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Software Aging Report

Hi, Team

I have a mandate to produce a report on software that is older than 1 year on our network, so we can monitor aging and upgrade when necessary.

I tried using the wizard, but the report does not come out configured the way I need it to be.

I have created the following script, using Easy Query Builder:


SELECT SOFTWARE.DISPLAY_NAME AS "SOFTWARE DISPLAY_NAME", SOFTWARE.DISPLAY_VERSION AS "SOFTWARE DISPLAY_VERSION", SOFTWARE.CREATED AS "SOFTWARE CREATED", MACHINE.NAME AS "MACHINE NAME", MACHINE.USER_FULLNAME AS "MACHINE USER_FULLNAME", MACHINE.USER_LOGGED AS "MACHINE USER_LOGGED" 

FROM (SOFTWARE AS SOFTWARE

     INNER JOIN MACHINE AS MACHINE ON ( MACHINE.ID  = SOFTWARE.ID  ))

WHERE

(

  NOT (SOFTWARE.DISPLAY_NAME LIKE '%MUI%') AND 

  NOT (SOFTWARE.DISPLAY_NAME LIKE '%Hotfix%') AND 

  NOT (SOFTWARE.DISPLAY_NAME LIKE '%Proof%') AND 

  SOFTWARE.CREATED < '2018-12-31 10:32:34' )


My end goal is to get a CSV file that I can import into Excel and create a pivot table for summary.


My questions are:

1) Am I accessing the correct tables ?

2) Is there anything I am missing out that you feel would enhance usability for my Tech Team?


Looking forward to your responses!

Thanks in advance

Stephen Kane



3 Comments   [ + ] Show comments
  • I'm not sure that looking at the date the software title was created in the database will be effective. That date reflects the first time the software was detected on any device in the inventory, and as such doesn't say much of anything about the "age" of the software.

    Finding software that is older than one year is a very vague concept. Notepad.exe is older than a year but I don't see anyone removing it from systems. If you are interested in discovering vulnerabilities then performing OVAL scans or similar methods would be more effective. Otherwise you will need to build so many exceptions into your report that it will eventually become practically meaningless. - chucksteel 5 years ago
  • Hi, Chuck
    Thanks for the input.

    To re-phrase my question:

    IF
    a piece of software (regardless of age) has been installed on any machine in our network for a year or longer
    AND
    that software has received no updates or patches in that time
    THEN
    I want to know about it so we can investigate it.

    In this context, I'm sure listing when the software was created should be helpful?

    Or can you suggest any other way to accomplish this?

    Thanks & regards
    Stephen - StephenK 5 years ago
    • In order to know how long a piece of software has been installed on a particular machine you will need to retain the asset history logs forever (that's the only option longer than 12 months). History retention is set in Settings, History, Assets (under objects). Length is set on that page. Click Computers to make sure Software is selected.

      That retention setting will allow you to use the ASSET_HISTORY table to know how long a particular software title has been installed on a particular machines.

      Determining if software has received any updates might be more difficult. You could try searching for newer versions of the same title in the SOFTWARE table, but that could get messy. - chucksteel 5 years ago
  • Thanks, Chuck, I'll start there and see how we go. - StephenK 5 years ago

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