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Important This documentation space contains information about the on-premises version of BMC Helix Discovery. If you are using the SaaS version of BMC Helix Discovery, see BMC Helix Discovery (SaaS).

ExternalElement node

The ExternalElement node represents an element that is known to an external system, but cannot be mapped to a specific node kind. This can either be because there is insufficient identifying information in the source data, or because it represents something for which there is no suitable node kind.

The ExternalElement node is available by default, so TPL can create it as required without needing to extend the taxonomy. For this reason there are few defined relationships; it is impossible to anticipate what will be needed.

We recommend the type attribute is set so that the nodekind is logically sub-typed for multiple concurrent uses.

ExternalElement node lifecycle

The following section describes the scenarios in which an ExternalElement node is created, updated or removed.

Creation/update

Creation and update of ExternalElement nodes is under the full control of patterns and as a result, there is no default ExternalElement node behavior.
The generated key for an ExternalElement node is entirely dependent on the pattern that creates the ExternalElement node.

Removal

An ExternalElement node can be destroyed in one of the following ways:

  • Manually, by selecting node, and picking Destroy from the Actions list.
  • Explicitly by the pattern that created it. See Removal in the Pattern Language guide.

Attributes and relationships of the ExternalElement node

The attributes of the ExternalElement node are described in the following table:

UI Name
Attribute Name and Type

Description

Key
key : string

Globally unique key

Name
name : string

Name of the element

Name
short_name : string

Short name of the element

Type
type : string

Type of the element

External Identifiers
external_ids : list:string

Identifiers in other systems

The relationships of the ExternalElement node are described in the following table:

UI Name

Relationship

Description

Client Software Clusters

Server:
 Communication:
 Client:
 SoftwareCluster

Client Software Clusters

Client Software Components

Server:
 Communication:
 Client:
 SoftwareComponent

Client Software Components

Client Software Containers

Server:
 Communication:
 Client:
 SoftwareContainer

Client Software Containers

Client Software Instances

Server:
 Communication:
 Client:
 SoftwareInstance

Client Software Instances

Server Databases

Client:
 Communication:
 Server:
 Database

Server Databases

Server Database Details

Client:
 Communication:
 Server:
 DatabaseDetail

Server Database Details

Server Load Balancer Services

Client:
 Communication:
 Server:
 LoadBalancerService

Server Load Balancer Services

Server Software Clusters

Client:
 Communication:
 Server:
 SoftwareCluster

Server Software Clusters

Server Software Components

Client:
 Communication:
 Server:
 SoftwareComponent

Server Software Components

Server Software Containers

Client:
 Communication:
 Server:
 SoftwareContainer

Server Software Containers

Server Software Instances

Client:
 Communication:
 Server:
 SoftwareInstance

Server Software Instances

Server External Elements

Client:
 Communication:
 Server:
 ExternalElement

Server External Elements

Client External Elements

Server:
 Communication:
 Client:
 ExternalElement

Client External Elements

Peer Software Clusters

Peer:
 Communication:
 Peer:
 SoftwareCluster

Communicating Peer Software Clusters

Peer Software Components

Peer:
 Communication:
 Peer:
 SoftwareComponent

Communicating Peer Software Components

Peer Software Containers

Peer:
 Communication:
 Peer:
 SoftwareContainer

Communicating Peer Software Containers

Peer Software Instances

Peer:
 Communication:
 Peer:
 SoftwareInstance

Communicating Peer Software Instances

Peer External Elements

Peer:
 Communication:
 Peer:
 ExternalElement

Communicating Peer External Elements

Contained External Elements

Container:
 Containment:
 Contained:
 ExternalElement

External Elements contained in this External Element

Containing External Element

Contained:
 Containment:
 Container:
 ExternalElement

Containing External Element

Hosts Depending Upon This

DependedUpon:
 Dependency:
 Dependant:
 Host

Hosts that depend on this External Element

Network Devices Depending Upon This

DependedUpon:
 Dependency:
 Dependant:
 NetworkDevice

Network Devices that depend on this External Element

Generic Elements Depending Upon This

DependedUpon:
 Dependency:
 Dependant:
 GenericElement

Generic Elements that depend on this External Element

Hosts This Depends On

Dependant:
 Dependency:
 DependedUpon:
 Host

Hosts that this External Element depends on

Network Devices This Depends On

Dependant:
 Dependency:
 DependedUpon:
 NetworkDevice

Network Devices that this External Element depends on

Generic Elements This Depends On

Dependant:
 Dependency:
 DependedUpon:
 GenericElement

Generic Elements that this External Element depends on

External Elements This Depends On

Dependant:
 Dependency:
 DependedUpon:
 ExternalElement

External Elements that this External Element depends on

External Elements Depending Upon This

DependedUpon:
 Dependency:
 Dependant:
 ExternalElement

External Elements that depend on this External Element

Cloud Service

RunningSoftware:
 HostedSoftware:
 Host:
 CloudService

Cloud Service on which this External Element is running

Cluster

RunningSoftware:
 HostedSoftware:
 Host:
 Cluster

Cluster on which this External Element is running

Host

RunningSoftware:
 HostedSoftware:
 Host:
 Host

Host on which this External Element is running

MF Part

RunningSoftware:
 HostedSoftware:
 Host:
 MFPart

MF Part on which this External Element is running

Network Device

RunningSoftware:
 HostedSoftware:
 Host:
 NetworkDevice

Network Device on which this External Element is running

Strongly Identified Host

WeakIdentity:
 Identification:
 StrongIdentity:
 Host

Strongly identified Host

Strongly Identified Network Device

WeakIdentity:
 Identification:
 StrongIdentity:
 NetworkDevice

Strongly identified Network Device

Strongly Identified Printer

WeakIdentity:
 Identification:
 StrongIdentity:
 Printer

Strongly identified Printer

Strongly Identified SNMP Managed Device

WeakIdentity:
 Identification:
 StrongIdentity:
 SNMPManagedDevice

Strongly identified SNMP Managed Device

Strongly Identified Storage System

WeakIdentity:
 Identification:
 StrongIdentity:
 StorageSystem

Strongly identified Storage System

Strongly Identified Software Instance

WeakIdentity:
 Identification:
 StrongIdentity:
 SoftwareInstance

Strongly identified Software Instance

Strongly Identified Database

WeakIdentity:
 Identification:
 StrongIdentity:
 Database

Strongly identified Database

Strongly Identified Load Balancer Service

WeakIdentity:
 Identification:
 StrongIdentity:
 LoadBalancerService

Strongly identified Load Balancer Service

Alternate Identity

WeakIdentity:
 Identification:
 WeakIdentity:
 ExternalElement

Alternate weakly identified element

Maintaining Pattern

Element:
 Maintainer:
 Pattern:
 Pattern

Pattern maintaining this External Element

Containing Business Application

ContainedSoftware:
 SoftwareContainment:
 SoftwareContainer:
 BusinessApplicationInstance

Containing Business Application

Containing Business Service

ContainedSoftware:
 SoftwareContainment:
 SoftwareContainer:
 BusinessService

Containing Business Service

Containing Technical Service

ContainedSoftware:
 SoftwareContainment:
 SoftwareContainer:
 TechnicalService

Containing Technical Service

 

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BMC Helix Discovery 24.2 (On-Premises)