You can import new data to your ESM system through the ESM web user interface, Efecte Import Tool or through Efecte Web API. You can create new data cards and keep your existing data cards up to date with the import. Note that in the Import view, you can only import data cards.

ESM stores the imported data in those data cards that you have specified in the system as templates. ESM recognizes the existing data cards by the unique attributes that you define in the Class attribute settings. If the unique attribute values of the imported data are identical to those of existing data cards, ESM considers them identical and updates the existing data cards. If the existing data cards do not include unique attribute values that the imported data include, ESM creates new data cards.

Supported Inventory Technologies

Microsoft SCCM

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) is a solution to comprehensively assess, deploy, and update your servers, clients, and devices—across physical, virtual, distributed, and mobile environments. With Efecte SCCM Connector the Asset Intelligence information for hardware and software can be imported in to ESM. Also some virtual application data can be imported.

For detailed information about using the Microsoft SCCM and Efecte SCCM connector, refer to the Microsoft’s official SCCM documentation and Efecte SCCM Connector documentation.

Importing Data

You can open the Import view, by clicking Import from the Administration UI:

The Import view opens once the button has been clicked:

The following settings are available for the import target:

• Folder – The drop-down menu shows a list of all the folders you can import data to.
• Restrict updates to folder – If this checkbox is selected, only the data cards in the folder defined in Folder field are updated. If this checkbox is not selected, matching data cards in other folders may be updated as well.
• Create new data cards – If this checkbox is selected, new data cards are created if the imported data cards do not yet exist in ESM. If this checkbox is not selected, only existing data cards are updated, no new data cards are created.
• Create new static values – If this checkbox is selected, all unknown static attribute values in the imported data are added to the list of static attribute values. They are also displayed on the data card. If this checkbox is not selected, unknown values are left out from the data card. The checkbox is disabled if the user does not have permission to create static values.
• Create empty reference data cards – If this checkbox is selected, empty reference data cards are created if references to data cards that ESM does not already contain are found in the imported data. If you import the referenced data card into ESM later, ESM preserves the link between the data cards of the first and second import.
• Ignore unique checks – If this checkbox is selected, ESM does not compare the imported data with the existing data. In practice, ESM does not update existing data cards with the imported data, but instead creates a new data card from each imported data card.

• Show imported data cards – If this checkbox is selected, a list of the affected data cards is included in the report displayed after the import.
• Enable Value Removal – If this checkbox is selected, imported attributes which have an empty value will delete the corresponding data card value already in ESM. It this checkbox is not selected, imported attributes which have an empty value will not have any effect on the data card. Note that this setting has effect only on those data cards which get updated during the import.

The following settings are used if the import source is Efecte Inspector:

• Server URL – Proxy URL of Efecte Inspector. By default, ESM retrieves the URL from the folder or attribute metadata.
• Host type – Select the host type of the location from which you wish to import the Efecte Inspector data.
• Host list – If you choose to retrieve the data from single hosts, add the IP addresses or hostnames in this field. Multiple addresses can be separated by hitting the Enter key (the use of newlines).

It is also possible to import data from an XML file, or by entering XML directly into the text field provided:

• XML file – If you are importing data from an XML file, click Browse… to locate the file in the file system.
• XML text field – If you are importing data from text in XML format, type or copy–paste the text into the XML text field.

Creation of Data Cards

You can create new data cards by importing the data. Select the Create new data cards option in the import settings. If you select only this option, ESM compares the imported data against existing data cards’ data. When ESM finds new data (that is, new unique attributes), it creates new data cards in the system. In addition, ESM updates the existing data cards.

If you want to create new data cards only and do not need updating and comparing, select the option Ignore unique checks. 

Updating Data Cards

You can also use the import function to update the existing data cards without creating any new data cards. To perform an update only, do not select the options Create new data cards and Ignore unique checks. 

XML Import

XML import helps you to import new data cards and update existing ones in ESM. You can carry out an XML import from the Import view by importing the source either from a file or by hand.

When importing data from an XML file, the correct file has to be specified or browsed to so that it appears in the text field. When you are importing XML data by hand, the XML text has to be typed/copied into the text field. For more information about import settings, refer to the section Importing data.

The following is an example of importable XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<entityset>
 <entity name="ABC-123">
   <template code="car"/>
   <attribute code="car_licensenumber">
     <value>ABC-123</value>
   </attribute>
   <attribute code="car_color">
     <value>Yellow</value>
   </attribute>
   <attribute code="car_owner">
     <value>Jack Smith</value>
   </attribute>
 </entity>
</entityset>