What is the assigned_to field on cmdb_sam_sw_install used for?

Tuna · ‎05-05-2022

Good day,

We are introducing SAM Pro and are using Discovery in order to populate the servers and another integration (not SCCM) for clients. What I can see is that the assigned_to field on [cmdb_sam_sw_install] is empty. So, the question arose if the assigned_to on [cmdb_sam_sw_install] is somehow relevant for SAM Pro and if we need to populate it? So, is SAM Pro using the assigned to on the CI or is it using the assigned_to on the CI? And what is the purpose of the assigned_to field in [cmdb_sam_sw_install] actually?

Daniel Slocum · ‎05-05-2022

Hi Tuna.

At this link you can find an article I posted here in the Community that identifies every attribute in the Software Installation table. In that article, I describe the Assigned to value with the following text:

Assigned to (assigned_to): A reference attribute to the sys_user table identifying the Assigned To value of the Installed On device. The value is leveraged for Per User and Per Named User license metrics and is updated during the reconciliation process from the Assigned to value found on the Installed On CI.

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Aman Kumar S · ‎05-05-2022

Hey,

Found one relevant article about this:

Description

During import of a Software Installations[cmdb_sam_sw_install] record the transform logic will do a lookup for the installed on CI (i.e the Computer[cmdb_ci_computer] record). However if there is no Computer set as 'installed on' at the time of import then it won't set the Assigned_to field on the Software Installations[cmdb_sam_sw_install] record.

There is an OOB Business Rule "cmdb_ci_hardware" that updates the field assigned_to on cmdb_sam_sw_install if the value of assigned_to changes on "cmdb_ci_hardware". It may be possible to adapt the code in this BR to set 'assigned_to' on the Software Installations[cmdb_sam_sw_install] records where it's not currently set (please test anything carefully on a sub-prod instance first).

Best Regards
Aman Kumar

Tuna · ‎05-05-2022

Thanks for your reply. Also know that article but it does not answer what role the field assigned_to plays when it comes to SAM Pro and the reconciliation.

Is assigned_to on cmdb_sam_sw_install mandatory for user based licensing or is it sufficient if the assigned_to on installed_on.assigned_to is populated? That's what I am looking for.

Thanks anyways!

Joe Ryder · ‎05-05-2022

Hi there,

Aman refers to the intent pretty clearly in that documentation. It doesn't serve a "function" other than reference. The Assigned To field is only entered when the ingestion happens (SCCM sync, upload, etc) if the computer was assigned to someone. If it discovers at a time when the computer is online but either the assignment was not completed or otherwise there was no one to assign, then it will record a blank field.

The function is only to reference in certain reports a quick assignment of the install to a responsible party. The real value data is in the hardware CI that has a current assignment. I never actually use this field on the install record because it is generally inaccurate.

If you want to keep both accurate for some reason (you like seeing an accurate assignment in related lists where installs are listed, for instance), then you'd probably need to set up a flow/business rule/script to change the Assigned To on the Software Installations related to the computer to the current Assigned To for the computer whenever that changes. But it's honestly not necessary to the function of SAM Pro that I've ever found. It's just preferential.

Tuna · ‎05-05-2022

Thanks for your reply! That helped and simply says that the assigned_to on cmdb_sam_sw_install does not play any role in the reconciliation and that the real value data is on the hardware CI.