How to Initiate a Synchronization

The Asset Intelligence catalog can be refreshed manually, outside the normal synchronization schedule. A manual refresh is accomplished by using the RequestCatalogUpdate method on the SMS_AIProxy Server WMI Class.

Important

This method can only be called once within a 12 hours period, subsequent method calls will not work.

Refresh the Asset Intelligence catalog

  1. Set up a connection to the SMS Provider. For more information, see SMS Provider fundamentals.

  2. Query the SMS Provider for the SMS_AIProxy instance that you want refresh the catalog on.

  3. Call the SMS_AIProxy class RequestCatalogUpdate method to run an action on the collection.

Example

The following example method runs the refresh on the provided server.

For information about calling the sample code, see Calling Configuration Manager Code Snippets.

Function InitiateSync(connection, serverName)
    On Error Resume Next    
    Dim classObj: Set classObj = connection.Get("SMS_AIProxy")    
    Dim inParams: Set inParams = classObj.Methods_("RequestCatalogUpdate").InParameters.SpawnInstance_()
    Dim outParams
    inParams.Properties_.Item("ProxyName") = serverName
    Set outParams = connection.ExecMethod("SMS_AIProxy", "RequestCatalogUpdate", inParams)
    If Err.Number <> 0 Then
        InitiateSync = False
    Else
        InitiateSync = True
    End If
    On Error Goto 0
End Function  
public void InitiateSync(WqlConnectionManager connection, string serverName)
{
    try
    {        
        Dictionary<string, object> inParams = new Dictionary<string, object>();
        IResultObject classObj = connection.GetClassObject("SMS_AIProxy");
        inParams.Add("ProxyName", serverName);
        Console.WriteLine("Requesting catalog update on server " + serverName);
        classObj.ExecuteMethod("RequestCatalogUpdate", inParams);    
    }    
    catch (SmsException ex)    
    {        
        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("Failed to request catalog update on server {0}. Error: {1}", serverName, ex.Message));           
        throw;    
    }
}  

The example method has the following parameters:

Parameter Type Description
connection Managed: WqlConnectionManager

VBScript: SWbemServices
A valid connection to the provider.
serverName Managed: String

VBScript: String
Name of the server to run the refresh on. This name maps to the ProxyName property of an SMS_AIProxy instance.

Compiling the Code

The C# example requires:

Namespaces

System

System.Collections.Generic

System.Text

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider

Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.ManagementProvider.WqlQueryEngine

Assembly

microsoft.configurationmanagement.managementprovider

adminui.wqlqueryengine

Robust Programming

For more information about error handling, see About Configuration Manager Errors.

.NET Framework Security

For more information about securing Configuration Manager applications, see Configuration Manager role-based administration.