Discovery and unexpected Lenovo computer model information

[jas101]

Hi everyone.

We have noticed that Discovery is not pulling in Lenovo computer model names/numbers as expected which is causing problems when it comes to reporting etc. Dell machines populate Model ID as follows e.g. Dell Inc. OptiPlex 760 which is logical/great. Lenovo CIs on the other hand populate model IDs as e.g. Lenovo 4291YYH

I.e. with all seemingly unique model IDs (not the serial tags) whereas here we would expect e.g. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny or Lenovo ThinkPad X220 (we have only 3 different models in use currently).

Our EUC team have identified that this happens because Lenovo stores their "ModelName" in a different WMI class than other vendors (Win32_ComputerSystemProduct as opposed to Win32_ComputerSystem).

I'm presuming plenty of other organisations must have experienced this issue and if so how have you guys remedied it? Is it possible to customise the probe to bring back Win32_ComputerSystemProduct for Lenovos only!?

We have observed that the start of model IDs are consistent with the actual model e.g.

ServiceNow Display Name	Actual Model Name
Lenovo 10AAxxxxxx	Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny
Lenovo 10ABxxxxxx	Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny
Lenovo 20BSxxxxxx	Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 3rd Gen
Lenovo 20BTxxxxxx	Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 3rd Gen
Lenovo 429xxxx	Lenovo ThinkPad X220

So I'm presuming we could create a business rule - although Discovery would overwrite this info each time it scans right? I.e. far better to fix at source presumably.

Any help much appreciated, I still await Hi's feedback on this.

Many thanks!

Daniel

[Community Alums]

The number that Lenovo is reporting there is the Product code, which we would correlate with a Model number in the Model record. For example, the 4291YYH you used in your example is a ThinkPad X220.

The easiest way to handle this would be to set up Normalization on the Name field. When it finds 4291YYH, it can automatically change it to the Normal value ThinkPad X220. In this situation, you could also set the Model number field as the Raw field in the Normalization configuration. This copies that original value from the Name field to the Model number field where it belongs. In fact, based on your observation, you should even be able to use normalization rules to make this even easier to configure. Normalization runs automatically once it is activated, so if you set it up to match names that begin with Lenovo 429, it would automatically match it up.

[jas101]

Ben many thanks for this info. I was unaware all together about normalisation (hopefully it is quite straight forward to setup!) so will take a look a the Wiki, however the only issue I can think of is that these current model numbers are unique. That said, as per the table in my last post it would appear that when they start with a certain string of characters the 'actual' model can be identified.

From what you've said it would appear I should be able to create rules to say when name begins XYZ etc. but what I really need is confirmation that these existing model IDs are consistent with actual model names i.e. a model ID starting with Lenovo 10AA will 100% always be a Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny regardless of where in the world that laptop was bought.

On a separate note why would Lenovo not use the same WMI class as other Vendors for this info in the first place!

Cheers.

Daniel

[Community Alums]

Daniel,

I cannot give you that guarantee. I would contact Lenovo to see if that is consistent. If each one is unique, though, it sounds more like a serial number than a Model number. If that is the case, I would not save the Raw value to Model number. As for why Lenovo doesn't use the same WMI class, unfortunately Manufacturers are not always consistent with where they put information about their computers. Again, this could be a good question for Lenovo.

When you find out for sure, post here and we can plan a way to handle it.

Ben

[jas101]

Thanks Ben, I am awaiting information from our Lenovo account manager to confirm the above queries. Will update when I hear back.

Daniel