Working with device groups and folders

You can open a smart group, static group, or folder and see the list of devices included in it. You can also perform actions on an open device group or folder.

To compare device usage across your device groups, see the Device Analytics report.

To view the devices in a device group or folder:

1. On the navigation bar, click Devices.

2. On the Devices sidebar, search for and select the device group or folder to open it in the work area. The group's list of devices shows in the results grid.

   The following information is provided about each device:

   • Identifier The unique Electronic Serial Number (ESN) assigned to the Secure Endpoint Agent that is installed on a device.
   • Device name The name assigned to the device in the operating system. For Chromebooks, device name is not applicable and therefore shows as "Chrome" in the Secure Endpoint Console.
   • Serial number The identification number assigned to the device by the device manufacturer. For Windows devices, this value may correspond to the serial number of the BIOS, the motherboard, or the chassis, depending on the manufacturer.
   • Last connected The date and time when a device's component manager last connected to the Absolute Monitoring Center. For online devices, the component manager connects every 15 minutes. Also see component manager (CTES).
   • Username Username of the user who was logged in to the device when an agent connection occurred. If no user was logged in during the most recent agent connection, the last detected username shows. If you are viewing a report and want to see if a user was logged in during the most recent connection, add the Current Username column to the report. If no user was logged in at the time of the connection, "No Data" or two em dashes (— —) show in the column.
   • Make The manufacturer of a device.
   • Model The manufacturer's designated name for the type of device.
   • OS > Name The name and version of the operating system detected on a device. The operating system is software that manages the software and hardware installed on a computer and allows programs and services to run. It is responsible for the basic operations of a computer system.
3. The results are sorted by Device name, in ascending order. To sort the results by another column, click the applicable column header. To reverse the sort order, click the column header again. An icon indicates whether the list is sorted in ascending or descending order.
4. To find one or more devices in the device group or folder, perform a search.
5. To see device information for a device click its Device name. The device's Device Details page opens.
6. To view the devices in another device group or folder, search for the device group or folder on the Devices sidebar. Click the item to open it in the work area.

7. To view the filters that apply to a smart group, hover over in the action toolbar.

   Inherited filters shows the filters that apply to any parent groups.

   Filters within this group shows the filters that apply to the smart group.

8. To save the device list as a new report:

   1. Click (Save as report) on the action toolbar.
   2. Enter a Report Name and Description for the new report and click Save. The new report is added to the Reports page in My Reports view and the Other report category.
9. To export the device list, click (Export) on the action toolbar.

Assigned device groups

If select device groups—as opposed to the All active devices group— are assigned to your user account, you can see the structure of all the device groups and folders, but you can only see the devices that belong to your assigned device groups. If the devices in your assigned device groups also belong to other device groups, you can see the devices in those groups. You won't be able to see any devices in other device groups if they don't also belong to your assigned device groups.

If your user role has the right permissions, you can perform actions that affect devices that you can't see. For example, if you disable automatic agent updates for a policy group, the change affects all the devices in the policy group, not just the devices that you can see.

The following actions may result in changes to devices you can't see:

• Creating, modifying, or deleting shared reports
• Moving device groups and folders
• Creating, modifying, or deleting smart groups
• Changing the licenses assigned to policy groups
• Activating, configuring, deactivating policies
• Activating, configuring, deactivating application policies
• Creating, modifying, or deleting rules
• Configuring Custom Data
• Creating, modifying, or deleting an EDD rule
• Modifying automatic agent updates

You can't request remote device actions on devices that don't belong to one of your assigned device groups.

You can move a device group or folder after you have created it. Smart groups are created using filters rather than by selecting specific devices. When you move a device group, the filters move with the smart group. This means that if you move a smart group into another smart group, the group inherits the parents filters. If the devices aren't part of the parent smart group, they won't be part of the group once it's moved.

You can't move your own permission group, or its parent, because they define the devices you can manage. Note that if you're assigned to the All active devices group, you can move any permission group.

To move a device group or folder

1. Log in to the Secure Endpoint Console with Manage permissions for Device Groups and folders.

   If you are updating a permission group, the Edit permission groups permission for Device Groups and folders is required.

2. On the navigation bar, click Devices.
3. On the Devices sidebar, search for and select the device group or folder you want to move.

4. Drag the device group or folder to the new location. If the new location is outlined in purple, you can drop the device group or folder in the new location.

   To move the device group of folder to the top level, drop the device group or folder on Device Groups.

   You can only move a device group or folder into another if it's moving into one of the supported parent-child configurations.

   You can't move a parent group into one of its child groups.

5. Review the content in the Move device groups dialog.

   If the device group is a permission group, a message warns you that moving the device group may change the devices that those users can manage.

   Rules can be assigned to device groups, so moving a device group may change the rules assigned to the devices in the group. For example, if a rule is assigned to a device group, and you move its child device group to another device group that the rule isn't assigned to, the rule no longer applies to devices in the child device group.

6. To complete the move, click Move.

The device group or folder moves to its new location. In addition, all child device groups and folders move with their parent.

If a device group fails to move, your user role is not granted the required permission. Learn more

You can update the name and description associated with a smart group, a static group, or a folder.

You can't edit the device group type. That is, you can't convert between a smart group and a static group.

To edit the properties of a device group or folder:

1. Log in to the Secure Endpoint Console with Manage permissions for Device Groups and folders.

   If you are updating a permission group, the Edit permission groups permission for Device Groups and folders is required.

2. On the navigation bar, click Devices.
3. On the Devices sidebar, search for and select the device group or folder you want to edit to open it in the work area.

4. Click in the name or description fields and update the fields. Press Enter, click (Save Changes), or click outside the field to save the new name or description. Click (Cancel Changes) to discard your changes.

   The name can be up to 80 characters. The description can be up to 250 characters.

If you edited a device group, one of the following events is logged to Event History:

• Smart device group updated
• Static device group updated

You can delete static groups, smart groups, and folders that are no longer applicable or required.

If a device group is a permission group, it can't be deleted. Similarly, if the device group is used in a user mapping for SCIM integration, it can't be deleted.

When you delete a device group or folder, you also delete all child device groups and folders. However, the devices associated with the deleted device group or folder are not deleted from the system. Also, if a Location rule, Action rule, or Alert rule is assigned to a deleted device group, the rule no longer applies to the devices in the deleted group.

To delete device groups or folders:

1. Log in to the Secure Endpoint Console with Manage permissions for Device Groups and folders.
2. On the navigation bar, click Devices.
3. On the Devices sidebar, search for and select the device group or folder you want to delete to open it in the work area.
4. Click (Delete) on the action toolbar.
5. On the Delete group or Delete folder confirmation message click Delete.

The device group or folder is removed from the Device Groups sidebar. If you deleted a device group, including a device group that was in a folder you deleted, one of the following events is logged to Event History:

• Smart device group deleted
• Static device group deleted