Inventory Scan

Inventory scan is the automated process of discovering and collecting information about all hardware, software, and digital assets across the managed endpoints in your network. It provides IT administrators with real-time visibility into their organization's asset landscape, helping them maintain compliance, and streamline troubleshooting and audits.

The inventory scan process is initiated automatically in an end-user's machine once the Endpoint Central MSP Agent is installed. This scan collects all the asset data from the Agent and it posts this data to the Central Server for processing and management. Inventory scan is initiated automatically when any software or hardware changes are detected in the end-user's machine. In addition, an Inventory scan is performed automatically each time a user logs into his/her computer to collect user specific details.

For immediate audit or troubleshooting, you can initiate an on demand scan to immediately scan your end-user machines to retrieve the necessary asset data. If you want to collect and maintain up-to date asset data beyond software and hardware asset such as certificates, shares, driver information or services running in the background, you can configure a schedule scan to collect this asset data periodically.

Types of Inventory Scan

The following types of Inventory scans are initiated in Endpoint Central MSP to collect asset details from your end-machines:

• Agent Initial Scan
• Automated Software Scan
• Automated Hardware Scan
• Automated Core Properties Scan
• On Demand Scan
• Schedule Scan
• User Initiated Scan
• Fail-safe Scan

How Inventory Scan Works?

Automated Scan

Automated Software Scan

This scan will be triggered automatically in the end-user machine whenever any software installation, uninstallation, or upgradation is detected by the Endpoint Central MSP Agent. The detected software changes are posted to the server within the next 12 minutes.

Automated Hardware Scan

This scan will be triggered automatically in the end-user machine whenever any hardware changes, such as the removal of hardware, a new hardware connection is detected by the Endpoint Central MSP agent. This details of hardware changes will be posted to the Central server after the end-user machines are restarted.

Automated Dynamic Computer Properties Scan

This scan will be triggered automatically in the end-user machine whenever any dynamic computer properties changes are detected by the Endpoint Central MSP agent. This details of the core properties will be posted to the server immediately after the detection. The dynamic computer properties data includes, IP address, MAC address, Operating System, Domain Name, Computer Name, and Logged on User details.

On Demand Scan

This scan is manually initiated by the Administrator from the Endpoint Central MSP console. The Endpoint Central MSP agent starts the inventory scan and posts the asset data to the Central server; the Central server updates the inventory details.

Select the scan for the required refresh

Use On Demand Scan to refresh inventory details immediately for selected computers. Use a Schedule Scan to collect asset data automatically at the configured interval, including attributes such as certificates, shares, drivers, and services.

For software installed in a user account, have the affected user sign in so that User Login Scan can refresh that user's software inventory, or have the user initiate a scan from the Agent Tray Icon.

To initiate an On Demand Scan, in the  Endpoint Central MSP console navigate to Inventory > Actions/Settings > Scan Systems. To scan specific computers, select one or more computers from the list and click the Scan System button located in the top-left corner.

Details Fetched in Inventory Scan

• Installed Software details
• Hardware details, including the device Serial Number
• Operating System
• Computer Name
• Logged-in User details
• IP Address
• MAC Address
• Domain details
• Antivirus details
• Encryption details. BitLocker status is detected and reflected during the next Inventory scan. To verify the reported state, see BitLocker FAQ for status verification.
• Firewall
• Local Users and Groups
• Driver details
• Certificates
• Shares
• Services
• File details

Prerequisites for Inventory Scan

Here is a list of considerations that needs to be checked before initiating an inventory scan.

• The target machines must be managed by Endpoint Central MSP. To know more about onboarding machines, refer this page.
• Ensure that DCOM and WMI service is enabled in the target machines. To enable DCOM, follow the given steps:

Inventory Scan Best Practices

1. Trigger on-demand scans for specific needs such as getting the software or hardware data for immediate audit purpose, to avoid scalability issues and performance bottlenecks.
2. Avoid selecting many endpoints for simultaneous on-demand scans, as this can overwhelm the Central server due to bulk data uploads.
3. For large environments, consider dividing endpoints into smaller groups and scanning them in intervals to reduce server load.
4. Ensure agents are online and reachable before initiating scans to avoid scan failures or delays.
5. Use the Endpoint Central MSP console to track scan status and avoid repeated attempts if a scan is already in progress.

Inventory Scan Troubleshooting Tips

1. If the targeted machine is not available under Scan Systems view, ensure it is added to the Scope of Management (SoM).
2. Endpoint Central MSP agent is required to carry out this process. Check if there is any error in the agent. You can troubleshoot the agent automatically using the built-in troubleshooting tool. If the Remarks column displays Agent Version is incompatible, see Agent Version Incompatible.
3. If you encounter an error stating that the WMI Service is not running, start the WMI Service on the system and attempt the scanning process again.
4. If an application uninstalled through Endpoint Central MSP continues to appear in inventory, check whether the computer is listed under Software Uninstallation Failed in the Attention Required view. For details, see Audit and Eliminate High Risk Software.
5. In case you receive an error stating that Asset Scanning is locked, please contact msp-endpointcentral-support@manageengine.com.
6. If DCOM is not enabled, enable DCOM and retry the scanning process.