1. RT usage in CSCF and MFCF
Presented by: Lawrence Folland
Computer Science Computing Facility (CSCF)

2. Outline Background Concerns Implementation Integrations
Command-line tools
Future
RT usage in CSCF and MFCF

3. Background
For many years, CSCF (and MFCF before that) has been using a customized version of RT which we eventually called “ST” (RT++, get it?) for “Service Tracker”
In May 2016 we decided to investigate making the switch from our highly-customized ST and move to the campus standard RT, with an aim to go live in May 2017
Motivation to move:
ST primarily maintained by Bill Ince, who retired
No longer wanted to maintain/develop this custom application
Benefits of integration with IST and other Service organizations around campus
Contribute future development to the open source community
Created a Project Plan, with Daniel Allen as lead:
RT usage in CSCF and MFCF

4. Concerns Identified a number of critical factors:
Time tracking – Research staff, in particular, required time-tracking in order to bill clients
Searching (the “Run On” Sentence) – a highly developed and useful tool for searching
Permissions – the ability to search across RTs created by other staff
Roles – we had differences in how we assigned roles (Responsible, multiple owners)
Summary – we like having a summary field
Item dependencies and see/see-also references
Updating items via , including attachments
Custom integrations – with our inventory and subscription systems
Batch record creation – we had a sophisticated tool for bulk creation of ST items as dependencies
RT usage in CSCF and MFCF

5. Implementation - timeline
Fall Reviewed the critical factors and determined that there were no “show-stoppers”
Winter 2017 – worked with IST (Lisa, Jeff and Jennifer) to create CSCF Queues and custom fields, worked on integrations (Daniel), trained CSCF and MFCF staff. Worked on closing as many outstanding STs as possible
May 2017 – all new jobs for CSCF created via RT. ST still available to update (and close) jobs
July 2017 – MFCF changed over to RT
RT usage in CSCF and MFCF

6. Implementation – resolution of concerns
Time tracking – time worked, already available. Daniel wrote code to total time worked across all RTs and STs allowing us to continue updating work in both systems as needed
Searching – the search capabilities were deemed sufficiently useful. The quick search and the use of “Any” keyword helped a lot
Permissions – CSCF and MFCF queues are completely searchable by all staff. Other Client Services queues were also opened up
Roles – we added custom roles in RT 4.4 (Accountable and Supporting). CSCF has since decided to stop using them as they don’t move neatly between queues
Summary – added a Wiki field for Summary
Item dependencies and see/see-also references – existing feature, so no problem
Updating items via , including attachments – also existing feature somewhat different – some advantages and disadvantages but generally ok. Cannot access attachments as a file mount as with ST
Custom integrations – see next page
Batch record creation – command-line tools solved this problem!
RT usage in CSCF and MFCF

7. Integrations Time-tracking / Subscriptions:
Utility to display time worked by a staff member
Integrated with our Subscription System, generating Reports, and individual groups, eg: PLG
Inventory – custom field for machine name / barcode links to our inventory system
Eg:
(Note links by machine name barcode, and subscription code)
RT usage in CSCF and MFCF

8. Dependency/batch creation - ST
Tool in ST to create tree-structure of dependencies, eg:
Fall 2016 – ST# Spreadsheet to generate the ST dependency text
[Fall2016] Install School Laptop for MMath student Ali Abbassi (aabbassi) Supervisor: Day, Nancy
| responsible: rgarcia
| owner: pbeldows rgarcia lfolland
| subscription_code: sc-watform
| summary: Supervisor: Day, Nancy Room: DC 25551B"
[Fall2016] Install School PC for MMath student Ali Aminian (a2aminia) Supervisor: Boutaba, Raouf
| subscription_code: sc-rboutaba
| summary: Supervisor: Boutaba, Raouf Room: …
RT usage in CSCF and MFCF

9. Dependency/batch creation - RT
Use Command-line tools in RT
Fall 2017 – RT# Spreadsheet to generate the 75+ RT command lines
rt create -t ticket set queue=CSCF-RSG subject='[Fall2017] Install School Laptop for MMath Thesis student Abbas Abou Daya (aabouday) Supervisor: Boutaba, Raouf' set 'CF-Summary (Wiki)'=' Supervisor- Boutaba, Raouf ; Room - DC 3549(3)' 'CF-Subscription Code'='sc-rboutaba' Due=' :00' priority=3 owner=rgarcia add AdminCC=lfolland,pbeldows
rt create -t ticket set queue=CSCF-RSG subject='[Fall2017] Install Course Master's lab machine for Coursework student Shreesha Addala (saddala) Supervisor: Director, Graduate Studies' set 'CF-Summary (Wiki)'='Supervisor - Director, Graduate Studies ; Room - DC 3335' 'CF-Subscription Code'='0' Due=' :00' priority=3 owner=cscfhelp add AdminCC=lfolland,pbeldows
rt create -t ticket set queue=CSCF-RSG subject='[Fall2017] Install Thin Client for MMath Thesis student Sushant Agarwal
(s34agarw) Supervisor - Nishimura, Naomi' set 'CF-Summary (Wiki)'='Supervisor: Nishimura, Naomi ; Room - DC 2569(5)' 'CF-Subscription Code'='sc-nishi' Due=' :00' priority=3 owner=gboerke add AdminCC=lfolland,pbeldows …
RT usage in CSCF and MFCF

10. Command-line tools
Daniel investigated RT Command-line tools in RT#593919
Need to install the “rt” command in Linux: sudo apt-get install rt4-clients
Configure the .rtrc file:
cat .rtrc
server
user lfolland
passwd MyPassword$ [Not my real password …]
RT usage in CSCF and MFCF

11. Command-line tools (cont’d)
Create an RT: rt create -t ticket set queue=CSCF-RSG subject='[Fall2017] Install To be determined for MMath Thesis student Mohammed Alfatafta (maaalfat) Supervisor: Al Kiswany, Samer' set 'CF-Summary (Wiki)'='Supervisor- Al Kiswany, Samer, Room -' 'CF-Subscription Code'='sc-alkiswan' Due=' :00' priority=3 owner=rgarcia add AdminCC=lfolland,pbeldows
Edit an RT: rt edit set subject='[Fall2017] Install School Laptop for MMath Thesis student Abbas Abou Daya (aabouday) Supervisor: Boutaba, Raouf'
RT usage in CSCF and MFCF

12. Future
Add a feedback function, using RT resolved and WCMS web form, eg:
RT usage in CSCF and MFCF

13. Questions?