When trying to save a computer or most asset types, such as monitors, network printers, etc., the error "An error occurred saving changes. 'A resource with a duplicate field <field name> within the <data class name> data class already exists in the system.'" occurs. This blocks the computer from being saved.

This error is primarily seen with the Serial Number and System Number fields. For example:

For Serial Numbers:
 

An error occurred saving changes. "A resource with a duplicate field <field name> within the <data class name> data class already exists in the system."

ITMS 8.x

The user attempted to save a computer that has a duplicate unique field value of that of another asset, which can be any asset type so long as it has the same data class and same unique field value for it. For example, if computer A has the Serial Number of "123" and a user tries to edit computer B and set its Serial Number to be the same value, trying to save the computer will result in the error. CMDB Solution prevents this from occurring and blocks the save. (The user cannot manually cause duplicates by editing computers.)

This issue can occur when the user is specifically but unknowingly trying to set the unique field to be a duplicate value or when the user is editing a computer that already has this issue that was caused by some unknown process.

Note: This issue is usually associated with the Serial Number and System Number fields, as they are the only out of box fields for computers that require unique values for each. However, this issue can occur for any field that require unique values, including custom, if they contain duplicate values.

Different solutions are available depending on the cause.

Cause: The user unknowingly tried to set the unique field  to be a duplicate value
Solution: Edit the computer and do not set the unique field to be a duplicate value. If this computer is needed to have the duplicate value, then the other computer that had the value first must be first edited and changed.

Cause: The unique field value that was duplicated was already present when the user tried to save the computer
Solution: This is a more severe issue in that this was caused by some unknown process. The user will need to perform more in-depth troubleshooting of duplicate assets. Refer to the following article for more information on how to troubleshoot duplicate assets:

How to troubleshoot duplicate assets
https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleId=181883

Applies To

Any version of CMDB Solution.