New Hardware asset record model category

ncp · ‎05-19-2017

We import hardware records and automatically create hardware assets from Dell's Advanced shipping notice. They have a Asset category defined as Desktop which I was planning on mapping to a model category of Desktops in ServiceNow. The issue with that is, this model category does not have a defined CI Class that maps to the asset class, so what happens is a CI is not created.

1) I looked to see if I could add a cmdb_ci_computer class to the Desktops category and I cannot

2) I would have to map the desktop to computer which already has that the ci class defined, the issue with that is I wont then be able to identify dekstops from notebooks or thin clients

Any ideas on how we can map and automatically create a CI for the Desktop model category?

The other question is why is the model category a mandatory field when creating an asset - the model already maps to the model category and if you go to the model its a slush bucket where you can pick multiple model categories

Thanks

Chandran

Community Alums · ‎05-22-2017

Hi Chandran,

I agree with the idea that these devices should not require their own classes in the CMDB. It can overcomplicate matters.

My recommendation would be similar to Andrew's with regards to using the Form factor, but I would NOT use the one that is available by default on the CI records. The CI record really is not the place for this type of information. It should instead be on the Product Model record (I would add it to cmdb_product_model; this makes it easy to display the value on the Asset and CI records if you want) and input the choices you want.

With this value set on the Model, you should have just a little work to identify the laptops, desktops, and thin client models. This should be pretty quick and painless to do in groups in the list view, especially if you focus on models in your environment.

Without knowing much about how you have the ASN details coming in, I would have these all point to the Computer as it sounds like they are doing. Then you will get your CIs properly.

A couple points about some of the information shared above:

While you cannot add a CI Class after a Model Category is created, you can add an Asset Class later.
Rather than messing around with the Business Rules and Script Includes that create CIs from Assets, use the Model Categories to support your work. If you do not want a CI created for a particular categorization of device, make sure you have a Model Category that has an Asset class defined but no CI class.
There is often confusion about the Model category on the Model records. If you consider it, it is likely that a Model could be associated with multiple Model categories. For example, that new ProLiant could be a Computer or a Server or a Windows Server or a Linux Server. In fact, in the course of its operational lifecycle, the device might go through several different categories. The Model category just helps when you are creating the asset to limit the Model selections. When the Service Catalog is used, the first Model category on the list is selected as the Model category.

I hope this helps,

Ben

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andrewpilachows · ‎05-19-2017

I have just begun learning CMDB, so hopefully I understand where you are trying to go and I can explain the parts of the system I have come across that may help you work out a solution. We are not running any integrations, so please forgive me if I mistake how your system is set up. I also do not have experience creating or managing CIs or Assets yet so please do not take my suggestions as final or the only options available.

The Product Catalog is used to enter the Model Categories. Product Catalog is part of the Asset Management application, but also publishes to the Service Catalog. Model Categories are used to associate CI Classes to Asset Classes, and are used to determine if an Asset will be created from a new CI record or not. Thus, a model category can only be created once per CI Class (i.e. table).

Looking at the Computer model category, when a Computer CI is created using a model categorized as Computer, it would create an associated record in the Hardware table. (Except not in my instance as we are not creating asset records, I checked the box to Enforce CI verification which stops asset creation automatically)

Looking at the demo data for a Hardware Model, they have an Asus A53 Series categorized as a computer, which will make it available to the CMDB CI Computer class and the Hardware asset class.

Moving onto Hardware Assets, we can find a record with the model category Computer created for the computer hardware model Asus A53 Series. Model has a dependency on Model category, so once you enter a category, it will filter the Model list to only include those types, and this is also where you create the strict category relationship to the asset because like said above, the model category for product models is a slush bucket.

My understanding of Asset Management application is there is a business rule that creates a CI on Asset insert. If you did not want to automatically create a CI, you would disable this rule. If you wanted this specialized, you could look into customizing the condition or script include (recommendation is to clone the base rule or script and customize that, then disable OOB to prevent conflicts during system upgrades).

Now lets move onto your requirements. Are Desktops and Laptops required to be in separate CI Class tables (i.e. you want to add a custom field that is only applicable to that one class), or do you just want to filter a list on Desktop/Laptop? The latter part is easy, go to Configuration > Base Items > Computers, and configure the form layout. OOB table has a form factor field that you might find useful. Of course you would have to find out a way to have this set during or after the import, and you would also have to change your integration to use the Computer model category for both desktops and laptops.

If you cannot or do not wish to go the above route, you will have to create new CI Classes for Desktops and Laptops. You can do this by going into CI Class Manager. You have two choices, you can extend the Hardware class, or the Computer class depending on what will fit your needs. Extending the Computer class would mean you start out with all the fields available to Computers and do not have to manually create them yourself. Right-click on the Class to Extend it.

Here is a quick example that extends from Computer and inherits all its fields (I did not add any additional fields in this example, but it is an option).

From there it is as simple as creating a new Desktop model category that maps the Desktop class to the Hardware class (or updating/recreating an existing model category), and updating the necessary model and asset records as needed to use the new model category. Also note that as I understand it, there may not be a simple way to trigger new CI creation from existing Asset records. One possible solution would be to delete the applicable Asset records from the table (Desktops/Laptops), then have the integrator re-import to trigger the Create CI on Insert business rule above. This is not advisable if you already have dependencies set from the existing Asset records.

Hopefully this information helps start you in a good direction to a solution.

ncp · ‎05-22-2017

bsweetser

Value your input also on this. Trying to track assets that are created using Dell ASN as either Desktop or Laptop. Currently they are all categorized as Computers, and no way to distinguish between desktops and laptops or thin clients. We have a BDNA feed that has created the desktop/laptop model category. The issue is they dont have a cmdb ci class and hence wont create ci's when a new asset is created using our Dell ASN. Andrew has suggested using form factor in the ci table. Trying to find out some best practices if an asset manager wants to report on the specific type of computer asset.