Heartbeat Discovery differs from other Configuration Manager 2007 discovery methods because, by default, it is enabled, and it does not discover new resources. When Heartbeat Discovery runs according to the Heartbeat Discovery schedule or when it is initiated from the client, the client sends information to its assigned management point. This action refreshes the client record in the database and enables the client to maintain an active status in the Configuration Manager 2007 database. Without this action, the client record might be aged out or deleted from the database by a site maintenance task.

If the client record is deleted, for example, as a result of a site maintenance task or if you delete the client from the console, Heartbeat Discovery from an active client re-actives the old database record for the client.

Note
Heartbeat Discovery is the only discovery method that provides details about the client installation status by updating a system resource client attribute with the value Yes. To send the Heartbeat Discovery record, the client computer must be able to contact its assigned management point.

The default schedule for Heartbeat Discovery is set to every 7 days. If you change the heartbeat discovery interval, ensure that it runs more frequently than the site maintenance task Delete Aged Discovery Data, which deletes inactive client records from the site database.

For information about how to configure Heartbeat Discovery, see How to Configure Heartbeat Discovery.

Heartbeat Discovery actions are recorded on the client in the InventoryAgent.log in the %Windir%\System32\CCM\Logs folder or the %Windir%\SysWOW64\CCM\Logs.

See Also