Add or remove files for inventory scans

Modify the files in the Manage software list tool to determine which files are included in or excluded from inventory scans.

NOTE: After you have changed any items in the core's Manage software list, you must click the Make available to clients button to update the product definition files used by the inventory scanner. The next time devices do an inventory scan, the scanner gets the updated product definition files from the core server and applies any changes.

Software files in inventory scans

The scanner recognizes software applications in three ways:

  • Filename
  • Filename and size
  • Information included in an application's executable file

Use the Manage software list tree view to specify which files should be scanned and which should be excluded from inventory scanning. The Files item in the tree displays three categories that help you organize the files:

  • To be scanned: Files that the scanner will identify on devices. This list is prepopulated with descriptions of several thousand applications, providing a baseline of executables that your devices may have installed. You can add files to or exclude files from this list.
  • To be dispositioned: As the inventory scanner adds software data to the database, it finds many software files that are not recognized; these files are added to this list. You can move files out of this list into either of the other two lists.
  • To be excluded: The scanner ignores all occurrences of each file that you move here. If you delete a file from To be excluded, it appears in the To be dispositioned category.

By default, the inventory scanner only scans for files listed in the Manage software list. The files that are specified as scanned or excluded are saved in the Manage software list tool (Tools > Configuration > Reporting / Monitoring ) .

After the initial scan, the inventory scanner sends only delta scans, which will be much smaller.

Scan or exclude software files

Complete the following tasks to determine which software files are included in inventory scanning.

To include a file in inventory scans
  1. Find the file by searching in the To be dispositioned list.
  2. Drag the file to the To be scanned list.
To exclude a file from inventory scans
  1. Find the file by searching in the To be dispositioned list.
  2. Drag the file to the To be excluded list.
To exclude a file that is not found in the To be dispositioned list
  1. Click To be excluded and then click the Add button on the toolbar.
  2. Enter the name of the file to be excluded, and then click OK.
To change a file's status from scanned to excluded
  1. Find the file by searching in the To be scanned list.
  2. Drag the file to the To be excluded list.

You can also move files from the excluded list to the scanned list.

Scanning application files that don't have .exe extensions

The default To be scanned list contains descriptions of executables, but only with .exe file extensions. If you want the scanner to also identify other types of application files (.dll, .com, .sys, and so on), see Adding software and data items to inventory scans.

About the File properties dialog box

Use this dialog box to add files to Manage software list. A filename is the only required field. You can expand the dialog to supply more information if necessary.

  • Filename: Enter a filename. The field defaults to a wildcard file.
  • Size (in bytes): Enter the file's size in bytes. Don't use commas or other separators between the digits. If you enter file size of 1, any file with that file name matches.
  • Product name: Enter the product name the file belongs to.
  • Vendor: Enter the vendor name for the product that uses the file.
  • Version: Enter a version name for the file.
  • Action or state: Select what you want done with the file:
    • To be scanned: Add the file to this category to have the inventory scanner look for it on devices.
    • To be dispositioned: Add the file to this category if you want to decide later what you want to do with the file.