Network Inventory User's Guide

Audit Profile Options

Audit Profile options are broken down in three groups, as described below.

Inventory Options

These options define how the Inventory Analyzer collects information during the audit.

Software Discovery

These options specify how to discover software installations:

  • Discover installed software — This method performs the basic discovery of software product installations. Depending on the computer’s operating system, Network Inventory uses the following sources of installation information:

    • Windows Inventory Analyzer collects installation information from the Uninstall section of the registry. You can see these products listed under Products and Features.

    • Linux Inventory Analyzer collects installation information from the package management system.

    • Mac Inventory Analyzer uses software information provided by the System Profiler tool. This is the information that the user can see by clicking More Info under Apple Menu > About This Mac.

  • Discover installed software and recognize software in files — This method discovers the system and also performs detailed analysis of file information on hard drives. The latter process may take a long time and requires that software recognition rules based on file parameters are in place.

INFO: For details, Adding Software Products to Software Catalog.

Registry Keys

You can enable the Inventory Analyzer to scan the Windows registry for specific keys and report their values.

In order to have a registry key available when configuring profiles, you must first configure Network Inventory to capture that key using the Settings app.

INFO: For details, see Administration Guide: Configuring Network Inventory to Capture Registry Keys.

NOTE: The Registry Keys options are applicable only for Windows computers. When auditing Linux and Mac computers, these options are ignored.

Event Log

Use these options to enable the capture of the system Event Log records and the types of events you are interested in.

NOTE: The Event Log options are applicable only for Windows computers. When auditing Linux and Mac computers, the Event Log options are ignored.

File Scan

These options enable the file scan and specify its scope and detail level.

NOTE: The File Scan feature is applicable only for Windows computers. When auditing Linux and Mac computers, the File Scan options are ignored.

SMBIOS Filter

Sometimes, system identification data obtained from the BIOS may report placeholder values, such as "To be filled by O.E.M." or "No asset information." Some BIOS manufacturers use these placeholders instead of empty fields to indicate that no meaningful value was specified and expect original equipment manufacturers to update them. However, not all original equipment manufacturers do that, and you certainly don't want these placeholder values reported because they may affect the accuracy of your inventory.

It is essensial is to avoid placeholder values in the Serial Number field, which is a computer identification field. Among other data, Network Inventory uses the Serial Number (when it is not empty) to So when a batch of custom-built computers have the same placeholder Serial Number such as "To Be Filled By O.E.M." or "None," your inventory would contain multiple computers with the same identification value, and Computer records in the Network Inventory database could overwrite each other when their snapshots are processed. To address this issue, placeholder texts should be cleared out.

The Inventory Analyzer has a built-in SMBIOS Filter with standard placeholder strings:

  • 1111TEST1111
  • *123456789*
  • *987654321*
  • *AssetTag*
  • Base Board*
  • Chassis Manufacture
  • Chassis Serial Number
  • Chassis Version
  • Default String
  • [Empty]
  • Eval
  • *Manufacturer*
  • MKF_PROCESSOR_SERIAL_NO_*
  • MKF_PROCESSOR_SOCKET_DESIGNATION_*
  • ModulePartNumber*
  • N/A
  • No Asset Information
  • No Asset Tag
  • NO DIMM
  • No Enclosure
  • None
  • Not Applicable
  • Not Available
  • *PartNum*
  • *SerialNumber
  • *SerNum*
  • System Manufacturer
  • System Name
  • System Product Name
  • System Serial Number
  • System Version
  • To Be Filled By O.E.M.

If you happen to discover other placeholder texts, you can add them to the SMBIOS Filter section of your Audit Profile, and they will no longer be reported.

INFO: The SMBIOS Filter is case-insensitive.

NOTE: Both the built-in and user-defined SMBIOS filters are applicable only for Windows and Linux computers. When auditing Mac computers, the SMBIOS Filter is ignored because the Mac Inventory Analyzer does not collect hardware information from the BIOS, it uses the System Profiler tool instead.

Miscellaneous

In this section, you can configure some additional inventory options that are explained below.

Windows Task Scheduler

You can enable the Windows Inventory Analyzer to retrieve information about all tasks scheduled on audited computers.

NOTE: The Scheduled Tasks option is applicable only for Windows computers. When auditing Linux and Mac computers, this option is ignored.

Configuration information about automated tasks will be displayed in the Configuration tab > Software > Task Scheduler sub-category of audit snapshots.

User Display Options

User Display Options have effect only when auditing Windows computers. You can configure User Display Options for interactive audit methods, i.e. the Remote Audit via deployed package and the Portable Audit (both of them are always interactive), the Network Folder Audit (which you can configure to run interactively). The Direct Network Scan and the Remote Audit via installed agent ignore User Display Options because those audit methods always run silently.

INFO: For details, see Overview of Audit Methods.

There are two types of messages that can be displayed on audited computers’ screens to inform users about the audit process:

  • The start screen at the beginning of the audit.
  • The Audit Progress box during the audit process.

The appearance of these messages depends on the audit method, the User Display Options, and the operating system of audited computers.

Progress Indicator

You can choose whether the progress indicator should appear during the audit. Additionally, you can customize the greeting message displayed in the Audit Progress box.

Progress indicator can show up in both interactive and non-interactive audit modes. When the audit runs interactively, the Windows Inventory Analyzer informs the user that the audit is about to start. Once the user clicks the Start button, progress indicator appears. Since the Windows Inventory Analyzer has already displayed the greeting message, the Audit Progress box will display information about the audit status only.

Available Controls

You configure Available Controls only when the audit is performed manually by trained technicians. For example, during the Portable Audit, a technician may need to interrupt the audit process or choose a folder where audit snapshots will be stored. In all other audit scenarios the Available Controls options should remain disabled.

Custom Input Fields

The Custom Input Field screen is where you define additional input fields that should be presented to the user before starting the interactive audit. Custom fields will appear on the Inventory Analyzer splash screen, in a separate section. The default caption of the section is Additional Information. You can customize the caption as needed.

The data entered by the user will be saved in the audit snapshot.

In order to have a custom input field available when configuring Audit Profiles, you must first add this field using the Settings app.

INFO: For details, see Administration Guide: Configuring Custom Input Fields.

Execution Options

These options provides an additional control over the audit process.

Bypass Rules

The main automation scenario for the Network Folder Audit, Remote Audit (FTP delivery), and the Remote Audit (email delivery) involves triggering the audit automatically when a user logs on the network. Besides regular users, computers can be accessed by the system administrator or by technicians performing maintenance. In such situations, you wouldn't want the audit to run. Using bypass rules you can exclude such accounts from the audit.

NOTE: Bypass rules are applicable only for Windows computers and affect only the Network Folder Audit, Remote Audit (FTP delivery), and Remote Audit (email delivery) methods. These rules are ignored in the Direct Network Scan and Portable Audit methods. For details, see Overview of Audit Methods.