Copyright © 2024 Sophos Ltd

Getting Started with

Sophos Central Device
Management

Sophos Central Endpoint Protection

Version: 5.0v1

[Additional Information]

Sophos Central Endpoint Protection

EP3005: Getting Started with Sophos Central Device Management

April 2024
Version: 5.0v1

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Getting Started with Sophos Central Device Management

In this chapter you will learn how to view RECOMMENDED KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
device details and create computer and server
groups. ✓ How to access and navigate Sophos Central
✓ How to protect devices

DURATION 8 minutes

In this chapter you will learn how to view device details and create computer and server groups.

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Devices Summary

Click See Report to view the report

View at-a-glance information about endpoint, user, mobile, UEM, and server
protection

The ‘Devices and users: Summary’ widget on the Sophos Central Dashboard displays at-a-glance
information about protected devices, users, and servers.

The widget displays device data based on activity status. The See Report link takes you directly to the
computer report which provides further details on protected devices.

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Devices

Select computers from the Devices drop-down menu

Navigating to the Devices drop-down menu you can select to view computers, servers, mobile devices,
firewalls, switches, wireless access points, and the available product installers.

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Manage Endpoint Software

Manage Endpoint Software

You can manage protected devices in Sophos Central in the devices page. Selecting a device from the
list will display additional options that are available for the device. To manage the software installed
on a device, click Manage Endpoint Software.

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Manage Endpoint Software

Select the protection you want

to add/change/remove

From the protection drop-down menu, select to change the protection of a single device or multiple
devices.

The protection options include licensed software that you can install on devices that are already
protected with Sophos Central. Additionally, you can choose to remove the protection of a managed
device.

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Manage Endpoint Software

Choose whether to install or

remove encryption software

Encryption software is included in the full installer that can be downloaded from Sophos Central. If you
select to install only specific components, you may find that devices do not have encryption installed.
You can select from the drop-down menu to either install or uninstall encryption. Once you select to
change the endpoint protection you will see a progress bar. Please note that you cannot install
software on a device that does not support it.

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Manage Endpoint Software

Select to add encryption via

the device list

In the encryption column of the device list, you can select to add the encryption software to a device
or multiple devices if required.

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Device Details

View the summary, events, status and policies

assigned to the device

Perform actions on the

device, update it, delete
it, or start a Live Response
session

Selecting a device from the list will display the device page. The device page is split into tabs;
SUMMARY, EVENTS, STATUS and POLICIES.

The status of a device is denoted with a green, orange, or red icon. On the SUMMARY tab you can
easily view the device name, operating system, IP address, and the last user that was logged onto the
device.

This page also allows you to perform an update, Delete the device from the Sophos Central account,
or start a Live Response session. Additional actions can be displayed by clicking More actions.

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Device Details

Clicking More actions

opens additional options
to scan the device, run the
diagnostic tool, scan the
device, change the group
membership or create a
forensic snapshot

More actions include the option to change the device group, start a scan, reset the health status of
the device. You can also select Diagnose to perform troubleshooting steps or create a forensic
snapshot.

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Computer Groups

My Products > Endpoint > Computers

To make it easier to manage protected devices, you can create computer groups. With computers
grouped, you can assign the same policy to multiple devices at the same time. Computer groups are
created by navigating to My Products > Endpoint > Computers and selecting the Computer Groups
tab.

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Computer Groups

Add computer groups to

manage devices

If you have synchronised the Sophos Central account with a directory, you may already have computer
groups listed here. The number of devices assigned to a group is displayed and you can also search this
list by entering the name of the group you are searching for into the search box. You can manually
create a computer group by selecting Add Computer Group.

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Computer Groups

Create a new top-level

group or a group within an
existing group

You can either create a new top-level group, or you can create a group within an existing group. In this
example, we will create a group within an existing group.

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Computer Groups

When creating a group

within an existing group,
select the existing group
from the available groups
list

When you are creating a group within an existing group, you will select the existing group you want to
create the sub-group in.

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Computer Groups

Assign the
computers you
want to add to the
group

Computers can only be assigned to ONE computer group

Name the group and assign the required computers from the available computers list. This list is
filtered to show unassigned computers by default; however, you can change this to show all
computers or show computers filtered by operating system. Computers can only be assigned to ONE
computer group.

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Computer Groups

If you have a group that is not in the correct place. For example, a top-level group that should be a
sub-level group, you can move the group to the correct place.

Select the group you want to move and then select where you want to move it and click Save.

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Computer Groups

Edit group membership via the

group

Edit group membership via the

device page > More actions

You can edit the devices that belong to each computer group using the Computers Groups tab and
editing the group membership or for individual devices via the Device page.

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Simulation: Create Computer Groups

In this simulation you will create two computer groups.

LAUNCH SIMULATION CONTINUE

https://training.sophos.com/ce/simulation/ComputerGroups/2/start.html

Please complete this simulation.

Click Launch Simulation to start. Once you have finished, click Continue.

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Server Details

All protected servers are listed with their IP address, operating system and
protection status

Servers are listed in Sophos Central in Devices > Servers. When you install the Sophos Endpoint Agent,
the installer recognizes the operating system and automatically places protected servers in the
‘Servers’ list.

All protected servers are listed with the name, IP address, operating system, and protection status.
The list also displays when the servers were last active, the group they are associated with, and the
locked down status of the server.

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Server Details

Selecting a server from the server list will display the server details. Here you can view the SUMMARY
of the server. This includes the most recent events, the last Sophos Central activity, the last agent
update, and the assigned products. Below the server icon, you can view the name of the server and
the operating system. You can select to isolate the server, perform a scan, start server lock down or
generate a diagnostic file. You can also reset the server health status or start a Live Response session if
required.

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Server Details

The EVENTS tab displays all events for the server. These events can be filtered.

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Server Details

The STATUS tab displays the server’s health. If a server does have an alert or a warning, it can be
acknowledged and resolved.

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Server Details

The EXCLUSIONS tab allows you to review the exclusions applied to the server. You can search and
filter all exclusions.

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Server Details

The APPLICATIONS tab allows you to view a list of applications that are currently installed on the
server.

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Server Details

The POLICIES tab displays the policies that are applied to the server.

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Server Groups

Add server groups to manage

servers

My Products > Server > Servers

To make the management of protected servers easier by assigning policies to multiple servers at the
same time, you can create server groups. Server groups are created by navigating to My Products >
Server > Servers.

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Server Groups

Select whether you want to create a new top-level group or to create a group within an existing group.
In this example, we will create a new top-level group.

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Server Groups

By default, unassigned
servers are displayed.
Click the drop-down
menu to shall all
available servers

Give the server group a name and assign the servers that will be included in the group. By default,
unassigned servers are displayed in the available servers list. Use the drop-down menu to change the
servers listed, filtering to show all protected servers, or servers by operating system.

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Server Groups

Servers can only be assigned to ONE server group

Once the server group has been saved, it will be listed in the server groups list. Remember, a server
can only be a member of ONE group.

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Simulation: Create a Server Group

In this simulation you will create a new server group and

assign a server to it.

LAUNCH SIMULATION CONTINUE

https://training.sophos.com/ce/simulation/ServerGroups/2/start.html

Please complete this simulation.

Click Launch Simulation to start. Once you have finished, click Continue.

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Chapter Review

Create computer and server groups to easily manage protected devices.

Use groups to assign policies to multiple computers and servers at once.

Computers and servers can only be assigned to ONE group.

Here are the three main things you learned in this chapter.

Create computer and server groups to easily manage protected devices.

Use groups to assign policies to multiple computers and servers at once.

Computers and servers can only be assigned to ONE group.

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