Remove Asset Class from Model Categories

[tschenke]

Before implementing Software Asset Management, someone assigned an asset class (alm_asset) to the Software category in the Model Categories.   This was done in a much earlier version of Service Now, and I'm not sure why this would have been done but now we seem to be stuck with about 68K software instance records in our Asset table.   I can run a background script to remove those asset records, but I can not remove the alm_asset asset class from the category.   I've been told there is a way to do it but I'm not having much luck finding the way.   I am guessing I could delete the category and recreate it but I want to make sure that I am not going to break anything in the process.   Is there a better way of doing that or am I stuck with 68K useless records?

[Community Alums · Accepted solution]

Tony,

The Model Category identifies corresponding CI and Asset classes to determine what CIs to make Assets for and vice versa. After the Asset is created from the CI, the Model Category does not do much beyond classification. You should be fine to delete the category and recreate it without the Asset class. All new Software moving forward would then no longer get an associated asset record.

Then you would need to go through and break the connections for the existing Software Asset/CI items so that you don't delete the Software CI information when you delete the Asset (unless you just plan on having your discovery source repopulate it). This could get ugly for 68K records unless you script it.

That being said, I do always like to recommend trying in a test environment first if this is an option for you.

I hope this helps get you started.

Ben

[tt-jtw]

Ben,

You said:

Then you would need to go through and break the connections for the existing Software Asset/CI items so that you don't delete the Software CI information when you delete the Asset 

Can you tell me how to do this?  

[tschenke]

Perfect!   Will that remove the software class from the CI's when i delete it and recreate it?   If so, will those update once I recreate or will I have to do that manually, or will it repopulate on the next discovery?   I've already removed the Asset/CI connection because we had a lot of VMs originally created as assets as well and I learned the hard way that deleting an Asset would do the same for the CI's (OOPS!).   And I have the script ready to delete the software class from the Asset table.   I can set that to run at night, or on the weekend, so it doesn't impact the system during business hours. We do have a Test and Dev instance so I can test it prior to running on Prod as well.   Thanks for your help!!!

[Community Alums]

Removing the Model Category will not affect the existing CIs or Assets in your system. The CIs will still exist in the Software CI class and that Assets will still exist in whatever Asset class was selected for them until you choose to delete them. When you recreate the Software Model Category, you will reselect the Software [cmdb_ci_spkg] CI class with no Asset class. Then you can use your background script to delete the Assets that were previously created. Note: this is not deleting the software class from the Asset table, as you have worded it. Perhaps it is a matter of wording, but I just want to be clear on that...