Add Catalog Aggregation

Concepts

Search for	Example	Results
A single word	`cat`	Topics that contain the word "cat". You will also find its grammatical variations, such as "cats".
A phrase. You can specify that the search results contain a specific phrase.	`"cat food"` (quotation marks)	Topics that contain the literal phrase "cat food" and all its grammatical variations. Without the quotation marks, the query is equivalent to specifying an OR operator, which finds topics with one of the individual words instead of the phrase.

Search for	Operator	Example
Two or more words in the same topic	`AND` `and` `+` (plus symbol) `&` (ampersand)	`cat AND dog` `"cat food"+milk` `"cat food"&"dog food"`
Either word in a topic	`OR` `or` `\|` (pipe)	`cat OR dog` `cat \| dog`
Topics that do not contain a specific word or phrase	`NOT` `not` `!` (exclamation point)	`NOT cat` `! dog`
Topics that contain one string and do not contain another	`^` (caret)	`cat ^ mouse`
A combination of search types	`( )` parentheses	`cat + (dog \| mouse)` `cat \| dog + (! mouse)`

The Organization Administrator can manage Service Manager Service Portal catalog items by creating aggregations. An Service Manager Service Portal aggregation contains catalog items that are imported from an end-point system (supplier) such as Service Manager (SM) . After an aggregation is created and the end-point system's catalog items are imported, the Organization Administrator publishes the Service Manager Service Portal catalog items into a catalog, and then they are available for fulfillment in the Service Manager Service Portal.

Tasks

Catalog items from suppliers can be added to aggregations and published into catalogs for fulfillment by consumers in the Service Manager Service Portal. The Organization Administrator manages catalog items by creating aggregations.

Note Refer to the Service Manager Installation Guide for instructions to connect suppliers.

To create an aggregation, perform the following procedure:

From the Launchpad, click the Catalog Connect application. The Aggregation List appears.

To add an aggregation, click Add Aggregation. The New Aggregation dialog appears.

In the Aggregation Properties tab of the New Aggregation dialog:

Type a descriptive aggregation name into the Name field.
Select the end-point system from the Supplier list.

Tip To create a new Service Manager Service Portal supplier (integrated end-point system), click Create Supplier. This action displays the New Supplier dialog, in which you can add the new supplier, such as an Service Manager (SM) end-point system.
Optional, depending on the Supplier: Select the Offering Type. A Service Offering is a catalog item that is used for shopping in the Service Manager Service Portal. A Support Offering is a catalog item that is used to request support. These offering types are defined in supplier's systems, such as SM .
Optional, depending on the Supplier: Click the Automatic check box if changes to catalog items on the supplier's system should be automatically re-aggregated. See re-aggregation in Best Practices for details.
Optional, depending on the Supplier: To create a subset of catalog items in the aggregation, enter query criteria in the Query Filter field. See the Query Filter help for details. (Note that you can also enter Query Filter criteria during the Preview process in step g.)
Optional, depending on the Supplier: Select the Source Catalog to specify which Service Manager Service Portal catalog to use when importing catalog items from the supplier.
Prior to creating the aggregation, preview the catalog items that will be added to the new aggregation.
1. Click the Preview tab. The list of catalog items is displayed.
2. If you have not done so previously, to create a subset of catalog items, type the query criteria into the Query Filter field and click the Apply Filter button. (See the Query Filter help for details.) Only catalog items that meet the query criteria are displayed and will be added to the aggregation.
After validating the correct set of catalog items that will be added to the aggregation, click the Save button to create the aggregation. The new aggregation appears in the Aggregation List. A progress bar indicates the status of adding catalog items to the aggregation.

To display the aggregation's general properties and status, click the aggregation. The Aggregation Report appears.

Best Practices

Using HTTPS: If HTTPS is used between the Service Manager Service Portal host and a supplier (end-point system), Secure Socket Layer (SSL) communication must be established. SSL certificates must be imported and trusted between Service Manager Service Portal and the supplier's system. For more information about configuring SSL, refer to the Service Manager Installation Guide.

Integrating Suppliers:

The Service Manager Service Portal aggregation web service must be loaded into Service Manager (SM) and the SM unloads must be applied before attempting to create an aggregation.

Refer to the Service Manager Installation Guide for instructions to connect suppliers.

Re-aggregating: Configuring automatic re-aggregation is recommended because the Service Manager Service Portalcatalog items are automatically updated when they change on the supplier's system. (Manual re-aggregation requires the Organization Administrator to be aware of catalog items changing on the supplier's system and a manual re-aggregation action.)