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Updating target values by using the Data Wizard

As a part of data management process, you can update target values with the Data Wizard.

To prepare for updating target values by using the Data Wizard

To maintain data integrity you must perform certain prerequisite actions before you use the Data Wizard to update target values. 

Warning

You must perform all actions that apply to your environment. Failure to do so can compromise data integrity. To prevent loss of data or to aid in reverting your data back to its original state before using the data wizard, you should back up your database.

Run data wizard updates at times when the systems are unavailable for general use, such as a scheduled change window.

The following table provides a list of prerequisite actions to maintain data integrity.

Area

Actions to perform

 Escalations

Disable escalations by performing the following steps:

  1. Open the AR System Administration Console. 
  2. Select System > General > Server Information. 
  3. Select Disable escalations. 
  4. Click OK. 
  5. Restart the .

Important: For the server group environment, if the Disable escalations option is not available, use CCS parameter Disable-Escalations-Global available under com.bmc.arsys.server.shared to disable escalations.

Reconciliation Engine

Ensure that reconciliation does not run by performing the following steps:

  1. Open the BMC Helix CMDB Console. 
  2. Click the Reconciliation Manager tab. 
  3. In the Job History area, look for active jobs.
    If a reconciliation job is currently running, you must wait for it to complete before you run the data wizard. 
  4. If no jobs are active, inactivate currently scheduled jobs. 
  5. Check again for active jobs, to make sure that none were started.

Discovery products

If you have discovery products that populate BMC Helix CMDB, such as BMC Topology Discovery or BMC Configuration Discovery, you must perform the following steps:

  1. Stop the discovery products from populating BMC Helix CMDB. 
  2. Update the company or other foundation data being changed in the discovery products as applicable.

Important:

(For On-premises deployments only)
Distributed Server Option (DSO)

DSO keeps databases synchronized between two separate . Updates performed by the data wizard do not trigger DSO. Also, you must not allow DSO events to update the database while the data wizard is performing an update.

If you are using DSO, make sure you perform the following steps:

  1. Turn off DSO on both servers. 
  2. Run the same data wizard updates on both servers.
    If you do not run exactly the same updates on both servers, the databases are no longer be synchronized, which results in failed DSO events.
  3. Turn DSO back on.

To update target values

  1. Access the data wizard. From the Application menu, select Data Management > Data Wizard.
  2. Select the Update target values action.
  3. Select the data that you are modifying.
    When you select the type of data, a window appears, prompting you for the target value and the new value.
  4. Enter or select the target value.
    For some types of data, you might specify values for multiple fields. For example, for Product Categorization, you can specify multiple tiers of categorization.
    For some types of data, you can specify search criteria to locate the appropriate target value. For example, for Site Name, you can specify the Company and, optionally, Region or Site Group.
    To select a person, you must press ENTER in the first name or last name field.
    The search criteria are mandatory for Generic Categorization, Product Model/Version, Site Information, and Support Group, because they are required to select the correct records to update. For example, the same support group name might be used for both My Company and Calbro, but you are changing the support group for My Company.

  5. Specify the new value.
    You can click Copy to copy the target value and then make the appropriate changes, or you can type the new value. The new value cannot duplicate a value that is already in the system.
     You must specify a new value for each target value. For example, if you are updating the support group name but keeping the support organization, you would copy the support organization and enter a new support group name.

    Tip

    To copy all fields at the same time, click Copy All.

    The following figure shows the Data Wizard Console fields populated to update a support group.
    DataWizard_SupportGroup.gif

  6. You can clear the Perform FTS Reindex Now? option, if you don't want to execute FTS re-indexing.

    Running the FTS reindexing affects performance during peak hours. For example, when you, as a Remedy foundation data administrator, need to rename or make multiple changes for a support group using the Data Wizard and do not want the system to perform FTS re-indexing individually for every change during standard business hours, which could affect system performance. You must clear the Perform FTS Reindex Now? option and the FTS reindexing runs at midnight after Data Wizard is used. It runs once for each data type.

  7. Click Go.
    You are prompted to confirm whether to proceed.
    When you proceed, the Data Wizard Status window appears, listing forms to be updated. As the update is processed, the status changes from Pending to Complete.
    If you close the Data Wizard Status window, you can open it by clicking View Status. When the update is complete, however, this window cannot be reopened.

    After you complete the updates, you must follow the instructions in Performing required tasks after using the data wizard.

For information about the data wizard limitations when updating records, see Overview-of-the-data-wizard.

To view the audit log

  1. From Data Management > Data Wizard console, click View Audit Log.

  2. Select the appropriate Update record.
    DataWizard.jpg
    The Data Administration Action Results tab displays the results of the update in a table. The table lists all forms that reference the data administration type.

    For some forms, the table also lists the number of records that were updated. This information is listed for all of the forms. This information is also included for the following forms and the main child forms: Helpdesk (incident), Helpdesk Assignment Log, Impacted Areas, Change, CIs, Problem, Known Error, and Solution.

    If a form is identified as merge specific, it is updated only when using the merge action.

 

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