Configuring different authentication methods for ManageSoftRL and ManageSoftDL in IT Asset Management

In Flexera One IT Asset Management (ITAM), it is not supported to configure different IIS authentication methods for the ManageSoftRL and ManageSoftDL virtual directories on a Beacon. This article explains why the limitation exists and outlines supported workarounds depending on your environment.

Why different authentication settings are not supported

ManageSoftRL and ManageSoftDL both point to the same physical directory on the Beacon:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Flexera Software\Inventory Beacon\DotNet

Because they share the same directory and the same web.config file, IIS applies a single authentication configuration to both virtual directories.

This means:

If you change authentication for ManageSoftRL, the same authentication applies to ManageSoftDL.
If you set ManageSoftDL to Anonymous, ManageSoftRL will also become Anonymous.

IIS cannot maintain unique authentication settings for each virtual directory when they share the same underlying configuration.

This behavior is expected in Flexera One ITAM environments.

Solution

1. Workaround for Flexera One IT Asset Management (ITAM) environments

Flexera One ITAM does not support separating authentication for RL and DL.
Instead, you can configure the agent to:

Bootstrap from a Beacon using Anonymous Authentication
(to download its initial policy without credentials)

Then:

The downloaded policy can direct the agent to additional Beacons that require Basic Authentication, using encrypted credentials stored in policy.

This approach allows secure authentication handling while still supporting an anonymous bootstrap workflow.

2. Workaround for FlexNet Manager Suite

If your environment uses FlexNet Manager Suite on-premises, and you install an Inventory Beacon on the application server, it becomes possible to configure ManageSoftRL and ManageSoftDL with different authentication settings because: