Multiple IP Address in one CI

[ejayopiniano]

Hi,

I would like to ask how discovery treats the following scenario:

I have a CI and it has 3 IP Addresses, 1 IP address is being populated in the "IP Address" field in the CI form and the rest of the IP addresses are being stored in the "CI IPs" in the related tabs.

My question is, How Discovery picks the IP among these 3 IPs to populate in "IP Address" field in the CI form?

Thanks

[Rafael Batistot · Accepted solution]

Hi @ejayopiniano 

Here’s how it works by default:

1. The “IP Address” field on the CI record
   
• This is just a single value field on the CI (cmdb_ci.ip_address).
• Discovery sets this field to one “primary” IP address — typically the IP used to first discover/identify the device.
2. The “CI IPs” related list
   
• This is backed by the cmdb_ci_ip_address table.
• All discovered IP addresses for that CI are inserted here.
• That means Discovery does not lose track of the extra IPs; it just doesn’t put them into the single-value ip_address field.
3. How Discovery decides which IP goes into the ip_address field
   
• By default, it’s the IP that Discovery first used to connect to the CI successfully (e.g., SSH for Linux, WMI for Windows, SNMP for network devices).
• That “scanned” IP becomes the primary IP address.
• If the same CI is later discovered via another IP, that IP is still added to the CI IPs related list, but the ip_address field generally remains unchanged unless Discovery reconciliation rules update it.
4. Can this behavior be customized?
   
• Yes. You can change it by:
  
• Adjusting Identification and Reconciliation (IRE) rules to prioritize certain IPs.
• Writing a post-discovery business rule or script to pick a different “preferred” IP (for example, always choosing the lowest IP, or the management interface IP).