EMC Smarts NCM Connector
EMC Smarts NCM is also referred to as Network Configuration Manager or NCM in the ASM Core user interface.
This section of the documentation contains technical specifications about the connector that is implemented to link ASM Core and EMC Smarts NCM. This connector deals with two main aspects of the Integration Platform, namely Federated Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and Outbound actions. The documentation details the third-party application, that is, EMC Smarts NCM including:
The name of the .NET assembly file
Connection methodology
The resource and link types that can be discovered on the third-party application
The attributes of each resource and link type that can be imported into the ASM Core CMDB
The requirements involved with the management of Outbound actions between ASM Core and EMC Smarts NCM
For compatibility and version support details, refer to the ASM Connector Matrix.
You should familiarize yourself with the information in Installing Connectors before installing any connectors, and read the Integration topics for more information on how to configure them.
Functionalities
An organization uses EMC Smarts NCM to discover resources on their network and to maintain their compliances. The role of this connector is:
To expose the resources to allow for population and consistency checks of the ASM Core CMDB.
To allow for outbound workflow actions to be performed from a ASM Core workflow in order to:
Retrieve all configuration items (CIs) affected by a specific job already set up in EMC Smarts NCM
Trigger the execution or cancellation of a EMC Smarts NCM specific job
Use Case Scenario
The functionalities described allow for the running, amongst several other possibilities, of the following use cases:
ASM Core CMDB population with network resources previously discovered by EMC Smarts NCM.
Creation of a new Request for Change in the ASM System.
During the unfolding of the Request for Change, a ASM Core task is sent to an EMC Smarts NCM network administrator. For cross reporting requirement, this task conveys the ASM Core change request identifier.
The network administrator creates jobs in EMC Smarts NCM using the EMC Smarts NCM console. For every new job created, the console generates a Job ID.
The Job ID is manually copied in the ASM Core task and sent back to the RFC workflow.
A ASM outbound action task, including the Job ID specified during the previous step, calls out to EMC Smarts NCM for it to return the list of affected CIs. Job identification is performed by using the EMC Smarts NCM job identified.
ASM Core Change Manager can examine the Business Service dependencies in order to determine impact level before approving or denying a change.
A second ASM Core workflow outbound task calls out to EMC Smarts NCM to either execute or cancel a job, through the Job ID as appropriate.
Updates to the CMDB eventually happen when the next scanning process of EMC Smarts NCM resources is performed.
Connector Description
The table below provides a description of the EMC Smarts NCM Connector.
Information fields | Description |
Connector | EMC Smarts NCM v4.1 <-> ASM Core |
Third-party application | EMC Smarts NCM |
Assembly | Infra.Connector.VMware Service Manager.NCM.VMware Service ManagerNCMConnector |
Connector class | VMware Service Manager NCMConnector |
Configuration file | Infra.Connector.VMware Service Manager.NCM.icnf |
Connection methodology | Web Services |
Connection Parameters
When creating a new EMC Smarts NCM source from the Source option of the Integration Platform, some EMC Smarts NCM specific parameters have to be entered.
The credentials of the EMC Smarts NCM analyst related to the Username and password specified below should have adequate rights to trigger, schedule and cancel jobs in EMC Smarts NCM.
The table below provides the connection parameters of the EMC Smarts NCM Connector.
Parameters | Description |
Web Service URL | URL of the ASM Core NCM Web Services. For example, http://<server name>:8881/ws/api/41/services/ApiService?wsdl |
User name | Ionix NCM user name |
Password | EMC Smarts NCM password |
The Connection Parameters window of EMC Smarts NCM WebService is illustrated below.
Federated CMDB population
Resource Types
This section lists the resource types and their properties that the connector has to discover on EMC Smarts NCM systems. The connector later imports the resource types it has discovered into the ASM Core CMDB.
Switch
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
Router
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
VPN Concentrator
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
ATM Switch
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
Firewall
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
Wireless Application
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
Layer 3 Switch
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
Content Cache
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
Load Balancer
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
VOIP Device
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
Server
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
IP Phone
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
Others
The attributes of this resource type are as follows:
Derived Device Name
Description
URL for Contextual Launch
Unique Identifier
Hostname
Domain Name (from fqdn)
Device Type
Management IP Address
Operating system
Device vendor
Device model
Serial Number
SNMP Contact
SNMP location
Link Types
Link types are not defined in the EMC Smarts NCM Connector. However, the connector does support the introduction of link types. This can be done by customizing the configuration file.
Outbound Actions
Technical Considerations
Interactions between ASM Core and EMC Smarts NCM systems are defined by a series of pre-defined actions. These actions are called Outbound actions in ASM Core. They and their operations are detailed and managed by the EMC Smarts NCM Connector and the Integration Platform.
The current actions defined by the EMC Smarts NCM Connector are:
Job Information
Job Execute
Job Cancel
Job Schedule
Job Completion
When ASM Core executes any of the actions above, a communication protocol is used to ensure the proper exchange of information between the two systems. The protocol relies on the following transactions as shown:
Only the Create transaction is compulsory for an action to take place. The existence of any other transactions depends on the nature of the action. For instance, an action aimed at retrieving a readily available piece of information from EMC Smarts NCM is unlikely to handle an Update transaction. This is because this action is non-persistent. ASM Core asks for the information with a Create transaction and EMC Smarts NCM immediately replies using a Complete transaction that includes the relevant data.
The settings for the actions between ASM Core and EMC Smarts NCM are managed through the Outbound Actions option in the Integration Platform. Amongst the parameters that can be defined, a mapping between some EMC Smarts NCM and some ASM Core fields is required. The EMC Smarts NCM fields available are mainly composed of the attributes qualifying a job in EMC Smarts NCM.
The table below lists the EMC Smarts NCM field names, their types and display in ASM Core.
EMC Smarts NCM field names | Type | Field display in ASM Core |
id.resourceName | String | Job ID |
approvedBy | String | Job Key |
id.approvedBy | String | approvedBy |
auditTag | Long | auditTag |
instanceIndex | String | instanceIndex |
jobDescription | String | jobDescription |
jobName | String | jobName |
jobOwner | String | jobOwner |
jobPriority | String | jobPriority |
jobRunOption | String | jobRunOption |
jobStatus | String | jobStatus |
jobType | String | jobType |
maintWindowType | String | maintWindowType |
occurrencesCompleted | Long | occurrencesCompleted |
targetTime | String | targetTime |
updateComment | String | updateComment |
updatedBy | String | updatedBy |
Approved | Boolean | Approved |
maintWinOverride | Boolean | maintWinOverride |
Modified | Boolean | Modified |
preserveTaskOrder | Boolean | preserveTaskOrder |
Recurring | Boolean | Recurring |
runInNextMaintWin | Boolean | runInNextMaintWin |
sharedConfig | Boolean | sharedConfig |
impactedDevices | String | impactedDevices |
impactedDevices is not mapped to specific EMC Smarts NCM fields. It contains device IDs of every devices affected by a specific job.
Outbound Actions Details
Five Outbound actions have been implemented in the EMC Smarts NCM Connector. These actions allow, at the minimum, the running of the use case scenario given in the Use Case Scenario. However, they can be used in many different ways in order to accommodate other specific User requirements.
The five Outbound actions are:
Job Information
Job Execute
Job Cancel
Job Schedule
Job Completion
The first three actions — Job Information, Job Execute and Job Cancel - are asynchronous. So, the tasks in Service Manager is immediately marked as Completed. They just retrieve the information of the job. In the case of Job Execute and Job Cancel actions, it sends off an operation to be performed on the job, but does not wait for the job to complete execution in EMC Smarts NCM. The last two actions — Job Schedule and Job Completion, are synchronous and are not marked as Completed until the job is completed in EMC Smarts NCM.
The Integration Platform Guide contains detailed instructions on how to set up Outbound actions.
Job Information
When provided with an Identifier of a Job previously created in EMC Smarts NCM, this action retrieves the list of the affected devices that are impacted by the Job related to the Job Identifier supplied.
The table below provides a description of the Job Information action.
Input from ASM Core | EMC Smarts NCM job identifier |
Action performed | Retrieve a list of affected devices into ASM Core |
Output from EMC Smarts NCM | List of affected devices |
Task deemed completed | When the initial transaction requesting specific information is sent by ASM Core to EMC Smarts NCM |
Type of transactions involved | Create |
Miscellaneous | Absence of Update, Notify, and Cancel transaction |
Job Execute
When provided with an Identifier of a Job previously created in EMC Smarts NCM, this action triggers the execution of the Job related to the Job Identifier supplied. The table below provides a description of the Job Execute action.
Input from ASM Core | EMC Smarts NCM job identifier |
Action performed | Sets the job to run in the next maintenance window |
Output from EMC Smarts NCM | List of affected resources |
Task deemed completed | When the initial transaction requesting a specific Job to be set up is sent by Service Manager to EMC Smarts NCM |
Type of transaction involved | Create |
Miscellaneous | Absence of Update, Notify and Cancel transaction |
Job Cancel
When provided with an Identifier of a Job previously created in EMC Smarts NCM, this action cancels the Job related to the Job Identifier supplied. The table below provides a description of the Job Cancel action.
Input from ASM Core | EMC Smarts NCM job identifier |
Action performed | Cancel a specific Job in EMC Smarts NCM |
Output from EMC Smarts NCM | List of affected resources |
Task deemed completed | When the initial transaction requesting a specific Job to be cancelled is sent by ASM Core to EMC Smarts NCM |
Type of transactions involved | Create |
Miscellaneous | Absence of Update, Notify, and Cancel transaction |
Job Schedule
When provided with an Identifier of a Job previously created in EMC Smarts NCM, this action is able to schedule the Job related to the Job Identifier supplied. The table below provides a description of the Job Schedule action.
Input from ASM Core | EMC Smarts NCM job identifier |
Action performed | Scheduling a specific Job in EMC Smarts NCM |
Output from EMC Smarts NCM | List of affected resources |
Task deemed completed | When the Completed transaction sent by EMC Smarts NCM is received by ASM Core |
Type of transactions involved | Create |
Job Completion
When provided with an Identifier of a Job previously created in EMC Smarts NCM, this action monitors when the Job related to the Job Identifier supplied is completed in EMC Smarts NCM. The table below provides a description of the Job Completion action.
Input from ASM Core | EMC Smarts NCM job identifier |
Action performed | Scheduling a specific Job in EMC Smarts NCM |
Output from EMC Smarts NCM | List of affected resources |
Task deemed completed | When the Completed transaction sent by EMC Smarts NCM is received by ASM Core |
Type of transactions involved | Create |