You are here: Chapter 9: Advanced Features > BMC FootPrints Asset Core > BMC Asset Core > Installing and Configuring the BMC FootPrints Asset Core Integration

Configuring the BMC FootPrints Asset Core Integration

BMC FootPrints Asset Core Integration Setup 

Prerequisite: Install and Configure BMC FootPrints Asset Core

BMC FootPrints Asset Core must be installed separately into a location that can be accessed by the FootPrints server. For detailed instructions see the BMC FootPrints Asset Core Installation Guide (separate guides for Windows and Linux) and BMC FootPrints Asset Core External Integration Guide.

A system administrator can enable or disable the integration with BMC FootPrints Asset Core at the system level. BMC FootPrints Asset Core is disabled by default.

After BMC FootPrints Asset Core is enabled for the system, it must be configured for each individual workspace in which it is to be used. (The workspace administration page is only available if asset management is enabled for the system.)

There are three steps to configuring the integration:

 

Enable BMC FootPrints Asset Core for the System in FootPrints

To use BMC FootPrints Asset Core, it must be configured by the System Administrator.

  1. Select Administration | System from the FootPrints toolbar. The System Administration page is displayed.
  2. Select Asset Management from the Features section of the System Administration page. If this is your first time configuring, and FootPrints is installed on a server, you will be asked to choose your asset management system. Select Asset Core and click SAVE. The Asset Core administration page is displayed.
  3. Click the Enabled radio button.
  4. Complete the BMC FootPrints Asset Core Server Information fields. FootPrints will communicate with the BMC FootPrints Asset Core master server by calling BMC FootPrints Asset Core web services.
  1. Enter the login ID and password for the integration account configured in BMC FootPrints Asset Core.
  2. Click the "Click here to test connectivity" link to test the connection to the BMC FootPrints Asset Core server. If the connection is successful, a pop-up is displayed stating that "BMC FootPrints Asset Core server connection is verified." If the test is unsuccessful, a pop-up declares that the test failed and instructs you to verify your settings and that the server (i.e., the BMC FootPrints Asset Core master server) is running. The settings you should verify are the server name, port number, login, and password.
  3. BMC FootPrints Asset Core Authentication for Agents—Optionally, enter system-wide credentials to be used to authenticate any FootPrints agents seeking to access BMC FootPrints Asset Core. These credentials do not apply to an agent who has defined credentials on his or her Preferences page. If an agent with BMC FootPrints Asset Core integration credentials defined on the Preferences page attempts to access BMC FootPrints Asset Core, only those credentials are authenticated. If that login attempt were to fail, the system-wide credentials would not be used a secondary login. System-wide credentials might be used to allow more limited (for example, read-only) access to BMC FootPrints Asset Core.
  4. At the bottom of the page, enter the system administrator password and click SAVE.

Enable BMC FootPrints Asset CoreFootPrints

To enable the BMC FootPrints Asset Core integration for a workspace:

  1. Select Administration | Workspace from the FootPrints toolbar. The Workspace Administration page is displayed.
  2. Select Asset Management from the Other Options section of the workspace administration page. The Asset Management page is displayed.
  3. Click the Enabled radio button in the General Setup section.
  4. The Fields Section allows you to specify which asset data should be imported into FootPrints fields on the issue page when an asset is associated with an issue. It also allows you to specify the name of the issue fields that displays the data. In addition, you can exclude data. Be sure to make a selection in one of the columns (Use New Field, Use Existing Field, or Skip This Field) before submitting the page.
  5. Use New Field—If you choose a new field for any of the BMC FootPrints Asset Core information, the new field for the selected data type is created and put in a tab called 'Asset Information'. Click the radio button and enter a name for the new field. You can later rename, reorder or reconfigure the fields on the Form Designer page.
  6. Use Existing Field—Selecting Use Existing Field maps the specified BMC FootPrints Asset Core data to those fields as they exist today. You can later rename, reorder or reconfigure the fields on the Form Designer page.
  7. Skip This Field—Select a radio button to exclude the asset data from the issue page. The data is still discovered by the BMC FootPrints Asset Core and exists in the database, but is not imported into the issue when an asset is selected.
  8. In the Using Integrated Functionality in Issues section, select the field that will determine which tab on the Issue will display the BMC FootPrints Asset Core Control Panel (Search function and Action button).  The Action button provides a number of functions through your integrated BMC FootPrints Asset Core. When an Agent is on an Issue page, BMC FootPrints Asset Core Control Panel is accessed from the tab or section where the specified field is located. For example, if you select the Device Name field, the Asset Control Panel would be accessed from the tab or section on which the Device Name field is located. By default, the fields listed here are located on the Asset Information tab, but you can move the field to a different tab via the Form Designer functions.
  9. The Searching Assets section sets options for automatically looking up asset data from within FootPrints as follows:
  10. Contact Field—Select a contact field to use for looking up asset data associated with the contact. BMC FootPrints Asset Core will capture the system login that is most frequently used to access a machine and store that value as the asset's user. The specified contact field should be a field that is likely to contain the contact's system login. For example, if your contact is coming from Active Directory, you would likely want to use the field that maps to the attribute "samaccountname".
  11. Automatic Lookups—When an action is taken, an asset data lookup will be performed automatically in each instance for which you have checked a box. For example, if you check the box for "create Issue page for agents (when a contact is selected)", an asset lookup is performed when an agent selects a contact on a create issue page and the appropriate fields in the issue page are populated with asset data. Uncheck any boxes for which you don't want an automatic asset lookup to occur. Options are:
  12. Create Issue page for agents (when a contact is selected)
  13. Edit Issue page for agents (when a contact is selected). When multiple matches are found or when mail is used, the system will select the device that was most recently updated by BMC FootPrints Asset Core.
  14. Create Request page for customers (after the request is submitted)
  15. Create Issue through incoming mail (agents)
  16. Create Request through incoming mail (customers)

NOTE

If more than one match is found when an agent is creating an issue, the agent is shown a list of assets from which to choose. If only one match is found, the asset is selected automatically. If no matches are found, the agent is informed that no match has been found.

  1. Enter your password and click the SAVE button to complete this operation. The workspace is enabled and configured for asset management.

NOTE

In order for FootPrints Agents to be able to access everything they need in BMC FootPrints Asset Core, they need a valid BMC FootPrints Asset Core login. In addition, they must have their security profile set up correctly on the BMC FootPrints Asset Core side to allow them access to the desired functionality. Their AMP credentials must be given the permissions to do the functions listed in FootPrints and they must be associated with the particular device they are trying to do the action on. Within BMC FootPrints Asset Core, on the Dynamic Objects tab, you must specify the objects in BMC FootPrints Asset Core to which the agent has rights, including rights to Inventory. Note that you can't just specify that the agent has rights to access the Inventory module, but also to see the objects. The default Admin account in AMP automatically gets all rights even though it looks like they aren't associated with any objects, so this only applies to accounts other than the default Admin.