Managing CMDB Items
ASM Core allows you to create and link the following CMDB Items:
Service
Service Action
Service Bundle
Configuration Item
Software Product
Inventory
Structure
Package
Once linked, you can anticipate the impact of outages and plan upgrades and perform many other actions.
As well as the standard buttons, the following buttons are also available on most CMDB Item Details windows.
place a freeze on the CMDB item.
remove a freeze on the CMDB item.
clone the selected CMDB item.
Adding a CMDB Item
Before you start
You must have CMDB Item New selected in the CMDB Items tab of your Configuration Management Security Role. You can add CMDB items through Integration. See the Integration topics for more information.
To display an item type in the New submenu, Display New Item in Wrapper must be selected in the CMDB Item Type Details window for the CMDB Type.
In the <Entity> Details window, complete the details.
Using the linking panel at the bottom of the window, link the item to other CMDB items and stakeholders as appropriate.
Use the options in the Explorer pane to carry out any further tasks.
The Cost Center and Jurisdiction details windows do not have an Explorer panel.
Select Ok to save the details, or Save New to save the details and display a blank details window, ready for you to create another CMDB item.
Creating a CMDB Item using CMDB Item
There are various ways to create a new CMDB item. Using this option allows you to select the CMDB Item Type and create an item using a template.
Select New > CMDB Item...
In the New CMDB Item window, select to display a multi-tiered list of CMDB item types, which have been defined by your system administrator.
Select the type of item you wish to create. If sub-types exist for the item you select, these are listed in the next tier. Select the sub-type you wish to add. For example, if you select Configuration Item, the next tier lists Software Product, Inventory, and Structure, and Package lives within Structure. There may be further CMDB Types defined by your administrator.
Repeat until you locate the CMDB Type you wish to add, then double click on this item to display it is the CMDB Item Type box.
Select Create.
Creating a CMDB Item from a Template
A template enables you to create a new record with already populated fields. For example, you can create a Service Action template for “Create new account” and populate fields such as the CMDB type, criticality level and catalog properties. Every time you add a Service Action of this type as a new CMDB record, you can reuse this template and simply specify the details that differ (for example, the name of the User).
Select New > CMDB Item...
In the New CMDB Item window, select to display a multi-tiered list of CMDB item types, which have been defined by your system administrator.
Select the type of item you wish to create. If sub-types exist for the item you select, these are listed in the next tier. Select the sub-type you wish to add. For example, if you select Configuration Item, the next tier lists Software Product, Inventory, and Structure, in addition to the CMDB Types defined by your administrator.
Repeat until you locate the CMDB Type you wish to add, then double click on this item to display it is the CMDB Item Type box.
All of the available templates are displayed.
Select the template you want to use, and then select Create from Template.
The <Entity> Details window appears, with some of the information completed, based on the template. Complete the rest of the details. You can overwrite those details entered by the template if you wish.
Auditing CMDB Item Details
There are a few different levels of Audit available for your CMDB items.
System Level Audits - Enable System Level Audit
You must enable Audit on the entities you want to have basic auditing logged against.
Field level Audits - Enable Field-Level Audit
Field Audit goes beyond the standard audit captures, to include specific fields you can select.
Before You Start
You must enable CMDB Item Auditing in CMDB Item Type Details.
To enable it, access System Administration>CMDB>CMDB Item Type
Open the Item Type you want to Audit (child types will inherit permissions from the parent type)
Tick the "Turn Audit On" check box
System Audit
A System Level audit is configured in System Administration in your CMDB Settings. The Audit Trail options enable you to select the types of CMDB entities to track when changes are made in their Details window.
For performance reasons, the Audit Trail only tracks changes to long text fields (such as Description) up until the size limit of the New Value field, which is 80 characters. So while the audit trail will record a change made to the description, it may not track the entire change made to a long text field.
Organizations - Select this option to track changes made to Organization entities.
Contracts - Select this option to track changes made to Contracts entities.
Locations - Select this option to track changes made to Location entities.
People - Select this option to track changes made to Person entities.
Change Calendar - Select this option to track changes made to Change Calendars entities.
Agreements - Select this option to track changes made to Agreements entities.
Subscriber Groups - Select this option to track changes made to Subscriber Groups entities.
Change Reason - Select this option to enable the Change Reason window.
Field Audit
Field level auditing is far more specific than the System-level audit. This option (set in the field's properties in Screen Designer) allows auditing of the changes made to an individual field. Changes can be seen under the Audit option in the explorer of the corresponding screen.
If the field is a standard data field or an extensible field inherited from another screen, this option will be labeled Audit (Impacts Parent). Otherwise, if the field is particular to the current screen, it will be labeled Audit.
View the Audit Trail
Access the CMDB Item you want to view
Click "Audit" from the data menu on the left
View the Audit Log. From here, you can alsoPrint or export one or more results.
Searching for a CMDB Item
Before you start
You must have CMDB Item View selected in the CMDB Items tab of your Configuration Management security role.
You can search for subscriber groups, people, organizations, locations, contracts, cost centers, jurisdictions and external resources using dedicated search windows. This topic will talk you through how to use the CMDB Items search option.
Select Search > CMDB Items
The CMDB Item Search window appears, with the CMDB Search Criteria pane on the left.
From the Options section in the Search Criteria pane, select the CMDB item type(s) you wish to search for and then specify other filter options.
Deleted
Select to search for deleted CMDB items.
Template
Select to search for template CMDB items
Partition
From the list, select a partition to filter the CMDB items by the partition in which they were created. You can select any partition to which you have access.
This option is only available if you have access to more than one partition.
Include Deleted Field Values
Select to include deleted values for those fields. You can then base your search on deleted field values. For example, if your system administrator deleted a value, say “Critical”, for the Criticality field, you can still search for a CMDB item using this value by selecting the Include Deleted Field Values option. The Criticality list will be updated to include the value “Critical”, which you can use in your search.
Ref
Select this option to search for CMDB items by Ref No.
CMDB Item Type
Select the option and then select the button to display the categories of CMDB type. You may need to scroll down to see them all. Those categories with subcategories have a small black arrow to their right. Hover over them to see the contents of the subcategory.
Equal, Equal + Below, Equal + Above
Use the options to indicate how you want to filter the results:
Equal will return items of this CMDB Item Type
Equal + Below will return items of this type and any subsidiary (child) values
Equal + Above will return items of this type and any of its parent values
User
Search by the User associated with the CMDB item
Organization
Search by the organization associated with the CMDB.
Use the options to indicate how you want to filter the results:
Equal will return items of this CMDB Item Type
Equal + Below will return items of this type and any subsidiary (child) values
Equal + Above will return items of this type and any of its parent values
Location
Search by a CMDB item’s location
4. Select Run search without limit at the bottom of the pane to override any browse limits that may have been imposed. To add more fields to your search criteria, select at the top of the Search Criteria pane and configure your search criteria.
5. Select Search. The results are displayed in a browse table located in the right hand pane.
6. Configure the search results as required.
7. To view the details, select an item and then select the Action icon. The details are displayed. As well as the standard buttons, you can select the Freeze icon to freeze the item.
8. If the item is already frozen, a banner appears across the top of the window, and this button is replaced with an Unfreeze Icon, allowing you to unfreeze it.
Updating a CMDB Item
Before you start
You must have CMDB Item Update selected in the CMDB Items tab of your Configuration Management security role. If you want to update the Item Ref, you must also have CMDB Item Ref Update selected. It you want to update the Item title, you must have CMDB Item Title Update selected.
If CMDB Item Security by Type is selected in your Configuration Management security role, you must have the CMDB item type you are working with selected.
You must have CMDB Item Cancel Lock selected in the same tab to take over an item which is already open for updating by another Analyst.
You cannot modify a frozen CMDB item.
Select to view the item in edit mode if necessary.
If the item is already open for updating by another Analyst, a warning dialog box will appear. If you have CMDB Item Cancel Lock selected in the CMDB Items tab of your Configuration Management security role, you can break the lock. If not, you cannot go any further.
Make the required changes.
Update the links to other CMDB items and stakeholders if necessary.
Carry out any necessary tasks in the Explorer pane.
The Cost Center and Jurisdiction details windows do not have an Explorer panel.
Select Ok to save the changes and close the window, or Save New to save and close the window and open a new details window.
Complete the Change Reason details, if prompted to do so.
Deleting a CMDB Item
You can delete CMDB items that are no longer required or relevant. You can search for and restore items that have been deleted within the CMDB.
Calls cannot be logged against a CMDB item that is deleted. However you can delete a CMDB item that currently has a call logged against it.
From the search results, select the item you want to delete, and select the Delete icon.
To view the details of the item before deleting, select the Action icon. The Details window for the CMDB item appears in review mode. Then select the Delete icon from this window when you are confident that this is the item you want to delete.
In the warning message, select Yes to proceed with deleting the item, specifying the Change Reasons if prompted to do so.
Restoring a Deleted CMDB item
ASM Core enables you to restore items within your CMDB which have been deleted.
Open the Search window for the deleted CMDB item you want to restore.'
In the Search Criteria, select Deleted.
From the search results, select the deleted item. The details window for the CMDB entity appears in review mode.
You cannot edit the details for the CMDB item since it has been recorded in the CMDB as deleted.
From the banner across the top of the details, select Restore.
In the warning message, select Yes to confirm the Restore.
Select Ok to save the changes and close the window.
The search details will still be displayed. Select to update the results and confirm that the item no longer appears as deleted.
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