System Center Service Manager 2010 objects are stored in management packs. To modify an object using the System Center Service Manager Authoring Tool, you need to open the management pack file that contains that object. To capture changes that you made in the Authoring Tool, you must then save the changes in the original management pack file or in a new management pack file. If the original object that you changed is defined in a sealed management pack, then you must save your changes in a new or an existing un-sealed management pack. Unlike Service Manager, to save modified objects, the Authoring Tool manipulates the actual management pack files on the hard drive, in an offline mode, without direct interaction with the Service Manager database.

Later, to implement these changes, you must import the management pack file into the Service Manager console, which updates the Service Manager database with the information from the management pack file. You can also import the management pack file to a different environment, such as a production environment. When you import a management pack, the Service Manager server examines the XML code in the management pack file. If the management pack file contains XML code that is not valid, the management pack will not be imported.

To implement a more comprehensive change, you might have to use several management packs that depend on each other and that must be imported into Service Manager in a specific order. To accomplish this, you might have to seal one or more management packs, and you must bundle these management packs with any resource files that are required into a single .mpb file.

The procedures in this section describe how to work with management pack files in the Authoring Tool.

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