Getting Started with Unified Inventory Management

1 Getting Started with Unified Inventory Management

You use Oracle Communications Unified Inventory Management (UIM) to model and manage your inventory. You can track resources, manage processes, and control service and resource life cycles.

Resources, such as physical devices, logical devices, telephone numbers, and network addresses, are represented in UIM as inventory entities. Because resources differ from each other, the various UIM entity types have specific features and capabilities. Resource entities can be related to each other in a number of ways, including parent-child relationships, dependencies, and enablement.

Business processes that organize or classify resources, such as business interactions or inventory groups, are also represented as entity types. These entity types can be related to resource entities and to each other in a variety of ways.

Entity types are defined by specifications that are created in Oracle Communications Design Studio. You import these specifications into UIM and then create and use them to create inventory entities. For example, a modeler can create a specification for a particular type of network interface card. In UIM, you can create entities based on that specification to represent cards that exist in your inventory.

UIM includes tools that enable you to create, search for, and configure entities. It also includes tools that you use to manage the application. See UIM Concepts for a more complete overview of the application concepts.

When getting started with UIM, see the following topics:

Understanding UIM Terminology

You should read UIM Concepts for full explanations of the concepts and background needed to work in UIM. The following list includes definitions of a few key UIM terms:

Design Studio is the Oracle Communications service creation environment. Modelers and developers use it to define the way data is stored in UIM. Design Studio is a separately licensed product that you install independently of UIM. See UIM Concepts and the Design Studio Help for more information.
Entities are the items in your UIM inventory. They can represent physical or logical resources, such as equipment and telephone numbers. They can also represent business processes or organizational tools such as business interactions or resource reservations. Entities are usually based on specifications that you select when you create the entities. There are many different types of entities, but the ways you work with them are very similar. See "Working with Inventory Entities" for more information.
Specifications are definitions or blueprints used to create and display inventory entities in UIM. There are different types of specifications for different types of entities, such as telephone numbers, networks, physical devices, and inventory groups. For example for physical devices, you could have specifications for various kinds of PE routers, ISP routers, DCN routers, and so on. Specifications are defined in Design Studio. In UIM, you work with them mainly in the context of creating entities. You can also search for, view, and manage specification definitions in UIM. See "Working with Entity Specifications" for more information.
Configurations are a particular kind of entity that enable you to plan, create, and maintain versions of how a parent entity is realized or how it consumes resources. For example, a Service entity can have a service configuration that stores the specific details that are likely to change. You can create new configuration versions as the service evolves. Configurations are not available for all entity types. See "Working with Entity Configurations" for more information.
Characteristics are user-defined data elements that define the information stored in entities. For example, a Physical Device entity may include a characteristic for the device serial number. In UIM, characteristics are displayed as fields, such as text fields, lists, check boxes, and so on. These characteristics are displayed in addition to the default data elements that appear for all entities of a particular type. You define characteristics in Design Studio and include them in entity specifications. In UIM, you interact with characteristics mainly when you enter information into fields or when you search for entities based on characteristic values. See "Working with Characteristics" for more information.
Rulesets are chunks of Java code that are executed at a specified time in UIM. For example, when you validate a service configuration, a ruleset performs the validation. Some rulesets are included by default, but custom rulesets can be used to extend UIM. See UIM Concepts and UIM Developer's Guide for detailed information. In UIM, you can view and manage rulesets. See "Working with Rulesets" for more information.
Cartridges are the way that entity specifications, characteristic specifications, rulesets, and other data are deployed into UIM from Design Studio. Cartridges are built in Design Studio as JAR files and then installed into UIM. You can create your own custom cartridges to extend UIM. You can also obtain cartridge packs from Oracle that supply specifications and other data for particular technology domains.

Working with the UIM User Interface

UIM has a web-based interface with simple navigation and interface controls. The main window is divided into two regions and has a menu in the upper right corner. The region to the left contains the navigation section, which you use to open pages of various kinds. The region to the right is populated with the pages that you open.

Note:

To navigate in the UIM user interface, use only UIM user interface menu items, buttons, icons, and actions. Do not use your browser buttons, such as the Back and Forward buttons, to move between screens or to refresh the application. Browser actions may result in error messages.

See the following topics for more information about the UIM user interface:

About the Navigation Section and Landing Page

You use the navigation section to move around the application. You click links in the navigation section to open pages, which appear on the right side of the main window. In addition to the navigation section, you can use the links on the landing page to open the desired page. In most cases, the pages that you open from the navigation section enable you to search for entities. In other cases, clicking a link opens a page for completing a task, such as importing inventory. See "About Pages" for more information.

You use the Home icon on the upper-left corner of the user interface to come back to the landing page from any page.

The contents of the navigation section are divided into four groups that you can expand or collapse:

The Tasks group is divided into two sub-groups:
- The My Tasks sub-group contains links that enable you to view information about activities assigned to you or to your work group.
- The All Tasks sub-group contains links that enable you to search for projects, engineering work orders, and business interactions.
The Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) Orchestration group contains links to support the orchestration functionality. See NFV Orchestration Implementation Guide for information on this topic.
The Services group contains links to service entities.
The Inventory group is divided into two sub-groups:
- The Resources sub-group contains links that enable you to search for resource entities, such as connectivities, logical devices, telephone numbers, IP addresses, networks, and more.
- The Infrastructure sub-group contains links to property locations, custom objects, inventory groups, parties, and places.
The Administration group contains for administrative functions such as rebuilding topology and executing rule sets. It also contains links that enable you to search for rulesets, sequence specifications, characteristics, and entity specifications.
The Operational Analysis group contains the Outage Impacts and Path Analysis .

About Pages

When you click a link in the navigation section, the right side of the main window is populated with a page. Pages are also displayed as the result of navigation from other pages. Pages enable you to complete tasks, such as searching for entities.

For example, if you click the Logical Device link in the Inventory - Resources group, you see a page that enables you to search for logical devices. See "Searching" for more information. From the results of the a logical device search, you can open a Summary page for a particular logical device, where you can view, enter, and change information. See "Working in Entity Summary Pages" for more information.

The contents of pages are often displayed in tables. You can change the way that information is displayed in a number of ways. See "Working with Tables" for more information.

Pages are often divided into sections that contain specific kinds of information. Sections are areas within pages that are separated by title bars. For example, a Logical Device Summary page includes Logical Device Information, Logical Device Hierarchy, and Parent Logical Device sections, among others. "Collapsing and Expanding Sections in a Page".

Collapsing and Expanding Sections in a Page

You can save space in a page by collapsing a section. You can expand the section when you need to see its contents.

To collapse and expand sections:

Click the triangle icon in the upper left corner of the section's title bar to collapse it. Click the icon again to expand the section.

Searching

UIM includes search features that enable you to find information based on a variety of criteria. For example, you can find all telephone numbers in a particular service area or all logical devices associated with a VPN service.

Search sections for the various entity types include a set of default fields appropriate to the entity. For example, the default fields that appear in the Search section for an Equipment entity are different from those that appear for a Product entity.

When search results are displayed, you can follow links to get information about specific entities or take actions on or more of the results.

See the following topics for more information about searching in UIM:

Searching for Entities

UIM enables you to search for entities based on combinations of criteria. For example, you can search for all Equipment entities that are based on a particular specification and are in the Pending Install inventory status. With Connectivity entities, you can search by number of channels and capacity.

You can add and remove fields from the default list of search criteria in a Search section. When you add fields, you can include one or more of the characteristics that have been defined for all specifications of an entity type. For some entities, including services, pipes, and business interactions, you can also add fields related to external systems that cooperate with UIM.

When searching for Telephone Number, Place, Custom Network Address, and Custom Object entities, including a specification in the search criteria causes additional information to be displayed in the search results. For example, if you include a specification in a telephone number search, the results include a column for the connection type.

You can use wildcards and other symbols in searches. UIM supports the following wildcard characters:

A percentage sign (%) represents a match of zero or more characters.
An underscore (_) represents a match of any single character.

Note:

Wildcard characters can be escaped with a backslash (\). To insert a backslash in the query, insert two backslashes (\\).

Note the following special search considerations:

If you are searching for a telephone number associated with a service, results are returned only when the telephone number and the service are included in the same inventory group.
Text field characteristics that are flagged as password fields cannot be used as search criteria.
You can search for places by type, specifying any combination of site, location, address, or address range.

Equipment, Pipe, and Inventory Group searches include some features not available for other entities. See "Searching for Equipment, Pipe, Logical Device, and Inventory Group Entities".

IP Address entity searches are slightly different than other entity searches. See "Searching for IP Address Entities".

Telephone Number searches enables you to also search for Telephone Number Blocks. See "Searching for Telephone Number Blocks".

To search for entities:

In the navigation section, click the link for the type of entity you want to search for.

The search page for the entity appears. The Search section displays fields for the entity's default data elements. The fields depend on the kind of entity you are searching for.
(Optional) To change the default search criteria:
1. Click Add Fields and the desired entity type (if applicable).
  
  The Add Fields dialog box appears.
2. Use the directional arrow buttons to move data elements between the Available Fields column to the Selected Fields column.
3. Click OK.
  
  The selected fields appear in the Search section.
Enter search criteria in the desired fields. Some fields require that you enter text; others allow you to select from lists.
Click Search.

A table of search results appears in the Search Results section. See "Performing Actions on Search Results" for more information about working with search results.

Searching for IP Address Entities

Searching for Telephone Number Blocks

Searching for Telephone Number Blocks from within Activities

Performing Actions on Search Results

Searching for Equipment, Pipe, Logical Device, and Inventory Group Entities

Equipment, Pipe, Logical Device, and Inventory Group entity searches includes some features not available for other entities. You can search for entities based on their relationships. For Equipment entities, you can search based on relationships with Physical Device, Logical Device, and Place entities. For Pipe entities, you can search based on relationships with terminating places, as well as Network, and Logical Device entities. For Inventory Group and Logical Device entities, you can search by Place.

In addition, the way you add fields to the search criteria is different from the method used for other entities.

To search for Equipment, Pipe, Logical Device, and Inventory Group entities:

In the navigation section, click the link for the type of entity you want to search for.

The search page for the entity appears. The Search section displays fields for the entity's default data elements. Below the search fields are several collapsed sections for the relationships that can be included in the search.
(Optional) To change the default search criteria:
1. Click Add Fields.
  
  A list of entity types appears. The list includes the entity type you are searching for (Equipment or Pipe) and the entities with which it can have relationships.
2. Select the entity type for which you want to add search criteria.
  
  The Add Fields dialog box for the selected entity type appears.
3. Use the directional arrow buttons to move data elements between the Available Fields column to the Selected Fields column.
4. Click OK.
  
  The selected fields appear in the appropriate area of the Search section.
5. Repeat this step to add search criteria for additional entity types.
Enter search criteria in the desired fields. Some fields require that you enter text; others allow you to select from lists. To enter search criteria for related entity types, open the collapsed section for that entity type.
Click Search.

A table of search results appears in the Search Results section. See "Performing Actions on Search Results" for more information about working with search results.

Related Topics

Searching for Entities

Performing Actions on Search Results

Searching for IP Address Entities

IP Address entity searches are slightly different than other entity searches because the Search page contains tabs that enable you to search for more than one entity type. Specifically, there are tabs that enable you to search for IPv4 Network, IPv4 Subnet, and IPv4 Address entities, or for IPv6 Network, IPv6 Subnet, and IPv6 Address entities.

To search for IP Address entities:

Note:

The following steps describe searching for IPv4 address entities. Searching for IPv6 address entities is done in the same manner.

In the Inventory - Resources group of the navigation section, click the IP Address - IPv4 link.

The search page for the IPv4 Network entity appears. The Search section displays fields for the entity's default data elements.
(Optional) Click the IPv4 Subnet tab to search for IPv4 Subnet entities.

The search page for the IPv4 Subnet entity appears. The Search section displays fields for the entity's default data elements.
(Optional) Click the IPv4 Address tab to search for IPv4 Address entities.

The search page for the IPv4 Address entity appears. The Search section displays fields for the entity's default data elements.
(Optional) To change the default search criteria:
1. Click Add Fields.
  
  The Add Fields dialog box appears.
2. Use the directional arrow buttons to move data elements between the Available Fields column to the Selected Fields column.
3. Click OK.
  
  The selected fields appear in the Search section.
Enter search criteria in the desired fields. Some fields require that you enter text; others allow you to select from lists.
Click Search.

A table of search results appears in the Search Results section. See "Performing Actions on Search Results" for more information about working with search results.

Related Topics

Searching for Entities

Performing Actions on Search Results

Searching for Telephone Number Blocks

UIM enables you to search for telephone number entities in blocks of sequential numbers.

Note:

The telephone number block search does not retrieve the reserved telephone numbers.

To search for telephone number blocks:

In the Inventory - Resources group of the navigation section, click Telephone Numbers.

The Telephone Number landing page appears.
Hover the mouse cursor over the Search TN Blocks icon and click Search TN Blocks.

The Telephone Numbers Block Search page appears.
Enter the search criteria in the desired fields. Some fields require that you enter text; others allow you to select from lists.
(Optional) In the Range From field, enter the number you want to search.
(Optional) In the Range To field, enter the ending number of a range of numbers.
In the Block Size field, enter the telephone number block size.

This is a mandatory filed and accepts values equal to or greater than 1.
Click Search TN Blocks.

The telephone number blocks that meet your search criteria are displayed in the Blocks Results section.

Working With Saved Searches

UIM automatically saves the results of your last search and stores the results in the Search Results section of a Search page. If you navigate away from the Search page, and then return to it later, the Search Results section displays the results of your last search as Saved Last Search in the Saved Search menu. However, after you run a new search in a different Search page, the earlier search results in the previous Search page are no longer available and you can view the search results only in the latest Search page.

You can also manually save searches that you perform frequently. This feature is especially useful for complex searches where reentering the criteria is time-consuming.

See the following topics for more information about saved searches:

Saving a Search

To save a search:

In a Search page, enter the search criteria you want to save.
Click the Save button.

The Create Saved Search dialog box appears.
In the Name field, enter a name for the search.
(Optional) Select the Set As Default check box to make this search the default.
(Optional) Select the Run Automatically check box to configure this search to run automatically when you open this Search page.
Click OK.

The new search appears in the Saved Search menu. If you designated it as the default search, it appears at the top of the menu.

Related Topics

Running a Saved Search

Modifying a Saved Search

To modify a saved search:

In a Search page, select a search from the Saved Search menu.

The search fields are populated with the criteria from the saved search.
From the Saved Search menu, select Personalize.

The Personalize Saved Search dialog box appears.
In the Name field, enter a name for the search.
Select the Set As Default check box to make this search the default.
Select the Run Automatically check box to configure this search to run automatically when you open this Search page.
Click OK.

Your changes are saved. The new name appears in the Saved Search menu. If you designated it as the default search, it appears at the top of the menu.

Related Topics

Running a Saved Search

To run a saved search:

In a Search page, select a search from the Saved Search menu.

The search fields are populated with the criteria from the saved search.
Click the Search button.

The search you selected is performed and the results are show in the Search Results area.

Related Topics

Modifying a Saved Search

Performing Actions on Search Results

When the results of a search are displayed, you can select entities and perform actions on them. The actions you can take depend on the entity type.

To perform actions on search results:

In a Search Results section, select the entity rows on which you want to perform an action.
Click Actions, then select the action you want to take.

A page or dialog box related to the action appears.
Complete the action.

Related Topics

Duplicating Entities

Deleting Entities

Duplicating Entities

You can duplicate certain types of entities that are returned in search results. The entities you can duplicate are resources that commonly exist in large numbers in an inventory: equipment, logical devices, physical devices, and pipes.

A duplicate has the same identifying information as the original, except for the ID. Other attributes of the original entity, such as associations, configurations, membership in inventory groups, and so on, are not duplicated.

When you duplicate an entity, UIM generates a new ID for the duplicate entity. The way the ID is generated depends on the entity specification:

If the specification is configured for auto-generation of IDs, the duplicate has an ID that follows the same pattern as new entities based on that specification.
If the specification is configured for manual entry of IDs, the duplicate's ID is based on the ID of the original followed by sequential numbers. For example, if the original ID is KNA77 and you create five duplicates, they will have the IDs KNA77-1 through KNA77-5.

Logical devices can also be cloned. When you clone a logical device, the entity itself is copied along with the physical devices and Equipment entities in its hierarchy or associated with it.

To duplicate an entity:

Search for an entity.

See "Searching for Entities" for information.
In the Search Results section, select an entity.
Click the Duplicate button in the Search Results section toolbar.

The duplicates are created and displayed in the list of search results.

Related Topics

Performing Actions on Search Results

Cloning Logical Devices

Deleting Entities

You can delete entities that are returned in search results.

Note:

You cannot delete entities that are in use in the inventory. For example, you cannot delete an entity that has been allocated as a resource in a configuration item or associated with a network node.

To delete entities:

Search for an entity.

See "Searching for Entities" for information.
Select one or more entities in the Search Results section.
Click Delete.

The entities are deleted and removed from the list of search results. An error message is displayed if you try to delete entities that are in use.

Related Topics

Performing Actions on Search Results

Duplicating Entities

Search Page

You use an entity Search page to search for existing entities and to create new entities. The Search page includes two sections.

Search Section

You use the Search section to define the search criteria to use when searching for existing entities. The entity type and specification definition determine the fields that appear in the Search section. Each specific entity Search section contains a default selection of fields plus any additional fields defined by the specification.

The following commands are common among all entity Search sections.

Command	Description
Search	Click to search for results that meet the specified search criteria, which appear in the Search Results section.
Reset	Click to reset search criteria.
Save	Click to save the current search criteria as a saved search and to optionally make the saved search the default. See "Working With Saved Searches" for more information.
Add Fields	Click to add additional fields to the Search section.

Search Results Section

You use the Search Results section to review, edit, and organize search results, and to create new entities. The entity type and specification definition determine the columns that appear in a Search Results section.

The search results are displayed in a table that includes standard tools for arranging content. See "Working with Tables" for more information.

The following table lists commands that exist on various Search Results sections. This list varies from entity to entity.

Command	Description
Actions	Click to see an additional list of commands for that entity type.
View	Click to alter the display of the results.
Create	Click to create a new entity. See "Creating Entities" for more information.
Clone	Click to create a new entity based on the selected entity and provide new field values. This is on limited entities.
Duplicate	Click to create a new entity based on the selected entity. The identifier is generated automatically.
Create Range	Click to create a set of new entities. You can specify a quantity and the identifiers are generated automatically. See "Creating Entities" for more information.
Edit	Click to edit the selected entity in the entity Information page.
Bulk Edit	Click to edit the characteristics of one or more selected entities. You must specify the specification in the search to enable this option and also be in the current or live business interaction context. This option is on limited entities.
Delete	Click to delete the selected entity and confirm yes in the confirmation dialog box.
Export	Click to export the results to a spreadsheet file.
Detach	Click to expand the results to a detached page display.
Select All	Click to select all entities.
Topology	Click to navigate to the Topological View page of the selected entity. Note: This option is available only for property locations.

Related Topics

Searching for Entities

Searching for Equipment, Pipe, Logical Device, and Inventory Group Entities

Searching for IP Address Entities

Searching for Telephone Number Blocks

Searching for Telephone Number Blocks from within Activities

About Pages

Add Fields

You use the add fields page to add fields or attributes to the current page for searching and also for an edit of one or more entities. Use the single arrow to move one field from a column to the other or the double arrow to move all the fields. If both columns are empty, then this option is not available.

You can also use this page to remove fields from the current page.

Field	Description
Available Fields	This lists the fields or attributes that are available to add to the display.
Selected Fields	This lists the fields or attributes that are in the display or available for edit.

Related Topics

Searching for Entities

Viewing Recent Items

The Recent Items list, located in upper-left corner of the user interface, includes a links to the ten most recent pages that you have viewed The links are ordered sequentially based on the order in which you viewed the pages.

The Recent Items menu displays a list of links to the pages (including the individual sections and subtabs within those pages) that you opened within the application. This enables you to quickly open the page that you want to view.

For example, if you are currently on the Groups and Infrastructure tab of the Summary page of a logical device with an ID of 14 and name LD_TWO, and then if you navigate away to various different pages, you can return to the Groups and Infrastructure tab of the logical device (with an ID of 14) by selecting Logical Device Summary - 14 - LD_TWO - Groups and Infrastructure from the Recent Items menu.

Select Clear all Recent Items to remove all links to previously viewed pages.

Back and Forward buttons are located beside the Recent Items menu, which enable you to go back or forward one page at a time, respectively. The Back and Forward buttons help you navigate based on the information in the Recent Items menu. If you select Clear all Recent Items from the Recent Items menu, all links to previously viewed pages are removed, and therefore you cannot use the Back and Forward buttons to navigate to a previous page or a forward page.

Navigating to the Landing Page from a Page

The Home icon on the upper-left corner of the user interface navigates you to the landing page from any page. See "Navigating to a Page from the Favorites Menu" for more information on the landing page.

Working with Favorites

The Favorites menu enables you to quickly go to pages that you use frequently. You can designate any page as a favorite and you can organize favorites into folders for easy access.

See the following topics for more information about working with favorites:

Navigating to a Page from the Favorites Menu

The Favorites menu lists all the pages that you have designated as favorites, optionally sorted into folders.

To navigate to a page from the Favorites menu:

From the Favorites menu, select a page or a folder.

If you selected a page, it appears in the main window. If you selected a folder, it expands to reveal the pages or other folders it contains.
Continue to select until you reach the page you want to open.

Adding Pages to the Favorites Menu

You can add pages to the Favorites menu so that you can return to them quickly. For example, if you are working on setting up a business interaction, you can add the business interaction to the Favorites list so that you can return to it quickly.

To add a page to the Favorites list:

While a page is displayed, select Add to Favorites from the Favorites menu.

The Add to Favorites dialog box appears.
(Optional) Edit the default name.
(Optional) Do one of the following:
- Select a folder in which to store the favorite.
- Click New, enter a name for a new folder in the dialog box that appears.
Click OK.

Managing Favorites

The Manage Favorites dialog box enables you to add folders and to remove folders and pages.

To add a folder to the Favorites menu:

From the Favorites menu, select Manage Favorites.

The Manage Favorites dialog box appears.
Click the Add (plus-sign) icon.

The Create Folder dialog box appears.
Enter a name for the folder and click OK.

To remove a folder or page from the Favorites menu:

From the Favorites menu, select Manage Favorites.

The Manage Favorites dialog box appears.
Select a folder or page.
Click the Delete (cross) icon.
Click OK if a confirmation dialog box appears.

Arranging Favorites

You can arrange the folders and pages listed in the Favorites menu so that they are displayed in the most useful order.

To arrange favorites:

From the Favorites menu, select Manage Favorites.

The Manage Favorites dialog box appears.
Select a folder or page, then drag it to a new location.
Click OK.

The Favorites menu reflects your changes.

Working with Personalization

The Personalization menu enables you to set any page that you frequently access as the default landing page. The Personalization menu also enables you to personalize the entity Summary pages to show or hide various subtabs and sections within different tabs.

You set the landing page and personalize the entity Summary pages in the Set Preferences window, which you open by selecting Set Preferences from the Personalization menu.

See the following topics for more information about working with peronalization:

Setting the Landing Page

You can set any page that you frequently access as the default landing page. This page will be displayed first every time you log in to UIM.

Note:

The default landing page setting is user-specific, which means that any change that you make is applied only to the current logged-in user.

To set the landing page:

From the Personalization menu, select Set Preferences.

The Set Preferences window is displayed.
From the Landing Page list, select the entity page that you want set as the landing page.
Click Save.

Note:

To set the UIM Home Page as the default landing page, in the Set Preferences window, click Reset to Default.

Personalizing Entity Summary Pages

You can personalize the entity Summary pages to show or hide various subtabs and sections within different tabs, so that only the subtabs/sections you want are displayed.

Note:

The Summary page preferences are user-specific, which means that any changes that you make are applied only to the current logged-in user.

You can also personalize entity summary pages by setting the value of the ui.entityNamesummary.portletName.deactivate property in the UIM_Home/config/system-config.properties file. This property setting applies to all the UIM users. See UIM System Administrator's Guide for more information.

To personalize the Summary page of an entity:

From the Personalization menu, select Set Preferences.

The Set Preferences window is displayed.
From the Entity Type list, select an entity. The page displays the subtabs/sections that appear within different tabs in the Summary page of that entity.
Select the check boxes beside the subtabs/sections that you want hidden from the Summary page of the entity.
Click Save.

Note:

To clear all the preferences for the entity Summary pages, in the Set Preferences window, click Reset to Default.