Workflow

In the Workflow tab, define the parameters for integration with an external corporate Change Management System (CMS). AFA supports integration with AlgoSec FireFlow, BMC Remedy, HP ServiceCenter (ServiceNow), or any other system supporting Web-based access.

When implementing a requested change in the device, many organizations choose to specify a CMS ticket ID in the relevant rule comment. AFA will automatically detect such CMS ticket IDs in rule comments. Wherever a rule is displayed in the AFA report, its comment will include a link to the CMS system, pointing at the relevant ticket. Clicking the link opens a browser window with the relevant CMS ticket open, allowing further examination of the change (who requested it, who authorized it and when, etc.).

Change request ID format

This option is relevant for all Workflow types. This option allows you to define a format to which the device rule comments must comply so AlgoSec recognizes them as containing a change request id. Only properly formatted rule comments will be linked to the CMS change request.

AFA will look for the following format in the rule comments:

<Before><Chang_Request_id><After>

Where <Before> and <After> are fixed strings, and <Change _Request_id> is a Perl regular expression (see note below).

For example:

Field Input

Before

Change Request #

Change Request id

\d+

After

#

This comment will become a link: 'Change Request #1234#'. This comment will not become a link: 'Change Request 1234#' , because <Before> is not equal to 'Change Request #'.

Note: The required Change_Request_id format must be specified as a Perl regular expression. You can find tutorials on writing regular expressions on the Internet.
Here are some examples of the type of things you can accomplish:

Note: \d represents a digit, \s represents a space, \w - an alphanumeric character.

Note: Examples:

\d\d\d\d-\d\d- comments must contain a change request number like 1234-56

\d\d-\d\d-\d\d\d\d- comments must contain a date like 01-01-2007

[A-Z]{2}\s*\d+- comments must contain two capital letters, then zero or more spaces, then one or more digits (e.g. "AK  123")

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AlgoSec FireFlow

If you use AlgoSec FireFlow, select AlgoSec Fireflow in the Workflow tab to fill in FireFlow-specific parameters.

  • Server: Name of the AlgoSec FireFlow server to be accessed (usually the AFA server).
  • URL Template: The structure of the URL that will be created for change request ID links in AFA reports. The following keywords will be replaced by the relevant values: __SERVER_NAME__ and _REQUEST_ID__.
    Click the Show Full URL button to see the resulting URL string.

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BMC Remedy

If you use a BMC Remedy Change Management System, select BMC Remedy in the Workflow tab to fill in Remedy-specific parameters.

Fill in the different fields, in order to allow AFA to create the correct links. The format of a typical URL to a Remedy change request is as follows:

<protocol>://<mid_tier_server>/arsys/servlet/ViewFormServlet?server=<server_name>&form=<form_name>&qual=<query>

Where:

  • <protocol>: may be either http or https
  • <mid_tier_server>: (required) - the server name or IP where the Mid Tier is installed. May contain an optional port number, format: 192.168.2.60:8080
  • <server_name>: (required) - Name of the AR System server to be accessed.
  • <form>: (required) - Name of the AR System form to be accessed.

Example:

If the parameters are:

  • Mid Tier Server: 192.168.2.60:8080 (Host: 192.168.2.60, Port: 8080),
  • Server: remedy (this is its DNS name)
  • Form: Sample
  • URL Template: kept at the AlgoSec default.

Then the fully formatted URL for change request id 12345 would look like this:

http://192.168.2.60:8080/arsys/servlet/ViewFormServlet?server=remedy&form=Sample&qual=%27Change%20ID%2A%2B%27%3D%2212345%22

The URL template that AFA uses can be viewed and edited in the URL Template field. It contains the structure of the URL that will be created for change request ID links in AFA reports. You may change this field to specify the URL format explicitly (over-ride the defaults). The following keywords will be replaced by the relevant values: __SERVER_NAME__, __MID_TIER_SERVER__, __FORM_NAME__, __REQUEST_ID__.

Click Show Full URL to see the resulting URL string.

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HP ServiceCenter (formerly Peregrine)

If you use a HP ServiceCenter (formerly Peregrine) Change Management System, select HP ServiceCenter (Peregrine) in the Workflow tab to fill in ServiceCenter-specific parameters.

Fill in the different fields, in order to allow AFA to create the correct links. The format of a typical URL to an HP ServiceCenter change request is as follows:

protocol://<server>/sc/index.do?ctx=docEngine&file=<file>&query=<query>&action=&title=Ticket%20Information

Where:

  • <protocol>: may be either http or https
  • <server>: The HP ServiceCenter (Peregrine) server (name or IP address)
  • <file>: The table name
  • <query>: Format of the actual query string, e.g. number="__REQUEST_ID__" or incident.id="__REQUEST_ID__"

The string "__REQUEST_ID__" must appear in the query, and will be replaced by the actual request ID in the final link URL.

The URL template that AFA uses can be viewed and edited in the URL Template field. It contains the structure of the URL that will be created for change request ID links in AFA reports. You may change this field to specify the URL format explicitly (over-ride the defaults). The following keywords will be replaced by the relevant values: __SERVER_NAME__, __FILE_NAME__, __QUERY__.

Click Show Full URL to see the resulting URL string.

Note: Some versions of HP ServiceCenter may require the URL to contain a hash value in addition to the query itself. In order to integrate with AFA, this option should be disabled.

Note: In order to configure the Web application to ignore this hash value in ServiceCenter version 6.x and below, add the following lines to the Web application's web.xml file:

<init-param>  <param-name>sc.querysecurity</param-name>  <param-value>false</param-value></init-param>

Note: In HP Service Manager version 9.2 and above, add the following lines to the Web application's web.xml file on the Service Manager server:

<init-param>  <param-name>querySecurity</param-name>  <param-value>false</param-value></init-param>

Note: In addition, you must add the following line to the sm.ini file:

querysecurity:0

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Other

If you use any other CMS system, which supports Web-access, choose Other.

  • Server: Name of the HP ServiceCenter server to be accessed.
  • URL Template: The structure of the URL that will be created for change request ID links in AFA reports. The following keywords will be replaced by the relevant values: __SERVER_NAME__, __REQUEST_ID__.
    Click the Show Full URL button to see the resulting URL string.

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