Use the following steps to configure System Center 2012 Configuration Manager hardware inventory for your site.

This procedure configures the default client settings for hardware inventory and will apply to all the clients in your hierarchy. If you want these settings to apply to only some clients, create a custom device client setting and assign it to a collection that contains the devices that you want to use hardware inventory. For more information about how to create custom device settings, see How to Configure Client Settings in Configuration Manager.

Note
If a client device receives hardware inventory settings from multiple sets of client settings, then the hardware inventory classes from each set of settings will be merged when the client reports hardware inventory.

To configure hardware inventory

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, click Administration.

  2. In the Administration workspace, click Client Settings.

  3. Click Default Client Settings.

  4. On the Home tab, in the Properties group, click Properties.

  5. In the Default Settings dialog box, click Hardware Inventory.

  6. In the Device Settings list, configure the following:

    • Enable hardware inventory on clients - From the drop-down list, select True.

    • Hardware inventory schedule – Specify the interval at which clients collect hardware inventory. Use the default value of 7 days or click Schedule to configure a custom interval.

  7. Configure any other client settings that you require. For a list of hardware inventory client settings that you can configure, see the Hardware Inventory section in the About Client Settings in Configuration Manager topic.

  8. Click OK to close the Default Settings dialog box.

Client devices will be configured with these settings when they next download client policy. To initiate policy retrieval for a single client, see the Initiate Policy Retrieval for a Configuration Manager Client section in the How to Manage Clients in Configuration Manager topic.

See Also