Understanding Background Computer Merges, “No Match” Entries, and Retired/Untracked Behavior in ITMS
search cancel

Understanding Background Computer Merges, “No Match” Entries, and Retired/Untracked Behavior in ITMS

book

Article ID: 430422

calendar_today

Updated On:

Products

IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

You may observe unexpected computer merges in IT Management Suite (ITMS), even when standard CMDB Merge Rules are not running.

Common symptoms include:

  • Computers merging outside of scheduled CMDB Merge Rules

  • “No Match” appearing in the Merged Resources report

  • Retired or purged computers later appearing merged with newly introduced systems

  • Confusion around “No Tracking Data”, “Not Tracked”, and “Retired” states

This article explains how the merge process works, why “No Match” appears, and how to control or prevent unintended merges.

Environment

ITMS 8.7.x, 8.8.x

Asset Management

CMDB Solution

Deployment Solution (imaging)

Cause

Computer merges in ITMS can occur through multiple independent mechanisms:

  1. CMDB Resource Merge Keys

  2. Duplicate Computer Merge scheduled task (Asset)

  3. Programmatic/forced merges

According to KB "What "No Match" refers to in the Merged Resources report", when the Merged Resources report displays “No Match”, it indicates that the merge was not triggered by Resource Merge Keys, but by another process such as the Duplicate Computer Merge task.

In most cases:

  • The merge source could be:

     
    Altiris.AssetContractCommon.ExecuteDuplicateResourceMerge
     

  • The scheduled task "Duplicate Computer Merge" triggered the merge.

  • “No Match” was a reporting artifact — not a corruption or misconfiguration.

Additionally:

  • Retiring a computer does not delete inventory.

  • There is no status called “No Tracking Data”.

  • “Not Tracked” typically results from the computer being "Retired".

  • IP Address reuse alone does not trigger a merge.

Resolution

Table of Contents



How the Merge Process Works in ITMS

Merging is not controlled by a single mechanism. It is important to understand the three independent paths that can result in a merge.

1️⃣ CMDB Resource Merge Keys (Standard Key-Based Merge)

How It Works

CMDB uses Resource Merge Keys defined in the database table:

 
ResourceTypeMergeKey
 

When two resources share:

  • The same Merge Key

  • The same Merge Key value

They are automatically merged.

Example

Resource Serial Number Result
PC-A ABC123  
PC-B ABC123  Merge occurs

This is the expected and standard merge behavior.

2️⃣ Duplicate Computer Merge Scheduled Task (Asset-Based Merge)

This mechanism was the confirmed trigger in the case.

Task Name

Duplicate Computer Merge (Symantec Management Console > Manage > Jobs and Tasks > System Jobs and Tasks > Service and Asset Management > CMDB)

Execution Method

Altiris.AssetContractCommon.ExecuteDuplicateResourceMerge
 

Behavior (Per "What "No Match" refers to in the Merged Resources report")

This task:

  • Scans CMDB for identical:

    • System Number

    • Serial Number

    • Barcode

  • Merges only:

    • One Managed computer

    • One Unmanaged computer

Restrictions

Scenario Merge Occurs?
Managed + Unmanaged Yes
Managed + Managed No
Unmanaged + Unmanaged No

This restriction is important and often misunderstood.

Why “No Match” Appears in the Report

Navigate to:

Reports > All Reports > Notification Server Management > Server > Resource Reports > Merged Resources

If the merge was triggered by the Duplicate Computer Merge task:

  • No Resource Merge Key was involved.

  • SMP cannot associate the merge with a key name.

  • The report displays:

Merge Key Name
No Match

According to "What "No Match" refers to in the Merged Resources report":
“No Match” indicates the merge was performed by a mechanism other than resource merge keys.

This is expected behavior.

3️⃣ Forced or Programmatic Merge

When merges are initiated by tasks or code instead of merge keys:

  • The event is recorded in:

    Evt_Resource_Merge

  • The MergeKeyName field may contain:

    no match
     

This does not indicate corruption. It simply means no key comparison triggered the merge.

Understanding Retire, Purge, and Inventory Behavior

What “Retire” Actually Does

Retiring a computer:

  • Changes Resource Status to "Retired"

  • Makes the resource inactive

  • Excludes it from targeting

It does NOT:

  • Delete inventory data

  • Remove IP address history

  • Remove FQDN

  • Remove database records

This has always been the intended behavior.

Clarifying “No Tracking Data” vs “Not Tracked”

There is no official agent status called “No Tracking Data”.

The status displayed is:

Not Tracked

This means:

  • The resource is not applicable to any Targeted Agent Settings

  • Usually because the resource status is "Retired"

It is not an independent blocking mechanism.

Does IP Address Reuse Cause Merges?

You may be suspecting that:

  1. A retired computer retained old IP/FQDN data.

  2. A new system reused the IP Address.

  3. DNS returned the same FQDN.

  4. SMP merged them.

However:

  • Changing IP Address inventory alone does not trigger merges.

  • Testing did not reproduce merges by IP Address change alone.

  • Merges require key comparison or Duplicate Merge task criteria.

If unexpected merges occur:

  • Validate DNS reverse lookup behavior.

  • Confirm DHCP is not returning stale FQDN mappings.

How to Diagnose Unexpected Merges

Step 1 – Review the Merged Resources Report

Navigate:

Reports > All Reports > Notification Server Management > Server > Resource Reports > Merged Resources
 

Review:

Field Interpretation
Deleted Resource The removed record
Surviving Resource The retained record
Merge Key “No Match” = forced merge

Step 2 – Review Scheduled Tasks

Navigate:

Manage > Jobs and Tasks > System Jobs and Tasks > Service and Asset Management > CMDB
 

Locate:

Duplicate Computer Merge

Review:

  • Schedule

  • Target filter

  • Ignore values

  • Exclusions

Step 3 – Review Logs

Notification Server logs are located in:

 
C:\ProgramData\Symantec\SMP\Logs
 

Check:

  • a.log

Search for:

  • ExecuteDuplicateResourceMerge
  • Duplicate Computer Merge

Example log pattern:

  • Executing Duplicate Computer Merge task...
  • Merging resource GUID <GUID1> into <GUID2>
 

How to Prevent Unwanted Merges

Option 1 – Modify the Duplicate Computer Merge Task (Recommended)

  1. Edit the task.

  2. Add Exclusion filters.

  3. Add Ignore values for blank Serial/System numbers.

  4. Ensure only intended asset states are targeted.

 

Option 2 – Clean TCP/IP Inventory for Retired Machines (If Required)

If the organization does not want retired machines retaining TCP/IP data:

  • SQL cleanup can be performed under Support guidance:

    -- get guids of all retired computers
declare @count int; create table #retired ([Guid] uniqueidentifier primary key)
insert into #retired
	select distinct vc.[Guid] from vRM_Computer vc 
	join ResourceAssociation ra on ra.ParentResourceGuid = vc.[Guid]
		and ra.ResourceAssociationTypeGuid = '3028166F-C0D6-41D8-9CB7-F64852E0FD01'
		and ra.ChildResourceGuid = '492c463b-afa2-4dd6-ae73-6fd2c7b0e489'
set @count = @@ROWCOUNT
print 'Found retired computers: ' + CAST(@count as varchar(10))

if @count > 0 
begin 
	-- delete from TCPIP
	print 'Deleting from TCPIP..'
	delete d from #retired r join Inv_AeX_AC_TCPIP d on d._ResourceGuid = r.Guid
	-- delete summary for this data class
	delete d from #retired r join ResourceUpdateSummary d on d.ResourceGuid = r.Guid and d.InventoryClassGuid = '37974fb9-e60e-4027-b72d-19e3f088a6a5'

	-- delete from TCPIPv6
	print 'Deleting from TCPIPv6..'
	delete d from #retired r join Inv_AeX_AC_TCPIPv6 d on d._ResourceGuid = r.Guid
	-- delete summary for this data class
	delete d from #retired r join ResourceUpdateSummary d on d.ResourceGuid = r.Guid and d.InventoryClassGuid = '4fa88645-3f48-4310-848b-91a22680b8f1'
end
drop table #retired

  • Validate before and after cleanup.

Validation Steps

After implementing changes:

  1. Run the Duplicate Computer Merge task manually.

  2. Confirm no unintended merges occur.

  3. Monitor:

    Evt_Resource_Merge

  4. Review Merged Resources report for 48 hours.

Key Takeaways

Topic Correct Understanding
“No Match” Merge triggered outside CMDB keys
Duplicate Merge Task Merges managed + unmanaged only
Retire Changes status only
Inventory Not deleted during retire
Not Tracked Result of retirement
IP Change Does not directly cause merge

Powered by Wolken Software