Custom Filters not auto-updating

Products

• IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

Many custom filters are set to auto-update are not updating on a regular basis.

Environment

ITMS 8.x

Cause

The Delta Resource Membership update schedule will only touch filters that are associated with an active filter via a "Target’.

The Complete Resource Membership schedule will update filters that are associated with policies that are both enabled and disabled. 

Some filters have no associations with anything. They are not associated with any update schedules.

Is there a way we can set up a stored procedure that can refresh filters within a certain folder? 

Resolution

Custom filters will automatically update if there is an enabled policy in which the target includes that filter.

The Delta Resource Membership Update will not update custom filters because, depending on the number of custom filters, it could run for hours.

Suggestion 1:

You can create a task that will update custom filters.

1. In the Console go to Manage>Jobs and Tasks>Notification Server
2. Right-click the Notification Server folder and choose "New>Task"
3. Expand the Notification Server folder and click on Update Filter Membership.
4. Give the Task a name (in orange below)
5. Click on "None Selected" (in yellow below) and a pop-up will appear. Choose the filters you want to update with the task and use the arrows to move them to the right panel of the pop-up box. Click OK.

Suggestion 2:
Another approach, without using the previously suggested "Update Filter Membership" task, is to actually add all the desired custom "Filters" to a dummy "Target" and add all the desired Filters.

Then, when "Delta Membership Update" schedule runs, then those custom "filters" will be touched and updated.

Note: In case you would like to know if there are any other available way for updating membership on filters (that doesn't have a target or policy assigned) or even calling something that could update membership on any filter under a specific folder, at this point, there is no way to execute some SQL and get filters updated. The logic behind filters is very complicated and written in code, while SQL is only doing part of the job.

You could use ASDK for it, using methods like:

1. ItemManagementLib.GetItemsInFolder( guid )
2. CollectionManagementLib.UpdateCollections( guids )

Note: Using the ASDK and its methods is outside our Broadcom's support assistance.  The following documentation and KB are available:

https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/symantec-security-software/endpoint-security-and-management/it-management-suite/ITMS/Getting-Started/Understanding-the-components-of-IT-Management-Suite/About-ASDK-in-IT-Management-Suite.html

KB 193432 "Symantec ASDK API documentation"

Additional Information

"How are filters updated?" (KB 152024)