Creating locations and automatically assign them to computers or users

Products

• CMDB Solution

Issue/Introduction

Creating locations in CMDB and then automatically assigning them to computers or users is a two-part process. Neither is automatic unless later configured to be so. 

Environment

ITMS 8.x

Resolution

The following information provides examples of how each process can be accomplished, of which the customer can then decide how best to implement. Note: (1) Various asset types have a Location, including computers, user, monitors, etc. In general, these instructions and the related articles apply to computers or users; however, the customer can adapt these instructions for use with other asset types or associations, such as departments or cost centers, as applicable. (2) For Departments, one way to automate this can also be via the Microsoft Active Directory Import. However, Active Directory must contain the necessary department data for this to work.

Note: This article can also be used to just create locations but not necessarily assign them to computers. If this is all that is needed, follow just Part 1.

Limitations with Importing Locations

The following important points should be understood on how importing locations does not work:

• Locations are not able to be imported using the Microsoft Active Directory Import function.
• Locations cannot be imported and then immediately automatically be associated to computers or users during the import.
• Computers and users cannot be imported and then automatically be associated to locations that have not first been created or imported into CMDB separately (Part 1, below). 

Prerequisites

The following instructions assume that computers or users (or the asset types that locations are to be assigned to, such as monitors) are already present in CMDB for locations to later be associated to. If not, the customer will first need to bring these into CMDB, such as by performing a Microsoft Active Directory Import, before continuing with these instructions.

Part 1: Create Locations.

Important Note: Locations should not be confused for departments (Organizational Types > Department) or organizational views and groups (Manage > Organizational Views and Groups). These are all separate. While in many of the articles related to these instructions, departments can be substituted for locations, computers do not have departments; only users do. (Users can actually have both a location and a department.) Organizational groups can have locations or departments, which then include assets such as computers or users, where applicable.

The following are the two most common ways to create locations:

Note: This part can be skipped if locations are already present in CMDB.

• Locations can be manually created in CMDB by going to Manage > Assets > Organizational Types > Location in a Symantec Management Platform Console. If only a few locations are needed, this is the best process.
• Locations can be imported by using a Data Connector import rule. This can be from a data file or directly from AD. If many locations are needed that already exist in a data file or in AD, this is the best process.
  
  Refer to the following article for instructions on how to import locations from a data file:
  
  181508 How to import locations from a data file

Part 2: Automate the Assignment of Locations to Assets.

Various methods are available to automatically assign the location to assets, depending on the asset type. Note: There are no out of box methods to automatically assign locations to users; one of the below methods would have to be therefore used.

• For computers only, locations can be automatically assigned using the CMDB task Update Network Resource Location. 

• A Data Connector import rule can be used to automatically assign assets to locations. Refer to the following article on how to do this:
  
  181511 How to create a Data Connector import rule to automatically assign computers or users to locations
   
• If locations were imported from LDAP (HOWTO59218), this process can also automatically assign these to computers or users.
• A CMDB rule can be used to automatically assign locations to computers or users. Refer to the following article on how to do this:
  
  181509 How to create a CMDB rule to automatically assign locations to computers or users
   
• Locations can also be manually assigned by going into the applicable Configuration Item or Organizational Type and then:
  
  * Right click on the asset and then click on CMDB Functions > Assignment Functions > Assign to Location.
  * Or, edit the asset and then add the location to the Location field.

Part 3: Update Organizational Hierarchy Groups.

Organizational hierarchy (CMDB) groups (Manage > Organizational Views and Groups) will, by default, automatically update with new locations and their assets. Refer to the following article for more information:

181510 How to automatically update organizational hierarchy groups

Additional Information

155139 Import Rule fails to set or removes Asset Owner or Cost Center