IT Universe Manager Page

This page enables you to define and manage the CIs and relationships in your views.

To access Select IT Universe Manager from the Navigation Menu or select Managers > Modeling > IT Universe Manager.
Important information

The IT Universe Manager page contains the following panes:

  • CI Selector. Displays the CIs of a selected view. You can select the view from a drop–down list or search for a specific CI. For details, see CI Selector.

  • Topology Map. Displays the CIs of a selected view in Map mode or Text mode.

  • Advanced Pane. Displays properties, history, and discovery for the selected CI or view.

  • Get Related CIs. This pane can be accessed from the Related CIs tab of the Topology Map. It controls the content of the display in the tab.

In IT Universe Manager, you can create new CIs, modify existing CIs, or delete CIs. All of these actions have a direct effect on the entire IT Universe model. For example, if you delete a CI in your view, that CI is deleted from the IT Universe model and no longer appears in any view.

Relevant tasks
See also

Topology Map

This area displays the CIs of the currently selected view in graphical or table format. By default, the CIs are displayed in graphical format.

To access Select Managers > Modeling > IT Universe Manager.
Important information

You can customize the Topology Map shortcut menu to include other commands (for example, ping, run a program, open a URL) from within CI Type Manager. For details, see Create Configuration Item Type/Relationship/Calculated Relationship Wizard.

Note For grouped CIs and the relationships between them, not all of the shortcut menu options are active. Grouped CIs appear in parentheses in the CI Selector and in the Topology Map. You can double-click a link to a grouped CI to open the Link Map, which displays the individual CIs and relationships. Right-click a CI or relationship in the Link Map to display the regular shortcut menu. For details about grouping CIs, see Query Node Grouping Dialog Box.

See also Working with the Topology Map

User interface elements are described below (unlabeled elements are shown in angle brackets):

UI Element (A-Z) Description
Map mode

Map. Displays the selected layer of CIs in topology map format.

Note If the selected layer of the view is too large to display in topology map format, a message appears with a link to display the layer in text format.

Text mode

Text. Displays the attribute properties of the CIs in the selected layer in table format.

For details on some of the toolbar icons in Text Mode, see CI Instances Dialog Box.

Specify the CIT you want displayed in the table. The table also includes the children of the selected CIT.

Note This option is displayed in Text mode only.

<Breadcrumbs> At the top of the topology map, the breadcrumbs indicate the relevant query nodes in each layer of the view for the path to the selected layer. The first item in the path is the Top Layer. When you select a CI from the layer below, the parent CI forms the next item in the breadcrumb path. You can click on any item in the path to display that layer in the topology map.
<CI type attributes> The columns appearing in Text mode represent the CIT attributes of the selected CIs.
<Group by>

The CIs in the topology map are displayed according to the default grouping selected in the view definition. When consuming the view in IT Universe Manager, you can manually select a different grouping method. The available options are:

  • Group by Layer. Group the CIs according to the value of the layer attribute of their CI type.

  • Group by CI Type. Group the CIs according to their CI type.

  • Group by Classification. Group the CIs according to the value of the classification attribute of their CI type.

  • No Grouping. Do not group CIs.

Note  

  • This option is available in Map mode only.

  • When a grouping option is selected, each group contains an indicator displaying the number of CIs in the group. If a group contains a large number of CIs, it opens in collapsed format, displaying only the name and count indicator. Click the + sign button to expand the group and display all the CIs. You can set the threshold of CIs for automatically collapsing the group by modifying the Initially expand group max CIs threshold setting in the Infrastructure Settings Manager.

<IT Universe Status Bar>

The status bar below the topology map indicates the status of the following processes:

  • if Impact Analysis is active or not

  • if Change Timeframe is active or not

  • if Candidates for Deletion are shown or not

  • the time of the last update of the data

<Legend>

Indicates the icons displayed next to CIs with any of the following special statuses:

  • Added. When Change Timeframe is active, indicates that the CI was added.

  • Candidate for Deletion. Indicates that the CI is a candidate for deletion.

  • Changed. When Change Timeframe is active, indicates that the CI was changed.

  • Drill Down One Layer. Indicates that there are CIs under the CI on a lower layer.

  • External. Indicates that the CI is a federated CI.

  • Impacted. When Impact Analysis is active, indicates an impacted CI.

  • Impacted and Trigger. When Impact Analysis is active, indicates a trigger CI that is impacted.

  • Note. Indicates that a note was added for the CI.

  • Trigger. When Impact Analysis is active, indicates a trigger CI.

<Main Menu> For details, see Main Menu.
<Query Node>

The query nodes in the topology map represent CIs.

Hold the pointer over a query node to display its tooltip which describes the type of the CI.

<Relationship>

The links in the topology map represent relationships.

Hold the pointer over a relationship to display its tooltip, which describes the type of the relationship.

Note When you select a calculated relationship, the Delete button on the toolbar is disabled.

<Toolbar>

For details, see Toolbar Options.

Note When accessing the Topology map via direct links, the toolbar includes options from the Related CIs Map. For details, see Get Related CIs From CMDB Dialog Box.

<Tooltip>

Hold the pointer over a CI to display a tooltip which shows CI data. The tooltip displays all attributes for the CI which are marked with one of the following qualifiers:

  • Comparable
  • Asset Data
  • Managed

When you hold the pointer over a count indicator, the tooltip displays the breakdown of the CIs under it by CI type. When a grouping option is selected, hold the pointer over the group to display a tooltip showing the breakdown of CIs in the group by CI type.

<Topology Map Sidebar> For details, see Topology Map Sidebar.
Related CIs Click the Related CIs tab to display the interdependencies of the selected CI within the view or the entire CMDB. You can control the scope of the display from the Get Related CIs pane.
View Results Click the View Results tab to display an entire layer within a view.

IT Universe Manager Shortcut Menu

The IT Universe Manager page includes the following elements (listed alphabetically) available by right-clicking a CI or relationship in the CI Selector pane or the Topology Map:

Menu Item Description
Actions

Select one of the following options:

  • Add CI to Discovery Job. Displays the Add CI to Discovery Job dialog box, which enables you to manually invoke a DFM job for the selected CI. You can use this option to discover additional information about the CI through one of the available DFM jobs.

  • Remove CI from Discovery Job. Displays the Remove CI from Discovery Job dialog box, which enables you to manually remove a CI from the DFM job.

  • Show Discovery Progress. Opens the Discovery Progress dialog box for the selected CI.

  • Recently Discovered By. Opens the Recently Discovered By dialog box for the selected CI.

  • Open CI Credentials. Displays the Protocol Parameter dialog box, which enables you to view the details of a previously-defined credential for that CI. You cannot make any changes.

    Note This option is only relevant for CIs that include a credentials property.

    For details, see Protocol Parameter Dialog Box.

  • Edit CI Credentials. Displays the Choose Credentials dialog box, which enables you to choose another credentials set or edit the existing credentials.

    Note This option is only relevant for CIs that include a credentials property.

    For details, see the supported protocols in the Universal CMDB Discovery and Integrations Content Help.

  • Reprocess Scan File. Reprocesses the scan files for the selected node.

    Note This option is only available for CIs of type node or its subtypes.

  • Check Network Availability. Opens the Check Network Availability dialog box for the selected CI.

Add CIs to Model Adds selected CIs to a new or existing model.
Add CIs to View Adds selected CIs to a new or existing perspective-based view.
Assign Tenants

Open the Assign Tenants dialog box which enables you to assign tenants to the CI.

Note This option is only available when multi-tenancy is enabled.

CI/Relationship History Displays the CI History dialog box. For details, see CI/Relationship History Dialog Box.
Compare CIs Report

Run a Compare CIs Report for the selected CI. For details, see Compare CIs Report.

Note This option is only active when one or two CIs are selected.

Delete from CMDB

Enables you to delete the selected CI or relationship from the view and from the CMDB.

Note When you delete a parent CI, the selected CI and its children are removed from the view, but only the selected CI is removed from the database.

Generate Sub Report Opens the Generate Sub Report dialog box, which enables you to select perspectives for the CI to create a Sub Report. For details, see Generate Sub Report Dialog Box.
Get Related CIs Opens the Get Related CIs from CMDB dialog box. For details, see Get Related CIs From CMDB Dialog Box.
Label

Select one of the following options:

  • Edit Label. Opens the Edit Label dialog box which enables you to edit the name of the CI.

  • Restore Default Label. Resets the CI name to its default value from the CMDB.

Merge CIs

Opens the Merge CIs dialog box enabling you to manually merge Running Software, Node, and Business Element CIs.

In the Merge CIs dialog box, select one of the CIs to be the main CI. The other CIs, the merging CIs, are merged into the main CI. CIs are merged as follows:

  • Properties from the merging CIs that do not exist in the main CI are copied to the main CI.

  • Properties that exist in both the main and merging CIs are merged according to the defined reconciliation priority:

    • If all the CIs have the same priority, then the main CI's property is retained.

    • If the CIs have different priorities, the property of the CI with the higher priority is used.

After the merge, the Global ID of the main CI remains, and the merging CIs are deleted.

Note  

  • This option is only relevant when at least two CIs of type Running Software, Node, or Business Element are selected. CIs can only be merged if their CI types are on the same branch in the Class Model.

  • When you merge CIs, the topologies of the views that contain those CIs are updated.

    Example:

Note

Select one of the following options:

  • Add Note. Opens an editing box where you can add a note to the CI.

  • Delete Note. Deletes all text saved in a note for the selected CI.

Open UCMDB Browser

Opens the UCMDB Browser module.

Note This option is only available when a single CI is selected. It is not relevant for relationships.

Properties Displays the Properties page for the selected CI or relationship. For details, see Configuration Item Properties Dialog Box.
Relate to CI Opens the Insert Relationship dialog box. For details, see Insert Relationship Dialog Box.
Run Impact Analysis

Enables you to run the Impact rule you defined in the Impact Analysis Manager. Displays the Run Impact Analysis dialog box. For details, see Impact Analysis Manager.

Note You can only see Impact Analysis results if you defined an Impact rule for that view in Impact Analysis Manager.

Show Compound Path Appears only for compound relationships. Displays the Link Map for the selected relationship, which shows the CIs involved in the compound relationship.
Show Impact

Enables you to select a CI that is defined by an Impact rule as a root cause CI, and to display all the CIs that are impacted by it, and their statuses, in a separate window.

This option appears only after the following has occurred:

  • You defined an Impact rule for the selected view in Impact Analysis Manager (for details, see Impact Analysis Manager).

  • You clicked Show in Views in the Run Impact Analysis dialog box.

  • Impact Analysis results appear in the Topology Map.

For example, suppose an Impact rule is defined (for an IP Address CI) that specifies that the rule impacts nodes, ports, and client-servers linked to the IP Address.

By using the Show Impact option, you can display all CIs that are impacted by the IP Address CI.

Show Root Cause

This option enables you to retrieve root cause information for CIs that are impacted by a chain of Impact rules. The output of Show Root Cause displays a logical map that describes a chain of trigger/impacted CITs that impact the CI.

The root cause CI is displayed in a separate window. If only one Impact rule is defined for this CI, the Impact Analysis window is directly displayed.

This option appears only after the following has occurred:

  • You defined an Impact rule for the selected view in the Impact Analysis Manager (for details, see Impact Analysis Manager).

  • You clicked Show in Views in the Run Impact Analysis dialog box.

  • Impact Analysis results appear in the Topology Map.

A window is displayed containing the root cause CI and all the other CITs in the Impact rule chain.

To view the information about specific CIs that are triggered or impacted by the Impact rule, double-click the relationship connecting the CIs. A map is displayed.

Advanced Pane

User interface elements are described below:

UI Element (A-Z) Description
Discovery tab Displays the discovery progress for the selected CIs. For details, see Discovery Progress Dialog Box.
History tab Displays the history for the selected CI. For details, see CI/Relationship History Dialog Box.
Properties tab Displays the selected CI's properties (the same properties that appear in the Configuration Item Properties dialog box). You can view the properties in the properties tab, but you must open the dialog box to edit the properties. For details, see Configuration Item Properties Dialog Box.

Get Related CIs Pane

This pane enables you to control the different options for viewing related CIs for a selected CI.

To access

Appears in the Related CIs tab of IT Universe Manager. If it is hidden, click the Show Get Related CIs pane button on the toolbar to display it.

Important information

You can control the display in the Related CIs tab with the following controls:

  • Set the scope of the display

  • Filter the related CIs by CI type

  • Apply perspectives to the selected CI

It is possible to display related CIs for several CIs at the same time. Hold down the CTRL key to select multiple CIs at the same time in the CI Selector or the topology map.

Note You can select to run the Get Related CIs search over integrated CIs also. If the search results include CIs from a federated data source, they appear in the topology map with an arrow icon, indicating that they are federated CIs. However, you cannot display related CIs of a federated CI.

Relevant tasks How to View Related CIs

User interface elements are described below:

UI Element (A-Z) Description
Back. Displays the previous search results.
Forward. Display the next search results.
Clear Current Display. When the button is selected, the related CIs are added to the current results. When it is not selected, the current display content is cleared and only the new related CIs are displayed.
Display search results with/without grouping. When the button is selected, the related CIs are displayed with the hierarchical grouping of the applied perspective. When it is not selected, the related CIs are displayed without any grouping.

Select Target Integration Points. Enables you to include integrated CIs in your search results. Select the required integration points from the pop-up dialog box.

Note If you select a disconnected integration point for your search, an error message appears when the search is run, asking if you want to see local search results.

Apply perspectives to CI

Select perspectives from the list to apply to the selected CI. Only perspectives relevant to the selected CI appear in the list. The selected CI is used as content for the selected perspectives and the view results are displayed.

Note Application of perspectives is only relevant when CMDB is selected as the scope. The feature is inactive when View is selected as the scope.

Filter Related CIs by CI Type Select the CI types from the list to display in the related CI results. Only the selected CI types appear in the displayed results.
Select scope

Select the scope of the related CIs displayed:

  • View. All related CIs in the selected view.

  • CMDB. All related CIs in the CMDB.

Note This feature is not available in the Get Related CIs from CMDB dialog box opened from the shortcut menu.

Show Related CIs Click to display the related CIs according to your selection.