Question

How can I tell what solution created a duplicate "Computer" asset and otherwise troubleshoot this?

Answer

In order to determine what Altiris Solution has generated the duplicate asset, perform the following:

1. For each resource, open the Resource Manager by right-clicking on the computer name and selecting Resource Manager.
2. When opened, click on the Inventory tab and check the Data Classes available for this resource.
3. If Inventory is one of the folders available, this should be the correct or valid record for the resource. Check the other resource instance for a cause.
4. If very few data classes are available, following is a breakdown of how to tell which solution created the duplicate asset:

Following is the solution, discovery method, and Data Class that are unique to the specific solution.

• NS Core:
  Basic Inventory—Aex AC Client Agents
  Resource Discovery—Aex AC Discovery
  Active Directory Import—Global AD Details, OU Membership
• Network Discovery(Inventory Team):
  Network Discovery—Only the Aex AC TCP/IP. With Network Discovery, only the Aex AC TCP/IP will be created and no other data class will exist. Note: If Network Discovery and AD Imports are both running, duplicates will appear as the computers will be added to the NS database twice.
• Deployment Solution:
  DS Scrape—Aex DS Machine, Aex DS Machine Inv
• SEPIC:
  
  Why does the report Symantec EP Client Version list computers not having SEP installed, but when you examine the services listed in Resource Manager the SEP service is listed?
  http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH41509

If this is not the case, it is most probable that the CMDB Solution (merge rule or CMDB custom rule), Data Connector Solution or Barcode Solution was used to create the duplicate record.

About Merging resources

CMDB Solution provides a task that can merge duplicate resources. This has some limitations, however:
 

• This does not resolve the issue that caused the duplicates to occur. Troubleshoot this by using the above instructions.
• The task can only merge resources if: (1) they are the same type, for example, computer to computer, and (2) they have one of three duplicate fields: system number, serial number or barcode number. A merge will not work if the "duplicate" field is something else, such as the computer's name. Note: A computer's name is not considered to be a duplicate, because Windows networking allows computers to have the same name.

Additional Troubleshooting

Also, if Arellia software is installed, this can also result in duplicates or unusual merging of users. This is documented here:

Newly created users in the Symantec Management Console disappear soon after creation
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH174816

Related Articles

Duplicate Computer Merge not merging all duplicates
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH11704

Resolving issues with shared GUIDs
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=HOWTO49693