Fleet is the engine behind device management in Factorial IT. This article walks you through the four tabs of the Fleet console (Hosts, Controls, Queries and Policies) and tells you when to use each one.

Feature/Functionality

Overview

Fleet Premium comes with your subscription. Factorial IT hosts your Fleet instance and keeps it maintained and up to date. Go to the Fleet console for advanced queries and policies; everything else lives in the Factorial IT console.

Do not change anything in Fleet that a Factorial IT control already manages, such as OS settings, disk encryption, the Recovery Lock password or OS updates. The two will clash, and a device can end up with a setting that differs from what the console shows. Change those settings in the console under MDM > Controls, and use Fleet only for queries and policies.

Hosts

• What it is for: a view of every device in your fleet, with its status, certificates and inventory.
• Why it helps: you see device health and compliance at a glance and can deal with problems before they spread.
• Tips: choose the columns that matter to your organisation, and filter by device type or status to narrow the list.

Controls

• What it is for: the OS updates, OS settings (disk encryption, configuration profiles, passwords) and scripts that apply to your devices.
• Why it helps: you can see what a device was sent and whether it was applied, for instance when a Factorial IT control reports an error.
• Tips: Factorial IT sets everything in this tab from its own controls. Make changes in the console under MDM > Controls, not here.

Queries

• What it is for: running SQL-style queries across your devices to collect live data on system state, installed apps and more.
• Why it helps: detailed reports and ongoing monitoring that surface issues or compliance gaps quickly.
• Tips: start from the predefined queries for common jobs, and schedule queries to run at set intervals for continuous monitoring.

Policies

• What it is for: defining rules that apply across devices, such as compliance checks and automatic responses to given conditions.
• Why it helps: compliance and remediation run on their own, which saves admin time and tightens security.
• Tips: write policies that reflect your organisation's security requirements, and use the webhook option to push alerts into your ticketing tool.

Further resources

• Fleet query generator: builds queries and policies with AI.
• Fleet documentation
• Ready-made queries, policies and vitals

Troubleshooting and FAQ

Troubleshooting

• A device shows a different setting from the one in the console. Someone probably changed it directly in Fleet. Set it again from MDM > Controls in the console and avoid editing it in Fleet.
• A Factorial IT control reports an error. Open the device in Fleet's Controls tab to see what it received and whether it applied.

FAQ

1. Do I need to pay for Fleet separately?
   No. Fleet Premium is part of your subscription, and Factorial IT hosts and maintains it.
    
2. Can I change disk encryption or OS updates from Fleet?
   No. Those are managed by Factorial IT controls. Changing them in Fleet causes conflicts. Use MDM > Controls instead.
    
3. What should I use the Fleet console for?
   Advanced queries and policies. Everything else is in the Factorial IT console.
    
4. Can Fleet policies alert my ticketing system?
   Yes, through the webhook feature.