Apple Remote Desktop quirk
I’ve been relying on ARD to gather data for our imaging project. I learned pretty quickly to be sure to click on”Rebuild data for report” when generating the reports. If I didn’t, it would include odd or duplicate information.
Once I got the complete report, I used the information to determine Machine ID, memory needs, etc. One key field is the serial number field. That will be the computer name for Puppet and on the exterior computer label.
As I put on the new labels, I’ve been checking the serial number in the computer with the computer number on the label. Imagine my panic when I came across one that didn’t match either the label or the spreadsheet that generated the label.
After a bit of research, I discovered that my spreadsheet didn’t have the serial number anywhere. It wasn’t a case of scrambled spreadsheet or incorrectly merged labels. I wondered that if a computer could forget its serial number (see http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/hochberg_m/2009/05/26/serial-number-imac-emac/ ), could it scramble the serial number?
I reran the ARD report and this time it reported the correct serial number. I checked my original report and discovered a quirk. Even though I ran the report for a group of computers, it showed the wrong report date for the computer with the wrong serial number.
Why or how it showed the wrong collection date for just one computer when all them were collected in the same report, I don’t know. I do know that I will be a lot less trusting and more cautious when working with ARD report data.
I did a quick check on my master spreadsheet and discovered a total of seven computers with odd collection dates.
Time to add another thing to the to-do list!
