The Unix, Linux and Mac (ULM) agent includes a utility named 'aex-helper'. Among the many options is a 'query resource' option. This command line parameter will return the following information (which is much simpler than setting a backup_dir client.conf setting and copy basic inventory nse files).
$ sudo aex-helper query resource Password: Resource GUID: {ECBCB670-E433-4870-8B53-DF6E8266092B} Resource Type: Computer ({493435F7-3B17-4C4C-B07F-C23E7AB7781F}) Resource keys: name.domain=mymbp fqdn=Symantec-mymbp.local name.domain=mymbp.local macaddress=10-40-F3-AE-7E-BA macaddress=40-6C-8F-1A-D4-CF uniqueid=YANtWsPcuFuM1NEqqXHDvQ== uniqueid=3f/6Fcd6V0Um9I9fAiXK+A==
Note: If the resource is a virtual machine, the 'Resource Type' will be: Virtual Machine ({2C3CB3BB-FEE9-48DF-804F-90856198B600})
Hint: Comparing the values for the Resource Keys from two different clients will indicate whether they have identical values, causing them to merge on the NS/SMP.