Deploying Smart IT to your users

IT users access Remedy with Smart IT (Smart IT) through Apple iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch), Google Android devices, and the universal client. The universal client provides access through a web browser.

After you install Smart IT and configure it, you can make Smart IT available to your users via the universal client (desktop web browser) and mobile applications.

If you are upgrading Smart IT, you must prepare and distribute the corresponding Smart IT mobile clients.

Important

The Smart IT mobile clients are included with the installation files that you download from the BMC Electronic Product Download site. You must make the mobile clients available to your users by using the procedures in this topic.

Your users should not use the mobile applications that are available from the Apple App Store or Google Play, which connect to our trial environment. If the user automatically gets an updated version, for example, from Google Play, that updated version might not match the version of your Smart IT server and might not work with your server.

For compatibility information and system requirements, see Planning.

Before you begin

When you upgrade Smart IT, rebranding changes do not persist. Before you upgrade, back up your rebranding changes:

Universal client — Back up your images and rebranded style-smart-it.css file, so that you can restore your changes after the upgrade.
Mobile clients — Back up your images, and create a record of your hex color values and other changes. You must rebrand the clients again after the upgrade, either by yourself (iOS), or with the assistance of BMC Professional Services (Android).

If you need assistance with rebranding the application, contact BMC Support, or your local account team.

To prepare the Smart IT clients

Client	Preparation
Universal client	(Optional) Rebranding Smart IT on the universal client.
Apple iOS client	(Optional) Rebranding Smart IT for Apple iOS. Re-sign Smart IT for Apple iOS. Note: You need to use .xcarchive file from the {Smart_IT_install_dir}/downloads folder and then re-sign to generate the ipa. Important: Even if you are not rebranding the iOS mobile client, you must obtain an Apple Enterprise Distribution Certificate and use it to re-sign the iOS mobile client. This step is required to distribute the application among your users. Update the server location and App ID (Described in this topic) in the Smart_IT.plist and index.html files in the download folder. Update APNS certificate with your certificate on the Smart IT server. For more information, see the Replacing the Smart IT APNS certificate with your APNS certificate section in the Re-signing Smart IT on Apple iOS' topic.
Google Android client	(Optional) Rebrand Smart IT for Android. The Android mobile client can be rebranded only with the assistance of BMC Professional Services.

To make the clients available

Client	Options
Universal client	Provide users with the URL for the universal client: *http://<hostName:port>/smartit/*
Mobile clients	Provide the apps for installation on mobile devices: Make the mobile applications available through the download URL (as described in this topic). Place the application in your enterprise app store. Push the application through your mobile device management platform, using your preferred tool. Neither the Apple App Store nor the Google Play Store are involved in the process. Provide users with the server address and port to which they can connect. Users must enter this information when logging in for the first time.

Client

Options

Universal client

Provide users with the URL for the universal client:
http://<hostName:port>/smartit/

Mobile clients

Provide the apps for installation on mobile devices:
1. - Make the mobile applications available through the download URL (as described in this topic).
  - Place the application in your enterprise app store.
  - Push the application through your mobile device management platform, using your preferred tool.
    
    Neither the Apple App Store nor the Google Play Store are involved in the process.
Provide users with the server address and port to which they can connect. Users must enter this information when logging in for the first time.

To update the server location and App ID (iOS clients)

When you install the Smart IT server, the SmartITinstallationDirectory\Smart_IT\IPA\download folder is created. The Apache Tomcat server interprets the download folder as https://SmartITServerName:port/smartit/download/

In this procedure, you update the server location and App ID in the Smart_IT.plist and index.html files in the download folder. Doing so allows users to obtain the iOS client by using the download URL.

Open the SmartITinstallationDirectory\Smart_IT\IPA\download folder.
(Windows): C:\Program Files\BMC Software\Smart_IT\Smart_IT\smartit\download
Edit the Smart_IT.plist file to replace the [HOSTNAME] and [PORT] entries with settings specific to your installation:
<string>https://[HOSTNAME]:[PORT]/smartit/download/Smart_IT.ipa</string>
    </dict>
    <dict>
     <key>kind</key>
     <string>display-image</string>
     <key>needs-shine</key>
     <false/>
     <key>url</key>

     <string>https://[HOSTNAME]:[PORT]/smartit/download/images/Smart_IT-small.png</string>
In the Smart_IT.plist file, replace the bundle-identifier entry with the App ID that you set up when you re-signed the app (for example, com.companyName.SmartIT). For instructions, see Creating an application ID for your version of Smart IT in Rebranding Smart IT for Apple iOS.
<key>bundle-identifier</key>
<string>com.companyName.SmartIT</string>
Edit the index.html file to replace the [HOSTNAME] and [PORT] entries with settings specific to your installation. (The default port is 9080, but you can change it.)

<li><a href="itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=https://[HOSTNAME]:9080/smartit/download/Smart_IT.plist">Smart IT IPA</a></li>

To make mobile applications available through the download URL

Make the mobile clients available to your users by announcing the download URL: http://SmartITServerName:port/smartit/download/.
Replace SmartITServerName:port with the web address for your Smart IT server.

The download URL provides users with appropriate links (buttons) to install the Smart IT and Smart Reporting applications on Android and iOS devices.

Notes

When installing the Smart IT application:

For Android mobile app downloads, users might need to update their device settings to allow downloads from unknown sources.
For iOS mobile app downloads:
- The server must have an external signed certificate. (Apple requires a valid HTTPS server with a valid CA certificate for distributing native iOS applications.)
- You must use secure HTTPS (https://) in the URL.
- If the Smart IT server is not configured with HTTPS and a valid CA certificate, you can use any valid HTTPS server to host the files. See Configuring-Tomcat-server.

Troubleshooting information

For HTTPS connection:

You should purchase a valid root certificate from a trusted root certificate authority. If the certificate is not from a trusted root certificate authority, then follow these steps to enable the certificate:

For iOS 10.3 onwards version

Install your root certificate on your device.
From the General Setting, select About.
Click Certificate Trust Setting.
From the ENABLE FULL TRUST FOR ROOT CERTIFICATES, enable your certificate.

For Android application

Download the certificate on your device and open it.
Specify a name to the certificate.
After installing the certificate, check Settings > Security > Trusted credentials.
Your installed certificate is displayed under the USER tab.

Note

If you want to install it on multiple devices, then you can install your root certificate through the Mobile Device Management (MDM) server. Contact your MDM server administrator for more information.