You can use Configuration Manager 2007 to collect hardware and software inventory from Configuration Manager 2007 clients by enabling the client agents on a site-by-site basis.
When the hardware inventory client agent is enabled for Configuration Manager 2007 sites, hardware inventory data gives you system information (such as available disk space, processor type, and operating system) about each computer. When the software inventory client agent is enabled, you can inventory information such as inventoried file types and versions present on client computers. The software inventory client agent can also collect information about files inventoried on client systems. Configuration Manager 2007 software inventory can also collect files, not just details about the files, from client computers. With file collection, you specify a set of files to be copied from clients to the Configuration Manager 2007 site server that the clients are assigned to.
When enabled, the inventory client inventory agents create an inventory report based on the client inventory information collected and send it to the client's management point. The management point then forwards the inventory information to the Configuration Manager site server, which stores the inventory information in the site database.
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| For information about using the Configuration Manager 2007 Software Development Kit to script and develop software for this feature, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=129525. |
You can employ several Configuration Manager 2007 features to use the data collected by using hardware inventory and software inventory. For example:
- You can build queries that include computers
based on their hardware configuration or installed software. The
queries are useful to technical analysts and others who want to
proactively prevent problems by checking for computers with
configuration problems, such as insufficient disk space.
- You can build collections with queries that
include computers based on their hardware configuration or
installed software. Those collections can then be used to advertise
software packages to computers that require the software and are
capable of supporting it.
- You can produce reports that display useful
hardware configuration or installed software details. The reports
are useful to managers, systems analysts, and others who need to
make decisions based on information about the current computer
infrastructure.
- You can use Resource Explorer to view the
complete inventory data for individual computers. This view of
individual computers is especially useful when remotely
troubleshooting computer problems.
When either the hardware inventory client agent or software inventory client agent inventories a client system, the first inventory report returned will always be a full inventory. Subsequent inventory reports, created according to the inventory schedule set for the inventory agent in the client agent properties, will contain only delta, or changed, inventory information. Delta inventory reports, for both hardware and software inventory, are processed in the order in which they are received by the site server. If a delta inventory report for a client is missing or out of order, it will be rejected by the site server and a full inventory report will be requested the next time the client performs an inventory action.
Configuration Manager 2007 provides limited support for clients that switch between multiple operating systems. Configuration Manager 2007 can discover a client in multiple boot states (for example, when it boots as Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional and when it boots as Windows XP Professional) and install the Configuration Manager 2007 client software on all discovered states. However, inventory that is collected from multiple-boot clients will only reflect the information from the operating system that was running at the time that inventory was taken.