Adding Objects with Custom Architectures to the Inventory

You can extend the inventory beyond the architectures already defined in the SMS system by adding objects with new (custom) architectures. A custom architecture can store information about objects that have little or no relationship to the predefined SMS architectures.

To add an object with a custom architecture to the inventory, you use a MIF file. A MIF file is an ASCII text file that contains information using the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF) Management Information Format (MIF). In the MIF file you include the properties of the object and define the structure of the architecture. The structure of the architecture is defined by the attributes you include in the Identification and Architecture groups, and by the other groups and attributes that you choose to include in the MIF file.

Depending on how you define a custom architecture, objects with custom architectures can be displayed by using a query or the Sites window of the SMS Administrator. If you want to display an object with a custom architecture in the Sites window, the object's Identification group must include the Name, Site, Domain, SystemRole, and SystemType attributes, and the values for the Site and Domain attributes must be those of existing sites and domains in the SMS database. Otherwise, you can display the object only by creating and executing a query. Refer to Viewing the Objects for a Custom Architecture.

    To add an object with a custom architecture to the inventory
  1. Create a MIF file that contains the inventory information for the object.
  2. Run the MIFCHECK utility on the MIF file. Refer to Verifying the Syntax of a MIF File.
  3. At the site where you want to add the object, place the MIF file in the C:\MS\SMS\IDMIFS subdirectory on an inventory collection point.
  4. If the architecture is new to an SMS site database, and the SMS Administrator is connected to that site database, restart the SMS Administrator to enable access to the new architecture.

This section provides the following topics to help guide you through this process: