Creating Software and Provisioning Service Requests
When Self Service users create a service request to install software or provision computers, Service Desk Analysts can view and make updates to the service request from the Service Request workspace.
The following sections describe how to do the following:
- Install new software applications on managed computers. See Service Requests to Install Software Process.
- Provision a computer. See Provision Hardware and Software Incidents.
- Reprovision a computer. See Create a Computer Reprovision Service Request.
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Response and delivery targets for an installation or provisioning service request (as displayed in the Details tab) are managed through the escalation engine the same as other types of service requests. |
For information about performing these tasks from the Incident workspace, see Installing and Provisioning Incidents.
Create a Service Request to Install Software
Perform the following steps to install software on a managed computer through the Service Request workspace:
| 1. | Log into the Service Desk Console as a Service Desk Analyst and open the Service Request workspace. |
| 2. | Click New Service Request. The system displays a blank service request form. |
| 3. | Select a customer for the service request. All service requests published to the customer's organization unit appear in the Parameters tab. |
| 4. | If you do not see the Software Installation Request template, do a search by entering software installation in the Find Templates field. |
If the Software Installation Request template still does not appear, it might mean that this request offering is not published to the organizational unit to which the customer belongs.
| 5. | Double-click to open the Software Installation Request template. |
| 6. | Fill in the following information in the Requester Details section: |
- Department: The department that the requester is in. The choice that you make here constrains the drop-down list in the Requester Name field.
- Requester Name: The name of the person who is requesting the software installation. In most cases, this is the same person whom you named in the Customer field. The name that you provide here constrains the choices available in the drop-down list in the Computer to Install Software On field. After you select a requester, the system automatically fills in the Requester Email and Requester Work Phone fields.
| 7. | Fill in the following information in the Software Details section: |
- Date Required: The date by which the software must be installed.
- Temporary Use or Permanent Use: The duration of software usage. If you select Temporary Use, the system prompts you to specify an end date.
- Software: The software application. The choice that you make here constrains the choices available in the Installation Package field.
- Computer to Install Software On: The computer on which to install software. The choices available in this field are constrained by your entry in the Requester Name field earlier. If that information does not automatically fill in, enter it manually. The system automatically populates the operating system depending on the computer that you select
- Installation Package: An installation package from the list.
| 8. | Click Save. |
- The service request status remains as active.
- If approval is required, an approval workflow is initiated.
- After approval, or if approval is not required, the DSM task record is created.
| 9. | To view the task or initiate installation (in case the DSM policy does not implement), click the DSM Task tab. |
Notice that the task status is accepted.
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Click Refresh if the task record does not appear. |
| 10. | Select the record and click Go to to open the workspace. |
In this situation:
- The software installation task is initiated. See Track Progress of Service Requests for details about monitoring task progress.
- When the software installation task runs, the software package is assigned to a policy instance for the target computer through the DSM system.
- The DSM system implements the policy instance (delayed or scheduled installation is not available through service request) in accordance with the configuration parameters.
- If the task does not complete or the policy instance from DSM is not initiated, click Initiate Installation Task quick action from the toolbar.
When the software installation task completes, the task status is completed and the service request status is fulfilled.
Track Progress of Service Requests
After you save a software installation or computer provisioning service request, you can track progress in the following ways:
- Track record status and resolution targets from the Details tab in the service request record. See From the Service Request Record Details Tab.
- Track overall progress from the Target Computer workspace. See From the Target Computer Record.
- Track detailed installation task progress through the Task tab in the Service Request workspace. See From the Service Request DSM Task Tab.
- Track workflow execution progress through the Workflow Instance tab in the Service Request workspace. See From the Installation Service Request Workflow Instance Tab.
From the Service Request Record Details Tab
On the Details tab of the Service Request record, the Status field changes from active to fulfilled when the installation request completes.
While the request is being processed, the Audit & Escalation section shows the resolution target dates that are managed through the escalation engine in the same way as any other type of service request.
From the Target Computer Record
To track overall installation progress from the target computer record:
| 1. | Click the CI tab to open the workspace. |
| 2. | Search for the computer specified in the Computer field of the Software Installation Task record or the CI Link field of the Computer Provisioning Task record. |
| 3. | Click the DSM Managed Installation tab. The system displays a list of the DSM software that was defined with the provisioning task. |
| 4. | View the Managed Install Status column. |
| 5. | For more details, select a software installation record and click Go to to open the View Installation State workspace. |
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See Uninstall and Reinstall Software for details about using the Reinstall Software, UnInstall Software, and Update DSM Installation State buttons in the DSM Installation Status tab. |
From the Service Request DSM Task Tab
To track detailed installation task execution progress through the DSM Task tab in the Service Request workspace:
| 1. | Open the service request and click the DSM Task tab. |
| 2. | View the Status column. |
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If necessary, refresh the task to check for status changes. If a software installation task fails, task status is failed. In this situation, you can manually create a new software installation task and then click Initiate Installation to start the new task. If you create a software installation task manually, it bypasses approval (even if approval is required). |
From the Installation Service Request Workflow Instance Tab
To track detailed installation workflow execution progress through the Workflow Instance tab in the Service Request workspace:
| 1. | Open the service request and click the Workflow Instance tab. |
| 2. | View the Status column. |
| 3. | Select any of the applicable workflow records and click Go to. |
| 4. | Click View Instance to view which workflow block the task is at. |
Create a Service Request to Provision a Computer
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Network boot must be enabled on the target computer prior to provisioning. |
Perform the following steps to provision a new computer and/or software from the Service Request workspace:
| 1. | Log into HEAT as a Service Desk Analyst. |
| 2. | Click Service Request to open the workspace. |
| 3. | Click New Service Request. |
| 4. | Select a customer for the service request. All of the service requests that are published to the customer's organization unit appear in the Parameters tab. |
| 5. | If you do not see the New Computer Request template, do a search by entering new computer in the Find Templates field. If the template still does not appear, it might mean that this request offering is not published to the organizational unit to which the customer belongs. |
| 6. | Click to open the New Computer Request template. |
| 7. | In the Recipient Information section, add the following information: |
- Department: The department that the requester is in. The choice that you make here constrains the drop-down list in the Recipient field.
- Recipient: The name of the person who will receive the computer. After you select a recipient, the system automatically populates the Cost Center, Location, and User Name fields.
| 8. | In the Hardware section, add the following information: |
- Hardware Profile: The general type of computer to provision. The system populates the Hardware Type field from the Hardware Profile configuration record.
| 9. | In the Application Accessibility Details section, add the following information: |
- Software Profile: The software application to provision. If you specified that approval is required for the software profile, the system automatically checks Approval Required. Otherwise, you can choose to select it if necessary. The installation package is prefilled with the default package information from the Software Profile configuration record.
- Special Request Details: Specify additional information as necessary.
| 10. | Click Save. |
The following actions take place:
- If approval is required, an approval workflow is initiated.
- After approval, or if approval is not required, a computer provisioning task is created with a status of logged in the DSM Task tab. See Track Progress for details about monitoring task progress.
- The service request status remains active.
| 11. | Click the DSM Task tab in the service request record. Select and open the record. |
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Click Refresh if the task record does not appear. |
| 12. | Perform the following steps: |
- The Hardware Profile field is filled in with the hardware profile entry from the service request. If necessary, you can change the entry here. The value in this field constrains the choices available in the CI Link field.
- In the CI Link field, select a computer to provision.
- The Software Profile field is filled in with the software profile entry from the service request. If necessary, you can change the entry here. The value in this field constrains the choices available in the DSM Software and Software Package tabs.
- Optional. Select additional software and software packages to install.
- Manually initiate the task by selecting Action Menu > No Category > Initiate Provisioning Task.
Note that the task status is logged and the DSM status is requested. Upon initiating the task, the task status gets updated to accepted and the DSM status updates to pending.
When the computer provisioning task runs, the DSM system immediately begins provisioning the computer (delayed or scheduled provisioning is not available through service request).
Notice that the Workflow Instance tab gets populated with the workflow instance, with a status of waiting.
If you want to see the status of the task, click the workflow record and then click View Instance. Notice that the task is waiting for the DSM integration block to complete the assignment.
When the task completes, the status updates to completed.
| 13. | Restart the computer to complete the provisioning. When the computer provisioning task completes, the task status is completed and the service request status is fulfilled. |
Track Progress
You can track the progress of a provisioning service request just as you would an installation service request. See Track Progress of Service Requests for more information.
Uninstall and Reinstall Software
Perform the following steps to uninstall or reinstall software on a managed computer:
| 1. | Click the CI tab to open the workspace. |
| 2. | Search for the computer containing the software to uninstall or reinstall. |
| 3. | Select and open the computer record. |
| 4. | Click the DSM Managed Installation tab. |
A list of installation states for each DSM-managed software item appears.
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If you expect a software item to display and it does not, click Refresh on the toolbar to update the list to show software that was deployed on the target computer manually from the DSM system. |
| 5. | Highlight the record for the software to uninstall or reinstall. Depending on the status of the software (pending, installed, and so on), take the appropriate action: |
- Create task to uninstall software: Uninstalls the selected software package.
- Create task to reinstall software: Uninstalls and then reinstalls the selected software package.
A workflow for the action that you select initiates.
| 6. | Open the Software Installation Task workspace to view the install or uninstall software action that you initiated. |
- If you click Create Task to Reinstall Software, the managed install status is installation pending, then installation succeeded upon completion of the task.
- If you click Create Task to Uninstall Software, the software record is removed from the CI workspace upon completion of the task.
The software installation task status is completed upon completion of the request.
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Click Refresh to monitor changes to the list of installed software items. |