Use BMC Discovery queries to extract migration data for migration planning - AWS Prescriptive Guidance
SummaryPrerequisites and limitationsArchitectureToolsBest practicesEpicsTroubleshootingRelated resources

Use BMC Discovery queries to extract migration data for migration planning

Created by Ben Tailor-Hamblin (AWS), Simon Cunningham (AWS), Emma Baldry (AWS), and Shabnam Khan (AWS)

Environment: Production

Source: BMC Discovery

Target: Migration Plan

R Type: Rehost

Workload: All other workloads

Technologies: Migration; Management & governance; Networking; Hybrid cloud

AWS services: AWS Migration Hub

Summary

This guide provides query examples and steps to help you extract data from your on-premises infrastructure and applications by using BMC Discovery. The pattern shows you how to use BMC Discovery queries to scan your infrastructure and extract software, service, and dependency information. The extracted data is required for the assess and mobilize phases of a large-scale migration to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud. You can use this data to make critical decisions about which applications to migrate together as part of your migration plan.

Prerequisites and limitations

Prerequisites

  • A license for BMC Discovery (formerly BMC ADDM) or the software as a service (SaaS) version of BMC Helix Discovery

  • On-premises or SaaS version of BMC Discovery, installed (Note: For on-premises versions of BMC Discovery, you must install the application on a client network with access to all networking and server devices that are in scope for a migration across multiple data centers. Access to the client network must be provided according to application installation instructions. If the scanning of Windows Server information is required, then you must set up a Windows proxy manager device in the network.)

  • Networking access to allow the application to scan devices across data centers, if you’re using BMC Helix Discovery

Product versions

  • BMC Discovery 22.2 (12.5)

  • BMC Discovery 22.1 (12.4)

  • BMC Discovery 21.3 (12.3)

  • BMC Discovery 21.05 (12.2)

  • BMC Discovery 20.08 (12.1)

  • BMC Discovery 20.02 (12.0)

  • BMC Discovery 11.3

  • BMC Discovery 11.2

  • BMC Discovery 11.1

  • BMC Discovery 11.0

  • BMC Atrium Discovery 10.2

  • BMC Atrium Discovery 10.1

  • BMC Atrium Discovery 10.0

Architecture

The following diagram shows how asset managers can use BMC Discovery queries to scan BMC-modeled applications in both SaaS and on-premises environments.

The diagram shows the following workflow: An asset manager uses BMC Discovery or BMC Helix Discovery to scan database and software instances running on virtual servers hosted on multiple physical servers. The tool can model applications with components spanning multiple virtual and physical servers.

Technology stack

  • BMC Discovery

  • BMC Helix Discovery

Tools

  • BMC Discovery is a data center discovery tool that helps you automatically discover your data center.

  • BMC Helix Discovery is a SaaS-based discovery and dependency modeling system that helps you dynamically model your data assets and their dependencies.

Best practices

It's a best practice to map application, dependency, and infrastructure data when you migrate to the cloud. Mapping helps you understand the complexity of your current environment and the dependencies among various components.

The asset information these queries provide is important for several reasons:

  1. Planning – Understanding the dependencies between components helps you plan the migration process more effectively. For example, you might need to migrate certain components first in order to ensure that others can be migrated successfully.

  2. Risk assessment – Mapping the dependencies between components can help you identify any potential risks or issues that can arise during the migration process. For example, you might discover that certain components rely on outdated or unsupported technologies that could cause issues in the cloud.

  3. Cloud architecture – Mapping your application and infrastructure data can also help you to design a suitable cloud architecture that meets your organizational needs. For example, you might need to design a multi-tier architecture to support high availability or scalability requirements.

Overall, mapping application, dependency, and infrastructure data is a crucial step in the cloud migration process. The mapping exercise can help you better understand your current environment, identify any potential issues or risks, and design a suitable cloud architecture.

Epics

TaskDescriptionSkills required

Identify ITSM owners.

Identify the IT Service Management (ITSM) owners (usually by reaching out to the operational support teams).

Migration lead

Check CMDB.

Identify the number of configuration management databases (CMDBs) that contain asset information, and then identify the sources of that information.

Migration lead

Identify discovery tools and check for use of BMC Discovery.

If your organization is using BMC Discovery to send data about your environment to the CMDB tool, check the scope and coverage of its scans. For example, check if BMC Discovery is scanning all data centers and if the access servers are located in perimeter zones.

Migration lead

Check the level of application modelling.

Check if applications are modelled in BMC Discovery. If not, recommend the use of the BMC Discovery tool to model which running software instances provide an application and business service.

Migration engineer, Migration lead
TaskDescriptionSkills required

Extract data on physical and virtual servers.

To extract data on the physical and virtual servers scanned by BMC Discovery, use Query Builder to run the following query:

search Host show key as 'Serverid', virtual, name as 'HOSTNAME', os_type as 'osName', os_version as 'OS Version', num_logical_processors as 'Logical Processor Counts', cores_per_processor as 'Cores per Processor', logical_ram as 'Logical RAM', #Consumer:StorageUse:Provider:DiskDrive.size as 'Size'

Note: You can use extracted data to determine the appropriate instance sizes for migration.

Migration engineer, Migration lead

Extract data on modeled applications.

If your applications are modeled in BMC Discovery, you can extract data about the servers that run the application software. To get the server names, use Query Builder to run the following query:

search SoftwareInstance show key as 'ApplicationID', #RunningSoftware:HostedSoftware:Host:Host.key as 'ReferenceID', type, name

Note: Applications are modeled in BMC Discovery by a collection of running software instances. The application is dependent on all the servers that run the application software.

BMC Discovery application owner

Extract data on databases.

To get a list of all scanned databases and the servers these databases are running on, use Query Builder to run the following query:

search Database show key as 'Key', name, type as 'Source Engine Type', #Detail:Detail:ElementWithDetail:SoftwareInstance.name as 'Software Instance', #Detail:Detail:ElementWithDetail:SoftwareInstance.product_version as 'Product Version', #Detail:Detail:ElementWithDetail:SoftwareInstance.edition as 'Edition', #Detail:Detail:ElementWithDetail:SoftwareInstance.#RunningSoftware:HostedSoftware:Host:Host.key as 'ServerID'
App owner

Extract data on server communication.

To get information on all the network communications between servers that’s collected by BMC Discovery from historic network communications logs, use Query Builder to run the following query:

search Host
 TRAVERSE InferredElement:Inference:Associate:DiscoveryAccess
 TRAVERSE DiscoveryAccess:DiscoveryAccessResult:DiscoveryResult:NetworkConnectionList
 TRAVERSE List:List:Member:DiscoveredNetworkConnection
 PROCESS WITH networkConnectionInfo
BMC Discovery application owner

Extract data on application discovery.

To get information on application dependencies, use Query Builder to run the following query:

search SoftwareInstance show key as 'SRC App ID', #Dependant:Dependency:DependedUpon:SoftwareInstance.key as 'DEST App ID'
BMC Discovery application owner

Extract data on business services.

To extract data on business services provided by hosts, use Query Builder to run the following query:

search Host show name, #Host:HostedSoftware:AggregateSoftware:BusinessService.name as 'Name'
BMC Discovery application owner

Troubleshooting

IssueSolution

A query fails to run or contains unpopulated columns.

Review the asset records in BMC Discovery and determine which fields you require. Then, replace these fields in the query by using the Query Builder.

The details of a dependent asset aren’t populated.

This is likely due to access permissions or network connectivity. The discovery tool might not have the necessary permissions to access certain assets, particularly if they are on different networks or in different environments.

We recommend that you work closely with discovery subject matter experts to ensure that all relevant assets are identified.

Related resources

References

Tutorials and videos