These questions were raised during IT Asset Management Training. Learn more about IT Asset Management here.
FAQ's
How to ensure that inventory scan runs smoothly in all systems? Ensure that inbound connection from port 8020 (http) or 8383 (https) is unblocked, DCOM settings are enabled, force Guest, UAC and Remote UAC are disabled, WMI is configured properly in client machines for smooth scanning to happen.
Why do I need to manage the licenses of free software like SQL 2014 express edition? It is not about managing the licenses, it is about managing the installations. If you have the licences, you can link them and manage with ease.
When will the metered software data be updated in the Endpoint Central server? When a rule is created to meter a software usage, it is applied during the subsequent agent-server contact. The software metering report will be generated after 24 hrs from the time of creating the rule. To know more on how to create a metering rule, refer this document.
What is the use of "Disable Rule" in software metering? You can choose to disable the rule if you no longer want to measure the software usage. However, it is temporary, if needed you can enable the rule again.
Do I need to delete the existing licenses to add the new ones? No, it is not required. You can click on the "Add more" option is the existing license details and add the new licenses.
Does Endpoint Central support Cloud based licensing?The product does not support this feature at the moment, however it is in our roadmap.
What will happen, if the computer is at sleep during the refresh cycle? Will Endpoint Central server wake up those computers?During the 90 minute refresh cycle, only computers that are active in the network will contact the Endpoint Central server, which means the communication will not be established from Endpoint Central, if a computer is inactive, the computer will contact the product server using the subsequent refresh cyle/user logon.
Where can I find the Hash value of any Application?The product will automatically fetch the hash value for the respective application.
I have set up a prohibited software list. I would this software to automatically be uninstalled. When I check the auto-uninstall status, it shows that the SILENT uninstall option is unavailable. How can I fix this?If the installed application is a MSI package then Endpoint Central can automatically un-install it. However, in the case of EXE there is no standard method to initiate the un-install. So, it is mandatory to provide the un-install string for the operation. Alternatively, you can check the product forums, blogs or contact the vendor for the more details on this.
What is the difference between "Managed Installations" and "Network Installations"? I find two different numbers against software installation count under Inventory. How does it work? Software which is installed in the computers that are being managed by Endpoint Central is called as "Network Installation" and software which are installed on computers, which fall within the scope of a technician is called as "Managed Installation".
How do I integrate Endpoint Central with ServiceDesk Plus?Endpoint Central with ServiceDesk Plus is a simple integration with few steps to follow. Follow the steps given in the document for a quick Integration. Integration of Endpoint Central with ServiceDesk Plus
Is it possible to assign a "user account" to a machine in Endpoint Central, such as "This user is assigned to this asset" and can this information be shared with ManageEngine ServiceDesk?Endpoint Central can discover the Asset Information along with the currently logged-on user details. However, associating a user to a computer is done through the ServiceDesk Plus integration. The scanned inventory data is pushed to ServiceDesk Plus and the relationship mapping is maintained.
We are running ServiceDesk, when do you use Endpoint Central vs. service desk plus for example should you do software licensing in Endpoint Central or service desk?You can use Endpoint Central to manage software licenses. This will allow you to perform various operations like Software Metering, Group Software, which will help you manage licenses effectively. To know more about integrating Endpoint Central with ServiceDesk Plus, refer this guide
Do we need to Install Both Asset Explorer agent and Endpoint Central Agent in all systems? We are having Service desk Plus with System tool plugin. You do not need Asset Explorer agents. Since you have Endpoint Central already in your network, I would recommend you to have Endpoint Central Agent on the clients. This would help you to get inventory and other features of Endpoint Central on the clients, at the same time integration ensures the inventory data is pushed to the ServiceDesk Plus
With adding or managing software licenses, I have ran into issues with tracking the license count. Some of the software like MS Office consists of several versions. Is there any way to consolidate all these software versions using Endpoint Central and allocate the licenses in one place? Yes, you can group the software based on versions. "Group Software" is the feature which allows you to group different versions of same software for better visibility and license management.
If a software is rejected as prohibited software, when a user asks for permission to use it, and the permission is granted, can that rejection be revoked in the application? If a software was rejected, then the software would be removed from the target computer during the next 90 minutes refresh cycle. However, if the admin again approves it, it can be reinstalled and won't be removed. Lets imagine there is a delay in approval. So, it would be automatically uninstalled if it was not approved till the given threshold day count. If the uninstall threshold is yet to reach then the software would be available.
When you add a program to the prohibited software list, does it take all the version of the software into account? Do I need to update the prohibited software list every time a new version is released?If the new version of program is automatically upgraded then it is not required to add the new version into prohibited list. Else, you will have to add it manually. It also provides a great way to have software version control in the network by not allowing other versions of same software.
If the software that you want to be prohibited is not already on your network, how can I block it using Endpoint Central?You can use "Block Executable", to block the application/software in a pro-active manner. However, the product positions this feature as a procedure to block non-standard executable which are used in your network, It would help you to prevent your network from data leak and other security threats.
If I want to disable office 2013 what about 'outlook' as everyone uses outlook for as their business mails?You can choose to disable specific applications using the 'Block executable'. This allows you to block only the specific required application. For example, if, you want to block Microsoft Excel you need to do it by mentioning its specific name, excel.exe. This doesn't prevent you from using word.exe. Similarly, Outlook continuous to work unless it is specifically blocked.
To receive alerts on new installed USB Flash drives should I enable alerting for USB Controller, USB Hubs, or something else?The USB alerts are actually available in the DB, however they are not ready to send as a notification. Technical support team can give you a 'Custom Query' to get this as a report which you can schedule as a notification email.
Can you add off-network computers that would not have an agent installed?Endpoint Central agent is responsible for inventory data population and actions performed on the computers. Endpoint Central doesn't support manual addition of computers in inventory.
what could be the reason where inventory data not seen?There could be many reasons for this, If the Endpoint Central agent is not available you won't be able to scan thus cannot see the inventory data. Agent to server communication is important for the data to be updated. If this is blocked then you might not see the inventory data. If the Server is very busy the scanned inventory data would be available in the queue, not seen. However, after a while it would be automatically updated.
You can contact support for assistance if you are encountering problem.
Is there any way we can add custom fields and populate the information for each computer? so that we can better manager our computer's inventory?Endpoint Central supports custom fields. You can have these fields for computers and software. This can also be used to add custom data in bulk under inventory from the web console -> Inventory -> Computers -> Feed custom data.
The computer by age report will list all years based on BIOS date. Is there a way to specify a date range? You can use the Custom Reports -> Hardware and use 'BIOS release date' option for criteria to define and the date by range.
what data is used to determine that a computer's warranty has expired?The product actually takes the service tag and serial number and checks it with the vendor website to update the warranty. This document will give you more insight on the process of fetching warranty details
Back on the Inventory Report of Computers without specific software, how to specify filter criteria and schedule them?You can do this from, Reports -> Schedule Report -> Report Category - Inventory Reports -> Available Reports - Computers with/without specific software, click on the '+' symbol for the criteria to be defined. Once done configure report and delivery format, specify the frequency for report generation.
Is there a time-frame around supporting more features for enterprise versions of Linux like Centos/Red-hat? Endpoint Central allows you to manage various flavors of Linux. To know the detailed list of Linux OS and supported features, refer to our Linux OS Comparison matrix
Does Endpoint Central 9 detect what software is installed on each machine, and detect if it's licensed? Does Endpoint Central have the ability to detect what the product key for each software license?Yes, Endpoint Central is capable of detecting the software, which are installed on each computer. License detection will work, only if the software is installed using Endpoint Central, if the software is not installed using Endpoint Central, you will have to manually feed the license data for management.
Is there a way to get reports of system users/groups for mac machines?Yes, You can generate these reports from, Inventory -> Inventory Reports- > Hardware Reports -> Computers by OS and System Group User.
