CA Client Automation - 14.0

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Integration with CA ServiceDeskManager

Asset Management integrates with CA SDM for automatically raising service desk tickets whenever a policy is violated. You can also create on demand service desk tickets in the context of a managed computer asset. The DSM administrator is enabled to launch the CA SDM web browser, so that tickets that are associated with software policies can be viewed immediately. Similarly, the Service Desk Analyst is enabled to launch the DSM Explorer and the Web Console to locate the violated policies.
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Asset Management integrates with CA SDM for automatically raising service desk tickets whenever a policy is violated. You can also create on demand service desk tickets in the context of a managed computer asset. The DSM administrator is enabled to launch the CA SDM web browser, so that tickets that are associated with software policies can be viewed immediately. Similarly, the Service Desk Analyst is enabled to launch the DSM Explorer and the Web Console to locate the violated policies.
As a prerequisite for enabling the integration, you must have enabled the Service Desk Integration in the common configuration policy.
The following features are implemented:
  • Problem Types
    Asset Management populates the problem types from the CA SDM database and displays in the Service Desk section of the Policy Designer dialog. You can select any of these problem types when creating a policy. Asset Management assigns this problem type when creating a ticket in CA SDM.
  • Duplicate Ticket Handling
    CA SDM has a duplicate ticket handling policy to decide whether to open a new issue for each policy violation or only append to the activity log of the same issue. You can also configure a combination of both so that a new issue is opened, for example, every day.
  • Closure of Tickets
    Asset Management does not support automatic closure of service desk tickets. You have to close the tickets from the Service Desk GUI.
Configure Integration to Service Desk
Asset Management integrates with CA SDM for automatically raising service tickets when an asset violates a policy. To configure this integration to Service Desk, follow these steps:
  1. Navigate to
    Domain
    ,
    Control Panel
    ,
    Configuration
    ,
    Configuration Policy
    ,
    Default Configuration Policy
    ,
    DSM
    ,
    Service Desk Integration
    , and
    default
    .
    The right pane displays the policy settings relating to service desk integration.
  2. Double-click the following policy settings to change the values:
You can change these values only if you unseal the Default Configuration Policy by right-clicking the policy and selecting Un-Seal.
  • Enabled
    This parameter indicates whether CA SDM integration is enabled.
    Default
    : False
  • Identifier Field
    This parameter defines a reserved field in MDB for querying all tickets being created by a specified asset or software distribution.
    Instead of the default, you may want to reserve one of the strings# fields that CA SDM provides for user-specific purposes.
    Default
    : summary
  • Logon Password
    This parameter specifies the login password for CA SDM Web Services.
  • Logon Service Aware Policy
    This parameter specifies the name of the policy to log into when Type of Logon to Service Desk is set to notmanaged. If left blank, the default Service Desk policy is used.
    A PKCS#12 certificate includes a policy description that always overrides this value.
    Default
    : MANAGED_ASSET_EVENTS
  • Logon User Name
    This parameter defines the user account for the login to CA SDM Web Services.
    Default
    : System_MA_User
  • Service Desk Endpoint
    This parameter specifies the URL to CA SDM Web Services. Replace myhost with the appropriate server address for your installation. Port 8080 is the default port.
    Default
    : http//myhost:8080/axis/services/USD_R11_WebService
  • Throttling
    This parameter indicates whether networking and CPU throttling are enabled.
    Default
    : False
  • Timeout
    This parameter specifies the timeout interval for calls to CA SDM Web Services. Valid values are: 0 = infinite, positive integers = seconds, and negative integers = milliseconds
    Example
    : A value of 200 means a call will time out after 200 seconds, but a value of -200 means it will time out after 200 milliseconds.
    Default
    : 120
  • Type of Logon to Service Desk
    This parameter indicates how login to CA SDM Web Services is controlled. Valid values are: managed (by PKCS#12 certificate) and notmanaged (by user account and password).
    Default
    : managed
    The integration to the Service Desk is configured regarding the settings that are specified in the mentioned fields.
    You must restart the DSM Explorer GUI for the integration to take effect.
    This section is intended for the administrators only. Entering incorrect information may result in the product not working properly. Hence, it is recommended that you create a new policy and modify the same.
Configure Service Desk Integration for a Policy
Asset Management can automatically raise a CA SDM ticket when a managed asset violates a policy. When a policy violation occurs, the CA SDM can do one of the following actions:
  • Create a ticket for the policy violation.
  • Append to the activity log if a ticket is already created for the same policy violation.
CA SDM makes the decision based on the duplicate ticket handling policy. If you want to create a new ticket each time a policy is violated, contact the CA SDM Administrator.
Follow these steps to configure Service Desk Integration for a policy:
  1. Right-click the policy and select Properties.
    The Policy Designer dialog appears.
  2. Click
    Service Desk
     in the left pane.
    The Service Desk section appears.
    The Create Service Desk ticket option is available only if you have enabled the CA Service Desk integration. 
  3. Select the Enable Service Desk Integration check box and the problem type to be assigned in CA SDM for the policy violation; specify the comment to be included as the description in the service desk issue, and click OK.
    The policy is saved. This policy creates a ticket when any managed asset violates the policy or appends to the activity log.
Create a Service Desk Ticket
You can manually create a service desk ticket in the context of computer assets from the DSM Explorer. For example, you can create a service desk ticket for a computer that has either violated policies or has failed jobs.
Follow these steps to create a service desk ticket:
  1. Right-click a computer asset, and select Create Service Desk ticket from the context menu.
    The CA Service Desk Create New Ticket window appears with the selected asset name in the Asset field.
    The Create Service Desk ticket option is available only if you have enabled the CA Service Desk integration.
  2. Specify the other required fields in CA Service Desk and click OK.
    A service desk ticket is raised.
Create Service Desk Ticket for a Failed Job
Asset Management integrates with CA SDM only through policies. So, if you want to raise a ticket for a failed job automatically, you must do the following actions:
  • Create query that retrieves the failed jobs
  • Create a policy that is based on the query. This policy can be configured to create a ticket for a failed job.
Follow these steps to create a query to retrieve the failed jobs:
  1. Right-click the
    Queries
     folder and select
    New
    .
    The
    Select Target
     dialog appears.
  2. Select
    Computers
     and click
    OK
    .
    The
    Query Designer
     dialog appears.
  3. In the
    Insert Argument
     section, select
    Jobs
    ,
    Asset Jobs
    .
    The
    Select Field
     dialog appears.
  4. Expand the tree and select
    Job Status
    .
  5. Select the job to be queried in the Job field, select the Status as Error, and click
    OK
    .
    The
    Select Field
     dialog closes.
  6. Click
    OK
     in the
    Query Designer
     dialog.
    The
    Save Query
     dialog appears.
  7. Enter the name of the query and click
    OK
    .
    The query is saved with the given name and is displayed under the Queries, Computers folder.
Follow these steps to create a policy that is based on the mentioned query:
  1. Right-click the
    Policies
    ,
    Query Based
     folder, and select
    New
    .
    The
    Policy Designer
     dialog appears.
  2. Specify the policy name, policy severity, and select the mentioned query from the list of queries in the
    General
     section.
  3. Click the
    Service Desk
     section and enable the service desk integration, select the problem type, and specify the description or comment and click OK.
The policy is saved. This policy checks whether the selected job is failed on any managed computer. If yes, it creates a service desk ticket for the policy violation.