Removing devices from usm in UIM 8.2 and later

Products

• DX Unified Infrastructure Management (Nimsoft / UIM)
• NIMSOFT PROBES

Issue/Introduction

We have an unwanted device showing in inventory and want to delete it from USM.

We have retired devices and no longer wish to monitor them in UIM. 
These devices have been removed from Infrastructure Manager and Admin Console but they remain in USM.
How can we remove these from USM?

Environment

Release: CNMSPP99000-8.4-Unified Infrastructure Mgmt-Server Pack-- On Prem
Component:

Resolution

8.2 - 8.47

In these versions you need to obtain the cs_key for each device you wish to remove and then use a discover_server callback to remove them

Get the cs_key Values from the Database

To get the cs_key value you first need to query the CM_COMPUTER_SYSTEM table.

To query by name, use the following query

SELECT name,ip,origin,cs_key FROM CM_COMPUTER_SYSTEM WHERE name = '<hostname>' OR dns_name = '<hostname>';

 

To query by IP address, use the following query
 

SELECT name,ip,origin,cs_key FROM CM_COMPUTER_SYSTEM WHERE ip = '<ip>';

If you are removing a duplicate device, make sure you properly identify the duplicate you want to eliminate. For example, if you identify the expected host and/or IP, and it has the expected/correct hostname or device name and system info associated with it, then you can be sure that you have isolated the duplicate.

Execute the probe utility callback

From Infrastructure Manager on your primary hub server perform the following steps to remove the device.

1. Select the discovery_server probe and press Ctrl-P from your keyboard
2. On the probe command set select 'remove_master_devices_by_cskeys'
3. On the bottom of the probe utility GUI you will see the csKeys input box, on this input box place each affected device's "cs_key" separated by commas.  For example: 576aefd5-bcea-4ecf-89d4-dd119738405a,576f9e26-4a51-4bb1-9a6e-c722ab56bf43,57bdd946-cc70-4db0-9f09-82536a559753
4. Press the green play button on the probe utility and it will execute the command.

8.51 and above

Starting in version 8.51 we have added this functionality into USM to make to process much simpler.

1. In USM select Inventory in tree view
2. Use the Quick filter to find the devices you wish to remove
3. Tick the checkbox beside the desired devices
   
   • Note that once you have selected a device the Inventory Actions button turns blue
   
   
4. click the actions button and select "Delete Selected"
5. Confirm the deletion options
   
   • Prevent rediscovery
     
     • With this selected the device will not be rediscovered even if the probe still sends data to the bus
     
     
   • Acknowledge alarms
     
     • With this selected all open alarms for the device will be acknowledged
     
     
   • Delete measurements
     
     • With this selected all associated metrics for this device will be removed
     
     
   
   
6. Click OK to delete the required devices

Additional Information

Note that this places a deletion message at the end of the probeDiscovery queue, so the devices will only be deleted after all messages in the queue before it have been processed.

If this device still has an active profile, or was once configured into a probe then it is possible the device will reappear in USM inventory.  If there was a probe that once had a profile, there may be a stale niscache that needs to be cleaned.  

See Below KB's for cleaning niscache on a robot: 

How to clear niscache on an individual robot (Knowledge Base Articles - 44669)


How to clear the niscache (Knowledge Base Articles - 46393)


If this device is being deleted as part of an effort to eliminate duplicates then unless the condition which caused the duplicate is resolved, the duplicate device may reappear.  See this article for locating the source of duplicate devices: 

How do I find the source of a USM entry?