Supported actions and processing

How the file is processed

The tool does not filter the data by location or other criteria. It processes all records in the file.

When the tool processes an IdML file, it processes each entry in the same way, regardless of whether the entry is in a create section or a modify section. The tool uses the specified ID tag, and a prefix if one is entered on the command line, to create an ACTCINUM for the CI. The tool then queries the database for an actual CI with that ACTCINUM value. If one is found, then the CI entry is processed as an update; otherwise a new CI is created.

If you import an actual CI more than once, using the same prefix or no prefix, the ACTCINUM values match and the tool treats the second import as an update. If you import the same actual CI more than once but use a different prefix, the ACTCINUM values do not match, and the second import results in the creation of a new actual CI.

After all the entries in the file are processed, the tool uses the Naming and Reconciliation Service to create a unique identifier for each newly created actual CI that represents a computer system. For each entry, if an existing actual CI is found with the same identifier, the existing actual CI is marked for deletion. The tool assumes that the new information should replace the old record.

Deleting actual configuration items

You can use the ImportIDML tool to delete actual CIs, even the CIs that were imported from TADDM.

To delete actual CIs, use the tool with the -c flag, and specify a string. Actual CIs whose ACTCINUM attribute begins with the specified string are deleted. The string can be a prefix that you used when the actual CIs were created, or it can be any string that appears at the beginning of ACTCINUM attributes. The actual CIs are deleted immediately, and they are deleted whether they were promoted or not.