Discovery is happening for IBM frame, IBM Mainframe class but RAM value is not updating

[jack33]

HI,

Discovery is happening for IBM frame, IBM Mainframe classes, but RAM value is not updating. it is empty

Thank you in advance

[Cindy Trieu]

Hi Jack,

Is this Discovery using IRE? If so, can you check if the Discovery is passing the RAM value to IRE? If RAM value is not being passed to IRE, we will not update it. If it is not fetching values that you need, you can ask in the Discovery forum how to do that.

[AJ-TechTrek]

Hi @jack33 ,

As per my understanding, Below will be root cause and probable solutions.

Root Cause / Why this happens:
* IBM Mainframes (e.g., zSeries) do not expose RAM as traditional x86 servers do.
* The Discovery process relies on protocols like SNMP or specific probes/patterns to gather data.
* The SNMP MIBs (Management Information Bases) for IBM mainframes usually do not include physical memory in a way that matches the ram field in cmdb_ci_computer.
* Out-of-the-box (OOB) discovery patterns and probes do not collect this attribute from IBM mainframes because the underlying systems either:
* Don’t expose it via SNMP
* Expose it under different MIBs or custom attributes that are not mapped to ram
* This is expected behavior – the RAM field stays empty because the data is unavailable or unmapped.

Solution / Options to address:

Option 1: Verify OOB pattern coverage
1. Go to the Discovery patterns for IBM Frame / IBM zSeries:
* Navigate to Discovery Patterns
* Filter by class: cmdb_ci_mainframe or related
2. Check if there is a step in the pattern to extract RAM / total memory.
3. If missing (most often it is):
* It means ServiceNow OOB doesn’t gather this attribute from mainframes.

Option 2: Custom pattern / probe
If your mainframe team knows how to get RAM info (for example, via:
* SNMP MIB that contains real memory
* SSH command or script
* Vendor API)
Then you can:
* Create a custom probe or extend existing SNMP probe to fetch that value.
* Add a custom step in the Discovery pattern to map it to the ram field.
Needs collaboration with your mainframe team to identify the correct data source.

Option 3: Manual data entry / integration
* If Discovery cannot technically fetch RAM info:
* Maintain it manually in CMDB.
* Or integrate with an external asset system that tracks mainframe capacity data.
* Set up a data source (like an Excel file, MID server script, or integration) to update the ram field on those CIs.

Check this first:
* Ensure Discovery logs don’t show errors while fetching SNMP data.
* Validate the IBM frame is SNMP-enabled and the MID server can connect.
* Look at the discovery logs (Discovery Log table) to see if memory-related attributes are fetched at all.

Suggestions:
* RAM isn’t populated for IBM mainframes OOB because it isn’t typically exposed in standard ways.
* Best approach: confirm with mainframe team how to get this info → add custom probe/pattern → map to ram.
* Or maintain manually if automatic discovery is impossible.

Please appreciate the efforts of community contributors by marking appropriate response as Mark my Answer Helpful or Accept Solution this may help other community users to follow correct solution in future.
 
Thank You
AJ - TechTrek with AJ
LinkedIn:- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajay-kumar-66a91385/
YouTube:- https://www.youtube.com/@learnitomwithaj
ServiceNow Community MVP 2025

[jack33]

Can you please let me know exactly which patterns are responsible to discover IBM frame, IBM Mainframe and IBM Mainframe LPAR class