Use hardware inventory in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager to collect information about the hardware configuration of client devices in your organization. To collect hardware inventory, the Enable hardware inventory on clients setting must be enabled in client settings.
After hardware inventory is enabled and a hardware inventory cycle is run by the client, the client sends the inventory information that it has collected to a management point in the client’s site. The management point then forwards the inventory information to the Configuration Manager site server which stores the inventory information in the site database. Hardware inventory runs on clients according to the schedule that you specify in client settings.
You can use several methods to view the hardware inventory data that System Center 2012 Configuration Manager collects. These include the following:
- Create queries that return devices that are
based on a specific hardware configuration. For more information,
see Queries in
Configuration Manager.
- Create query-based collections that are based
on a specific hardware configuration. Query-based collection
memberships automatically update on a schedule. You can use
collections for several tasks, which include software deployment.
For more information, see Collections in
Configuration Manager.
- Run reports that display specific details
about hardware configurations in your organization. For more
information, see Reporting in
Configuration Manager.
- Use Resource Explorer to view detailed
information about the hardware inventory that is collected from
client devices. For more information, see How to Use Resource
Explorer to View Hardware Inventory in Configuration
Manager.
When hardware inventory runs on a client device, the first inventory data that the client returns is always a full inventory. Subsequent inventory information contains only delta inventory information. The site server processes delta inventory information in the order in which it is received. If delta inventory information for a client is missing, the site server rejects additional delta inventory information and instructs the client to run a full inventory cycle.
Configuration Manager provides limited support for dual-boot computers. Configuration Manager can discover dual-boot computers but only returns inventory information from the operating system that was active at the time the inventory cycle ran.
 Note |
|---|
| For Configuration Manager SP1 only: For information about how to use hardware inventory with clients that run Linux and UNIX, see Hardware Inventory for Linux and UNIX in Configuration Manager. |
Extending Configuration Manager
Hardware Inventory
In addition to the built-in hardware inventory in Configuration Manager, you can also use one of the following methods to extend hardware inventory to collect additional information:
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
|
Add and remove inventory classes from the Configuration Manager console |
In System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, you can enable, disable, add and remove inventory classes for hardware inventory from the Configuration Manager console. |
|
NOIDMIF files |
Use NOIDMIF files to collect information about client devices that cannot be inventoried by Configuration Manager. For example, you might want to collect device asset number information that exists only as a label on the device. NOIDMIF inventory is automatically associated with the client device that it was collected from. |
|
IDMIF files |
Use IDMIF files to collect information about assets in your organization that are not associated with a Configuration Manager client, for example, projectors, photocopiers and network printers. |
For more information about using these methods to extend Configuration Manager hardware inventory, see How to Extend Hardware Inventory in Configuration Manager.