Operation > Data Flow Management > Universal Discovery > Inventory Discovery > Mapping Hardware or Asset Fields to UCMDB - Use-Case Scenario

Mapping Hardware or Asset Fields to UCMDB - Use-Case Scenarios

This document describes common scenarios for customized mappings of data from scan files to UCMDB.

For a task related to this scenario, see How to Map Scan File Attributes to UCMDB.

For concept details, see Custom Hardware or Asset Mapping.

These use cases assume that the scanner has captured the data that you want from the target machine, and that the scanner has written the data to the scan file. Configuring the scanner to collect data and store it in an empty field in the scan file is beyond the scope of this document. For more information, see Asset Data Page.

Note  

  • The field names and attribute names described in this document are merely examples. The attribute names were selected because they should not impact out-of-the-box reconciliation rules in UCMDB. Before mapping, always perform an analysis to ensure that storing data in scan file fields and in CIs will not impact other data, or impact reconciliation. For information about reconciliation, see Reconciliation Overview.
  • Generally, most hardware and asset-related information is stored in an attribute under Node CI. If you create your own CI to store your data, it is recommended to create a relationship between your new CI and Node CI.

Tip you can map several strings of data from scan file fields to several CI attributes as long as the CI attributes belong to the same CI in a single pass through the wizard. For example, to map String1 to NodeCI and to map String 2 to Node2CI. you must make two passes through the wizard.

ClosedUser Scenario 1 (single attribute to existing CI)

This use-case scenario describes how to map a single string of hardware or asset data that is contained in a scan file field to an existing UCMDB CI attribute.

  1. Background

    Assume the following:

    • Your scanner has written the collected data to the hwAssetField1 field in the scan file.

    • You want to store hardware and asset-related information in Node CI.

      • Tip To learn about mapping data to a new CI that you create, skip to the next scenario on this page.

  2. Select a CI that contains the attribute that you want to contain your mapped data

    1. Open the Hardware Mapping Configuration dialog box. For more information, see Hardware Mapping Configuration Dialog Box.

    2. Click . In the Select CI dialog box, expand Configuration Item, expand Infrastructure Element, and select Node. Click OK.

    3. Accept all of the defaults in the CI Editor. Notice that Node appears in the left tree pane.

  3. Select an attribute to store your mapped data

    1. In the left tree pane, ensure that Node is selected and click . The Select an Attribute dialog box opens. This list contains all attributes for the Node CI.

      2. Note The list is not sorted alphabetically.

    2. In the Select an Attribute dialog box, click the Attribute field and select the Note attribute. Accept the defaults and click OK. Notice that this attribute name appears in the left tree pane.

      3. Note The Note attribute is a common attribute and data stored here will not cause any reconciliation rule issues. However, you can choose another available attribute. To see which attributes are not populated, or which attributes contain non-critical data, perform an analysis using the CIT Manager in UCMDB.

    3. In the Attribute Editor on the right pane, in the Value field, click . The Select a Shell Tag dialog box opens. Expand Asset Data and select the name of the scan file field that contains the data that you want to map.

      4. Note The names in this list are friendly names- mouse over each entry to see the scan file XML tag names for each entry. For example, user field 1 is also called hwAssetField1.

    4. Select the user field 1attribute. Accept all defaults and click OK.

  4. Results

    After the Inventory Discovery by Scanner job runs, ensure that your mapped data is contained in Node.Note in UCMDB.

ClosedUser Scenario 2 (multi-attribute to new CI)

This use-case scenario describes how to map multiple strings of hardware or asset data that is contained in scan file fields to multiple attributes under a newly-created UCMDB CI.

  1. Background

    Assume the following:

    • Your scanner has written collected data to the hwAssetField1 field and written collected data to hwAssetField2 field in the scan file.

    • You want to map the data to attributes under a new CI. Let assume the following about your new CI:

      Note For more information, see How to Create a CI Type .

      • You named your new CI NewCI.

      • NewCI CI has some relationship defined with Node CI.

        Note  

        • Note the relationship type.
        • Generally, most hardware and asset-related information is stored in an attribute under a CI that is connected, or has some relationship with Node CI.

  2. Select your new CI

    1. Open the Hardware Mapping Configuration dialog box. For more information, see Hardware Mapping Configuration Dialog Box.
    2. Click . In the Select CI dialog box, select your newly-created CI. Select NewCI.
    3. In the relationship field, select the relationship type that you selected when setting up the CI in the CI Type Manager.
    4. In the Create New CI field, select Yes.
    5. Accept all of the defaults in the CI Editor. Notice that NewCI appears in the left tree pane.

  3. Select attributes to store your mapped data

    1. In the left tree pane, ensure that NewCI is selected and click . The Select an Attribute dialog box opens. This list contains all attributes for NewCI CI.
      • These attributes were inherited based on which parent you selected when you created your new CI.

      • The list is not sorted alphabetically.

    2. Click the Attribute field and select the Note attribute. Accept the defaults and click OK. Notice that this attribute name appears in the left tree pane.
    3. In the Attribute Editor on the right pane, click the in the Value field to open the Select a Shell Tag dialog box. Expand Asset Data and select the name of the scan file field that contains the data that you want to map.

      4. Note The names in this list are friendly names- mouse over each entry to see the actual tag names for each field. For example, user field 1 is also called hwAssetField1.

    4. Select the userfield1 attribute.
    5. Accept all defaults and click OK.
    6. Repeat this step to map your second string of data. For example, select the UserLabel attribute to store your data, and then select user field 2 for the Value field.

  4. Results

    After Inventory Discovery by Scanner has run, ensure that your mapped data is contained in NewCI.Note and NewCI.UserLabel in UCMDB.