Importing BMC Helix Network Management data
Overview
Starting from TKU May 2026 BMC Discovery supports integration with BMC Helix Network Management (BHNM) using REST API calls.
This integration allows BMC Discovery to gets devices/hosts managed by BHNM, compares retrieved devices data against existing devices/hosts in Discovery and populates matched nodes with BHNM GUID attribute value as External ID Discovery attribute to represent devices/hosts correlation.
Supported Discovery versions
All Discovery versions starting with BMC Discovery 25.2 (15.0) are supported.
Prerequisites
Before you start importing data from the BMC Helix Network Management using REST API, make sure that you have completed the following configurations steps:
- Create dedicated data source configured to use BMC Helix Network Management REST API type credential;
- Stable network connectivity from the BMC Discovery appliance or Outpost to the created data source endpoint exists;
Credential Configuration
- From the BMC Discovery UI go to Discovery > Data Sources > Add.
- Select credential type BMC Helix Network Management REST API.
- Fill corresponding credential fields with relevant data and click Save
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Name | A descriptive name for the data source | My BHNM Data Source |
| Endpoint | The BMC Helix Network Management deployment (DNS name or IP) | my.bhnm.info |
| API Key | The API key set in BMC Helix Network Management’s API Administration. Case-sensitive. | <Some case-sensitive string> |
| Pin | The pin number supplied in BMC Helix Network Management’s API Administration. Optional. This is only required if you are using the SaaS-based version of BMC Helix Network Management. On-premise deployments of BMC Helix Network Management do not require this. | 1234567890 |
Import Trigger Run
Creating an Import Trigger Run
After configuring the data source, create an Import Trigger Run to execute the integration:
- Go to Manage > Discovery.
- Click Add New Run.
- Select the following settings and click OK to create Run
| Field | Value | Notes |
| Targeting | Import Trigger | |
| Trigger Type | BHNM Import | Should matches with trigger_type in the pattern |
| Data Source | Select appropriate BHNM data source | The data source has been created earlier |
Data Collecting
During the run, corresponding import trigger patterns retrieve the raw devices data from the data source using BHNM Device Performance REST API calls. The BMC Helix Network Management represents devices as set of network hardware (routers, switches, etc.), servers and hosts. The integration collects only valid device data that can be used in further data processing:
| BHNM device source field | BMC Discovery node attribute match | Description |
| serial_number | serial | Device serial number |
| ip, interface_ip | ip_addrs | Device IP addresses |
| mac_address | mac_addrs | Device MAC addresses |
| GUID | external_ids | BHNM Global Unique ID (used for device correlation) |
The device name field is manually assigned in BHNM, instead of standard sysName discovered by Discovery directly from the devices.
This suggests the name field is not a reliable to use it in further processing (as key for searching).
API Endpoints Used
No specific API endpoint used for authentication.
For full device dataset request used call from BHNM Device Performance REST API:
- Endpoint: /fw/index.php?r=restful/devices/list
- Method: POST
- Purpose: Returns a list of all managed devices along with some additional data about each device
- Parameters: The parameters for this endpoint must be included as request body parameters in request.
The integration automatically handles pagination using specific parameters for devices request endpoint:
- Fetch up to 1000 devices per request (this option is adjustable and can be limited/extended in pattern module configuration)
- Follow pages to retrieve full device dataset
- Processes each page before go to the next to avoid performance and stability issues when dealing with large-scale datasets
For additional information related to BHNM APIs refer to BMC Helix Network Management API list
Data Processing Logic
BHNM Import trigger patterns don't create any new Discovery nodes. For retrieved devices from the BHNM data source it searches for candidates from existing (discovered) devices/hosts in BMC Discovery by matching attributes (serial, MAC-adresses, IP-addresses). For all successfully matched Discovery devices/hosts adds BMC Helix Network Management Global Unique ID as external ID for correlation.
Additional Resources