CMDB List View

The CMDB list view accessible from the CMDB tab displays all existing Configuration Items (CIs) categorized under different CI types. If no CIs are displayed, then it means you have not populated any CIs into the CMDB. Follow these steps to populate the CIs in CMDB first.

The following topics are discussed in this document:

1. About Configuration Items (CIs)
2. Accessing CI List View
3. CMDB list view components
4. Actions performed from CMDB List View

About Configuration Items (CIs)

As the CMDB List View is all about CIs, let's first learn about a few characteristics of CIs before getting into their configuration details.

Each CI has certain characteristics:

• The type (i.e. the CI type) which indicates what sort of item it is.
• Fields, which vary by classification and describe the characteristics of the individual CIs.
• Relationships, which indicate how the CIs are related to one another.

Each CI differ with respect to complexity, size, and type. They can range from an entire service, which may consist of hardware, software, document, etc to a single program module or a minor hardware component such as a keyboard. Based on these factors, the CIs are arranged under different CI types.

Accessing CI List View

You need to possess the SDCMDBManager role to access the CMDB module.

Click the CMDB tab in the header pane. You will see the CMDB list view page as shown in the below screenshot.

CMDB List View

CMDB List View Components

The page has two sections namely:

1. The left side tree that displays the hierarchy of all available CI types.

• The CI types are arranged in the parent-child structure.
  Example: The CI types 'File Server', 'IBM Mainframe', 'Unix Server' and 'Windows Server' are the children of the CI type 'Server', which is again the child of the CI type 'Computer'.

• Click the home CMDB folder to view all CIs in CMDB, irrespective of the CI Type. 
• Click the icon against each CI type to view its children. 
• Click Open All to expand and view all the CI types. Click Close All to collapse the view.
• Click a CI type to view the CIs under it.
• Use the Search box above the CMDB folder to look for a particular CI.

2. The middle list view that displays the list of all CIs under the CI type selected from the left side tree. 

Click here to know about different components associated with CMDB.

Actions performed from CMDB List View

Managing CIs means to define, create, and manage relationships among the CIs based on different relationship types. 

You can perform the below actions from CMDB list view:

1. View CIs under a CI type
2. Add CIs under a CI type
3. Filter CI types
4. Edit CIs
5. View Relationship Map
6. Mark as CIs
7. Delete CIs
8. Modify CI Type
9. Filter CIs
10. Modify State
     

View CIs under a CI type

• Click a CI type from the left side tree. All the CIs under the selected CI type will be displayed in the middle list view.
  Example: Click the CI type 'Application' to view its CIs such as 'SAP SE', 'Oracle Server', etc.

If you click a parent CI type, all the CIs within the parent as well as the children are displayed. This means that a parent CI type always inherits the CIs from its children.

However, clicking a child CI type displays only the CIs within it. 

Example: If you click the CI type 'Application' all the CIs of its children such as 'Apache Instance', 'Database Instance', etc, are displayed along with its CIs. Whereas, if you click the CI type 'Apache Instance' you will see only the CIs within it.

• The CI list view comprises different fields, configured while adding the CI Type. 
  Example: The CI Type - Workstation would have fields like Model, Service Tag, Service Pack, IP Address and so on.

Each CI inherits its fields from its parent and super-parent CI types.

Example: Consider the below screenshot where the CI 'ORACLE Server' has the fields of its parent 'Application' and super-parent 'CMDB' as well.

Add CIs under a CI type

1. Click the CI Type from the left side tree under which you wish to add CIs. The CI list view will be displayed.
2. Click the New button and the Add CI form will be displayed.

You will not see the New button when you click the home CMDB folder as you cannot add CIs under the CI type CMDB.

3. Fill in the basic details such as Name, Description, etc and other field values, corresponding to the parent and super-parent CI types.
4. Save the form.

The new CI will be added to the list view under the respective CI type.

Sample screenshot - Adding the CI 'Cisco' under 'Data Center', which is the parent CI type and CMDB' is the super parent CI type

Filter CI Types

Create a filter using Custom Views to display CI types based on specific criteria.

• Click on the Custom Views  icon.

• Specify the custom view name.

• Click to mark the custom view as favorite.

• Specify the filter condition by selecting the column, operator, and criteria. You can add multiple conditions by clicking .

• Enable the check box to mark the custom view as private.

• Click Save.

The custom view will be added to the CI filter drop-down. Hover over a custom view and click the Edit or Delete icon to edit or delete it.

 Edit CIs

You can modify the CI details as per your need from the CMDB list view. Follow the below steps:

1. Click Actions  > Edit beside the CI which you wish to edit. 
2. It takes you to the Edit CI form. Make the required changes and click Save.

View Relationship Map

A Relationship Map gives a consolidated view of the relationships between different CIs.

To view the relationship map of a CI from the CMDB list view:

Click Actions  > Relationship Map beside the relevant CI. The Relationship Map opens in a new window.

Click here to know in detail about relationship maps.

The relationship map represents the relationships between only the CIs and not the CI types.

Mark as CIs

You have the control to 'mark the CIs' that are critical to your organization. You can import CIs from existing modules/categories such as Assets, Technician Groups, Departments, Users, etc and categorize them under different CI types. This helps you differentiate the critical items from others. 

Example: You can import the critical workstations as CIs under the CI type ' Workstation'.

Follow the below steps:

1. Click Mark as CIs from CMDB list view. The Mark as CIs wizard pops up.
2. Select a Source Module, e.g. Technician Group, and select a Destination CI Type, e.g. Switch. Click Next.

3. Select item(s) that belong to the Source Module you chose in the previous step. In the below screenshot the items belonging to Service Category are displayed. Once the selection is complete click Confirm. 

4. The Summary of your selection will be displayed as shown in the below screenshot. 

Now, the items marked as CIs will be added under the CI type you chose as the destination. You can view the marked CIs from the relevant CI list view as shown in the below screenshot. 

Also, you can view the details of the module, whose items you have marked as CIs, under Link this CI section of the relevant CI details page. 

You can import the items from a particular module/category, but not the details. For example, if you are importing items under 'Asset' as CIs, it means you are just importing the items like Epson, Hp-2018, etc but not any details associated with them.

Delete CIs

1. Click the CI Type from the left side tree. The CMDB list view will be displayed.
2. Enable the checkbox(s) beside the CI(s) which you wish to delete.
3. Click the Delete button. A confirmation dialog box appears.
4. Click OK to proceed. The selected CIs are deleted from the list.

Once you delete a CI, the associated configuration details, relationships, and history of the CI  also get deleted.

Filter CIs

Filter CIs based on their states. Go to the filter drop-down on the top-left of the page and select the required option: Active CIs or End-of-Life CIs.

Modify State

Modify the state of CIs in bulk from the list view. Select the required CIs and click Modify State. Select the required state from the drop-down and click Modify.