FlexNet Manager Blog (Archived) — ChrisG (Flexera Software)
A common question that needs to be considered when deploying FlexNet Manager Suite is what technology to use to gather hardware and software details (aka "inventory") from computers and virtual instances in your environment. This is often a choice between the FlexNet inventory agent and existing tools that are already deployed. Common tools you may have in your organization include Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM), IBM License Management Tool (ILMT) or BigFix, and BMC Discovery (formerly ADDM).
There is no one right or wrong answer to this choice - each option will have pros and cons. Different alternatives will also come with different trade-offs in terms of what data they are able to gather, and the level of effort required to deploy and support the solution. A common significant pro for using existing tools is that these tools are already deployed and in use within the organization - it is easier to use them than introduce something new. Read on below to understand some specialized data that the FlexNet inventory agent gathers and that are not covered by many other technologies.
What factors have driven your decisions on inventory gathering tools and technologies to use? Leave a comment on this post to share your experiences and insights.
Data that is common between toolsMost tools that FlexNet Manager Suite imports inventory from (including the FlexNet inventory agent) will gather some or all of the following basic hardware and software information:
- Computer identification properties like name & domain
- Operating system
- Currently logged on user
- Common hardware properties (serial number, CPU information, memory, disk space, etc)
- Details of installed software packages (such as package name, version & publisher details from the Add/Remove Programs registry area on Windows)
- Details of executable files found on the filesystem
The FlexNet inventory agent includes a range of specialized data gathering capabilities targeted at providing additional data to support several software license management use cases. It is not common for other tools to gather similar data that will support these use cases as robustly.
The following table lists examples of such data, with an indication of which are most relevant to server and desktop (end user) type environments.
Gathered dataServersDesktopsData related to Oracle software: Granular Oracle Database & Fusion Middleware dataX Granular Oracle Java version information on Unix-like operating systemsXXOracleVM virtual machines running on a hostX Extension information for Oracle VM VirtualBoxX Data related to Microsoft software: Edition information for Microsoft SQL Server, Exchange Server, SharePoint Server and BizTalk ServerX Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines running on a hostX Who can and has accessed selected software requiring a Microsoft CAL (including SharePoint, Lync and Exchange)X Data related to IBM software: Hardware changes to support measurement of IBM sub-capacity license consumptionX Details about various IBM server products, such as live WebSphere MQ Queue Manager state via dspmq, DB2 edition and add-on information from db2licm, and Tivoli Storage Manager/Spectrum ProtectX RedHat middleware productsX Other data: Inventory of software installed in Docker containersX Edition information for Adobe Acrobat DC XEdition information for Toad for Oracle XDetails of Symantec Storage Foundation installationsX Citrix VDI details (logged in user & VDI template)X Details of software installed using non-Windows platform-specific installation technologies: RPM, DEB, PKG, LPP, SDUX, IPSXXDetails of software installed using specialized 3rd party installer technologies: Oracle Universal Installer, InstallAnywhere, InstallShield Multiplatform, BEA, and IBM Installation ManagerXXISO 19770-2 software tag detailsXXAWS and Azure instance identity informationX UNIX partitioning & virtualization information on LPARs, Zones, nPars/vPars and Linux KVMX
NB. This list is current as of February 2023, and is likely to evolve over time.
Great article.
I have seen customers struggling to keep the agent rolled out throught their envonments. This is often related to the license / software asset management team not having the technical knowledge, manpower or mandate, to fulfil this on an ongoig basis. In contrast, already deployed tools may have specialized teams with all of the above.
Other tools might also be able to provide more data, e.g. like WMI data beyond CIMV2. Or maybe detect installed server roles, or deliver data on installed/running services. These examples may not apply for every customer, but they have been requested by customers in the past.
Also, while it can introduce matching issues, combining multiple inventory sources is an option.
@ChrisG this is really helpful, thanks!. I am trying to correlate this to the other article describing this: Inventory Comparison Matrix.
Specifically, the 'inventory comparison matrix' refers to the Flexera Agent having coverage for Virtualization as follows:
----Virtualization---ClustersSourceServerApplication-----FlexNet AgentYesYesYesSCCMNoYesNoTaniumNoNoNoCan you expand more on what virtualization data is provided by the Agent?
I was under the impression that the VMWare discovery/inventory rules are mainly what provide Server/Cluster information. Just trying to understand what specific gap there is for this if we did not have the Flexera agent installed. I see the note in the article about UNIX (e.g. Linux KVM). Is there any other context?
For example, in the matrix, the SCCM 5 footnote says:
5. App-V integration provides application virtualization in Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (previously Microsoft SCCM or SMS).
Does this not refer to the App-V integration (separate item) and not the SCCM Agent itself?
Thanks !!
I believe, Hyper-V virtualization, specifically guest-host-relationship, could be a gap when relying on SCCM only.