Clients have stale Scan data in reporting

Products

• Patch Management Solution for Windows

Issue/Introduction

Opened the Console > Reports > All Reports > Software > Patch Magagement > Diagnostics > Windows System Assessment Scan Summary:

• Found multiple Clients fail to return current Windows System Assessment Scan (Scan) data:
  • Listed Clients either out of date or blank in the Last Inventory Received column.

Environment

Patch Management Solution 7.6 HF7

Cause

Confirmed Clients were not being purged from the database as they were decommissioned in the environment.

This was causing stale Scan data in reporting and low Compliance counts as the old Client’s IP’s was recycled, the new Client continued to utilize that IP with returning updated inventories in conjunction to the old computer record, and this made it appear as if the old computer was still active.

Resolution

Review the following options:

• Review the frequent harvest DNS in the environment:
  • Get an updated list of decommissioned Clients changed / cut from the team overseeing the process
     
• Review configurations to purge Clients failing to report to SMP to be more aggressive and keep this in mind when reviewing Scan reports.
   
• Run the Windows Compliance by Computer, or Bulletin and Updates to confirm update compliance for active Clients
  • Utilize the Windows System Assessment Scan Summary report to see if the Clients are valid or returning scans

The attached SQL provides a report that will allow you to view the inventory for the current computers. You can execute it manually using SQL Server Management Studio, or follow these steps to create a report:

1. In the Console, go to Reports > All Reports.
2. Right-click on the folder you wish to create the new report in and choose New > Report > SQL Report.
3. Paste in the provided SQL into the Date Source > Parameterized Query field.
4. Click Save Changes.