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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    Select this option if the old entry is obsolete and can be safely removed.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.

New Client.png

Mew Client from Server.pngClient Conflict Resolution.png

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 Use one of the remove options only when the old record is obsolete or the new enrollment should be refused.