the certificate.
    7. Select the sequence in which the question is asked.
    8. (Optional) To enter questions in other languages, select a question and click Manage Locales.
       The Manage Locales form displays the selected question. You can add translations of the question for other locales.

    9. Click Add.

       Tip

       To delete a compliance question, select it from the list at the bottom and click Delete.

11. When you have finished adding all of the compliance questions, click Next.
    The Compliance Actions page is displayed, as shown in the following figure:
    
    
12. On the Compliance Actions page, you can either reorder the sequence of the compliance actions, build new ones.
    1. Reorder the sequence of the compliance actions by using the up and down arrows.
       When you change the order of the compliance actions, the sequence numbers are automatically adjusted.
    2. Alternatively, you can build new compliance actions. Based on the run-time data from the license engine and based on the compliance questions, select and create the following compliance actions:
       • Get — Identifies fields that are updatable from the certificate. Retrieves a list of values or a count of the matching records from the specified form. For more information, see Creating a Get Compliance Action.
       • Calculate — Computes an expression. For more information, see Creating a Calculate Compliance Action.
       • Compare — Performs a comparison defined in an expression. For more information, see Creating a Compare Compliance Action.
       • Update — Updates a list of values on a specified form. For more information, see Creating an Update Compliance Action.
       • Start Loop — Processes a set of actions before moving on to the next. The Start Loop action is used to start a loop to return a list of values from a Get action. A Start Loop action must be created before the Get action is created. Actions that use the Get action's results list are created after the Get.
       • End Loop — Ends the loop before moving to the actions outside the loop. When you select End Loop, a pop-up appears prompting you to select the Start Loop action for which the End Loop is to be created.
         
         When you add new compliance actions, the sequence numbers are automatically adjusted.
13. When you have finished specifying compliance actions, click Done.
    A message appears asking whether you are sure that you want to create a new license type.
14. Click Yes to confirm, or click No to cancel.
    After you click Yes, the system returns to the Configure License Type window, where your newly copied license type is now displayed.