Asset discovery helps teams gain complete, real-time visibility into your organization’s IT landscape by automatically ingesting hardware and software inventory data into Atomicwork. This eliminates manual tracking and builds a unified, accurate, and actionable asset inventory, alongside integrations with Kandji, Intune, Jamf, and Microsoft Azure.
Atomicwork supports two types of asset discovery sources:
Agents, which are installed directly on devices and report detailed hardware and software data specific to that device.
Scanners, which are installed on a designated device in each network and scan the connected network to identify other devices like routers, printers, and unmanaged endpoints.
By centralizing asset data across environments, organizations can better manage asset lifecycles, streamline incident resolution, and lay the foundation for automating IT operations at scale.
Setting up asset discovery
To set up or manage asset discovery, navigate to Settings > Assets and click on Start Discovery or Manage in the Discover assets card.
Creating a site
A site is a logical grouping of assets based on physical or organizational structure. It could represent an office location (e.g., San Francisco office), a department (e.g., HR), or even a subnet/IP range.
Sites help structure how scanners and agents are deployed across networks. For example, if multiple teams manage different regions, you can create separate sites per region.
To create a site:
Click on the + icon next to Sites.
Enter a name for the site. The region defaults to your Atomicwork platform's region but can be changed if needed.
Click on Create.
After a site is created, you can download either a scanner or an agent, depending on your discovery needs.
Ideally, only one scanner is needed per network to supplement discovery of networked assets. Ensure all end user devices have an agent installed for deeper visibility and smoother onboarding.
Dowloading and deploying agents
To deploy a discovery agent on end user devices:
Navigate to your site and click on Download.
Choose Agent as the download type and then select the OS (Windows, macOS, or Linux).
Once the installer file has been downloaded, you can distribute it to end user devices via MDM tools (Kandji, Intune, Jamf), remote access tools like AnyDesk or share the file for manual installation.
Here's how you can distribute the agent via MDMs:
Via Microsoft Intune (Windows & macOS)
For Windows devices:
Navigate to Microsoft Intune Admin Center > Devices > Scripts > Add
Choose Windows 10/11 > PowerShell script
Upload the downloaded
.ps1file (e.g.,install_agent.ps1)Configure the following:
Run as admin: ✅ Yes
Execution context: System
Retry if failed: Optional
Assign the script to appropriate device or user groups
For macOS devices:
Navigate to Devices > macOS > Shell Scripts
Upload the downloaded file:
atomicwork_installer_agent.shSet the script to run as root/system
Via Kandji (only macOS)
Go to Library > Add New > Custom Script
Paste or upload the script from the
atomicwork_installer_agent.shfileAssign the script to a Blueprint
Via Jamf (only macOS)
Go to Jamf Pro > Computers > Scripts
Add a new script named Install Atomicwork Agent
Upload the
atomicwork_installer_agent.shfile or paste the scriptCreate a new Policy and configure the following:
Trigger: Enrollment Complete (or a custom trigger)
Payload: Scripts
Target: Define the device scope
Downloading and deploying scanner
To scan shared infrastructure (e.g., switches, printers):
Navigate to your site and click on Download.
Choose Scanner as the download type and then select the OS (Windows, macOS, or Linux).
Install the scanner on a device connected to the network you want to scan. This can be a virtual machine or any host system.
The scanner will detect and report all devices visible on the network.
Viewing sources and discovered assets
Once agents or scanners are installed:
Navigate to Settings > Assets > Discover assets to see all active sources (agents/scanners) under each site.
Discovered devices will begin appearing in the Assets page and will continue to refresh every 24 hours.
Need help?
If you need assistance deploying agents, configuring scanners, or interpreting asset data, reach out to your Customer Success Manager or write to us via support.atomicwork.com.