Processing MASS Deletions of Inventory

[mizaheloliva]

Hello All,

I have about 3k worth of assets that I need to delete. Is there a way to do MASS Deletions without having to Select each device one by one?

Please let me know and THANKS in advance!

Miza

[dsalter]

You should be able to accomplish this all from the 'All Inventory' page in FNMS. Configure your search criteria so only the devices you want to delete are returned. Increase results to returned to max. Then (see attached) 1. Click the Select All Check Box 2. Remove Asset Links 3. Delete

[mizaheloliva]

Hi,

Thanks for your response. So the majority of the devices are listed in the Out-Of-Date Inventory tab. They are mixed with assets that are still active and we are troubleshooting. There is no SEARCH criteria I can use to single out these devices.

[ChrisG]

If you want to do a mass deletion of inventory device records (as per this thread short description): you should arrange to delete them out of the inventory source database(s). How you do this will depend on the inventory source(s) you are using. If you don't delete data out of the inventory source database(s) then deleting records in FlexNet won't help: they will immediately re-appear during the next inventory import.

If you want to do a mass deletion of asset records (as per the body description in this thread): you can filter and multi-select to mass delete records on the Hardware Assets > All Assets page. This can be done in blocks of up to 1,000 records by setting the number of rows displayed per page.

If you want to do a mass unlinking of asset to inventory device records: you can do this as described by @dsalter.

[mizaheloliva]

HI,

Thanks for the response. For my understanding, you mean delete it from the actual Flexnet DB on the DB Server?  Not from the actual FMNS Application correct?

[mizaheloliva]

Hi ... just wanted to add that our inventory source is the Flexnet Agent.

[ChrisG]

If you are using the FlexNet agent with an on-premises installation of FlexNet and are comfortable working directly in the database, you can delete unwanted computers from the inventory database using a query like the following:

SELECT ComputerID
INTO #Computer
FROM dbo.Computer
WHERE <add an appropriate condition to identify computers to delete>

EXEC dbo.DeleteComputers

Once data has been deleted like this, the changes will be visible in the UI after the next inventory import has completed.

Of course, this can be dangerous to do since you are deleting data. Once the data is gone, the only way to recover it if you make a mistake is by restoring a database backup.

Also take a look at the following forum thread which may provide some more tips: Deleting old inventory records

[ChrisG · Accepted solution]

If you want to delete computers based on how long it is since they have returned inventory, check out the following post about a new capability for doing this: Auto-cleanup of Obsolete FlexNet Inventory.