Deprecating a Device

After a device has reached the end of its lifecycle and will be physically removed from the IT environment it must also be removed from the CM representation of the network. In this case its topology type will become Deprecated Device and its GUID will be erased. The basic data of the device, such as its OS, MAC and IP address, etc, and hardware, software, custom and security inventory will be archived in the CM database, but the device will no longer be manageable. It can also still be viewed in specific groups. If the device is a relay and still has children, all these will be deprecated, too.

To deprecate a device, proceed as follows:

1. Select Device Groups in the left window pane.
2. Select a device from the list in the right window pane.If the desired device is allocated to a device group, double-click the name of the respective group to reveal its member devices.
3. Select Edit > Deprecate Device
   A confirmation window appears.
4. If the selected device has a Windows 32-bit or 64-bit operating system and you want to uninstall the CM agent , check the Agent Uninstall box.
5. Click OK to deprecate and archive the device.
    If Agent Uninstall was selected, the Agent Rollout Wizard will be displayed on the screen in which you can either select an existing uninstall rollout or create a new one. If the CM agent is not uninstalled, that is, identity information will still be uploaded from that device, a new device will be created with the same GUID and its name will be suffixed with its deprecate index number, for example, (0), (1), and so on. The icon of the device will be changed to its deprecated version. An CM agent and possibly also a Patch Management license, if applicable, will be freed up and its basic data and inventories will be archived.