Using NM: to Perform ID Substitution

Most of the objects that you create are associated with ID numbers. An ID number is a unique identifier for an object in the repository, such as a user account or a component.

While ID numbers are useful, they can be cumbersome to use. To use names rather than ID numbers, introduce the name of an object by using the NM: notation.

For a complete list of the supported NM: mappings, see Appendix A, Input Types.

For example, the following syntax is used to represent object IDs, such as hosts, user names, user group names, and host type names:

NM:host
NM:user-name
NM:user-group-name
NM:host-type-name

You can also use the NM: syntax to identify components and plans by name and optional version number:

NM:plan-name[:version]

The following are some sample uses of this notation:

NM:simplePlan
NM:simplePlan:1.0
NM:/foo/bar/simplePlan:1.1

If a version number is not specified, the provisioning software uses the latest version.