Content Packs › Overview of Content Packs

Overview of Content Packs

A content pack is a collection of CA Service Catalog objects, such as services, Form Designer forms, policies, events, report data objects, CA Process Automation processes, and so forth. As a producer or designer, you create and export content packs to package customized versions of these objects efficiently and accurately. As a consumer or adopter, you import content packs so that you can use these customized objects without having to perform the same customization processes. Typically, the customizations in a content pack are focused on configuring your Catalog system for the optimal use of a specific feature, service, or environment. Content packs enable you to repeat these customizations efficiently and accurately from one system to another, multiple times.

Using content packs enables you to do both of the following:

• As a producer or designer of content packs, you package a library of objects, including your updates and customizations, in a single location.
• As a consumer or adopter of content packs, you import the customized objects programmatically in a single operation, as many times as necessary.

Consequently, you do not have to repeat individual operations for each object type. Content packs thus provide an efficient method of packaging and applying such updates and customizations, especially when you move from one implementation to another. Examples include the following:

• Test-to-production migrations and other same-release migrations
• Replacement of a decommissioned computer
• Restoring customizations after upgrading CA Service Catalog

Both customers and CA Technologies can create content packs, as follows:

• CA Technologies typically creates content packs that include new objects or updated versions of existing objects, including sample objects and fixes.
• Customers typically create content packs that include objects that they have customized to meet specific organizational requirements.
• Customers can optionally copy content packs from CA Technologies and customize them before applying them across their implementations.
• You can export and import multiple content packs for a single business unit. Similarly, you can export and import multiple content packs for all business units. If a conflict occurs between the existing content pack and the one you are activating, the new content pack auto overrides the old one.

The following roles are most likely to create and export content packs:

• Members of a CA Technologies content team
• A service delivery manager or other administrator in your organization

The most likely role to import a content pack is a service delivery manager or other administrator.