Trigger an inventory scan manually

Refresh a device's inventory on demand from its detail page — and understand the messages octoja shows when the scan cannot start.

Written By Stefan Steuer

Last updated 25 days ago

octoja inventories every device automatically on a regular schedule — hardware, installed software and services are collected in the background without any action on your part. The manual trigger exists for the moments you want fresh data right now, for example after installing software or swapping hardware. You find it on the device detail page: a small play button next to the Last Inventory field, with the tooltip Trigger Inventory.

Run an inventory scan on demand

  1. Open the device's detail page and find the Last Inventory row in the details list.
  2. Click the play button next to the timestamp. The button shows a spinner while the scan runs, and it is unavailable while the device is not connected.
  3. When the scan finishes, octoja shows Inventory completed. and refreshes the page — the Last Inventory timestamp updates.

A scan finishes almost immediately when nothing has changed since the last one. A full collection on a busy machine can take several minutes.

If the scan reports an error

The trigger shows one of a few messages when the scan cannot start or does not finish in time. None of them stops the automatic background inventory — octoja keeps collecting your data on the regular schedule either way.

MessageWhat it meansWhat to do
The target device is not connected.The device is offline, or its agent is not checked in right now.Check the device's status indicator and bring the device back online. The related articles below explain what the status colours mean.
The action timed out and may still complete on the device.The scan needs longer than the allowed time window. On a device under heavy load, a full collection can take several minutes.Wait a moment and check whether the Last Inventory timestamp updates on its own — the scan usually finishes in the background. Retry once heavy load such as a backup, an antivirus scan or a large update has passed.
The agent failed to process the action.Something went wrong on the device while the data was being collected.Trigger the scan again. If the message keeps appearing on the same device, restart the octoja agent service on that device and try once more.
This feature is not supported by the current agent version. Please update the agent.The agent on the device is too old for this action.Update the agent to the current version, then trigger the scan again.

When to contact support

  • The same device keeps reporting an error even after you restarted its agent service and the device is under no unusual load.
  • The Last Inventory timestamp is days old although the device shows as online.
  • The message appears on several devices at the same time — check octoja Availability & Status first for known service incidents.