Importance of Hardware Inventory
Hardware inventory gives IT departments full visibility into all devices in their environment, including computers, servers, network equipment, and peripherals. This visibility supports efficient asset management by ensuring resources are properly allocated and helping teams understand exactly what hardware is available.
For MSPs, hardware inventory is a foundational capability. It enables proactive management of client infrastructure, helps optimize service delivery, improves cost efficiency, and contributes to stronger overall customer satisfaction.
How can I see my hardware inventory in NinjaOne?
The NinjaOne Devices Dashboard provides a detailed view of your hardware inventory. To access it, click Devices in the NinjaOne main console. The dashboard displays all devices across all organizations in a table format. Each device is shown with multiple attributes such as health status, location, operating system, and other key details.
The list of displayed fields is fully customizable. By clicking on the gear icon on the right side of the screen, you can choose from more than 60 available fields.
The following screenshot shows an example of the Devices Dashboard. We will review its main areas and options to explain the types of information you can gather from this view.
- Filters. By applying the different filters, the list of devices can be narrowed to show only devices that meet the desired criteria:
- Organization and location filters respectively select only the desired organization and location.
- Type selects the device type, i.e., Linux server, Mac Desktop, Windows Server, Android, etc.
- Role filters according to device role. Each device has a device role assigned.
- Status. Multiple statuses can be selected: Down, Healthy, Unhealthy, Unknown, Up and Needs attention.
- Additional filters: There are more than 80 additional filters that can be selected in this option, Custom Fields, Domain, OS type, DNS server, and device make to name a few.
- Save group. Once filters are applied and the list has been narrowed down to your needs, this option will appear allowing you to save the current results as a device group for later use. This group is dynamic, meaning that when loaded, the filters will be reapplied to show only the devices that match the criteria in real time.
- Refresh table. The table auto refreshes periodically, but you can also manually force the refresh with this option.
- Export. This option allows exporting the table. There are options to export the table with the visible columns, with all device details (visible and non-visible columns), and with or without custom fields.
- Table settings. Allows to add or remove columns to the table; up to twenty fields can be added at the same time. The sorting criteria can also be selected with this option. Device name, Organization and Policy can be stacked on the first column optionally.
- Load Group. If device groups have already been created, this option lets you load one of them. A drop-down menu will display all available groups for selection.
- Toggle activities. This option shows or hides the Activities window, which displays the system log of actions running in real time. These activities are also stored as history for later review. While the system log records actions for all devices, the Activities window only displays activity related to the devices currently shown in the table after filters are applied
- Health Detail. The Health Detail appears as Dashboard Inventory Alerts, which are icons that provide additional information by hoovering the mouse over or clicking on them. At the end of this document, there is a link to a document explaining more about Dashboard Inventory Alerts.
When you select one or more devices using the checkmarks on the left side of the list, an additional action bar appears. This bar provides quick actions that you can perform on the selected device or devices. See the following screenshot for reference.
The actions shown are only those that apply to all selected devices, so the available options may vary depending on which devices you have selected.
If even more device details are needed, click on the device name and a new window will be displayed with more options, which will be explained in the following section.
How can I view more detailed information on a device?
You can view more detailed information about a device by clicking its name in the Devices dashboard. Doing this will display a new window with more options. See the screenshot below to see what it looks like, with an explanation on the quick action menu and options menu.
Let’s go through the different quick action menu options, from left to right.
- Star button. This is for adding this device to the favorites list.
- Play button. This is for running quick actions related to this device. Options are Run Automation, Patching, Maintenance and Reboot. Certain devices like a domain controller may have more options. Less options may appear depending on the device type and health status, for instance the OS update option will not be displayed if the device is down.
- >_ icon. This option is for opening a command line remote window, like cmd.exe, PowerShell, Shell or Terminal, depending on the device´s OS.
- Splash icon. This is for requesting a remote session using the Splashtop remote access solution.
- Display icon. This is for requesting a remote session using NinjaOne Remote.
- Stacked disk icon. This is for the backup and restore options using NinjaOne Backup.
Let’s go through the Options menu, from left to right.
- Overview. This option shows a general view of the device´s options like OS, serial number, IP address, time zone, etc. It also shows some performance indicators. Fields listed in blue can be edited.
- Details. This screen shows more detailed performance indicators, processor, memory usage, disk usage, network adapters, open ports, hardware information, Windows services, and event log.
- Asset. This option is for viewing or editing asset related information like ID, status, purchase date, licenses, and more.
- Patching. This option is for listing the pending, approved, rejected, installed, and failed OS patches for this device.
- Software. This option lists the installed software on this device.
- Tools. This menu option is for accessing remote tools like the device registry, task manager, file browser, and service manager.
- Backup. Here you can see the device´s backup overview and manage the backup options.
- Activities. With this option you can view the device´s activities, broken down by All, Remote control, Remote tools, and Software added and removed.
- Custom Fields. This option allows you to view and edit the values of the different custom fields.
- Ticketing. This is for managing tickets related to this device. It also shows resolution statistics.
- Vulnerabilities. This option lists the OS vulnerabilities found on this device.
- Settings. This screen has three tabs: General, Policies, and Apps.
- The General tab shows device information like name, role, organization and location; credentials and the date the device was approved in NinjaOne.
- The policy tab shows the assigned policy, patch overrides, and other applied overrides, if any.
- The Apps tab shows the NinjaOne Apps that apply to this device.
Tags: If any tags are assigned to this device, they will be displayed below the quick actions menu.
Activities: On the right side of the screen, the activities window shows all the activity related to this device.
What is the advantage of Viewing Inventory Details with NinjaOne?
One of NinjaOne’s strengths is its single-pane-of-glass approach, which allows you to view a large amount of information on one screen. The detailed Inventory View can be customized to match your needs and provides quick-action options so you can take corrective steps without navigating away. This helps you make faster decisions and keep your IT infrastructure in optimal condition.
For example, if a patching activity was completed and you need to identify devices that did not come back online afterward, follow these steps:
- Go to the Devices Dashboard to view all devices in the tenant.
- Apply the Organization filter for the desired organization.
- In the Status filter, select Down. The dashboard will display all devices that are currently offline.