Migrating Asset Management Solution 6.5 Using Connector

Someone on the forums recently asked if it was possible to migrate their asset data from one Notification Server to another. It is possible to do such a migration. I can attest to that fact personally, because we used a testing and development Notification Server as a cleanup and staging area while we switched from an outdated home grown asset system to our current Altiris Asset Management Solution .

At the time I really did not know all that much about Altiris Connector Solution or even Altiris Asset Management Solution. To accomplish our initial migration we employed the assistance of an Altiris partner. If you are uncomfortable with the process I am about to detail never fear, these guys are there to help you out. However, for those of us who are too hard headed to ask for help or who just want to give it a shot, I hope this will help with that kind of migration.

For this example I am going to go the absolutely easiest path I know possible. There are obviously more advanced methods of obtaining the information you may be looking for and they each have their advantages and disadvantages. However, for this process we are going for ease of use. I will make some notes and suggestions throughout the process to maybe give you some ideas how to accomplish this. Perhaps we will expand on this later, but right now let us start with getting the data moved.

Step 1. Document, Document, Document

The first and sometimes not so intuitive step is to document what you have on your current server. For my example I will be exporting a completely custom resource type called "Hardware Support Contract".

Your assets are stored on the "Configuration" tab in the Notification Server Console under Resource Settings > Resource Types. This particular asset of mine is a contract so it is under Contract Types. Computers and Monitors would be found under Asset Types > IT.

Once you have located the asset you are looking to import open it up and take a look at what is listed on the Resource Type Edit Page. All of this information will be important to you, especially if you are importing data from a customized data class. Take the time to make a special note of each of the Data Classes.

I have taken a screenshot of this asset's information (just another good way to document all of it).

Once you have that information make sure to visit each data class and document all fields for all data classes. Screenshots will also work for these items.

If you have critical assets that are associated to your custom asset you will want to also document those. For our example we are doing it the easy way and just documenting one resource type and one data class.

Step 2. Review the importance of your info and maybe reorganize it.

Now that you know everything you are collecting now is the time to review its usefulness. I can not stress this enough. Extra data in your database leaves you to open to having additional room for error and confusion.

Not only that, but think about what information you might need available for your needs in the future. Is there critical information missing from your database? Now is a unique opportunity to get that added in a mostly stream less manner.

If you are doing a whole migration of your data you might also review the items that are similar across your different asset types. If you can consolidate those items into a single data class that can be shared between resource types reporting can be made easier for the people who often have to search across those items. In fact you may find that it will be reused for asset types that will be used later. That information may also belong in a separate resource type of it's own that should be linked through an association instead. The flipside of that is also that a resource association or shared data class can be combined, because there is only one item or association.

Of course we are doing it the easy way so for this example we will just say all is well and stay the course. If this is the case for you in production, you can always "Export" the XML for that information, but I would always recommend not. The time saved is almost never as valuable as the information gained from personally reviewing what is in each Resource Type and Data Class.

Step 3. Write a Report and export to Excel.

On your existing Notification server you will now want to write a report that lists every column of every data class that you have decided was important and needed to be migrated. Many times this information can come directly from the "Resources" tab where you list all of those assets and work with them directly. However you do this you will definitely want to make sure that everything you need is listed. Check this article for tips on creating those reports: Asset Report Writing Tips

If you will be trying to bring over resource associations I would suggest adding one column that you can use to tie those together. Something like Employee ID or name from the other Resource Type would be a good addition to your report. Then when you have both resource types imported and populated you can use connector solution to associate those assets together. Check this article for an example of using connector to associate monitors to computers: How to Associate a Monitor to a Computer Using Connector

Once you have your report, copy the results to excel and save the information to a shared location on one of the two notification servers. If you do not already have one I suggest a connector specific share to host these files.

Step 4. Build your data classes and Resource Types.

Your next step should be to build each of your data classes. After carefully reviewing the items and laying out your plan you should start by creating data classes. If you noted your items carefully you may see that several of those items might be based off existing asset types.

When creating custom assets based off other resource types all of the data classes from the parent resource type are inherited. So if you have a custom resource based off something with a "Manufacturer" data class you will not need to recreate that data class or associate it to your asset type. It should automatically be there. The only thing you would need to add would be the extra data classes that are custom to that asset type.

As I mentioned before if you are doing a one for one switch out and not evaluating your data classes or asset types you can import the items from your old Notification server. Simply right click and "Export" the xml from the old server and then right click and "Import" them into the new one. It will be extremely important to make sure to do all data classes first, followed by resource types, and then associations. If they do not all exist you could run into serious errors while attempting to use that information.

Step 5. Create a Data Source

Your next step will be to create a data source. Data sources define where Connector will get its information. For this example we need an OleDB Data Source.

From the "Configuration" tab navigate to "Solution Settings" > "Connectors" > "Data Sources". Then, simply right click and select "New" > "OleDB Data Source".

If you take some time to review you will see a number of available data sources types here. Depending on your database skills this is where you would also look to connect to other database types, such as Oracle, to import information. Since we have created an Excel file we can simply select that option from the Type dropdown and Connector does most of the heavy lifting. You just need to specify the filename and worksheet name for your excel file.

Do not forget to click "Allow Imports" and click "Display import data . . ." to preview your information. Once you are done click apply to save this information.

Step 6. Create an Import/Export Rule

Import and Export rules are perhaps the easiest part of a connector, in my opinion. Just drop down a folder to the "Import/Export Rules" folder on your "Configuration" tab and right click and select "New" > "Resources Import Export Rule". Once here you will fill in each field carefully.

Make sure to give your rule a meaningful name. The convention we have landed on is normally something like a "Hardware Contract Import Rule" with the data source reflecting it as "Hardware Contract Data Source".

The data source you created in the last step should be listed in the dropdown. Make sure you are using "import" as your replication direction and the Resource type is set to the type you created earlier. For this instance you will want to be sure to select "Allow resource creation" and "Allow resource update".

Aside from that first section you will just need to look at the "Column Mappings". Here you need to decide which column of your excel spreadsheet matches the column for each data class. Once you have it set, make sure to test. If you are sure the testing of the rule worked ok then "Run Now"

It can seem overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be, and like I said before if you do have problems. Check for the list of Symantec Partners for someone to help you with this process, or feel free to ask your questions here too. I'll be happy to help as much as I can.