Configuring approval mappings for people and support groups based on the CI related to a release

You can create the following approval mappings on the Approval Mappings form:

Before you begin

• Ensure that you create a relationship between a CI and individuals or support groups by using Asset Management. For information about creating relationships, see Relating people, organizations, and groups to CIs in the Asset Management online documentation.

• If you load the approval mappings by using the Data Management, enter the following values in the APR_LoadApproverLookup tab of the Release_Process_Setup.xlsm file to get these approval mappings on the Approval Mappings form.

  Column	Value
  Approval For	Individual Based on a CI Role Group Based on a CI Role
  Role	Approved By Managed By Created By Owned By Supported By Used By

• When you create the Group Based on CI Role mapping, assign the Release Approver role to at least one member of the support group because, the members having the approver role are designated as approvers. If you do not assign the role to any support group member, the request is auto-approved.

  Warnings

  A release request is auto-approved in the following scenarios:

  • If you have configured the Group Based on CI Role mapping and the members of the group do not have the required functional role.
  • If you have set the Assignment Availability value as No and the Status field value other than Enabled on the approval mappings form.

To create approval mapping

1. Navigate to the Application Administration Console > Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Release Management > Approval > Approval Mappings, and then click Open.

3. In the Approval Indicator field, select Release.

   Important

   The approval mappings for people and support groups based on the changed CI is applicable only in the following cases:

   • The ticket type is Infrastructure Change or Release. If you select a value other than Infrastructure Change or Release, the approval mapping does not appear on the Approval Mappings form.
   • People or support groups can access the CI. This approval mapping option also only works for CIs that are related to a change request with the relationship type as Related To. If CIs are related to the change request by using other relationship types, then the approval is not triggered.
4. In the Approval For field, select either of the following values to suit your business need:
   1. Individual Based on a CI Role
   2. Group Based on a CI Role
      
5. From the Role list, select a role for the approver, for example, Approved by.
6. In the Phase Name field, select which approval phase needs mapping in the application; for example, Initiate.
   When you select a phase name, the Phase Company field is populated automatically.
7. (Optional) On the Impacted Area/CI tab in the Additional Mappings area, from the Select On list, select either CI Type or CI Name based on your business need.
   • If you select CI Type, specify the type of CI for which you want the approval mapping. 

   • If you select CI Name, specify the name of the CI in the CI Name+ field.

     Important

     The mapping restrictions are based on the values that you select in this procedure.

     For example, when you select a value for CI Type, the mapping is restricted to a particular CI type (Computer System). However, if no value is specified, the mapping is applied to all CI types.

     If you select either CI Type or CI Name, you must configure the Release Level CI process in Approval Process Configuration.

8. Click Save.
   The approval mapping is created. You can now create a release request.

Approval mapping example

The following example explains how the approval mapping works.

Allen Allbrook, the release coordinator at Calbro Services, wants the Backoffice Support Group, related to Computer System CI by the role Approved By, to approve the release requests when this CI type is attached to the request. He wants the approval at the Initiate phase of the request. He creates an approval mapping by following the steps in the above procedure and selecting the appropriate values on the Approval Mappings form.

Now, whenever he creates a release request and attaches a Computer System CI to it, the approval mapping is applied. At the Initiate phase, Allen sees the name of Mary Mann, who is a member of the Backoffice Support Group with the functional role of Release Approver, in the list of approvals. The release request moves to the next phase only after it is approved by her.

Similarly, you can also create an approval mapping for an individual related to the CI by a particular role; for example, the App admin related by the Approved By role.

If the Calbro Services sample data is installed on your server, you can log in to Release Management as users mentioned in the table below and test the relationship between release requests and the Approval Server. To simplify the test, open two instances of the web client, and then log on to your development server with your sample users.

To test the relationship between release requests and the Approval Server: 

1. As Allen Allbrook, create a release request and attach the CI or CI Type for which you have created the approval mapping. When you attach the CI, select the Relationship Type as Related to.
2. Use the Process Flow Status wizard to move the release request sequentially through the release management lifecycle. 
3. View the information in the Approvers table at each phase.
   If you have correctly created your approver mappings, the names of the individuals from the support group that you mapped in step 1 to step 8 appear in the list of approvers.  
   In this example, the name of Mary Mann appears in the list of approver at the Initiate phase. 
4. Log on to your server as Mary Mann, open the Approval Console, and then approve the request.
5. Go back to the window where Allen Allbrook is logged in, and then refresh the release request. 
   The Approvers table is now empty and the release request has moved to next stage.