Censusby Steward IT

Documentation › Using Steward IT Census

Asset management

Besides what scans find, Steward IT Census keeps the facts you manage yourself: an asset's status (in stock, in repair, stolen…), relations to other assets and to people, comments and documents, where it is on a floor or site map, and QR labels to stick on it. Assets that no scan can find (desk phones, docks, projectors, spare parts) can be added by hand or imported from a CSV file.

Viewing all of this is open to every login. Changing it needs the Edit assets permission (administrators have it). The lists of statuses, relation types and support links are set by administrators under Configuration › Asset management.

Statuses#

Every asset is In use until you give it another status. Census comes with In stock, Loaned out, In repair, Broken, Spare, Lost, Stolen, Sold and Disposed; rename them, change their colors or add your own.

  • Set a status on the asset's Manage tab, or for many assets at once: tick them in the asset list and use Set status in the left panel.
  • The status shows next to the asset's name and on its Summary. The asset list's left panel lists the statuses in use, and the Status column can be added with Columns.
  • A status marked Archive (Lost, Stolen, Sold and Disposed out of the box) archives the asset: it stops counting toward your license and leaves the lists. Choosing another status restores it.
  • A scan that finds an asset archived by such a status doesn't bring it back, even with Make archived assets active again when inventoried on. A stolen laptop that shows up on the network stays archived (and its Last seen tells you when it was seen) until you change its status.
  • Assets with a status are left alone by the "not seen for N days" cleanup rules: a laptop in the cupboard isn't expected on the network.

Status changes are recorded on the asset's History tab.

Relations#

The Relations tab links an asset to other assets ("Backup of", "Part of", "Docked at", "Depends on") or to people ("Used by", "Owned by", "Managed by", "Loaned to"). Choose the relation, search for the asset or type the user name, and add an optional note.

  • Relations between assets show on both: the NAS that is Backup of the server appears on the server as Backed up by the NAS.
  • Relations to people show on the user's page under Related assets (Users › the user).
  • Administrators add relation types under Configuration › Asset management. Deleting a type deletes its relations.

Comments and documents#

The Comments & documents tab keeps the asset's history in your own words and its papers:

  • Comments: what was done, who to call, where the spare cable is. Markdown works (**bold**, lists, links). Authors can delete their own comments; administrators any.
  • Documents: invoices, warranty papers, manuals, photos, contracts, up to 50 MB per file and 100 per asset. PDFs and images open in the browser; other files download.

Documents are stored in the server's data folder (documents/) and are included in backups. Deleting an asset deletes its documents.

Adding assets by hand#

Assets › Add asset by hand (or the left panel of the asset list) adds one asset: name, type, status, manufacturer, model, serial number, addresses, location, owner, assigned user, dates, notes and your custom fields. If an asset with the same serial number, MAC address or name exists already, it is updated instead.

Importing from CSV#

Assets › Import from CSV adds or updates many assets at once.

  1. Save the list as CSV (Excel: CSV UTF-8 or Unicode text; comma, semicolon or tab separated). The first row names the columns.
  2. Choose the file and click Check the file. Census shows what each row will do (new asset, update of an existing one, or a problem) without changing anything.
  3. Click Import.

Census recognizes the columns by name, in any order: Name, Asset type, Manufacturer, Model, Serial number, IP address, MAC address, Operating system, Location, Owner / department, Assigned to, Purchase date, Warranty expiration, Notes, Tags, Status, and columns named like your custom fields. Usual alternatives work too (Hostname, Service tag, Department, Warranty…). Other columns are ignored and listed.

  • A Name or Serial number is required.
  • Dates as 2024-03-31 (or 31.03.2024).
  • Asset types and statuses must exist already (add them under Configuration first).
  • A row whose serial number, MAC address or name matches an existing asset updates it. Other rows add assets, which count toward your license; rows beyond the license limit are reported and skipped.
  • A sample file is on the import page.

Imported assets have the source import. If a scan later finds the same device (by serial number or MAC address), its inventory takes over the hardware and OS fields; what you imported for location, owner, dates, custom fields and the asset type stays. Imported assets are left alone by the "not seen for N days" cleanup rules.

QR labels#

Tick assets in the asset list and click Print labels in the left panel, or open one asset and click Print label in its left panel. Each label has a QR code that opens the asset in Census (on a phone signed in to Census), the asset's name and, if you want, its type and model, serial number, location and a top line such as your company name.

Label sizes: 62 × 29 mm (Brother DK-11209 and similar), 2¼ × 1¼ in (DYMO 30334) and sheets with three labels per row (Avery L7160 / 5160). In the print dialog, choose the label printer and its paper size and set the margins to none; print sheets at 100% scale. Your choices are remembered in your browser.

The QR code uses the Server URL from Configuration › General settings, or the address you opened Census with.

Floor and site maps#

Assets › Floor & site maps holds pictures of floor plans, rack diagrams or site maps with assets pinned on them.

  1. Add a map: a name and a PNG, JPEG or GIF image (up to 15 MB). For a PDF floor plan, export the page as PNG first.
  2. On the map, click Edit pins, search for an asset, and click on the map where it is. Drag a pin to move it; click a pin to remove it.
  3. Outside edit mode, clicking a pin opens the asset.

An asset's Summary shows the maps it is on (under Asset management); each link shows the map with that asset highlighted. On its Manage tab, Map location lists those maps with Move and Remove, and placing it on another map works from there too: choose the map and click Place on this map. The map opens in edit mode with that asset chosen, so you only click where it is. After you place or move a pin, Census offers to update the asset's Location text as well.

Technicians who move equipment but shouldn't edit assets can get the Move assets on maps permission (Configuration › Logins & roles): they place, move and remove pins and change the Location text (the Map location panel is on the asset's Summary for them), but can't add, rename or delete maps or change anything else. Roles limited to some assets can only move their own assets. Replacing a map's image with a new version of the same plan keeps the pins in place, because their positions are stored relative to the image size. Map images are included in backups.

The Summary tab shows Manufacturer support links for the asset's manufacturer: out of the box, the Dell, Lenovo and HP support pages for the asset's serial number, Apple's coverage check and Surface support. Administrators add more under Configuration › Asset management:

  • Manufacturer: matched as a word in the asset's manufacturer, any case ("HP" matches "HP Inc." but not "Shpock").
  • Model contains (optional): only for models containing this text.
  • Address: {serial}, {model} and {name} are replaced with the asset's values. Links that use {serial} only show for assets with a serial number.

Settings#

Configuration › Asset management (administrators): the statuses (name, color, whether they archive the asset), the relation types (name and reverse name), and the manufacturer support links.