Extending the Inventory

To help you store and manage inventory information, Systems Management Server provides the following predefined architectures:

• Personal Computer
• SMSEvent
• PackageLocation
• JobDetails
• UserGroups

To extend the inventory, you can also define custom architectures.

By using ASCII text files in the Management Information Format (MIF), you can add objects with new (custom) architectures to the SMS database, add new objects with existing architectures, and add new groups and attributes to existing objects. For example, you may want to add "Printers" to your list of architectures, add a new workstation with a Personal Computer architecture, or include a new device driver group in the inventory of a workstation.

The following topics contain background information on SMS inventories:

• Inventory Terms
• How MIF Files are Used to Maintain Inventory in an SMS Database

The following topics contain information on and procedures for customizing SMS inventories:

• Adding Objects with Custom Architectures to the Inventory
• Adding New Groups to Objects Already Existing in the SMS Inventory
• Creating Forms to Generate MIF Files

For easy reference, the following topics contain a sample MIF file and important Desktop Management Interface (DMI) compatibility information:

• Example MIF File for an Object with a Custom Architecture
• Desktop Management Interface (DMI) Compatibility

For additional information about MIF format, refer to the Desktop Management Interface Specification version 4.5 (DMI45.DOC) provided in the \MSSDK\DOC subdirectory of the Microsoft® Platform SDK CD-ROM.