Working with the CI Map

The Configuration Item (CI) map displays a CI or a service in a visual workflow. You can view the related services or connected CIs (upstream and downstream). You can also view the relationships between CIs such as Dependent on, Hosted on, or Managed by in your organization. This provides a holistic view of the CI, its related services and relationships between connected CIs.

Each block in the CI Map represents another, related CI. This map of the relationship gives you insight into the impact of service interruptions at various upstream and downstream points, enabling you to better manage your service network and to isolate potential point-of-service failures quickly.

Viewing a CI Map

To view a CI Map:

1.Log in to the application as a Configuration Manager, Discovery Manager, or Discovery Analyst.

2.Open the CI workspace. The application displays a list of configuration items.

3.Double-click an item to view the record details.

4.Click the CI Map or the Service Map button to display the CI map for the selected item.

5.Under View Options:

a.

Choose a horizontal or vertical layout.

b.

Always show relation, when selected, shows the relationships between items on the map.

6.Select the number of levels to view. In large CI maps, you might want to view only one or two levels.

7.Select an item on the CI map to view its details.

8.To center the CI map on a specific item, right-click the item, then select Centralize and Redraw.

Viewing CI Outage Impact

To view the impact of a CI outage :

1.Right-click a configuration item block in the CI map, and select Show outage impact.

2.To revert to the original view, right-click a configuration item block and choose Hide Outage Impact.

Viewing a CI Map Tree

To view the upstream and downstream relations to a given configuration item:

1.Log in to the application as a Configuration Manager, Discovery Manager, or Discovery Analyst.

2.Open the CI or the CI Service workspace. The application displays a list of configuration items.

3.Double-click an item to view the record details.

4.Within a configuration item record, select the CI Map Tree tab. Configuration items that are downstream to the current configuration item are listed on the left side, while upstream configuration items are on the right.

See also Dependency Mapping.

Mapping a Configuration Item

Link or unlink upstream and downstream relation to a given configuration item under the Map Tree tab.

1.Log in to the application as a Configuration Manager.

2.Open the CI workspace. The list of objects appears.

3.Within a configuration item record, select the CI Map Tree tab.

4.Click the link icon under the Downstream or Upstream. The relationship window appears.

5.Select the relationship to create a link and click Link.

On a CI map, outages propagate upstream. It's important that you take this into account when deciding if you should create a Downstream or Upstream link.

The configuration item record that you selected appears in the tree view. If there are configuration items that are related to the record you selected, these appear as parents or children (as defined when the configuration items were linked) to the configuration item in the tree.

When you search for a Configuration Item to link while mapping, only those Configuration Items that are defined in the CI Named Rel Constraints which can be logically linked is displayed.

Defining a Configuration Item Relationship

Using the CI Named Rel Data workspace, you can add a short description to define logical relation between configuration items. This description appears on the CI map viewer, showing how one configuration item is related to another (for example, hosted on, connects to, runs on, and so on).

For example, a child record connected to a parent record (upstream) contains the description Hosted on, while the parent record connecting to a child record (downstream) contains the description Hosts.

1.Log in to the application as a Configuration Manager.

2.Open the CI Named Rel Data workspace. The application displays a list of relationships.

•The Child to Parent Link Name column displays the description for a child record related to a parent record (an upstream relationship).

•The Parent to Child Link Name column displays the description for a parent record (a downstream relation) related to a child record.

•At the bottom of the window, the Label for arrow from the Child to Parent Object field shows the upstream relationship. For example, it shows Hosted on.

•The Label for arrow from Parent to Child Object field shows the downstream relationship. For example, it shows Hosts.

3.Double-click a record. The CI Named Rel Data edit window appears.

4.Change the labels as needed. For example, you could change Hosted on to Hosted by.

5.Click Save. The relationship name appears when you define a CI map.

Defining Constraints for Configuration Item Relationships

Using the CI Named Rel Constraints workspace, you can define logical relationships between parent and child configuration items.

1.Log in to the application as a Configuration Manager.

2.Open the CI Named Rel Constraints workspace. The list of constraints appears.

3.Click New. The CINamedRelContraints form appears.

4.Enter information into the fields.

5.Click Save.