Targets
The Target tab on the Discovery and Inventory Rules page lists all existing targets, and allows you to create new targets.
A target identifies a set of devices, and may be used in any or all of the following ways:
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A target can be a part of a discovery and inventory rules, identifying the devices on which the rule's actions are to be performed. For example, if you have specified a subnet address in the target definition, the action is applied to all the devices inside that subnet. You must define at least one target to create a rule. |
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A target can identify devices that are to be included in an inventory group. An inventory group is a relationship between the set of devices in the target and a pool of inventory beacons (identified separately). All Inventory Agents locally installed on the targeted inventory devices may then communicate only with the inventory beacons listed in the pool. An inventory group, including its pool of inventory beacons, is configured on the Discovery and Inventory Rules page, in the Inventory group settings section (see Inventory Settings Page). |
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A target can identify a set of inventory devices where the locally-installed Inventory Agent is permitted to self-upgrade to a nominated version. For this purpose, the target may be further narrowed by specifying which operating system platform(s) found within the target are permitted to self-upgrade. For example, if you have a target that identifies a test subnet, you could specify that a new version of Inventory Agent may deployed only to Windows devices within your test subnet. Only when this new version has passed your acceptance testing might you allow automated self-upgrades in your production environment. |
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A target can identify a set of inventory devices where the locally-installed Inventory Agent is authorized to track application usage (see Creating a Target). |
Tip:These uses for targets are all independent. A defined target does not, for example, need to be used within a rule to allow it to specify an inventory group, to control upgrades of Inventory Agent, or to track application usage. Equally, a single target may be reused for all of these purposes, if that suits your environment. Thus, for example, a single target identifying your test subnet may be used for all of:
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A rule automating adoption of new devices added to the test subnet. |
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An inventory group limiting communications of test installations of Inventory Agent to specific inventory beacons. |
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Permitting self-upgrades to the new test version of Inventory Agent. |
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Tracking application usage on inventory devices within the target. |