Stale devices and devices not reporting
What happens when a device stops reporting, and why its software stops counting towards your licences.
Devices stop reporting for many reasons: they were switched off, sent for repair, lost, or quietly thrown away without anyone updating the records.
When a device becomes stale
After each full sync from a source, AssetTrove checks which of that source's devices weren't reported. A device that hasn't been reported for longer than the source's stale after setting (30 days by default) becomes stale.
A stale device's asset isn't changed automatically. It appears in the assets not reporting list instead, so someone can find out what happened and update it, for example by retiring it or marking it lost.
Why stale software stops counting
Software on old, unused machines can make it look as if you need more licences than you do. So after the source's second limit (45 days by default), the software on a stale device no longer counts towards your licence position.
The two limits are deliberately different. The 15-day gap gives you time to notice a device has gone quiet before your licence figures change.
Good to know
- Both limits can be changed per source on the Discovery page.
- When a stale device reports again, it becomes active again and its software counts again.
- A device that's ignored in the review queue never counts towards licence use.