How to update CI identification rules to match name & serial number to update/create CIs

[tomcollins]

I believe that our CIs are just matching against serial number only and not a combination of serial number & name.

We discovered this by discovering load balancers (physical & virtual). What is happening is that all of the load balancers (P&V) are updating into the same CI with the matching Serial Number. We need them created as separate CIs. i want to make sure that is the case across the board for our classes. There has to be a universal setting for this? I looked into CI Identification rules but quickly got confused.

How do I update those rules?

Thanks in advance,

TC

[DaveHertel]

You can add additional CI identifiers (or edit OOB rules... but not recommended) to the list of identifier "rules".  Read up here https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/london-it-operations-management/page/product/discovery/concept/c_HowDiscoveryIdentifiersWork.html

To debug and be sure the CI ID's are behaving as you think, you can add system property to debug CI identifiers:

glide.debug.ci_identification  which will add logging info to show you what's going on under the covers...

Does this help?

[manjusha]

Hi,

just modify the existing identfication rule which is hardware rule  or create new rule for specific class  .

Mark correct and helpful based on impact.

Regards,

Manjusha Bangale

[dcwilson]

You are correct that OOB it does not use name and serial number to identify, it uses one or the other.  Rarely in an infrastructure environment is that sufficient.  

Modify the identification rule to accommodate your organization's needs.  I didn't find any information in documentation recommending not to change the identifier rules.

What I have experienced using OOB rules... physical hardware is replaced with same hostname, wrong CI is updated, in VMware UUIDs change frequently so a new CI is created when an existing CI should be updated.    Depending on a device's implementation in your environment may drive the priority of the identification rules for any particular Class.  With Cisco 5585's we were running parallel devices, same name different serial numbers and IPs.

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/jakarta-it-operations-management/page/product/discovery/concept/c_DiscoveryIdentifiers.html

https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/jakarta-servicenow-platform/page/product/configuration-management/concept/c_IdentificationRules.html