SOTI Search

Use SOTI Search to find devices in SOTI MobiControl. Create search queries based on device properties and extended properties, together with boolean and logical operators, to find devices based on your search criteria.

Getting Started

  1. From the main menu, select Devices and select the SOTI search bar to activate it.

    SOTI search bar

  2. A drop-down menu lists the available Categories and Searchable Device Properties. Properties must be indexed to be searchable, see Indexing Properties.

    SOTI Search properties

  3. Create search queries by selecting a Category and a Searchable Device Property. When prompted, select or enter the values needed to complete the search query. Select Done to complete the search query.

    Search activate

    Tip: When you select a device property or extended property from the drop-down list, the search field automatically provides suggestions to help you complete your search query.
  4. Add more search queries by entering AND, OR or Grouped OR in the search bar and selecting another device property or extended property from the drop-down list. Search activate
    Note: After adding AND, OR or Grouped OR to your search, the categories and searchable device properties drop-down list is automatically displayed.
  5. Select Send to execute the search.

    send

Searchable Device Properties

Searchable device properties are device attributes reported to, or tracked by SOTI MobiControl. The device properties may be universal and apply to all device types such as Device Family, Enrollment Time, Manufacturer, or MAC Address. They may also be specific to a device type, such as Supervised (Apple), ELM Status (Samsung Android), or OS Base Edition (Windows 10 and later).

To see which searchable device properties are available and applicable to a device, open the Device Information panel. Device Information panel of an Android device.
Tip: SOTI MobiControl can search for a device using any of the device's properties listed in the Device Details tab of the Device Information panel.
Tip: The complete list of device properties is available in the advanced search drop-down list.
Note: Some property types behave as both string and numeric property types, as is the case with version properties. When using greater than or less than operators to decide version progression, the search compares values between version points individually and in sequence to decide the version order. The search ignores numeric values following the first alphabetical character.

Example: '2.10' is greater than '2.9 Build 1000'.

Categories

Categories are objects associated with a device that are not properties of the device. SOTI MobiControl can perform searches on the following categories:

  • AppleDep: Enrollment program for iOS and macOS devices.
  • Apps: Apps installed on the device.
  • Certificates: Certificates installed on the device.
  • Compliance Policies: Custom policies that determine a device's compliance status.
  • Health Attestation: Security check feature for Windows Modern devices.
  • Profiles: Profiles assigned to the device.
  • Trusted Platform Module: Security standard for processors.
  • User groups: Identity management systems such as directory services or identity providers associated with the device.
Note: Not all extended properties are applicable to every device type.

To select an extended property, activate the advanced search bar and select from the Extended Properties section of the drop-down menu.

List of available extended properties to use in search.

Using Logical Operators to Construct Search Queries

Logical operators connect the property with its desired value. They include variations on is, is not, contains, does not contain, greater than, in, not in and others. The available logical operators change based on the property. For example, string types support the contains operator while numeric types do not. The opposite is true for the greater than operator.

Note: Use a plain text editor when copying and pasting the in and not in operators into the search bar.
  • For each property type, enter text as:
    • String: 'AndroidClassic 0001', 'AndroidClassic 0002'
    • Numeric: 1,7.2,3,4.5
  • String validation simply ensures strings are in single quotes. To include single quotes within strings, precede the quote with a backslash. Example: 'John\'s Device'.
  • Only the in and not in operators support copy and paste of long comma separated lists into the search bar. Other operators support copy and paste of a single value.

Using Boolean Operators to Construct Search Queries

Boolean operators (AND, OR, Grouped OR) can string together many device properties and extended properties to create complex queries. Use AND for searches where the returned devices must match all stated properties. Use OR for searches where the returned devices must match at least one of the stated properties. Use Grouped OR to place a filter around the linked properties and force SOTI MobiControl to evaluate the properties together.

Note: AND evaluates before OR unless it is a Grouped OR.

Search by Exclusion

You can create search queries that exclude devices that match the search queries.

Switching between inclusive and exclusive searches.
Note: You can only search by exclusion with extended properties, not device properties.
Note: When searching by exclusion, you must change the device's extended property qualifiers from Include to Exclude. If you invert the logical operators (for example, using IS NOT instead of IS), but not the qualifiers, your results may contain devices you intended to exclude.

Example: The query INCLUDE: Apps: Name ≠ SOTI MobiControl tries to find all devices that do not have SOTI MobiControl agent installed. This may not return the correct results because devices may have other apps that are also not named SOTI MobiControl and therefore do match the criteria. You must use EXCLUDE: Apps: Name = SOTI MobiControl instead.

Advanced Search Examples

Refer to the Sample Devices data set to understand how SOTI MobiControl performs advanced searches.

Table 1. Sample Devices
# Device Name OS Version Device Family Serial Number Application
1 Timothy Smit's iPhone 11.0 Apple AABBCCEEDD
Name Version Status
Calculator 1.0 Installed
Barcode Scanner 3.101.3 Managed
CRM 1.1 Uninstalled
2 Sara's Nexus 5.0 Android Plus 1122334455
Name Version Status
Calculator 2.0 Not Installed
CRM 1.0 Installed
3 Tim Thompson's Desktop 10.0 Windows Modern ZZYYXXWWVV
Name Version Status
Calendar 1.4 Installed
4 Jane's iPad 10.3 Apple A1B2C3D4E5
Name Version Status
Calculator 1.1 Install Pending
Sales Leads 9 Installed
Barcode Scanner 3.3.400 Installed

Example: Advanced searches

This search query Returns these devices
Device Family = Apple AND OS Version >= 10 1, 4
(OS Version <= 10.3 OR OS Version = 11) AND Device Family = Apple 1, 4
Device Name CONTAINS Tim 1, 3
Device Family = Apple OR Device Family = Windows Modern 1, 3, 4

Example: Advanced searches with extended properties

This search query Returns these devices
Application Include (Name = Calculator) 1, 2, 4
Application Include (Name = Calculator AND Status = Not Installed) 2
[Application Include (Name = Calculator)] AND [Application Include (Status = Installed)] 1, 2, 4
Application Include (Name = Calculator AND Version > 1.0) 2, 4
[Application Include (Name = Calculator OR Name = Calendar)] AND Device Family = Apple 1, 4

Example: Advanced searches with extended properties, demonstrating the difference between Include and Exclude

This search query Returns these devices
Application Include (Name ≠ Calculator) 1, 2, 3, 4
Application Exclude (Name = Calculator) 3
Application Exclude (Name = Calculator AND Status = Installed) 2, 3, 4
Application Include (Name = Calculator AND Status ≠ Installed) 2, 4