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How to Monitor Clients in Configuration Manager

 

Updated: May 14, 2015

Applies To: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1, System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP2, System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager, System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager SP1

There are various tasks that you can use to verify that System Center 2012 Configuration Manager clients have been successfully installed and assigned to a site. There are further tasks that you can use to ensure that clients remain managed.

Use the following procedures to help you monitor Configuration Manager clients and devices:

  • To use reports to verify Configuration Manager client deployment

  • To use client status to monitor Configuration Manager client computers that run Windows

For information about how to configure client status, see How to Configure Client Status in Configuration Manager.

Important

Some client reports require that clients are assigned to a fallback status point. For more information about the fallback status point, see Determine Whether You Require a Fallback Status Point.

Client status information is updated, by default, one time a day. You can modify this interval in the Schedule Client Status Update dialog box. For more information, see How to Configure Client Status in Configuration Manager.

Note

For System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 and later:

For information about using reports to view information clients that run Linux and UNIX, see the How to use Reports to View Information for Linux and UNIX Servers section in the How to Monitor Linux and UNIX Clients in Configuration Manager topic.

To use reports to verify Configuration Manager client deployment

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, click Monitoring.

  2. In the Monitoring workspace, expand Reporting, and then click Reports.

  3. In the Reports pane, click the Category heading to order the reports by type:

    - For client deployment, use the **Client Information** and **Client Push** folders
    
    - For client status, use the **Client Status** folder.
    
    - For mobile devices, use the **Mobile Devices** folder
    
  4. Click the report that you want to run, and then on the Home tab, in the Report Group group, click Run.

  5. In the report name pane, click View Report.

To use client status to monitor Configuration Manager client computers that run Windows

  1. In the Configuration Manager console, click Monitoring.

  2. In the Monitoring workspace, expand Client Status.

  3. In the Client Status node, review the following information:

    - **Overall Client Status** – Displays high-level information about computers in your hierarchy that might be experiencing problems. You can click any item on the list to create a temporary collection under the **Devices** node of the **Assets and Compliance** workspace. When you click the temporary collection, a list of computers with the status you selected is displayed together with further information that can help you to troubleshoot problems.
    
    - **Most Frequent Client Check Errors** – Displays a graph that shows the most frequent reasons why client computers failed client checks.
    
  4. In the Client Activity node, review the following information:

    - **Client activity for all devices** – Displays a chart showing active computers, inactive computers and computers with no Configuration Manager client installed. Click a section of the pie chart to create a temporary collection under the **Devices** node of the **Assets and Compliance** workspace. When you click the temporary collection, a list of computers with the status you selected is displayed together with further information that can help you to troubleshoot problems.
    
    - **Client activity trend for all clients** – Displays a graph showing client activity over a specified period. You can configure the time period to display from the **Client activity period** drop-down list.
    
      <div class="alert">
    
    
      > [!NOTE]
      > <P>If you want to build an accurate <STRONG>Trends</STRONG> graph, do not configure the client status update recurrence interval to be longer than 1 day.</P>
    
    
      </div>
    
  5. In the Client Check node, review the following information:

    - **Client check results for all devices** – Displays a chart showing computers that passed client check, computers that failed client check, computers that have not reported results and computers with no Configuration Manager client installed. Click a section of the pie chart to create a temporary collection under the **Devices** node of the **Assets and Compliance** workspace. When you click the temporary collection, a list of computers with the status you selected is displayed together with further information that can help you to troubleshoot problems and you can click the **Client Check Detail** tab in the details pane to discover any remediation actions that Configuration Manager took.
    
      <div class="alert">
    
    
      > [!NOTE]
      > <P>Client status does not summarize or display data for computers that have been marked as obsolete in the Configuration Manager database.</P>
    
    
      </div>
    
    - **Client check trend for all active clients** – Displays a graph showing client computers that passed client check over a specified period. You can configure the time period to display from the **Client check period** drop-down list.
    

Additionally, you can use Configuration Manager reports to find out more information about the status of clients in your hierarchy. Client status reports have the category of Client Status. For more information about how to run reports, see Reporting in Configuration Manager.