Sccm Software Inventory Process
Applies to: System Center Configuration Manager (Current Branch)
This procedure configures the default client settings for software inventory and applies to all the computers in your hierarchy. If you want to apply these settings to only some computers, create a custom device client setting and assign it to a collection. For more information about how to create custom device settings, see How to configure client settings in System Center Configuration Manager.
To configure software inventory
- We will also learn how to Configure Software Inventory in SCCM. You use software inventory to collect information about files on client devices. It can be a specific file, files with specific extension or all files on the computer. In addition software inventory can also collect files from client devices and store them on the site server.
- Knowing what hardware and software you have out there in the wild is tough, and keeping it up to date is even harder. System Center allows the usage of hardware and software inventories to keep.
- Jan 31, 2011 Software Inventory Rule information (what an administrator has configured SCCM to inventory) is stored within the same namespace of WMI (RootCCMPolicyMachine) Each rule is stored in an instance of this class.
- BADMIF Processing - When a client doesn't report hardware inventory Microsoft Systems Management Server (SCCM) is an enterprise management infrastructure that is used for Asset Inventory, Software Distribution, Patch Management, System Configuration, and more. The SCCM product works in such a manner that the clients process policies that the.
In the Configuration Manager console, choose Administration > Client SettingsDefault Client Settings.
On the Home tab, in the Properties group, choose Properties.
In the Default Settings dialog box, choose Software Inventory.
In the Device Settings list, configure the following values:
Enable software inventory on clients - From the drop-down list, select True.
Schedule software inventory and file collection schedule - Configures the interval at which clients collect software inventory and files.
Configure the client settings that you require. The Software inventory section of the About client settings in System Center Configuration Manager article has a list of the client settings.
Client computers will be configured with these settings when they next download client policy. To initiate policy retrieval for a single client, see How to manage clients in System Center Configuration Manager.
Tip
Error code 80041006 in inventoryprovider.log means the WMI provider is out of memory. That is, the memory quota limit for a provider has been hit and inventory provider cannot continue.In this case, the inventory agent creates a report with 0 entries so no inventory items are reported.
A possible solution for this error would be to reduce the scope of the software inventory collection. In circumstances when the error occurs after limiting the inventory scope, increasing the MemoryPerHost property defined in the _ProviderHostQuotaConfiguration class can provide a solution.
What is SCCM software inventory? In general, software inventory management refers to the practice of keeping a record of all software and applications used within an IT environment. It is a part of the overarching IT asset management process that enables admins to track their software by type, size.
To exclude folders from software inventory
Using Notepad.exe, create an empty file named Skpswi.dat.
Right-click the Skpswi.dat file and click Properties. In the file properties for the Skpswi.dat file, select the Hidden attribute.
Place the Skpswi.dat file at the root of each client hard drive or folder structure that you want to exclude from software inventory.
Hairline concrete crack sealer. Note
Software inventory will not inventory the client drive again unless this file is deleted from the drive on the client computer.
I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve recommended to someone that they turn off System Center Configuration Manager’s (SCCM) Software Inventory! Issues with SCCM Software Inventory (SW Inv) come up all the time across many of the forums and mailing lists on which I am active. I always point folks back to my blog posts to explain why I am telling them to turn it off: Slow Software Inventory Cycle in SCCM 2012, Configuration Manager Inventory Cycle Recommendations and Updated – Troubleshoot ConfigMgr Hardware Inventory Issues. Yes, that last blog post is about hardware inventory, but for troubleshooting SW Inv issues it works fine too.
SCCM Software Inventory shouldn’t be called SCCM Software Inventory at all. Instead, it should be called SCCM File Inventory as it actually only collects file header details. Inevitably, a new SCCM admin will enable it and add either *.* or *.exe; in either case, this is bad news. When this happens it is almost always done in a manner that results in poor performance on ConfigMgr clients. What do I mean? Think about how much work the ConfigMgr client has to do in order to collect this information. SW Inv is generally set up to inventory all folders and all hard drives. That’s a lot of work.
Don’t take only my word for it. A LARGE number of MVPs, if not all, tell people to use Configuration Items (CIs) instead of SW Inv to look for a single file. However, CIs are a bit harder to setup whereas enabling SW Inv and adding *.* or *.exe seems easier. There are resources, however, to help you out with CIs. For example, I put together detailed instructions on how to create a CI in this blog post set: Create a Configuration Item to Ensure that the No_SMS_On_Drive.SMS File is on All Site Servers.
If you are still intent on using SW Inv, despite my recommendation, then read on as I will show you the proper way to set it up correctly.
How to Setup SCCM Software Inventory
In this example, I will ONLY inventory iexplore.exe (also known as Internet Explorer) within BOTH %ProgramFiles%Internet Explorer and %ProgramFiles(x86)%Internet Explorer.
Start by opening the Configuration Manager console, select the Administration node and then Client Settings.
Right-click on Default Client Settings, and then click on Properties.
In the Default Settings, select the Software Inventory node. Now, click on the Schedule… button.
In the Configure Client Setting window, change the Run every option to 14 days and then click on the OK button to accept the new setting.
Back in the Default Settings window, click on the Set Types… button.
Sccm Software Inventory Process Template
In the Configure Client Setting window, click on the new () button.
In the Inventoried File Properties window, enter iexplore.exe in the file name text box. Next click on the Set… button.
In the Path Properties window, select the Variable or path name option. In the text box, enter %ProgramFiles%Internet Explorer. Next deselect the Search subfolders checkbox before clicking on the OK button twice.
Repeat the process again to add a second iexplore.exe within the %ProgramFiles(x86)%Internet Explorer folder. Your results should look similar to the above screenshot. Click on the OK button to apply these settings.
Software Inventory Tool
Back on the Default Settings window, click OK to apply all changes.
Now all of your clients will be using the most efficient way possible to return results for iexplore.exe with SCCM Software Inventory. It will still take some time to collect the SW Inv results. This can range anywhere from four hours (see Slow Software Inventory Cycle in SCCM 2012 and CMCB) to 44-minutes when clients are using the more efficient process (see How Do You Determine the Length of a Software Inventory Scan Cycle?).
If you have any questions about how to setup SCCM Software Inventory, please feel free to contact me @GarthMJ.