CMDB Settings

You can use the CMDB Settings window to configure the global settings for the CMDB module. These settings can be used to define options for items in the CMDB containing configuration items, Users, organizations, contracts, agreements, services and external suppliers.

Before you start

You must have CMDB Setup enabled within your General Access security role in order to configure any CMDB administration settings. Depending on if or how your system is partitioned, ensure that you are working in the correct partition.

  1. Select the Menu button , then Admin, and then select System Administration. The System Administration window is displayed . In the Explorer pane expand CMDB.

  1. Select CMDB Settings to display the window.
  2. Complete the details, selecting the appropriate settings where necessary.

    3. The CMDB Items/People options enable you to specify the relationship and links between people, locations and organizations.
    Locations Linked to Organization

    Select this option if all the locations that you want to set up are specific to particular organizations. A set of locations for one organization will not be available for other, unrelated organizations. If you are using ASM Core in a B2B (business to business) environment, you may want to select this option.

    Deselect to allow locations that are defined in the system (with specific address details) to be linked to any organization.

    If this option is selected, the Location option under New on the menu is disabled.
    People Linked to Organizations

    If this option is selected, the Organization field appears on the Person Details window. This means that when Users are created or updated in the system, they can be linked to organizations. In this case, the address that appears on the Person Details window will be that of the organization.

    You may not want this option selected in, say, a User service environment, where your company may not want the User to be associated with the organization (such as a retail outlet) and its location. When adding User information on the Person Details window, the address would then be the User’s address, not that of the retail outlet.
    Refresh Person Details Select to automatically update the location or organization on the Call Details window when an Analyst has a call open and opens the Person Details window to change the Location or Organization.
    The Audit Trail options enable you to select the types of CMDB entities to track when changes are made in their Details window.

    For performance reasons, the Audit Trail only tracks changes to long text fields (such as Description) up until the size limit of the New Value field, which is 80 characters. So while the audit trail will record a change made to the description, it may not track the entire change made to a long text field.
    Organizations

    Select this option to track changes made to Organization entities.
    Contracts

    Select this option to track changes made to Contracts entities.
    Locations

    Select this option to track changes made to Location entities.
    People

    Select this option to track changes made to Person entities.
    Change Calendar Select this option to track changes made to Change Calendars entities.
    Agreements

    Select this option to track changes made to Agreements entities.
    Subscriber Groups

    Select this option to track changes made to Subscriber Groups entities.
    Change Reason

    Select this option to enable the Change Reason window.
    The Default Visibility options enable you to make configuration items and services visible on the Self Service Portal by default. However, this setting can be changed each time an analyst creates a configuration item or service.
    Config Item - Self Service Portal Default Select this option to enable configuration items to be available for viewing through the Self Service Portal as a default. Selecting this option means that when an Analyst creates a configuration item, the Self Service Portal option on the Configuration Item Details window will be selected by default. However, the Analyst can clear the selection, if needed.
    Service - Self Service Portal Default Select this option to enable the Self Service Portal checkbox to be selected by default when a service portfolio status is added. Analysts can override this when defining service portfolio statuses. The service portfolio status is used to designate whether a service item is available or not for Users to order on the portal.

    The Object Version Control options allow you to enable version control for objects linked to CMDB items.

    The system then keeps track of the versions of the objects linked to a CMDB item. You can choose the CDMB items for which object versioning should apply by selecting the checkbox next to the name of the following CMDB items:

    CMDB Item objects attached to CMDB Items using the Object explorer option will be version controlled
    Person objects attached to a Person using the Object explorer option will be version controlled
    Organization objects attached to Organizations using the Object explorer option will be version controlled
    Location objects attached to Locations using the Object explorer option will be version controlled
    Contract objects attached to Contracts using the Object explorer option will be version controlled
    Subscriber Group objects attached to Subscriber Groups using the Object explorer option will be version controlled
    The CMDB Item Window options enable you to set the following Model and Manufacturer settings.
    Model to Description Select this option to enable the system to automatically copy the selected model name to the Description field if an Analyst does not enter a description when creating a configuration item. This then becomes the description of the configuration item shown on the Call, Request, or Task Details window.
    Manufacturer to Model Select this option to enable the Link Manufacturer to Model Type in System Administration. This will allow you to set a relationship between Manufacturers and Models throughout the system.

    If this option is selected, entries in the Model list on the Configuration Item Details window are filtered based on the selection made in the Manufacturer field. If not, all entries model types are displayed.

    The External Contract option allows you to set whether a contract needs to be set before a call can be forwarded externally. There is only one option in this section.
    Required when forwarding externally Select this option to make it a requirement that analysts select a contract on a call or task before they can forward it externally. This option does not make the Contract field mandatory. However, if an analyst does not select a contract, they cannot forward the call or task to an external supplier.
    Linking Diagram. There is only one option in this section.
    Enable Full Expand Leave this option selected to add the Full Expand option to the CMDB Linking Diagram.

    The option is accessed by right-clicking on the diagram.
    The Transaction Options allow you to specify which fields are mandatory when analysts add transactions against asset type CMDB Item Types, such as the standard Software Products and Inventory CMDB Item Types. Transactions include ordering, purchasing, reserving and allocating items, as well as transferring ownership, changing availability status and retiring items.
    Organization

    This requires that an Organization be specified when an Analyst adds a transaction
    Location

    This requires that Location be specified on an asset Transaction.
    Cost Center

    This requires that a Cost Center be specified on an asset Transaction.
    License Type

    This requires that a License Type be specified on an asset Transaction.
    License Key

    This requires that a License Key be specified on an asset Transaction.
    Contract

    This requires that a Contract be specified on an asset Transaction.
    External Supplier

    This requires that an External Supplier be specified on an asset Transaction.
    Warranty Start/End Date

    This requires that Warranty Start/End date be specified on an asset Transaction.
    PO Number

    This requires that a Purchase Order Number be specified on an asset Transaction.
    Invoice Number

    This requires that an Invoice Number be specified on an asset Transaction
    The CMDB Bulk Update option allows you to set the number of items allowed in one bulk update. There is only one option in this section.
    Maximum items Enter the maximum number of items that can be updated at one time using the CMDB Bulk Update function on the CMDB Item Search window.

    Select to save the changes. Provide the Change Reasons if prompted to do so.