Managing inventory [Web console]

You can use inventory scanning to view hardware and software data for managed devices. Inventory data is stored in the core database. This includes hardware, device driver, software, memory, and environment information. Use this inventory data to help manage and configure devices, and to quickly identify system problems.

You can view, print, and export inventory data. You can also use it to define queries, group devices together, and generate specialized reports.

Inventory scanning overview

When you configure a device with a Ivanti management agent, the inventory scanner is one of the components that gets installed on the device. When you create an agent configuration, you can specify when the inventory scanner runs on the device.

The inventory scanner runs automatically when the device is initially configured. The scanner executable is named ldiscn32.exe for Windows devices and ldiscn for Linux devices. The inventory scanner collects hardware and software data and enters it into the core database. After that, the hardware scan runs at the interval you specify (by default it runs once a day).

After the initial scan, the inventory scanner can be run from the console as a scheduled task. The standard management agent must be running on remote devices to schedule an inventory scan to them.

NOTE: A device added to the core database using the Unmanaged device discovery tool has not yet scanned its inventory data into the core database. You must run an inventory scan on each device for full inventory data to appear for that device.

You can view inventory data and use it to:

  • Customize the All devices list columns to display specific inventory attributes
  • Query the core database for devices with specific inventory attributes
  • Group devices together to expedite management tasks, such as software distribution
  • Generate specialized reports based on inventory attributes
  • Keep track of hardware and software changes on devices, and generate alerts or log file entries when such changes occur

Delta scanning

After the initial full scan is run on a Windows device, subsequent running of the inventory scanner only captures delta changes and sends them to the core database. Use the scanner option /RSS to gather software information from the Windows registry. (This option does not apply to Linux devices.)

Forcing a full scan

If you want to force a full scan of a Windows device's hardware and software data, you can delete the existing delta scan file and change a setting in Configure Services. (This option does not apply to Linux devices.)

  1. Delete the invdelta.dat file from the device. A copy of the latest inventory scan in stored locally as a hidden file named invdelta.dat. The LDMS_LOCAL_DIR environment variable sets the location for this file. By default it is in C:\Program Files\LANDesk\LDClient\Data.
  2. Add the /sync option to the inventory scanner utility's command line. To edit the command line, click Start > All Programs > Ivanti, right-click the Inventory Scan shortcut icon, select Properties > Shortcut, then edit the Target path.
  3. At the core server, click Start > All Programs > Ivanti > Ivanti Configure Services.
  4. Click the Inventory tab, then click Advanced settings.
  5. Click the Do Delta setting. In the Value box type 0.
  6. Click OK twice, then click Yes at the prompt to restart the service.

Scan compression

Inventory scans performed by the Windows inventory scanner (ldiscn32.exe) are compressed by default. The scanner compresses full scans and delta scans with approximately an 8:1 compression ratio. Scans are first built completely in memory, then compressed and sent to the core server using a larger packet size. Scan compression requires fewer packets and reduces bandwidth usage. (Scan compression is not used on Linux devices.)

Scan encryption

Inventory scans on Windows devices are encrypted (TCP/IP scans only). You can disable inventory scan encryption by changing a setting in Configure Services.

  1. At the core server, click Start > All Programs > Ivanti > Ivanti Configure Services.
  2. Click the Inventory tab, then click Advanced settings.
  3. Click the Disable Encryption setting. In the Value box type 1.
  4. Click Set, then click OK.
  5. Click OK, then click Yes at the prompt to restart the service.

Viewing inventory data

Once a device has been scanned by the inventory scanner, you can view its system information in the following ways:

You can also view inventory data in reports that you generate.

Viewing summary inventory from the real-time inventory console

Summary inventory is found on the Summary page in the server information console and provides a quick look at the device's basic OS configuration and system information.

NOTE: If you added a device to the core database using the discovery tool, its inventory data isn't yet scanned into the core database. You must run an inventory scan on the server for the summary inventory feature to complete successfully.

To view summary inventory
  1. In the Endpoint Manager console's network view, in a Devices group, right-click a device and select Real-time inventory and monitoring.
  2. In the toolbox, click System information > System Summary.

Summary data

This information appears when you view summary inventory for a managed device.

  • Health: The current health state of the device.
  • Type: The type of device.
  • Manufacturer: The manufacturer of the device.
  • Model: The device's model type.
  • BIOS version: The version of the ROM BIOS.
  • Operating system: Windows or Linux OS running on the device.
  • OS Version: Version number of the OS running on the device.
  • CPU: Type of processor or processors running on the device.
  • Vulnerability scanner: The version of the agent installed.
  • Remote control: The version of the agent installed.
  • Software distribution: The version of the agent installed.
  • Inventory scanner: The version of the agent installed.
  • Monitoring: The version of the monitoring scanner installed
  • Last reboot: The last time the device was rebooted.
  • CPU usage: The percentage of the processor currently in use.
  • Physical memory used: Amount of RAM available on the device.
  • Virtual memory used: Amount of memory available to the device, including RAM and swap file memory.
  • Drive space used: The percentage of drive space currently used. If you have more than one hard drive, each drive will be listed.

Devices that are IPMI-enabled display additional IPMI-specific data. Linux devices also display similar information in the Summary view.

Viewing full inventory

A full inventory provides a complete listing of a device's detailed hardware and software components. The listing contains objects and object attributes.

To view a full inventory
  1. In the Endpoint Manager console's network view, in a Devices group, double-click a device.
  2. In the Web console's My devices tool, select a group (such as My devices) and click a device. In the action pane, click the Properties tab, and then click View inventory.

Viewing attribute properties

You can view attribute properties for a device's inventory objects from the inventory listing. Attribute properties tell you the characteristics and values for an inventory object. You can also create new custom attributes and edit user-defined attributes.

To view an attribute's properties

  1. In the full inventory list, click the attribute in the left pane. You may need to expand items to find the attribute you want.
  2. To print the information, use your browser's Print feature.

Viewing system information

From the Real-time Inventory and Monitoring console, you can view and modify the device's system information. Information in the Hardware, Logs, Software and Other categories is either stored data or real-time data. When you click an information link you can view detailed information about the selected component and, in appropriate cases, set thresholds and enter information.

  1. In the Web console's All devices view, double-click a device.
  2. In the toolbox, click System information.
  3. Expand the group and click the information link you want to view.