Promotion scopes and relationship rules

Relationship rules are required if you want to create related CIs when you promote actual CI data.

The configuration management database (CMDB) maintains information about relationships between CIs. You can associate related configuration items to each other in the Configuration Items application. The formal definitions and accompanying rules for relationships are created in the Relationships application.

A relationship rule specifies a CI relationship or dependency, such as INSTALLEDON, RUNSON, or AFFECTS. Each CI relationship has a source CI, a verb, and a target CI. For example, an application RUNSON an application server. In this example, the CI for the application is the source; the server is the target. The direction of a relationship affects what is promoted.

Discovery tools collect information about relationships between actual configuration items. If you want to create related CIs when you promote actual CI data, relationship rules must be considered as part of the process. The following aspects of relationship rules are important for promotion:

Source Classification: The classification of the CI that is the source of the relationship.
Target Classification: The classification of the CI that is the target of the relationship.
Relationship: The identifier of the type of relationship (for example, RUNSON, VIRTUALIZES).
IsTargetParent flag: In a CI relationship, the source is the parent unless the IsTargetParent flag is set, in which case the target is the parent.

Promotion scope mappings and CI relationship rules determine which related CIs are promoted when actual CI data and relationship rules are processed. If you promote one top-level actual CI, you can directly or indirectly create several authorized CIs: a top-level CI and CIs that are related to it. Promotion evaluates related CIs only if the CI that is being processed is the parent CI in the relationship and the classification of the child is in the promotion scope. If authorized CIs are not created as expected, it is because of one of the following conditions:

relationship rules are missing
the IsTargetParent flag is not set as needed
the child classification is not in the promotion scope

Because promotions traverse relationships, the Promotion Scopes application offers the ability to create relationship rules for CI classifications. When you select Create Relationship Rules, the application suggests rules that you might want to create for the CI classification in the promotion scope. The rules that are suggested are based on the existing relationship rules between the actual CI classification that is selected and other actual CI classifications in the promotion scope. The application does not suggest relationship rules that exist for the CI classification or rules that would cause existing CI relationships to be invalid. You can choose whether to create the rules that are suggested.

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