How to use the CMDB task Update Network Resource Location to automatically assign locations to computers based on the computer's subnet

Products

• CMDB Solution

Issue/Introduction

 

Resolution

The CMDB task Update Network Resource Location can be used to automatically assign locations to computers based on the computer's subnet. This article describes how to do this. Note: Locations must already exist in CMDB for these instructions to work. The article HOWTO85119, found below in the Related Articles section, describes how to create locations.

Usage Note: The Update Network Resource Location task only assigns locations to computers. It does not update Organizational Views and Groups, which is controlled by the Update Organizational Hierarchy task. This task should be ran at least 30 minutes after the Update Network Resource Location task is ran to ensure that Organizational Views and Groups are updated.

Part 1: Create and Configure Subnets
 

1. In the Symantec Management Platform Console, click on the Manage button > Assets.
2. Click on to expand the folders Manage Configuration Items > Other Assets.
3. Click on Subnet.
4. There are no out of box subnets. Manually create or edit subnets as necessary or consider importing these in using the Microsoft Active Directory Import, Network Discovery or a Data Connector import rule.
    

Part 2: Create and Configure Locations
 

1. In the Symantec Management Platform Console, still in Assets from Part 1, click to expand the folder Organizational Type.
2. Click on to expand the folder Organizational Type.
3. Click on Location.
4. There are no out of box locations. Manually create locations as necessary or consider importing these in using a Data Connector import rule.
5. Edit locations and configure their Location to Subnet field to be subnets created in Part 1. Note: It's important to add the correct subnet(s) to the locations otherwise automatic assignment cannot work. The subnets can be compared to a computer's IP address. For example, if a computer's IP address (v4) is 150.1.7.2, it's subnet will therefore be 150.1.0.0, not 150.0.0.0, for example. This must be set correctly in the Subnet resource, and the correct Subnet resource must be associated to the Location. For further understanding of how to obtain a subnet, please contact your network administrator or an online IP calculator.
    

Part 3: Configure and Run the Update Network Resource Location Task

Note: This task is not automatically scheduled to run but must be changed to do so if so desired.
 

1. In the Symantec Management Platform Console, click on the Manage button > Jobs and Tasks.
2. Click on to expand the folders System Jobs and Tasks > Service and Asset Management > CMDB.
3. Click on Update Network Resource Location.
4. Click on the "Select filters" link to set the "Include filter". Note: Ensure that the filter contains the computers to be used:
   
   a. On the filter itself, click Update Membership. Does an expected computer still appear? If not, use a different filter that does include the computer.
   b. If using an include filter still doesn't work, such as no or very little computers getting assigned locations, make a new test filter. This can then directly target a specific computer for testing, such as by using Raw SQL. For example:
   
   SELECT *
   FROM vComputer
   WHERE Name = '<computer name>'
   
   Then click on Update Membership, this should show the listed computer from the SQL script. Click on Save to save the filter. Then, use just this filter as a test for the task. If this works, than the original filter has some sort of issue and will not work with any task or policy most likely.
   
   Click on the "Save changes" button.
5. Click on the New Schedule button.
6. Specify Run Now to immediately run the task or schedule a date and time for it to run on.
7. Click on the Schedule button.
    

Troubleshooting and Usage Tips

• Ensure computers have network information (an IP address), which is brought in from basic inventory. This can be checked by going to a computer's Resource Manager and reviewing the Network section. If computers do not have an IP address, they are either not reporting in (perform Agent troubleshooting) or are unmanaged computers (deploy an Agent to them). These issues must be corrected at the Core level before continuing with these instructions.
• If the computer has more than one IP address from multiple network cards, this may present issues determining which subnet it belongs to. Ensure that the latest version of CMDB Solution is installed to be able to most easily accommodate this sort of scenario.
• Computers can have multiple subnets such as from roaming laptops. This can be normal.
• If a computer only has an IPv6 IP address and not an IPv4 address, this may be an issue.
• If the subnet used has a slash in its address, such as v.w.x.y/z, and this fails to match to a location, try removing the slash and range so that the address is just v.w.x.y. If this works, then the slash range was incorrect. Double check a computer that should be on this in its Resource Manager to see what its IP range is. Is this the same or different then the subnet that was tried with the slash?
• If subnets were imported from Active Directory and aren't up-to-date, or become out-of-date, this will result in locations being set incorrectly to computers. The only way to correct this for the customer to ensure that their subnets are correct. A dirty AD can result in a very problematic subnet environment, for example. It's beyond the ability, therefore, for the Update Network Resource Location to work reliable if the subnets are incorrect.
• There is a Script for adjusting IP's that a used, in a situation where there is multiple IP's reported from a computer.  Please contact Technical Support if this workaround is required.
   

Additional Information

CMDB task Update Network Resource Location is assigning the wrong locations to computers
158300

How to create locations and automatically assign them to computers or users
181507

CMDB task "Update Organizational Hierarchy" fails to add new or updated organizational groups
161250