As you change the role of specific Windows computers in your environment, Agent Manager automatically identifies and places computers in the appropriate device groups. You do not need to build lists of computer names and maintain those lists to keep device groups up to date.
Agent Manager places Windows computers in the appropriate device groups if the following two conditions are met:
An agent is installed or to be installed on the Windows computer. For more information about installing agents on Windows computers or other platforms, see the Help and the NetIQ Agent Manager Installation Guide.
The computer matches the criteria defined in the device group properties. For more information about device group properties, see Section 7.3, Understanding Device Group Membership Criteria.
Central computers place Windows computers in or remove computers from the appropriate device groups at the following times:
Upon receiving computer attributes from a Windows agent during a heartbeat
After computer attribute definitions change
During a managed computer scan, which occurs at 2:05 AM, by default
If you modify computer attribute definitions, the central computer sends the computer attribute definitions to the Windows agents at the next heartbeat. Windows agents send their computer attributes to the central computer at the following heartbeat. Then the central computer places computers in or removes computers from the appropriate device groups. This process typically occurs within 10 minutes.
If you create a custom computer attribute, the central computer sends the custom computer attribute definitions at the next heartbeat, and it receives the computer attributes as usual. However, if you created the computer attribute definition before using it in a device group, you may need to wait until the next managed computer scan or when Windows agents resend their attributes, whichever occurs first, before the central computer places computers in the device group.
NOTE:If the device group is associated with a data collection policy, the central computer also periodically updates the Windows agent with data collection rules contained in the data collection policy. For more information about associating device groups with rule groups, see Section 7.4.1, Associating a Device Group with a Data Collection Policy.