Assets

The asset register records every piece of hardware your organization owns or manages, from the day it is bought to the day it is disposed of. An asset can be a laptop, a monitor, a switch, or a license. Each asset links itself to the endpoint with the same serial number, so the endpoint’s page shows the hardware record and the asset shows the live endpoint. This page covers how assets arrive, their states, endpoint linking, and the register on the MSP plan.

Before you begin

• Reading the register needs assets:read. Adding, changing, moving, and linking assets needs assets:write.

How assets arrive

Origin	How
Received into stock	Each serialized unit received on a purchase order becomes an asset In stock at the receiving location, with its cost and purchase order. See Receive deliveries.
Reported by an endpoint	An endpoint whose serial number matches no asset gets an asset of its own, linked to it.
Added by hand	Select Add an asset on Assets > All assets.

An asset outlives its endpoint. Uninstalling the agent or retiring the endpoint leaves the asset and its history in place.

Add an asset by hand

1. Select Assets > All assets, then Add an asset.
2. Enter the Name, such as Reception laptop, and choose the Category.
3. Optionally, enter the Asset tag, which is unique across the register, the Manufacturer, Model, and Serial number.
4. Optionally, choose the Site, and enter Purchased on, Purchase cost, Warranty starts, and Warranty ends.
5. In Starts as, choose its state. An asset that starts In stock needs a Stock location.
6. Select Add asset.

Asset states

State	Meaning	Can move to
Purchased	Bought, not yet in stock. A drop-shipped unit waits here.	In stock, Deployed, RMA
In stock	On a shelf at a stock location.	Deployed, RMA, Retired
Deployed	In use, at a site or with a person.	In repair, In stock, RMA, Retired
In repair	Being repaired.	Deployed, In stock, RMA, Retired
RMA	With the supplier under a return.	In stock, Retired
Retired	Out of use.	Disposed
Disposed	Gone for good.	None
Lost	Missing. Any state except Disposed can become Lost.	In stock

On the asset’s page, the actions under Where it is offer only the moves its state allows, such as Deploy, Send for repair, Back in service, Return to stock, Send back under RMA, Retire, Dispose, Mark lost, and Mark found. Return to stock asks for the Stock location, and Dispose asks How it was disposed of: Recycled, Sold, Donated, Destroyed, Returned to the vendor, or Other. Each move can carry a Note, which is kept on the asset’s History.

An asset with history cannot be deleted. Retire or dispose of it instead.

How assets link to endpoints

Every 15 minutes, Outpost compares the serial numbers endpoints report with the serial numbers on assets:

• When exactly one asset has the endpoint’s serial, the two are linked. The asset shows the endpoint with linked by serial number.
• When two or more assets share the serial, nothing is linked. Outpost never guesses between them. Fix the duplicate serial, or link by hand.
• When no asset has the serial, the endpoint gets an asset of its own.
• Serial numbers that firmware fills in when the manufacturer left the field blank, such as To be filled by O.E.M., System Serial Number, Default string, 0, or a run of zeros, are treated as no serial at all and never linked.

Serial numbers are compared without regard to letter case or leading and trailing spaces.

Link or unlink by hand

Link by hand when an endpoint’s serial is missing or wrong.

1. On the asset, select Link an endpoint.
2. In Find an endpoint, enter part of the hostname and select Search.
3. Choose the Endpoint and select Link.

The asset shows linked by hand. An endpoint is linked to at most one asset, and an automatic link never replaces a link made by hand. To undo a link, select Unlink endpoint.

The endpoint’s own page has an Asset card with the asset’s state, warranty, and holder, and Open assets.

The register on the MSP plan

On the MSP plan, each client has its own register in its own database, and your practice has one for hardware it holds:

• Hardware in your stock, or checked out to your own team, is in your practice’s register.
• Delivering a sales order moves the delivered units into the client’s register as Deployed, with their history and the sales order on them.
• To hand over a unit without a sales order, open it and select Deploy to a client, then choose the Client. It moves into the client’s register, keeps its history, and is marked deployed.

Assets at the practice level lists every client’s assets and your own together, with a Client column. Each client’s workspace has an Assets section with only that client’s. When a client’s database cannot be reached, the list says Some clients could not be reached and shows the rest.

Verify

• Assets > All assets lists the asset with its state and endpoint.
• The asset’s History shows each change, who made it, and when.

Next steps

• Warranty and refresh
• Staff equipment
• Returns to suppliers