AtriumCMDBUnderstandingtheAtriumReconciliationEngineWebinarQ&A March14,2013

Q:WhatisBBCA? A:BBCAisBMCBladeLogicClientAutomation,clientdiscoveryproduct.REallowsforyoutomergemultipledifferentdiscovery sourcestogetherinaneffectiveway. Q:WillthereconengineidentifyaserverbyusingthesimpleCINameandthefullyqualifiedCINameasandmergethemasa singleCIintothegoldendataset? A:Oneoftheoperationsofreconciliationistoidentifythingsthatarelike.Youcanwriterulestofindamatchortheoneswe ship.It'sachoicethatisleftuptheREAdmin.Youmaymatchonaspecificattributewiththesamevalue.Youcouldwriterules thatdoLIKEcomparisonstotryandmatchsayabcandabc.myco.Itisuptotherulesyouwrite.SimpleCInameandFQCI namecanbeidentified Q:InthisArchitecturetheReconciliationEnginelookslikeasingleprocessingmethod.HowisanoutageontheReconciliation EngineimpacttheupdatingoftheGoldenDataSet? A:Servergroupisloadbalanced.AlloftheREenginesoftheCMDBfollowthefailoverrulesofservergroups.So,ifaserver goesdown,itwillfailovertothebackupsystemandcontinuefunctioning.Then,whenthemainsystemcomesback,thingswill movebacktotheprimarysystem.ImpactofReconEnginecanbehandledbyrankingofRecononmultipleservers.Incaseof failureorserverisdown,ReconEngineonotherserverwillpickup.Youcansetupanynumberoffailoversystemsuptoallthe serversinyourservergroup.So,itcanstayupaslongasthereisatleastoneserverrunninginyourgroup. Q:WehavethreesourcesandwereconcileCIswiththeNameattributebutstillreconciliationenginecreatesduplicateseven whenwegiveNAMEaspriority1inidentifying. A:IfCIsaregettingduplicated,thenwillhavetorevisittheIDrulesandprecedencerules.IftheNameisnotuniquethen multiplematchfounderrorsshouldbeseeninlogs.TheinformationinlogsisspecificenoughtoidentifywhichCIshave multiplematch. Q:HowyoupreventoverwritingofattributesinBMC.ASSETdataset A:Inbestpractice,youwouldneverhavesomethinginBMC.ASSETthathasnotcomefromasourcedatasetthrough reconciliation,unlessyou'reusingtheSandbox.Thatway,thereisneveranissuewithoverwritinganythinginBMC.ASSETasit alwaysfollowstheattributeprecedencefromsource. Q:ArethereusecasesofrealworldusageoftheSandbox? A:SandboxisusedveryheavilybyAssetManagementoperatorstopreventoverwritingofgoldendataset.Theyuseof precedencesettingswheretheCIdatacanbecontrolledtohaveproperdataupdates.ItcanalsobenormalizedintheSandbox ifneeded.TheconceptofSandboxistoavoiddirectchangeingoldendataset.Sandboxwillestablishtheprocesstohave changesreviewedcomparetootherdatasetsandwillnotoverwrite/modifytheCIaccidently.AnexampleistheServiceModel Editorwhereyoucreate/updatemodelsina"sandbox"(anoverlaydataset)andwhenyouarehappywithitandhavereviewed it,youthen"commitit"anditjoinstheotherdata. Q:AretherulesscriptedorwrittenbyinteractingwithaninterfacewithinRE? A:RuleshavebeenshippedOOTB.YoucanusetheREStandardRuleswhichistherecommendedwaytostartwith.Youmay needtomakesomechangesdependinguponyourdata. Q:Istherearecommendedfieldtostorethekeyidvaluefromtheoriginaldatasource...I.E.theprimarykeyidorguidfromthe datasourcesolutionthatthedataoriginatedfrom? A:TheReconciliationIdentifyfieldwillkeeptrackoftheidoftheoriginaldatasource.Bestpracticeistohaveadatasetforeach source.So,youcantellEXACTLYwhatcamefromagivensourcebylookingatitsdataset.Then,thatsourcemergesdatainto theproductiondataset.So,youalwaysknowwheredatacamefrom.TheReconciliationIdentityisthattrackingattribute.Also theAttributeDatasourceListkeepstrackofwheretheCIcamefromandwhichattributeswontheprecedencegates.

AtriumCMDBUnderstandingtheAtriumReconciliationEngineWebinarQ&A March14,2013
Q:WetoohaveduplicatesinourCMDB A:DuplicateCIproblemscouldbemainlyduetoimproperRErules.YoumightwanttolookattheClassofduplicateCIsand comparewiththeClassIDRules.ThencorrecttheREIdentificationruleforthatclass.Thereconciliationenginepreventsfrom havingtwosameReconciliationIdentitieswithinthesamedatasetnow.Shouldaduplicationbeattempted,thenalogentryis addedtoreflectthatandtheCIwillremainwithoutanID.Althoughthischangewasonlyintroducedin7604SP3andlater. Q:WeusejustIDrulefor"Name"attribute,butstillweseeissueswithduplicationaswecantuseanyotherIDrulesapart fromNAME A:YoumightwanttolookcompleteCIvalueandifthereisanyotherattributecanbeaddedwithName.EventheStandard RuleEditorwillallowforANDorORtyperules.Nameisnottheonlyattributethatcanbeusedforidentification.Severalother attributeslikeTokenId,SerialNumberandotherscanbeusedforidentification.Theycanbecombinedandevensequenced, eachtierjustmustbeabletofindauniquematch.OnceaCIisidentified,thenthatCIwillnotneedtobeidentifiedagain.Itwill justbemergedtothematchingrecordinthedestinationdataset. Q:isthereaperformancehitforhavingmoredatasetsinaprecedenceset?Shouldprecedencesetsbekeptassmallas possible? A:PrecedencesetiskindofchecklistincacheduringREmergeoperation.ThiscachewillbevisitedbeforemergingtheCIinto Goldendataset.Noperformanceimpacthasbeenobservedevenwithmoredatasets. Q:whatisthesignificanceofsandbox? A:Nair,SandboxallowsforastagingareawhereaCIoraBulkloadofCIsgetstobeupdatedwithoutanimpacttothegolden (BMC.ASSET)dataandthen(andonlythen)promotedintothegoldendata.ThereyoucanalsotrackthechangesbyModified UseraseachloginIDisassociatedwiththesandboxanduserID.UsingtheSandboxpreventstherecordsfrombeingcorrupted whiletherecordisineditmode. Q:I'dimaginethatwe'dbemodifyingtheserulesorcreatingnewonestomeetourspecificneeds.Specificallycorrelating FQDNandnonFQDNCI's.Wouldthoserulesbecreated/modifiedthroughatool? A:Thereisafrontendwhereyoucreatetherules(REStandardRulesEditor).TheCMDBhasasetofAdministrativeforms whereyoucreatetheRErulesandrunthejobsandlookatprogressofjobsandthelike. Q:whenreconcilingmultiplesourcestoBMC.ASSET;isitbettertomerge1sourceatatimetoBMC.ASSETormergeallthe sourcesintoanotherdatasetbeforefinallymergingtoBMC.ASSET? A:tomerge3datasets,doIuseonejobtomergeallthreeordoImerge2andthenmergetheresultwiththethirdmerge3is best Ifyouaregoingtomergemultiple(morethan2)datasetstogether,youshoulddothematONEtimeratherthantwotogether andthenthosetwotoathird.Youcandoitpiecewise,butitismosteffectivetodoittogethersoyoucanbestmanagethe rulesandprecedenceandavoidconfusionaboutwhowins.Theonlytimetodoitpiecemealisifyouneedtoresolveissues betweentwotocreatesomethingcleanasa"singlesource"thatthenmergeswithothers. Q:youcantickeachdatasettomergeisitbettertomergeonedatasetatatimeormultiple? A:Isitagoodideatomergeintoanintermediatedatasetandthenmergethatwithproduction? Whenyouhavemultiplesources,firstofall,itisimportanttounderstandhowmuchdataoverlapbetweendifferentsources.If thereismoreoverlapbetweendifferentsources,thenbettertohaveoneconsolidateddatasetbeforemergingintoAsset. Thereisvalueinhavinganintermediatesetsoyoucanconfirmallisreadytogoanddocomparisonofnewvs.oldandsuch. Q:howmanydatasetatthemaxcanwecreateinAtrium? A:Youcancreateasmanydatasetsasyouhavedatasources.ItisbasicallylogicaldatapartitionandgetstrackedasAttribute value.Thereisnoartificiallimitbutthereisarealisticnumberofdatasetsthatyoucanhave.

AtriumCMDBUnderstandingtheAtriumReconciliationEngineWebinarQ&A March14,2013
Q:Issandboxcommonforallorconfigurableforsomesetofusers? A:ItisonlycommonforBMCAssetManagementusers.Basicallyifyou'remakingeditstoexistinggoldensetdata(BMC.ASSET) thenalleditsgothroughtheSandboxfirst.ButyoualsocanimportintotheSandboxBulkdatasettoimportlargersetofdata (ratherthandoingsingleedits).BulkloadisusuallydonewithPeople(Person)records.Inausecaseexampleyoumayhavea computerthatneedstobeassociatedwithapersonbyarelationship.This"UsedBy"relationshipwouldbedoneinthe Sandboxandpromoted.ThiswouldbetransparenttotheoperatorofAssetManagementdata Q:Whattechnologiesareusedtoapplytherulestothedatasets? A:Rulesareappliedbyusingunderlyingdatabasesearchcapabilitiesforeachdatasetthatisbeingreconciled. Q:howdoesreconciliationtreatnumericvaluessuchasmarketcostthatdefaultto0?ArethesetreatedaNULLsandignoredif ignoreNUllsoptionisused? A:Numericvaluewillbeconsideredasvalue.DeferifNULLoptionwon'tbeconsideredhere.Thevalueoffieldshouldbereally NULL. Q:Howdoesthereconciliationjobswitchinservergroupifmainserverisdown? A:ThisisperformedbythestandardservergroupfeaturewithintheARServerwherethereisa'ranking'giventoeachserver todictatewhichshouldtakeoverwhenthecurrentprimarygoesdown/fails.REactivitiescanstartwhereitleft.Itmeansthere won'tbereprocessingofCIs.Inservergroupenvironment,whenjobstopsononeserverinSG,thejobstatusgoesinto SGPausemode.SamejoboperationwillbepickedupbyREonotherserverinSG. Q:BMC.ASSETisanintermediatedatasetright? A:BMC.ASSETistheproductiondatasetandconsumedbyapplicationstodrivekeyCMDBusecases. Q:Howproductcatalogcommunicateswithreconciliationengine A:Productcatalogisnotdirectlyusedinreconciliationengine.However,PCisusedinthenormalizationengineto"cleanup" and"normalize"softwaretitlesinProductCIs.DoingthisbeforeREallowsREtodobettermatchingofproductsinRE. Q:Isthereanyperformanceimpacttousingexplicitprecedencerules?Versusblanketrulesforanentireclass? A:Similarquestioncameearlier.Wehaven'tseenanyperformanceimpactwhentheprecedenceruleatclasslevelvs.attribute level. Q:Isthereadocumentthatliststheexpectvaluesandformatsofthetokenidfieldforeachclass?Whydostandardrulesuse tokenIdforallclasseswhenitisonlysuppliedbyADDMforComputerSystem? A:Thereisnosuchdocument.ThereisreallynoruleforwhattokenIdis.Atthistime,itisjustalocationwhereavaluecanbe placedthatisan"ID".Youhavetodeterminewhattoputthereforyourenvironment/sources. TokenidhasbeenusedbyADDMtoprovideafastandquickwaytoreconcilecomputerssincetherulesfortokenidfor computersareknownanddefinedandfollowedbytheproductswithinBMC.PleasereferCMDB7.6.04_DataModelingGuidefor commonpracticeonattributevalue. StandardrulesareaddressinggenericdatasourceandconsideringdifferentdiscoverysourcesandnotonlyADDM. Q:WhyarethesequenceofactivitiesinJobinhundredsalways? A:Theydon'thavetobe100's.Anynumberwilldo,butwith100'sitgivesroomforinsertingsequencesinbetween. Q:ifoneofyourattributesforexampleincomputersystems(Attributedatasourcelist)getsoverwrittenwhenmergeisdone,by thediscoverydatasetattribute,howwouldyouprevent

AtriumCMDBUnderstandingtheAtriumReconciliationEngineWebinarQ&A March14,2013
A:AttributeDatasourceListisinternalattributeusedaspartofREmergeoperation.Thisattributeshouldn'tbeconsideredas partofyourCIdata. Q:WehaveADDMof8.3.2versionandplannedtomigratetover9.0,doweneedtoreconfigureDatamapsetagainto populatedatainCMDB A:No,youdonothavetoreconfigureyourCDMMapping.ItwillbecompatibleasfarthereisnochangeonCMDBCDMside aboutattribute.Generally,therewon'tbeanychangeinCDMside. Q:isthereawaytodownloadthestandardidentificationrules? A:Yes,thereisanindirectwaytogetthestandardruleset.ItisimportedwiththeCMDBinstallationandthe"ARSTransferFile a.k.aarx"hasthemiftheyneedtoberestored.Howeverthereisnowaytogeta"download"ofitwithouttheproduct Q:Ihaveabout200000CI.Whattimeformergeisnormalforthisquantity?Howtoimproveperformanceofmergeactivity? A:theperformancenumberswilldependuponyoursystemconfiguration.Justtoballpark...IFcorrectlyconfiguredandmulti threaded,youshouldgetratesof30ormoreCIspersecond.So,aninitialloadof200Kshoulddothejobinthehoursrange(a coupleforidentifyandacoupleformerge).Youcanreferourperformancewhitepapertoapplytherecommendations. Q:WhatisBMCAtriumExplorerDataSetfor?Whenweuseit? A:TheAtriumExplorerdatasetsaresandboxesfortheusers.Promotionisareconciliationjobexecutedoncetheuserhas completedallhis/herchangestopushcompletemodelchangestotheBMC.ASSETdataseta.k.aGoldenDataset Q:WhatinfrastructurecomponentsarerequiredtospinuptheREstack? A:REStackisanapplicationthatcanberunononeoftheserversinaservergroupandrequirestheAR/CMDBenginerunning onthatserver. Q:Whathappensifattributeprecedenceis200forclass100andattributeprecedenceis100forclass200? Whichattributewouldbeselectedforfinalasset? A:Ifattributeprecedenceisdifferentthanclasslevel,thenattributeprecedencewilloverwritetheclassprecedenceevenifit's lower. Inallcases,theattributevaluewouldbefromwhateversourcehasthehighestprecedence.Iftheprecedencevalueisthesame formorethanonedataset/class,thenthe'tiebreaker'valuewilldictatewhich'wins'.Ifthetiebreakermatchestoo...thenthe lastsourcetobemergedwillproducethecurrentvalueintheBMC.ASSETCI. Q:whenmergeisdone,itpopulatestheimportconfiglistandwhenuserstrytomakeachangetoCI,itwillnotupdate A:Thissoundslikeaprecedenceconfigurationproblem. Q:istheuseofconsolidateddatasetinanyBMCdocumentation? A:Page111(IdentifyandMergeActivities)inRE/NE7604Guide. Q:whatfieldissetwhenaCIisreconciled?IsthefieldthatgetssettosignifywhenaCIisreconciledsetwhenusingeachtype ofmergeorder?Ihaveseeninmyenv,onlyonemergeorder,separatelybyclass,updatesthemergestatusfield. A:OnSource,ReconciliationMergeStatswillbesetto"MergeDone"(enum50)whenthemergeactivityhascompleted Q:Canwerunmultiplejobsoractivitiesforthesamedataset? A:yes,alltheseoptionsareconfigurable.Althoughwerecommendcautionbeforedoingthat. Q:shouldtheuseofthe'cascadedelete'optionbestandard(removingorphanchildCIs)OOTBitisnotset

AtriumCMDBUnderstandingtheAtriumReconciliationEngineWebinarQ&A March14,2013
A:IwouldavoidusingcascadedeleteoptionwhichhidesthedeleteoperationeveniforphanedCIs.Youmightbelosingsome information.LetdiscoverytoolconveywhichCItodelete. Q:howwouldyoupreventtheattributedatasourcelistfromgettingoverwrittenwhenmergeisdone? A:AttributeDataSourceListisinternalfieldusedforREmergeactivity,soitwillbealwaysoverwritten.Itshouldn'tbe consideredaspartofyourCIdata. Q:Imeancanwerunthejobsseparately.Basedonthesources? A:Yes,eachactivitycanbedoneseparatelyeitherfromthejobconfiguration(bysettingonlyoneactivitytoActiveandothers toInactive),orbycreatingaseparatejobwithjustoneactivity. Absolutely!DatasourcesruletheworldofReconciliation:). Q:Canyoudemohowtomergemultipledatasetsatthesametimeintoaconsolidateddataset? A:youcanrefertheDefaultmergeprecedenceset(OOTB)whichhasmultipledatasetscovered. Q:howmuchimportantisreconciliationengine.MeansifwedoallthesejobsinAIEitself... A:Theseareradicallydifferentprocesses.AIE/AILOADdatafromasource.REfiguresoutiftwothingsfromdifferentsources arethesameandithasrulesaboutwhichattributesfromeacharethe"best".Verydifferentprocessesfordifferentpurposes. Q:AreNormalizationandRecompilationdependentoneachother? A:Yesandno.Theyrunindependentlyanddodifferentjobs.NormalizationCLEANSthedata.ReconciliationIDENTIFIESand MERGESthedata.Cleaningthedata,helpswithidentifyingthedata.So,theycooperatebutarenot"dependent"oneach other. Q:CanAIandAIEprocessesrunonthesameserver? A:AtriumIntegratorandAtriumintegrationenginecanrunonthesameserver Q:whattypeofthroughputisexpectedfromthemergeprocess? A:Theperformancevariesbyenvironment.Mypersonalexperience,IhaveseenREmergeperformanceinrangeof3050 CIs/sec.Formoreinformation,pleasereferperformancebenchmarkingwhitepaper. Q:WhyisitthataftermergewhenuserstrytoupdateanyCIstheupdateswillnotwork A:REmergeactivitywillqualifytheCIbasedonREMergestatusattributestatuswithByClassinseparateTransactionmerge order.TheCIshouldhaveReconciliationMergeStatus="ReadytoMerge".WheneversourceCIwillbeupdatedbyanymeans, CMDbengineupdatestheReconciliationMergeStatusto"Readytomerge"toqualifyCIformergeoperation. Q:TheREConsoleperformanceissoslowthatitisalmostimpossibletocreateandtestrulesinareasonableamountoftime. AnytipsforimprovingtheConsoleperformance? A:GenericallytheperformanceoftheREUIisinfluencedbytheperformanceofMidTier/AR.Therearesomewebspecific tuningrecommendationsintheARPerformancetuningguideforBSMwhichshouldhelpwithREUIslowness. Q:IsNormalizationmandatoryforeveryReconciliationjob? A:BestpracticewouldbetonormalizeCIsandthenreconcileit.Howeveritisnotmandatory. Q:ifIupdatetheattributedatasourcelist,thentheupdateswillwork A:AttributeDataourceListisinternalfieldusedduringReconciliationMergeoperation.Usershouldn'tchangethevalueofit.

AtriumCMDBUnderstandingtheAtriumReconciliationEngineWebinarQ&A March14,2013
Q:RegardingonlyprocessingnormalizedCIs,itseemstobeanunfairexpectationthatacustomerwouldwanttonormalize everyclass.Forexample,whynormalizenetworkcardiftheyarenotconsideredviarequest/incidentseparatefromthehost computer? A:thisisconfigurable.Youareincontrolwhatclassisnormalized. Q:Willfederationbediscussedinalatersession? A:ThisisofcourseaVERYdifferenttopicandisatleastanentiresession.Thisisdefinitelyacandidateforafuturesession. Q:HereIhaveoneissueinmyreconciliationjob'sMergeactivity;myidentifiestheCI&duringmergeactivity,thejobs completesbuttherecordcountis0only A:IfthereisaproblemwiththemergethentheRELogsneedtobereviewedforinfo. Q:Sorrythequestionis:HowcanwetriggerPromotionfromsandboxuserstoBMC.ASSETDatasetautomaticallywhena Changerequesthadfinished(state=closed).Isitpossible?Orpromotionisonlymanually? A:Actually,Iwanttostepback.ThebestpracticeistoletDISCOVERYfindthechangesandbringtheminandNOTtomanually (throughpromoteofasandbox)updatetheCMDB.DiscoverytellsyouwhatREALLYhappenednotwhatyouhopedhappen. YouwanttoletyourdiscoverysourcesbringintheupdatedthingsastheyfindwhatisREAL.Youonlyupdatethingsmanually thatcannotbediscovered(orwhenyoufindsomethingyourdiscoveryisgettingwrong). ForAutomaticpromotionofsandboxchanges,youcanhaveWorkflowinplacewhichgetstriggeredwhenChangerequeststate changeto"Closed".Forworkflow,pleasereferReconciliationuserdocumentation.(Page827.6.04Normalizationand Reconciliationguide) Q:HowcanIscheduleajobtorunmonthly? A:Reconciliationonlyallowsforweeklyjobschedules.Runningonmonthlybasiswouldneedtobecomeanenhancement request.HereisenhancementrequestSW00449598foryourreference. Q:PrivatequeuesettingisdependingonNumberofCPUs?? A:PrivatequeuecanbesetaccordingtoCPU#/Core#;ForCMDBclient,390698and390699areavailable.ForRE,youcan specifyanyofthisnumberwithminandmaxthreads.Youcansetno.ofthreads=2*(NoofCPU*Noofcores).Makeanote, threadconfigurationvariesbyenvironmentaswellasotherARthreadconfiguration. Q:IfIhaveADDM(discoveryjobrunsseveraltimeinthedayfordifferentsegments)+Normalization+ReconciliationStandard jobwhatsequencetypeisthebetterforuse:ScheduletypeorContinue? A:ScheduletypeORcontinuouswillbebasedonyourdataload.Ifit'sinitialload,makesureyouusescheduledtype.With ADDMrunshappeningseveraltimesaday,youcouldsetthisupinacontinuousmodesincetheschedulemightnotbeknown inadvance.Ifyouknowthescheduleaccurately,thenscheduledjobscanbedone. HowtotriggerREjoboncompletiononNEjob?Howtointegratebasically? 1)OnCompletiononNEjob,onefilterneedstowriteonNormalizationJobRunsform. 2)Filterimplementationshouldconsiderfollowingpoints. 1. KeepmonitoringspecificNEJobRunIdwhichhasstatusStarted. 2. WhenNEJobRunIdstatustransitstoCompleted,filterwilltriggerREjob.ReferReconciliationuser documentation.(page827.6.04NormalizationandReconciliationguide) Q:DoesAIsupportintegrationtoMySQLdatabase? A:Yes.AIsupportmanyanumberofintegrationfeatures.MuchmorethanwhatwassupportedbyAIE. Q:SoNormalizationandReconciliationgohandinhand? A:Notnecessarily.ThereisaflagineveryReconciliationJobtomakethejobrunonNormalizedinstancesornot.Bestpractice recommendationsdictatethatyoutrytousethatoptionasmuchaspossible.

AtriumCMDBUnderstandingtheAtriumReconciliationEngineWebinarQ&A March14,2013
Q:Oninitialdatareconciliation,shouldyousettheautoidentifytoon? A:Youuse"autoidentify"whenyouhaveaSINGLEsourceforagiventypeofdataorwhereyouconsideraspecificsourceas theMASTERsourceofdata.Then,youwouldhavemergeidentifyrulesfindthingsinotherdatasetstogettheidentitycopied to.Becarefulnottoset"autoidentify"tomultipledatasetsdiscoveringthesamethingsoryouwillgetthesameobjectfrom differentsourceswithdifferentreconciliationIDsandendupwithduplicatedata Q:IsthereanypossibilitytopromoteautomaticallyoutsideAtriumExplorer? A:Yes,byscheduler. Q:IfindwhenIusethemergeorderofrelated(commitseparatelyortogether),themergejoblooksatallsourceCIsregardless iftheyhavebeenchangedornot A:Correct.ThisisbecauseofrelationshipsrelatedtothereconciledCI Q:EarliertherewassomeCIexamplesthatyoucouldimportintoCMDBver7.5.Theywereaccessibleondeveloper community.Anyplansforan8.1versionofthesame? A:Ibelieveyou'rereferringtosampledata.ThatisincludedwithAssetManagementinstallation. Q:ThesampleIrefertois:https://communities.bmc.com/communities/docs/DOC6189.IsthissupportedinCMDB8.x? A:No,thatpackageisoutdated. Q:WehaveCIthatareintheexplorerview,ifrelationshipisdeleted,theexplorerstillshowstheflow...DoIneedtorunaRE Jobtoclear? A:Yes,ifthatisinasandboxviewthenchangesneedtobepromoted Q:IwasjusttryingtogetafeelforwhatadditionalinfrastructurecomponentswouldberequiredforustoleverageRE.Sothis justsitsontopoftheexistingCMDB? A:Yes,REisapartoftheexistingCMDB. Q:Hi,itspossibleifmalconfigurationservergroup,cmdbdontworkingandclassesstayedinpending A:Yes.ClassesmodificationcanonlyhappeninAdminserver. Q:WhenyourecononlynormalizedCIshowcanyoureviewCIsthatwerenotnormalized? A:YoucangointotheimportdatasetandsearchforallCIswith"Notnormalized"orNormalizationFailednormalization statusflag Q:AnyPlanstoenhancetheCompareActivityreporttobeconfigurableor(more)userfriendly?Thereportshowsdifferences byInstanceIdofCIratherthanCINameorAssetId A:WecanacceptanRFEtoenhancetheresults.CompareActivitycreatesacomprehensiblereportthatiseasytousebutwe needtounderstandyourspecificneeds. Q:isAssetdatasetincludedintheMergePrecedenceordoyouhavetoaddit?(Topreventmanualupdates) A:AssetisincludedintheDefaultPrecedencesetofdataset.(DefaultMergePrecedenceSet).Ifyousetupacustom PrecedenceSetyouneedtoaddit.

AtriumCMDBUnderstandingtheAtriumReconciliationEngineWebinarQ&A March14,2013
Q:WehaveduplicatesinourProductionDataset,isthereawaytoreconcileproductionCIs A:Youdon'twanttobereconcilingproductionCIs.ThingsReconciledmergebymatchingReconciliationIDs.Whatyouneedto doistofindoutwhythingsareduplicatingandcorrectthesourceoftheproblem.Then,youcanremovetheduplicatesandlet thenextreconciliationjobnowmergethedatathathasbeencorrectlyidentifiedandnotduplicatedwithinthesource. Q:ifyouchoosetoonlymergenormalizeddataandthereisn'tanyvaluesintheproductcatalogforite.g.forIPEndpoint etc.,whatistheapproachtotaketoensurethatthedataismadeavailabletotheAssetdataset? A:Youcanhavedifferentreconcilejobsfordifferentclasses.So,ifthereareclassesyouhavewhereyouhavenonormalization rulesforthem,youcanhaveanREmergejobforthoseCIsthatallowsmergeofunnormalizeddataandhaveanotherREjob forthoseitemswhereyoudowanttonormalizethatonlymergesnormalized. Q:BoththeREMergeStatusandNormalizationStatusattributementionedintheQ&AarenotfoundintheBMC_COREformsin my7.6.04outoftheboxinstall. A:REMergeStatusandNormalizationStatusattributesareinternalfieldsandhiddentoavoidtheanymanualupdatewhichcan influencetheREandNEjoboperation.Thesefieldcontainhelpinternalmechanismtofunctionandtheyshouldnotbeedited manuallyunlessrecommendedbyBMC. Q:Whenandwheredoesarrecond.loggetgenerated? A:Bydefaultinthe<AtriumCorehome>/Logsdirectory. Thearrecond.logislogforReconEngineandwillbegeneratedassoonasREprocessstarts. YoucanchangelocationandlogdetailsintheREConfigurationEditor. Q:Isthereisanywaytorestrictthelogsize? A:Yes,logsizeisconfigurableintheREConfigurationEditor Q:FollowupontheNormandREstatusfields.Iftheyarenotintheviewhowcustomersaresupposedtoreferencethem? A:youcanrunareporteveniftheyarehidden.OrmakethemvisiblefromDev.Studioandusethemforreference. Q:WehavealreadypopulatedDatasetsforBBCA&BBSA,andsamedataisreconciledtotheGoldenDataset.Nowhowcanwe normalizethedataalreadypresentintheBBCA&BBSADataset?? A:YoucanhavetwoNEjobsforBBCAandBBSAtonormalizetheCIs.NormalizedCIswillbeupdatedintoGoldendatasetas partofnextREmergeoperation. Q:IsitmandatorythatmanualimportdatamustbeputintoastagingdatasetfirstbeforewemovetoAssetdataset,orthereis anyotherwaywecanmanuallyimportdatawithoutcausinganyissue? A:ItisthestronglyrecommendedpracticetoonlyletReconEnginetopopulatetheBMC.ASSETdataset.Youreallyneedto knowyourSOURCEofdatasothatyoucanmanageit.Otherwise,howdoyouknowwhether? Q:CanIpleasegetinstructionsinhowtoscheduleaREandAIEjobtorunonceamonth A:RegardingAIEandREscheduleconfiguration,youcanreferthedocumentation.UseAIEUserGuideandReconciliationguide. Q:IstherefutureplanstoallowtheCMDBprocessrunonanonPrimaryAdminserverwithinaservergroup? A:Ken,CMDBprocessrunsonallservers,primaryandnotprimary.Whetheritusedthereornotdependsontheconfiguration oftheserver. Q:CanyoupleaseletmeknowhowIcancreatetheNEJobsfortheseDatasets?? A:PleaselookattheNormalizationconsolefromtheAtriumUIwhereyoucancreateNEjob.AlsorefertoNEdocumentation andNEwebinar.

AtriumCMDBUnderstandingtheAtriumReconciliationEngineWebinarQ&A March14,2013
Q:CanyoupostatypicalarchitecturefortheuseofanIntegrationserver A:Excellentquestion.Wedon'thavethatreadyforthewebinarbutwillconsiderforfutureones. Q:BMCshouldindexfieldthatareusedontheoutoftheboxIdentificationRules.Serialnumber,HostName,Name,etc. A:Indexingoffieldsisunderconstantreview.WehaveKAsonsomenew changes.https://kb.bmc.com/infocenter/index?page=content&id=S:KA381681 Q:ThesemissingindexesareadisservicetocustomersasallcustomersthatgrowtheirCMDBhavetoexperiencethesame performanceissues. A:Wellreceivedcomment.Wearealwaysreviewingtheseconditionsforbetterdataprocessing.Theissueforusisthatalmost allcustomershaveadifferentideaonwhattheywantindexedorwhichfeaturetheyareactuallytakingadvantageoff.Weonly indexthingsthat8090%ofourcustomersuse. Q:Canyoupleasehelpmetoconfigurethenormalizationjobsforthesame?? A:Iwouldsuggesttogothrough'theNEdocumentation,it'sverysimpletocreateNEjobfordataset.Ifyouhaveanyspecific query,sendquestiononCMDBcommunity. Q:DowehaveanyissueswithCMDB7.6.03deleteandpurgeactivityinreconciliation. A:Nottomyknowledge.AllCIsthatareMarkAsDelete=Yeswillbepurged.Datathatqualifiesfordeletewillbedeleted. Q:IfaCIisMarkAsDeletedintheproductiondataset,andnotinthesource(soitbecomes'liveagain'andispickedupby discovery),willtheCIthenbeundeletedintheAssetdataset? A:TheCIwillbeavailableinASSETtillAssetPurgejobisrun.IfitisavailableinsourcedatasetnotasmarkedasDeletedtheRE jobwillreconcileitagain,yes,andmakeitoncemoreavailable. Q:IsthereawaytoenforcecardinalityruleswithincertainCIclasstoanotherclassrelationship1:1or1:5adefinitivenumber or1:nwhichwouldbeindefinite. A:Goodidea,butnotcurrently.ThecardinalityhastobecompliantwiththeITILstandardandthecurrentDMTFstandard. Q:Anyissuestobeawareofinmigratingfrom7.6to8.xregardingtheRE? A:Noissuesfrom7.6.04to8.0forCoreCDMdefinition.IfyouarekeyingoffofextendedAssetattributesfromITSM,those attributeshavebeenremovedfromtheCMDBsoyouhavetoadjustthere. Q:InwhatcircumstancestheBBCACIswillbesetasMarkasDeleted?? A:"MAD"issettoYESwhenthedeviceisnolongerdiscoveredandabsentfromtheBLdatabase Q:ArethereanyBMCAdaptor(s)forSCCM? A:ThereisnoBMCCMDBadapterforSCCMintegration.However,BMCpartnerprovidesonesuchintegration(Seamless technology). Q:WehaveadesiretooffloadtheNormalizationactivityoffthePrimaryservertoanonprimary,butcan'tbecausetheCMDB mustremainonthePrimary.We'vebeentoldifwedothat,thenwelosetheschedulingfeatureinNormalization. A:ThisisconsideredanRFEatthemoment.NEwillhavesomeimprovementsinthenextreleaseregardingthewayitworksin servergroups. Q:WhataretheBMCStandardReconciliationRulesforRelationships?

AtriumCMDBUnderstandingtheAtriumReconciliationEngineWebinarQ&A March14,2013
A:Relationshipsareidentifiedbyusingitstwoendpoints.Theparentandthechild. Q:KA376464:HowtoincreasePerformanceinReconciliationJobs(withSP3orhigher)doesitmeanthisisnotavailablein SP2? A:WehavemadecoupleofproductfixesforperformancereasonwhichareavailableaspartofSP3.Iwouldsuggesttogowith latestSP(i.e.Sp4)ifyouplantoupgrade. Q:Whencreatingadatasetonlyadmincanseethedataset.(Thecmdbwritesecurityfieldonthecfg:datasetformisempty) A:Datasetcreationisanadministrativetask.Thereisnorestrictiononvisibilityofthedataoutoftheboxthat'sdifferentfrom theAssetManagementguidelines Q:howdoyouremoveaformerstaff'ssandboxcorrectlywithoutimpactinganything? A:Thesandboxisanoverlaysobyremovingityou'renotimpactingtheunderlyingdata. Q:Ifthenormalizationengineusestheproductcatalogandsayamodelisnotintheproductcatalogoralias,whathappens?Is thereawaytotriggerachangeornotificationprocesstoallowanewmodeltobeaddedtotheproductcatalog? A:Youcanconfigurethingstoeither"autocreate"anentryintotheproductcatalogforanewitem(onlydesiredfromatrusted source)oryoucanfindthingsthatare"unnormalized"andreviewthemforhandling,inthiscasecreatingtheproduct manually. Q:IstherenolongeranAssetLifecycleStatusfieldintheCMDB?HowdoweadjustmappingsinAIforjobsthatsetthe AssetLifecyCleStatus? A:CertainnondiscoverableattributeshavebeenmovedtotheAST:AttriburesformandonlyavailablefromAssetforms.If yourAIjobneedstosetthatattributeyouneedtoretargetyourAIjobtopointtoAST:forms. Q:Howmuchtimewilltake4000endpointstoReconcilefromADDMtoCMDB A:Itdependsgreatlyonseveralsettingsandhardwarelimitations.Youcanexpectaround30CIspersecondsbeingidentified andthenmergedintoproductiondataset.4000/30givesyouaround3minutes. Q:ArethereanyplansonsupportingoverlayswithAtriumCMDB? A:Ifyoumeansupportingoverlaydatasetsassourceortargetofreconciliationengine...Thatisaproblemthathasalready beenresolvedandisavailableinapatchof7.6.04andshouldbeinthe8.1andlaterreleases. OverlaysinCMDBformsisnotexpectedtobesupported. Q:IsthereanyplanstocreateaSQLadapterforUNIX,currentlyitisonlyavailableonwindows. A:Iamsorry,whattypeofSQLadapter?Therearealreadyseveralinplacewithinourproducts.IfyourefertoAIE,thenno,AIE doesnotsupportSQL.YouwillneedtomigratetoAIwhodoessupport. Q:Incaseofamistakenprocess(wrongruledefinition)andCIswentintotheCMDBtwice. Isthereawaytoidentifytheduplicatesandremovethem? A:Yes,thereareseveralwaystohelpyouidentifyduplicates.Pleasesubmitaticket,wehaveawelldefinedprocessthatwe're workingonmakingpubliceventually.Fornowthisisdoneonneedpercase. Q:ARERR[100029]Pleasegivevaluestoallrequiredfields. MergingofrecordfailedClassBMC.COREBMC_ComputerSystem

AtriumCMDBUnderstandingtheAtriumReconciliationEngineWebinarQ&A March14,2013
A:Youmusthaveafieldthatisleftwithoutavalue.SQL/Filter/APIlogwillshowwhy. Q:Whatisthebasicdifferenceinpurgeanddelete? A:PurgeonlyremovesMarkAsDelete=Yes.Deletegetsridofeverythinginthedataset Q:WhatdoyoutypicallyseearoundresourcesusedtomanagetheREactivities?Iamwonderingifdependingonsize/load issuesoccurifmultiplepeoplearemanagingit,orbetterpracticeistohave1personprimarilyresponsible. A:Itwouldbeveryunlikelyforonepersontoberesponsible,althoughpossible.Therearenoissuewithmultiplepeople handlingReconciliation. Q:WeremovedapersonssandboxbutnowIamgettingthisARERR[101049]Dataset<Sandboxforrlardy>doesnotexist ActivityendedwithanerrorDADSMerge3 A:YouneedtocheckyourMergePrecedenceSetandremovethedatasetreferencefromthere. Q:Inpreviousversionsthelogfile"arrecond.log"grewandgrewandgrew(therewasnowaytolimitsizethisunliketheREJob logs).Howcanwecanthisbeconfiguredratherthanmanuallycheckiteveryfewmonths(itgrowsintomanyGBs) A:arrecondwillgrowforeveryes.Weareworkingonimprovingthisandprovidingabackupandarchivingmechanism. Q:Ifourreconciliationdoesnotgiveustheresultsweexpectedorreallyscrewsupourgolddataset,Isthereadocumenton rollingbackorbestpracticeforCYA? A:Ifyouarefollowingbestpracticeandyounevermanuallyupdatetheproductiondatasetandyoualwayshaveyoursources comeintoseparatesourcedatasetsandthosearepreserved,youcansimplydeletealldataintheproductionsetandlet reconciliationrunagainwithcorrectedrules.SettheoptiontoreconcileEVERYTHINGnotjustchangedthings. Now,ifyouhavenotfollowedgoodpracticeandsomedataexistsnowonlyintheproductiondataset,youcanofcoursenotdo thisandhavetobemuchmorecarefulaboutcleanupasyouhavedatatherethatyoucannotdeleteoryouloseit. Q:ArethereaBestPractice/WhitePaperforRelationshipclasses,Iknowofthe"DataModeling"chapterintheDataModeling Guide A:Yes,thereisadocument:Lookfor:MappingYourData(Excelsheet) Q:AnswertoDatasetpermissionquestion:FornonadminstoseeadatasettheCMDBRowLevelSecurityneedstosettopublic intheBMC,CORE:BMC_Datasetfrom A:correct