Using maileater to add configuration items to change orders

Products

• CA Service Management - Service Desk Manager
• CA Service Desk Manager
• ServiceDesk

Issue/Introduction

Maileater can be used to add configuration items to change orders.  There are configuration item (CI...) and asset (ASSET...) entries in the text_api.cfg file, however, these should not be used for this purpose as the result will not be successful. The correct methodology is explained.

Environment

Service Desk v17.x and higher

Resolution

Maileater can be used to associate a CI with a ticket using the following tags in a plain text email:

%AFFECTED_RC: Sets the primary "Affected Resource" on a Request or Incident.
%DEVICE: An alternative tag to set the affected resource by name.
%UUID: Sets the affected resource using its unique UUID.

Important Caveats
Plain Text Only: The email must be in plain text format. Maileater cannot reliably process tags in HTML-formatted emails.
One Tag per Line: Each tag must appear on its own line in the body of the email.

Note: The "CI..." and "ASSET..." items in the text_api.cfg file are remnants of previously available functionality that was discontinued many versions ago.  Service Desk doesn't use them at all.

To Map the Configuration: While tags like %AFFECTED_RC are standard for Incidents and Requests, for Change Orders, you must ensure the mapping is defined in your text_api.cfg file (located in NX_ROOT\site directory on the CA SDM server).

1. Open the text_api.cfg file in a text editor.
2. Locate the [CHANGE] section (or [CHG]).
3. Verify if the following line exists; if not, add it: text AFFECTED_RC=affected_resource
4. Save the file.
5. Restart the CA SDM services (or the Maileater process) for the changes to take effect.

The place in the documentation that explains more is here: Tags Used with Maileater