Querying SCSM CMDB for CI info

Question

Hi,
Currently working on a project to utilize the SCSM CMDB using the connectors for AD, SCOM, and SCCM to populate and then feed another CMDB solution that is tied to our ticketing system. Our goal is to maintain the CMDB in SCSM and then sync those changes
to the other CMDB daily. When writing the query we can get the OS and Hardware information using the views from MTV_Computer and MTV_Microsoft$SystemCenter$Windows$* in the ServiceManager database. We're we are running into issues is we cannot find any views
or tables to pull the Status of the CI or Users associated with the Computer under the CI Information in the form. Hoping someone can point me in the right direction on finding these items?
Also, anyone else doing anything similar? There doesn't seem to be a unique identifier to query against in the views to get all of the associated objects. So we're making use of the server names to pull in these items. Is this standard practice or there
better solutions?
Thanks,
J 

Answer 1

The supported method for querying the Service Manager CMDB is to use the SDK with C#.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh965050.aspx
Here's a survival guide with a lot of good information and starting points for using the SDK
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/13472.system-center-2012-service-manager-developer-s-survival-guide.aspx
Another supported method would be to query the datawarehouse.
Now, having said that, if you absolutely have to use SQL then let me first give you a quick primer on the Service Manager object structure. Remember, if your queries break anything, Microsoft won't support it. Also, never update or create records in the
SQL database directly. It will break Service Manager eventually. The SQL database is hands-off..you can look (select) but don't touch (update/delete) :)
Objects in Service Manager are nothing more than records in SQL tables. Relationships between those objects are defined by "Relationship Types" (which are stored in the "RelationshipType" SQL table). The relationships that exist between
two objects in Service Manager are also objects themselves..which means they're stored in a single table, the "Relationship" table. Another tip that should help..virtually everything in the SQL DB is identified with a unique Guid (BaseManagedEntityId
for objects, RelationshipTypeId for relationship types, ManagedTypeId for classes, etc).
As for CI Status; Status and other properties like it are Enumeration properties (or list properties). These enumerations are defined by a management pack and represent a specific set of values that an object property can have. So, the column in the sql
table that represents an enumeration value is, you guessed it, a Guid. Enumerations are stored in the EnumType table. For instance, if you look at the MTV_Computer view, you'll find the "ObjectStatus_blahblahblah" column (which is the CI status)
is nothing but guids. Join it to the EnumType table to get a human-readable status.
Now let me give you a quick sample query that highlights how you can query for computer objects and their related primary user objects.
select computer.DisplayName, usr.DisplayName
from mtv_computer computer with (nolock)
left outer join relationship rel with (nolock) on rel.SourceEntityId=computer.BaseManagedEntityId
and rel.RelationshipTypeId='AAF7ADEB-920C-3D3F-2184-1DE2A2CBA5A0' --System.ComputerPrimaryUser
and rel.IsDeleted=0
left outer join MTV_System$Domain$User usr with (nolock) on rel.TargetEntityId = usr.BaseManagedEntityId
inner join BaseManagedEntity bmeComp with (nolock) on computer.BaseManagedEntityId = bmeComp.BaseManagedEntityId
and bmeComp.IsDeleted=0
left outer join BaseManagedEntity bmeUser with (nolock) on usr.BaseManagedEntityId = bmeUser.BaseManagedEntityId
and bmeUser.IsDeleted=0
where computer.ObjectStatus_4AE3E5FE_BC03_1336_0A45_80BF58DEE57B='ACDCEDB7-100C-8C91-D664-4629A218BD94' --System.ConfigItem.ObjectStatusEnum.Active
and (usr.ObjectStatus_4AE3E5FE_BC03_1336_0A45_80BF58DEE57B='ACDCEDB7-100C-8C91-D664-4629A218BD94' --System.ConfigItem.ObjectStatusEnum.Active
or usr.DisplayName is null)
The guids have comments that indicate what they are. The AAF7... relationship type is the System.ComputerPrimaryUser relationship type. ACDC... is the System.ConfigItem.ObjectStatusEnum.Active enumeration (it represents the "Active" CI Status)
The overall purpose of this particular sample is to display all windows computers (mtv_computer) in the database and also display the related "primary user" if such a user exists (otherwise, the second column will be null)
The first two joins tie the computer together with its related primary user through the relationship table.
The second two joins tie each object to the BaseManagedEntity table which is a repository for every class based object in the CMDB. That table maintains various information about the object, including whether it's deleted or not.
(Note there are two forms of "deleted". There's "Pending Delete" on a CI which puts the object in the Deleted Items folder in the console. This is a "business logic" status. The other deleted is "IsDeleted", which is
an SCSM framework status which tells the underlying workflow engine to completely eliminate the object and its history from the CMDB in 2 days. These objects are not visible in the console at all.)
Notice that I use "with (nolock)" on all the tables. This helps ensure that your reads won't interfer with Service Manager while it talks to the database (through the workflow engine, stored procedures, etc etc).
I'm going to say it one more time..messing around in the sql database is unsupported!
Hopefully, though, this post will give you some insight on a couple different ways you can get info out of Service Manager