BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Administration Guide

Transcription

1 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Administration Guide January

2 Contacting BMC Software You can access the BMC Software website at From this website, you can obtain information about the company, its products, corporate offices, special events, and career opportunities. United States and Canada Address BMC SOFTWARE INC 2101 CITYWEST BLVD HOUSTON TX USA Outside United States and Canada Telephone or Telephone (01) Fax (01) Fax If you have comments or suggestions about this documentation, contact Information Design and Development by at Copyright BMC Software, Inc. BMC, BMC Software, and the BMC Software logo are the exclusive properties of BMC Software, Inc., are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other BMC trademarks, service marks, and logos may be registered or pending registration in the U.S. or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. UNIX is the registered trademark of The Open Group in the U.S. and other countries. The information included in this documentation is the proprietary and confidential information of BMC Software, Inc., its affiliates, or licensors. Your use of this information is subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable End User License agreement for the product and to the proprietary and restricted rights notices included in the product documentation. Restricted rights legend U.S. Government Restricted Rights to Computer Software. UNPUBLISHED -- RIGHTS RESERVED UNDER THE COPYRIGHT LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. Use, duplication, or disclosure of any data and computer software by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions, as applicable, set forth in FAR Section , DFARS , DFARS , DFARS , and DFARS , as amended from time to time. Contractor/Manufacturer is BMC Software, Inc., 2101 CityWest Blvd., Houston, TX , USA. Any contract notices should be sent to this address.

3 Customer Support You can obtain technical support by using the Support page on the BMC Software website or by contacting Customer Support by telephone or . To expedite your inquiry, please see Before Contacting BMC Software. Support website You can obtain technical support from BMC Software 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at From this website, you can: Read overviews about support services and programs that BMC Software offers. Find the most current information about BMC Software products. Search a database for problems similar to yours and possible solutions. Order or download product documentation. Report a problem or ask a question. Subscribe to receive notices when new product versions are released. Find worldwide BMC Software support center locations and contact information, including addresses, fax numbers, and telephone numbers. Support by telephone or In the United States and Canada, if you need technical support and do not have access to the Web, call or send an message to customer_support@bmc.com. (In the Subject line, enter SupID:<yourSupportContractID>, such as SupID:12345.) Outside the United States and Canada, contact your local support center for assistance. Before contacting BMC Software Have the following information available so that Customer Support can begin working on your issue immediately: Product information Product name Product version (release number) License number and password (trial or permanent) Operating system and environment information Machine type Operating system type, version, and service pack System hardware configuration Serial numbers Related software (database, application, and communication) including type, version, and service pack or maintenance level Sequence of events leading to the problem Commands and options that you used Messages received (and the time and date that you received them) Product error messages Messages from the operating system, such as file system full Messages from related software

4 License key and password information If you have a question about your license key or password, contact Customer Support through one of the following methods: customer_support@bmc.com. (In the Subject line, enter SupID:<yourSupportContractID>, such as SupID:12345.) In the United States and Canada, call Outside the United States and Canada, contact your local support center for assistance. Submit a new issue at

5 Contents Preface 9 Audience Best practices Related documentation Chapter 1 Introducing BMC Remedy Knowledge Management 11 What is BMC Remedy Knowledge Management? Integrations Main components of BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Architecture Application components Knowledge life cycle management Knowledge search Overview of tasks Analyzing organizational requirements Setting up the framework Quick start process overview About knowledge articles Article life cycle Roles and privileges Chapter 2Getting started 29 About the Application Administration Console Accessing the Application Administration Console Configuration prerequisites Defining the application administrator Performing a standard configuration Creating a company Creating organizations Creating locations Creating support groups Creating people information Creating support staff members Creating non-support staff people Creating product categories (optional) Creating operational categories (optional) Configuring assignments (optional) Contents 5

6 Configuring visibility groups Managing standard configuration data Chapter 3 Article Conversion Tool 49 Remote access conversion Managing conversions Viewing conversion details Running new conversions Converting articles for default or modified templates Converting articles for new templates Troubleshooting Chapter 4 Working with reports 55 About reports Generating predefined reports Working with reports Chapter 5 Managing knowledge sources 61 About managing knowledge sources Accessing knowledge source management About the Registration Wizard Registering searchable items Searchable item panel sequence Prerequisites for searchable item registration Registering knowledge base items Registering file system paths Registering AR forms Running the Registration Wizard Using Registration Wizard parameters Registering new knowledge sources Modifying knowledge sources Viewing registration and indexing statuses Indexing on demand Viewing the log file Managing knowledge article templates Creating knowledge article templates Chapter 6 Configuring approvals 79 Approval process overview Approval workflow Configuring approval chains for Global company Configuring approval chains for a specific company Configuring approval mappings Chapter 7 Configuring general settings 85 Configuring application settings Administration Guide

7 Configuring feedback strings Configuring system settings Configuring Plugin Log Levels Configuring indexing intervals Chapter 8 Configuring status transitions 91 About status transitions Status groups and types Status groups Status types Status transition workflows User permissions for changing statuses Localizing status strings Configuring status transitions Chapter 9 Enabling notifications 99 About notifications Event types Working with the Watch List Disabling notifications Index 103 Contents 7

8 8 Administration Guide

9 Preface Audience This guide describes how to administer and configure BMC Remedy Knowledge Management. The application runs on the BMC Remedy Action Request System (BMC Remedy AR System) and consumes data from the BMC Atrium Configuration Management Database (CMDB) application. This guide is intended for the following administrators: Application administrators who define standard system configuration information such as users, migrate data from previous installations, manage knowledge sources, and run and view reports. This user has the Knowledge Admin role. NOTE Knowledge Admin users are advanced users who set owner and review date for articles. For information on working with articles, see the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management User Guide. Configuration administrators who configure application settings for BMC Remedy Knowledge Management, but do not directly work with articles. This user has the Knowledge Config role. NOTE For more information on user roles, see Roles and privileges on page 22. Preface 9

10 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Best practices Documentation for BMC Remedy Knowledge Management contains the following icon: Icon Description The Best Practice icon highlights processes or approaches that BMC has identified as the most effective way to leverage certain features. Related documentation The following table lists the documentation available for the application. Unless otherwise noted, online documentation in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format is available on product installation DVDs and the Customer Support website ( You can order printed documentation from the Customer Support website. Post-release documentation, such as white papers, are also accessible on this website as it becomes available. NOTE To access the support website, you need a support contract. You can access application help by clicking Help links in the application. Title Document provides Audience BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Release Notes with Known Issues BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Release Notes BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Installation Guide BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Administration Guide BMC Remedy Knowledge Management User Guide Information about new features and known issues. Information about new features. Procedures for installing the application. Procedures for administrating and configuring the application. Procedures for using the application. Everyone Everyone Administrators Administrators Everyone 10 Administration Guide

11 1 Introducing Chapter BMC Remedy Knowledge Management This section provides an overview of the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management application, describes user roles, and provides other general information. The following topics are provided: What is BMC Remedy Knowledge Management? (page 12) Architecture (page 13) Overview of tasks (page 18) Quick start process overview (page 19) About knowledge articles (page 20) Article life cycle (page 21) Roles and privileges (page 22) Chapter 1 Introducing BMC Remedy Knowledge Management 11

12 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management What is BMC Remedy Knowledge Management? BMC Remedy Knowledge Management is a framework for creating, publishing, reviewing, and searching IT knowledge articles, to provide service desk analysts with a knowledge base of easy-to-find solutions and give users self-service search options to help them resolve issues on their own. The Consortium for Service Innovation which created and maintains Knowledge- Centered Support (KCS), shares best practices for capturing, structuring, evolving, and reusing knowledge. BMC Remedy Knowledge Management leverages these best practices to improve service levels by helping organizations to maintain what their employees, partners, and customers know and reuse this knowledge to gain value. Knowledge, typically comprised of different types and formats, is stored as separate knowledge articles contained in a knowledge-based repository. Storing knowledge articles in a repository allows control and life cycle management. Organizations that are just starting to build their own proprietary content, require examples of content, or want to expand the organizational knowledge base can import prepackaged knowledge for immediate use. The authoring process enables authorized users to use rich HTML authoring and extensive editing tools to create and maintain interactive, template-based knowledge articles and manage the knowledge article life cycle within a defined sequence of stages. Powerful index and search capabilities across multiple sources, including incidents, problems, and known errors, enable users to search the repository and locate the requested knowledge. The robust search engine allows users to search for solutions using natural language or Boolean searches. BMC Remedy Knowledge Management shares a common foundation with BMC Remedy IT Service Management (BMC Remedy ITSM) and BMC Service Request Management all applications are built on BMC Remedy AR System. BMC Remedy Knowledge Management leverages foundational elements, such as notification and , of the integration platform to simplify and reduce management costs. BMC Remedy Knowledge Management provides the following functionality: Helps IT and customer service personnel and other service providers to guarantee a quick and accurate response when solving problems. Allows organizations to provide users with the option to perform an ad hoc search for knowledge by themselves. Provides a means to create knowledge goals and monitor articles through reports. 12Administration Guide

13 Architecture Integrations The BMC Remedy AR System integrations allow BMC Remedy Knowledge Management to communicate and share data with the following applications: BMC Remedy Incident Management BMC Remedy Problem Management BMC Service Request Management Main components of BMC Remedy Knowledge Management The application consists of the following main components: Self-service search interface Entry point where users can search for knowledge from the knowledge base without accessing the application. Direct, user-friendly access to knowledge articles without the intervention of organizational members helps to reduce inbound call volume. Knowledge Management Console (KM Console) Lists knowledge articles in various life cycle stages that are available to you, and links to functionality according to your permissions. This console enables users to select an article for viewing or editing content and metadata, and to create articles all per user permissions. NOTE For more information on working with the application, see the BMC Remedy Knowledge User Guide. Architecture This section describes the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management architecture, including its relationship to the BMC Remedy AR System server. A database forms the underlying element of the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management architecture. The BMC Remedy AR System server is on top of the database and processes all data entered by BMC Remedy Knowledge Management applications. In addition, the BMC Remedy AR System server is the workflow engine between the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management applications and the database. It also verifies that a user has permission to perform each action, thereby enforcing any access control defined in the applications. The BMC AR System server also manages BMC Remedy Approval Server, the Assignment Engine, and BMC Remedy FTS, as follows: BMC Remedy Approval Server Self-contained, shared module that enables you to automate any approval or signature process. For more information, see the BMC Remedy Approval Server Guide. Chapter 1 Introducing BMC Remedy Knowledge Management 13

14 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management BMC Remedy Assignment Engine Enables you to automatically assign requests to individuals. For more information, see the BMC Remedy Action Request System Configuration Guide. BMC Remedy Full Text Search (FTS) Provides a search mechanism that is typically much faster than the native database searching functionality for searching in long text fields. It is also the only search method available in BMC Remedy AR System for searching text within documents that are attached to requests. For more information, see the BMC Remedy Action Request System Configuration Guide. BMC Remedy Knowledge Management also uses several integrated modules and supporting applications that extend and enhance the basic BMC Remedy AR System server functions: BMC Remedy IT Service Management (ITSM) Foundation Contains the common forms, workflow, and data that are needed to support the applications. It also provides a repository for the following data structures used by each BMC Remedy ITSM applications: Company (tenancy and external company definitions) Organization Location People Support groups Categorization BMC Remedy Notification Engine Provides a back-end workflow model for defining which notifications should be sent, based on different events in a BMC Remedy Knowledge Management application. Support staff uses the People form to define which notifications they want to receive. Included predefined notifications can be turned on or off. The BMC Remedy Knowledge Management application components as well as the relationships among the database, AR System server, BMC Remedy Approval Server, Assignment Engine, Full Text Search, the application s BMC Remedy Foundation, Notification Engine and the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management applications are illustrated in Figure Administration Guide

15 Architecture Figure 1-1: BMC Remedy Knowledge Management application architecture Application components BMC Remedy Knowledge Management consists of the following components: Knowledge articles Knowledge life cycle management Knowledge search BMC Remedy Knowledge Management has two types of knowledge articles: AR form-based BMC Remedy Knowledge Management can integrate with any AR form and turn it into knowledge article. BMC Remedy Knowledge Management includes a registration tool that enable customers to define which forms and which fields on this form they would like to integrate to the knowledgebase. Using the AR form rich text fields, AR form based knowledge articles can include rich text formatting and can embed objects including images and hyperlinks. Chapter 1 Introducing BMC Remedy Knowledge Management 15

16 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management BMC Remedy Knowledge Management uses the AR based knowledge articles to define the knowledge article templates. By default, BMC Remedy Knowledge Management provides the following knowledge article templates: How to Problem solution Known Error Reference Decision Tree Since these templates are based on AR System forms, a knowledge article can have permissions assigned by group. This creates a knowledge article that has field-level and knowledge article-level security. Knowledge article permissions are assigned to a knowledge article in the BMC Remedy Developer Studio. Customers can create their own templates or modify and customize the existing templates using the BMC Remedy Developer Studio. They should use the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management tool to register new templates. External Sources Using BMC Remedy AR System platform ARDBC Plugins, BMC Remedy Knowledge Management can connect to any external knowledge source and can integrate that source into BMC Remedy Knowledge Management knowledge base as knowledge articles. By integrating into the knowledge base, these external knowledge items will include information like BMC Remedy ITSM categories, update requests, feedback and workflow life cycle management. BMC Remedy Knowledge Management is shipped by default with a connector to file systems. This connector enables external file system folders to be defined, and files such as PDF articles or Microsoft Word documents to be integrated into the knowledge base as BMC Remedy Knowledge Management knowledge articles. These knowledge articles are later indexed by the search engine and can be searched on like any other articles in the knowledge base. Figure 1-2 illustrates how the different types of knowledge articles are integrated into a single knowledge base. The information that is common to all knowledge articles together with the workflow logic required for life cycle management of knowledge articles is stored in the Knowledge Article Manager AR form. AR Join forms are used in order to integrate the common knowledge information with the knowledge content form, that could be any other AR form (in this example the How To knowledge article template form) or an AR Vendor form when connecting to external knowledge source (in this example file system). The AR Join form is the actual knowledge article that is indexed by the search engine. 16 Administration Guide

17 Architecture Figure 1-2: BMC Remedy Knowledge Management knowledge base Knowledge life cycle management Knowledge search The BMC Remedy Knowledge Management authoring process allows authorized users to create knowledge articles and manage the knowledge article life cycle within a defined sequence of stages, (for example, Draft, In Review, Published, and Retired). BMC Remedy Knowledge Management enables users to define the different life cycle stages and the available list of stages that a knowledge article can switch to from a given stage. When switching between stages, BMC Remedy Knowledge Management routes the article to the next assignee using the BMC Remedy Assignment Engine. This is performed by analyzing pre-defined routing rules that are based on the company that the article belongs to and the article categorization. Some stages, such as Publish and Retire, may require an approval process. BMC Remedy Knowledge Management uses the BMC Remedy Approval Server to define approval workflow for these stages. BMC Remedy Knowledge Management s search module uses the BMC Remedy Full Text Search module to search on different knowledge sources using natural language, and to present a consolidated search result list. Chapter 1 Introducing BMC Remedy Knowledge Management 17

18 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management The knowledge search module provides a search mechanism that is typically much faster than the native database searching functionality for searching in long text fields. It also lets you search on AR System form attachments. Any AR form can be registered to BMC Remedy Knowledge Management as a searchable item. BMC Remedy Knowledge Management will go over the records in these forms, index them, and thus enable the application to search on these records. The BMC Remedy Knowledge Management has the ability to filter the search results based on characteristics such as: Company Product and Operational Categories Environment Languages Overview of tasks This section provides an overview of what is involved in setting up the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management system. You are essentially setting up the framework that enables users to work with knowledge. Analyzing organizational requirements Before you begin administration and configuration, you need to analyze how to build the knowledge management system. Some questions you might consider are: Who fulfills which user role and to what support groups will they belong? How and to whom should articles transition within the article workflow? How will search results be displayed? How long are intervals between indexing knowledge sources? NOTE If you are integrating with other applications, some of the services might already be configured. 18 Administration Guide

19 Quick start process overview Setting up the framework Before configuring the application, the application administrator must define users, and assign these users to the appropriate permissions and functional roles. This administrator can also associate them with the appropriate support groups, if necessary. BMC Remedy Knowledge Management includes some predefined roles. Additionally, this administrator must set up permissions for users and groups to ensure that the appropriate people can access the appropriate knowledge and metadata. For more information, see Roles and privileges on page 22. You must also set up approvers in the People form. Setting up approvers allows you to have requests for retiring or cancelling articles approved. For more information, see Configuring approval mappings on page 82. Quick start process overview To perform the basic level of application configuration, perform step 1 and step 2 listed in the following table. To perform the tasks, you should have a basic understanding of performing common configuration tasks using the Application Administration Console (for example, you know how to log into the IT Home Page, define users in the People form, and so on). Table 1-1: Quick Start Actions Action Where to begin For more information 1. Set up your company or organization Perform standard configuration of your company or organization (such as People, Company, Location, and Site information). Note: If you have already have performed this step in BMC Remedy IT Service Management, you can ignore this step, except for creating assignment routing for the application. See Configuring assignments (optional) on page Define users Define the application administrator. From the Application Administration Console, click the Standard Configuration tab. From the Application Administration Console, click the Standard Configuration tab. Then, select the Create link for People. Managing standard configuration data on page 46 BMC Remedy IT Service Management Configuration Guide Defining the application administrator on page 31 Chapter 1 Introducing BMC Remedy Knowledge Management 19

20 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Action Where to begin For more information Define the support staff with appropriate privileges. From the Application Administration Console, click the Standard Configuration tab. Then, select the Create link for People. Roles and privileges on page 22 Creating support groups on page 36 Creating support staff members on page 37 After the set-up is finished, the application administer can perform the following tasks: Convert articles from previous version For more information, see Article Conversion Tool on page 49. Manage knowledge sources For more information, see About managing knowledge sources on page 62. Work with reports For more information, see Working with reports on page 59. Work with the application For more information, see the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management User Guide. After the application administrator defines the configuration administrator, the following configuration tasks can be preformed by the configuration administrator: Convert approvals For more information, see Approval process overview on page 80. Convert general application settings For more information, see Configuring application settings on page 86. Convert status transitions For more information, see About status transitions on page 92. About knowledge articles Knowledge is stored in units known as knowledge articles (articles). Each article captures an issue and, using the appropriate predefined template, documents the experience of solving a problem, providing referential information, describing a process, or answering a question. Once captured, article content can evolve and be improved over time, based on user demand and usage. An article s maintenance might continue indefinitely as the knowledge evolves. Users can submit feedback that might include suggestions for updating or improving the article, rate its content, and indicate whether the article was useful. Content that becomes irrelevant, misleading, inaccurate, or inappropriate can be revised, or the entire article can be retired and made inaccessible to users. 20 Administration Guide

21 Article life cycle Article life cycle Users can track changes made to articles even when they are not involved in the workflow, by selecting specific articles or by defining rules (watch list). When these articles are changed, a notification is sent. Articles are registered and indexed to enable searching. All users can perform a search and view results from within BMC Remedy AR System, in accordance with their permissions. Users that have one of the Knowledge User roles can also perform a search from within BMC Remedy Knowledge Management. When an appropriate article is not found in the knowledge base, users with the appropriate permissions can create an article as required. Articles can be related to one another when their content is related. Thus it is possible, for example, to add a link from an article that contains information about resolving an issue to another article that contains referential information. Every article has a life cycle. At the beginning of its life cycle, the article enters the pre-publish review and approval process. If approved, the article is published. Published articles can be reviewed and retired from use, as required. Retired articles continue to reside in the knowledge base, and although they are not visible to end users, Knowledge users can search for them. Statuses are used to denote the current phase of an article within the article s life cycle. Each phase determines factors such as: Type of work the article requires User or group to whom the article can be assigned Status transition options for the article User viewing permissions Whether the article is searchable The following example illustrates a typical article life cycle: Step 1 The author identifies the need for new knowledge and creates an article. Step 2 When the author is finished, the article is promoted into the workflow. At this stage, the article s content might be visible to some users with Knowledge user roles. However, the content has not been reviewed and approved for use. This content might change, or the entire article might be deleted Step 3 A Subject Matter Expert (SME) reviews the article for content but cannot approve it, so the article is re-assigned to the author for additional work. Step 4 The author completes the required editing and resends the article to be reviewed again by an SME who is a member of the same support group as the SME who originally reviewed the content. Chapter 1 Introducing BMC Remedy Knowledge Management 21

22 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Step 5 The article passes the review this time and is assigned to another reviewer who performs a review for technical accuracy. For example, if the article contains procedural steps, this reviewer verifies that no steps are missing. Step 6 After the content and accuracy have been reviewed, verified, and approved, the article is proofread. Step 7 The article has passed all the reviews and is ready to be published, but must first be approved for publishing. Step 8 When approved, the article is published and becomes available to all users, even those without Knowledge user roles (Self Help users). In some cases, the content might be confidential so the article might be marked as not available to Self-Help users. Step 9 A future (typically after a year) review date to ensure that the article content is still correct is set for the article. When the review date arrives, notification is sent as a reminder. Step 10 Users search for and open the article, indicating whether the content has been useful. Sometimes they send feedback or a request to update the content. Step 11 A Knowledge User reviews the article and needs to update some of the content. A duplicate copy of the article is created. After the changes are made, the new version replaces the older article. Step 12 At some point, the article becomes obsolete and a Knowledge User retires it, rendering it not searchable and inaccessible to users. NOTE Managing and tracking the life cycle through its different statuses depends on the valid status transitions that have been configured by Knowledge Config user. The list of available statuses for selection is sensitive to the environment (for example, user role, current status, and company permissions). See About status transitions on page 92 for more information. Roles and privileges In BMC Remedy Knowledge Management, each user has an assigned functional role, which defines what tasks they can perform. By default, BMC Remedy Knowledge Management provides the roles and the permissions associated with them. By default, BMC Remedy Knowledge Management installs AR permission groups that are already mapped to knowledge roles in the application. BMC recommends that you use these AR permission groups to assign roles. 22 Administration Guide

23 Roles and privileges NOTE When no Knowledge Management role is assigned, Self-Service permissions enable end users to search and view published knowledge articles that are flagged for external use. Knowledge Viewer Grants view access to knowledge articles in any status without writing privileges. This role is usually assigned to support staff who only search and view articles. Knowledge Submitter Grants write access to new knowledge articles only. This role is usually assigned to junior knowledge users and trainees and enables them to create and promote articles to Draft status only. Knowledge User Grants write, assign, and promote access to new and existing articles without administrative tasks. This role is usually assigned to senior knowledge users of a support group and enables users to participate in the knowledge article life cycle. Knowledge Admin Grants full access to the application. This role is usually assigned to the most advanced knowledge users and enables users (in addition to Knowledge User privileges), to generate reports, manage knowledge sources, migrate data from previous installations. Knowledge Config Grants access to configuration settings. This role enables users to configure the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management settings. Typically, a user assigned with this role is not a member of a support group and is not intended to create, edit, or publish articles. Table 1-2 shows the available default actions for the different roles. Table 1-2: BMC Remedy Knowledge Management roles with their privileges (Sheet 1 of 5) Privileges Self Service Knowledge Viewer Knowledge Submitter Knowledge User Knowledge Admin Viewing View articles in simple view View articles in advanced view View in-progress articles View draft articles View in-review articles View published external articles View published internal articles Knowledge Config Comments Internal articles are approved but not exposed to end users. Chapter 1 Introducing BMC Remedy Knowledge Management 23

24 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Table 1-2: BMC Remedy Knowledge Management roles with their privileges (Sheet 2 of 5) Privileges View closed version View retired articles View cancelled articles View articles waiting for approval Self Service Knowledge Viewer Knowledge Submitter Knowledge User Closed articles are not returned after a search, but can be viewed in the revisions tab of the advanced view Knowledge Admin Knowledge Config Comments + Cancelled articles can be viewed from the console Articles waiting for approval (both publish and retire) can be searched and viewed. View update requests View relationships View Categories View Revisions View History View Usage Editing Create a new article After an article has been updated to In Progress, it can be assigned to a Knowledge User or Admin. Edit In Progress Knowledge Submitters can edit only their own articles. Edit draft Administration Guide

25 Roles and privileges Table 1-2: BMC Remedy Knowledge Management roles with their privileges (Sheet 3 of 5) Privileges Edit in-review + + The editor must be part of the relevant reviewer s support group. Edit published + + This action creates a new version in draft. Edit closed version + + This action creates a new version in draft. Edit retired + + Edit cancelled Edit waiting-forapproval Workflow Change status to draft Change status to review Change status to publish/retire approval Change status to cancel Self Service Knowledge Viewer Knowledge Submitter Knowledge User + + This action stops the approval process and reverts the article to the previous status The status is changed to Draft from In Progress. + + Knowledge Admin Knowledge Config Comments + + Draft articles can also be changed to retiredapproval. + Only users with the Knowledge Admin role can cancel any article from all statuses. Knowledge users can request to cancel articles. Chapter 1 Introducing BMC Remedy Knowledge Management 25

26 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Table 1-2: BMC Remedy Knowledge Management roles with their privileges (Sheet 4 of 5) Privileges Take ownership + + User must be part of the relevant reviewers support group if the article is in review. In other statuses the group is not relevant. Assign ownership + + User must be part of the relevant reviewers support group if the article is in review. In other statuses the group is not relevant. Approve publish Approve retire Self Service Knowledge Viewer Set owner/ownergroup Knowledge Management Console Knowledge Submitter Knowledge User Knowledge Admin + Knowledge Config Comments Configured in the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management configuration. Requires support group membership and approval role. Configured in the BMC Remedy Knowledge Management configuration. Requires support group membership and approval role. 26 Administration Guide

27 Roles and privileges Table 1-2: BMC Remedy Knowledge Management roles with their privileges (Sheet 5 of 5) Privileges Open knowledge source management under Functions Quick Actions + + View articles not assigned to me/all Remedy Home Page Open RKM console Open configuration for RKM Open search dialog Other Submit update requests Submit feedback Create reports + Remedy fixed (write) license Part of support staff Create relationships Self Service Knowledge Viewer Knowledge Submitter Knowledge User Knowledge Admin + Knowledge Config + A user with the Knowledge Admin role can view articles not assign to that user when filtering 'my groups' Submitters can create relationships only for inprogress articles. + Comments Chapter 1 Introducing BMC Remedy Knowledge Management 27

28 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management Administration Guide

29 2 Getting Chapter started This section describes how to set up and configure the application. The following topics are provided: About the Application Administration Console (page 30) Accessing the Application Administration Console (page 30) Configuration prerequisites (page 31) Defining the application administrator (page 31) Performing a standard configuration (page 34) Configuring visibility groups (page 45) Managing standard configuration data (page 46) Chapter 2Getting started 29

30 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management About the Application Administration Console The Application Administration Console shows common items and items for the applications that are installed. The console enables application administrators to set up the application, and configuration administrators to configure the settings for working with the application. These forms are unavailable to other users. The Application Administration Console provides the following two tabs: Standard Configuration tab Lists seven steps that walk the application administrator through the process of setting up organizational and user information. NOTE If a BMC Remedy IT Service Management Suite application was installed and configured before installing BMC Remedy Knowledge Management, the standard configuration steps might have already been done. Custom Configuration tab Provides access to configuration forms. For more information about configuration, see the BMC Remedy IT Service Management Configuration Guide. Accessing the Application Administration Console You can access the Application Administration Console from the web. NOTE BMC Remedy Knowledge Management is not supported in BMC Remedy User. If you installed the Application Administration Console shortcut on your desktop, you can double-click the icon to launch the console; otherwise, use the following procedure to open the console: To open the Application Administration Console from the web 1 Type the following URL into your browser: Page where: midtierserver is the fully qualified name of the BMC Remedy Mid Tier server, specified in the format servername.company.com. port is an optional port number, which is required if the web server is not on the default port (port 80). 30 Administration Guide

31 Configuration prerequisites ARServer is the name of the BMC Remedy AR System server that contains the application. NOTE If the mid tier and the application are on the same system, BMC Remedy AR System server name can be omitted. 2 In the User Name and Password fields of the Welcome page, enter your user name and password. 3 Click Login to open the IT Home Page opens in your browser. For a list of supported browsers, see the compatibility matrix at: 4 From the Quick Links section on the left navigation bar, click Application Administration Console. 5 Select the appropriate task to open the form for the selected task. Configuration prerequisites You can set up the application to contain entries about the various people, groups, skills, responsibilities, and geographic locations associated with your organization. Before you begin configuring the application, verify that the following configuration prerequisites are met: You must have an BMC Remedy AR System write license (either fixed or floating). You must have a basic knowledge of BMC Remedy AR System administration tasks. For information about setting the BMC Remedy AR System options, see the BMC Remedy Action Request System Configuration Guide. Defining the application administrator The application is installed with a default application administrator (appadmin). Before you proceed to set up application settings, use appadmin to log in to the application for the first time and proceed to define yourself as the Knowledge Admin user. The following procedure describes the minimum number of entries that you need to define and enable the application administrator to set up the application. You should add support staff information to the application administrator entry, as described in Creating support staff members on page 37. Chapter 2Getting started 31

32 BMC Remedy Knowledge Management To define a BMC Remedy Knowledge Management administrator 1 Log into the BMC Remedy AR System server as the appadmin user. 2 On the Standard Configuration tab of the Application Administration Console, select the company for which to define the application administrator. 3 Click the Create link next to People. NOTE Always configure people by opening the People form from the Application Administration Console. Information that you add or modify on the People form is automatically updated to the BMC Remedy AR System User form, but information updated on the User form is not updated to the People form. 4 In the People form, enter information in the required fields. 5 Enter the administrator s address. The default notification method is . 6 For the application administrator (and all support staff), select Yes in the Support Staff field. The Support Groups tab appears. For the application administrator and all support staff, you must complete the Login/Access Details tab and the Support Groups tab. 7 Give the person the appropriate administrator permissions. a On the Login/Access Details tab, enter the Login ID and the Password. b Click Update Permission Groups. c In the Permission Group field on the Permission Group dialog box, select a permission group to add (the setting for you is Knowledge > Knowledge Admin, and click Add/Modify. For more information about permissions, see Roles and privileges on page 22. d If required, select a license type of Fixed or Floating. e Click Add/Modify for each permission group. f When you finish adding permission groups, click Close. 8 If you use the Company field to restrict access to specific companies, complete the following steps to give the application administrator access to data in the applications by assigning the administrator to specific companies. Otherwise, select Yes in the Unrestricted Access field (the default) on the Login/Access Details tab of the People form. To select a specific company: a Click Update Access Restrictions. b In the Access Restriction field of the Access Restrictions dialog box, select a company for which to add access to the person. c Click Add/Modify and Close. 32Administration Guide

33 Defining the application administrator 9 Follow these steps to relate the person to at least one support group: a Click the Support Groups tab. b Click Update Support Groups and Roles. c In the Add Support Group Relationship area of the Update Support Group Memberships and Roles form, select the Company, Support Organization, Support Group, and Relationship Role. NOTE The relationship roles are Member and Associate Member. These values are informational only. Member means that the person belongs to the support group. Associate Member means that the person has access to modify requests assigned to that support group. d Click Add. A support person can belong to more than one support group. To select the primary support group, select the support group, and click Set to Default. To change the relationship role, click Make Associate Member or Make Member. 10 Click the Functional Role Update tab. You can use this tab to assign functional roles to people in support groups. Functional roles extend access granted by permissions groups, but only for specific support groups that are used in the application. For example, someone might be a member of two support groups, but is a Knowledge Management Approver for only one. 11 To add a functional role, complete the following steps: a Select the Company, Support Organization, and Support Group Name. Selections in lists for the Company, Support Organization, and Support Group Name fields on this tab appear only if support groups have been related to the person on the Support Group Update tab. b Select a functional role (Knowledge Management > Knowledge Management Approver) and click Add. 12 Click Close, and click Add in the People form. 13 Confirm the password. Chapter 2Getting started 33