Applications reported last usage data while metering is not enabled in SCCM

[Anonymous]

Hi Team,

We would like to request your help with the below items for which software metering is not enabled in SCCM but we can find Last Used Date in FNMS 2019 R2:

1. Beyond Compare 4.2.10 4.2.10.23938

2. Dataload Professional 5.2.1

If you can please help us understand the reason why it i happening, if required we are also ready to connect through a call or a screen-sharing session for a better understanding.

Let me know if you require any supporting screenshot etc.

Thanks & regards,

Sourav Sengupta

[kclausen]

Starting with the initial release of SCCM 2012, the Asset Intelligence module automatically captures the "Last Used Date" of any application and you do not need to configure the legacy "software metering" method to capture usage data.  Basically, the main difference is that when you enable the legacy "software metering" method for a specific EXE, then SCCM will capture all of the details around the usage over time (number of launches and total run time).

With Asset Intelligence/Last Used Date, SCCM does not capture usage over time, it only captures the "Last Used Date", (Recently Used Date in SCCM)

Here is some old documentation on this:  https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/e95ccc2f-559a-43b2-afc9-dd9a0a3cb8da/difference-between-software-metering-and-recently-used-applications-in-sccm-2012?forum=configmanagersecurity

The FNMS Adapter for SCCM will capture the "recently used date" from SCCM and show this as software usage without needing to enable software metering.

If you require additional information, you should raise a Support Case.

[kathy_allen]

This is good to know, thanks.  I also thought last used date would be populated if file evidence was added to the applications, correct?

[kclausen]

@kathy_allen - That depends on your source of data.  In the case of the SCCM "Recently Used Date", what SCCM attempts to do is look at the EXE that was launched, and then look back into the Installation Package repository on the end point to see what application this EXE is associated with and then track the Last Used Date at the package level, not the EXE level.

Depending on how an application was installed, SCCM may not be able to track a launched EXE back to an installation package, especially when an application is installed using non-MSI technology.  For example, we have seen instances where SCCM does not always capture the Last Used Date for Office 365 and Adobe Cloud applications, because these are not installed within an MSI.

[dbeckner]

@kclausen There are some products like Goldwave that do not register themselves in Add/Remove Programs which means they will not have a value shown in dbo.v_GS_CCM_RECENTLY_USED_APPS which is the table that the SCCM adapter gathers the Last Used Date from. For products such as Goldwave that don't populate in the referenced view we want to turn on SCCM metering and adjust the application usage rules based on hours used instead of number of times opened. Does the SCCM adapter collect usage the hours used - usage data or does that required the FlexNet agent to gather that information?

[ChrisG]

@dbeckner - usage data is also imported from the MonthlyUsageSummary view in the SCCM database, which may pick up the situation you have described.

See the following article for some further low level details about exactly what is imported: Understanding and troubleshooting usage metering data imported from Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM).

[dbeckner]

Thank you @ChrisG I missed that view when looking through the Usage.xml file from the adapter. This is exactly what we are looking for.