Assets and Asset IDs

When a forwarder is first installed on an asset, it registers with the server and receives an asset ID. From that point onward, the forwarder uses this asset ID to identify itself to the server. The server, in turn, associates file history and policy with this asset ID.

To maintain continuity, the asset ID should remain the same even if the forwarder is re-installed or re-registered. To achieve this, the forwarder includes a registration key during the registration process. This key contains generally stable information, like the hostname and the MAC address of the asset. Before generating a new asset ID, the server checks for an existing asset ID with the provided registration key.

While this approach works in most cases, the registration key can change over time. Consider:

• Assets may have multiple real & virtual MAC addresses -- choosing the correct one can be challenging
• Hostnames may change
• An asset may be decommissioned and replaced with a new device
• etc.

Custom Registration Key

Customers can provide their own registration key to ensure a stable and uniquely identifying value. The server will use this key to look up an existing asset ID or generate a new one if necessary.

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Note: An asset ID and and an asset name are different. The asset name is generally the hostname. Changing the registration key will result in a different asset ID but it will not otherwise impact how the asset shows up in the Stairwell assets display.

Windows

Beginning with version 1.6.6, the Windows forwarder checks for the STAIRWELL_REGISTRATION_KEY environment variable during registration. If the environment variable exists, its value is passed to the server as the registration key.

If the environment variable is not set or is empty, the forwarder uses {hostname}{MAC address with lowest ID} as the registration key. For example: win-e77c9dut14e@00:15:5d:00:33:0d.

Note that this algorithm has changed over forwarder releases, and may change again in future releases.

Mac

Beginning with version 1.6.6, the registration key can be specified via theSTAIRWELL_REGISTRATION_KEY value in an MDM profile.

If the value is not set in the MDM profile, the forwarder will use {hostname}{MAC address of the internal network interface} as the registration key. For example: Marks MacBook Prof8:12:34:56:78:90.

Linux

The Linux forwarder does not yet support custom registration keys.