Displaying Inventory Information

The following sections will help you configure the Inventory database to display inventory information and explain the various types of information you can view:


Configuring the Inventory Database

If you want to view the inventory information of the database from ConsoleOne, you must configure the database. The inventory information from the Inventory database that you configure will be used for generating inventory reports, viewing inventory information, and for querying the inventory information from the database.

To configure the Inventory database:

  1. In ConsoleOne, click a container.

  2. Click Tools > Configure DB.

  3. Select an existing ZENworks Database object from the list of Database objects.

    This Database object contains the database settings such as the protocol, port in use by the database, and others.

  4. Click OK.

The database you configured is used for data retrieval unless you change it again using this same procedure.


Viewing the Workstation Inventory Summary of a Managed Workstation

ZfD provides the following inventory information collected from the managed workstations:

Scan Data Group Scan Data Item Description

HardwareSoftware Inventory > General

Asset Tag

Asset tag number that the ROM-based setup program creates

 

Computer Model

Identifying information of the computer; for example, Compaq*, Dell*, and others.

 

Computer Type

Type of computer, such as IBM* PC, and others

 

Machine Name

DNS name of the workstation

 

ModelNumber

Serial number value for the computer, assigned during manufacture

 

Primary Owner Contact

The phone number of the primary user of this system

 

Primary Owner Name

The name of the primary user or owner of this system

HardwareSoftware Inventory > General > Login Details

Current login user

User logged in to the Primary Novell® eDirectoryTM tree when the workstation was scanned

 

Last login user

User logged in last to the Primary eDirectory tree when the workstation was scanned

Software > Software Vendors

Software Vendor Name

Name of the software manufacturer

 

Name

Name of the software application

 

Version

Version of the software

Software > Operating System

Code Page

Language Code Page of the operating system

 

Description

Operating system description

 

Install Date

Install date of the operating system

 

Name

Operating system name. For example, Windows* 95/Windows 2000

 

Size Stored in Paging Files

Page file size

 

Version

Version of the operating system

Software > Inventory Scan Information

Inventory Server

Name of the inventory server to which the scans are sent

 

Version

Version of the Scanner

Hardware > Mouse Driver

Name

Name of the mouse driver

 

Version

Version number of the mouse driver

Hardware > Modem

Caption

Modem label

 

Description

Additional information about the modem

 

Name

Identifying information of the modem

Hardware > Processor

Device ID

Special hexadecimal string identifying the processor type

 

Current Clock Speed (in MHz)

Current clock speed of the processor

 

Maximum Clock Speed (in MHz)

Maximum clock speed of the processor

 

Other Family Description

Additional description about the Processor Family, such as Pentium* Processor with MMX technology

 

Processor Family

Identification of the processor family such as Pentium II, Pentium III, and others

 

Processor Stepping

Single-byte code characteristic provided by microprocessor vendors to identify the processor model

 

Role

Type of processor such as central processor, math coprocessor, and others

 

Upgrade Method

The method by which this processor can be upgraded, if upgrades are supported

Hardware > BIOS

BIOS Identification Bytes

Byte in the BIOS that indicates the computer model

 

Install Date

The manufacturing date of the BIOS

 

Manufacturer

BIOS vendor name

 

Name

BIOS label

 

Primary BIOS

True state indicates Primary BIOS

 

Serial Number

Serial number of the computer, assigned during manufacture

 

Size

Size of the BIOS

 

Version

Version or revision level of the BIOS

Hardware > Bus

Protocol Supported

Bus protocol indicates PCI, ISA, and others

 

Version

Version of the bus supported by the motherboard

Hardware > Keyboard

Delay

Delay before the repeat of a key

 

Description

Description of the keyboard, such as IBM Enhanced 101 or 102 keys

 

Layout

Layout of the keyboard

 

Number of Function Keys

Total number of function keys

 

Subtype

Type of the keyboard

 

Typematic Rate

Rate of processing the keys

Hardware > Display

Current Bits Per Pixel

Number of adjacent color bits for each pixel

 

Current Horizontal Resolution

Number of horizontal pixels shown by the display

 

Current Vertical Resolution

Number of vertical pixels shown by the display

 

Description

Description of the monitor

 

Max Memory Supported

Maximum memory that the display adapter supports for VIDEO RAM

 

Max. Refresh Rate

Maximum refresh rate of the monitor for redrawing the display, measured in Hertz

 

Min. Refresh Rate

Minimum refresh rate of the monitor for redrawing the display, measured in Hertz

 

Number of Color Planes

Number of color planes supported by the video system

 

Video Architecture

The architecture of the video subsystem in this system, for example, CGA/VGA/SVGA/8514A

 

Video Memory Type

The type of video memory for this adapter, for example, VRAM/SRAM/DRAM/EDO RAM

Hardware > Adapter

Description

Adapter description

Hardware > Display > Video Driver

Install Date

The Video BIOS release date

 

Is Shadowed (True or False)

If True, the Video BIOS is currently being shadowed

 

Manufacturer

Vendor name

 

Version

The version number or version string of the Video BIOS

Hardware > Ports > Parallel Ports

Parallel Port Name

The logical name of the input-output device on this parallel port, under this operating environment

 

DMA Support (True or False)

If True, DMA is supported

 

Address

Base I/O address for this parallel port

 

IRQ

IRQ number of the parallel port

Hardware > Ports > Serial Ports

Address

Base input-output address for this serial port

 

IRQ Number

IRQ number of the serial port

 

Name

The logical name of the I/O device on this serial port, under this operating environment

Hardware > Disk > Floppy > Floppy Drive

Drive Letter

Mapped drive name of the floppy drive

Hardware > Disk > Floppy > Floppy Disk

Capacity

Floppy drive capacity

 

Description

Floppy drive description

 

Manufacturer

Vendor name

 

Physical Cylinders

Floppy drive cylinders

 

Physical Heads

Floppy drive R/W heads

 

Sectors/Track

Floppy drive sectors per track

Hardware > Hard Disk

Capacity

Hard disk capacity

 

Description

Description

 

Manufacturer

Vendor name

 

Physical Cylinders

Cylinders

 

Physical Heads

Heads

 

Sectors/Track

Hard disk drive sectors per track

Hardware > Hard Disk Logical Drive

Caption

Hard disk volume label

 

Drive Letter

Letter name of the drive

 

Size

Drive's actual size in MB

 

Free Disk Space

Drive's available space in MB

 

Volume Serial Number

Hard disk volume serial number

Hardware > Battery

Chemistry

The battery chemistry, for example, lithium-ion or nickel metal hydride

 

Design Capacity

The design capacity of the battery in mWatt-hours

 

Design Voltage

The design voltage of the battery in mVolts

 

Install Date

The battery manufacture date

 

Manufacturer

The name of the company that manufactured the battery

 

Name

Device name for this battery, for example, Duracell* DR-36

 

Serial Number

The serial number for this battery

 

Smart Battery Version

The Smart Battery Data Specification version number supported by this battery

Hardware > Memory

Total Virtual Memory Size

Indicates the total number of bytes in the virtual address space of the calling process

 

Physical Memory Size

Total physical memory of the workstation

Hardware > Sound Card > Sound Adapter

Description

Description of the multimedia component for the workstation

 

Manufacturer

Vendor name

Hardware > Multimedia Card

Description

Description of the multimedia component for the workstation

 

Manufacturer

Vendor name

 

Name

Label of Multimedia card

Hardware > Backup Disk

Description

Description of the backup device for the workstation

 

Name

Name of the backup device vendor

Hardware > Backup Disk > Logical

Drive Letter

Name of the mapped drive to the backup device

Hardware > Inventory

Physical Memory (size in KB)

Total physical memory of the workstation

Hardware Software Inventory

Primary Owner Contact

Phone number of the primary user of this system

 

Primary Owner Name

Name of the primary user or owner of this system

Hardware > Power Supply

Description

Expanded description of the input voltage capability for this power supply

 

Total Output Power (in MilliWatts)

Attribute value that represents the total output power of the power supply

Hardware > Mouse

IRQ Number

Interrupt assigned to this device

 

Name

Identifying information of the mouse

 

Number of Buttons

Number of buttons on the mouse

Hardware > CDROM

Caption

CD-ROM Label

 

Description

Description of the CD-ROM

 

Manufacturer

Vendor Name

Hardware > CD ROM > Logical Drives

Drive Letter

Drive letter used for CD drives

Hardware > Local File System

File System Type

File system associated with this partition, for example, FAT/NFS

 

Name

Name that the system uses to identify the partition, usually this is the drive letter

 

Size

Size of the partition

Hardware > Network Adapter Driver

Description

Description of the network adapter driver

 

Name

Name of the network adapter driver

 

Version

Version of the network adapter driver

Hardware > Network Adapter

Max. Speed

Rate at which the data is transferred over the LAN

 

Name

Network adapter name

 

Permanent Address

Node address stored permanently in the adapter

Network

IP Address

The unique address assigned to a computer on an IP Internet

 

Subnet Mask

The subnet mask of the workstation paired with an IP address specifies to an IP router which octets or bits in the IP address are the network ID and which octets or bits are the node ID

 

DNS Name

The DNS name of the workstation

 

IPX Address

The IPXTM address of the workstation

 

MAC Address

Unique node address permanently coded in the network adapter that identifies a specific computer on a network

Network

NetWare® Client Version

Version of the Novell ClientTM software installed on the workstation

System Information > System Cache

Associativity

Defines the system cache associativity (direct-mapped, 2-way, 4-way)

 

Cache Type

Defines the system cache type, for example, Instruction, Data, Unified

 

Capacity

Size of the data store where the cache information is kept

 

Error Methodology

Error correction scheme supported by this cache component, for example, Parity/Single Bit ECC/MultiBit ECC

 

Level

Indicates the cache level; internal cache that is built in to the microprocessors; external cache that is between the CPU and DRAM

 

Line Size

Size in bytes of a single cache bucket or line

 

Read Policy

Indicates whether the data cache is for read operation

 

Replacement Policy

Algorithm that the cache uses to determine which cache lines or buckets should be reused

 

Speed

Speed of this System Cache module in nanoseconds

 

Write Policy

Indicates the two different ways (Write-Back and Write-Through Cache) that the cache can handle to write to the memory

System Information > Motherboard

Number of Slots

The number of expansion slots in the motherboard for adding more memory, graphic capabilities, and support for special devices

 

Version

Version of the motherboard

System Information > System IRQ

IRQ Number

Number of the Interrupt Request Line (IRQ), from 0 to 15

System > System DMA

Description

Name of the logical device that is currently using this DMA channel

 

DMA Burst Mode

A data transmission mode in which data is sent faster than normal

 

DMA Channel Number

Number of the Direct Memory Access (DMA) channel that a computer uses for transferring data to and from devices quicker than from computers without a DMA channel

 

IRQ Availability

Indicates whether Virtual Direct Memory Access (DMA) is supported

System > Slot

Description

Card currently occupying this slot

 

Max Data Width

Maximum bus width of cards accepted in the slot

 

Thermal Rating

Maximum thermal dissipation of the slot in milliwatts

This window displays the data from the last inventory scan for the managed station.

For more information about the DMI/WMI data display, see Viewing the DMI/WMI Data in the Inventory Summary Information .

To view the inventory information of a managed workstation:

  1. In ConsoleOne, click Tools > Configure DB.

    For more information, see Configuring the Inventory Database .

  2. Right-click a managed workstation > click Actions > click Inventory.


Viewing the DMI/WMI Data in the Inventory Summary Information

The following list contains the DMI/WMI components that are scanned if they are instrumented and available in the DMI/WMI database on the workstation:

For more information on DMI, see the DMTF Web site.


Viewing Inventory Information of Managed Workstations by Querying the Database

Using ConsoleOne, you can query the Inventory database to display the hardware and software components of managed workstations that you want to view. The Inventory Query window displays the information satisfying the criteria you specify.

The Inventory database stores inventory data (hardware, memory, and environmental information) for each managed workstation. Querying the Inventory database helps to create groups of similar devices and to focus your reports on specific types of machines. For example, you can query the database to find machines that have an i486D processor and a VGA card.

NOTE:  If you are generating inventory reports from an Inventory database that has inventory information of more than 2,000 workstations, we recommend that you use the Data Export tool for better performance. The Data Export tool generates the inventory information in to a comma separated value (.CSV) file. Use this .CSV file along with any standard reporting tool such as Seagate* Crystal Reports.

To query the Inventory database for inventory information:

  1. In ConsoleOne, click a container.

  2. Click Tools > Configure DB.

    For more information, see Configuring the Inventory Database .

  3. Click Tools > Inventory Query.

  4. Specify the criteria for query:

    Find In: Choose a site name from the list. The query locates all workstations within the specified site satisfying the query expression.

    Search Entire Database: Check this option to include all database sites while querying. The query locates all workstations in all sites satisfying the query expression.

    Find Type: Select Quick or Advanced. Click Quick to specify a simple query. When you choose a Quick query, you specify one attribute, relational operators, and the value of the attribute. Choose Advanced query to specify many attributes. Combine multiple query groups in which each group defines a set of query criteria. For example, use the Advanced query to run a query to discover all devices in the database with 486 processors and use query connectors, and add another query to discover which of these workstations have a VGA color video adapter.

    Attributes: Select the component attributes. Attributes that you can specify to query the managed workstations are as follows:

    Operator: Form query groups that will be combined with the previous query group by using the relational operator specified between the query groups.

    Value: Description values are the possible values of an inventory component. For example, 6.0 is a possible value for the DOS-Version attribute. Description values are not case-sensitive. Use the wildcard character % to substitute any number of characters, or the ? character to substitute one character in the Value field.

    The list of description values displayed for an Inventory component is taken from the Inventory database corresponding to the component.

    Save and Load the Existing Query Files: Save the queries in a file and load the query file as required.

  5. Click Find.

    This will query based on the query criteria you specify and display the workstations that match the query in the Query Results window.

    In the Query Results window, double-click the workstation to view the inventory information of the workstation.


Viewing the Minimal Inventory Information from an NDS Object

The scanners store minimal scan data as an eDirectory Workstation object. You can view this minimal information from ConsoleOne. The Minimal Information page lists the inventory information of the scanned managed workstations.

For more information about the listed items in this page, see Mapping Between Minimal Information Attributes and Attributes in the Inventory Database .

To view the inventory information stored in eDirectory:

  1. Right-click a managed workstation that has been successfully scanned > click Properties > click the ZENworks Inventory tab > click Minimal Information.

If you click More Workstation Information in this page, the Workstation Inventory window will be displayed.


Mapping Between Minimal Information Attributes and Attributes in the Inventory Database

The following table shows the mapping between minimal information attributes and attributes in the Inventory database:

Minimal Information Inventory Database

Asset Tag

Scanned Inventory - Asset Tag

BIOS Type

Hardware - BIOS - Type

Computer Model

Scanned Inventory.Computer Model

Computer Type

Scanned Inventory.Computer Type

Disk Information

Hardware - Disk - Hard Disk - Drive Letter

IP Address

Network - IP Address

IPX Address

Network - IPX Address

Last Scan Date

Date and time when the workstation was scanned

MAC Address

Network - MAC Address

Memory Size

Hardware - Memory - Total Extended Memory

Model Number

Scanned Inventory.Model Number

NIC Type

Hardware - Network Adapter Driver - Description

Novell Client

Novell Client version

OS Type

Software - Operating Systems - OS - Name

OS.Version

Software - Operating Systems - OS - Version

Processor

Hardware - Processor

Serial Number

Workstation Serial Number

Subnet Mask

Network - Subnet Mask

Video Type

Hardware - Display - Type


Running Inventory Reports

You can run reports to gather inventory information from the Inventory database.

The inventory information is taken from the Inventory database you configure. For more information, see Configuring the Inventory Database .

Once you have configured the database, you access the hardware and software reports through the Tools menu from ConsoleOne. You can select from a predefined set of report forms to generate a report. The inventory report is displayed in the viewer window.

You can print or export the report as desired. Remember that any reports you generate will be empty if you haven't configured ZfD to start populating the Inventory database with the data you want.

Before running the inventory reports, you must configure the inventory database. See Configuring the Inventory Database . The inventory reports always use the Inventory database you configured as the data source for your reports unless you change it later as described in Configuring the Inventory Database .

To generate the inventory report:

  1. In ConsoleOne, click a server object.

  2. Click Tools > Inventory Reports.

  3. Click the report you want to generate.

    The description for the report is displayed on the right side of the screen.

    See the table with listing of simple Inventory lists and listing of the comprehensive inventory reports.

  4. Specify the selection criteria.

    For example, if you want to view the inventory information of all database sites, select the report type you want and specify % as the Database Site Name. The report will display the inventory information of any database sites within the configured Inventory database. You can also specify the database site that you want.

    Depending on the type of report you want, you can filter the information. For example, to view all workstations of a particular database site with the Windows NT operating system, you select the Workstation Operating System Listing and specify the selection criteria Operating System Type as Windows NT, Operating System Version as 3.0, and the database site.

    See the table with selection criteria for the Inventory Reports.

  5. Click Run Selected Report.

    A status box appears displaying the progress of the report generation. When the report is generated, it appears in the viewer. Use the buttons on the toolbar to page through, print, or export the report.

    The following table lists the selection criteria for the inventory reports.

Report Name Selection Criteria

Workstation Scan Time Listing

Database Site Name

Workstation Operating System Listing

Operating System Type, Operating System Version, Database Site Name

Workstation BIOS Listing

BIOS Install Date, Database Site Name

Workstation Processor Listing

Processor Family, Database Site Name

Workstation Processor Speed Listing

Lower Bound of Processor (in MHz), Upper Bound of Processor (in MHz), Database Site Name

NOTE:  Ensure that the value for Lower Bound of Processor is less than the value for Upper Bound of Processor.

Workstation Video Adapter Listing

Video Architecture, Database Site Name

Workstation Network Adapter Listing

Network Adapter Name, Database Site Name

Workstation Software Listing

Software Name, Software Version, Database Site Name

Workstation Memory Listing

Lower Bound of Blocks of Memory (in MB), Upper Bound of Blocks of Memory (in MB), Database Site Name

NOTE:  Ensure that the value for Lower Bound of Blocks of Memory is less than the value for Upper Bound of Blocks of Memory.

Software Summary Listing

Software Name, Software Version, Database Site Name

General Workstation Inventory Report

DN of the workstation, Database Site Name

Asset Management Report

DN of the workstation, Database Site Name

Hardware Inventory Report

DN of the workstation, Database Site Name

Networking Information Report

DN of the workstation, Database Site Name

Software Inventory Report

DN of the workstation, Database Site Name

Software Inventory Report for the Entire Site

Database Site Name

If the Reporting dialog box allows wildcards, you can use an asterisk (*) and question mark (?), or their SQL equivalents, percent (%) and underscore (_). The wildcard characters can be used for character data only.

The following table lists examples of wildcards.

Example Specifies to Include

%

All items

wNT%

All items starting with "wNT"

wNT_cpq

All items starting with "wNT" followed by any character and "cpq"

wNTcpq.xcorp

The single named item, in this case a workstation

You can generate the types of reports described below, assuming you have already configured ZfD to start populating the inventory database with the data you want. The following table lists the Simple Inventory lists that provide information on individual aspects of workstation inventory, such as operating system.

Report Name Information Provided

Workstation Scan Time Listing

Date and time of the last inventory scan on each workstation

Workstation Operating System Listing

List of all the workstations with an OS type, an OS version, and the total number of such workstations

Workstation BIOS Listing

List of all the workstations with a BIOS release date, and the total number of such workstations

Workstation Processor Family Listing

List of all the workstations with a processor family (such as Pentium Pro), and the total number of such workstations

Workstation Processor Speed Listing

List of all the workstations within a range of processor speed (such as 200-400 MHz), and the total number of such workstations

Workstation Video Adapter Listing

List of all the workstations with a video adapter (such as MGA 2064W), and the total number of such workstations

Workstation Network Adapter Listing

List of all the workstations with a network adapter (such as 3Com* Fast EtherLink*) and the total number of such workstations

Workstation Software Listing

List of all the workstations with a software name, version, and the total number of such workstations

Workstation Memory Listing

List of all the workstations within a range of memory, and the total number of such workstations

Software Summary Listing

Lists the total number of workstations with a particular software and version

The following table lists the Comprehensive Inventory Reports that combine several aspects of workstation inventory into each report, such as memory, hard disk, and processor.

Report Name Information Provided

General Workstation Inventory Report

BIOS, computer description, OS description, display details, NIC, physical disk drive, IP address, and MAC address for each workstation

Asset Management Report

BIOS, computer description, processor, and OS description for each workstation

Hardware Inventory Report

Memory, processor, display details, physical disk drive, and modem for each workstation

Networking Information Report

OS Description, MAC address, NIC, and IP description for each workstation

Software Inventory Report

Software with product name, version, and vendor for each workstation

Software Inventory Report for the Entire Site

All softwares with product name, version, and vendor for the entire database site

To print a report:

  1. Generate and view the report.

  2. On the toolbar, click the printer icon.

  3. In the Print dialog box, select the print options you want > click OK.

  4. In the next Print dialog box, click OK to print in the default orientation mode.

    To change the mode, click Properties > click Orientation > select the mode (Landscape/Portrait) > click OK twice.

The Inventory Lists are designed to be printed in portrait mode; all the other reports are designed to be printed in landscape mode.

To export an inventory report to a file:

  1. Generate and view the report.

  2. On the toolbar, click the Export Report icon.

  3. In the dialog box, specify the location and file format > click OK.