Administering MDRs › system_name Naming Convention

system_name Naming Convention

We recommend the following naming standards for software CIs and all MDRs so that other MDRs can integrate well with CA Cohesion ACM and each other, and for reconciling CIs properly. CA Cohesion ACM follows the same standards.

• System_name

  Identifies software CIs uniquely. When you define a relationship that involves a software CI, specify the same system_name as the one in that CI definition. If multiple instances of the same version of the same software are installed in the directory on the same hostname, modify the system_name to enforce uniqueness. The total length of the system_name must not exceed 255 characters; data corruption can occur if this restriction is violated.

  System_name must be a unique identifier for this instance of the software on a single host.

Use the following syntax:

hostname | softwarename | version | business-application

• pipe (|) character

  Separates the various fields in the concatenation of the syntax to let the user use the search facility.

• hostname

  Specifies the hostname that contains the software.

• softwarename

  Specifies a common name for the software.

• version

  Specifies the version number of the software if available.

business-application

Specifies a unique identifier for this instance of the software on hostname. If the instance of the software is associated with a business application or service, the name of that service is the qualifier. When you cannot determine business-application, you can use the installation directory to identify the software. If the total length of this field exceeds 255 characters, use ellipses (…) to shorten the total length of this field to no more than 255 characters.

Examples: Use the UI Search Facility

You can use the UI search facility to search software CIs, as in the following examples:

In the results list returned by the search above, the user sees only the Name field.

mac_address     Null.  - Inappropriate for software 
asset_num       Null   - Inappropriate for software 
serial_number   Null   - Inappropriate for software 
dns_name        Null   - Inappropriate for software