Glossary
Canonical AlloyScan terminology, alphabetical. Definitions are cross-linked to deeper pages where they exist.
A
Active tasks — Currently running background operations (scan, audit, or other). Listed at Admin Center > Site Settings > Tasks and services > Active tasks, where they can be cancelled.
Admin Center — The administration area of AlloyScan, split into two tabs: App management (instance-global) and Site Settings (current site).
Alloy Integration Launcher — A local client utility that AlloyScan starts on the invoker's workstation when an administrator or user invokes a Tool such as Remote Desktop, VNC, or PowerShell.
AlloyScan — Product name (one word). Network inventory and audit platform from Alloy Software. Replaces the legacy product Alloy Discovery.
App registration — A REST API client definition used for machine-to-machine authentication. Holds a Name, Client ID, Client secret, Expiration date, and Enabled toggle. Lives at Admin Center > Site Settings > IAM > App registrations.
Audit — Detailed collection performed against a selected device. Gathers hardware, software, and configuration data. Consumes audit quota. Produces an Audit Snapshot.
Audit Agent — Lightweight service installed on an individual endpoint (Windows, macOS, or Linux). Pushes audit data to AlloyScan over outbound HTTPS on TCP port 443.
Audit log — Per-site log of audit operations run, scheduled or manual. Each entry is identified by a Task number (Audit #NNNNN).
Audit schedule — Recurring plan to run an Audit on selected devices. A device can hold a maximum of one Audit schedule.
Audit Service — Lightweight Windows service installed inside a network. Performs agentless scan and audit. Holds an encrypted credentials pool.
Audit Snapshot — JSON file capturing a device's full audit data at a point in time. Identified by per-snapshot Audit ID (UUID). Stored locally and optionally offloaded to S3-compatible storage.
Audit source — Attribute on a snapshot recording which Service, Agent, Import, or Manual origin produced it.
C
Change history — Per-device tab showing accumulated change events. Populated only while Change tracking is on for the Site.
Change log — Per-site and global admin log recording configuration changes (not inventory changes) — who Added, Modified, or Deleted which entity and when.
Change tracking — Per-site feature that toggles recording of device attribute changes. Has seven categories — General, System, Security, User accounts, AWS assets, Azure assets, Custom audit fields — and configurable retention (6 months to 5 years).
Credential — Typed secret record on an Audit Service. Seven types: Windows, Linux and macOS, Hypervisor, SNMP, AWS, Azure, Google. Encrypted; per documentation, never leaves the local network.
Credentials pool — Collection of Credential records attached to an Audit Service.
Custom audit field — Per-Site, user-defined field per device type. Filled via native audit collection, PowerShell script (Windows), or SNMP OID.
D
Dashboard — The Site landing page. Shows fifteen fixed widgets. Clicking a widget slice or counter drills into a pre-filtered Inventory grid or log.
Device — Inventory entity. Types include Windows, macOS, and Linux computers; Hypervisors; Hosted hypervisors; SNMP devices (Printer, Switch, Other); Cloud resources (EC2, AMI, S3, VPC, and others).
I
Ignore List — Per-Segment list of devices excluded from Scan results, by NetBIOS name, DNS name, MAC address, or IP address.
Instance — A running AlloyScan deployment, SaaS or on-premise. Contains one License and many Sites.
Inventory — Collection of all audited devices for a Site, organised hierarchically by type (Devices, AWS, Azure, Google sections).
L
License Information — Global-admin page showing Serial number, Expiration date, Organization, contact User, and Discovery quotas (Unlimited or numeric).
Limits and usage — Per-site page showing configured Max caps versus actual usage. Includes monthly recharge for Audits and API transactions.
M
Manage Your Account — Per-user profile page (cross-site). Includes General, Settings, and Regional formats.
Manufacturer — Global vendor registry entry with Name, URL, Type pill, and Keywords. Used to normalise vendor strings returned by audits. Lives at Admin Center > App management > Resources > Manufacturers.
Multi-site reports — Global-admin reports that span multiple Sites.
N
Network Map — Per-switch topology diagram. Accessed through Inventory > SNMP devices > Switches > (switch) > Network interfaces > Show as map. Exports to PDF or PNG; supports a floor-plan background.
Notifications log — Per-site and global log of email notifications queued and sent.
P
Printer supplies — SNMP-printer subtab on the device form. Shows level bars for CMYK and Waste Toner.
Q
Quick search / Command Palette — Global search box in the header, opened by the / keyboard shortcut.
R
Report — Document template. Seventeen built-in templates ship; New and Upload actions support custom templates. The viewer has PREVIEW and DESIGN modes.
S
Scan — Quick discovery pass on a Segment. Collects basic identification (name, IP, MAC, OS). Does not consume audit quota.
Scan log — Per-site log of scan operations run. Each entry is identified by a Task number (Scan #NNN); the Scan counter is independent of the Audit counter.
Scan result — Output of a Scan: list of discovered devices with basic attributes plus a Ready for audit indicator.
Scan schedule — Recurring plan to run a Scan on one or many Segments. Daily, Weekly, or Monthly granularity per public documentation.
Security log — Per-site and global admin log recording authentication and platform security events.
Segment — Logical unit of infrastructure scanned and audited. Five types: Address list, Domain (Active Directory), AWS, Azure, Google. The cloud types are in Preview.
Site — A tenant within an Instance. Has its own slug, users, inventory, segments, schedules, reports, and logs.
Site slug — The part of a URL that identifies a Site (for example agent in /agent/...).
Site switcher — Header control that lets a user switch between Sites they have access to.
Site template — Global defaults (notification templates, reports, change tracking, tools, snapshot storage) seeded into each new Site at creation. Lives under Admin Center > App management > Site template.
Snapshot storage — Optional per-Site configuration to offload audit snapshots (JSON) to an external S3-compatible bucket.
Software — Top-level menu. The Software-product catalog with By name and By name and version views. Supports a Software group classification of Required, Forbidden, or Regular.
SSO provider — Configurable identity provider for web login. Microsoft and Google are supported.
T
Tag — Site-scoped label applied to a device. Coloured pill. Manual or auto-applied per Segment or per Audit Agent.
Task — A scan or audit operation. Has Start date, Scope, Initiator, and Status.
Tools — Remote-administration utilities. Fourteen built-in tools plus custom entries. Executed through the Alloy Integration Launcher on the invoker's local workstation.
U
User — Either (a) a generic AlloyScan account holder, or (b) the read-oriented out-of-the-box role.