Component definition
This component works only with the Symantec Management Platform.
The Create SMP Credentials component initializes credentials to connect to a SMP in your process. This component sets the SMP computer IP address (or fully qualified domain name). It also sets the authentication credentials that other components can use to access the SMP server. Every Symantec component after this component can use its output parameters. This component uses data from the SMP plug-in to create the credentials.
If the Create SMP Credentials component cannot connect with a SMP, it cannot perform its function and the process cannot continue.
Component icon
Description of Component Output Paths
N/A
Description of component tabs and their properties
The properties on the Configuration tab in the Create SMP Credentials component are listed and described in the following table:
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Section
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Property
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Description
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Set Method
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Set Method
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Refers to the method that the published process uses to retrieve the needed Symantec Management Console credentials. Credentials are comprised of the following values: Symantec Management Platform server name, optional use of HTTPS, user name and password, and domain. All methods must retrieve those values.
Set Method options:
· Use Default This method uses credentials from the Credentials Manager plug-in on the computer that runs the workflow. When you select this method, the other options are hidden. The other options are hidden to prevent you from entering any credential data that conflicts with the credential data from the Credentials Manager. When you use this method, the published workflow retrieves its credentials from the Credential Manager on the Workflow Server.
· Enter Manually This method lets you input manually all of the credential data. The data includes the Symantec Management Console server name, optional use of HTTPS, user name and password, and domain.
· Configure Custom Logic Lets you create an embedded model to acquire the Symantec Management Console credentials. Provides you with an embedded model that uses logic and decision making for authentication. You can authenticate to multiple Symantec Management Platform servers, use a single Symantec Management Console with multiple credentials, or any combination of these.
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Manual Configuration
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SMP Server
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The SMP Server IP address (or fully qualified domain name) for components to use to access the run time Symantec Management Console.
The SMP Server IP address is placed in the global token called NSAuthenticationToken. By default, the SMP Server option in the Symantec Management Console tab of each Symantec component uses the NSAuthenticationToken token. The SMP Server is only updated in the Create SMP Credentials component.
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Use HTTPS
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Lets you indicate whether your SMP Server uses HTTPS.
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User Name
Password
Domain
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The authentication credentials for components to use to access the run time Symantec Management Console. The options in the Authentication section get placed in the global token called NSAuthenticationToken.
By default, the Security Token that is used in SMP tab of each Symantec component is a reference to NSAuthenticationToken.
You can put these credentials in a Security Token. This token lets you pass credentials to a Symantec component without disclosing the details of those credentials to the rest of the data flow. This token prevents you from exposing the Symantec Management Console credentials to those who are not supposed to have it.
The NSAuthenticationToken and SMP tokens are found in the Project global properties in the Global Data tab.
NSAuthenticationToken is of type ProxySecurityToken. The ProxySecurityToken type is extendable. Contact Symantec Customer Support for more information.
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Custom Configuration
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Embedded model
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The embedded model contains the following components: CreateBasicAuthenticationTokenComponent and InsertDataComponent.
CreateBasicAuthenticationTokenComponent contains Basic Authentication settings and is a Create Basic Authentication Token component.
InsertDataComponent contains the IP address (or fully qualified domain name) settings of the run time Symantec Management Platform server and is an Add New Data Element component.
You can create multiple copies of InsertDataComponent based on the number of Symantec Management Platform servers your workflow may use. You can change the IP address for each copy of InsertDataComponent based on each Symantec Management Platform server you use. When the workflow runs, the appropriate Symantec Management Platform server gets used.
For example, suppose your workflow needs to use the Symantec Management Platform server that is closest to a sales representative. You have sales representatives in New York and Sydney. You can create a matches rule. If the sales representative is from New York, the workflow goes through the InsertDataComponent with the IP address of the Symantec Management Platform server in New York.
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Output Data
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The default variables in the embedded model are global and do not need to be declared as output data.
Any other variables that you use in the embedded model need to be declared as output data .
If you have no variables to declare, you do not need to change the output data.
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The properties on the Settings tab in the Create SMP Credentials component are listed and described in the following table:
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Property
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Description
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Component Class Name
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The class name of this component. This property is not editable, but may be useful if you call Symantec Support.
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Description
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The description of this component. This property lets you describe how the component is used. You can use it to provide any wanted documentation for this component.
This description is included in the model reports that are created when you click Plugins > Generate Business Model.
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Location
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The physical location of the top left point of this component on the workflow model.
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Name
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The name of this component. You can change the name.
If you changed the component name when you double-clicked it on the workflow model, the changed name appears here.
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Override Background Color
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This property lets you change the background color of this component.
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To Do
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This property lets you record what you still need to do with the component. Use this property to help you remember the configuration that you want to apply to this component.
The text that you enter for this property appears at the bottom of the component editor. If you enter text for this property, a checklist symbol appears on the component in the workflow model.
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Is Enabled
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This property lets you enable or disable the component. By default, components are enabled. When a component is disabled, it has no effect on the Project. Uncheck Is Enabled to disable the component.
· Execution Outcome If a component with more than one outcome path is disabled, you must select which outcome path you want the component to take. Click the Execution Outcome drop-down list and select the outcome path for the workflow to follow.
· Disabled Mapping If the component has output parameters, you must configure all output parameters with fixed data to pass on. This configuration can be performed in the Disabled Mapping option.
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Connection information
N/A
Component settings
N/A
Use Case
Here is one example use for the Create SMP Credentials component:
Search For Users Asset Location Form
An online user location form searches the CMDB to find the associated user’s location as stored in Asset. The Create SMP Credentials component gives this form access to SMP.
The following screen shot shows the process:
Without the Create SMP Credentials component, the GetLocationForUser component cannot communicate with SMP, and so cannot capture the user’s location stored on the SMP.
Other components in this example are as follows:
· FormBuilder Component
· GetLocationForUser Component
This component automatically appears at the start of every newly created Workflow project. If your Project does not need to use this component, you can delete it.
You can use multiple Create SMP Credentials components in your process to connect to different SMPs.
This component has the same function as the Create Basic Authentication Token component and the Add New Data Element component combined.
The Create SMP Credentials component stores its values as global data to make the process designer’s job easier. The global variables that hold these values appear automatically in every new Project. In addition, every Symantec component is preconfigured to retrieve its SMP connection settings from these variables. Once you drop the Create SMP Credentials component into your model, all components are properly configured to communicate with SMP. Even the components that are not connected to the data stream.
These global data variables first appear with no value; the SMP Credentials plug-in supplies their values. The Create SMP Credentials component retrieves data from the plug-in and uses it to populate the global data variables.
The following screen shot shows the plug-in:
This configuration is the default configuration; this component can also be set up to use credential data manually entered in the component itself. When this component is invoked in the run-time process, it uses data in the SMP Credentials plug-in to overwrite the global credential data. All Symantec components downstream from this component then draw their credentials from the global data. However, they do not have to be downstream from the Create SMP Credentials component. Each time a Create SMP Credentials component is used in a process, it overwrites the global credential data. Therefore, you must use this component in your process at each point the process alternates SMPs.