Symantec ALTIRIS CMDB SOLUTION 7.0

Altiris CMDB Solution from

Symantec Users Guide

Version 7.0

CMDB Solution Users Guide

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only in accordance with the terms of the agreement.

Documentation version: 7.0

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Technical Support ............................................................................................... 4

Chapter 1 Introducing CMDB Solution .............................................. 11

About CMDB Solution ................................................................... 11

About CMDB Solution 7.0 new features ............................................ 12

Terminology ............................................................................... 16

Chapter 2 Configuring CMDB Solution .............................................. 17

About CMDB configuration tasks .................................................... 17

About percentage ownership of resources ........................................ 17

About CMDB rules ........................................................................ 18

Chapter 3 Using resource types .......................................................... 19

About resource types .................................................................... 19

About predefined resource types ..................................................... 20

About base resource types ............................................................. 21

About data classes ........................................................................ 21

About CMDB data classes ............................................................... 22

About data class attributes ............................................................ 24

About data class attribute parameters ............................................. 24

About data input masks ................................................................. 25

About resource association types .................................................... 26

Resource type relationships ........................................................... 26

About the resource data class summary page .................................... 27

Chapter 4 Using resources ................................................................... 29

About resources ........................................................................... 29

Resource categories ...................................................................... 30

About merging resources ............................................................... 30

About the Resource Association Diagram ......................................... 30

About item tasks .......................................................................... 31

About resource list item tasks ......................................................... 31

About user-defined item tasks ........................................................ 33

About reports on owned resources .................................................. 33

Contents

Chapter 5 Using asset resource types and resources .................... 35

About asset type resources ............................................................. 35

About the computer resource type ................................................... 35

About asset life cycles ................................................................... 36

About retiring or disposing of an asset ............................................. 36

Chapter 6 Managing Configuration items ......................................... 37

About contract type resources ........................................................ 37

About datacenter type resources ..................................................... 37

About service type resources .......................................................... 38

About computer resource types ...................................................... 38

Chapter 7 About CMDB Security ......................................................... 39

About CMDB security .................................................................... 39

About role-based security .............................................................. 40

About predefined security roles ...................................................... 40

About role-based security configuration ........................................... 40

About scope-based security ............................................................ 41

About security scoping for reports .................................................. 42

Chapter 8 Using organizational resource types and

resources ......................................................................... 43

About organizational resource types ................................................ 43

About hierarchal resource types ..................................................... 45

About organizational groups and views ............................................ 45

Chapter 9 Using the CMDB interface ................................................. 47

CMDB Global Settings page ............................................................ 48

Default values page ...................................................................... 48

Default values page: Data entry for default values page ....................... 48

Display String Settings page .......................................................... 49

License Usage page ....................................................................... 49

Organizational Hierarchy Settings page ........................................... 49

Ownership Settings page ............................................................... 50

Report Scoping page ..................................................................... 50

Resource List page ....................................................................... 51

About the resource association type page ......................................... 51

Resource Data Class page .............................................................. 52

About the resource association type page ......................................... 53

Resource data entry tab settings page .............................................. 54

Contents8

Merge Resources page ................................................................... 55

Assign Computer's Ownership to be the Primary User task page ........... 55

Clean Ownership task page ............................................................ 56

Duplicate Computer Merge task page ............................................... 56

Duplicate User Merge task page ...................................................... 57

Inventory Clean Up page ............................................................... 58

Inventory to Asset Synchronization task page ................................... 58

Resource Merge Rule task page ....................................................... 59

Update network resource location task page ..................................... 60

Update Organizational Hierarchy task page ...................................... 61

Index .................................................................................................................... 63

9Contents

Contents10

Introducing CMDB Solution

This chapter includes the following topics:

■ About CMDB Solution

■ About CMDB Solution 7.0 new features

■ Terminology

About CMDB Solution

CMDB (Configuration Management Database) Solution lets you model configuration

items, resources, and the relationships between them in a single, central database.

It lets you facilitate the identification of all components and relationships, and

to instigate any required changes. The solution actively manages resources

according to user-specified instructions in jobs, tasks, configuration policies, and

custom CMDB rules.

CMDB Solution has the following features and uses:

■ Define organizational groups and hierarchy.

Organizational resources such as departments and cost centers are used to

mirror your own organization's structure and hierarchy. CMDB Solution

hierarchy features and child to parent relationships are used to specify standard

settings throughout an organizational hierarchy. For example, a task that is

applied to a parent department can be automatically pushed down to child

departments. Setting up organizational resources should be the first thing

you do with CMDB Solution.

See “About organizational resource types” on page 43.

■ Define resources.

Resources such as assets and contracts are entered into the database using

predefined templates called resource types. The predefined resource types

should be used when possible. Predefined resource types leverage other

1

Chapter

resource types. They provide summary data on the resources created, include

associated reports, and include functionality not available in custom resource

types. If none of the predefined resource types meet your needs, you can create

a new resource type.

You can specify default resource type values so that all resources based on a

resource type are created with predefined values. When you enter data for

assets, certain fields have the same value for many assets of a particular asset

type. You can populate these fields with a default value. For example, users in

a particular location have the same phone number prefix. You can save time

by having the prefix already entered into the appropriate field.

■ Add data to the Configuration Management Database

Importing is the easiest and most efficient method of entering data into the

system. You can also enter data manually. As you set up a resource management

system, there is certain data that makes sense to enter before other data. For

example, most resources rely on the availability of organizational data.

■ Clean up and configure data management with ready-made configuration

items.

See “About CMDB configuration tasks” on page 17.

■ Create customized item actions and CMDB Rules to manage and manipulate

data

CMDB rules target a group of assets based on their type and properties, and

then make changes to them. Out of the box configuration items address the

most commonly required resource management policies. CMDB Rules provide

the flexibility to create custom policies for individual resource management

needs.

See “About CMDB rules” on page 18.

■ Configure security.

If multiple users work with resources, for example entering and editing data,

then you should configure security. CMDB Solution includes predefined security

roles. You can modify predefined security roles or you can create your own

roles. You can also restrict or allow access to resource types and data classes.

Hierarchy features are used to set and enforce security settings throughout a

hierarchy.

About CMDB Solution 7.0 new features

Many features available in CMDB Solution 7.0 were included in previous versions

of CMDB Solution. In addition, CMDB Solution 7.0 includes several new and

improved features.

Introducing CMDB Solution

About CMDB Solution 7.0 new features

12

Table 1-1

CMDB Solution 7.0 features available in previous versions

DescriptionExisting feature

CMDB Solution 7.0 includes several predefined resource types (also

called configuration items (CI) or assets) that have predefined

attributes and associations. Predefined resource types include

computer, monitor, network printer, cell phone, rack, service,

system, and UPS.

Configuration items

CMDB Solution 7.0 lets you track a resource's associations and

relationships, such as who is the owner of an asset and where is its

location. You can also track which resources are associated with

each owner.

Relationships and

associations

CMDB Solution 7.0 lets you add new resource types and new data

classes.

Extendable resource

model

Organizational resource types can be associated with another

resource of the same type. For example, users who have the same

manager can be associated with each other. Also, the Location

organizational resource type can be used to designate office

locations, specific buildings, and floors. Other predefined

organization types include Cost Centers and Departments.

Organizational types

Similar to the link between CMDB Solution 6.5 and Altiris Helpdesk

Solution, CMDB Solution 7.0 provides links for Symantec

ServiceDesk 7.0. This type of connectivity lets you analyze the

effects of a proposed change.

Connectivity to

analyze proposed

change to CMDB

The Resource Association Diagram feature lets you view asset

relationships in a graphical format.

Graphical view of

assets and

associations

13Introducing CMDB Solution

About CMDB Solution 7.0 new features

Table 1-2

CMDB Solution 7.0 new and improved features

DescriptionNew and improved

feature

The improved UI includes the following elements:

■ Menu bar -- lets you manage the Symantec Management

Platform and installed solutions. It also lets you search for items,

such as computers, users, and reports.

■ Breadcrumb bar -- displays the path you used to navigate to the

current location.

■ Left pane -- provides a tree view of items that can be selected

and expanded. Right-clicking provides additional functionality,

such as creating a new asset.

■ Right pane -- displays the content that is associated with items

selected in the left pane.

You can customize several console elements, such as portal pages,

Web parts, views, menus, and context menus (right-click menus).

Improved user

interface

Portal pages display a collection of different pieces of information

that are contained in Web parts. Web parts are the building blocks

for portal pages. A Web part can display a report or the contents of

a Web page. The console provides a set of predefined Web parts

that you can use to build your portal pages. You can modify Web

parts and create new ones. By creating portal pages, you can

customize the user interface for your specific job function.

Portal pages and Web

parts

You can choose to show or hide menu items depending on a user's

security role. For example, you can give a user access to the Reports

menu but not to the Manage menu. You can also add menus and

customize sub-menus.

Role-specific views

Resources in the CMDB Solution 7.0 now obtain their permissions

from the organizational group and views to which they belong. An

organizational view is a self-contained hierarchy of organizational

groups that contain resources. Organization views simplify

administration of Symantec Management Platform, so their

structure should reflect how you administer Notification Server .If

you manage resource by geographical regions, you could set up

organizational views according to geography. For example, World

> Americas > North America > Regions > Region West > California

> Los Angeles.

If you manage resources along functional lines, you could set up

organization views according to function, such as Sales, Marketing,

and R&D. You can set up multiple organizational views to have

multiple ways to organize resources.

Inherited

permissions and

organizational views

Introducing CMDB Solution

About CMDB Solution 7.0 new features

14

Table 1-2

CMDB Solution 7.0 new and improved features (continued)

DescriptionNew and improved

feature

The reporting engine is faster and more flexible. Security scoping

is automatically enabled on reports. CMDB 6.5 reports are still

available, but without security scope enforcement.

Improved reporting

engine

The edit page lets you view and edit all resource types, whether or

not they were predefined or custom. CMDB Solution 7.0 no longer

has tabs. Fields are now displayed in alphabetical order by the name

of the data class that they are in or the name of the association. For

example, the data class Manufacturer contains the fields

Manufacturer and Model precedes the association Location (since

the letter "l" precedes "m" in the alphabet).

The edit page now has the ability to be customized and saved as a

view. In an edit page view, you can define the order in which to

display data classes and associations. You can choose to hide data

classes and associations. You can set up a global view that is

available to all users.

Improved resource

editing and global

views

You can view a resource and the resources that are associated with

it. The Resource Association Diagram has the following two filters:

■ Association type filter – lets you choose which association types

you want to see displayed in the Resource Association Diagram.

■ Resource type filter – lets you choose which resource types you

want to see.

Resource Association Diagram lets you specify the number of levels

and nodes to display. It has three different formats: tree hierarchy,

free form, and static. Nodes can be clicked and dragged to change

the way a node displays. To customize and easily recreate the display

for your environment, you can save the display options and filters.

Improved resource

association diagram

When you set up associations between resources during the CMDB

Solution 7.0 installation,organizational views are automatically

created with the same hierarchy and membership.

Automatically-created

organizational views

The predefined organizational are Location, Cost Center, and

Department. However, a company might need to create additional

organizational types, for example Business Units. The first few

steps for creating an organizational type are the same as those for

creating a custom resource type with data classes, with one

exception. The one extra step is to set up an association from the

new resource type to itself by clicking “Use as Hierarchy

Association” on the resource association definition page.

Improved

organizational types

15Introducing CMDB Solution

About CMDB Solution 7.0 new features

Terminology

To better understand CMDB Solution, it is important that you understand the

terminology. The following are terms with which you should be familiar:

■ Resource type

A template that is used for creating resources.

■ Resource

Items such as assets, contracts, and users with which Notification Server works

and stores data.

■ Base resource type

The predefined resource type on which you can base custom resource types

as you create them. A resource type inherits all of the data classes of its base

resource type.

■ Data class

The building block of a resource type, data classes represent the fields in

resources. For example, .

■ Data class attribute

A component of a data class, which is represented as a column of a table (in a

multi-row data class) or field.

■ Data class attribute parameter

Parameters of a data class attribute, which specify the characteristics of the

attribute such as name, description, and maximum length of the attribute.

■ Item task

An action that can be performed on a resource. For example, specifying an

owner, specifying the cost center, retiring the asset, and cloning.

■ Resource association type

A template for creating a child to parent relationship between two resource

types. This association lets you link resources for more convenient access to

associated data.

Introducing CMDB Solution

Terminology

16

Configuring CMDB Solution

This chapter includes the following topics:

■ About CMDB configuration tasks

■ About percentage ownership of resources

■ About CMDB rules

About CMDB configuration tasks

Administrators perform configuration tasks. Several configuration tasks only

need to be performed during the initial setup of your resource management system;

they are not ongoing tasks.

The following are common CMDB Solution configuration tasks:

■ Inventory to asset data synchronization

■ Default computer ownership

■ Default computer location

■ Duplicate computer merging

■ Computers no longer in use

About percentage ownership of resources

Multiple users and cost centers can partly own the same asset. To assign ownership

percentages, first, you must allow assets to have multiple users. Then, you specify

ownership by user, department, and cost center, and set ownership percentages.

Ownership percentages are calculated in the following ways:

■ Asset ownership must total 100%. If there is one owner assigned, ownership

is calculated at 100%, if there are two owners assigned it is 50/50.

2

Chapter

■ If ownership totals less than or greater than 100.00 % then you must select

auto calculate in the Associations tab. The Associations tab is in Edit and

create resource page. In this case ownership is calculated by multiplying both

percentages with what is required to make 100%, while the ratio is maintained.

For example, consider the following:

If one owner owns 85% and another owns 10%, then ownership is increased

to total 100%. The 85:10 ratio is maintained.

■ If the ownership percentage adds up to total more than 100%, the ratio is

maintained and the percentages are decreased to total 100%.

About CMDB rules

CMDB rules are custom rules created by users for managing data and tasks. CMDB

Solution configuration pages such as Synchronize Hierarchy Collections and

Update Network Resource Location can be regarded as CMDB rules. The pages

are included in the solution by default.

You can create your own CMDB rules. You can target a group of assets based on

their type and properties, and then make changes to them. You must define the

criteria for the targeted assets, the changes that occur, and the type of action to

be taken. With custom CMDB rules you can test them before your run them, create

schedules, and notify relevant personnel.

Warning: CMDB Rules are powerful and can alter vast amounts of data. Ensure

that you test CMDB Rules first (using the Test Rule icon) and are sure that of the

changes you make before you run them.

Configuring CMDB Solution

About CMDB rules

18

Using resource types

This chapter includes the following topics:

■ About resource types

■ About predefined resource types

■ About base resource types

■ About data classes

■ About CMDB data classes

■ About data class attributes

■ About data class attribute parameters

■ About data input masks

■ About resource association types

■ Resource type relationships

■ About the resource data class summary page

About resource types

Resource types are the templates for entering resource data into the Configuration

Management Database. All items that CMDB Solution monitors or managed are

based upon a resource type. For example, the resource type: "Computer."

See “About resources” on page 29.

You must have administrator rights to create and edit resource types.

Resource types include the following components:

3

Chapter

■ Base resource types. Base resource types are ae foundation on which a resource

type is built. A resource type inherits the data classes of the base resource

type. All resource types, except the Asset type and the Contract type, are based

on another resource type.

See “About base resource types” on page 21.

■ Data classes. Data classes are the building blocks of a resource type. Each data

class defines the attributes that the resource type uses to store data.

See “About data classes” on page 21.

■ Resource association types. Resource association types create associations

between resources. Resource association types link related data together.

See “About resource association types” on page 26. to resource association

types

CMDB solution lets you define your own resource types, but it also includes many

predefined resource types.

See “About predefined resource types” on page 20.

About predefined resource types

Although you can define your own resource types, CMDB Solution includes many

resource types that are predefined. Predefined resource types contain the relevant

associations, fields, and reports for a particular type of resource.

Resource types let you enter resource data into the Configuration Management

Database.

See “About resource types” on page 19.

Use the predefined resource types whenever possible.

You can add custom fields to predefined resource types. Predefined resource types

include features and include reports. These features and reports are not available

with the resource types that you define.

Although commonly used resource types are predefined, they may have a name

that you are not accustomed to. For example, In your organization you have a

“Mail Stop." CMDB solution does not have a predefined "Mail Stop" resource type.

However, "Location" is the predefined equivalent to "Mail Stop and provides the

functionality that you need.

You can change the name of any resource type throughout the solution by using

the Display As rule.

Using resource types

About predefined resource types

20

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