CI Modeling with YAML in the OTOBO Ticketing System

This chapter shows how to define and extend your Configuration Items (CIs) in the OTOBO ticketing system using YAML – from 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: Name of the tab in the Agent Zoom.
• Interfaces: Controls who sees the tab (Agent, Customer, …).
• Content: List of sections, with position (RowStart, ColumnStart, possibly Span).

1.2 Layout

• Columns: 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: Relationships
  RoleName: CMDB General Fields

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

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2. Dynamic Fields and Field Types

With DynamicFields, you extend your CI classes with custom attributes. Each field receives 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 definable)
ScriptTemplateToolkit	Calculated field via template (e.g., sums)

2.2 Configuration Options

• DefaultValue: Default value upon creation.
• MultiValue: '0' (single selection) or '1' (multiple).
• PossibleNone: '1' to allow 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.