Inventory scanning overview

The inventory scanner collects hardware and software data and enters it into the core database. When you configure a device with the Agent configuration tool, the inventory scanner is one of the components of the standard Endpoint Manager agent that gets installed on the device. The inventory scanner runs automatically when the device is initially configured. A device is considered managed once it sends an inventory scan to the core database. The Windows scanner executable is named ldiscn32.exe.

There are two types of inventory scans:

  • Hardware scan: Scans hardware data on managed devices. Hardware scans run quickly. You can configure the hardware scan interval in an agent configuration (Tools > Configuration > Agent Configuration) that you can deploy to managed devices. By default, hardware scans run each time the device boots.

  • Software scan: Scans software installed on managed devices. These scans take longer to run than hardware scans. Software scans can take a few minutes to complete, depending on the number of files on the managed device. By default, the software scan runs once a day, regardless of how often the inventory scanner runs on the device. You can configure the software scan interval in the Configure > Services > Inventory tab.

You can scan a device on demand by finding it in the network view, right-clicking it, and clicking Inventory scan.

NOTE: A device added to the core database using the discovery feature 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 network view 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

You can also use inventory scans to keep track of hardware and software changes on devices, and generate alerts or log file entries when such changes occur. For more information, see Tracking inventory changes.

For more information, visit the inventory home page on the Ivanti Community.