5.1 BMC Remedy ARS Adapter

The BMC Remedy ARS adapter displays Remedy tickets as alarm information in Operations Center.

In Operations Center, the BMC Remedy ARS adapter provides the following features:

  • Maps alarm severity based on the value of a defined ticket field

  • Filters tickets based on selected fields and values

  • Easy configuration using industry-standard XML

  • Groups tickets for quick and easy viewing via configurations in the hierarchy file

  • Sets the polling frequency for updating ticket information

The follow sections describe configuration steps necessary to integrate with BMC Remedy ARS.

5.1.1 BMC Remedy ARS Requirements and Installation

The requirements to integrate BMC Remedy ARS:

Setting up BMC Remedy 6.x and 7.0 on Windows

To set up BMC Remedy 6.x and 7.0 for Windows:

  1. Copy the BMC Remedy JAR files to the \OperationsCenter_install_path\classes\ext directory:

    • \ARSystem_install\AR System\arapi70.jar
    • \ARSystem_install\AR System\Arserver\Api\lib\arutil70.jar
    • \ARSystem_install\AR System\Arserver\Api\lib\axis.jar
  2. DLL files from your Remedy installation must be copied to a directory on the Operations Center server or the Operations Center remote container server. For example, \OperationsCenter_install_path\remedy_files\. Be sure to verify this target directory is defined for the server’s PATH environment variable.

    1. Copy the following DLL files from \ARSystem_install\Arserver\Api\lib:

      • arapi70.dll
      • arjni70.dll
      • arutiljni70.dll
      • arxmlutil70.dll
    2. Copy the following DLL files from \ARSystem_install :

      • arrpc70.dll
      • arutl70.dll
      • icuuc20.dll
      • icudt20.dll
      • icuin20.dll
      • xerces‑c_2_6.dll
    3. Copy the following DLL files from \ARSystem_install\AREmail :

      • icuuc32.dll
      • icudt32.dll
      • icuin32.dll
      • Xalan‑C_1_9.dll
      • XalanMessages_1_9.dll
      • xerces‑depdom_2_6.dll
  3. Be sure to verify the target directory is defined for the server’s PATH environment variable.

  4. Download the MSVCP71.dll file from the Internet, or copy it from a BMC Atrium CMDB installation, to a directory on the Operations Center server.

    Be sure to verify the target directory is defined for the server’s PATH environment variable.

  5. Restart the Operations Center server.

    For instructions, see Manually Starting the Operations Center Server and Starting the Operations Center Server in UNIX in the Operations Center Server Installation Guide.

Setting up BMC Remedy 7.1 for Windows

To set up BMC Remedy 7.1 for Windows:

  1. Copy the following files from \ARSystem_install\AR System\Arserver\ to \OperationsCenter_install_path\integrations\ext\BMCRemedy:

    • Api\lib\arapi71.jar
    • Api\lib\arcmn71.jar
    • Api\lib\arrpc71.jar
    • Api\lib\commons-codec-1.3.jar
    • Api\lib\commons-collections-3.2.jar
    • Api\lib\commons-configuration-1.3.jar
    • Api\lib\commons-digester-1.7.jar
    • Api\lib\commons-lang-2.2.jar
    • Api\lib\oncrpc.jar
    • Api\lib\spring.jar
    • xercesImpl.jar
  2. DLL files from your Remedy installation must be copied to a directory on the Operations Center server or the Operations Center remote container server. For example, \OperationsCenter_install_path\remedy_files\. Be sure to verify this target directory is defined for the server’s PATH environment variable.

    1. Copy the following DLL files from \ARSystem_install\server_name\Arserver\Api\lib:

      • arapi71.dll
      • arjni71.dll
      • arrpc71.dll
    2. Copy the following DLL files from \ARSystem_install\server_name:

      • icuinbmc32.dll
      • icuucbmc32.dll
      • icudt32.dll
      • arutl71.dll
  3. Download the MSVCP71.dll file from the Internet, or copy it from a BMC Atrium CMDB installation, to a directory on the Operations Center server. Be sure to verify the target directory is defined for the server’s PATH environment variable.

  4. Restart the Operations Center server.

    For instructions, see Manually Starting the Operations Center Server and Starting the Operations Center Server in UNIX in the Operations Center Server Installation Guide.

Setting up BMC Remedy 8.1 for Windows

To set up BMC Remedy 8.1 for Windows:

  1. Copy the following files from \ARSystem_install\AR System\Arserver\ to \OperationsCenter_install_path\integrations\ext\BMCRemedy8:

    • arapi81_build001.jar
    • log4j-1.2.14.jar
  2. Restart the Operations Center server.

    For instructions, see Manually Starting the Operations Center Server and Starting the Operations Center Server in UNIX in the Operations Center Server Installation Guide.

Setting Up a UNIX Environment

To set up on Solaris and RedHat Linux:

  1. Copy the BMC Remedy JAR files to the Operations Center server.

    • For BMC Remedy versions 6.x, and 7.0, copy the following files to /OperationsCenter_install_path/classes/ext:

      • /ARSystem_install/AR System/arapi70.jar
      • /ARSystem_install/AR System/Arserver/Api/lib/arutil70.jar
      • /ARSystem_install/AR System/Arserver/Api/lib/axis.jar
    • For BMC Remedy version 7.1, copy the following files from /ARSystem_install/AR System/Arserver/ to /OperationsCenter_install_path/integrations/ext/BMCRemedy:

      • Api/lib/arapi71.jar
      • Api/lib/arcmn71.jar
      • Api/lib/arrpc71.jar
      • Api/lib/commons-codec-1.3.jar
      • Api/lib/commons-collections-3.2.jar
      • Api/lib/commons-configuration-1.3.jar
      • Api/lib/commons-digester-1.7.jar
      • Api/lib/commons-lang-2.2.jar
      • Api/lib/oncrpc.jar
      • Api/lib/spring.jar
      • xercesImpl.jar
    • For BMC Remedy version 8.1, copy the following files from /ARSystem_install/AR System/Arserver/ to /OperationsCenter_install_path/integrations/ext/BMCRemedy8:

      • arapi81_build001.jar
      • log4j-1.2.14.jar
  2. For BMC Remedy versions 6.x, and 7.0 on Solaris and Linux, copy all .so and .32* files into the LD_LIBRARY_PATH directory.

  3. Copy the C API libraries to their defined environment variable for library path:

    HP‑UX:

    Copy all .sl files into the SHLIB_PATH directory.

    AIX:

    Copy all .so files into the LIBPATH directory.

  4. Change the permissions of each .so or .sl file by performing a chmod 755 filename command.

  5. Restart the Operations Center server.

    For instructions, see Manually Starting the Operations Center Server and Starting the Operations Center Server in UNIX in the Operations Center Server Installation Guide.

5.1.2 Creating a Remedy Adapter

The following provides the basic steps for creating a BMC Remedy ARS adapter with links to sections that provide detailed information.

To create a BMC Remedy ARS adapter:

  1. Edit the adapter hierarchy XML file to customize the adapter hierarchy structure.

    • For BMC Remedy ARS v6.x and v7.0, edit RemedyHierarchy.xml.

    • For BMC Remedy ARS v7.1, 7.2 or 8.1, edit BMCRemedyHierarchy.xml.

    For instructions, see Section 5.1.3, Customizing the Adapter Hierarchy.

  2. Create the BMC Remedy ARS adapter in Operations Center.

    • For BMC Remedy ARS v 6.x and v7.0, select Remedy Action Request System for the adapter type.

    • For BMC Remedy ARS v7.1 or 7.2, select BMC Remedy Adapter 7+ for the adapter type.

    • For BMC Remedy ARS v8.1, select BMC Remedy Adapter 8 for the adapter type.

    For instructions, see Section 2.1, Creating an Adapter.

  3. Edit the adapter configuration file to specify schemas, field and ticket filters, and alarm field mappings.

    For instructions, see Section 5.1.4, Understanding the Remedy Configuration File and Section 5.1.5, Updating the Remedy Configuration.

    Note that after updating the configuration file by modifying the configuration file directly, or by using Edit Remedy Configuration or Show Server Information right-click options, the adapter must be restarted.

  4. Edit the Remedy Action Request System adapter properties.

    For property descriptions, see Section A.36, Symantec Clarity.

    Because each BMC Remedy ARS implementation is different, configure the adapter to reflect the specific implementation. For example, use the AlarmColumns adapter property to contain additional noncore fields of the associated schema.

    If the Port-Mapper is not running on the Remedy server, and the system uses version 7.x or later of the Remedy API JAR files, you must configure the Server Port adapter property to the port number used by the Remedy ARS server. Otherwise, the integration fails.

5.1.3 Customizing the Adapter Hierarchy

Modify the adapter hierarchy file using the Operations Center XML editor to customize the adapter.

  • For BMC Remedy ARS versions 6.x and 7.0, edit RemedyHierarchy.xml.

  • For BMC Remedy ARS version 7.1, edit BMCRemedyHierarchy.xml.

For example, set up the adapter hierarchy to group tickets by schemas. Then within a schema, group tickets by assignment and status.

For more information about the Operations Center XML editor, see The Operations Center XML Editor in the Operations Center Server Configuration Guide.

For more information about hierarchy files, see Section 9.0, Using the HierarchyFile.

5.1.4 Understanding the Remedy Configuration File

The adapter configuration file enables full customization of the BMC Remedy ARS adapter to surface ticket information in Operations Center to specify:

  • Schemas to retrieve

  • Additional noncore Remedy fields to retrieve for each schema

  • Tickets to retrieve for each schema (i.e. retrieve only open tickets)

  • Field to map to the severity of the Operations Center alarm for each schema

    By default, all alarms have a severity of informational.

  • Alarm filtering based on field ID and value

Edit the following configuration files:

  • For BMC Remedy ARS versions 6.x and 7.0, edit RemedyConfiguration.xml.

  • For BMC Remedy ARS version 7.1, 7.2, and 8.1 edit BMCRemedyConfiguration.xml.

The RemedyConfiguration_1.0.dtd data dictionary describes the exact syntax of the configuration file.

The current integration with Remedy does not support Diary fields. Errors contain the message “Cannot specify a diary field.”

Defining Schemas

The BMC Remedy ARS adapter works with schemas of type Remedy Base Schemas only.

Base schemas have a set of eight core fields and zero or more additional fields. Implementations commonly use this schema type to maintain Remedy tickets. Other unsupported types are Compound Schemas and Data Only Schemas.

For more details about Remedy Schema types, see the Remedy documentation.

In the configuration file, define all schemas that Operations Center retrieves. The minimum definition is:

<schema name="AR 4.0 Sampler" />

However, this definition does not filter or map severities and only extracts core fields.

Specifying Additional Fields

BMC Remedy ARS schemas based on Remedy Base Schemas contain eight core fields:

  • Entry ID (ticket ID)

  • Assigned to

  • Date created

  • Date last modified

  • Last modified by

  • Description

  • Status

  • Submitted by

  • Short Description

Optionally specify one or more additional fields in the RemedyConfiguration.xml or BMCRemedyConfiguration.xml file. These fields depend on the specific implementation of the schema.

<schema name="AR 4.0 Sampler">
  <field id="536870926"/>    
  <field id="536870931"/>
</schema>

Using the field element, the id= attribute represents the field ID from the Remedy FIELDS table. For example, add a field with ID 536870926 to also view the Box 10 field of the ticket.

Filtering Tickets

By default, Operations Center retrieves all tickets of a schema. The BMC Remedy ARS adapter allows specifying a simple filter that determines a subset of the tickets to retrieve. For example, set up the adapter to retrieve and maintain open tickets only. The following filter does not display any open tickets:

<schema name="AR 4.0 Sampler">
  <filter field_id="7" operator="less" value="4"/>
</schema>

The _id field is for status and only values less than 4 display.

Querying Tickets

The RemedyConfiguration.xml and BMCRemedyConfiguration.xml files allows query qualification (filtering) using the <query> XML tag.

In the following example, the <filter> filtering mechanism restricts the Remedy records returned to those records whose field 7 value is less than 15. An additional restriction uses the <query> XML tag to select only those records containing a Status field equal to 2 and an Asset Name field equal to TEST.

<schema name="CHG:Change" enable="true">
      <field id="240000011" polled="true"/>
      <field id="200000020" polled="true"/>
      <filter field_id="7" operator="less" value="15"/>
      <query value="&apos;Status&apos; = 2 AND &apos;Asset Name&apos; = &quot;TEST&quot;">
          <field name="Asset Name"/>
          <field id="7"/>
      </query>
      <mapping field_id="7" default="UNKNOWN">
         <sev_map value="0" severity="CRITICAL"/>
         <sev_map value="1" severity="INFO"/>
         <sev_map value="2" severity="MINOR"/>
         <sev_map value="3" severity="MAJOR"/>
         <sev_map value="4" severity="OK"/>
      </mapping>
   </schema>

The <query> XML tag must have sub <field> tags for the fields that are referenced in the query text value. In the previous example, the sub <field> tags are:

<field name="Asset Name"/>
<field id="7"/>

Use the name= attribute if the field was already referenced by id= in the <schema> level <field> XML tag. In the example, it is:

<field id="240000011" polled="true"/>

Use the id= attribute if the field was not referenced in a <schema> level <field> XML tag.

Mapping Alarm Severity

Core BMC Remedy ARS fields do not contain a severity field and do not allow Operations Center to derive a severity from them.

However, most custom implementations contain a noncore field that indicates the urgency of a ticket. Use this field to map to an alarm severity in Operations Center.

For example, a schema might contain the urgency field, which can have a value of low, medium or high. Then set up the RemedyConfiguration.xml or BMCRemedyConfiguration.xml file to display in Operations Center all tickets with low urgency as MINOR alarms, medium urgency as MAJOR alarms and the high urgency as CRITICAL alarms.

<schema name="AR 4.0 Sampler">
  <mapping field_id="7" default="MAJOR">
    <sev_map value="0" severity="CRITICAL"/>
    <sev_map value="1" severity="INFO"/>
    <sev_map value="2" severity="MINOR"/>
    <sev_map value="3" severity="MAJOR"/>
    <sev_map value="4" severity="OK"/>
  </mapping>
</schema>

The mapping above uses the STATUS field_id 7 for mapping severities.

Mapping Alarm Date/Time Values

By default, the alarm Date/Time value displayed in Operations Center is mapped to the Remedy core field named Modified Date. It is possible to map the Date/Time to a different Remedy core field. For example, map Date/Time to the Create Date core field in Remedy, assuming Create Date has a field ID of 3. Add this line to the schema definition:

<last_update field_id="3" />

5.1.5 Updating the Remedy Configuration

Update the Remedy Configuration file using Operations Center menu options. Also edit the Remedy Configuration file using the XML Editor.

Note that after updating the configuration file by modifying the configuration file directly, or by using Edit Remedy Configuration or Show Server Information right-click options, the adapter must be restarted.

Adding Schema and Fields Through the Remedy Adapter

To add schema and fields through the Remedy adapter:

  1. In the Explorer pane, expand Elements > the Remedy adapter > Remedy Server Information > the server name > Available Schemas.

  2. Right-click a schema, then click Add as Configured Schema.

    The selected schema displays under Configured Schemas in the Explorer pane.

    Core fields automatically display under Configured Fields > Core Fields in the Explorer pane.

Adding a Field

To add a field:

  1. In the Explorer pane, right-click a field under Available Fields, then click Add as Configured Field.

    The selected field displays under Configured Fields > Additional Fields.

Adding All Fields Under a Selected Category

To add all fields under a selected category, such as By Data Type:

  1. Right-click the parent element, then click Auto Add Fields.

    All associated fields display under Configured Fields > Additional Fields.

Removing a Schema Through the Remedy Adapter

To remove a configured schema through the Remedy adapter:

  1. In the Explorer pane, expand Elements > Remedy Adapter > Remedy Server Information > the server name > Configured Schemas.

  2. Right-click a schema, then click Remove as Configured Schema.

    The schema is removed and no longer applies to the adapter. Alarms are removed for the removed schema. To remove the elements, the adapter must be restarted.

Editing the Remedy Configuration File Using the XML Editor

To edit the Remedy configuration file using XML adapter:

  1. In the Explorer pane, expand Elements.

  2. Right-click Remedy Adapter, then click Edit Remedy Configuration to open the XML Editor dialog box.

  3. Edit and save the configuration file.

  4. Restart the adapter.

5.1.6 Configuring Schema Fields

To configure the fields for a schema that is retrieved in the Operations Center, specify the field type by performing these steps:

  1. In the Explorer pane, expand the Elements root element > Remedy Adapter > Remedy Server Information > a server name > Configured Schemas > a schema name > Available Fields.

  2. Right-click a field, then click Add as Polled Field or Add as Property Page Field.

    Polled fields can be displayed as alarm columns by adding them to the Alarm Columns adapter property. Property page fields are retrieved when the alarm Additional Fields property page displays.

    For more information about BMC Remedy adapter properties, see Section A.3, BMC Remedy Action Request System (ARS).

  3. Configure a minimum number of fields as polled fields.

    The existence of a large number of polled fields can slow down the polling process. Configure fields as property page fields if they need not display in an alarm column or be collected as part of BSA, and so on.