Managed Software Delivery Policy Target Shows 0 Members

Products

• IT Management Suite
• Software Management Solution

Issue/Introduction

When viewing a managed software delivery policy in the Symantec Management Platform console, you notice the assigned target shows 0 members.  You know, in fact, that the filters that make this target do have computers listed.

In some cases:

• The target updates after you click away and return
• Opening the target directly and updating its membership manually shows the correct devices

Environment

ITMS 8.7.x, 8.8.x

Cause

This behavior is typically caused by target membership not being updated yet, rather than actual missing devices.

Key contributing factors:

• Target membership is calculated asynchronously
• Delta/Full membership updates control persistence to the database
• Custom ASDK-based imports may bypass automatic updates
• Associated filters using manual update or complex filters may delay membership calculation

The UI may show temporary or non-persisted results, while the actual source of truth is stored in:

ResourceTargetMembershipCache

 

Main Cause in this scenario

In this particular scenario, Filter membership update is set to manual instead of the default automatic (auto).

This is usually not a real problem with the target, but rather a timing or update issue.

Targets in ITMS do not always update instantly. They rely on background processes to calculate and save membership.

 

How Target Membership Works: Key Idea

There are two states of target membership:

Type	Description
Calculated (temporary)	What the system can see right now
Persisted (saved)	What is stored in the database and used by policies

 

Target Membership Flow

 

[Target Created]
        ↓
[Filters Define Devices]
        ↓
[Membership Calculation]
        ↓
 ┌───────────────────────────────┐
 │ Temporary (Runtime View)                                    │
 │ - Seen in some UI views                                        │
 │ - Not yet saved                                                      │
 └───────────────────────────────┘
        ↓
[Delta / Full Update Runs]
        ↓
 ┌───────────────────────────────┐
 │ Persisted Membership                                           │
 │ - Saved in database                                               │
 │ - Used by policies                                                  │
 └───────────────────────────────┘

 

Why You See "0 Members"

 

[New Policy + Target Created]
        ↓
[Membership NOT updated yet]
        ↓
Policy View → Shows 0 Members ❌
        ↓
You open Target or wait
        ↓
[Membership gets calculated]
        ↓
Policy View → Shows correct count ✅

 

Common Causes

1. Membership Update Has Not Run Yet

• Target membership updates on a schedule (e.g., every 2 hours)
• Until then → shows 0 members

2. Target/Filter Set to Manual Update

• Some targets are configured to update only manually
• These will stay empty until triggered

3. Custom Automation (ASDK)

• If targets/policies are created via scripts:
  • Membership update may not be triggered automatically

4. Complex Filters

• Large or complex filters may:
  • Take longer to process
  • Only update during full updates (not delta)

Resolution

If the filter membership is set to manual and not the default automatic, the members in the filter will not be updated correctly, which causes the target to be out of sync.  You should edit the filter and change the membership update from manual to automatic (auto).

The UI may show temporary or non-updated results, while the actual source of truth is stored in:

ResourceTargetMembershipCache

To validate, run the following query:

--Here is the SQL to show if the target had members/resources in it or not. 

select
i.name as 'Target',
vc.name as 'Computer',
mc.ResourceTargetGuid
from ResourceTargetMembershipCache mc
join item i on i.guid = mc.ResourceTargetGuid
join vcomputer vc on vc.guid = mc.ResourceGuid
where mc.ResourceTargetGuid = 'TargetGUID'

 

Check Target Settings

1. Go to:
   • Manage > Filters
2. Find the filter

Verify:

• It is not set to Manual Update

If it is set to Manual:

• Click Edit
• Expand Filter Membership section
• Change it to Auto
• Save changes

---

Other aspects to consider/review if the main reason above didn't apply to your situation:

Option 1 – Wait for Scheduled Update

• Wait for:
  • Delta update (e.g., every 2 hours)
  • Full update (daily)

• In order to check how frequently your membership updates run, Go to:
  • Settings > Notification Server > Resource Membership Update
• Review schedule on:
  • Delta membership update (Delta update schedule)
  • Full membership update (Complete update schedule)

Option 2 – Manually Trigger Update

1. Go to:
   • Manage > Computers > Targets
2. Find your target
3. Click on the "Update target membership" icon
   

This may trigger the membership calculation

Option 3 – Review Automation (If Used)

If using scripts or automation (ASDK calls):

• Ensure they:
  • Do not set targets to manual update
  • Trigger membership updates after creation