Set the expected state of a configuration item

This procedure provides a standard process to change the state of one or multiple configuration items in Service Manager. This procedure is also applicable if your Service Manager system has an active integration to an Universal CMDB server.

To set the expected state of one or multiple configuration items, follow these steps:

1. Log on to Service Manager.
2. Go to Change Management, create a new change record or open an existing change record.
3. Make sure the change record has one or multiple affected configuration items specified. You will set the expected change states of some attributes of these configuration items.

4. Click More or the More Actions menu, and then select Set Expected States. The Set Expected Change State wizard opens.

   Note

   • The wizard can be started only when at least one configuration item has been specified in the Affected CIs field.
   • If the change record associates with multiple configuration items, the Select CI wizard opens first and you need to select the configuration items for which you want to set the expected state.

5. There are two options in the Set Expected Change State wizard: Select From a Baseline and Set Attribute Name and Values. The Set Attribute Name and Values option is selected for the following steps. For detailed information about how to set the baseline for a configuration item, see Associate a configuration item (CI) to a baseline.

6. Select Set Attribute Name and Values and then click Next.

   Note If the selected configuration items belong to various CI types, only attribute fields listed in the device table can be planned. If the selected configuration items have the same CI type, new attribute fields can be planned for all attributes of this CI type.

7. In the Attribute Names and Values page, you can add new fields, edit fields or remove fields.

   • To add a new field, follow these steps:

     1. Click Add New Field. The Baseline Attributes page opens.

     2. Select a field name from the Field in drop-down list, and then type or select the corresponding value in the Value field. Click Next.

        Tip

        • The supported field types include simple data type (string, number, logical and date), array field of simple data types and array of structure field 1Array of structure field refers to a field which is an array. The element type within the array is structure, which contains simple data types. . For detailed information about how to configure the value of array of structure field, see Example: How to plan array of structure field.

        • To plan the new attribute values, click the Format Based Changes button.

     3. The new field is displayed in the Attribute Names and Values page. Click Finish.

   • To edit an existing field, select the field you want to edit and then click Edit Field.

   • To remove a field, select the field you want to remove and then click Remove Field.

   All attribute changes are saved in the dataModEvent tables. You can open the change record and review the planned attribute change in the Associated CIs section and the Status is Proposed.

8. When the change is approved and implemented, the status of the planned attribute change is Planned.
9. Click the attribute change record. In the CMDB Data Change Event page, change the Status from Planned to Implemented.

10. If your Service Manager system has an active integration to an Universal CMDB server, Universal CMDB detects the change that is implemented as planned and the value is pushed to Service Manager later. If the new value is the same as planned, the Status is automatically changed to Validated.

    If your Service Manager system is not integrated to an Universal CMDB server, you can also manually check whether the actual new values are the same as planned or not and set the Status to Validated.

11. Close the change and the validated planned changes will be applied to the attribute values of the configuration item in Service Manager.

    The whole process of setting the expected state for the configuration item is complete.

Example: How to plan an array of structure field

When planning array of structure fields, you need to do it field by field with the structure and combine these fields together to perform validation and apply the values.

Take the addlIPAddr field in the computer table as an example. As a typical example of array of structure fields, this field consists of addlIPAddress and addlSubnet sub fields. The following table lists the original values.

Change the values as listed in the following table.

You need to plan for addlIAddress and addlSubnet separately, and then change the values as listed in the following table.

Data Modification Event

If a change modifies a CI's attributes through the Set Expected States wizard, the modification history is stored in the dataModEvent table and presented on the Data Modification Event page.

The following example demonstrates how the dataModEvent table works:

1. Create a standard change and select Adobe Reader in the Affected CI field.

2. In the Change record, click More > Set Expected States to plan the following attribute change: Secuity Classification: 2. Restricted.

3. Go to Tailoring > Web Services > Data Modification Event, and then click Search. A record is displayed, showing the planned CI attribute change.

4. Go to the CI record Adobe Reader, and update the Security Classification field to value "2".

5. Go to the Associated CIs tab in the change, click Security Classification and update the status to Implemented and then Validated.

6. Click Close in the change record to close the change. Note that the change cannot be closed unless the CI attribute change is implemented and then validated.

7. Go to Data Modificateion Event, and then click Search. The record status is updated to Processed.