Specify files to detect product installation and usage

There are two ways to determine whether a product is installed and being used on a managed device. The Endpoint Manager inventory scanner identifies two types of files:

  • Files that indicate the product has been installed
  • Files that indicate the product has been used

Files are defined by file name, version number, and size (in bytes). Automatically discovered products are also uniquely identified by the GUID associated with the product, which is why there may appear to be duplicates of a product. Two products may share a similar name and version but have different GUIDs.

When you create or edit a product, you can modify the definitions used to detect files. The instructions below are for editing an individual product.

NOTE: If you’re using the French-language version of SLM, Microsoft has a bug in their regional settings that affects French-language digit groupings. For numbers of one thousand and over, Microsoft has a default setting of a space character instead of a period for the digit-grouping symbol (for example, 1 234 567,00). Because of this bug, when entering numbers in the French-language version, SLM will not allow the period character to be used.

To fix this problem, you must change the setting in the Control Panel > Region and Language applet. Click the Additional settings button, and change the Digit grouping symbol from a space to a period (or whatever other character you want).

To specify files to detect product installation or usage
  1. Click Products > Monitored. Click a single product name (not a normalized product).
  2. On the toolbar, click Edit. The product details dialog opens; some items are read-only and some items are editable.
  3. Under Status, select Monitored or Ignored to list this new product in one of the product views.
  4. Click Installation detection. Note that all options are read-only.
  5. Click Usage detection. You can add files that indicate the product is being used.
  6. Click the Add (+) button. In the Add files dialog, you can select an existing filename (one that exists in the inventory database), or you can click Define new file and specify the name, size, and version number for the product file. Repeat this for every product file you want to use to determine when the product is being used. When you have finished, click OK.
  7. When all information is complete, click Save.