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Overview

Entities in ITSM-NG represent organizational units, departments, subsidiaries, or any hierarchical structure. Each entity can have its own configuration, users, and assets.

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Understanding Entities

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Entity Hierarchy

Entities are organized in a tree structure:
  • Root Entity: Top-level entity (ID 0)
  • Child Entities: Sub-organizations under a parent entity
  • Recursive Rights: Permissions can be inherited from parent entities
The root entity cannot be deleted and always has entities_id = -1.

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Creating Entities

1

Navigate to entities

Go to Administration > Entities in the main menu.
2

Create new entity

Click Add and fill in the entity details:
  • Name: Entity name (required)
  • Parent entity: Select the parent (if applicable)
  • Comments: Optional description
3

Configure entity settings

Set entity-specific options across multiple tabs:
  • Address
  • Advanced information
  • Notifications
  • Assistance
  • Assets
4

Save the entity

Click Add to create the entity.

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Entity Configuration Tabs

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Address Tab

Configure contact information: 
Phone: Contact phone number
Fax: Fax number
Website: Organization website
Email: Contact email
Postal code: Zip/postal code
City: City name
State: State or province
Country: Country name
Coordinates: Latitude, Longitude, Altitude
Geolocation: The coordinates are used for mapping and location-based features.

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Advanced Information

Configure LDAP and inventory integration:
1

LDAP Directory

Link the entity to an LDAP directory:
  • LDAP directory: Select the LDAP server
  • LDAP DN attribute: Attribute representing the entity
  • Search filter: Additional LDAP filter (optional)
2

Inventory tag

Set the TAG value used by inventory tools (e.g., GLPI Agent, OCS Inventory) to identify this entity.
3

Mail domain

Specify the email domain associated with this entity.

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Notification Options

Configure email notifications for the entity:

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Email Settings

Administrator email: [email protected]
Administrator name: Admin Name
Reply-to email: [email protected] (optional)
Reply-to name: System Name
Email signature: Custom signature for this entity
Prefix for notifications: [ENTITY-TAG]
If entity email settings are not configured, the system will inherit from the parent entity or use global settings.

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Alert Configuration

1

Delay to send emails

Set delay in minutes (0-60) or inherit from parent.
2

Enable notifications by default

Choose whether new users in this entity have notifications enabled.
3

Configure alert thresholds

Set thresholds for:
  • Cartridges: Alert when stock falls below threshold
  • Consumables: Alert for low consumable stock
  • Contracts: Days before contract expiration
  • Financial information: Days before warranty expiration
  • Licenses: Days before license expiration
  • Certificates: Days before certificate expiration
  • Domains: Days before domain expiration

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Assistance Tab

Configure helpdesk settings:

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Ticket Configuration

Calendar: Business hours calendar
Ticket template: Default template for new tickets
Change template: Default change template
Problem template: Default problem template
Default ticket type: Incident or Request

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Automatic Actions

1

Auto-close tickets

Set delay (in days) to automatically close solved tickets:
  • Inherit from parent
  • Never
  • Immediately
  • After X days (1-99)
2

Auto-purge tickets

Set delay (in days) to purge closed tickets:
  • Inherit from parent
  • Never
  • Immediately
  • After X days (1-3650)
3

Ticket assignment mode

Configure automatic assignment:
  • Auto-assign by category
  • Auto-assign by hardware then category
  • No automatic assignment
Auto-purge permanently deletes tickets. Ensure you have proper backups before enabling.

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Satisfaction Surveys

Survey configuration: Disabled/Internal/External URL
Trigger rate: Percentage of tickets (0-100%)
Create survey after: Days after ticket closure
Survey duration: Days survey remains available
External URL: Link to external survey tool

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Assets Tab

Configure asset management settings:
1

Financial information

Enable automatic creation of financial records for new assets.
2

Auto-fill dates

Configure which dates are automatically filled:
  • Purchase date
  • Order date
  • Delivery date
  • Start date of use
  • Warranty start date
  • Decommission date
3

Software entity

Choose the entity where new software items are created:
  • Current entity
  • Specific entity
  • Inherit from parent

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Entity Hierarchy Management

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Viewing Entity Tree

The entity selector displays a tree structure: 
Root Entity
├── Entity A
│   ├── Entity A1
│   └── Entity A2
└── Entity B
    └── Entity B1

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Recursive Rights

When assigning profiles to users:
  • Recursive: User has rights to the entity and all child entities
  • Non-recursive: User has rights only to the specific entity
Recursive rights automatically include new child entities created in the future.

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Entity Rights Management

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Required Rights

Access control for entities: 
VIEW: Read entity information
UPDATE: Modify entity settings
UPDATEHELPDESK: Modify helpdesk-specific settings
notification: Modify notification settings
infocom: Modify asset financial settings
config: Modify advanced configuration
See /inc/entity.class.php:67-121 for field-level rights mapping.

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Entity Selector

Switching between entities:
1

Open entity selector

Click the entity name in the top navigation bar.
2

Select entity

  • Click entity name: Switch to that entity only
  • Click icon next to name: Switch to entity and all children (recursive)
3

Show all

Click Show all to view data from all entities you have access to.
Use the search box in the entity selector to quickly find entities by name.

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Best Practices

Entity Management Tips

  • Plan hierarchy carefully: Changing entity structure later can be complex
  • Use meaningful names: Entity names should clearly identify the organizational unit
  • Configure inheritance: Use parent entity settings where possible for consistency
  • Test recursive rights: Verify recursive permissions work as expected
  • Document structure: Maintain documentation of your entity hierarchy
  • Regular audits: Periodically review entity assignments and settings

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Common Entity Patterns

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Geographic Structure

Company (Root)
├── North America
│   ├── USA
│   └── Canada
└── Europe
    ├── UK
    └── France

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Departmental Structure

Organization (Root)
├── IT Department
├── Finance
├── HR
└── Operations

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Customer/Client Structure

Service Provider (Root)
├── Customer A
│   ├── Site 1
│   └── Site 2
└── Customer B

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Troubleshooting

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Cannot Delete Entity

  • Root entity: Cannot be deleted (by design)
  • Has children: Delete or move child entities first
  • Has associated data: Transfer or delete tickets, assets, users first
  • Insufficient rights: Requires rights to the entity

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Inheritance Not Working

Check that:
  • Configuration value is set to “Inherit from parent”
  • Parent entity has the setting configured
  • There are no overrides at intermediate levels
See /inc/entity.class.php:1380-1421 for entity notification inheritance logic.

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