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Q325585: SMS: Software Inventory May Be Discarded from Offline Clients

Article: Q325585
Product(s): Microsoft Systems Management Server
Version(s): 2.0,2.0 SP1,2.0 SP2,2.0 SP3,2.0 SP4
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbsms200 kbsms200bug kbInventory
Last Modified: 10-JUL-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Systems Management Server versions 2.0, 2.0 SP1, 2.0 SP2, 2.0 SP3, 2.0 SP4 
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SYMPTOMS
========

If a computer that is running the Systems Management Server (SMS) 2.0 client
agent with software inventory turned on cannot connect to the network to forward
collected software inventory, and if that inability to connect continues for
more than a single software inventory cycle, the resulting software inventory
that is reported when the computer finally can connect may be inaccurate.
Computers may be legitimately off the network or be unable to connect for many
reasons, including Client Access Points (CAPs) that are offline for maintenance,
temporary network problems, or laptop computers that may be disconnected from
the network for days at time.

CAUSE
=====

There is no ordering in the processing of software inventory files. If a
computer has two inventory files queued up and both are forwarded at the same
time, the most recent inventory file may be processed before the older file. If
any inventory changes such as software addition or deletion are recorded in the
older file, they are discarded and the software inventory processor records the
following message in the Sinvproc.log file:

  WARNING - This file is out-of-date and will be skipped.

Because the older inventory is not processed, changes to inventory that are
recorded in the older inventory file are not recorded in the database.

WORKAROUND
==========

Delete the Sinv.his file from the client computer on which the inventory
information is possibly inaccurate. Then, either wait for the next software
inventory cycle or force a new cycle. This sends a complete inventory for the
client that overrides any conflicting data in the database.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that
are listed at the beginning of this article.

Additional query words: prodsms

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Keywords          : kbsms200 kbsms200bug kbInventory 
Technology        : kbSMSSearch kbSMS200 kbSMS200SP1 kbSMS200SP2 kbSMS200SP3 kbSMS200SP4
Version           : :2.0,2.0 SP1,2.0 SP2,2.0 SP3,2.0 SP4
Issue type        : kbprb

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