Problem with Import Computer Information Wizard not doing check for MAC or GUID already in database

Question

Hi,
My client is using SCCM 2012 RTM in a standalone site.
Yesterday, a technician was preparing computers to deploy OS. He was in a replace scenario and mistakenly mixed the MAC address of the source computer with the one of the new computer.
So when importing computer information for the new one, he entered the wrong MAC address; the one of the source computer already existing in the SCCM database.
I expected the Import Computer Information wizard to generate an error, but no, the import was successful resulting with the source computer DDR being overwritten...
We spent (and lost) time recreating the DDR for the source computer so we could create the computer association for USMT migration.
2 years ago, I opened a call with Microsoft for the exact same issue with SCCM 2007. At that time, they told me that no hotfix would be developped for this bug since there was a workaround (overwritten DDR will re-create itself with Heartbeat
discovery over time) and SCCM 2012 was coming up.
It seems to me that they forgot to fix the issue in 2012. It doesn't seem to be fixed with SP1 as I didn't find anything about it in SP1 doc..
Can someone confirm this bug and can Microsoft do something? Or is there a hotfix already available for it?
Tnx
Patrick

Answer 1

Well you could always remove the Delete Resource permission from the technicians User Rights :P
The option to not overwrite the existing computer object, is right there in the SDK.
So it's anyone's guess, why they haven't added an checkbox in the Import Computer Information wizard and why overwrite is set as the default.
Anyways...you can use the following PowerShell script instead of the Import Wizard.
Just open up a PowerShell console, type in . X:\Path\To\Script\ScriptName.ps1 and
then type New-SCCMComputer
Or you can create a shortcut with the following target %SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -NoExit -Command . X:\Path\To\Script\New-SCCMComputer.ps1; New-SCCMComputer
You will need to change the default values for $SiteServer and $SiteCode to your environment
Function New-SCCMComputer
[CmdletBinding()]
Param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$False)] $SiteServer = "Server.Domain.Local",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$False)] $SiteCode = "PS1",
[Parameter(Mandatory=$True,HelpMessage="Please Enter the Computers Name")] $ResourceName,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$True,HelpMessage="Please Enter the Computers MAC ")] $ResourceMAC
#ImportComputer
$WMIConnection = ([WMIClass]"\\$($SiteServer)\root\SMS\Site_$($SiteCode):SMS_Site")
$NewEntry = $WMIConnection.psbase.GetMethodParameters("ImportMachineEntry")
$NewEntry.MACAddress = $ResourceMAC
$NewEntry.NetbiosName = $ResourceName
$NewEntry.OverwriteExistingRecord = $False
$Resource = $WMIConnection.psbase.InvokeMethod("ImportMachineEntry",$NewEntry,$null)
if ($Resource)
if ($Resource.MachineExists) {
Write-Host "ERROR: MACAddress allready exists" -foregroundcolor red
} else {
Write-Host "Succesfully imported the computer information" -foregroundcolor green
} else {
Write-Host "ERROR: Could not import the computer information" -foregroundcolor red
Best Regards
Claus Codam
Consultant, Developer
Coretech -
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