In this guide, we will discuss two different ways of configuring the external identifier of the import settings.
Current Status
Our applications are designed leveraging Atlassian’s API guidelines. They expect the complete control of the schema to be in the power of our applications. This requires the object schema, object types, attributes, relations, and their mapping to be managed by our applications.
In principle, our applications use the ID of each record as it is defined at the source. The main reason for this configuration is to ensure that you always have the same data in Asstes as the source. For example:
Source | Object Type | Identifier |
|---|---|---|
Entra ID | Users | User ID |
Intune | Managed Devices | ID |
Jamf | Computers | Computer ID |
Experience:
Most source systems don’t provide information when a record is deleted. Therefore, we recommend configuring the Assets to recognize missing records (objects). Please refer to the documentation for more details: Keeping track of the deleted records
The default behavior example is as follows:
In Intune/Jamf, there is a definition of a laptop.
The record is imported into Assets.
An employee leaves, and the laptop is formatted.
The laptop record has been deleted from Intune/Jamf.
A new laptop record is created in Intune/Jamf.
With the next import, a new object is created for the device.
As a result, there will be 2 records with the same serial number. One of them will be new and the other one will be marked as deleted.
However, this behaviour is
Default Identifier (ID) | Custom Identifier (Serial Number, Employee ID, etc.) | |
|---|---|---|
Pros | Historical data and current data in the same Object Type | |
Cons | There will be multiple records for a deleted and recreated record (can be perceived as duplicate records). |
In your case, you may change it to Serial Number.
Explanation: Since you are creating a device record manually in Assets first, there is no device ID at that moment. You need to select another attribute that would match. Serial Number looks to be the best option. Here, we are assuming that no multiple records having the same serial number in Jamf. Please clarify this point as the first step.
Then, you can follow the steps below:
Open the import configuration: JSM Site > Assets > Your Jamf schema > Schema configuration > Import tab > Edit mapping (for our application import settings) > Edit attributes mapping (for computers)
Click the checkbox in the Identifier column for the serial number attribute and enable it.
Click the checkbox in the Identifier column for the computer id attribute and disable it.
After these settings, with the following import you will find the existing records being updated.
Please also don’t forget to remove the duplicate records in Assets having the same serial number.
You can also set the Serial Number attribute as unique. Here are the steps:
Go to JSM Site > Assets > Your Jamf schema
Select the Computer object type
Select attributes tab
Click the three dots at the right side of the Serial Number attribute and configure
Enable the unique configuration
This way, you will be sure that via import or manual entry no duplicate records are created. You need to perform the same for Mobile Devices also if needed.