This documentation supports the 21.05 version of BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management. To view an earlier version, select the version from the product version menu.

Creating tasks related to a change request

Multiple tasks might be required to complete a request. Add the required tasks to complete the request to the Tasks tab of the request record. 

After adding tasks to a request, if you do not save the request, or due to other issues, if the request is not created, the tasks related to the request are not lost. These tasks are saved as orphaned tasks in the system.

Important

The SYS:CLN:TA@00:05-StartCleanup escalation, which is run every 24 hours, deletes any task that is in Inactive state longer than a defined retention period, or that does not have any parent record associated with it.


To relate an ad hoc task to a change request

You can relate an ad hoc task to the change request. The status of these tasks can be Staged, Assigned, Pending, Work in Progress, or Closed. You can manually set the assignment for any task. Finally, if you close the task, you must select whether you are canceling the task or completing it as a success or failure.

When you relate an ad hoc task to a change request, the following information from the change request gets populated in the task.

  • Summary
  • Change location
  • Requester
  • Requested by
  1. Open the change request, and then click the Tasks tab.
  2. In the Request Type field, select Ad hoc, and then click Relate.
    The Task form is displayed with certain fields in the form completed with the data from the change request. You can click the Open link next to the Request ID field to open the parent change request.
  3. Enter the values in the following required fields:
    • Name—Enter a descriptive name of the task.
    • Summary—Enter a brief description of the task.
      The Type field is set by default to Manual when you create an ad hoc task.
  4. In the General tab, enter information about the company.
    The default value for the Company field matches the contents of the Change Location field in the Change form. Your task can be assigned to a different department or company.

  5. On the Requester tab, enter the information about the user who is defining the task (Requester) and the intended target of the task (Requested For).

    Important

    If you update the Requested For information after creating a task for the change request, the information is not updated in the task.

    However, any new tasks after the update, include the updated Requested For information.

    Some information is completed by default from the Requested By information of the change request. For example, the Requester Company field is automatically populated based on the default support group of the user who is creating the ad hoc task.

  6. In the Categorization tab, enter the information about the product and operational categorizations.
  7. In the Assignment/Dates tab, enter values in the following fields to assign the task:
    • Assignee Group—Optionally, select a task implementer group from the list.

    • Assignee—Optionally, select a task implementer from the list.
      The assignment engine automatically assigns the task when the task is generated, but you can override this assignment by manually assigning the task.

      Important

      When a task is assigned to a user, the task is staged, but the notification is not sent to the assignee until the task is activated.

      For more information about assignment configuration, see Configuring-task-assignments.

    • Scheduled Start Date—Optionally, enter an estimated start date.
    • Scheduled End Date—Optionally, enter an estimated end date.
      Set the Start Date and End Date to be different from the dates of the parent change request.
  8. In the Relationships tab, search for and then relate configuration items, LDAP objects, and software library items that are needed with this task.
    Additionally, you can execute any quick actions like Update Attributes, Explore CI, or get Related Relationships for the task.
  9. Click Save.
  10. To notify the assignee, reopen the task and in the Assignment tab, select the appropriate option from the Notify Assignee field.

Important

You must save and reopen the task to add Work Info details or attachments.


To automatically create tasks by relating a task template to a change request

You can relate a predefined task or task group template to the change request. The Calbro Services sample data includes a best practice task group and task templates that you can use.

In addition, special templates were created for the integration with BMC Configuration Automation for Clients (previously known as BMC Configuration Management). Other templates might have been added by your application administrator.

  1. Open the change request.
  2. Click the Tasks tab.
  3. Select Task Group Template or Task Template from the Request Type field, and then click Relate.
    All template types for all categories are listed in the Select Template dialog box.
  4. From the hierarchical list of tasks in the Select Template dialog box, select the appropriate template for the task that you are adding, and then click Relate.
    • To expand a category in the hierarchy, click the arrow beside the category name. 
    • The list of templates that you see in the Select Template dialog box represents all of the templates that are associated with the category that you selected earlier. For example, if you select Change Management System (the default top-level category for Change Management), the system displays all of the Change Management task templates in the list. If you highlight a second-level category, the list in the dialog box displays all of the templates available under that level.
  2. (Optional) You can filter the list by selecting the type or category of the template. You can also select both these options. To filter the list:
    1. Select the type of template:
      • With task group templates, select Standard or Sequencing.
      • With task templates, select Manual, Automatic, or ALL.
    2. (Optional) From the Category list, select which application the task belongs to, for example, Change Management System.
      The available task groups or tasks for that selection appear in the list. The categorization of the change request determines which list items appear.
  3. (Optional) Click View to see more details about the task group or task template.
  4. If a relevant task set is displayed on the list to include with the change request, select it, and then click Relate.
  5. Define a numerical sequence of the tasks, as described in Managing-tasks-related-to-a-request.
  6. When you finish adding the templates, save the change request.


To enable all the task templates for change-initiated job

You can select a task template specific to change-initiated job use case.

In the Select Template dialog box, you must enable the following criteria: 

  • Type as Automatic
  • Automatic Command as Scheduled Job

Select Template.png


To automatically create tasks to check whether a change has been approved

Create an automatic task that polls a specified field on a specified form (the TMS:SampleApprovalForm is provided out-of-the-box) to see whether an approval has been obtained. If the field on the form is not NULL, an approval has been obtained. The automatic task that is created is closed after the approval is obtained (Status = Closed and Status Reason = Success).

After the automatic task is instantiated and becomes active, an initial check is done to see whether approval has been obtained. Approval checking is done through filters that set zTmpExecuteTask to CHECKAPPROVAL on the Task form. At the same time, the AutomaticIntervalTime is also set based on the Automatic Interval and Unit fields from the Task Template form.

If an approval is obtained, the task is closed, and the AutomaticIntervalTime is set to NULL.

If an approval is not obtained, a TMS:TAS:GetDataInterval escalation is sent every fifteen minutes to check whether the AutomaticIntervalTime is greater than (or equal to) the current time. If it is, the escalation sets zTmpExecuteTask = CHECKAPPROVAL on the Task form, which starts the approval checking process. This process is repeated until the approval is obtained or the task times out. The timeout values must be set on the Task Template form for the timeout to occur.

The example used in the following procedure is provided out of the box for Change Management.

  1. Create a change request.
  2. Click the Tasks tab.
  3. Select the Task Template request type, and then click Relate.
  4. Relate the Check Approval automatically task template to the change request.
  5. Use the Process Flow Status bar to move the change request to the Implementation In Progress status. 
    The status of the task is set to Waiting.
  6. Open the Sample Task Approval form and search for the sample approval record.
  7. Update the record (for example, In the Approved By field, enter your name).
  8. Wait at least 15 minutes until the TMS:TAS:GetDataInterval escalation fires. 
    This escalation checks the Automatic interval.
  9. Refresh the change request until the status of the task is set to Closed.

 

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