Configure the inventory tasks
Check out this video (14:19) for information about how to set up a WSUS inventory and run reports.
Inventory tasks collect Microsoft® and third-party update status information from the WSUS servers and managed systems. This data is displayed in the Patch Manager Administrator Console, Patch Manager Summary dashboard in the SolarWinds Platform Web Console (for SolarWinds Platform integrations), and reports.
You can run the following inventory tasks in Patch Manager:
- WSUS inventory. Collects information about the WSUS server configuration (such as WSUS server statistics and basic computer inventory attributes). This inventory populates the WSUS reports.
- Managed computer inventory. Collects information about the processes running on your managed systems. This inventory populates the Configuration Management reports.
- Additional inventories. Collects information from other segments of your Patch Manager deployment, such as Microsoft® Windows® Network groups, approved agents, and additional management groups.
- Specific datasource inventory. Collects file, folder, or registry information from selected computers in your network.
Initiating the inventory connection
When you configure your inventory tasks for the first time, Patch Manager installs SolarWinds Client Components on the managed computers. This WMI Provider performs the following tasks:
- Initiates the connection between the application and each managed computer
- Adds additional functionality to the Native Windows WMI so the application can run specific queries and obtain specific information from each managed computer
If your managed computers are running a Patch Manager agent, Patch Manager initiates the connection to each managed computer through port 4092.
See Generate and view reports in Patch Manager for details about generating reports in the Patch Manager Web Console.
This section explains how to: