Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Inventory collection runs automatically based on the schedule you configure. The key
phases in the inventory collection process are as follows:
1.
Inventory agents create inventory data files that contain the collected data.
2.
Client sends inventory data files to the management point.
3.
Management point forwards data to the site server.
4.
Update the site database. Configuration Manager updates the database.
5.
Replicate to the central administration site.
The primary site servers add the inventory data to the Configuration Manager site
database. The site database stores hardware inventory history for each client. Configuration
Manager retains only the current software inventory data for each client and does not store
historical data. Inventory data is site data, and site data will not replicate to any other primary
sites in the hierarchy, only to the central site.
MORE INFO
INVENTORY COLLECTION
You can learn more about inventory collection at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library
The Configuration Manager hardware inventory agent discovers information about comput-
ers by querying the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) database on the client
computer. The hardware inventory agent is enabled by default and runs every seven days.
By default, hardware inventory has a built-in random delay, which ranges from 60 to 240
minutes. This helps alleviate contention issues for specific scenarios, such as Virtual Desktop
Infrastructure (VDI) environments.
WMI is the Microsoft implementation of Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM).
WBEM allows access to data from a variety of underlying technologies, including the Win32
class, WMI, the Desktop Management Interface (DMI), and the Simple Network Management
Protocol (SNMP). WBEM is based on the Common Information Model (CIM) schema. WMI
uses Managed Object Format (MOF) files to determine what information to load into the CIM
repository. WMI can also use providers to access the CIM repository.
Clients running OS X, Linux, or UNIX use an open source Open Management Infrastructure
(OMI) implementation of the CIM and WBEM standards to gather hardware inventory infor-
mation. OMI includes rules for gathering information about installed applications because it is
not possible to obtain this information through a software inventory.
With Configuration Manager 2007, you used the SMS_DEF.MOF file to customize hardware
inventory classes. With Configuration Manager 2012 and Configuration Manager 2012 R2,
you customize the hardware inventory classes that the hardware inventory agent collects by
modifying the hardware inventory client settings.
