Investigating CMDB data issues

There are several different ways an issue with CMDB data can be discovered. Use the following information to identify and resolve data issues in CMDB.

Symptoms that indicate a CMDB data or reconciliation issues

• Reconciliation job runs have errors, which are displayed in red in the status bar or displayed as a red job run icon when the reconciliation job completes.
• Multiple Matches Found error reported in Reconciliation job logs.
• HostedSystemComponent cardinality violation error reported in the Reconciliation job logs.
• Could not find Endpoint in Relationship error reported in Reconciliation job logs.
• Data updates from BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management are not propagating
• When users search for a CI, multiple CI's are reported, indicating there are duplicates

Tools for investigating CMDB data issues

• Using the cmdbdiag utility on the CMDB server to check for and correct known data issues.
• Performing database queries to get counts of data matching conditions of a data failure.
• Choosing representative examples of Reconciliation failures and analyzing Reconciliation Job logs and data exports to identify the root cause of failure.

Best practice process to investigate CMDB data issues

When symptoms of CMDB data issues occur, it is a good practice to verify CMDB data by using the following steps:

1. Use cmdbdiag to fix data issues.
2. Assess data distribution in the CMDB by using queries.
3. Investigate duplicate computer systems in CMDB if duplicates exist in the golden dataset. 
4. Modifying-reconciliation-identification-rules-to-avoid-duplicates.
5. Removing duplicate CIs and re-identifying them.
6. Using CMDB Data Analyzer to Investigate CMDB Data Issues