An online device can still display old inventory data.
This is expected because heartbeat communication and inventory collection are separate operations.
Heartbeat is not inventory
A heartbeat is designed to be lightweight.
It answers:
Is the endpoint communicating?
Inventory answers:
What hardware, software, and system information did the endpoint report during collection?
remFREE does not need to perform a complete inventory scan every time a device sends a heartbeat.
Check the collection time
Start by reviewing when inventory was last collected.
If the endpoint recently came online after being offline for a long period, its previous inventory may still be displayed until a new collection occurs.
Run inventory collection
Request a fresh inventory collection for the endpoint.
Then review the associated job.
If it completes successfully, refresh the device inventory view.
If the job fails
A failed inventory job means the problem is no longer merely stale data.
Review the job result for evidence such as:
- permissions error
- collector failure
- unsupported command
- timeout
- operating-system-specific issue
Software inventory may change independently
A user can install or remove software between inventory scans.
remFREE cannot know about every local change until the endpoint reports updated inventory.
This is why collection time matters.
Device identity
Make sure you are viewing the correct device record.
Duplicate enrollment can create multiple records representing what appears to be the same physical endpoint.
One record may be online while another contains older inventory.
Compare:
- device identity
- hostname
- last seen time
- enrollment history
- agent version
Newly rebuilt endpoint
If a machine was re-imaged or rebuilt, determine whether it was correctly re-enrolled.
Old inventory associated with an earlier device identity may remain historically valid for the old record.
Inventory is evidence from a point in time
Inventory should be understood as:
The most recently collected information remFREE received from this endpoint.
It is not a magical real-time mirror of every change occurring on the machine.
This distinction helps keep the system efficient while preserving useful operational history.