Previous Topic: Inventory File FormatNext Topic: Hardware Section

Customizing Asset Management › Asset Collector › Creating the Inventory File › General Section

General Section

The general section contains the entries for the inventory item. The items allowed in the header section are determined by the type of item being described. Some header item should only be provided in an <asset> <general> section, others only in <user> <general> sections. There are also some attributes that can be provided in either a user or asset general section.

A user can be delivered alone or with a computer. If a user is delivered with a computer, the user is linked to the computer. This relationship is visible in the DSM Explorer.

The following table lists the general section tags:

Name

Description

Header

vendor

string optional

asset

serial_number

string optional

asset

asset_tag

string optional

asset

host_name

not fully qualified, required

asset

host_key

string optional key will be generated if not supplied

asset

class_id

Platform name as a string or a number

Note: See the detailed list of platform names in the "Platform Names and IDs" appendix.

asset

Network_id

Optional

Note: Supports multiple network interfaces in the registration section of the XIU file.

asset

default_address

required

asset

default_mac

required

asset

default_hostname

required

asset

default_subnet_mask

optional

asset

collect_time

time in seconds, optional

asset

trustlevel

integer between 1 and 5, optional

asset

origin

 

string optional

asset

fileid

Max length 36

user

URI

required

user

user_name

required

user

domain_name

N/A

user

previous_uri

N/A

user

r_usage_list

N/A

user

r_name

N/A

user

r_proc_os_id

N/A

user

r_ip_address

N/A

user

user_item_1

N/A

common

user_item_2

N/A

common

user_item_3

N/A

common

user_item_4

N/A

common

r_computer

N/A

common

collect_time

N/A

common

trustlevel

Int 1 to 5

common

origin

String 64 char max

common

Note: If the MAC address is not available, you can specify the UUID of the asset.

Example: User Only

The format for a user only in the file is as follows:

<asset>

<user>

<general>     </general>
<hardware>    </hardware>
<software>    </software>

</user>

</asset>

The hardware and software section are optional in both the asset and user sections of the file.

Example: User and Asset

The format for a user delivered with an asset is as follows:

<asset>

<general>     </general>
<hardware>    </hardware>
<software>    </software>
<user>

<general>	</general>
<hardware></hardware>
<software>	</software>

</user>

</asset>

Example: General section

The following is a code example for the General Section.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> 
<asset translator="ACBsFmt" version="1_0">

<general>

<host_name>machine1</host_name>
<default_hostname>machine1.domain.com</default_hostname>
<default_address>150.120.13.119</default_address>
<default_mac>00:0D:56:CB:C1:ED</default_mac>
<class_id>21</class_id>
<network_id>
		<mac_address>mac</mac_address>
		<ip_address>ip</ip_address>
		<dns_name>name</dns_name>
		<subnet_mask></subnet_mask>

	</network_id>
<host_key>70669be2-1fed-4201-9777-d7137486dcab</host_key>
<origin>User Keyed</origin>

</general>

</asset>

Note: Default_hostname, default_address, default_subnet_mask are the required entries. The network_id section is optional. You can include multiple network_id sections. The default_hostname, default_subnet_mask, default_mac, are used in the default_XXX fields, in the common_asset_report. Additional network_id sections are populated into the registration message.

The following illustration shows how the general section inventory looks when viewed in the DSM Explorer.

Screenshot providing information about assets on the network having a DSM agent that connects to the domain

In the preceding illustration, note the following: