The Setting for WEB_USAGEAGENT_ENABLE in the agent config file

[steven_donovan1]

Hi I have been looking in the GatheringFlexNetInventory.pdf and I am not finding the switch to use. Does this setting allow the agent to track web usage?

Thanks,

Steve

[kyle_wolff]

I also have not been able to find information around the FlexNet Agent setting WEB_USAGEAGENT_ENABLE, even in much older documentation. Would like to know if it is even a legitimate option / setting at this point or if it's been deprecated. If it is a legitimate option, adding information about it to the GatheringFlexNetInventory.pdf, or a KB written about it would be helpful.

To further that point, there should also at least be a KB article created going over every single line in the mgssetup.ini detailing why it's there, what it's for, why to use or not use it, what it does, and best practices around each setting.

[ChrisG · Accepted solution]

The WEB_USAGEAGENT_ENABLE setting in the mgssetup.ini file is a hangover from functionality from days gone by that used web browser plugins to track which websites people visited. This functionality has been long-since obsoleted. You can safely ignore the setting (or remove it from the file all together if it worries you).

Useful settings in the mgssetup.ini file are described in the Gathering FlexNet Inventory PDF - look for the topic Agent third-party deployment: Edit the Configuration File for Microsoft Windows.

[dennis_reinhardt]

Hi @ChrisG ,

thanks for your detailed feedback about this setting. I've activated this feature and installed the agent on a test VM. Running the Internet Explorer, the IE is asking for permission to install the "Flexera Web Usage Extension". Even if the feature is no longer supported, is the agent able to capture WebUsage data through the plugin? If yes, how to use this in Flexera and is there any effort on the part of Flexera to reactivate this functionality for the agent and to support other browsers as well?

Best,

Dennis

[ChrisG]

If you do find a way to get the browser plugin working, you will find data from it ends up somewhere in the inventory database. To access the data you could do some exploration to work out which tables the data is stored in, and do a direct SQL query against those tables. FlexNet Manager Suite won't make use of the data, and it is not shown in any UIs.

[dennis_reinhardt]

Hi Chris,

thanks for your feedback, we'll try 🙂

Is there any effort on the part of the Flexera RoadMap to reactivate this functionality for the agent and to support other browsers as well?

Best, Dennis

[ChrisG]

I can't comment myself on Flexera roadmap matters, but depending on the particular use case/need you have in mind, the Flexera SaaS Manager product may be of interest. This product is targeted at helping to identify, manage and optimize SaaS spend within an organization.

The product page for SaaS Manager is at https://www.flexera.com/products/spend-optimization/saas-manager.html, and Community content for this product is at https://community.flexera.com/t5/SaaS-Manager/ct-p/SaaS-Manager.