Managing custom inventory object types

The BMC Client Management agent can also compile custom inventory objects of a remote client for inspection by the administrator. This is based on a periodically generated Custom Inventory list. In addition to the list objects and object instances can be added to the custom inventory locally through the console. If an object is added twice, once manually through the console and via the list, the entry defined by the console will take precedence.

The Custom Inventory list is an .xml file which is editable by the administrator and can then be transferred to all clients in the network. The generation of the custom inventory list is based on a number of parameters which are set in its configuration file, CustomInventory.ini. For more information about this subject refer to chapter Custom Inventory of the technical reference manual.

The Custom Inventory node of the console displays a list of all custom defined objects on the remote device. The list is generated by the agent and uploaded into the database at regular intervals. As with the other inventory information, all entries are stored in the database to be available even if the actual device is off-line. This information is by default updated once every 4 hours.

Custom inventory for a device shows a number of objects which should be applicable to all supported operating systems, that is, Windows, UNIX and Linux. Each of these objects will be displayed split up into object specific properties.

Each object property lists the different items it found and clicking one of these displays the type of the object plus some details on this item.

Like hardware and software objects, custom inventory objects can have one or several instances and attributes providing further information. These objects are completely customizable about name, number of instances, number of attributes as well as their types and contents.

You can execute following operations on custom inventory objects:

Creating an object

It is possible to create new object types for the custom inventory. By default the Windows Security Settings and Windows MSS are already available. When creating a new object type, this new type will be added to the database and thus made available for all clients in the network. To create a new custom inventory object, proceed as follows:

1. With the Custom Inventory Object Types node selected in the left window pane, select Edit > Create Object  .
   The Create New Object window appears.
2. Enter the name for the new object into the provided field.
3. Click OK to confirm the new object and close the window.

Adding an attribute

To add new attributes to a custom inventory object type, proceed as follows:

1. Select the object to which a new attribute is to be added in the left window pane.
2. Click Edit> Add Attribute .
   The Add Attribute pop-up menu appears.
3. Enter the data for the new attribute in the respective text boxes.
4. Click OK to confirm and close the window.

Adding a new instance

To add a new instance to a custom inventory object type, proceed as follows:

1. Select the object type to which an instance is to be added in the left window pane.
2. Click Edit > Add Instance .
   The Properties pop-up menu appears. It displays text boxes for the name of the instance and those for each of the attributes for this object type.
3. Enter the desired data for the new instance into the respective text boxes.
4. Click OK to confirm and close the window.