Conflict Resolution
- Prevent Duplicates During Enrollment
- Automated Client Conflict Resolution
- Automatic Enrollment Permissions
- Manual Client Conflict Resolution (Multiple Devices)
Prevent Duplicates During Enrollment
A desktop device (FileWave Client) is identified in FileWave by its Client Name and Device Fingerprint. If a device is duplicated in FileWave, enrollment can stop, inventory can be wrong, and deployments may target the wrong record.
- Client Name - The name shown in FileWave Central. This is separate from the operating system device name.
- Mainly used for Fileset deployment and group or association placement.
- Device Fingerprint - An identifier based on the serial number on macOS or MAC addresses on Windows.
- Mainly used for inventory reporting and the client certificate identifier.
Quick answer: If enrollment is blocked by a duplicate client name, duplicate device fingerprint, or client conflict message, resolve the record in the New Client dialog before updating the model.
FileWave will not enroll multiple devices with the same client name or fingerprint. When FileWave detects a conflict, an administrator needs to choose how to handle the new and existing records.
There are three options:
-
Remove the new client
Select this option if you want to refuse the client for now. You can fix the device identifier and re-enroll it later. -
Remove the old client and enroll the new client
Select this option if the old entry is obsolete and can be safely removed. All clones associated with the old client record will be removed. -
Replace the old client with the new client
Select this option if the new client should take over the existing record, including its clones, associations, and group placement.
Resolve a duplicate enrollment conflict
Devices in conflict appear in the New Client dialog. To resolve the conflict, select the device and click Solve Conflict in the bottom-left corner.
Choose the option that matches the situation, then run Update Model.
Use "Replace the old client with the new client" when the device should keep the old record's associations and group placement. Use one of the remove options only when the old record is obsolete or the new enrollment should be refused.
Automated Client Conflict Resolution
What
FileWave can automatically resolve conflicting new desktop clients when they enroll.
When/Why
Client enrollment conflicts are common in production environments. Devices may be re-imaged, certificates may no longer match, or a device may return with a name or fingerprint that conflicts with an existing record. The conflict itself is not the problem; it simply means FileWave needs to know how to handle the incoming device.
Automatic conflict resolution can save time during large imaging or enrollment windows, but it also bypasses part of the protection provided by client-based certificates. Only enable it when the resolution behavior is understood and matches your enrollment process. In higher-security environments, or when you are unsure which action is safe, use manual or mass conflict resolution instead.
Prerequisites
- Automatic enrollment must be enabled. The automatic conflict resolution option is only available when auto-enrollment is enabled.
- The FileWave administrator must have permission to manage automatic enrollment and automatic conflict resolution.
- You should have already tested the conflict-resolution behavior on a small set of devices before relying on it during a large enrollment event.
How
- Open the New Clients/Desktop Clients dialog in FileWave Central.
- Confirm that automatic enrollment is enabled.
- Enable Automatically resolve conflicts.
- Choose the resolution behavior that matches your policy for conflicting clients:
- Ignore new conflicting clients leaves the existing client record alone and refuses the incoming conflicting client for now.
- Remove old clients and enroll new removes the old record and enrolls the incoming client as the new managed device.
- Replace old clients with new lets the incoming client take over the existing record, including its existing clones and associations.
- Click Save to confirm the preference.
Do not enable automatic conflict resolution just to clear a busy New Clients list. During re-imaging or back-to-school enrollment windows it can be useful, but a wrong automatic choice can replace or remove records faster than an administrator can review them.
Related Content
- Automatic Enrollment Permissions
- Manual Client Conflict Resolution (Multiple Devices)
- Prevent Duplicates During Enrollment
Automatic Enrollment Permissions
What
The Manage Automatic Enrollment permission controls whether an administrator can change automatic device enrollment and automatic conflict resolution settings.
When/Why
Give this permission to administrators who manage whether devices can auto-enroll and whether automatic client conflict resolution can be enabled. Without it, an administrator may be able to work with clients and groups but not change enrollment automation.
How
Enable Manage Automatic Enrollment for the administrator in the FileWave Administrators assistant under Permissions > Clients and Groups:
When this permission was introduced, existing administrators with Modify Clients/Groups automatically received it. For new or restricted administrator accounts, review this checkbox directly instead of assuming it is enabled.
Related Content
Manual Client Conflict Resolution (Multiple Devices)
What
In large production environments, there may be times during mass enrollments where resolving onboarding conflicts is time-consuming when approached at an individual device level. There is a capability to mass-resolve client conflicts to make this process simpler.
When/Why
Especially during re-imaging periods, client conflicts can arise from natural actions. For instance, wiping a device and setting it up with a fresh OS with the same name will always result in a conflict because the device certificate will not match the new device with the same name. We'll use the mass-resolution capabilities of FileWave to more easily resolve these conflicts in one fell swoop.
Device enrollment conflicts (based on name, fingerprint, certificate, etc) are a protection mechanism against database duplication and for security reasons. Use appropriate caution when mass-resolving conflicts to ensure that you are resolving the conflict in the proper manner. It is always best practice to test any action on individual devices before taking the solution to a larger number of devices.
How
To solve multiple conflicts at one time, simply choose multiple records in the new clients window, and choose solve conflicts, as shown below:
You may find it easiest to sort by the status column as I have above to group similar conflicts for simpler resolution.
In the resulting window, you can choose to look at detailed information about why there are conflicts by clicking the Show Details button:
In the detail view, you can inspect any particular device:
Finally, in the resolution window, you can choose how you want to resolve the selected devices, and click on OK. In this case, we are choosing to replace the existing records with the new clients.
