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FrontRange HEAT server (Ticket)

Connector name

pxheat6.exe, pxheat7.exe, pxheat8.exe, and pxheat9.exe

Connector type

Executable with script

Type (UI field value)

FrontRange HEAT <N> (Ticket)

Target system versions supported / tested

Bravura Security Fabric uses the pxheat* interface program to trigger creations and updates on FrontRange HEAT 6.x, 7.x, 8.x, 9.x systems when certain events occur on the Bravura Security Fabric server.

Connector status / support

Customer-Verified

Clients may contact Bravura Security support for assistance with this connector. Troubleshooting and testing must be completed in the client's test environment as Bravura Security does not maintain internal test environments for the associated target system.

Installation / setup

Interface programs are installed in the interface directory.

Modify the sample pxheat*.cfg script included in the samples directory and copy it to the \<instance>\script\ directory.

The following sections show you how to configure the event actions interface for Bravura Security Fabric by:

  • Preparing the target

  • Setting the target system address in Bravura Security Fabric

  • Writing a configuration file for event actions

See also

FrontRange HEAT for Customers shows you how to target FrontRange HEAT 9.0 for Customers and FrontRange HEAT for Administrators shows you how to target FrontRange HEAT 9.0 for Administrators.

Preparation

In order to interface with FrontRange HEAT, you must first:

  1. Install the Heat client software.

  2. Ensure that the HEAT API files are in the path (typically found in c:\Program Files\HEAT). Reboot the Bravura Security Fabric server if you have just added this to your system path.

  3. Create an ODBC System DSN entry pointing to your HEAT server and ensure that you can successfully connect to it.

  4. Ensure that you are able to connect to the server:

    1. Launch the HEAT client as the psadmin user

    2. Select your configured ODBC datasource.

    3. Enter your SQL credentials

    4. Confirm that you want to "Automatically use this database User ID and Password in the future".

    This saves the ODBC datasource credentials in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive for psadmin allowing the pxheat* interface program to connect without requiring the SQL server credentials.

Targeting a FrontRange HEAT server

Bravura Security Fabric provides the option of using the target system name in event action fields in the Manage the system (PSA) module or Configure event (ITSM) module, rather than the program name. The security benefit is that all sensitive information (server address, admin credentials) is automatically passed to the program, rather than stored in the .cfg file in plain text.

Add a target (See the "Base Configuration Guide") for each FrontRange HEAT server to support the event actions interface:

  • Set the Type to the appropriate version of FrontRange HEAT suffixed with (Ticket); for example FrontRange HEAT 6 (Ticket) .

    These types are grouped under IT Service Management Systems.

  • Address uses the ODBC data source name that points to the database used for the HEAT server:

    {server=<DataSourceName>;}

  • Use the Administrator ID and Password for the user with permissions to perform all required operations.

Once you write a configuration file, you can use the target ID to configure event actions in the Manage the system (PSA) module or Configure event (ITSM) module.

Configuring event actions

To configure an event action to interface with FrontRange HEAT, you must write the configuration file for the appropriate interface program. Modify the sample script included in the samples directory, and copy it to the \<instance>\script\. If you cannot find the sample file, try re-running setup to modify your installation. Sample files are automatically installed only with complete installations. You can select them in custom installations.

When you configure an event, you enter the program name or, as of Bravura Security Fabric version 7.0, the target ID you set up earlier. In both cases, the program looks for the default script with the matching name:

Target type

Interface program

Script file name

FrontRange HEAT 6 (Ticket)

pxheat6.exe

pxheat6.cfg

FrontRange HEAT 7 (Ticket)

pxheat7.exe

pxheat7.cfg

FrontRange HEAT 8 (Ticket)

pxheat8.exe

pxheat8.cfg

FrontRange HEAT 9 (Ticket)

pxheat9.exe

pxheat9.cfg

You can write an alternative .cfg file; for example when you have multiple FrontRange HEAT targets. When you configure an event, you specify the file using the -cfg parameter; for example:

  • pxheat6.exe -cfg myfile.cfg

    or

  • MYHEAT -cfg myfile.cfg

As of Connector Pack 2.0, pxheat9.exe interface program has been enhanced with the ability to populate journal and assignment. It also supports getField() operation. See the pxheat.cfg sample file to learn how to use these operations.

Requirements

If you do not use a ticket target to configure events, you must define the variables shown in table below in every FrontRange HEAT script.

Table 1. Required variables for FrontRange HEAT

Variable

Description of the value

adminid

The user ID of a user with permissions to perform all operations that you require.

adminpwd

The password for the above user.

server

The ODBC data source name that points to the database used for the HEAT server.



Although the HEAT administrator password is blank, ensure that you specify something in the $password field, otherwise the requested operation will not work correctly. The API does not accept blank passwords.

Troubleshooting

When logging in to the HEAT module using the client software on the Bravura Security Fabric server, you may be required to enable the checkbox to automatically use the data source in the future.

If you see a message in the logs similar to:

"IhaCallTicketRS::Update() - Validate Error.
Required field <fieldname> in CallLog needs a value."

ensure that all of the required fields are found in the pxheat<x>.cfg script.

If you see a message in the logs similar to:

"Error:  haFieldCollection::Item() - Unable to get item <fieldname>."

ensure that all of the fields in the script for the record that you are trying to create, update, or search exist on the HEAT server.