CI Modeling with YAML in the OTOBO Ticket System

This chapter shows how to define and extend your Configuration Items (CIs) in the OTOBO ticket system using YAML—from the page and layout structure to dynamic fields and field types.

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1. Structure of CI Definitions

Each CI definition in OTOBO consists of several main components:

- Class:
    Name: <CI-Class>
    Categories:
      - All
      - <Other Categories>
    NumberModule: AutoIncrement
    PermissionGroup: itsm-configitem
    VersionStringModule: Incremental
  Definition: |
    Pages:
      - Name: Summary
        Layout:
          Columns: 3
          ColumnWidth: 1fr 1fr 1fr
        Interfaces:
          - Agent
          - Customer
        Content:
          - Section: General Fields::General Information
            RowStart: 1
            ColumnStart: 1
          - Section: ITSM Model::Model
            RowStart: 1
            ColumnStart: 2
          - Section: CMDB Description::Description
            RowStart: 2
            ColumnStart: 1
            ColumnSpan: 2
  DynamicFields: { … }

1.1 Pages

• Name: The label of the tab in the agent zoom view.
• Interfaces: Controls who can see the tab (Agent, Customer, etc.).
• Content: A list of sections with their position (RowStart, ColumnStart, and optionally Span).

1.2 Layout

• Columns: The number of columns in the tab.
• ColumnWidth: Proportional width specifications (e.g., 1fr 2fr 1fr).

1.3 Roles

Roles define reusable sections and field lists:

- Definition: |
    Sections:
      General Information:
        Content:
          - Header: General Information
          - DF: System-Name
          - DF: System-Version
      Relations:
        Type: ConfigItemLinks
        Header: Relations
  RoleName: CMDB General Fields

• RoleName: The unique name of the role.
• Sections: Contains one or more sections with field references (DF:).

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2. Dynamic Fields (DynamicFields) and Field Types

With DynamicFields, you can extend your CI classes with custom attributes. Each field is assigned a name, type, and configuration:

DynamicFields:
  DynamicFieldName:
    FieldType: Text
    Label: My Label
    Name: System-Name
    ObjectType: ITSMConfigItem
    Config:
      DefaultValue: 'demo'
      MultiValue: '0'
      PossibleNone: '1'
      Tooltip: ''
  
  System-LifecycleStatus:
    FieldType: Dropdown
    Label: Lifecycle status of system
    Name: System-LifecycleStatus
    ObjectType: ITSMConfigItem
    Config:
      DefaultValue: ''
      MultiValue: '0'
      PossibleNone: '1'
      PossibleValues:
        demo: demo
        productive: productive
      Tooltip: ''

2.1 Important Field Types

FieldType	Description
Text	Simple single-line field
TextArea	Multi-line free text field
Date	Date field (with restrictions via YearsInPast/...)
Dropdown	Selection field (single/multi via MultiValue)
Agent	LDAP user/agent lookup
ConfigItem	Link to another CI (relation type can be defined)
ScriptTemplateToolkit	Calculated field via a template (e.g., sums)

2.2 Configuration Options

• DefaultValue: The default value when creating a new item.
• MultiValue: '0' (single selection) or '1' (multiple).
• PossibleNone: '1' to allow an empty selection.
• PossibleValues: Key-value pairs for dropdown fields.
• EditFieldMode: e.g., Dropdown, AutoComplete.
• ReferenceFilterList, ReferencedObjectType: For lookup fields.

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3. Example

- Class:
    Name: CIName
    Categories:
      - All
      - IT
    NumberModule: AutoIncrement
    PermissionGroup: itsm-configitem
    VersionStringModule: Incremental
  Definition: |
    Pages:
      - Name: Intro
        Layout:
          Columns: 2
          ColumnWidth: 1fr 1fr
        Interfaces:
          - Agent
        Content:
          - Section: CMDB General Fields::Information
            RowStart: 1
            ColumnStart: 1
          - Section: CMDB General Fields::Risks
            RowStart: 2
            ColumnStart: 1
      - Name: Details
        Layout:
          Columns: 1
          ColumnWidth: 1fr
        Interfaces:
          - Agent
        Content:
          - Section: CMDB General Fields::Software
            RowStart: 1
            ColumnStart: 1
  DynamicFields:
    System-Name: { … }
    System-Version: { … }
    System-LifecycleStatus: { … }

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4. Tips and Best Practices

• Modularity: Use roles for recurring sections.
• Clarity: Group related fields into their own pages.
• Documentation: Comment your YAML files and maintain version triggers.
• Testing: Validate new fields in a test instance first.

With this structure, you can flexibly adapt the OTOBO CMDB to your organizational requirements and keep it transparent at all times.