BMC Atrium Core 7.6.

03

Product Catalog and DML

Guide

August 2010

www.bmc.com

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Contents
BMC Atrium Core documentation
Chapter 1

Introduction to BMC Atrium Product Catalog

13

An overview of the Product Catalog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Advantages of using the Product Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Product Catalog data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Managing products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Platform and operating system support in the Product Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Multitenancy support in the Product Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Definitive Media Library and approved products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the DML and DHL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using multitenancy with DML and DHL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Accessing the Product Catalog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Understanding the Product Catalog Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the Product Catalog and DML with other BMC applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

14
16
17
18
19
20
22
22
23
23
24
25

Chapter 2

27

Normalization and the Product Catalog

Overview of normalization and the Product Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Configuring the Product Catalog for normalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Configuring the Normalization Engine to populate Product Catalog entries . . . . . . 30
Chapter 3

Planning and implementing categorization

31

Overview of product categorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Benefits of categorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Use of product categorization by BMC products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Records that use product categorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
BMC product features that use product categorization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Product categorization and discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Implementing categorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Defining the product categorization structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using Other as a value in categorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Setting up product categorization data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Managing product categorization changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Contents

32
32
33
33
38
39
47
47
48
49
56

Chapter 4

Configuring the Product Catalog

59

Product Catalog permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Viewing and searching for product entries in the Product Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Viewing and searching for products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Viewing and searching entries by organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Searching for and editing product and manufacturer alias entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Searching for and modifying new Product Catalog entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Viewing and editing details of new products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Deleting offline products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Creating product name and manufacturer aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Viewing and editing association details of new products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Deleting associations of new products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Creating custom Product Catalog entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Adding Product Catalog entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Creating a product alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Adding product model and version information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Adding patch information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Specifying locations for Product Catalog entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Adding products to a suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Adding related files to a patch entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Creating product files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Using signatures to identify products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Associating a signature with a product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Relating companies to Product Catalog entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Removing the relationship between an entry and a company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Approving products, versions, and patches for DML and DHL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Deleting Product Catalog entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Cloning product entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Configuring datasets for normalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Mapping product categorization aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Modifying the list of platforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Chapter 5

Managing companies

89

Creating and managing companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Creating a company alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Defining company locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Defining company contact information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Defining time information for a company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Multitenancy in the Calbro Services example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Chapter 6

Importing and updating data

97

Importing and exporting custom Product Catalog data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Exporting data from the Product Catalog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Importing Product Catalog data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Creating the data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Validating the data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Importing the data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Product Catalog and DML Guide

Appendix A

Best practice categorization

113

Tier 1Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tier 1Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tier 1Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tier 1Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Additional categorization for BMC discovery products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

114
117
119
120
122

Appendix B

123

Using the Product Catalog from BMC BladeLogic Client Automation

Overview of accessing BMC Atrium Product Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Downloading and running BMC Remedy AR System security scripts . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Unicode and SQL Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Unicode and Oracle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Configuring parameters for the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation database . . . 126
Configuring Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation to access Oracle BMC
Remedy AR System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Configuring Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation to access SQL Server
BMC Remedy AR System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Configuring SQL Server BMC BladeLogic Client Automation for Oracle BMC
Remedy AR System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Configuring SQL Server BMC BladeLogic Client Automation for SQL Server
BMC Remedy AR System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Establishing access to the BMC Remedy AR System database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Establishing connectivity to the Product Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Prerequisites for connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Establishing the connection between databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Verifying connectivity to the Product Catalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Troubleshooting connectivity issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Whats next? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Glossary

137

Index

147

Contents

Product Catalog and DML Guide

BMC Atrium Core documentation

This section describes the complete set of BMC Atrium Core documentation,
including manuals, Help systems, videos, and so on.
Unless otherwise noted, documentation is available on the BMC Atrium Core
documentation media (DVD or Electronic Product Download bundle) and on the
BMC Customer Support site, free of charge, at http://www.bmc.com/support.
To find this documentation on the BMC Customer Support site, choose Product
Documentation > Supported Product A-Z List > BMC Atrium CMDB Enterprise
Manager > 7.6.03.
Title

Description

Audience

BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Information about setting permissions, configuring Configuration managers,
Administrator's Guide
federation, modifying the data model, configuring application administrators,
an impact model, and other administrative tasks in and asset analysts.
BMC Atrium CMDB.
BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Hierarchical diagram of all classes in the Common Configuration managers,
Common Data Model
Data Model (CDM) including unique attributes and application administrators,
Diagram
applicable relationships.
and asset analysts.
BMC Atrium CMDB
7.6.03 Data Model Help

Description and details of superclasses, subclasses,

attributes, and relationship classes for each class.
Contains only information about the CDM at first,
but you can update it to include information about
data model extensions that you install.

Configuration managers,
application administrators,
and asset analysts.

Note: This Help is provided in HTML, and is

available on your BMC Atrium Core media. It is

not available on the BMC Customer Support site.
BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Best practices for using the classes that BMC
Configuration managers,
Data Modeling Guide
provides for BMC Atrium CMDB (both the CDM
application administrators,
and extensions) to model complex business entities, and asset analysts.
focusing on the use of multiple related CIs to model
an entity rather than on general information about a
class or attribute.
BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Information about normalizing data in BMC Atrium Configuration managers,
Normalization and
CMDB and reconciling CIs from different data
application administrators,
Reconciliation Guide
providers into a single production dataset.
and asset analysts.

BMC Atrium Core documentation

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Title

Description

Audience

BMC Atrium CMDB

7.6.03 Online Help

Help for using and configuring BMC Atrium CMDB,

including BMC Atrium Product Catalog,
Reconciliation Engine, Normalization Engine, and
so on.

Configuration managers,
application administrators,
asset analysts, and users
that work with CIs and need
to understand the
relationships that exist
within BMC Atrium CMDB.

Note: This Help is provided in HTML, and is

available through the Help links in the BMC

Atrium CMDB user interface. It is not available on
the BMC Customer Support site.
BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Information about using BMC Atrium CMDB,
User's Guide
including searching for and comparing CIs and
relationships, relating CIs, viewing history, running
impact simulations, and viewing federated data.

Users that work with CIs

and need to understand the
relationships that exist
within BMC Atrium CMDB.

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Compatibility Matrix

Configuration managers,
application administrators,
and asset analysts.

Information about the BMC Atrium Core

configurations that are expected to work properly
based on design, testing, or general understanding
of the interaction between products.
Note: Download the BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Compatibility Matrix from the BMC Customer

Support site at http://www.bmc.com/support/
reg/remedy-compatibility-tables.html?c=n.

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Concepts and Planning
Guide

Information about CMDB concepts and high-level

steps for planning and implementing BMC Atrium
Core.

Anyone who wants to learn

about and understand BMC
Atrium Core products,
CMDBs in general, and the
functionality of BMC
Atrium CMDB in particular.
IT leaders, configuration
managers, application
administrators, and asset
analysts are some who will
benefit from this
information.

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Information about creating API programs using C
Developers Reference Guide API functions and data structures.

Application administrators
and programmers.

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Installation Guide

Information about installing, upgrading, and

uninstalling BMC Atrium Core features.

Application administrators.

BMC Atrium CMDB

7.6.03 Javadoc Help

Information about Sun Java classes, methods,

and variables that integrate with BMC Atrium
CMDB.

Application programmers.

Note: This Help is provided in HTML, and is

available on your BMC Atrium Core media. It is

not available on the BMC Customer Support site.
BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03
Master Index

10

Combined index of all guides.

Product Catalog and DML Guide

Everyone.

Title

Description

Audience

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Product Catalog and DML
Guide

Information about configuring the Product Catalog System administrators, IT

and DML, adding products, and creating aliases for managers, network
products, manufacturers, and categorizations.
managers, and other
qualified personnel who are
familiar with their
computing and networking
environment.

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Release Notes

Information about new features, known issues, and Everyone.

other late-breaking topics.

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03:

Taking Your Data Into
Production End to End

End-to-end high-level steps for bringing data into

BMC Atrium CMDB from a third-party source and
making it available in your production dataset.

Configuration managers,
application administrators,
and asset analysts.

Note: This Flash video is available on your BMC

Atrium Core media. It is not available on the BMC

Customer Support site.
BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03
Troubleshooting Guide

Information about resolving issues with BMC

Application administrators,
Atrium Core components, including API, filter and programmers, and BMC
console error messages and their solutions.
Support personnel.

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Web Services Help

Information about using BMC Atrium Core Web

Application administrators
Services, including how to publish and find
and programmers.
interfaces in the Web Services Registry, set versions,
disambiguate web services, configure security
policies and encryption, and use BMC Atrium Core
Web Services data structures and operations.
Note: This Help is provided in HTML, and is

available on your BMC Atrium Core media. It is

not available on the BMC Customer Support site.
BMC Atrium Integration
Engine 7.6.03 ADK
Developer's Guide

Information about how to build adapters that can

transfer information between an external data store
and either BMC Remedy AR System forms or BMC
Atrium CMDB.

Developers that have a basic

understanding of BMC
Atrium Integration Engine
and want to build adapters
that can exchange data
between two data sources.

BMC Atrium Integration Help for using and configuring BMC Atrium
Engine 7.6.03 Online Help Integration Engine.

Users that are responsible

for setting up data transfer
integrations between
Note: This Help is provided in HTML, and is
external data stores and
available through the Help links in the BMC
either BMC Atrium CMDB
Atrium Integration Engine user interface. It is not
or BMC Remedy
available on the BMC Customer Support site.
AR System.

BMC Atrium Core documentation

11

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Title

Description

Audience

BMC Atrium Integration

Information about creating data exchanges and data
Engine 7.6.03 User's Guide mappings, defining rules and queries, activating
event-driven data exchanges, defining connection
settings, and other BMC Atrium Integration Engine
concepts.

Users that are responsible

for setting up data transfer
integrations between
external data stores and
either BMC Atrium CMDB
or BMC Remedy
AR System.

Mapping Your Data to

Spreadsheet that maps common IT objects to the
BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 appropriate class, whether part of the CDM or an
Classes
extension. This spreadsheet also includes
information about further categorizing instances
using key attributes, and best practices for creating
normalized relationships.

Configuration managers,
application administrators,
and asset analysts.

12

Product Catalog and DML Guide

Chapter

Introduction to BMC Atrium

Product Catalog
This section presents an overview of the BMC Atrium Product Catalog application
and Definitive Media Library.
In version 7.5.00, the BMC application called Definitive Software Library (DSL)
was renamed as BMC Atrium Product Catalog (Product Catalog).
The following topics are provided:

An overview of the Product Catalog (page 14)

Multitenancy support in the Product Catalog (page 20)
Definitive Media Library and approved products (page 22)
Accessing the Product Catalog (page 23)
Understanding the Product Catalog Console (page 24)
Using the Product Catalog and DML with other BMC applications (page 25)

Chapter 1

Introduction to BMC Atrium Product Catalog

13

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

An overview of the Product Catalog

The Product Catalog is a BMC Remedy Action Request System (BMC Remedy
AR System) application that is part of the BMC Atrium Core solution. Make sure
that the AR User Fixed license is installed, to enable you to access and use the
Product Catalog.
The Product Catalog includes several components to manage products for
companies and organizations. The Product Catalog has several purposes:

Provide identifying characteristics of products as product metadata

Provide a single name for each product and its versions

Manage products by categorization, life cycle, development status, approval
status, and other attributes

Manage products by companies and organizations (multitenancy)

Provide data for normalization and discovery, including storage of product
signatures
Any BMC application can use the Product Catalog to identify a single name for a
software, hardware, or other type of product, including versions, where
applicable. For these purposes, the Product Catalog has several components as
shown in Figure 1-1.
Figure 1-1: Product Catalog components

BMC Atrium Product Catalog

Definitive
Media Library
(DML)
Approved software
products

Definitive
Hardware Library
(DHL)
Approved hardware
products

Product Catalog (PCT)

All products of different types, such as hardware,
software, and of different status, such as Managed,
Approved, Blacklisted

14

Companies (COM)

Sites (SIT)

Name, type,
locations, contact
data

Address,
time zone, contact
data, currency

Product Catalog and DML Guide

An overview of the Product Catalog

The following list briefly describes the Product Catalog components:

The Product Catalog is a library of all software products, hardware products,

and services available to an organization, and it defines products and their class
attributes, such as Model (Product name), ManufacturerName, VersionNumber,
Category, Type, and Item. Before discovery tools create or update
configuration items (CIs) in BMC Atrium CMDB, the Normalization Engine
verifies the CI data with the product information in the Product Catalog.
The Product Catalog includes product metadata that enhance the accuracy of
the BMC Atrium Discovery and Dependency Mapping (BMC Atrium
Discovery) product by uniquely identifying a package regardless of installed
name or location.

The Company form allows you to create companies or organizations and their
information so that products, versions, and patches can be associated with them.

The Sites form allows you to create sites for the company location, including
time zone, address, and region.

The Definitive Media Library (DML) is a subset, or filter, of the Product Catalog
that represents software products that an organization approves for its use.

The Definitive Hardware Library (DHL) is a subset, or filter, of the Product

Catalog that represents hardware products that an organization approves for its
use.
Figure 1-2 shows an example of how a discovery tool finds an application in a
server environment and how BMC Atrium CMDB normalizes that CI using the
Product Catalog information. If the Product Catalog Key, Signature ID, product
name, manufacturer name, or file name and size are specified in both the Product
Catalog and in the discovered instance, the Normalization Engine can update
BMC Atrium CMDB with the normalized name by using the attributes in the
following order:
1 DictionaryId (Product Catalog Key)Provided by the Product Catalog to

identify each entry uniquely. In the Product Catalog, the Dictionary ID is defined
in the patchInstanceId attribute.
2 Signature IDStored in the Product Catalog and created by discovery tools for

identifying products.
3 Product attributesThe Model, ManufacturerName, and VersionNumber

attributes of the CI.

4 File name and file sizeThe name and size of the file.

Chapter 1

Introduction to BMC Atrium Product Catalog

15

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Figure 1-2: Example of normalizing discovered data with the Product Catalog

The Calbro Advisor 09

product is discovered
and pushed to the
Discovery dataset

Discovery
dataset
Calbro Advisor 09

The CI is normalized and Calbro Financial

Advisor 2009 is updated in BMC Atrium CMDB

Normalization
Engine

CI reconciled and pushed to

the production dataset

Reconciliation
Engine

Production
dataset
Calbro Financial
Advisor 2009

Normalization searches for

a Product Catalog entry
using varioius attributes

BMC Atrium
CMDB
A product called Calbro Financial Advisor
2009 is found in the Product Catalog

BMC Atrium
Product Catalog

DML

DHL

Advantages of using the Product Catalog

The Product Catalog entries give an IT professional the following advantages:

In procurement, BMC Remedy Asset Management chooses a normalized

application name from the Product Catalog when ordering software.

In license management, you can associate license certificates with products in

the Product Catalog that are normalized.

In license compliance, you can compare discovered applications with licenses

using normalized names in the Product Catalog and provide meaningful reports
of over- and under-licensed software.

You can have software in the DML with normalized names in the Product
Catalog to make easy comparisons across the enterprise.
Using the Product Catalog allows IT to always see an application as one complete
entity, whether IT is buying it, associating license contracts with it, packaging it,
deploying it, discovering it, or referring to its usage.

16

Product Catalog and DML Guide

An overview of the Product Catalog

Product Catalog data

You can add Product Catalog data in the following ways:

Create Product Catalog entries manuallyFrom the Product Catalog Console,

you can create new products, versions, and patches and define their status
options. For more information, see Creating custom Product Catalog entries
on page 71.

Import data from external filesYou can import data from an external file or
from staging forms using BMC Remedy User. For more information, see
Importing Product Catalog data on page 102.

Use the Normalization Engine to create entriesIf you have a dataset that has
normalized CIs, you can configure the Normalization Engine to create Product
Catalog entries from the dataset. You must configure this option before
normalizing the dataset. For guidelines and procedures, see the BMC Atrium
CMDB 7.6.03 Normalization and Reconciliation Guide.
The Product Catalog data, not the DML, is used to normalize discovered data. The
Product Catalog entries are the definitive, or master, names and descriptions of
products, including hardware, software, network devices, and services. The
Product Catalog entries are displayed hierarchically by the major releases of a
product and then broken down further by the exact versions. For the exact
versions, you can specify a Storage Location for the master.
Each Product Catalog entry can have an accompanying model or version and an
optional patch. You can also set a market version for a Product Catalog entry. The
market version is used by the software license management engine to determine
whether that Product Catalog entry must have a related software license contract.
For example, if Calbro Services wants to track multiple service packs and versions
for Microsoft Excel as instances of version 2003, Andrew Admin sets the market
version field for the Microsoft Excel Product Catalog entry.
You can manually specify the market version for a product entry in the Product
Catalog or use the Version Rollup feature in the Normalization Engine. The
Version Rollup feature normalizes multiple version strings to a common market
version value, based on default or custom rules. For information about the Version
Rollup feature, see the BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Normalization and Reconciliation
Guide.

NOTE
If a CI instance corresponds to a Product Catalog entry for which the market
version is set and the CI instance also maps to a Version Rollup rule, the market
version value in the Product Catalog has higher priority by default. However, you
can change the default configuration to assign higher priority to the Version
Rollup rule in the Normalization Engine. For more information, see the BMC
Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Normalization and Reconciliation Guide.

Chapter 1

Introduction to BMC Atrium Product Catalog

17

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

In addition to Product Catalog entries and Storage Locations, another component

of the Product Catalog is the Product Suites, which are groups of one or more
Product Catalog entries. For example, the Microsoft Office suite contains Word,
Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook. You can use the Suite Rollup feature in the
Normalization Engine to create suites and assign existing products to the suites.
You can also use the Suite Rollup feature to create rules that identify instances as
a suite or suite component. For more information about the Suite Rollup feature,
see the BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Normalization and Reconciliation Guide.
The Product Catalog enables application administrators to facilitate software
license management and software deployment by adding or modifying Product
Catalog entries, Storage Locations, and Product Suites using the Product Catalog
Console.

Managing products
The Product Catalog has several status options for products that allow you
different options to manage the products for your organization:

ApprovedAuthorize a product to be installed in the organizational

environment.
Approved products are in the DML or DHL, depending on whether they are
software or hardware.

NOTE
If the Allow Unapproved CIs option is enabled in the Normalization console, the
Normalization Engine normalizes CIs of the products that are not approved in the
Product Catalog. If this option is disabled, CIs are still created for the unapproved
products, but the NormalizationStatus attribute for those CIs is set to
Normalized Not Approved.

ManagedTrack the product in the organizational environment.

The Product Catalog does not do anything when this option is set. Instead, other
applications, such as BMC Remedy IT Service Management (BMC Remedy
ITSM), can interpret and use this option to take actions, such as manage CIs in
BMC Atrium CMDB.

NOTE
Not all approved products are managed. For example, the Notepad++ or Winzip
applications could be approved products in an organization, but the organization
may not choose to track and manage them, because they do not require licences.

Hide ProductDisable the display of a product in the Product Catalog Console.

Hidden products are not removed from the Product Catalog and appear in
search results if they match the criteria. You can use this option to reduce the
number of displayed products in the Product Catalog Console.

18

Product Catalog and DML Guide

An overview of the Product Catalog

Life CycleA products phase, which a product such as BMC Remedy ITSM
could use to define actions. For example, you could decide that patch 2 of a
finance application can only be installed in the production environment if it is
marked as Released.

Development: The product is being created or assembled and is not yet tested.

Test: The product has completed development but is being validated.
A Test product could be approved for a select group of people for testing
purposes. For example, Calbro Services decided to approve a product that
they were developing. The approved product was available only for an
internal group who would be testing the product.

Released: The product has completed development and testing, and it is

ready for use in the production environment.

Normalized ProductUse the alias that has been defined for the product.
For more information about aliases, see Creating a product alias on page 74.

Blacklisted ProductMark a product as a security risk.

This field can be used to create a ticket to remove the blacklisted product from
the organizational environment. The Product Catalog does not do anything
when this option is set; instead, other applications, such as BMC Remedy ITSM,
can interpret and use this option to manage products or CIs in BMC Atrium
CMDB.
You can set these options at the product, version, and patch levels, but the status
is propagated downstream. If you change the status of a product, then its
associated versions and patch entries also have the options set implicitly (through
workflow). The Product Catalog does not propagate the status upstream, from
patches upwards to the version and product.
You must set the status options when relating a product to a company to allow for
each company to have its own status options for each product. For more
information about setting status options on products, see Relating companies to
Product Catalog entries on page 81.

Platform and operating system support in the Product Catalog

The Product Catalog supports data providers populating platform and operating
system information for the product model and version. This support allows a
product to have multiple entries for the same product and version, with different
platforms and operating systems. You can then create patches that are specific to a
combination of operating system and platform.
For example, if you searched for Oracle Enterprise 10.2 in the Product Catalog,
you could have the following results:
Table 1-1: Example of version with multiple platforms and operating systems (part 1 of 2)
Product

Version

Platform

Operating system

Oracle Enterprise

10.2

Microsoft Windows

Windows 2003

Oracle Enterprise

10.2

UNIX
Chapter 1

Sun Solaris 9

Introduction to BMC Atrium Product Catalog

19

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Table 1-1: Example of version with multiple platforms and operating systems (part 2 of 2)
Product

Version

Platform

Operating system

Oracle Enterprise

10.2

UNIX

Solaris 10

Oracle Enterprise

10.2

UNIX

HP-UX 11

Oracle Enterprise

10.2

UNIX

Red Hat Linux AS 3.0

To search for products by platform or operating system, you must use the
Advanced Search feature in the Product Catalog Console. For example, to search
for products on the UNIX platform, you could use the expression Platform
LIKE UNIX. To search for products by operating system, use an expression such
as 'Operating System' LIKE "Solaris 9". For more information about
searching products, see Viewing and searching for products on page 61.
For each platform, you must create a separate model/version entry and specify the
platform and operating system. For each version, you can then add a patch for that
platform and operating system. For more information about modifying the list of
platforms, see Modifying the list of platforms on page 88.

Multitenancy support in the Product Catalog

The Product Catalog supports defining approved products for different
organizations. Multitenancy allows you to have a single Product Catalog shared
among multiple organizations but tracks the approved products for each
organization from the same Product Catalog data.
For each organization, you can define the approved items for the version and patch
levels, not just the product name. All the other options in the Product Catalog are
separated for each products by organization as well, such as the following
attributes:

Managed

Blacklisted

Mark for Deletion

Hidden

Life Cycle

Status
Multitenancy can also be used when a smaller company is part of another
company and their finances are managed separately. For example, Calfin Services
is a part of Calbro Services. Their finances are managed separately. Both
companies use the same Product Catalog. With multitenancy, they can access
products that are approved for their own organizations.

20

Product Catalog and DML Guide

Multitenancy support in the Product Catalog

Calbro Services can track the software and hardware approved for each company.
Rather than create a separate Product Catalog for each company, Calbro Services
uses one Product Catalog to manage the approved software and hardware for
Calbro Services and Calfin Services. Figure 1-3 on page 21 shows what Oracle
versions and patches Calbro Services and Calfin Services have approved.
Figure 1-3: Multitenancy example

Oracle

10g R2
10.2.0.4
10.2.0.3
10.2.0.2

Oracle
Calbro
Services

10g R1
10.1.0.5

Calfin
Services

10.1.0.4
10.1.0.3

Oracle

9i R2
9.2.0.08
9.2.0.07
9.2.0.06

The approval, status, and other flags are segregated by company so that Calbro
Servicesdoes not use Oracle versions approved by Calfin Services. Calfin Services
has not approved Oracle 10g R2 and does not see it as approved, even though
Calbro Services has approved it. The figure also shows the example of a globally
approved version. Only the 9.2.0.06 and 9.2.0.07 patches of Oracle 9i R2 are
globally approved.
For more multitenancy and Calbro Services examples, see Multitenancy in the
Calbro Services example on page 93.

Chapter 1

Introduction to BMC Atrium Product Catalog

21

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Definitive Media Library and approved

products
The Definitive Media Library (DML) is an IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
concept. In ITIL v3, the Definitive Media Library replaced the Definitive Software
Library that was in v2. The DML is the software products that an organization has
reviewed and authorized for use in its production environment. You can define the
DML by enabling the Approved option for a product, version, or patch. With the
7.5.00 release of the BMC Atrium Core product, the Definitive Software Library
(DSL) product has been renamed to BMC Atrium Product Catalog (Product
Catalog). The DML in the Product Catalog stores all products, not just those
specified in an ITIL DSL or DML.
In the Product Catalog, you can approve products and specify their storage
location. The DML contains the metadata of master product copies and includes
not just software metadata but also the metadata of other types of media such as
databases and files. Configuration Items (CIs) that are stored in BMC Atrium
CMDB can include software, release packages, patches, system images, and so on.
An organization can manage its approved software using the DML, making the
DML customer-specific.
As the DML defines approved software, the Product Catalog uses the Definitive
Hardware Library (DHL) to designate all approved hardware products in an
organization. The DHL is a repository of all approved hardware products in an
organization. In the Product Catalog, you can approve hardware products and
define their storage location. The CIs of the hardware products are stored in BMC
Atrium CMDB.
The procedure to approve products for the DHL is the same as approving products
for the DML. For more information, see Approving products, versions, and
patches for DML and DHL on page 83. Multitenancy is also supported for DHL.

Using the DML and DHL

When you install the Product Catalog, the DML and DHL are initially empty. To
populate the libraries with product entries, you must approve the products in the
Product Catalog.
You can approve products in the Product Catalog in the Company and Module
Relationships area of the PCT: Product Catalog Setup form. For more
information about approving products, see Approving products, versions, and
patches for DML and DHL on page 83.
You can search for the products in the DML or DHL from the Product Catalog
Console. You can select Definitive Media Library or Definitive Hardware Library
from the Product Catalog View to view the products listed in the DML or DHL.

22

Product Catalog and DML Guide

Accessing the Product Catalog

Using multitenancy with DML and DHL

Multiple organizations can access the software and hardware products from the
Product Catalog and maintain separate DMLs and DHLs. With multitenancy
support, you can approve products for different organizations. Each organization
can manage and approve its own products without being affected by other
organizations sharing the same Product Catalog. For each organization, you can
approve items at the product, version, or patch level.
For more information about multitenancy, see Multitenancy support in the
Product Catalog on page 20.

Accessing the Product Catalog

You can manage the Product Catalog using a graphical user interface or APIs:

Product Catalog Console access

You can access the BMC Atrium Core Console from:

BMC Remedy User

A browser
Enter the following URL, and log in:
http://midtierServer:midtierport/arsys

Click the Atrium Core Console link. From the Application Launcher menu,
select Applications > Product Catalog.
For more information about accessing the BMC Atrium Core Console, see the
BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 User's Guide.

API access
You can programmatically manage the Product Catalog using the BMC Remedy
AR System APIs, including Java, C++, web services, and forms. For more
information, see the BMC Remedy Action Request System 7.6.03 Form and
Application Objects Guide and BMC Remedy Action Request System 7.6.03 Java API
guides.

Chapter 1

Introduction to BMC Atrium Product Catalog

23

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Understanding the Product Catalog Console

The Product Catalog Console consists of six areas:

Product Catalog ViewOptions for defining what is displayed in the Product

Catalog Entries list, including displaying all products, all software or hardware
products, or only approved hardware or software products.

Search CriteriaOptions for searching the Product Catalog.

Product Catalog EntriesA list of Product Catalog entries and their versions.

Products in SuiteIf a Product Catalog entry is part of a suite, the name of that
suite appears in this area. If a Product Catalog entry is identified as a suite, the
list of products in that suite appears in this area.

Storage LocationThe location of a Product Catalog entry, such as a physical

location, a path to a location, or a URL.

Product FilesProduct Catalog entries are made up of one or more files. These
files are represented in this area as metadata, and are not the actual files.
Figure 1-4: Product Catalog Console

24

Product Catalog and DML Guide

Using the Product Catalog and DML with other BMC applications

Using the Product Catalog and DML with other

BMC applications
For information about using the Product Catalog with specific BMC applications,
see the following documentation:

BMC Configuration Automation for Clients Report Center Guide, which provides a
listing of predefined DML queries located in the Report Center Query Library.
For details, see the Service Management integration section in Appendix I,
Query Library list.

BMC Configuration Automation for Clients Application Packager Guide, which

describes how to store packages created in Application Packager as a Storage
Location within the Product Catalog.

BMC Configuration Automation for Clients Configuration Discovery Integration for

CMDB Implementation Guide, which describes how to use the DML in
conjunction with BMC Atrium CMDB and Configuration Discovery.

BMC Configuration Automation for Clients Transmitter and Proxy Guide, which
describes how to configure the master transmitter and CMS to work with the
DML.

BMC Remedy Asset Management Users Guide, which describes how to use the
DML within the Asset Management system.

BMC Remedy Change Management Users Guide, which describes how to use the
DML within the Change Management system.

BMC Configuration Automation for Clients Package Deployment CLI Guide, which
describes how to use Content Replicator to store data as a Storage Location
within the Product Catalog.
BMC BladeLogic Client Automation documents and BMC Remedy AR System
documents are available at the following website: http://www.bmc.com/
support.

Chapter 1

Introduction to BMC Atrium Product Catalog

25

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

26

Product Catalog and DML Guide

Chapter

Normalization and the

Product Catalog
This section presents an overview of how normalization and the Product Catalog
fit together and interact to normalize configuration items (CIs). This section also
provides information about the different aliases used in by the Normalization
Engine and the Product Catalog.
The following topics are provided:

Overview of normalization and the Product Catalog (page 28)

Configuring the Product Catalog for normalization (page 29)

Configuring the Normalization Engine to populate Product Catalog entries
(page 30)

Chapter 2

Normalization and the Product Catalog

27

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Overview of normalization and the Product

Catalog
As part of BMC Atrium CMDB, the Normalization Engine provides a centralized,
customizable, and uniform way to overcome consistency problems by normalizing
attributes for hardware and software products. The Normalization Engine and
Product Catalog interact with each other in two ways:

The Normalization Engine requires the Product Catalog to normalize CI

attributes.

The Normalization Engine can create Product Catalog entries when it does not
find a matching product for a CI.
For the Product Catalog, a product is a normalized definition of real-world CIs. A
CI is an instance of a class and of a product in the Product Catalog. For each CI, the
Normalization Engine checks the Product Catalog for a corresponding product
and, if found, normalizes the CI based on that matching product. Figure 2-1
illustrates this procedure.
Figure 2-1: Normalization and the Product Catalog
Data provider

CI discovered and
pushed to the
Discovery dataset

Discovery
dataset

CI
normalized

BMC Atrium
CMDB

Normalization
Engine

The Allow New Product Catalog

Entry configuration option in the
Normalization console is set to Yes

CI reconciled and pushed to

the production dataset

Reconciliation
Engine

Production
dataset

Product found
in the Product
Catalog

BMC Atrium
Product Catalog

DML

DHL

By default, the Normalization Engine normalizes both approved and unapproved

CIs. So, the Normalization Engine uses the DML, DHL, and the rest of the Product
Catalog during normalization. You can configure the Normalization Engine to
normalize only approved products.
For a detailed description of the normalization process, see Steps in the
normalization process on page 41. For detailed information about configuring
and using normalization, see the BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Normalization and
Reconciliation Guide.
28

Product Catalog and DML Guide

Configuring the Product Catalog for normalization

Configuring the Product Catalog for

normalization
For the Normalization Engine to normalize CIs successfully, you must complete
the following steps to configure the Product Catalog.
Step 1 Create or import Product Catalog entries for the class instances that you want to

normalize.
Because the Normalization Engine uses product definitions to normalize CIs, you
must populate the Product Catalog by importing products, manually creating
products, or using the Normalization Engine to create products. For more
information about methods to populate the Product Catalog, see Creating
Product Catalog entries on page 50.
Step 2 With the NE:ProductNameAlias form, create product and manufacturer aliases.

For most CIs, the Normalization Engine finds Product Catalog entries for a CI with
the values for the CIs Model and ManufacturerName attributes. If one of these do
not match that for a Product Catalog entry, you can prevent CIs from failing
normalization by correcting a Model or ManufacturerName value with an alias.
In the normalization workflow, the Normalization Engine always checks for a
Model or ManufacturerName alias. If the CI has a Model or ManufacturerName alias, the
Normalization Engine replaces the CIs Model or ManufacturerName attribute value
with the alias and searches for an entry in the Product Catalog.
For more information, see Creating product name and manufacturer aliases on
page 67.
Step 3 Create product categorization aliases for the following reasons:

If the combination of the values of Product Category, Product Type, Product

Item, Product Name, and Manufacturer/Vendor is not in the Product Catalog
data. Or, if these values are in the Product Catalog but are not related to the
company for whom the CI is being submitted.

If a CIs Model or ManufacturerName attribute has no value. For more information

about null values and normalization, see the BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03
Normalization and Reconciliation Guide.

If the Allow new Product Catalog entry option is enabled in the Normalization
Engine.
Step 4 After setting up normalization, run the Normalization Simulation utility to

preview normalization results.

If the Normalization Engine failed to normalize CIs, the utility notes whether the
a Model or ManufacturerName value is null. You can create aliases for these failed
CIs. For more information about the Normalization Simulation utility, see the BMC
Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Normalization and Reconciliation Guide.
Chapter 2

Normalization and the Product Catalog

29

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Configuring the Normalization Engine to

populate Product Catalog entries
If you use the option to create Product Catalog entries with the Normalization
Engine, you must complete the following steps to make sure that the products are
correctly created.
For more information about configuring normalization and using the
Normalization Simulation utility, see the BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Normalization
and Reconciliation Guide.
Step 1 From the Configuration Editor in the Normalization console, enable the Allow

New Product Catalog Entry option for a dataset.

This option cannot be enabled only for certain classes. Make sure that the CIs in
such a dataset have been manually normalized.
Step 2 From the Configuration Editor in the Normalization console, enable the Version

Normalization Feature option for a dataset.

Step 3 From the Normalization Features in the Normalization console, make sure that the

appropriate Version Rollup rules are activated.

The Version Rollup rules enable you to normalize multiple version strings to a
common market version value.
Step 4 From the Configuration Editor in the Normalization console, enable the Suite

Rollup Normalization Feature option for a dataset.

Step 5 From Normalization Features in the Normalization console, configure the

appropriate Suite Rollup rules.

You can use the Suite Rollup feature to create new suites in the Product Catalog
and assign existing products to the suites. The Suite Rollup rules can also identify
instances as a suite or suite component.
Step 6 After setting up normalization, run the Normalization Simulation utility to

preview normalization results.

Step 7 From the Normalization console, create and run a normalization job.
Step 8 In the Product Catalog Console, after the normalization job runs, review the new

Product Catalog entries and make changes to their status flags as needed.

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Product Catalog and DML Guide

Chapter

Planning and implementing

categorization
Product categorization is leveraged by multiple BMC applications. By
understanding the product-specific use of categorization, you can determine the
impact when setting up product categorization or when making additions and
changes to the product category structure.
Whether you are setting up the product categorization from scratch or fine-tuning
the best practice values to fit your needs, the best practice guidelines in this book
can help you avoid common pitfalls.
The values provided in Appendix A, Best practice categorization have been
defined using experience gained during many service management
implementations. You can use these values to more quickly implement any of the
applications that use product categorization.
The following topics are provided:

Overview of product categorization (page 32)

Benefits of categorization (page 32)
Use of product categorization by BMC products (page 33)
Implementing categorization (page 47)

Chapter 3 Planning and implementing categorization

31

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Overview of product categorization

Product categorization divides CIs into groups. Using the three-tier structure of
product categorization, you can create successively smaller, more tightly defined
groups. You can create groups of CIs in Tier 1. In Tier 2, you can define smaller
groups of each of those groups. In Tier 3, you can create even smaller groups
within these groups.
For example, you might use Tier 1 to divide CIs into hardware and software
groups. Within the hardware group, you might define Tier 2 groups for disk
device, peripheral, processing unit, and virtual systems. Within processing unit,
you might define Tier 3 groups for desktop, laptop, mainframe, personal digital
assistant, and server.
The associated Product Name and Manufacturer fields provide the opportunity to
achieve to an even more fine-grained grouping of CIs. Version can be specified on
CIs but is not part of the Product Catalog.
Product categorization is defined in the Product Catalog. CIs stored in BMC
Atrium CMDB include this categorization in equivalent fields defined at the
BMC_BaseElement CDM class level, as show in Table 3-1.
Table 3-1: Product categorization fields on the CI and in the Product Catalog
Categorization fields in the
Product Catalog

Categorization attributes Example values

on the CI

Tier 1

Category

Hardware

Tier 2

Type

Processing Unit

Tier 3

Item

Server

Manufacturer

ManufacturerName

IBM Corporation

Product Name

Model

IBM x445

Benefits of categorization
A well-thought-out product categorization structure is used to more efficiently
perform the following activities:

Reporting

Searching

Workflow
Even though the product categorization is focused on the categorization of CIs, the
BMC Remedy ITSM suite, and other BMC products use product categorization.
The different ways in which the product categorization can be leveraged are
described in the following section.

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Product Catalog and DML Guide

Use of product categorization by BMC products

Use of product categorization by BMC

products
In addition to dividing CIs into groups, the same product categorization structure
is also used to classify other entities within BMC Remedy IT Service Management,
such as incidents and change requests. This section lists the records that use the
product categorization, and it also documents the product features that use this
classification. This information can help you to determine the impact of the
product categorization structure being planned.

Records that use product categorization

Table 3-2 lists how product categorization is used to classify records throughout
BMC products.
Table 3-2: Use of product categorization to classify records (part 1 of 3)
Product

Entity

Description

BMC Atrium CMDB

CIs

A CI is any item that must be managed to deliver an

IT service. Information about each CI is recorded in
the BMC Atrium CMDB.
Product categorization is used to classify CIs.

BMC Remedy Asset

Management

Bulk inventory

BMC Remedy Asset Management extends BMC

Atrium CMDB with a class for bulk inventory. Bulk
inventory items are ordered in quantity and are not
tracked by an individual record for each item. The
total quantity of a bulk inventory item is tracked
against reorder levels.
Product categorization is used to classify bulk
inventory CIs.

Schedules

Schedules can be created to notify IT or asset

management personnel (or to create a change
request) when maintenance for CIs is necessary. For
example, an IT technician might perform routine
maintenance for all printers in a company once every
six months.
Product categorization is used to search for CIs to
relate to the schedule.

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Table 3-2: Use of product categorization to classify records (part 2 of 3)

Product

Entity

Description

BMC Remedy Change

Management

Change requests

A change is the addition, modification, or removal of

anything that could have an effect on IT services.
Change Management is the process that controls the
lifecycle of all changes.
Product categorization applied to change requests
can be used to automatically route the requests for
assignment and approval.

Tasks and task templates

A task is a unit of work that must be completed to

implement an incident, problem investigation, or
change request. In the BMC Remedy Change
Management application, an administrator can create
task templates that can be reused for the same type of
requests.
Product categorization can be used to determine the
applicable task template for a change request.

BMC Atrium Product

Catalog

Product Catalog entries

A Product Catalog entry is an entry in the Product

Catalog that represents the master name of a
software, hardware, service, or other CI.
The Product Catalog includes the three tiers of
categorization, together with the product name and
manufacturer.
In BMC Remedy Asset Management, Product
Catalog entries can be related to software contracts.
Software License Management matches the product
categorization of CIs to Product Catalog entries that
are related to software contracts to determine the
utilization of software contracts.

BMC Remedy
Solutions
Knowledge Management

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Product Catalog and DML Guide

Reusable solutions to customer problems are stored

in a database. Product categorization can be used to
match solutions with incidents and requests.

Use of product categorization by BMC products

Table 3-2: Use of product categorization to classify records (part 3 of 3)

Product

Entity

Description

BMC Remedy Service

Desk (a BMC Remedy
ITSM application)

Incidents

An incident is an unplanned interruption to an IT

service or a reduction in the quality of an IT service.
In BMC Remedy ITSM, product categorization can be
used to classify the incident, and can also be used to
classify the resolution of the incident.
Categorization can be used in the incident matching
function to search for applicable solutions, incidents,
known errors, and problem investigations.
Categorization can also be used to automatically
assign the incident to the appropriate support group.

Known errors

A known error is a problem that has been successfully

diagnosed and for which a temporary workaround or
permanent solution has been identified.
When a known error is categorized, it can be matched
to incidents. Categorization can also be used to
automatically assign the known error to the
appropriate support group.

Problem investigations

A problem is the root cause of one or more incidents.

Problem Management is the process that manages the
lifecycle of all problems.
When a problem investigation is categorized, it can
be matched to incidents. Categorization can also be
used to automatically assign the problem
investigation to the appropriate support group.

Script mapping

Scripts are detailed instructions that are set up by an

administrator to prompt users with questions that
can assist with resolving or assigning an incident.
Script mapping determines which scripts are
available for an incident. Product categorization can
be used to determine the applicable script for an
incident.

BMC Atrium Product

Catalog

Product Catalog entries

A Product Catalog entry is an entry in the Product

Catalog that represents the master name of a software
application.
In BMC Remedy Asset Management, Product
Catalog entries can be related to software contracts.
Software License Management matches the product
categorization of CIs to Product Catalog entries that
are related to software contracts to determine the
utilization of software contracts.

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Figure 3-1 through Figure 3-3 illustrate the use of product categorization.
Categorization is defined in the Product Catalog. Figure 3-1 illustrates part of the
Product Catalog.
Figure 3-1: Example of a Product Catalog form

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Use of product categorization by BMC products

In Figure 3-2, a schedule uses product categorization to search for applicable CIs.
Figure 3-2: Example of a schedule

In Figure 3-3, product categorization is used to classify an incident.

Figure 3-3: Example of an incident

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BMC product features that use product categorization

The classification of the records listed in Table 3-2 on page 33 is used to provide the
following reporting, searching, and workflow capabilities:

Reporting

Analytics

Dashboards

Reports included with the product

Searching

Incident matching

BMC Remedy Knowledge Management

Online searches

Workflow

ApprovalApproval routings for change requests can be configured to be
automatically applied based on product categorization.

AssignmentFor all entities that can be assigned (such as incidents, change

requests, and CI unavailability), workflow can be configured to automatically
assign entities to the appropriate support group based on product
categorization.

DepreciationIn BMC Remedy Asset Management, the CI depreciation

method can be configured to be automatically applied based on product
categorization.

DiscoveryBMC Discovery and BMC Configuration Automation for Clients

Configuration Discovery Integration for CMDB assign three tiers of
categorization to CIs that they discover.

NotificationsIn BMC Remedy Asset Management, notifications can be

configured to be sent automatically upon the state transition of a CI, such as
when a CI is deployed or is down. This notification can be configured based on
product categorization.

Service Level ManagementProduct categorization values can be used to set

conditions to determine whether a Service Level Agreement (SLA) applies.

Software License ManagementSoftware License Management matches the

product categorization of CIs to Product Catalog entries that are related to
software contracts to determine the use of software contracts.

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Use of product categorization by BMC products

Product categorization and discovery

CIs in BMC Atrium CMDB require valid product categorization. When a CI is
discovered, it must include valid product categorization.
Before inserting or updating a CI in BMC Atrium CMDB, BMC Atrium Core
categorize the CI by one of the following methods:

If the CI has a class of BMC_Product, BMC Atrium Core look up the CI in the
Product Catalog. (For BMC Atrium Discovery, this is a local copy of the Product
Catalog.) If the product finds a match for the CI, it applies the categorization
from the Product Catalog to the CI. The three tiers of categorization used in the
Product Catalog are Software, Application, and Thirdparty.

If the CI has a class other than BMC_Product or is not found in the Product
Catalog, products referring Product Catalog (see Table 3-3 on page 40) use an
XML file to determine the categorization of the CI. Whether this XML file is the
default product categorization or the best practice categorization is selected
during installation of the product. For more information about default
categorization, see Default product categorization data in BMC Atrium Core
on page 40.
When a CI is inserted or updated in BMC Atrium CMDB, the Normalization
Engine makes sure that CIs are inserted only with valid categorization.
In a typical CMDB deployment, all new CIs or CI updates are first added to import
datasets, which are then normalized and reconciled with the production dataset.
You can set up a normalization job so that, whenever a CI is submitted to be
created or updated, the CIs attributes are normalized with the values defined in
the Product Catalog.
The Normalization Engine checks against the Product Catalog, which stores the
definition of categorization data, and either validates or rejects the CI. For more
information about the normalization process, see Steps in the normalization
process on page 41.

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Default product categorization data in BMC Atrium Core

Some data providers come with a default categorization for the CIs that they
discover. Table 3-3 describes how this default categorization is handled by the data
providers.

NOTE
BMC recommends that you do not change the default categorization in the data
providers. BMC recommends that you instead change the categorization through
the Product Catalog, as described in Reviewing the categorization of Product
Catalog entries on page 51.
Table 3-3: Default CI categorization by products referring the BMC Atrium Product
Catalog
Product

Description of default categorization

BMC Configuration
Automation for Clients
Configuration Discovery
Integration for CMDB (BMC
Configuration Automation for
Clients Configuration
Discovery Integration for
CMDB) 7.0 and 7.1

CIs that are not categorized by being matched against the

Product Catalog, such as computer systems and
hardware components, come with categorization that is
defined in the BMC Atrium Integration Engine (AIE)
integration. You can see the default categorization for
these CIs in the CD-to-CMDB mapping of the AIE
integration.

BMC Foundation Discovery

All types of CIs have their categorization defined in the
and BMC Topology Discovery CD-to-CDM mapping layer, in MOF text files. You can
1.4
find these MOF files in \install\model\.
Note: After the server is installed, changing the MOF files

does not change the default categorization values.

BMC Foundation Discovery
CIs that are not categorized by being matched against the
and BMC Topology Discovery Product Catalog, such as computer systems and
1.5
hardware components, come with a categorization that is
defined in an external configuration file. This external
configuration file can define a categorization per class,
based on the class type, or based on the value of an
attribute, which allows for the specification of simple
rules.

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Product Catalog and DML Guide

Use of product categorization by BMC products

Steps in the normalization process

The Normalization Engine performs validation against different scenarios. The CI
being validated falls into one of the scenarios indicated in the following steps. The
Normalization Engine performs validation sequentially. The steps illustrated in
Figure 3-4 describe the checks and actions performed in this process.
Figure 3-4: Normalization process

Is class set up for

normalization?

No

Update the
NormalizationStatus
attribute and exit

1
Yes

Is there an alias in
NE:ProductNameAlias
form?

Use supplied product

and manufacturer
names

No

Yes

Replace product and

manufacturer names from
the NE:ProductNameAlias
form

Search for the product

in the Product Catalog

Is there an entry?

Normalize CI and
update the
NormalizationStatus
attribute

Yes

4
No

Yes

Is there an alias in the

Product Catalog Alias
Mapping form?

No

5
Allow New
Product Catalog
Entry option
enabled?

Use mapped
values

6
No

Search for the

product in the
Product Catalog

Is there an entry?

Yes

Yes

Create entry in the

Product Catalog

No
Update the
NormalizationStatus
attribute and exit

Get CTI values

and replace them
in the CI

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BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Step 1 The Normalization Engine checks whether the CI class is configured for

normalization.

If the class is configured, the Normalization Engine continues the process.

If the class is not configured, the Normalization Engine updates the
attribute to Normalization Not Applicable and ends the
normalization process for the CI.

NormalizationStatus

Step 2 The Normalization Engine checks the NE:ProductNameAlias form for aliases for

the ManufacturerName and Model attributes.

If it finds a ManufacturerName or Model alias, the Normalization Engine substitutes
it in the corresponding CI attribute.
Step 3 The Normalization Engine searches the Product Catalog for a product that

matches the CI.

If the Product Catalog returns multiple matches, the Normalization Engine rejects
the CI and reports an error.
Step 4 If the Normalization Engine finds a Product Catalog entry, it normalizes the CI,

including all the Normalization Features enabled for the dataset.

Normalization of unapproved products depends on whether the Allow
Unapproved CI option is disabled. By default, it is enabled. The Normalization
Engine checks the entrys IsApproved flag.

The Normalization Engine updates the CI with the Category, Type, and Item
attribute values from the Product Catalog entry.

The Normalization Engine updates the NormalizationStatus attribute to

Normalized and Approved, or Normalized and Unapproved, and then ends the
normalization process for the CI.
Step 5 If the Normalization Engine finds no Product Catalog entry, it checks the Product
Catalog Alias Mapping form for aliases.
Step 6 If it finds aliases, the Normalization Engine applies them to the CI.
a Using the alias values for product and manufacturer, the Normalization Engine

searches the Product Catalog for a matching product.

b If the Normalization Engine finds no Product Catalog entry, it updates the CIs

attribute as Normalization Failed and ends the

normalization process for the CI.

NormalizationStatus

c If the Normalization Engine finds a Product Catalog entry, it normalizes the CI,

including all of the Normalization Features enabled for the dataset.

The Normalization Engine updates the CI with the Category, Type, and Item
attribute values from the Product Catalog entry.

The Normalization Engine updates the NormalizationStatus attribute to

Normalized and Approved, or Normalized and Unapproved, and then ends
the normalization process for the CI.
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Product Catalog and DML Guide

Use of product categorization by BMC products

Step 7 If the Normalization Engine finds no aliases in the Product Catalog Alias
Mapping form, it checks if the Allow New Product Catalog Entry option is enabled.
a If enabled, the Normalization Engine applies Normalization Features enabled

for the dataset and allows the Product Catalog to create a product entry based
on the CI data and updates the NormalizationStatus attribute.
b If disabled, the Normalization Engine updates the NormalizationStatus

attribute to Normalization Failed and ends the normalization process for the CI.
After data is normalized, it can be reconciled to the BMC Atrium CMDB
production dataset.

TIP
You can use the Product Catalog Mapping Alias with datasets configured for
normalization to provide control over automatic expansion of the Product Catalog.
For example, a Product Catalog Mapping Alias might map all of the data
providers default categorization Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 to preferred
categorization in the Product Catalog. The Allow New Product Catalog Entry
option is selected for the data providers dataset in the Normalization console. So,
every time a new product name and manufacturer combination is discovered, a
new Product Catalog entry is created using the preferred three categorization tiers
and the discovered product name and manufacturer.

Examples of normalizing categorization

This section illustrates how the categorizations for discovered CIs are normalized.
Table 3-4 on page 44 shows three examples of submitted CIs and the result of their
validation against the following entry in the Product Catalog:

CI Class: BMC_ComputerSystem

Tier1: Hardware

Tier2: Processing Unit

Tier3: Server

ManufacturerName: Hewlett-Packard

ProductNameVersion: Proliant DL380 G4

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Table 3-4: Examples of submitted CIs

Submitted CI

Result of validation

Class: BMC_ComputerSystem

Because the product name and manufacturer

both match an entry in the Product Catalog, the
CI is validated and inserted into BMC Atrium
CMDB as:

Name: foo.bmc.com
Category: Hardware
Type: Processing Unit
Item: Server
ManufactureName: Hewlett-Packard
Model: Proliant DL380 G4

Class: BMC_ComputerSystem
Name: foo.bmc.com
Category: Hardware
Type: Processing Unit
Item: Server
ManufactureName: Hewlett-Packard
Model: Proliant DL380 G4

Class: BMC_ComputerSystem
Name: foo.bmc.com
Category: Hardware
Type: Machine
Item: Server

Because the product name and manufacturer

both match an entry in the Product Catalog, the
CI is validated. The product categorization is
rewritten with the categorization from the
Product Catalog entry and inserted into BMC
Atrium CMDB as:

ManufactureName: Hewlett-Packard Class: BMC_ComputerSystem

Model: Proliant DL380 G4

Name: foo.bmc.com
Category: Hardware
Type: Processing Unit
Item: Server
ManufactureName: Hewlett-Packard
Model: Proliant DL380 G4

Class: BMC_ComputerSystem
Name: foo.bmc.com
Category: Hardware
Type: Machine
Item: Server
ManufactureName: HP
Model: Proliant DL380 G4

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Product Catalog and DML Guide

Varies, depending on product categorization

alias mapping and datasets configured for
normalization, as illustrated in Table 3-5 on
page 45.

Use of product categorization by BMC products

Table 3-5 presents scenarios of what can happen to the third CI in Table 3-4. The
first column indicates the Discovery product categorization on the Product
Catalog Alias Mapping form. The Product Catalog target values are set to the
values indicated in Table 3-4 on page 44.
Table 3-5: Outcome of product categorization alias and dataset configured for normalization (part 1 of 2)
Product categorization alias
Discovery product categorization

Dataset
Result of each step
configured for of workflow
normalization?

Result of validation

CI Class: BMC_ComputerSystem

Not applicable 1 Manufacturer not

in catalog.
2 Product
categorization
alias maps Tier 2
and the
manufacturer. The
CI is now
validated.

CI validated and inserted into

BMC Atrium CMDB as:

Tier1: Hardware
Tier2: Machine
Tier3: Server
ManufacturerName: HP
ProductNameVersion: Proliant
DL380 G4

Class:
BMC_ComputerSystem
Name: foo.bmc.com
Category: Hardware
Type: Processing Unit
Item: Server
ManufactureName: HewlettPackard
Model: Proliant DL380 G4

CI Class: BMC_ComputerSystem
Tier1: Hardware
Tier2: Machine
Tier3: Server
Note: This product categorization alias

does not include the

ManufacturerName or
ProductNameVersion.

Yes

1 Manufacturer not

in catalog.
2 Product
categorization
alias maps Tier 2.
The manufacturer
name is not
mapped.
3 Because the CI
comes from a
dataset
configured for
normalization, a
Product Catalog
entry with the
new manufacturer
is created. A
company record
for the new
manufacturer is
also created. The
CI is now
validated.

CI validated and inserted into

BMC Atrium CMDB as:
Class:
BMC_ComputerSystem
Name: foo.bmc.com
Category: Hardware
Type: Processing Unit
Item: Server
ManufactureName: HP
Model: Proliant DL380 G4

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Table 3-5: Outcome of product categorization alias and dataset configured for normalization (part 2 of 2)
Product categorization alias
Discovery product categorization

Dataset
Result of each step
configured for of workflow
normalization?

Result of validation

CI Class: BMC_ComputerSystem

No

CI rejected. Although there is

an alias for the three tiers of
categorization, because the
dataset is not configured for
normalization, a new entry
cannot be created for the
manufacturer and model.

1 Manufacturer not

in catalog.
2 Product
categorization
alias maps Tier 2.
The manufacturer
name is not
mapped.
3 Because the CI
does not come
from a dataset
configured for
normalization, the
CI is rejected.

Tier1: Hardware
Tier2: Machine
Tier3: Server

None

Yes

1 Manufacturer not

The Product Catalog is

in catalog.
extended; CI validated and
inserted into BMC Atrium
2 A product
CMDB as submitted.
categorization
alias is not found.
3 Because the CI
comes from a
dataset
configured for
normalization, the
CI is validated.

None

No

1 Manufacturer not

in catalog.
2 A product
categorization
alias is not found.
3 The CI does not
come from a
dataset
configured for
normalization.
4 The CI is rejected.

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Product Catalog and DML Guide

CI rejected.

Implementing categorization

Implementing categorization
To implement categorization for BMC Atrium Core, you must complete the
following steps:
Step 1 Define the product categorization structure.

To build a comprehensive and consistent product categorization structure, BMC

recommends that you first identify all distinct entities that will be stored in BMC
Atrium CMDB.
If you have already defined a product categorization structure, you can skip this
step. Otherwise, use the guidelines described in Defining the product
categorization structure on page 47.
For a comprehensive example of product categorizations, see Appendix A, Best
practice categorization.
Step 2 Set up the categorization data, including the Product Catalog and product

categorization aliases.
Product categorization aliases map CI categorization coming from data providers
to the categorization you defined in the Product Catalog. For more information,
see Setting up product categorization data on page 49.

Defining the product categorization structure

BMC Atrium Core products provide a categorization structure, but you can define
your own categorization structure in BMC Remedy IT Service Management.
BMC recommends that you note the following points when you define the product
categorization structure:

BMC Atrium Discovery and BMC Configuration Automation for Clients

Configuration Discovery Integration for BMC Atrium CMDB can be installed
with either default categorization or best practice categorization. The default
categorization matches the version installed with BMC Topology Discovery
1.4.00 and earlier. The best practice categorization is listed in Appendix A, Best
practice categorization.

You must use the same categorization in both discovery products, which can
extend your Product Catalog. If you use different categorization for the BMC
Atrium Core products, extensions to the BMC Atrium Core will be inconsistent.

You can override all or part of the BMC discovery products categorization with
categorization that you define.

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BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

BMC recommends that you adhere to the following guidelines when adding new
values to the product categorization or modifying existing product categorization
values:

Do not include brand names or manufacturer names.

This additional information for CIs can be captured in the Product Name,
Model/Version, and Manufacturer fields.

Limit the number of values from which a user can choose.

The more values a user sees in a list, the less likely the user is to actually review
them all and pick the right one. Lists of up to ten values are considered
manageable.

All values should be mutually exclusive.

Ambiguous values cause unreliable results in searches and reporting.

Each list of values should be complete.

When the list is not complete, users choose values that are not accurate, which
negatively impacts the effectiveness of the product categorization structure.

Specify all three tiers.

Specifying all tiers makes sure that the same level of detail is registered in all
instances.

The Product Catalog should reflect the CIs in BMC Atrium CMDB.
Information about components, such as memory and CPU type, can be either
attributes of the computer system (or virtual system) or separate CIs. If this
information is recorded as an attribute of the computer system, do not include
that component in the product categorization structure. For information about
planning CIs in BMC Atrium CMDB, see BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03 Concepts and
Planning Guide.

TIP
Plan your categorization structure carefully before implementing the Product
Catalog in your production environment. Modifying the Product Catalog can
cause inconsistency in search results and reporting if records with the old
categorization values are not updated.

Using Other as a value in categorization

To allow users to make accurate selections, if a category might not be complete,
you can add the value Other Type of Item, where Item is the applicable item, such
as Card.

TIP
BMC recommends that you use the value Other Type of Item, instead of Other.
Users are less likely to use this value as a default and more likely to use it only
when no other option applies.

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Implementing categorization

If you include Other Type of Item values in the Product Catalog, perform reporting
on a regular basis to make sure that the Other Type of Item values are not abused
and, if the numbers justify it, to add new values to the product categorization
structure.
Use the Other Type of Item value only for the third tier. If a CI has no applicable
Tier 1 or Tier 2 defined, the CI falls outside the scope of the CMDB and should not
be registered.
Be aware that rather than search for the appropriate categorization, people might
select the Other value because it is easy to use. To keep the full value of your
categorization, you might choose not to create Other categories and to use an
alternative generic term in the third tier. For example, your third tier under
Software, Software Application might include values for the supported classes of
applications and also a value of Unsupported. This example value is broad enough
to catch software not yet classified, but is less likely to be selected for established
supported software that clearly matches an existing category.
BMC recommends that if you are creating alternative generic terms in the third
level, do not use the term New. A user who manually registers a new CI might be
tempted to select the New value because it is a new CI.

Setting up product categorization data

This section describes how to set up product categorization data. Product
categorization data includes the Product Catalog and Product Catalog alias
mapping. You set up product categorization data in a pre-production environment
and then deploy it to your production environment.
Pre-production environments include test, development, or QA environments.
The pre-production environment must have BMC Atrium Core installed.
If you have not yet implemented the Product Catalog in your production
environment, you must start with an empty Product Catalog in your preproduction environment.
If you are using product categorization in your production BMC Remedy ITSM
environment, you must bring your production Product Catalog into the preproduction environment by performing the following actions:
1 On your production server, follow the instructions in Exporting data from the

Product Catalog on page 101.

2 On your pre-production server, follow the instructions in Importing Product

Catalog data on page 102.

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Summary of setting up product categorization data

Following are the high-level steps for setting up product categorization data. The
sections that follow provide detailed steps. Shortcuts to this process are indicated
as tips in the relevant procedures.
Step 1 Create Product Catalog entries by importing from external files or creating entries

through the Normalization Engine. See Creating Product Catalog entries on

page 50.
Step 2 Run through all your discovery processes in the pre-production environment. See

Running the discovery process in the pre-production environment on page 51.

Step 3 Review the Product Catalog and re-categorize Product Catalog entries, as

required. See Reviewing the categorization of Product Catalog entries on

page 51 and Modifying product categorization attributes on page 54.
Step 4 Export the data from the revised Product Catalog. See Importing and exporting

custom Product Catalog data on page 98.

Step 5 Import the revised Product Catalog into the production environment. See

Importing and exporting custom Product Catalog data on page 98.

Now when data is discovered, the categorization validation workflow replaces the
categorization on the CI with the revised Product Catalog values. This replacement
is based on the incoming product name and manufacturer name, along with the
product categorization alias configuration.

TIP
If you use multiple discovery products, you can use this procedure to make sure
that CIs are categorized consistently, even if you choose not to use product
categorization in BMC Remedy ITSM.

Creating Product Catalog entries

You can add products to the Product Catalog in the following ways:

Import data from external filesYou can import data from an external file or
from staging forms using BMC Remedy User. For more information, see
Importing Product Catalog data on page 102.

Use the Normalization Engine to create entriesIf you have configured a

dataset for normalization, the Normalization Engine can create Product Catalog
entries from the dataset. For detailed instructions about creating Product
Catalog entries using Normalization Engine, see the Configuring datasets
section in the BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Normalization and Reconciliation Guide.

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Implementing categorization

NOTE
When using the Normalization Engine to create product entries, verify that the CIs
in the dataset contain values that you want to apply to all CIs. You should
manually normalize the CIs in the dataset, or you could created duplicate entries
for a product in the Product Catalog. If you have duplicates in the Product Catalog,
you must manually remove them. For example, make sure that all CIs for a specific
product have the same Name, Manufacturername, Model, PatchNumber,
VersionNumber, Category, Type, and Item values.

Running the discovery process in the pre-production

environment
If you allow the Normalization Engine to create Product Catalog entries, you must
run your discovery process. Make sure that you get representative data from the
providers. Ideally, you are categorizing a comprehensive list of entities. The more
comprehensive the list, the easier you can define the right categorization for those
CIs, and the easier you can manage the content of the Product Catalog.
The number of CIs is not important; the discovery should include as many distinct
types of CIs that are representative of your environment. For example, discovering
10 HP Proliant computers and inserting the CIs is no more helpful than
discovering one. However, if you have two different models of a computer in your
environment, you want to discover both models.
When this step is complete, the Product Catalog is populated with entries created
by all the data providers.
For instructions on running the discovery process, see BMC Foundation Discovery
and BMC Topology Discovery: Discovering and Managing Configuration Data and the
BMC Configuration Automation for Clients CMS and Tuner Guide.

TIP
If you are not able to run the discovery process at this time, you can look at the
default categorization to see what categorization is assigned during discovery. For
more information about default categorization, see Default product
categorization data in BMC Atrium Core on page 40.

Reviewing the categorization of Product Catalog entries

The Product Catalog contains entries for the representative CI entities being
discovered. For each product name and manufacturer, the Product Catalog entry
is set to a default categorization. You must review the Product Catalog.

NOTE
If you did not run the discovery data and export the data to BMC Atrium CMDB,
you must review either the discovered data reports or the default categorization,
instead of the Product Catalog. In this situation, you will still re-categorize Product
Catalog entries where required by your review.

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Where the categorization entry in the Product Catalog does not match the
appropriate categorization, you must re-categorize the Product Catalog entry and
create a product categorization alias. The alias enables corresponding CIs from the
data providers to be correctly categorized in BMC Atrium CMDB.
If you already have a Product Catalog in your production environment, during
this process you might extend the product categorization. You also can create
product categorization aliases, so that discovered CIs use the same categorization.

To review the Product Catalog and re-categorize catalog entries

1 Open BMC Remedy User, and log in to the BMC Remedy ITSM server as an

administrator.
2 From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration

tab.
3 From the Application Settings list, choose Foundation > Products / Operational

Catalogs > Product Catalog, and then click Open.

The Product Catalog Setup form opens, as shown in Figure 3-5 on page 52.
Figure 3-5: Product Catalog Setup form

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TIP
The CI Type field defines which BMC Atrium CMDB class is associated with a
Product Catalog entry. If you have a large number of Product Catalog entries, you
might find it easier to work with entries for one CI type at a time.
4 Specify the search criteria for the portion of the Product Catalog that you will

review, and then click Search.

To review the entire Product Catalog, leave the search criteria fields blank.
5 Based on the results of your review, perform actions as indicated in Table 3-6.

Detailed procedures for performing these actions follow the table.

As you review and revise Product Catalog entries, use the rules indicated in
Defining the product categorization structure on page 47.
Table 3-6: Actions to perform based on review of the Product Catalog (part 1 of 2)
Results of review

Actions to perform

Instructions

The Product Catalog entry for a

product and manufacturer is
different from the default
categorization applied by a
discovery product.

If you expect that other products might be Mapping product

discovered using this default
categorization aliases on
categorization, you can create a Product
page 87
Catalog alias mapping to map the three
levels of default discovery categorization
to the three levels in the Product Catalog.
No other action is required. When CIs for
this product and manufacturer are
discovered, the categorization validation
workflow automatically resets the
categorization to the values in the Product
Catalog.

A Product Catalog entry that was

created from a discovery dataset
exists for a product and
manufacturer. The appropriate
categorization does not exist.

Delete unwanted Product Catalog entries Deleting Product Catalog

that have not been applied to records in
entries on page 85
the production environment.
Set as offline Product Catalog entries that From the Product Catalog
have been applied to records in the
Console, search for the
production environment.
product by clicking Search
Products.
Note: A selection that is offline cannot be
Select the product and click
applied to new records.
Set Offline.
Create the appropriate categorization.

Adding Product Catalog

If you expect that other products might be entries on page 72.
discovered using this default
categorization, you can create a Product
Mapping product
Catalog alias mapping to map the three
categorization aliases on
levels of default discovery categorization page 87.
to the three levels in the Product Catalog.

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Table 3-6: Actions to perform based on review of the Product Catalog (part 2 of 2)
Results of review

Actions to perform

Instructions

No Product Catalog entries exist

Create the categorization.
for a categorization that you want.

Adding Product Catalog

entries on page 72.

Exactly one catalog entry exists for No action is required.

a product name and manufacturer.
It is the correct categorization.

None

6 Repeat step 4 on page 53 and step 5 until you have completely reviewed the

Product Catalog and no further modification to categorization is required.

Modifying product categorization attributes

After you have reviewed the Product Catalog, you may need to change
categorization of products. After creating a product in the Product Catalog, you
can modify the categorizations using the following methods:

With the PCT:ProductVersionJoin form

After you have installed the Product Catalog, you can modify the
categorizations with this Product Catalog form. You can use this method if you
do not have BMC Remedy ITSM installed.

With the BMC Remedy ITSM Data Wizard

After you have installed the Product Catalog and BMC Remedy ITSM, you can
modify the categorizations with the Data Wizard.
If you are upgrading and already use the default, or legacy, categorizations with
BMC Atrium Discovery and Dependency Mapping or BMC Configuration
Management Configuration Discovery Integration for BMC Atrium CMDB, you
should continue to use them. Otherwise, you should use the best practice
categorizations.
If you modify product categorizations in the Product Catalog, you must also
update CI categorizations in BMC Remedy ITSM records with the BMC Remedy
ITSM Data Wizard. If you are using BMC Knowledge Management Express, use
the Search and Replace tool to change knowledge articles.
For example, Calbro Services imported data for the Product Catalog through
staging forms and wants to use the best practice categorization. Oracle 10g has the
following categorization values:

CategorySoftware

TypeOperating System Software

ItemCustom

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To use the best practice categorization, Calbro Services must change the
categorization to the following values:

CategorySoftware

TypeOperating System Software

ItemStandard OS
For more information about the BMC Remedy ITSM Data Wizard, see the BMC
Remedy ITSM Data Management Administrators Guide.

WARNING
Before using the data wizard, back up your database.

Before you begin

To maintain data integrity while modifying the product categorization
attributes, you should disable escalations, reconciliation jobs, Discovery
products, and the Distributed Server Option (DSO). When you have completed
modifying the product categorizations, you can restart these components.

Run the data wizard to update categorization at times when the systems are
unavailable for general use, such as a scheduled change windows.

Install or create the Product Catalog data.

To modify product categorization attributes with the BMC Remedy ITSM

Data Wizard

1 Access the data wizard.

a Log in to the BMC Remedy AR System server as an administrator.
b From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration

tab.
c From the Application Settings list, choose Foundation > Data Management Tool

> Data Wizard Console.

2 Select the Update target values action.
3 For the type of data to update, select Product Categorization.

When you select the type of data, a window appears, prompting you for the target
value and the new value.
4 Select the CI type for which to modify the categorization.

For example, to modify a BMC_Product entry, select System Component > Product.
5 Select the Product Name and Manufacturer for which to modify the categorization.
6 For each of the categorization tiers, enter or select the target value.
7 For each of the categorization tiers, 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. You must specify a new value for each
target value.
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8 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. However, after the update is complete, you cannot reopen this window.

To change categorization with the PCT:ProductVersionJoin form

1 From the Product Catalog Console, choose Open > Object List.
2 In the Find tab, search for PCT:ProductVersionJoin.
3 Select the form in the results, and click Search.
4 Type in the search criteria, such as the product name, and click Search.

TIP
You may use broad search criteria for a longer list of products to modify. For
example, to modify all the operating system entries, you might set Product
Categorization Tier 2 to Operating System and Product Categorization Tier 2 to
Third Party. Then, modify and save each product in the search results.
5 From the results, select the desired product, and modify the categorization as

needed.
6 Click Save.

Managing product categorization changes

After you set up the Product Catalog, you might want to complete the following
tasks:

Add a new Product Catalog entry.

You can add new entries without affecting existing data.

Delete a Product Catalog entry.

In general, you should avoid deleting Product Catalog entries. If the
categorization has not yet been applied to any records, you can safely delete the
Product Catalog entry. If the categorization has been applied to records, you can
set the catalog entry offline instead. Offline catalog entries still exist but cannot
be applied to new records. Product categorization is applied to CIs in BMC
Atrium CMDB, but is also used in other BMC applications, as described in Use
of product categorization by BMC products on page 33.

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Modify a Product Catalog entry.

You cannot modify Product Catalog entries. You must create a new entry and
either delete the old entry or set it offline. If you set up Product Catalog alias
mapping for the old entry, you must update the alias to map to the new
categorization.
When you modify the Product Catalog, these changes are not automatically
propagated to existing CIs in BMC Atrium CMDB or to other records. You must
propagate the categorization changes, which can be a lengthy process.
Consider how this change affects reporting and searches. For example, if you
make what seems like a simple name change in a value, this change can cause
inconsistency in reports and in search results if the records with that particular
value are not also updated.
BMC recommends that deletion and modification of categorization be managed as
exceptions on a production system.
By using a pre-production system to set up, modify, test, and validate
categorization, you minimize the need for deleting and modifying existing
categorization on the production system. In general, on the production system,
only extensions to the Product Catalog should occur.

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Chapter

Configuring the Product

Catalog
This section describes how an application administrator can configure the Product
Catalog to add or modify Product Catalog entries and Storage Locations in the
Product Catalog to facilitate software license management and deployment.
The following topics are provided:

Product Catalog permissions (page 60)

Viewing and searching for product entries in the Product Catalog (page 61)
Searching for and editing product and manufacturer alias entries (page 63)
Searching for and modifying new Product Catalog entries (page 65)
Creating custom Product Catalog entries (page 71)
Specifying locations for Product Catalog entries (page 76)
Adding products to a suite (page 78)
Adding related files to a patch entry (page 78)
Creating product files (page 79)
Using signatures to identify products (page 79)
Relating companies to Product Catalog entries (page 81)
Approving products, versions, and patches for DML and DHL (page 83)
Deleting Product Catalog entries (page 85)
Deleting Product Catalog entries (page 85)
Cloning product entries (page 86)
Configuring datasets for normalization (page 86)
Mapping product categorization aliases (page 87)
Modifying the list of platforms (page 88)

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Product Catalog permissions

To configure and use the Product Catalog, you must have the assigned permission
roles listed in Table 4-1. For information about assigning BMC Atrium Core
permissions, see BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Administrator's Guide.
Table 4-1: Product Catalog permission roles
Name

Applications

Atrium Foundation
Viewer

Remedy Foundation
View records for Product Catalog products,
Product Catalog
versions, patches, files, suites, storage (software
library items), and signatures.
Remedy Definitive
Software Library
Remedy Foundation Site
Remedy Foundation
Company
Remedy Foundation Prime
Elements

Atrium Foundation
Admin

Remedy Foundation

Create, modify and delete records for Product
Product Catalog
Catalog products, versions, patches, files,
suites, storage (software library items), and
Remedy Definitive
signatures.
Software Library


Add and remove Product Catalog relationships.
Remedy Foundation Site
Remedy Foundation
Company
Remedy Foundation Prime
Elements

General Access and

Unrestricted Access

Remedy Foundation
Use Product Catalog fields and access BMC
Product Catalog
Atrium Core 7.6.03 Product Catalog and DML
Online Help.
Remedy Definitive
Software Library
Remedy Foundation Site
Remedy Foundation
Company
Remedy Foundation Prime
Elements

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Users with this role can

Viewing and searching for product entries in the Product Catalog

Viewing and searching for product entries in

the Product Catalog
This section describes how to view and search for products in the Product Catalog
and search entries in the Product Catalog by organization.

Viewing and searching for products

You can define what types of products are displayed in the Product Catalog
Entries list. From this list, you can create and view model and version, patch,
location, product files, and related suites.

NOTE
A product must have model or version information before it appears in the
Product Catalog Entries list.
To search for products by platform or operating system, use the Advanced Search
feature to create expressions such as Platform LIKE UNIX or 'Operating
System' LIKE "Solaris 9".

Best practice
BMC recommends that you do not make unqualified searches to avoid time outs
due to a large volume of data retrieval. Limit the number of search entries to be
displayed by specifying values, such as the manufacturer name or product name,
in the Search Criteria area.

To search for products

1 From Product Catalog View, select the type of products to view.

Definitive Media LibraryThe software that you have marked as approved in

the Product Catalog.

Definitive Hardware LibraryThe hardware that you have marked as

approved in the Product Catalog.

All softwareAll approved and unapproved software in the Product Catalog.

All hardwareAll approved and unapproved hardware in the Product Catalog.

All productsAll approved and unapproved software, hardware, and other
types of products in the Product Catalog.
2 (optional) You can select the following settings to view only those products with the

following matching states.

Managed

Blacklisted

Hidden

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For example, if you select Managed, only products that have been marked as
Managed are shown. If you do not select Managed, then both managed and nonmanaged products are displayed.
3 To display by particular product attributes, select or type values for any of the

following fields:

Product Name

Model/Version

Manufacturer

Origin
4 To build an expression for a more complex search, click Advanced Search and

specify the criteria.

To view an expression, click the ... button; however, you cannot edit the expression
in this window.
5 Click Search.

Viewing and searching entries by organization

You can view the product entries that are related to an organization in the Product
Catalog Console.

Before you begin

Make sure you have related entries to companies or organizations that you want
to search for.

To view Product Catalog entries by organization

1 Log in to BMC Remedy User as the user related to the organization for which you

want to view the entries.

2 From the Company list, select the organization, and search for products.

Only the products that have association to Global or to the organization for which
you want to view the products appear.
For example, Betty Admin, who is configured as a user for Calbro Services can
view the products that are associated to Calbro Services only. Charlie Admin, who
is configured as a user for Calfin Services can view the products that are associated
to Calfin Services only.
You can search and view the Product Catalog entries that have changed because of:

Manual changes (Custom)

The Normalization Engine (Normalization)

Import from staging forms (Custom)
You can search the entries based on creator, source dataset, or data status. You can
search and view the changes from the PCM:SearchProductCatalogChanges form.

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Searching for and editing product and manufacturer alias entries

The Normalization Engine normalizes entries. The Creator, Source Dataset, and
Data Status fields for a product are populated when entries are created. Table 4-2
on page 63 describes the fields that are added newly in the following forms:

PCT:ProductCreateInterface
PCT:Product Catalog
PCT:Product Model-Version
PCT:Model VersionPatch
PCT:ProductCompanyAssociation
COM:Company

Table 4-2: Fields in the PCT:ProductCreateInterface form

Field

Description

Creator

This field stores the creator of the record. This is a Character

field.

Source
Dataset

This field stores the source dataset of the entry. This is a

Character field.

Data Status

This field tracks the lifecycle of the record created by the

Normalization Engine. This is a List field with the following
defined values:

New
Processed
Mark for Delete
Updated
Invalid
Inactive

When the Normalization Engine creates a new entry, the value

for this field is set to New.

Searching for and editing product and

manufacturer alias entries
You can search for the product and manufacturer aliases that you defined in the
NE:ProductNameAlias form from the Product Catalog Console. After you search
for the entries, you can also edit the product name aliases in the
NE:ProductNameAlias form.

NOTE
The product and manufacturer alias that is defined in the NE:ProductNameAlias
form is different from the product alias that is used by the Product Catalog for
specifying another name for a product entry. For more information, see Creating
a product alias on page 74.

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To search for product and manufacturer alias entries from the Product
Catalog Console

1 From the Product Catalog Console, choose General Functions > Search

Normalization Alias.
2 In the NE:ProductNameAlias form, specify any of the following details:

AttributeName: ManufacturerName or ModelName attribute

AliasName: Name of the discovered product or manufacturer

NOTE
Do not specify the product alias that you specified in the Product Catalog for
AliasName.

ActualName: Product or manufacturer name that you have specified for the
product in the Product Catalog

Submitter: Name of the user who created the alias

Submit Date: Date on which the alias was created

Last Modified Date: Date on which the alias was last updated

Last Modified By: Name of the user who last updated the alias

Status: Status of the alias as New, Assigned, Fixed, Rejected, or Closed
3 Click Search.

You can now edit the product name alias entries and save them in the
NE:ProductNameAlias form.

NOTE
While editing an alias from the NE:ProductNameAlias form, if you edit an alias so
that it is the same as an alias that already exists, an error message is displayed.
For information about creating product and manufacturer aliases, see Creating
product name and manufacturer aliases on page 67.

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Searching for and modifying new Product Catalog entries

Searching for and modifying new Product

Catalog entries
You can search for new product entries in the Product Catalog. New entries can be
created in the following ways:

Manually created products (where Creator is Custom)

Imported through staging forms (where Creator is Custom)

Created by the Normalization Engine (where Creator is Normalization)
You can create, edit, or delete manufacturer or product name aliases for these
product entries. Alias entries are added to the NE:ProductNameAlias form.

To search for new entries

1 From the Product Catalog Console, choose General Functions > Search New

Products.
2 In the Search New Product Catalog Searches window, specify the Product Name

and Manufacturer.
3 Select the Creator, or accept the default selection of Normalization.

Custom entries are those entries that you have created manually or by importing
data from a different vendor. Normalization entries are those that are created
through the Normalization Engine.
4 Specify the From Date and To Date to limit the date range.
5 Specify whether you want to view data with New, Work In Progress, or

Completed status by selecting the status from the Data Status list.
6 Click Search.

By default, the products listed in the Discovered/New Products table are sorted
based on the date and time. The most recently discovered product is listed at the
top in the table. Alias product entries are also listed in the table.

NOTE
When an alias is created for a product, the status of the alias product entry is
displayed as Offline.
After you modify a new entry, it does not appear again in the Discovered/New
Products table, because it no longer remains a new entry, but becomes a modified
entry.

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After you have searched for changed products, you can perform the following
actions:

View and edit the details of a product. For more information, see Viewing and
editing details of new products on page 66.

Delete an offline product. For more information, see Deleting offline products
on page 67.

Create Alias. For more information, see Creating product name and
manufacturer aliases on page 67.

View and edit Company and Product Status Relationships. For more
information, see Viewing and editing association details of new products on
page 70.

Delete Company and Product Status Relationships. For more information, see
Deleting associations of new products on page 71.

Viewing and editing details of new products

You can view and edit the details of new products in the Product Catalog.

To view and edit the details of a new product

1 Search for the product by specifying the search criteria. For more information, see

To search for new entries on page 65.

2 From the Products tab of the Discovered/New Products table, select a product.
3 Click View.
4 In the Product Update window, view and edit the details of the product.
5 Click Save and then Close.

WARNING
When you click Save, the product name or manufacturer name is saved as an alias.
6 From the Model/Version tab of the Discovered/New Products table, select a

version.
7 Click View.
8 In the Product Model/Version window, view and edit the details of the product.
9 Click Save and then Close.

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Deleting offline products

You can delete only those products that are marked as Offline in the Product
Catalog. When you delete a product, its versions and company and relationship
associations are also deleted.

To delete an offline product

1 Search for the product by specifying the search criteria. For more information, see

To search for new entries on page 65.

2 From the Products tab of the Discovered/New Products table, select an offline

product.

NOTE
The Delete button is disabled for a product that is not marked as Offline.
3 Click Delete.
4 Click OK to confirm the deletion.

Creating product name and manufacturer aliases

You can create product name and manufacturer aliases for new products in the
Product Catalog. Alias entries are added to the NE:ProductNameAlias form.
If you want to use values that are different from the values provided by the
Discovery products, you must delete the existing Product Catalog entries and also
create aliases for the new entries. This is because during normalization, entries are
matched with the product entries in the Product Catalog before they are matched
with aliases. Consequently, if you do not delete the existing Product Catalog
entries, matching takes place with the existing entries and is not matched with the
values that you specified.
You can create aliases for a product only if the status of the newly added product
is Enabled.

NOTE
The status of an alias is always Offline. You cannot create an alias for an existing
alias.
For example, Calbro Services has the following Product Catalog entry for one of
their applications:

Model: Financial Advisor Pro

ManufacturerName: Calbro Services

VersionNumber: 1.0

Category: Software

Type : Software Application/System

Item : Financial/Resource Planning Application
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But in their discovery dataset, the CIs have the following attribute values with no
values for Category, Type, and Item:

Model: Financial Advisor Pro

ManufacturerName: CFS

VersionNumber: 1.0
The CIs fail to normalize, but Calbro Services notices that the ManufacturerName
values for the CI and Product Catalog entry do not match. The staff creates a
ManufacturerName alias where the Normalization Engine substitutes Calbro
Services for CFS and then normalizes the CI using the matching product values.

Marking a new product as an alias for an existing product

You can mark a new product as an alias of an existing product for normalization.
When you mark a product as an alias, the status of that product is changed to
Offline.

To mark a new product as an alias for an existing product

1 Search for an existing product by specifying the search criteria. For more

information, see To search for new entries on page 65.

2 From the Products tab of the Discovered/New Products table, select the product.
3 Click Convert to Alias.
4 In the Find Similar Products area of the Convert Discovered/New Product to Alias

window, search for the product for which you want to create the alias by
specifying the first word of the product name followed by %.
Example: Adobe%
All records except those that have been marked as aliases are displayed in the
table.
5 From the list of products in the Similar Products table, select the product for which

you want to mark the discovered product as an alias.

6 Click Create Product Name Alias to mark the discovered product as a product

name alias for the product selected from the Similar Products table.

NOTE
You cannot mark a product as an alias if it is of a different Product Type than the
selected product.
7 Click Yes to confirm the creation of the alias.

The discovered product is listed in the Normalization Alias table.

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Marking a new manufacturer as an alias

After you search for a new product, you can mark its manufacturer as an alias.
When you mark the manufacturer as an alias, the status of that product is changed
to Offline.

To mark a new product manufacturer as an alias for an existing product

1 Search for the product by specifying the search criteria. For more information, see

To search for new entries on page 65.

2 From the Products tab of the Discovered/New Products table, select a product.
3 Click Convert to Alias.
4 In the Find Similar Products area of the Convert Discovered/New Product to Alias

window, search for the product for which you want to create the alias by
specifying the first word of the product name followed by %.
Example: Adobe%
All records except those that have been marked as alias are displayed in the table.
5 From the list of products in the Similar Products table, select the product for which

you want to mark the manufacturer as an alias.

6 Click Create Manufacturer Alias to mark the discovered product manufacturer as

a manufacturer alias for the product selected from the Similar Products table.

NOTE
If you select a product from the table that has the same manufacturer as the
discovered product, you cannot mark it as an alias for the discovered product.
7 Click Yes to confirm the creation of the alias and list in the Normalization Alias

table as a manufacturer alias.

Creating aliases for a new product

You can create an alias for a new product. You can create a product name alias or
a manufacturer alias. When you create an alias, the status of that alias is changed
to Offline.

To create an alias for a new product

1 Search for the product by specifying the search criteria. For more information, see

To search for new entries on page 65.

2 From the Products tab of the Discovered/New Products table, select a product.
3 Click Convert to Alias.
4 In the Normalization Alias area of the Convert Discovered/New Product to Alias

window, click Create.

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5 In the Add Normalization Alias window, perform the following actions:

a For the AttributeName, select ManufacturerName or ModelName.
b Specify the AliasName.

You can precede or follow the alias name with the % wildcard to associate
multiple alias values with a product. For example, instead of creating multiple
aliases (MS Word 2000, Word 2000, and Micro Word 2000) for the Microsoft
Word 2000 product, you can use the % wildcard to create one alias, %Word
2000%. In the normalization process, the Normalization Engine uses the LIKE
operator to check for a Model or ManufacturerName alias.
c Click Add.
d Click OK to confirm the creation of the alias.
e Click Close.

The alias is displayed in the Normalization Alias table.

Deleting an alias from the Normalization Alias table

You can delete entries from the Normalization Alias table for a selected product.

To delete entries from the Normalization Alias table

1 Search for the product by specifying the search criteria. For more information, see

To search for new entries on page 65.

2 From the Products tab of the Discovered/New Products table, select a product.
3 Click Convert to Alias.
4 From the Normalization Alias table in the Convert Discovered/New Product to

Alias window, select an entry.

5 Click Delete.
6 Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Viewing and editing association details of new products

You can view and edit the association details of new products in the Product
Catalog.

To view and edit the association details of new products

1 Search for the product by specifying the search criteria. For more information, see

To search for new entries on page 65.

2 From the Products tab of the Discovered/New Products table, select a product.
3 In the Company and Product Status Relationships table, from the Product

Company Assoc tab, select the company.

4 Click View.
5 In the Company/Module Relationship window, view and edit the details.
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6 Click Save and then Close.

7 In the Company and Product Status Relationships table, from the Version

Company Assoc tab, select the company.

8 Click View.
9 From the Company/Version Relationship, view the company and edit the details.
10 Click Save and then Close.

Deleting associations of new products

You can delete the association details of new products in the Product Catalog.

To delete association details of new or discovered products

1 Search for the product by specifying the search criteria. For more information, see

To search for new entries on page 65.

2 From the Products tab of the Discovered/New Products table, select a product.
3 In the Product Status Relationships table, from the Product Company Assoc tab,

select the company.

4 Click Delete.
5 Click Yes to confirm the deletion.
6 From the Version Company Assoc tab of the Company and Product Status

Relationships table, select the company.

7 Click Delete.
8 Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Creating custom Product Catalog entries

To add custom Product Catalog entries, you can create entries individually or
import them in bulk from external files or staging forms. For instructions about
importing custom entries, see Importing and exporting custom Product Catalog
data on page 98.

Before you begin

To create custom Product Catalog entries, you must be assigned to the Atrium
Foundation Admin and General Access groups to perform the following tasks:

Add Product Catalog entries.

Add product model and version information.

Add patch information (if needed).

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Adding Product Catalog entries

Use the following procedure to add entries for products and product suites to the
Product Catalog.

To add Product Catalog entries

1 From BMC Remedy User, click the Product Catalog Console link.
2 From the Product Catalog Console, click General Functions > New Product/Suite.
Figure 4-1: Product Catalog Setup form

3 In the Product Category area of the Product Catalog Setup form, click Create.
4 In the Product Category Update window, select the Product Type from the

following options:

Hardware

Software

Service

Business Service

Network Segment
The CI Type list is populated based on the type of product that you select.

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NOTE
The Product Type is used only to broadly classify product entries within the
Product Catalog and to appropriately populate the CI Type list. Product
categorization does not refer to the Product Type or CI Type fields to categorize
products.
5 From the CI Type list, select the CI class for which you want to create the product.

CI Type is the type of configuration item that this Product Catalog entry
represents.
6 Specify the Product Categorization Tier 1.

If the value for a tier is already in the Product Catalog, you can select it. Otherwise,
you must enter the new value.
7 Specify the following details:

Product Categorization Tier 2

Product Categorization Tier 3
The Product Categorization Tier 2 list is populated based on the categorization that
you select for tier 1, and the Product Categorization Tier 3 list is populated based
on the categorization that you select for tier 2.
8 Specify the Product Name.
9 Perform one of the following actions for specifying the creator or vendor for the

product:

Select the manufacturer from the Manufacturer list.

Click New to create a new Manufacturer.

In the New Manufacture window, specify the Company.

Select the Status of the manufacturer.
For more information about the Status, see step 11.
10 Click Save and then Close.
11 Select the Status for the product.

This field enables you to specify a status for this entry and allows the application
to search on the status. The status is informational only; it does not cause any
actions to occur. The status options are:

ProposedTemporarily prevents the product category from being selected by

an application.

EnabledEnables the product category to be selected by an application. A

product category must be set to Enabled for it them appear in lists for product
fields.

OfflineSpecifies that the product category is offline and temporarily

unavailable.

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ObsoleteSpecifies that the product category is obsolete and no longer

available.

ArchiveSpecifies that the selected product category has been archived.

DeleteShows that the status of the selected product category has been set to
Delete. Product Catalog entries are deleted using the Delete button on the
Product Category tab on the Product Category Setup form.

NOTE
You must be part of the BMC Remedy AR System administrator group to actually
delete the record.

(clear)Clears the Status field.

12 For Origin, select Custom.

The Third Party option is used for products provided by BMC.

13 If the product is a suite of products, select Yes for Suite Definition.
14 Click Save, and then click Close.

When you save the product category, it is automatically related to the Global
company. This makes the product category available on other forms, such as the
Incident form, for all operating and customer companies.
You can now create model and version information for the product.

Creating a product alias

The Product Catalog uses a product alias for naming products. A product alias
specifies another name for a product in the Product Catalog. When you create this
alias, you change the Product Catalog entry for the product. Product aliases are
used in BMC Remedy Change Management, license compliance, Report Center,
and other reports that use Product Catalog data. For example, you can use the
product alias of a software CI to generate a report for outdated licenses for that
software.

NOTE
This alias is not used in normalization. To create a product or manufacturer alias
for normalization, see Creating product name and manufacturer aliases on
page 67.
You can create product aliases to use in reports and references. For example,
Calbro Services wanted to have the product named Microsoft Notepad listed in
reports as Notepad without modifying the Product Name value. So Calbro
Services created an alias of Notepad for the Microsoft Notepad product.

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To add product alias

1 From the Product Catalog Console, click General Functions > New Product/Suite.
2 From the Product Catalog Setup window, search for a product, or create one.
3 From the Product Category area, select the product.
4 On the Product Alias tab, click Create.
5 In the Product Alias Update window, specify the Product Alias.
6 Click Save.
7 In the Company and Module Relationships area, click View.
8 Set the Normalized Product status to Yes.
9 Click Save.

Adding product model and version information

Use the following procedure to add model and version information for a product.
From the Product Model/Version window, you can also define the platform,
operating system, availability, support, part number, and locale information for a
version or model of the product.

NOTE
A product must have model or version information before it appears in the
Product Catalog Entries list.

To add product model and version information

1 From General Functions > New Product/Suite, search for a product, or create one.
2 From the Product Catalog Setup window, select a product.
3 In the Product Category area, click the Model/Version tab, and click Create.
4 In the Product Model/Version field, enter the product version.

If you do not know the version, click Unknown.

5 In the Product Model/Version State field, select the status of the version, such as

Future Consideration or General Availability.

6 For Requires Contract, select Yes or No.

If you select Yes, this means that this Product Catalog entry must be related to a
Software License contract in BMC Remedy Asset Management to facilitate
software license compliance of specified software configuration items. For more
information, see the BMC Remedy Asset Management Users Guide.
7 For Market Version, enter the common product version with which the software

licenses should be associated.

For example, if Calbro Services wants to track the multiple service packs and
versions for Microsoft Excel as instances of version 2003, Andrew Admin enters
2003 in the Market Version field of the Microsoft Excel Product Catalog entry.
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The Market Version value is used by the software license management engine to
determine if the Product Catalog entry must have a related software license
contract.
8 Enter any optional information.
9 Click Save.

You can now create patch information for the model or version.

Adding patch information

You can define another level of identification for a software Product Catalog entry
by creating a related patch ID. For example, you might have a software Product
Catalog entry called Microsoft Word 2000, version 1.0, patch SP3.

To create a related patch ID

1 From the Product Catalog Console, search for a product.
2 Expand the product list, and select a version or model.

For more information, see Viewing and searching for products on page 61.

NOTE
If you select the product instead of a version or model, clicking Create opens the
Model/Version window.
3 In the Product Catalog Entries area, click Create.
4 From the Status list, select a status.
5 In the Patch Last Build ID field, enter the patch number.
6 (optional) Add a build date and description.
7 Click Save.

When you save the patch, it is automatically related to the Global company.

Specifying locations for Product Catalog

entries
To specify the location of a patch defined for a Product Catalog entry, create a
Storage Location. When a patch is marked as Approved, it can be installed from
the specified Storage Location for that patch. You can also add up to three
attachments for each location.

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To create a Storage Location

1 In the Product Catalog Entries area of the Product Catalog Console, select the patch

for which you want to specify a location.

2 In the Storage Location area, click Create.
3 Enter a description for the patch.
4 For Type, select the type of location.

MarimbaSignifies that the entry or location is a BMC BladeLogic Client

Automation tuner.

OtherSignifies an entry or location other than a BMC BladeLogic Client

Automation tuner.
5 Enter a location for the patch, such as a physical location, a path to a location, or a

URL.
6 Select Active or Inactive in the State field.
7 To make the patch active and available for deployment, select Active for the State

and Yes for Deployable.

8 Click Save, and then click Close.

To add an attachment to a Storage Location

1 From the Product Catalog Entries area of the Product Catalog Console, select the

patch for the Storage Location.

2 From the Storage Location table, select an item and click View.

The Software Library Item form appears.

Using the Add button on the Attachments table, you can add up to three
attachments per Storage Location record.
3 Click Add.

The Attachment Details dialog box appears.

4 Select a Status, and enter a description of the attachment.
5 In the Attachments table, right-click, and choose Add to add an attachment.
6 Browse to select the attachment.
7 Click Save, then click Close.

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Adding products to a suite

After you have created or modified your Product Catalog entries, you can add the
products that should be part of a suite to the Products in Suite table from the
Product Catalog Console.
You define which Product Catalog entries are suites by selecting the Yes option for
Suite Definition on the Product Category Update form. See Creating custom
Product Catalog entries on page 71.

NOTE
You can use the Suite Rollup feature in the Normalization Engine to create suites
and assign existing products as members of the suites. The Suite Rollup rules
identify CI instances as a suite or a suite component. For more information about
the Suite Rollup feature, see the BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Normalization and
Reconciliation Guide

To add products to a suite

1 In the Product Catalog Entries area of the Product Catalog Console, select a

product model or version that is a suite.

2 In the Products in Suite area, click Add.
3 From the Product ID list, select a manufacturer, product, and version to add to this

suite, then click Save.

4 Repeat the procedure for each product that you want to appear in the suite.
5 Click Close.

Adding related files to a patch entry

Product Catalog patch entries are made up of one or more files. These files are
represented in the Product Files area as metadata, and are not the patch files. You
can select an existing file to relate to a patch entry.

To add related files to an entry

1 In the Product Catalog Entries area on the Product Catalog Console, select a patch.
2 In the Product Files area, click Add.
3 From the File ID list, select the name of the patch file to relate to this entry.

TIP
To find the file more quickly, limit the search, for example, by typing %.exe% in the
File ID field, then clicking the down arrow by the field.
If the file name does not appear in this list, return to the Product Files table and
click Create to add it.
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4 If this file is the main executable, select the Yes option.

5 Click Save.

Creating product files

If a products files do not exist in the Product Catalog, you can create them.

To create a product file

1 In the Product Catalog Entries area on the Product Catalog Console, select a

product.
2 In the Product Files area, click Create.
3 For File Name, type the name of the file and its extension.
4 For File Size, type the size (in bytes) of the file, such as 820512.
5 (optional) For CRC, specify the check value for the file, such as ADE50E9F.
6 (optional) For Timestamp, click the ... button to define the date and time for the file,

such as 11/23/2001 4:00:00 PM.

7 Click Save.
8 In the AR System User - Note dialog box, click OK.

You can now select the file to relate it to a patch entry.

Using signatures to identify products

A signature identifies a product, and BMC Atrium Discovery can create and
associate signatures for products in the Product Catalog. BMC Atrium Discovery
can upload manually created signature files into the Product Catalog and associate
it to a product in the Product Catalog.
Each signature is associated with a Signature ID, which is a random unique string.
A signature is a unique ID associated with a product ID. The Product Catalog does
not interpret it or use it for any other purpose.
Signature files are stored in the Product Catalog as attachments, such as an XML
or text file. The maximum attachment file size defined by BMC Remedy
AR System is 5 MB. If no Signature ID is provided, the Signature ID is
automatically generated and populated from the product information using the
following algorithm:
part : vendor : product : version : update : edition : language

The following example shows the signature for Microsoft Office 2002 Patch
10.0.2627.0:
:microsoft_product:microsoft_Office:2003:11.0.5614.0 Ent.::
:Microsoft_Corporation:Microsoft_Outlook:2002:10.0.2627.0::
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NOTE
You can also modify the generated Signature ID or provide a unique string ID
manually.
The following information is used to create signature entries in the
PCT:Signature form:

Signature ID: Random unique string

Version: Signature version

Grouping: User-defined signature groups, such as Test or Production to
logically segregate your data

Type: User-defined string, such as dynamic or static, used for data segregation

Signature file: Location of the signature file

Associating a signature with a product

Use the following procedure to associate a signature file with a product in the
Product Catalog.

Before you begin

If the product, model or version, and patch information does not already exist in
the Product Catalog, create it.

To associate a signature with a product

1 In the Product Catalog Console, select General Functions > Create/Associate

Product Signature.
2 In the Signature Product Association window, from the Product Key list, select a

product.

TIP
Use a pattern search with %pattern% to get a shorter list of products. For example,
if you enter %note%, only products with note in the name are listed, such as
Notepad, Programmer NotePad, and LotusNotes.
3 (optional) For Platform, enter the platform for the software product.

A Signature ID is automatically generated.

NOTE
You can modify the automatically generated Signature ID. While modifying the
signature ID, avoid special characters.
4 To associate a signature with the product, click New Signature.
5 In the Product Signature window, specify the Logical Data Group.

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6 Specify the Type and Version of the signature.

You can specify your own type and version for the signature to make the signature
unique.
7 To attach a signature file, right-click under Filename and select Add.
8 Browse and select the signature file, and click Open.
9 From the Status list, select the status for the product.
10 To save the new signature record, click Save.
11 To save the signature association, click Save.

NOTE
When you customize the signature data, make sure that you include the
PDL:ESIDsignatureCustom and PDL:ESIDsignatureProductCustom forms
during Product Catalog data migration.

Relating companies to Product Catalog entries

You can relate Product Catalog entries to companies to keep the Product Catalog
entries associated with different companies separate (to control access by
company, organization, or group).
You can associate companies to products, versions, and patches. If a Product
Catalog entry is associated with Global, then it is available to all companies or
organizations, and you cannot specify a company relationship. By default, when
you add or create Product Catalog entries, they have a Global relationship. For
example, Microsoft Office Word 2003 has a Global relationship in the Product
Catalog of Calbro Services. So, Microsoft Office Word 2003 is available for both
Calbro Services and Calfin Services.

TIP
Configure relationships with Global first and apply company-specific rules only
for multi-tenants. This will reduce the number of records in the Product Catalog
that must be maintained for each customer.

Before you begin

Create software product and version entries for products to which you want to
relate entries.

To relate a company to Product Catalog entries

1 Open the Product Catalog Setup form, from General Functions > Search

Products.
2 In the Product Category area of the Product Catalog Setup form, select a

product to relate to a company.

For example, Andrew Admin selects the Adobe Reader.
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3 (optional) In the Model Version tab, select a version or model for the selected

product.
For example, Betty Admin selects version 8.0 of the Adobe Reader for Calbro
Services and Charlie Admin selects version 9.0 of the Adobe Reader for Calfin
Services.
4 (optional) In the Patch tab, select a patch for the selected version.
5 In the Company and Module Relationships area, click Create.

NOTE
If a Global relationship exists, you must delete it, and then click Create.
6 From the Company list, select the company to relate to the selected Product

Catalog entries.

NOTE
Only companies that are set as Operating Company or Customer are available in
the list.
For example, Andrew Admin selects the Calbro Services and Calfin Services for
the Adobe Reader product.
7 For Status, select the needed value.

This parameter enables you to set the product to different statuses and allows the
application to search on the status to view. The various statuses are informational
only; they to not cause any actions to occur. This field contains the following
options:

Proposed: Temporarily prevents the product category from being selected by an

application.

Enabled: Enables the product category to be selected by an application. Product

categories must be set to Enabled for it to appear in lists for product fields.

Offline: Specifies that the product category is offline and temporarily

unavailable.

Obsolete: Specifies that the product category is obsolete and no longer available.

Archive: Specifies that the selected product category has been archived.

Delete: Specifies that the selected product category has been deleted. Product
Catalog entries are deleted using the Delete button on the Product Category tab
on the Product Category Setup form.

(clear): Clears the Status field.

8 Select the Product Status Flags.

For more information about the status options, see Managing products on
page 18.
9 Click Save.

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Removing the relationship between an entry and a company

You can remove the relationship between a Product Catalog entry and a company
without deleting either record.

To remove the relationship between an entry and a company

1 From the Product Catalog Console, choose General Functions > Search Products.
2 In the Product Categorization Search Criteria area, enter your criteria, and click

Search.
Results matching your search criteria appear in the tables.
3 On the Product Category tab, select the entry with the relationship to remove.

The company that the entry is related to appears on the Company and Module
Relationships area.
4 In the Company and Module Relationships area, click Delete.

Approving products, versions, and patches for

DML and DHL
As part of managing your products, approving products in the Product Catalog is
important. Approved products are available in the DML or DHL, depending on
whether they are software or hardware. By default, the Normalization Engine
normalizes both approved and unapproved CIs. If you disable the Allow
Unapproved CIs option in the Normalization console, the Normalization Engine
still normalizes CIs of the products that are not approved in the Product Catalog
but sets the NormalizationStatus attribute for those CIs to Normalized Not
Approved.

To approve individual products

1 From the Product Catalog Console, choose General Functions > Search Products.
2 Perform one of the following actions:

To view a list of products, click in the table to refresh it.

Specify the search criteria to view the product in the table.
3 Select a product in the Product Category area.
4 In the Company and Module Relationships area, select the Product Company

Assoc tab.
5 Perform one of the following actions:

Select Global and click View.

If you have set up multitenancy, select the specific company, and click View.

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6 In the Company/Module Relationship window, perform the following steps:

a For Approved Product, select Yes.
b Select the Status Flag and update other details.
7 Click Save and Close.

To approve versions of products

1 From the Product Catalog Console, choose General Functions > Search Products.
2 Perform one of the following actions:

To view a list of products, click in the table to refresh it.

Specify the search criteria to view the product in the table.
3 Select a product in the Product Category area.
4 On the Model/Version tab, select a version or model for the selected product.
5 In the Company and Module Relationships area, select the Version Company

Assoc tab.
6 Perform one of the following actions:

Select Global and click View.

If you have set up multitenancy, select the specific company, and click View.
7 In the Company/Version Relationship window, perform the following steps:
a For Approved Version, select Yes.
b Select the Status Flag and update other details.
8 Click Save and Close.

To approve patches of products

1 From the Product Catalog Console, choose General Functions > Search Products.
2 Perform one of the following actions:

To view a list of products, click in the table to refresh it.

Specify the search criteria to view the product in the table.
3 Select a product in the Product Category area.
4 On the Patch tab, select a patch for the selected product.
5 In the Company and Module Relationships area, select the Patch Company Assoc

tab.
6 Perform one of the following actions:

Select Global and click View.

If you have set up multitenancy, select the specific company, and click View.

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7 In the Company/Patch Relationship window, perform the following steps:

a For Approved Patch, select Yes.
b Select the Status Flag and update other details.
8 Click Save and Close.

To approve products in bulk

1 In BMC Remedy User, open the PCT:ProductVersionJoin form in Search mode.
2 Click Search to list all Product Catalog records.
3 Select all products, versions, and patches that you want to approve.
4 Choose Actions > Modify All.
5 For Approved Version, select Yes.
6 Click Save.
7 In the confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

All the selected products are marked as approved.

Deleting Product Catalog entries

You can delete Product Catalog entries using the Delete button on the Product
Category tab on the Product Category Setup form.

To delete a Product Catalog entry

1 From the Product Catalog Console, click Search Products.
2 In the Product Categorization Search Criteria area, enter your criteria, then click

Search.
Results matching your search criteria appear in the tables.
3 On the Product Category tab, select the entry to delete.
4 In the Product Category area, click Delete.

NOTE
If an entry is related to a Storage Location, a message appears stating that you
cannot delete the entry. If this happens, open the Product Catalog Console and
delete the Storage Locations that are related to this entry, then repeat this
procedure.

Best practice
If you want to delete entries in bulk, or remove the existing data from your Product
Catalog, BMC recommends that you contact Customer Support to delete your
data.

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Cloning product entries

You can duplicate, or clone, existing product entries. You might use this when a
product name changes, but you do not want to modify the original entry. When
you clone a product, you can change the product name, categorization, status,
version, and other attributes. The original entry is set to offline.

To clone a product entry

1 In the Product Catalog Entries area of the Product Catalog Console, select the patch

to clone.
2 Click Clone.
3 In the Clone Product Catalog Entry window, enter a new name for the cloned

product.
4 Modify the product information as needed.
5 Click Save.

Configuring datasets for normalization

To ensure that data from a dataset is normalized, you must configure the dataset
for normalization in the Normalization console.
When a dataset is configured for normalization and a new CI is discovered, the
categorization validation workflow performs a lookup for the product entry in the
existing Product Catalog entries to validate the CI. If no entries are found, the
product entry is compared with the product categorization aliases.
To configure a dataset for normalization, make sure that you select the Allow New
Product Catalog Entry option for that dataset in the Normalization console. Every
time a new product name and manufacturer combination is discovered, a new
Product Catalog entry is created using the preferred three categorization tiers and
the discovered product name and manufacturer. The CI is then validated and
related to a global company.
If a dataset is not configured for normalization, the categorization validation
workflow does not check the categorization of a discovered CI and the CI could be
rejected.
For more information, see the BMC Atrium CMDB 7.6.03 Normalization and
Reconciliation Guide.
CIs are not validated and created for products that are not in the Product Catalog
and that are coming from a dataset that is not configured for normalization.

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NOTE
When you install BMC Atrium Discovery, or BMC Configuration Automation for
Clients Configuration Discovery Integration for CMDB, or both in a server
environment that has BMC Atrium Product Catalog already installed, the BMC
Topology Import and BMC Configuration Import datasets are configured for
normalization, and you can skip this procedure.
If you install BMC Remedy ITSM after you deploy the BMC Atrium CMDB
extensions from BMC Atrium Discovery, you must redeploy the extensions.
BMC Remedy Asset Management, BMC Remedy Change Management, BMC
Remedy Incident Management, or BMC Remedy Problem Management must be
installed for this feature.

Mapping product categorization aliases

Product categorization aliases are used to rewrite the product categorization of a
discovered CI to the preferred categorization. You can map incoming CI
categorizations from a discovery product to categorizations that you define in the
Product Catalog Alias Mapping form. When the CI is normalized, it receives
the mappings defined in the Product Catalog Alias Mapping form.
For example, if you specify Desktop in the Categorization Tier 1 field in the
Discovery Product Categorization area and Hardware in the Categorization Tier 1
field in the Mapped Product Categorization area, any incoming CI that is received
as Desktop for tier 1 is saved as Hardware for tier 1.

NOTE
BMC recommends that you do not map product names for different CI types, such
as mapping product names of a software CI to a hardware CI.
Follow this procedure to set up a product categorization alias. Use Table 3-6 on
page 53 to determine when this procedure is required.

NOTE
A product alias is not the same as product categorization alias. A product alias is a
shortcut for the product name, which can be used by Product Catalog users.

To map discovery categorization to product categorization

1 From the Object List, open the Product Catalog Alias Mapping form.
2 Select the CI Type of the categorization that you are mapping.
3 In the Discovery Product Categorization and Mapped Product Categorization

areas, select the information to be mapped for the selected CI type.

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TIP
Include Product Name and Manufacturer in the mapping only if you want to
rewrite the Product Name and Manufacturer supplied from the discovery dataset.
By leaving these fields blank, you can extend the Product Catalog with the
appropriate product categorization for newly discovered products.
4 Click Save.

Modifying the list of platforms

To create a list of platforms in the Product Model/Version form, modify the
PCT:OSPlatformMenuItems form. For more information about platform support
for products, see Platform and operating system support in the Product Catalog
on page 19.

To modify the list of platforms

1 From the Object List, open the PCT:OSPlatformMenuItems form in New mode.
2 For OS Label, type the name of the operating system platform, such as HP-UX 11,

Windows Vista, Mac OS 10.5, FreeBSD 7, or Sun Solaris 10.

3 For Platform Label, enter the name of the operating system, such as UNIX, Linux,

Windows, Mac OS, or Solaris.

4 For Menu Order, select the platforms position in the list, where 1 is the first list

item.

NOTE
If you do not select a value for Menu Order or if multiple platforms are assigned
the same value, the platforms are listed in alphabetical order. Platforms with two
or more words are then listed in alphabetical order based on the second string, for
example, Windows 2003, Windows NT, and Windows Vista.
5 For Locale, to create localized versions, type a value such as en_US.
6 For Status, click the appropriate status for the platform.

The default is Enabled, and only platforms with any other status do not appear in
the list.
7 Click Save.

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Chapter

Managing companies

The Product Catalog includes forms for creating and updating company and site
information.
Although the Site and Region forms are provided with the Product Catalog, they
are used as part of BMC Remedy IT Service Management. For more information,
see the BMC Remedy IT Service Management 7.5.00 Configuration Guide.
The following topics are provided:

Creating and managing companies (page 90)

Creating a company alias (page 91)
Defining company locations (page 92)
Defining company contact information (page 93)
Defining time information for a company (page 93)
Multitenancy in the Calbro Services example (page 93)

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Creating and managing companies

You can create and modify companies and organizations from the Company form.
You can then associate products, versions, and patches with companies. Company
information is used in multitenancy environments, which are used to segregate
product data by companies or business units. For more information about
multitenancy, see Multitenancy support in the Product Catalog on page 20.
You can define a company for more than one type, so a company can be a
combination of a Customer, Generic Contact, Operating Company, Vendor, and
Supplier. You must be in the Administrator group to create companies.
You cannot approve a company. You can enable or disable a company using the
COM:Company form.
If you have BMC Remedy ITSM installed, follow the procedures described in the
BMC Remedy IT Service Management 7.6.03 Configuration Guide.

To create a company
1 Open the Company form.

From File > Open > Object List, select Company, and click New.
2 In the Company field, enter the company or organization name.
3 Select the Type from the items described in Table 5-1.
Table 5-1: Company types

90

Company type

Description

Supports multitenancy

Customer

An external company for which you

provide services.

Yes

Generic Contact

Other companies that you want to see Yes

include on the People form.

Manufacturer

A company that manufactures a

product in the Product Catalog.

Operating Company

A company or business unit for which Yes

your company or organization
provides services.

Supplier

Third-party supplier of products. Used No

by Asset Management.

Vendor

Third-party vendor that provide

services for your company or
organization.

Product Catalog and DML Guide

No

Yes

Creating a company alias

4 For Status, select the companys status.

NOTE
If you are using BMC Remedy Asset Management and BMC Atrium Discovery, do
not set companies to offline in BMC Remedy Asset Management if they are used
to set the ManufacturerName attribute in a BMC Atrium Discovery CI, because it
causes BMC Atrium Discovery to fail when creating CIs with those companies as
Manufacturer.
5 (optional) In the Company ID field, enter a unique external identifier for the

company.

NOTE
BMC Remedy Asset Management can use the Company ID field to store the
Supplier ID data.
6 (optional) In the Abbreviation field, enter the abbreviated version of the company

name.
7 (optional) In the Category field, enter a category that describes the type of company

you are creating.

8 (optional) In the Description field, enter detailed information about the company.
9 Click Save.

Depending on the status, the company is now available for selection in other
forms, such as the Company and Module Relationships forms.
10 Complete the following tasks as needed for a company.

Creating a company alias on page 91

Defining company locations on page 92

Defining company contact information on page 93

Defining time information for a company on page 93

Creating a company alias

A company alias is another term that you can use to reference a company. This
makes searching for a company easier because companies can be identified by
more than one name. You can define one or more aliases for a company.

To add a company alias

1 From the Company list in the Company form, select a company.
2 From the Alias tab, click Update Alias.
3 In the Company Alias Update dialog box, enter a company alias into the field at

the top of the dialog box.

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TIP
If your underlying database is case-sensitive, creating a company alias in
lowercase enables users to add information in uppercase or lowercase.
4 Click Add.
5 Click Close.

The company alias appears in lists for the Company field on forms.

To modify a company alias

1 From the Company list in the Company form, select a company.
2 From the Alias tab, click Update Alias.
3 Select the company alias to modify.
4 Update the alias name, and click Modify.
5 Click Close.

Defining company locations

Company locations are sites that represent a physical location (such as a building)
for a company.

To create locations
1 From the Company list in the Company form, select a company.
2 Click Update Locations.
3 In the Location Update window, complete the following fields.

For Site, enter the site name.

For Country, enter the name of the country.

For City, enter the name of the city.
4 Click Add.
5 When you are finished configuring the company locations, click Close.

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Defining company contact information

Defining company contact information

You can define the contact information for the company.

To add company contact information

1 From the Company list in the Company form, select a company.
2 From the Miscellaneous tab, complete the following fields.
Table 5-2: Company contact fields
Field

Description

Hot Line

The main number for the company.

Email

The primary email address for the company.

Web Page

The URL of the primary website for the company.

3 Click Save.

Defining time information for a company

You can view and modify the hours of operation for each company.

To add company time information

1 From the Company list in the Company form, select a company.
2 From the Miscellaneous tab, complete the following fields.
Table 5-3: Company time fields
Field

Description

Hours of Operation

The business hours of the company location.

Time Zone

The time zone of the company location.

3 Click Save.

Multitenancy in the Calbro Services example

Andrew Admin is the administrator for both Calbro Services and Calfin Services.
Andrew Admin configures the following users for these organizations:

Betty Admin for Calbro Services

Charlie Admin for Calfin Services

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Andrew Admin creates two user accounts and assigns them the following groups
to access Product Catalog for their respective companies:

Atrium Foundation Admin

General Access

Automatically generated group for respective companies
To do this, Andrew Admin performs the following actions:
Step 1 Create companies using the Company form.
Step 2 Locate the automatically generated group for each company.
Step 3 Create a user account for each company with the appropriate group assignments.

To create a company
1 From BMC Remedy User as Andrew Admin, click File > Open > Object List.
2 Select the Company form and click New.
3 In the Company field, enter Calbro Services.
4 Andrew Admin selects Operating Company as the Type.

For information about the company types, see Table 5-1 on page 90.
5 For Status, select the companys status.
6 Click Save.
7 Repeat step 1 to step 6 to create Calfin Services as a company.

To find the Group Names for the companies

1 From BMC Remedy User as Andrew Admin, open the BMC Remedy AR System

Administration Console.
2 Select Application > Users/Groups/Roles > Groups.
3 From the Group Information form in the Long Group Name field, type Calbro

Services, and click Search.

4 Note the Group Name for Calbro Services.
5 Repeat step 3 and step 4 for Calfin Services.

In this example, the Group Name of Calbro Services is 1000000006, and of Calfin
Services is 1000000007.

To create Product Catalog users for each company

1 From BMC Remedy User as Andrew Admin, open the AR System Administration

Console.
2 Select Application > Users/Groups/Roles > Users.
3 From BMC Remedy User, select Actions > New.

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Multitenancy in the Calbro Services example

4 Create and save two users using the following values.

Field

Calbro Services user

Calfin Services user

Login Name

Betty Admin

Charlie Admin

Full Name

Betty Admin

Charlie Admin

Group List

Atrium Foundation Admin

General Access

1000000006

Atrium Foundation Admin

General Access

1000000007

License Type

Fixed

Fixed

Status

Current

Current

Once you have configured users, you can configure the products and view the
products for the respective organizations. See the examples in Relating
companies to Product Catalog entries on page 81.
For an overview of multitenancy, see the BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03 Concepts and
Planning Guide. For more information about setting permissions, see BMC Atrium
CMDB 7.6.03 Administrator's Guide.

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Chapter

Importing and updating data

You can import product information into the Product Catalog from external files
or other sources. You can also update product data that BMC provides.
The following topics are provided:

Importing and exporting custom Product Catalog data (page 98)

Exporting data from the Product Catalog (page 101)

Importing Product Catalog data (page 102)

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Importing and exporting custom Product

Catalog data
You can export and import Product Catalog entries in bulk to and from external
files or staging forms. Before attempting to export or import the data, you must
understand what data is required and how this data is represented on the Product
Catalog Console. To create individual Product Catalog entries, see Creating
custom Product Catalog entries on page 71.
The Product Catalog consists of a collection of products and suites. Software
products are composed of one or more files. Each product entry contains
information, such as the name, the manufacturer, and the version number of the
application.
Suites are composed of one or more products. A suite is technically a product that
is identified as having a relationship to one or more other applications.
Each of these elements is represented by a staging form as illustrated in Figure 6-1.
Figure 6-1: Product Catalog elements

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Importing and exporting custom Product Catalog data

Before attempting to import the data, you need to understand how the required
data on each staging form is represented on the Product Catalog Console, as
displayed in Figure 6-2.
Figure 6-2: Product Catalog Console

Table 6-1 lists the set of staging forms required for importing custom titles into the
Product Catalog. Object refers to the item in Figure 6-2 on page 99. Console Area
refers to Figure 6-2.
Table 6-1: Required forms (part 1 of 2)
Object

Form name

Description

Console area

Version Info

PDL:ESIDversioninfoCustom

This table contains information

about the custom version of the
data to be imported. An entry
in this table is required and
identifies the set of custom data
being imported.

Version Info is not

displayed on the
Product Catalog
Console.

Manufacturer PDL:ESIDmanufacturerCustom This table contains information

about the application
manufacturers. An entry in this
table is required.

The manufacturer
name is displayed in
Area 1 of the console.
Specific information
about a manufacturer
can be found on the
COM:Company form.

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Table 6-1: Required forms (part 2 of 2)

Object

Form name

Description

File

PDL:ESIDfilesCustom

This table contains information File information is not

about each file.
displayed on the
console, but can be
viewed using the View
button in Area 3.

Application

PDL:ESIDappsCustom

This table contains information Application

about each application.
information is
displayed in Area 1.

Application
to File
relationship

PDL:ESIDappsfilesCustom

This table maps files to the

Files that are related to
applications they are
an application are
associated with. Each
displayed in Area 3.
application consists of a single
main executable and zero or
more support files.

Suite

PDL:ESIDsuitesCustom

This table contains information Suites are displayed in

about suites. Suites are
Area 1 where Suite =
collections of applications
Yes.
identified by a combination of
the applications and an
identifying GUID.

Suite to
Application
relationship

PDL:ESIDsuiteappsCustom

This table contains information Area 2 displays either

that relates suites to
of the following items:
applications.

The products that are
part of the Suite, or

The suite that the
product is part of.

Signature

PDL:ESIDsignatureCustom

This table contains information Signatures are not

about a product signature.
displayed on the
Product Catalog
Console.

Signature to
product
relationship

PDL:ESIDsignatureProductCu This table contains information Signature data is not

stom
about signature product
displayed on the
association records.
Product Catalog
Console.

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Console area

Exporting data from the Product Catalog

Exporting data from the Product Catalog

You must export a number of forms from the pre-production server, as indicated
in Table 6-1 on page 99. When an alias is defined for the form, you must use the
alias to open the form in BMC Remedy User.

Before you begin

Create a new report of AR System type for each staging form. When designing this
report, include all the fields. You use this report to export the data in .arx format.

To export data from the Product Catalog

1 With your web browser, log in to the BMC Remedy ITSM server as an

administrator.
2 Use one of the following methods to open the appropriate form:

Enter the direct URL.

http://midTierServer:portNumber/arsys/forms/arSystemServer/
yourForm

For example, to open the PDL:ESIDversioninfoCustom form:

http://CalbroServer:8080/arsys/forms/SanJoseServer/
PDL:ESIDversioninfoCustom

Open the Object List to search for the form.

http://midTierServer:portNumber/arsys/forms

If the form has an alias, you must search for the alias. Otherwise, search for the
form name. If you see two versions of the form listed, select the object listed as
a Form, and not the Join Form.
For more information about creating reports and configuring the object list, see
the BMC Remedy Action Request System 7.6.03 Mid Tier Guide.
3 Make sure that the form is in Search mode.
4 Search for all records in the form or for just the subset that you want to export.

To search for all records, leave the form blank and click Search.
If an error occurs when you perform an unqualified search or if your query hits the
1000-record query limit, perform the following steps:
a Open the IT Home page.
b Open the AR System Administration Console for the BMC Remedy ITSM

server.
c Click System > General > Server Information.
d On the AR System Administration: Server Information form, click the

Configuration tab.
e Select Allow Unqualified Searches.
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f In the Server Table Chunk Size field, enter a different value (for example, 0, for

unlimited records returned in the query). This setting can result in slower
performance.
g Click OK.

You can then return to the form and perform the search.
5 Create reports to export the data from the staging forms.
a Select all the records returned in the search.
b Click the Report button.

When the Reporting Console opens, reports that are associated with the form
and that you have permission to access appear in the list. The list can include AR
System, BIRT, and Crystal types of reports. If no reports appear in the Reporting
Console list, you must create a new AR System type of report.
c To generate .arx output, select an AR System type report, as identified in the

Report Type field.

All the records that you selected are passed to the report.
If no reports appear in the Reporting Console list, either there is no report
associated with this form or you do not have permission to access it. In that case,
you must create a new AR System type of report.
d In the Destination field, select File.
e In the Format field, select AR Export.
f Enter a name for your report.

Change the file name to the form name, and do not use illegal characters.
g Click Run.
6 Repeat this procedure for each staging form that you are exporting.

Importing Product Catalog data

You can import custom data into the Product Catalog by performing the following
steps.
Step 1 Create the data by loading it into the appropriate staging forms. (See Creating the

data on page 103.)

Step 2 Validate the data. (See Validating the data on page 110.)
Step 3 Import the data from the staging forms to the Product Catalog forms. (See

Importing the data on page 111.)

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Importing Product Catalog data

Creating the data

Before creating the data, you must decide if you will import custom data on a
regular basis. If you import custom data more than once, you must make sure that
you are using a unique version number. However, if you clear all entries from the
custom staging forms before starting a subsequent custom data import, then the
unique version number is not required.

NOTE
When you import custom data, the BMC_Product and BMC_OperatingSystem
classes are populated with entries. No products exist for other classes.

Loading the data into the staging forms

You can use BMC Remedy Data Import to load data from supported data sources,
such as formatted files and spreadsheets, into the following custom staging forms:

PDL:ESIDversioninfoCustom
PDL:ESIDmanufacturerCustom
PDL:ESIDfilesCustom
PDL:ESIDappsCustom
PDL:ESIDappsfilesCustom
PDL:ESIDsuitesCustom
PDL:ESIDsuiteappsCustom
PDL:ESIDsignatureCustom

PDL:ESIDsignatureProductCustom

NOTE
To load data using spreadsheets, you also need to create mapping files that specify
which spreadsheet fields map to the destination form fields.
You can also manually create entries in each of the staging forms. The required
fields and sample data are shown in the following tables.

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Common fields in staging forms

Table 6-2 lists fields that exist on all the staging forms. The Sample Data column
shows the data values that produce the Product Catalog entries displayed in the
Product Catalog Console.
Table 6-2: Common fields in staging forms
Field name

Description

dataStatus

Status field used to track

import progress. All
entries should be created
as New.

EventCommand

Action field used to

trigger import.

Status

Additional status field

used to track import
status.

Maximum
length

Values

Sample data

New
Validated
Inactive
Imported
Update

New
Assigned
Fixed
Rejected
Closed

60
New

Short Description Stores error notes during 254

import.

None or "."

None or "."

Sample data
version

Data version identifier.

50
Used on all the forms to
identify which custom
version this entry belongs
to.

Table 6-3 through Table 6-11 list the fields in each of the staging forms.

PDL:ESIDversioninfoCustom
This staging form contains information about the version of custom data that
loaded into the Product Catalog. Use this data to keep track of which version of
custom data is installed on your system.
Table 6-3: PDL:ESIDversioninfoCustom fields (part 1 of 2)

104

Field name

Description

Maximum
length

Sample data

component

Component name

20

Sample

versionmajor

Major version number

versionminor

Minor version number

versionmaint

Maintenance version number

versionbuild

Build version number

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Importing Product Catalog data

Table 6-3: PDL:ESIDversioninfoCustom fields (part 2 of 2)

Field name

Description

Maximum
length

Sample data

description

Complete version number in

string format

20

Sample Custom
Data

recver

Not currently used

255

PDL:ESIDmanufacturerCustom
This staging form contains information about the manufacturers whose
applications are loaded in the Product Catalog.
Table 6-4: DL:ESIDmanufacturerCustom fields
Field name

Description

Maximum
length

Sample data

name

Manufacturer name

254

Sample Manufacturer

mfgid

Manufacturer ID - ID
assigned to this
manufacturer, as
referenced in the
COM:Company form

30

Mfgl

address1

Manufacturer address

90 (address1 1234 Main Street

+ address2)

address2

Manufacturer address

city

Manufacturer city

60

Sunnyvale

state

Manufacturer state

60

CA

zip

Manufacturer zip

15

94086

country

Manufacturer country

60

United States

businessphone

Manufacturer phone

50

(408) 777-1234

techsupport

Manufacturer technical
support information

customerservice

Manufacturer support
reference

45

(800) 777-1234

url

Manufacturer web
address

128

www.sample.com

comments

Miscellaneous
comments

254

countrycode

Two-character ISO
country code

http://support.sample.com

US

Entries where the manufacturer country is not known can be marked with country
= "UNKNOWN" and countrycode = "ZY."

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PDL:ESIDfilesCustom
This staging form contains metadata about the files that are related to applications.
Each entry contains the file name and file size of each file that is associated to an
application.
Table 6-5: PDL:ESIDfilesCustom
Field name

Description

Maximum
length

Sample data

name

File name

254

sample.exe

kbfileid

Unique file ID

30

File1

filesize

File size in bytes

50

9482

quickcrc

CRC (ISO 3309) based on the 50

first 1024 bytes of the file

timestamp

DOS-style date/time stamp

of the file

versionmajor

File major version number

60

versionminor

File minor version number

60

versionmaint

File maintenance version

number

60

versionbuild

File build version number

60

PDL:ESIDappsCustom
This staging form contains information about the applications that are loaded in
the Product Catalog. Each entry contains the application name and references the
manufacturer by manufacturer ID. The main executable file is referenced by file
ID.
Table 6-6: PDL:ESIDappsCustom Fields (part 1 of 2)

106

Field name

Description

Maximum length

Sample data

name

Application name

254

Sample Application

kbappid

Application ID

30

App1

filesize

File size in bytes

50

9482

mfgid

Manufacturer ID

90 (address1 +
address2)

Mfgl

versionstring

Application version in string

format

240

1.0.0.1

versionmajor

Application major version

number

60

versionminor

Application minor version

number

60

versionmaint

Application maintenance
version number

60

versionbuild

Application build version

number

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Importing Product Catalog data

Table 6-6: PDL:ESIDappsCustom Fields (part 2 of 2)

Field name

Description

Maximum length

Sample data

mainexe

File ID of the application's

main executable

60

File1

OpSys

0 = Not an Operating System

1 = Operating System
Product
Categorization
Tier 1

Tier 1 Category

60

Software

Product
Categorization
Tier 2

Tier 2 Category

60

Application

Product
Categorization
Tier 3

Tier 3 Category

60

Sample

Origin

0 = Third Party

1 = Custom
Suite Definition 0 = No

1 = Yes
Operating
System

Platform Description

Requires
Contract

0 = Yes

254
0

1 = No

PDL:ESIDappsfilesCustom
This staging form relates applications to files.

NOTE
Each application can have only one main executable file.
Table 6-7: PDL:ESIDappsfilesCustom
Field name

Description

Maximum length

Sample data

kbappid

Application ID

60

App1

kbfileid

Unique Field ID

60

File1

flags

1 = File is the main executable

0 = File is not the main

executable
AssignedTo

Unique ID to identify this

application-file entry

A1F1

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PDL:ESIDsuitesCustom
This staging form contains information about the suites that are loaded in the
Product Catalog. Suites are named collections of applications. Each entry contains
the suite name and references the manufacturer by the manufacturer ID.
Table 6-8: PDL:ESIDsuitesCustom fields
Field name

Description

Maximum length

Sample data

identityGuid

GUID for the suite

254

kbsuiteid

Unique Suite ID

30

Suite1

name

Suite name

254

Sample Suite

versionstring

Suite version in string format

240

2.0

mfgid

Manufacturer ID

60

Mfgl

OpSys

0 = Not an Operating System

1 = Operating System
licensesuiteID The ID of the grouping-level
entry for this suite

254

Product
Tier 1 Category
Categorization
Tier 1

60

Software

Product
Tier 2 Category
Categorization
Tier 2

60

Application

Product
Tier 3 Category
Categorization
Tier 3

60

Sample

Origin

0 = Third Party

1 = Custom

108

Suite
Definition

0 = No

Operating
System

Platform Description

Requires
Contract

0 = Yes

1 = Yes

1 = No

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Importing Product Catalog data

PDL:ESIDsuiteappsCustom
This staging form identifies which applications are associated with a particular
suite.
Table 6-9: PDL:ESIDsuiteappsCustom fields
Field name

Description

Maximum length

Sample data

kbappid

Application ID

60

App2

kbsuiteid

Unique suite ID

60

Suite1

AssignedTo

Unique ID to identify this

application-suite entry

SuiteApp2

PDL:ESIDsignatureCustom
This staging form contains information about the signature file of a product.

NOTE
If you have customized the signature, you must include this form for migrating
Product Catalog data.
Table 6-10: PDL:ESIDsignatureCustom
Field name

Description

Data type

Maximum length

Signature ID

Random unique string

String

254

Version

Signature version

String

50

Grouping

Signature group

String

50

Type

User-defined string used for data

segregation

String

50

Signature file

Location of the signature file

String

Not applicable

PDL:ESIDsignatureProductCustom
This staging form contains information about the signature product association
records.

NOTE
If you have customized the signature, you must include this form for migrating
Product Catalog data.
Table 6-11: PDL:ESIDsignatureProductCustom
Column

Description

Maximum length

kbappid

Application ID

60

Signature ID

Random unique string

254

Platform

Name of the platform

254

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Validating the data

When all the data has been loaded into the staging forms, you must validate the
data using the Data Import - Custom console.

To validate the data

1 Open the PDL:ESIDImportConsole form.

Use the following direct access URL to open the PDL:ESIDImportConsole form:
http://midTierServer:portNumber/arsys/forms/arSystemServer/
PDL:ESIDImportConsole
2 Click the Validate tab.
3 Select the type of file to validate (in the left column), and then click the Validate

Data button.
The dataStatus field in each entry is set to Validated after successful validation. If
the dataStatus field is set to Invalid, check the short description field for the
description of the violation.
Table 6-12 lists the integrity checks done during validation.
Table 6-12: Integrity checks
Form name

Validation

PDL:ESIDmanufacturerCustom
Manufacturer is associated with an application or

suite

Manufacturer Country exists in the
CFG:Geography Country form
PDL:ESIDfilesCustom

File is referenced in the app/files table

PDL:ESIDappsCustom

Files are associated with this application

Main.exe file exists in the File table

Manufacturer exists in the Manufacturer table

PDL:ESIDappsfilesCustom

Application exists in Application table

File exists in File table

PDL:ESIDsuitesCustom

Suite is referenced in Suite/Apps table

PDL:ESIDsuiteappsCustom

Application exists in Application table

Suite exists in the Suite table

Performing post-validation on the

PDL:ESIDmanufacturerCustom staging form
This step applies to an installation of DML with a BMC Remedy IT Service
Management application, and not a stand-alone installation with other BMC
products. Perform a search on the PDL:ESIDmanufacturerCustom form, where
country = " ". Any matching entries must be modified manually. Use the following
direct access URL to open the PDL:ESIDmanufacturerCustom form:
http://midTierServer:portNumber/arsys/forms/arSystemServer/
PDL:ESIDmanufacturerCustom
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To perform the post-validation step

1 From the CFG:GeographyCountry file, locate the entry that corresponds to the

country code.
2 Change the status for that entry to ENABLED.
3 For the matching entry, copy the country name, and enter in the

PDL:ESIDmanufacturer entry, where country = " ".

Importing the data

After the data is successfully validated, you are ready to import the data into the
BMC Atrium Product Catalog forms.

To import the data

1 Open the PDL:ESIDImportConsole form.

Use the following direct access URL to open the PDL:ESIDImportConsole form.
http://midTierServer:portNumber/arsys/forms/arSystemServer/
PDL:ESIDImportConsole
2 Click Import Data.

After the import completes, you can check to see if the data has been imported
correctly. Open each of the following forms in search mode where datastatus =
imported. All records have datastatus = imported when they are imported
correctly.

PDL_ESIDversioninfoCustom
PDL_ESIDmanufacturerCustom
PDL_ESIDfilesCustom
PDL_ESIDappsCustom
PDL_ESIDappfilesCustom
PDL_ESIDsuitesCustom
PDL_ESIDsuiteappsCustom

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Appendix

Best practice categorization

This appendix provides the best practice categorization values provided by BMC.
You might use this information as a starting point for your discussions and
analysis of the categorization appropriate to your organization.
This categorization can be installed with BMC Atrium Discovery and Dependency
Mapping and BMC Configuration Discovery to categorize discovered
configuration items (CIs).
Some categorization values are not applied by the BMC discovery products to CIs,
either because the CI is not discovered or because the Common Data Model (CDM)
class and discovered attributes are not sufficient to map a CI to a categorization.
For information about planning categorization, see Planning and implementing
categorization on page 31.
The following topics are provided:

Tier 1Hardware (page 114)

Tier 1Miscellaneous (page 117)
Tier 1Network (page 119)
Tier 1Software (page 120)
Additional categorization for BMC discovery products (page 122)

Appendix A

Best practice categorization

113

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Tier 1Hardware
Table A-1 provides best practice categorization values when Tier 1 is Hardware.
The table includes both the applicable CI type and CDM class. Where applicable,
an attribute value is listed for the CDM class.
Table A-1: Best practice categorization values for hardware CIs (part 1 of 3)
Tier 2

Tier 3

Card

Network Interface Card System Component

Network Port

BMC_NetworkPort

Processor Card

System Component
Card

BMC_Card

System Component
Card

BMC_Card

System Component
Card

BMC_Card

System Component
Card

BMC_Card

CPU

System Component
Processor

BMC_Processor

Memory

System Component
Memory

BMC_Memory

Patch Panel

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemCompon
ent

Rack/Cabinet

System Component
Chassis

BMC_Chassis

Row

System Component
Logical System
Component

BMC_LogicalSystemCompone
nt

Video Card
Voice Card
Other Type of Card
Component

Data Center

114

Product Catalog and DML Guide

CI type

CDM class (and attribute value, if

not applicable to all instances)

CardType=BaseBoard
CardType=VideoCard
CardType=SoundCard
CardType=Other

Tier 1Hardware

Table A-1: Best practice categorization values for hardware CIs (part 2 of 3)
Tier 2

Tier 3

CI type

CDM class (and attribute value, if

not applicable to all instances)

Disk Device

Disk Array

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem
Primary Capability is any of
the following values:

Storage

StorageSubsystem

RAIDStorageDevice
Disk Controller

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemCompon
ent

Disk Drive

Applies to:

Applies to the following CDM

classes:

System Component
CDROM Drive

System Component
Disk Drive

System Component
Floppy Drive

Peripheral

BMC_CDROMDrive

BMC_DiskDrive

BMC_FloppyDrive

Disk Partition

System Component
Disk Partition

BMC_DiskPartition

Docking Station

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemCompon
ent

Monitor

System Component
Monitor

BMC_Monitor

Printer/Multifunction

SystemPrinter

BMC_Printer
This also applies to
BMC_ComputerSystem, where
Primary Capability=Print.

Power Supply

Projector

Equipment

BMC_Equipment

Scanner

Equipment

BMC_Equipment

Terminal

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemCompon
ent

Emergency Power
Generator

Equipment

BMC_Equipment

Uninterrupted Power
Supply

System ComponentUPS BMC_UPS

Appendix A

Best practice categorization

115

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Table A-1: Best practice categorization values for hardware CIs (part 3 of 3)
Tier 2

Tier 3

CI type

CDM class (and attribute value, if

not applicable to all instances)

Processing Unit

Desktop

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

Laptop

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

Mainframe

SystemMainframe

BMC_Mainframe

Personal Digital
Assistant

SystemComputer
System

BMC_Computer System

Server

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

Other Type of
Processing Unit

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem, when
the PrimaryCapability
attribute is set to a value other
than those specified in this table
and in Table A-3 on page 119

Tape Array

SystemComputer
System

BMC_Computer System

Tape Controller

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemCompon
ent

Tape Drive

System Component
Tape Drive

BMC_TapeDrive

Tape Robot

System Component
Changer Device

SAN.BMC_ChangerDevice

Equipment

BMC_Equipment

IP Phone

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

Telephone

Equipment

BMC_Equipment

Cluster

SystemCluster

BMC_Cluster

Mainframe Partition

SystemVirtual System

BMC_VirtualSystem

Tape Device

Telecommunication Fax

Virtual System

PrimaryCapability=
Workstation

Primary Capability=Mobile
User Device
Primary Capability=Server

Primary
Capability=TapeLibrary

VirtualSystemType=LPAR

116

VMware Image

System Component
VM Ware

BMC_VMware

Other Type of Virtual

System

SystemVirtual System

BMC_VirtualSystem, when
the PrimaryCapability
attribute is set to a value other
than LPAR

Product Catalog and DML Guide

Tier 1Miscellaneous

Tier 1Miscellaneous
Table A-2 provides best practice categorization values when Tier 1 is
Miscellaneous. The table includes both the applicable CI type and CDM class.
Table A-2: Best practice categorization values for miscellaneous CIs (part 1 of 2)
Tier 2

Tier 3

CI type

CDM class

Address

IP Address

Access PointIP
Endpoint

BMC_IPEndpoint

MAC Address

Access PointLAN
Endpoint

BMC_LANEndpoint

Installation Manual

Document

BMC_Document

Process Manual

Document

BMC_Document

Technical Manual

Document

BMC_Document

User Manual

Document

BMC_Document

Other Type of Document Document

BMC_Document

Database

Logical Entity
Database

BMC_DataBase

Local File System

System Component
Local File System

BMC_LocalFileSystem

Web Site

System Component
Logical System
Component

BMC_LogicalSystemComponent

Documentation

Instance

Appendix A

Best practice categorization

117

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Table A-2: Best practice categorization values for miscellaneous CIs (part 2 of 2)
Tier 2

Tier 3

CI type

CDM class

Service

Customer Relationship
Management

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Email

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

File & Print

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Finance

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Human Resources

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Internet Access

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Logistics

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Manufacturing

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Network

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Desktop Productivity

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Quality Control

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Sales Tracking

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

ERP Basis

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Service Management

Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

Warehouse Management Logical EntityBusiness BMC_BusinessService

Service

118

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Tier 1Network

Tier 1Network
Table A-3 provides best practice categorization values when Tier 1 is Network. The
table includes both the applicable CI type and CDM class. Where applicable, an
attribute value is listed for the CDM class.
Table A-3: Best practice categorization values for network CIs (part 1 of 2)
Tier 2

Tier 3

CI type

CDM class (and attribute value, if

not applicable to all instances)

Hub

Ethernet

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

Analog Telephone
Modem

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemComponent

Base Band Modem

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemComponent

DSL Modem

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemComponent

Fiber Optic Modem

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemComponent

IDSN Modem

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemComponent

Other Type of Modem

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemComponent

Access Router

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

Fast Ethernet
Giga Ethernet
Token Ring
FDDI
Modem

Router

Remote Access Server

Appendix A

Primary Capability=Hub
Primary Capability=Hub
Primary Capability=Hub
Primary Capability=Hub
Primary Capability=Hub

Primary Capability=Router
Primary Capability=Router

Best practice categorization

119

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Table A-3: Best practice categorization values for network CIs (part 2 of 2)
Tier 2

Tier 3

CI type

CDM class (and attribute value, if

not applicable to all instances)

Switch

Data Switch

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem
Primary Capability is one of
the following values:

Switch

Layer 3 Switch
Fiber Channel

SystemComputer
System

BMC_ComputerSystem

Voice Switch (PBX)

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemComponent

Other Type of Switch

System Component
Hardware System
Component

BMC_HardwareSystemComponent

Primary
Capability=SANSwitch

Tier 1Software
Table A-4 provides best practice categorization values when Tier 1 is Software. The
table includes both the applicable CI type and CDM class.
Table A-4: Best practice categorization values for software CIs (part 1 of 3)
Tier 2

Tier 3

CI type

CDM class

Operating System
Software

BIOS/Firmware

System Component
BIOS Element

BMC_BIOSElement

Standard OS

System Component
Operating System

BMC_OperatingSystem

Virtualization OS

System Component
Virtual System Enabler

BMC_VirtualSystemEnabler

120

Product Catalog and DML Guide

Tier 1Software

Table A-4: Best practice categorization values for software CIs (part 2 of 3)
Tier 2

Tier 3

CI type

CDM class

Software
Application/
System

Application Platform

System Application
Infrastructure

BMC_ApplicationInfrastructure

Backup/Recovery
Software

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Browser/Viewer
Application

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Communication/Data
Exchange Software

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Compression Software

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Contact Management
Application

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Database Software

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Financial/Resource
Planning Application

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Network/System
(Management)
Software

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Patch

System Component
Patch

BMC_Patch

Scheduling Software

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Security Software

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Software Development
Software/Tool

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Software Suite

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

User Productivity
Application

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Web Server/Search
Engine Software

System Component
Product

BMC_Product

Other Type of Software System Component

Product

BMC_Product

Package

BMC_Package

Software
Distribution

System Component
Package

Appendix A

Best practice categorization

121

BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Table A-4: Best practice categorization values for software CIs (part 3 of 3)
Tier 2

Tier 3

CI type

CDM class

Software License
Certificate

Concurrent User
License

SystemApplication

BMC_Application

CPU-Based License

SystemApplication

BMC_Application

Installed User License

SystemApplication

BMC_Application

Named User License

SystemApplication

BMC_Application

Temporary User
License

SystemApplication

BMC_Application

Unlimited User License SystemApplication

BMC_Application

Interface Settings

SystemApplication

BMC_Application

Software Settings

SystemApplication

BMC_Application

Configuration
Settings

Additional categorization for BMC discovery

products
Even when you use the best practice categorization, BMC Atrium Discovery and
Dependency Mapping and BMC BladeLogic Client Automation Configuration
Discovery use additional categorization for CIs that BMC discovery products
cannot otherwise classify. Table A-5 provides these categorizations.
Table A-5: Additional categorization for BMC discovery products
Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

CDM class and CI type

Miscellaneous

Service

BMC Discovered

BMC_BusinessService
Logical EntityBusiness Service

Software
Unknown

122

Software Application / BMC Discovered

System

BMC_Product

Unknown

Used for any discovered CI that the BMC

Discovery products cannot otherwise
classify, regardless of CDM class or CI
type.

Product Catalog and DML Guide

BMC Discovered

System ComponentProduct

Appendix

Using the Product Catalog

from BMC BladeLogic Client
Automation
Read this section only if you need to access the Product Catalog from BMC
BladeLogic Client Automation, formerly called BMC Configuration Management.
The following topics are provided:

Overview of accessing BMC Atrium Product Catalog (page 124)

Downloading and running BMC Remedy AR System security scripts (page 125)

Configuring parameters for the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation database

(page 126)
Establishing access to the BMC Remedy AR System database (page 132)
Establishing connectivity to the Product Catalog (page 133)
Verifying connectivity to the Product Catalog (page 135)
Troubleshooting connectivity issues (page 135)
Whats next? (page 136)

Appendix B

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BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Overview of accessing BMC Atrium Product

Catalog
BMC Atrium Product Catalog is an application that runs on the BMC Remedy
Action Request System (BMC Remedy AR System). This section describes how to
establish a communication link between BMC Configuration Automation for
Clients and the BMC Remedy AR System allowing connectivity to the Product
Catalog. This link allows BMC CM products, such as Report Center and
Configuration Discovery, to access the Product Catalog.
The Product Catalog provides normalization (standardization) of software
attributes for third-party applications throughout an enterprise. Attribute
standardization facilitates reporting on software deployed in the enterprise when
you run queries in the Report Center application.
An overview of the steps needed to establish access to the Product Catalog from
BMC CM follows. Each step is described in detailed in subsequent sections.
1 Download and run a security script against the BMC Remedy AR System

database. This script creates a database user (CCM_USER) who has read-only
access to selected data in the AR System database. Running this script is the only
configuration task you need to perform on the AR System database. For detailed
instructions, see Downloading and running BMC Remedy AR System security
scripts on page 125.
2 Manually configure parameters for BMC BladeLogic Client Automation to allow

for connectivity. For detailed instructions, see Configuring parameters for the
BMC BladeLogic Client Automation database on page 126.
3 Establish access to the BMC Remedy AR System database. For detailed

instructions, see Establishing access to the BMC Remedy AR System database on

page 132.
4 Establish connectivity to DML by installing the DB Connector for BMC Remedy

Action Request System schema on the BMC CM database. For detailed

instructions, see Establishing connectivity to the Product Catalog on page 133.

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Downloading and running BMC Remedy AR System security scripts

Downloading and running BMC Remedy

AR System security scripts
You must run a security script against the BMC Remedy AR System database to
create the CCM_USER user name and password. The CCM_USER name has
read-only access to a defined set of views in the AR System database.

To download and run the security scripts

1 Log in to the BMC Configuration Automation for Clients console and choose

Applications > System Settings.

2 Choose the AR Settings (tab).
3 On the AR Settings page, choose the AR Database Security Script link.
4 Save the .zip file to your computer.
5 From the .zip file, choose the script appropriate for your BMC Remedy

AR System database platform.

Table B-1 lists the files that are contained in the .zip file.
Table B-1: Security script files
AR System database File name
MSSql_installSecurityScript.sql

SQL Server

MSSql_installSecurityScript_Unicode.
sql
MSSql_SecurityScriptREADME.txt
Ora_installSecurityScript.sql

Oracle

Ora_SecurityScriptREADME.txt
6 (Optional) Edit the script to change the default user name and password

(CCM_USER).
7 Follow all the instructions in the READ_ME file for your script. This includes

instructions on:

Executing the script

Detecting errors

Validating the script was successful

Appendix B

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BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

Unicode and SQL Server

Use the MSSql_installSecurityScript_Unicode.sql if the SQL Server
AR System database was installed with the Unicode option ON and the columns
are of Unicode data type nvarchar and the ODBC driver does not automatically
translate data. The Oracle Heterogeneous Services drops the Unicode data type
columns if the columns are not cast to varchar in the
AR System database. The MSSql_installSecurityScript_Unicode.sql script
rewrites the views by casting the Unicode nvarchar types to the varchar data
type allowing successful population of the CM database columns.

Unicode and Oracle

For a Unicode Oracle installation, make sure the NLS_LANG setting in the registry
has the correct value. This value needs to contain the AL16UTF16 code set. For
example, RUSSIAN_CIS.CL8MSWIN1251 should be changed to
RUSSIAN_CIS.AL16UTF16. Consult your Oracle DBA to make sure this entry is
correct for your environment.
After running the security scripts, you must configure parameters for the BMC CM
database as described in the next section.

Configuring parameters for the BMC

BladeLogic Client Automation database
BMC BladeLogic Client Automation and BMC Remedy AR System are supported
on multiple database and operating system platforms. Table B-2 lists the database
platform combinations that are supported when establishing a database link (DBLink) between the two systems.
Table B-2: Supported database combinations
BMC BladeLogic Client Automation

AR System

Oracle (Windows or Solaris)

Oracle (Windows or Solaris)

Oracle (Windows or Solaris)

SQL Server (Windows)

SQL Server (Windows)

Oracle (Windows or Solaris)

SQL Server (Windows)

SQL Server (Windows)

In the following sections, each combination is discussed as viewed from BMC

BladeLogic Client Automation.

TIP
Make sure you run the security script on your Oracle BMC Remedy AR System
database before proceeding. All other configuration tasks are performed in the BMC
BladeLogic Client Automation database and vary depending on the operating system
supporting the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation database.

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Configuring parameters for the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation database

Configuring Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation to access

Oracle BMC Remedy AR System
If both your BMC BladeLogic Client Automation and BMC Remedy AR System
databases are Oracle databases, the operating system on which they are running is
not a configuration issue.

To configure Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation to access BMC

Remedy AR System

On your CM Oracle instance, add an entry for the AR System database in the
tnsnames.ora file (located in the $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin directory).

You are now ready to access the BMC Remedy AR System database, as described
in Establishing access to the BMC Remedy AR System database on page 132.

Configuring Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation to access SQL

Server BMC Remedy AR System
Instructions for configuring an Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation
database depend on the supporting operating system.

Configuring Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation on Windows

(page 127)

Configuring Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation on Solaris (page 128)

Configuring Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation

on Windows

To configure Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation on Windows

1 Install the Microsoft ODBC driver for SQL Server, if not present, on the BMC

BladeLogic Client Automation database. The driver is packaged with the SQL
Server client software install.
2 On your BMC BladeLogic Client Automation Oracle instance, define a Data Source

Name (DSN) for the BMC Remedy AR System database.

a From the Windows Control Panel, navigate to Administrative Tools > Data

Sources (ODBC).
b Click System DSN tab.
c Click Add.
d From the list of displayed drivers, select SQL Server.
e Enter any name for the Data Source, for example, ARServer. Going forward, the

data source is referred to as the DSN.

f Enter the host name for the BMC Remedy AR System database.
g Select SQL Server Authentication Mode.
Appendix B

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BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

h Enter the system administrator user name and password.

i Change the default database to BMC Remedy AR System.
j Accept all other defaults, then select Test Data Source.

You can now create a Heterogeneous Services Initialization File, as described in

Creating a Heterogeneous Services Initialization File on page 129.

Configuring Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation

on Solaris
NOTE
The following instructions have been validated only for use with the following
DataDirect 5.1 driver: SQL Server 32-bit ODBC driver for UNIX platform.

To configure Oracle BMC BladeLogic Client Automation on Solaris

1 From the http://www.datadirect.com website, download the SQL Server 32-bit

ODBC driver for UNIX platform.

2 Install the driver using the instructions provided by the vendor.
3 On your BMC BladeLogic Client Automation Oracle instance, define a Data Source

Name (DSN) for the SQL Server BMC Remedy AR System database.
a Find the odbc.ini file located in the driver directory.
b Edit the file as follows:
Driver=ODBCInstallDirectory/lib/ivmsss21.so

This is the ODBC library path. The location depends on where the ODBC
driver was installed.
Description=DataDirect 5.1 SQL Server Wire Protocol
Address=sqlserverHostname, sqlserverPort
AlternateServers=
AnsiNPW=Yes
ConnectionRetryCount=0
ConnectionRetryDelay=3
Database=ARSystem
LoadBalancing=0
LogonID=systemAdminUsername
Password=aystemAdminPassword
QuotedId=No

In this example, replace the values for sqlserverHostname, sqlserverPort,

systemAdminUsername, and systemAdminPassword with values that correspond
to the BMC Remedy AR System database. In this example, the BMC Remedy
AR System database name used is ARSystem.

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You are now ready to create a Heterogeneous Services Initialization File, as

described in Creating a Heterogeneous Services Initialization File on page 129.

Creating a Heterogeneous Services Initialization File

NOTE
The security script for your BMC Remedy AR System database provides code
examples that you can copy directly into your database configuration files to help
reduce manual error.

To create a Heterogeneous Services Initialization File

1 Copy the sample $ORACLE_HOME/hs/admin/inithsodbc.ora file provided by
Oracle to a new file named initDSN.ora.

You must use the DSN you specified previously in the name of the new file. Using
the example, the file name can be as follows: $ORACLE_HOME/hs/admin/
initARServer.ora.
2 Edit the file providing a value for DSN:
HS_FDS_CONNECT_INFO = DSN
HS_FDS_TRACE_LEVEL = OFF

Using our example, the entry is as follows:

HS_FDS_CONNECT_INFO = ARServer

If your Oracle system is running on Solaris, add this line to the file to access the
Driver Manager library:
HS_FDS_SHAREABLE_NAME = ODBCInstallationDirectory/lib/libodbc.so

Using an example, if the home directory for the DataDirect driver is /opt/
odbc32v51sp2, the entry would look like:
HS_FDS_SHAREABLE_NAME = /opt/odbc32v51sp2/lib/libodbc.so
3 In the $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/listener.ora file, create a new listener

entry for the BMC Remedy AR System database. Using the code sample that
follows, add the following entries:

The listener DSN. Using the example, the entry is as follows:

LISTENERARServer=

The host name for the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation Oracle database

The DSN of the BMC Remedy AR System data source. Using the example, the
entries are as follows: SID_LIST_LISTENERARServer and
SID_NAME=ARServer

The path to Oracle home

LISTENERDSN=
(ADDRESS_LIST=
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp) (HOST=BMCCMOracleDatabaseHostName)
(PORT=1522))
Appendix B

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BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=ipc) (KEY=PNPKEY)))
...
...
SID_LIST_LISTENERDSN=
(SID_LIST=
(SID_DESC=
(SID_NAME=DSN)
(ORACLE_HOME=pathToOracleHome)
(PROGRAM=hsodbc)
)
)
4 In the $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/tnsnames.ora file, using the code sample

that follows, add an entry for the following parameters:

TNSName of the BMC Remedy AR System data source. Using the example,
the entry is as follows: ARServer_TNS

The BMC BladeLogic Client Automation Oracle database host name

DSN Name of the BMC Remedy AR System data source. Using the example,
(CONNECT_DATA=(SID=ARServer))
TNSName=
(DESCRIPTION=
(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp) (HOST=BMCCMOracleDatabaseHostname)
(PORT=1522))
(CONNECT_DATA=(SID=DSN)
(HS=OK)
)
)
5 Start the new listener as follows:
C:\>lsnrctl start LISTENERDSN

Using the example, the entry is as follows:

C:\>lsnrctl start LISTENERARServer
6 Verify that the listener starts successfully.

You are now ready to establish access to the BMC Remedy AR System database, as
described in Establishing access to the BMC Remedy AR System database on
page 132.

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Configuring parameters for the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation database

Configuring SQL Server BMC BladeLogic Client Automation for Oracle

BMC Remedy AR System
Perform the following actions to configure SQL Server BMC BladeLogic Client
Automation for Oracle BMC Remedy AR System.

To configure
1 On your SQL Server BMC BladeLogic Client Automation computer, verify that the

SQL Server Agent is running.

The SQL Server Agent must be running on a BMC BladeLogic Client Automation
SQL Server database regardless of the BMC Remedy AR System database platform
that you are using. This agent is needed to enable caching of remote views.
To check if the SQL Server Agent is running, use the SQL Server Service Manager.
If SQL Server Agent is not running, you can start the agent from Service Manager.
You can also set the SQL Server Agent to auto-start when the operating system
starts.
Alternatively, you can use the SQL Server Enterprise Manager to access your SQL
Server. Under the Management folder, you will see the SQL Server Agent. If the
SQL Server Agent is running, a green icon is displayed. Otherwise, choose SQL
Server Agent > Start.
2 Prepare Windows for connecting to an Oracle BMC Remedy AR System database.
a If not already installed on your Windows computer, download and install

Microsoft Data Access Component (MDAC) 2.8 from the following website:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads.
b After installing MDAC 2.8, run the mtxoci81_win2k.reg registry file located in
the C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Ole DB\ directory. You use the

registry file to modify registry key values based on the Oracle version on which
your BMC Remedy AR System database is running. For example, for Oracle 9
make the following changes:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSDTC\MTxOCI]
"OracleXaLib"="oraclient9.dll"
"OracleSqlLib"="orasql9.dll"
"OracleOciLib"="oci.dll"
c Verify the registry keys are successfully created.

NOTE
Additional information about Oracle databases residing on a Windows operating
system is available at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/280106/.
3 Install the Oracle client and Oracle OLE DB Driver on the computer that hosts your

SQL Server CM database.

a Run the Oracle Universal Installer and choose to install Oracle Client.

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NOTE
Make sure the installation type you choose includes the Oracle OLE DB driver in
the installation. The following instructions have been validated for this driver
only.
b Change the following registry setting value from 0 to 1:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSSQLServer\Providers\OraO
LEDB.Oracle\AllowInProcess.
c If this registry key entry is not present, open the Security folder > Linked Servers

> New Linked Server.

d At the Provider name, choose the Oracle Provider for OLEDB > Provider

Options > In Process.

e Verify that the registry value shows up in the Providers key.
4 Add an entry for the BMC Remedy AR System Oracle instance in the
$ORACLE_HOME/network/admin/tnsnames.ora file.

You are now ready to establish access to the BMC Remedy AR System database, as
described in Establishing access to the BMC Remedy AR System database on
page 132.

Configuring SQL Server BMC BladeLogic Client Automation for SQL

Server BMC Remedy AR System
No special configuration tasks are needed. You can establish access to the BMC
Remedy AR System database, as described in Establishing access to the BMC
Remedy AR System database on page 132.

Establishing access to the BMC Remedy

AR System database
You must establish access to the BMC Remedy AR System database before you can
establish the connection between BMC BladeLogic Client Automation and BMC
Remedy AR System databases. Use the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation
console to enter the BMC Remedy AR System database connection information.

To establish access to the BMC Remedy AR System database

1 From the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation console, choose Applications >

System Settings > AR Settings (tab) > AR Database link.

2 On the AR Database page, provide network and security settings to access the

BMC Remedy AR System database.

a In the AR database type field, select a database type from the list.

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Establishing connectivity to the Product Catalog

b In the AR database host name field, enter the name of the computer on which

the BMC Remedy AR System database is running.

c In the AR database port field, enter the port number used to remotely connect to

the database. The default port numbers are 1521 for Oracle and 1433 for SQL
Server.
d In the AR database service name field, enter the BMC Remedy AR System

database name.

For an SQL Server to SQL Server connection, the default is ARSystem.

For any connection involving an Oracle database, use the TNS name you
specified in the tnsnames.ora file.
e In the AR database user name field, enter the user name (CCM_USER if using

the default) created by the BMC Remedy AR System database security script.
f In the AR database user password field, enter the password (CCM_USER if

using the default) created by the BMC Remedy AR System database security
script.
For more information, see Downloading and running BMC Remedy
AR System security scripts on page 125.
3 Click OK.

You can now establish the connection between databases, described in the next
section.

Establishing connectivity to the Product

Catalog
This section describes how to establish a connection between the BMC BladeLogic
Client Automation and BMC Remedy AR System databases allowing access to the
Product Catalog.

Prerequisites for connection

Before establishing the connection between the BMC BladeLogic Client
Automation and BMC Remedy AR System databases, make sure you have:
1 Terminated all user connections to the database instance.
2 Disabled the Inventory plug-in. You should disable this plug-in before performing

any database tasks, such as updating the schema. For instructions about disabling
the Inventory plug-in, see the Report Center online help.
3 Configured the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation inventory database using the

Core schema. You must install the Core schema before you install an additional
schema.

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Establishing the connection between databases

To establish the connection between the CM database and the
BMC Remedy AR System database, you must install the DB Connector for the
BMC Remedy AR System schema.
This schema uses a communication protocol allowing remote connectivity across
databases and the execution of distributed queries across heterogeneous
databases. Installing this schema creates the connection to the
BMC Remedy AR System database and redefines some of the BMC BladeLogic
Client Automation database views allowing BMC BladeLogic Client Automation
applications to access the Definitive Media Library in the BMC Remedy
AR System database.
Log in to the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation console and use Schema
Manager to connect to the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation database.

To establish the connection between the BMC BladeLogic Client Automation

and AR System databases

1 From the top-level tab bar of the console, choose Applications > Console > Schema

Manager.
2 On the Welcome to Schema Manager page, click Database.

The Database page appears.

3 Select the type of database you installed from the Database type list.
4 Supply the host name, port number, and, for Oracle, the database system ID. (For
SQL Server, the database name is invdb.)

The database administrator (DBA) can provide you with these values. The default
port numbers are 1521 (for Oracle) and 1433 (for SQL Server).
5 Supply the system administrator user name and password.

Often, on Oracle, the system administrator user name is system and the default
password is manager; on SQL Server, the user name is often sa, and the default
password is no password. Contact your local DBA for the appropriate user name
and password.
6 Supply the password for the inventory user.

The default password is inventory for the inventory user.

7 Supply the password for the user_view user.

The default password is user_view for the user_view user.

8 Click Connect.

The Database Schemas page appears, and the Schema Modules tab is displayed.

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Verifying connectivity to the Product Catalog

To connect to the Definitive Media Library

1 On the Schema Modules tab, for the item called DB Connector for BMC Remedy

Action Request System, click Install.

2 On the Install Options page that appears, select Easy install.
3 Click Install.

When the operation is finished, a page appears indicating the installation is

complete.
You now have connectivity to the Definitive Media Library.

Verifying connectivity to the Product Catalog

Using Report Center Query Library, run one of the predefined Product Catalog
queries. If a SQL error is displayed, you are not connected to the Product Catalog.
If the query displays an empty result, the connection works. For details, see the
Service Management integration section in Appendix I, Query Library list, in the
BMC Configuration Automation for Clients Report Center Guide.

Troubleshooting connectivity issues

If you are unable to access the Product Catalog, some troubleshooting tips follow:

Check for typos, unmatched braces, and so on in the listener.ora,

tnsnames.ora, or initDSNName.ora configuration files.

Verify (ping) the AR System host is running.

Verify the AR System database port is listening.

For Oracle, run tnsping using the TNS name entry for AR System.

For Oracle, check for consistent naming conventions in sqlnet.ora.

For Oracle, reactivate the listener. If that fails, try restarting the server.

Verify you are using the correct DSN name from the tnsnames.ora
configuration file.

Check your tnsnames, listener, and DSN configurations thoroughly if the

following error messages are displayed when connecting from an Oracle CM
database:

ORA-04052: error occurred when looking up remote object

CCM_USER.CCM_PDL_PRODUCTDICTIONARYPATCH@LINK_TO_AR_DB ORA00604: error occurred at recursive SQL level 2 ORA-28545: error
diagnosed by Net8 when connecting to an agent NCRO: Failed to
make RSLV connection ORA-02063: preceding 2 lines from
LINK_TO_AR_DB ORA-06512: at line nnn

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BMC Atrium Core 7.6.03

ORA-02068: following severe error from LINK_TO_AR_DB ORA-28511:

lost RPC connection to heterogeneous remote agent using
SID=(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=arserver.abc..co
m)(PORT=1533))(CONNECT_DATA=(SID=ARServer)))

If the following error message is displayed, ORA-00054: resource busy and

acquire with NOWAIT specified ORA-06512: at line nnn, restart the

listener and try again. If that fails, try restarting the database instance and try
again.

Whats next?
In the Report Center application, the Query Library contains a folder for Service
Management Integration queries that you can run. If you wish to create custom
Product Catalog entries in the Product Catalog or other customization tasks, see
Configuring the Product Catalog on page 59.

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Glossary
abstract class

A class that has attributes but of which no

instances can be created. An abstract class
exists for the purpose of creating an
organizational layer without a database join.
See also data replication.
account

An entity or party whose data is represented

in BMC Atrium Core, and to whom specific
levels of permission can be granted.
Specifying instance permission by account
enables BMC Atrium Core to support
multitenancy.
activity

An individual reconciliation task that can be

grouped together in a defined sequence to
form a reconciliation job. You can run an
activity only as part of a job, never by itself.
See also Comparison activity, Copy Dataset
activity, Delete Dataset activity, Execute Job
activity, Identification activity, Merge activity,
Purge Dataset activity, Rename Dataset activity.
Adapter Development Kit

The Adapter Development Kit is a software

development kit that lets you build your own
adapters to interact with BMC Atrium
Integration Engine. The Adapter Development
Kit interface defines a set of C++ objects that
are used by the AIE service to manage data
exchanges that use these adapters.
AIE Definitions Admin

A BMC Atrium Integration Engine application

role. Members can view, create, and modify
data mappings and data exchanges, and manage
the configuration and connection settings. See
also AIE User.

AIE service

The AIE service obtains the defined data

exchange from the Data Exchange application
and completes the transfer of data by
communicating with the adapter specified in
the data exchange definition. The AIE service
can connect to a BMC Remedy AR System
server. It runs as a client to the BMC Remedy
AR System server using the BMC Remedy
AR System application programming
interface (API).
AIE User

A BMC Atrium Integration Engine application

role. Members can view data mappings, data
exchanges, and configuration and connection
settings. See also AIE Definitions Admin.
Atrium Explorer

A component of BMC Atrium CMDB that

graphically displays the relationships
between CIs. It can also be embedded in other
BMC Remedy AR System-based applications.
attribute

A property or characteristic of a class, such as

the IP address of a computer system. An
attribute equates to a column on a database
table or a field on a BMC Remedy AR System
form.
attribute permission

Permission to view or change the value in the

attribute for any instance, assuming valid
instance permissions.
attribute substitution

A method of data federation in context that

uses placeholders to represent attributes from
a linked class. Launching the link triggers the
respective attribute values to be substituted for
the placeholders.
Glossary

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Categories, Types, and Items (CTI)

audit

A logging of attribute values and other

information for purposes of tracking the
history of changes to instance data. An audit is
triggered when the value of one or more
specified attributes changes or when the
instance is created or deleted.

A method formerly used for categorizing

assets in BMC Remedy Asset Management.
Category, Type, and Item are each an attribute
on the BMC_BaseElement class, so you can use
CTIs in BMC Atrium CMDB.
categorization class

A class that does not have its own BMC

Remedy AR System form, but stores its
instance data in the form of its superclass,
preventing the need for a database join.

base class

A class that has no superclass.

BMC Atrium Core Console

The main user interface of BMC Atrium

CMDB, accessible from both web and BMC
Remedy User clients. The BMC Atrium Core
Console replaced the CMDB Console.

CDM

See Common Data Model (CDM).

child

See destination.

BMC Atrium Integration Engine

A product that enables you to transfer large

amounts of data between third-party data
sources and both the BMC Remedy
AR System and BMC Atrium CMDB.
BMC Atrium Product Catalog

A BMC Remedy AR System application that is

part of the BMC Atrium Core solution and
provides data for normalization and
discovery, including storage of product
signatures, and tracks and manages products
by categorization, life cycle, development
status, approval status, and other attributes.
bulk functions

A set of functions you can use to create,

update, and delete multiple instances in a
single call. These functions can manipulate
instances of different classes in a single
operation.
Business Service Management (BSM)

The concept of prioritizing IT efforts to

support the overall goals of the business.
cardinality

The number of members a relationship class can

have on each side. Cardinality can be one to
one, one to many, many to one, or many to
many.
cascading delete

To automatically delete, or mark as deleted

the destination member of a relationship
when the source member is deleted or
marked.
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CI

See configuration item (CI).

CI class

A class that defines a type of configuration item

(CI), such as a computer system or software
application.
CIM

See Common Information Model (CIM).

class

Metadata in BMC Atrium CMDB that defines

a type of object, usually a configuration item
(CI) or relationship. Either of these types of
class can store data as a regular class,
categorization class, abstract class, or abstract
class with data replication. You can apply the
final class and singleton class options to it as
well.
Class Manager

A component of BMC Atrium CMDB where

you can view, create, modify, and delete the
classes and attributes that make up the data
model, as well as view a list of subclasses for
each class.
class permissions

Permission to view instances of a class in the

BMC Atrium CMDB interface or access them
with BMC Remedy AR System workflow.
CMDB

See Configuration Management Database

(CMDB).

Glossary

CMDB Console

See BMC Atrium Core Console.

CMDB Console Admin

An application role. Members can perform

searches from the BMC Atrium Core Console,
view, create, and modify federation definitions,
and perform BMC Atrium Core Console
administrative tasks.
CMDB Console User

An application role. Members can perform

searches from the BMC Atrium Core Console
and view federation definitions.
CMDB Data Change

An application role. Members can view, create,

and modify instances if they have row-level
security.
CMDB Data Change All

An application role. Members can view, create,

and modify instances independent of row-level
security.
CMDB Data View

An application role. Members can view

instances if they have row-level security.
CMDB Definitions Admin

An application role. Members can view, create,

modify, and delete classes.
CMDB Definitions Viewer

An application role. Members can view class

definitions.
CMDB Extended Data

Related data or CI attributes linked to or from

BMC Atrium CMDB.
CMDB RE Definitions Admin

An application role. Members can view, create,

modify, and delete reconciliation definitions
and can start and cancel jobs.
CMDB RE Manual Identification

An application role. Members can identify

instances manually.
CMDB RE User

An application role. Members can view

reconciliation definitions and can start and
cancel jobs.

cmdbdriver

A utility that executes BMC Atrium CMDB

C API functions from a command line,
prompting for parameters.
Common Data Model (CDM)

The object-oriented, hierarchical set of classes

in BMC Atrium CMDB used to represent
types of CIs and relationships. The CDM is
based on industry standards such as the
Common Information Model (CIM) and
Microsoft Windows Management
Instrumentation.
Common Information Model (CIM)

A definition of management information

developed by the Distributed Management Task
Force (DMTF) that facilitates the exchange of
management information between systems.
Comparison activity

A Reconciliation Engine activity that compares

identified instances between two datasets,
either producing a report that shows the
differences or executing workflow.
configuration data

Data about your IT environment, consisting of

CIs and relationships.
configuration item (CI)

A physical, logical, or conceptual entity that is

part of your IT environment and has
configurable attributes. Examples include
computer systems, buildings, employees,
software, and business services. One of the
two types of classes in BMC Atrium CMDB.
See also relationship.
Configuration Management Database (CMDB)

A database that stores information about your

IT configuration, including both CIs and
relationships.
consumer

An application that works with data in BMC

Atrium CMDB. It might view the data or
modify it. See also provider.
Copy Dataset activity

A Reconciliation Engine activity that copies

instances from one dataset to another.

Glossary

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Definitive Hardware Library (DHL)

CTI

See Categories, Types, and Items (CTI).

data exchange

A BMC Atrium Integration Engine integration

object that you execute to transfer data. A data
exchange specifies the source and destination
in a data transfer, the adapter to be used for
the transfer, and the connection parameters to
connect to the external data store. A data
mapping is associated with a data exchange to
transfer data.
data mapping

A BMC Atrium Integration Engine integration

object that defines the data to be transferred. A
data mapping defines the source and
destination of a data transfer, the primary key,
and other fields and attributes. You can use a
data mapping by associating it with a data
exchange.
data replication

An option for abstract classes. With this option,

the instances of all subclasses are replicated to
a single form to allow you to search the
abstract class as though it had data. Only the
attributes inherited from the abstract class are
replicated.
dataset

A logical group of data in BMC Atrium

CMDB. A dataset can represent data from a
particular source, a snapshot from a particular
date, or other purpose. The dataset used by
BMC Software products for reconciled
production data is named BMC Asset. See also
overlay dataset.
Dataset Merge Precedence

A pairing of a dataset with a Precedence group.

Each Merge activity references a collection of
these, called a Dataset Merge Precedence set.
defined dataset

One of a pair of dataset IDs that is specified

when executing a job with dynamic dataset
substitution. The job is executed with the
working dataset in place of the defined dataset.

The Definitive Hardware Library (DHL) is a

subset, or filter, of the Product Catalog that
represents hardware products that are
marked as approved for use in an
organization.
Definitive Media Library (DML)

A repository where approved software

configurations are stored. Installed instances
of the software can be checked against the
DML for compliance with licenses and
policies. From the 7.5.00 release of BMC
Atrium Core, Definitive Software Library
(DSL) has been renamed to Definitive Media
Library.
Definitive Software Library (DSL)

See Definitive Media Library (DML).

Delete Dataset activity

A Reconciliation Engine activity that deletes

instances from one or more datasets without
removing the dataset itself. See also cascading
delete, hard delete, soft delete.
destination

The CI class defined as Class 2 in a relationship

class, or an instance of that CI class as a
member of such a relationship. Also known as
the child member. In a weak relationship, the
destination is the weak member.
discovery

The act of scanning your environment for

configuration data.
discovery application

An application that scans your environment

for configuration data and can act as a provider
to BMC Atrium CMDB.
Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF)

An organization appointed to facilitate the

exchange of management information by
promoting the initiation of industry standards
and interoperability.
DHL

See Definitive Hardware Library (DHL).

DML

See Definitive Media Library (DML).

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Glossary

DMTF

See Distributed Management Task Force

(DMTF).
DSL

See Definitive Media Library (DML).

Enterprise Integration Engine

See BMC Atrium Integration Engine.

event

A particular type of change to the instances of

specified classes. You can publish an event so
that any instance of it is written to the
CMDB:Events form. You can receive
notification each time an instance of the event
occurs by polling the form.
Exclusion rule

A rule that specifies an attribute to be excluded

from participation in a Comparison activity.
Execute Job activity

A Reconciliation Engine activity that executes a

job.
extension

A logical set of classes and attributes, usually in

its own namespace, that is not part of the
Common Data Model (CDM).
extension loader
The cmdbExtLoader program, which is used

for installing data model extensions and

importing other BMC Atrium CMDB data and
metadata.
federated data

Data linked from CIs in BMC Atrium CMDB

but stored externally. Federated data might
represent more attributes of the CIs or related
information such as change requests on the
CIs.
federated interface

An instance of the BMC_FederatedInterface

class that specifies how to access a particular
type of federated data. See also federated link.
federated link

The connection between a class or CI and a

federated interface.

federation

The act of linking CIs in BMC Atrium CMDB

to external data.
Federation Manager

A component of BMC Atrium CMDB that you

can use to manage federated data. From the
Federation Manager, you can view, create,
and modify federated products, federated
interfaces, and federated links.
filter

A set of criteria for restricting the information

displayed by the Atrium Explorer. This is
different from a BMC Remedy AR System
filter.
final class

A class that cannot have subclasses.

foreign key substitution

A method of federation that assigns a key

from the federated product to each linked CI.
Foreign key substitution is useful when no
attributes that also exist in BMC Atrium
CMDB are stored in the federated product.
graph walk

The act of searching for CIs and relationships

in BMC Atrium CMDB.
graph walk functions

A set of specific functions that are used to

search for CIs and relationships in BMC
Atrium CMDB. Use these functions when you
want to search for CIs regardless of their class
or relationship.
group

A set of a particular type of reconciliation

definition that is referenced by an activity. See
also Identification group, Precedence group,
Qualification group, Workflow Execution group.
GUID

A globally unique identifier, automatically

generated by the BMC Remedy AR System
server. GUIDs are used for instance IDs,
reconciliation IDs, and other cases where a
unique value must be generated without
human interaction.

federated product

A product that holds federated data. It can be

linked to more than one federated interface.
Glossary

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hard delete

The act of removing an instance from BMC

Atrium CMDB. See also soft delete.
Identification activity

A Reconciliation Engine activity that matches

instances from two or more datasets and
assigns them the same identity, meaning that
they represent the same real-life object.
Identification group

A set of Identification rules that collectively

identify instances from a particular dataset
against other datasets. Each dataset that
participates in an Identification activity is
paired with one Identification group.
Identification rule

A rule used when identifying instances

between datasets. When two instances match
the qualification for the rule, they are assigned
the same reconciliation ID.
identity

See reconciliation ID.

incident

Defined by ITIL as any event that is not part

of the standard operation of a service and that
causes, or might cause, an interruption to, or a
reduction in, the quality of that service.
incremental merge

A Merge activity that only processes instances

created or modified since the activity was last
run, saving otherwise useless processing time.
Setting Force Attribute Merge to No makes a
Merge activity incremental.
instance

An actual incarnation of a particular class,

represented as a record in BMC Atrium
CMDB. Both CIs and relationships are
instances of their respective classes.
instance ID

A GUID that BMC Atrium CMDB applies to

each instance to uniquely identify it.
instance permissions

The right to view or modify a specific

instance. These permissions are called rowlevel security and write security, respectively.

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instantiate

To create an instance of a class.

ITIL

The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is an

internationally accepted set of best practices
developed by the British government for
management of IT services.
job

A group of one or more reconciliation activities

executed in sequence. You cannot run an
activity by itself; only as part of a job. You can
start a job manually, with a schedule, with an
Execute Job activity, with workflow, or with an
API program.
key query

Limits the records transferred in a data

transfer in the BMC Atrium Integration
Engine. See also row-level query.
Merge activity

A Reconciliation Engine activity that merges

two or more datasets into a single complete
and correct dataset based on precedence values
that favor the strengths of each dataset.
metadata

Definitions that describe the data stored in

BMC Atrium CMDB. Metadata includes
classes in the data model and special classes to
define things such as datasets and federation
objects.
multitenancy

The separation of data and access so that a

single BMC Atrium CMDB can contain the
data of multiple parties, but each party can
access only their own data. See also account,
role.
namespace

A logical set of classes and attributes in the data

model, usually related to a specific consumer
or provider. The Common Data Model (CDM)
uses the BMC.CORE namespace.

Glossary

normalize

To ensure that data of the same type follows

the same text formatting conventions. This
helps reconciliation by making it more likely
for instances to match in an Identification
activity.
Normalization Engine

A BMC Atrium CMDB application that

provides a centralized, customizable, and
uniform way to overcome consistency
problems by normalizing attributes for
software and hardware products.
orphan

An instance that has been physically deleted

from source datasets but still exists in the
target dataset into which they merge.
overlay dataset

A dataset that provides a layer in which to

make changes that are pending approval. API
queries to the dataset seamlessly return its
modified instances along with unmodified
instances from the underlying regular dataset.
parent

See source.
Precedence group

The definition of an overall precedence value for

a dataset. It can optionally contain precedence
values for specific classes and attributes
within the dataset.
precedence value

A method of assigning weight to specific

datasets, classes, and attributes in a Merge
activity. Attribute precedence values override
class precedence values, which override
dataset precedence values.
primary key

A primary key uniquely identifies a row of

data. In BMC Atrium Integration Engine you
must specify the attributes of a CI class and
the corresponding fields in the external data
store to create the primary key. After a data
transfer, the primary key is the link that
matches a record in the external data store
with its counterpart in BMC Atrium CMDB.

Product Catalog

The BMC Atrium Core component that

provides normalized manufacturer names,
model names, categorization values, and
other information about hardware and
software products.
product categorization

Divides CIs into groups. Using the three-tier

structure of product categorization, you can
create successively smaller, more tightly
defined groups. You can create groups of CIs
in Tier 1 followed by smaller groups in Tier 2
and Tier 3.
production dataset

The dataset that serves as the single source of

reference for your organization and from
which you make business decisions. It acts as
the target dataset in most Merge activities.
provider

An application, often a discovery application,

that loads bulk data into BMC Atrium CMDB.
See also consumer.
provisioning

The process of providing access to resources,

such as printers, telephones, and so on, and to
information, such as permissions, databases,
and so on.
publish

To make an event available so that instances of

it can be written to the CMDB:Events form.
Purge Dataset activity

A Reconciliation Engine activity that removes

instances that have been marked as deleted
from one or more datasets.
Qualification

A Boolean statement that is evaluated to

determine whether an instance should be
included in an activity.
Qualification group

A set of Qualifications that can be used in

various types of activity. An instance that
meets one or more Qualifications in the group
is included in the activity.

Glossary

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reconciliation

The process of managing data in multiple

datasets using the Reconciliation Engine. The
main activities of reconciliation are
identifying, comparing, and merging
datasets, though the Reconciliation Engine
performs other activities as well.
reconciliation definition

An entity defined in the Reconciliation Manager

such as a job, activity, or group.
Reconciliation Engine

The component of BMC Atrium CMDB that

reconciles data from different datasets.
reconciliation ID

A GUID that the Reconciliation Engine assigns

to instances in different datasets that represent
the same real-life object.
Reconciliation Manager

The component of BMC Atrium CMDB that

you can use to manage reconciliation
definitions.
regular class

A class that stores its instance data in its own

BMC Remedy AR System form. See also
abstract class, categorization class.
related information

Information about a CI that does not qualify as

attributes of the CI, and should therefore not
be stored in a Configuration Management
Database (CMDB).
relationship

A connection between two CIs such as a

dependency or membership. It is an instance
of a relationship class. See also configuration item
(CI).
relationship class

A class that defines a type of relationship

between CIs, such as a dependency or
membership.
relationship filter

See filter.

relationship key

A relationship key uniquely identifies a row

of data in a relationship mapping. In BMC
Atrium Integration Engine you must specify
the attributes of a primary CI class and a
secondary CI class to create the relationship
key. After a data transfer, the relationship key
is the link that matches a record in the external
data store with its counterpart in BMC Atrium
CMDB.
Rename Dataset activity

A reconciliation activity that renames a dataset

without changing its ID, preserving references
to the dataset from any reconciliation
definitions.
role

A designation that grants permissions to more

than one BMC Remedy AR System group.
row-level query

Limits the transfer of data on a row-by-row

basis in the BMC Atrium Integration Engine.
See also key query.
row-level security

The permission required to view a specific

instance. See also write security.
rule

One or more criteria that, when met, cause an

action. The types of rules used in BMC Atrium
Core are Exclusion rule, Identification rule, and
Workflow Execution rule.
ruleset

A group of rules.
service level agreement

A contract between a service provider and a

purchaser that defines the level of service.
service model

The CIs and relationships that define business

services and the resources that deliver and
support them, enabling you to see
infrastructure items in a business context.
singleton class

An optional class characteristic that restricts

the class to holding only one instance.

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Glossary

snapshot

A set of data that represents a configuration at

a certain point in time, usually stored in its
own dataset. There can be multiple snapshots
of a given configuration.
soft delete

The act of marking an instance as deleted from

BMC Atrium CMDB by setting the
MarkAsDeleted attribute to Yes. See also hard
delete.
source

The CI class defined as Class 1 in a relationship

class, or an instance of that CI class as a
member of such a relationship. Also known as
the parent member. In a weak relationship, the
source is the strong member.
subclass

A class that is derived from another class,

which is called its superclass. The subclass
inherits all the attributes of its superclass and
any superclasses above it in the hierarchy, and
can also participate in relationships defined
for all superclasses.
superclass

A class from which other classes, called

subclasses, are derived.
synchronization

The automatic process of creating BMC

Remedy AR System forms and workflow to
represent a class that has just been created or
modified. The class is not available until
synchronization completes.
text normalization

See normalize.
unqualified data

Information about an unknown device at a

known IP endpoint. If you discover an IP
address, but lack the credentials to identify
the device at that endpoint, data for that
device is unqualified. For example, the device
might be a laptop computer, printer, router, or
some other type of device. BMC Atrium
CMDB stores unqualified data as
BMC_ComputerSystem instances.

weak relationship

An optional characteristic for relationship

classes, signifying that the members of a
relationship form a composite object that can
be reconciled as one. The destination member
is considered the weak member of a weak
relationship, existing as part of the source
member (also known as the strong member).
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)

The Microsoft application of the Web-Based

Enterprise Management initiative for an
industry standard for accessing management
information.
WMI

See Windows Management Instrumentation

(WMI).
workflow

BMC Remedy AR System objects such as

active links, escalations, and filters that
perform actions against data.
Workflow Execution group

A set of Workflow Execution rules. Each

Comparison activity can optionally reference
one Workflow Execution group.
Workflow Execution rule

A rule used when comparing instances

between datasets. When a compared instance
matches the qualification for the rule,
specified BMC Remedy AR System workflow
is executed against the instance or the instance
against which it is compared.
working dataset

One of a pair of dataset IDs that is specified

when executing a job with dynamic dataset
substitution. The job is executed with the
working dataset in place of the defined dataset.
write security

The permission required along with row-level

security to modify or delete a specific instance.
See also row-level security.

weak reference

See weak relationship.

Glossary

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Index
A
accessing
BMC Remedy AR System database 124, 132
Product Catalog from CM 124, 133
adding
aliases, company 91
product entries 72
products to suites 78
related files to patch entries 78
Software Library Item attachments 77
aliases
company, adding 91
company, modifying 92
approving
patches 84
products 83
products in bulk 85
versions 84
AR Database link 132
Asset Management, using with Product Catalog 16
Atrium Core, configuring Product Catalog 59
Atrium Foundation Admin role 60
Atrium Foundation Viewer role 60
Attachment Details form 77
attachments, adding to Software Library Items 77

B
best practices
categorization 113
setting up categorization in pre-production 49
BMC Atrium Product Catalog
categorizing product entries 35
creating entries 71
defined 14
exporting data 101
fields 32
modifying categorization values 48
product files 24
queries 135

BMC Atrium Product Catalog entries

adding product suites 78
creating custom 71
deleting 85
patches
adding related files 78
creating 76
creating related IDs 76
specifying locations 76
relating to companies 81
removing company relationships 83
BMC Configuration Automation for Clients and
Action Request supported platforms 126
BMC Configuration Automation for Clients, using
with Product Catalog 123
BMC products, using with Product Catalog 25
BMC Remedy Action Request System (BMC Remedy
AR System)
about 135
CM supported platforms 126
security script 124, 125
BMC Remedy Asset Management, categorizing bulk
inventory and schedules 33
BMC Remedy Change Management, categorizing
change requests and templates 34
BMC Remedy ITSM, categorizing records 33
BMC Remedy Knowledge Management, categorizing
solutions 34
BMC Remedy Service Desk, categorizing incidents,
known errors, problem investigations, and
scripts 35
BMC Software, contacting 2
bulk inventory, categorizing 33

C
categorization
benefits 32
best practices 113
creating new entries 72
data, summary 50

Index

147

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
default values 40, 122
discovery 39
fields on CI and Product Catalog 32
hardware configuration items 114
implementing 47
managing changes 56
miscellaneous configuration items 117
network configuration items 119
normalization examples 43
normalization steps 41
overview 32
planning and implementing 31
re-categorizing 51
reporting 38
reviewing 51
searching 38
setting up data 49, 51
software configuration items 120
structure, defining 47
use by product features 38
use in BMC products 33
use in BMC Remedy ITSM 33
use of "Other" as a value 48
validation workflow 39
workflows 38
categorizing
bulk inventory 33
change requests 34
configuration items 33
incidents 35
known errors 35
problem investigations 35
Product Catalog entries 34, 35
solutions 34
CCM_USER 124, 125, 133
CMDB, categorizing configuration items 33
companies
adding aliases 91
aliases, modifying 92
companies, relating to Product Catalog entries 81
Company Alias Update dialog box 91
Company dialog box 90, 94
configuration items, categorizing 33
configuring, Product Catalog 59
Connect button 134
creating
custom Product Catalog entries 71
patches for Product Catalog entries 76
product entries 72
product files 79
related patch IDs 76
Software Library Items 77

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custom data, importing and exporting 98

customer support 3
customizing Product Catalog entries 71

D
data
custom, importing and exporting 98
importing custom 102
Data Source Name (DSN) 127
data, exporting custom 101
Database link 132
database user, CCM_USER 124
database, port numbers 134
dataset, configuring for normalization 43, 86
DB 124, 135
DB-Link 126
default categorization values 122
default values, categorization 40
defining categorization structure 47, 49
Definitive Media Library
defined 15
See BMC Atrium Product Catalog
Definitive Product Library Console 78
Definitive Software Library
See BMC Atrium Product Catalog
deleting
Product Catalog entries 85
Product Catalog relationships 83
dialog boxes
Company Alias Update 91
Company and Organization 90, 94
discovery
categorization 39
discovery process, running in pre-production
environment 51
DML. See BMC Atrium Product Catalog
documentation, websites 25
DSL. See BMC Atrium Product Catalog

E
Easy installation 135
exporting, custom data 101

F
files
creating for products 79
relating to patches 78
forms

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Attachment Details 77
Product Catalog Alias Mapping 87
Product Catalog Setup 72, 76
Software Library Item 77
staging 103

G
General Access role 60

H
hardware CIs, categorizing 114
Heterogeneous Services Initialization File 129
HS_FDS_CONNECT_INFO 129
HS_FDS_SHAREABLE_NAME 129
HS_FDS_TRACE_LEVEL 129

I
IDs, related patch 76
implementing categorization 47
importing
custom data 102
inventory password 134

L
license management 16
location of Product Catalog entry patch 76

M
managing categorization changes 56
Microsoft Data Access Component (MDAC) 131
modifying
company aliases 92
list of platforms 88
Product Catalog categorization values 48
mtxoci81_win2k.reg registry file 131

P
patches
creating for entries 76
creating related IDs 76
in the Product Catalog adding files 78
specifying locations 76
permissions
Atrium Foundation Admin role 60
Atrium Foundation Viewer role 60
General Access role 60
Unrestricted Access role 60
planning, categorization 31
platforms, modifying list of 88
port numbers for databases 134
pre-production environment, running discovery
process 51
Product Catalog Alias Mapping form 87
Product Catalog Console
about 24
entries 24
Product Catalog View 24
Product Category tab 83, 85
products in suite 24
Search Criteria 24
Storage Location 24
Product Catalog Setup form
creating related patch IDs 76
customizing entries 72
product categorization. See categorization
Product Category tab 83, 85
product support 3
products
adding entries 72
adding to suites 78
creating files for 79
Products in Suite table 78

Q
queries
Product Catalog 135
Service Management Integration 136

network configuration items, categorizing 119

recategorizing Product Catalog entries 51, 54

relationships
company and Product Catalog entry 81
Product Catalog entry 81
reporting, categorization 38
reviewing, categorization 51

other, categorization value 48

Index

149

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
roles
Atrium Foundation Admin 60
Atrium Foundation Viewer 60
General Access 60
Unrestricted Access 60

S
searching categorizations 38
security script 124
Service Management Integration queries 136
setting up, categorization data 49
software configuration items, categorizing 120
staging forms, for importing data 103
Storage Location
adding attachments 77
creating 77
Storage Location form 77
suites, adding products 78
support, customer 3
supported database platforms 126
system administrator user name and password 134

T
tabs, Product Category 83
technical support 3
tnsnames.ora file 127

U
Unicode option 126
unrelating companies and dictionary entries 83
Unrestricted Access role 60
user_view password 134

V
validating, custom data 110

W
workflow
categorization 38
categorization validation 39

Z
zip file, BMC Remedy AR System security script 125

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