Effects on SCCM Database: Import Process

After information is collected from the SCCM database, you can perform or schedule the import. Details of the import process are as follows:

  1. All of the machines in the specified machine groups are selected. The select query also includes some basic machine information such as last hardware and software scan date (by SCCM), IP address, last user, machine domain, and SMS ID. The v_FullCollectionMembership, v_R_System, v_GS_LastSoftwareScan, and v_GS_WORKSTATION_STATUS views in the SCCM database are queried to obtain this data. The rows returned by the select query are copied into a temporary table in the CAM Database. This data and existing CAM data are used to remove any machines that do not have new inventories since the last import. If the count of new machines that are left (plus any existing inventory license in use) exceeds the number of total available licenses, some machines are removed from the import set in order to maintain compliance with CAM licensing.
  2. SCCM machines are processed in batches, using bulk insert to bring over as much data as possible at a time. By default, 25 machines are processed at a time.
    • If the import batch size is greater than 1 (or less than 1, null, or non-numeric, and therefore assumed equal to the default value of 25), a temporary table is created in the tempdb database on the SQL Server hosting the SCCM database named ##expsccmmap. As each batch of machines is processed, the table is emptied, and then filled with the SCCM machine IDs (ResourceID) of the machines that are part of the batch being processed. This means that by default, the temporary table contains 25 records at any given time.

      If the credentials used to connect to the SCCM database do not have rights to create the temporary table, the batch size is reset to 1.

    • If the import batch size is 1, no writing to the tempdb database is attempted and imports are performed one machine at a time; no attempt is made to create or use the temporary table.
  3. Machine GUIDs (add/remove program entries) are imported using the v_Add_Remove_Programs SCCM view.
  4. Executable file information is imported using the v_GS_SoftwareFile SCCM view.
  5. To import all other machine attribute information, the SCCM views are mapped using the values specified in the SCCM Hardware Field Mapping dialog box.

Once the import is complete, you can configure and report on inventory data in the same way as data collected by the CAM Access Point.