The Last Inventory Source and Last Inventory Date columns in FlexNet Manager Suite’s All Inventory view have undergone multiple design changes throughout new version releases. This article details the columns' behavior in each FlexNet Manager Suite version.
The example scenario below will help illustrate how these columns behave in each version.
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INVENTORY_DEVICE is being imported into FlexNet Manager Suite from two different inventory sources: The FlexNet inventory agent and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).
- The FlexNet inventory agent is the primary connection (this is a default setting) and SCCM is a non-primary connection
- The FlexNet inventory agent inventory for INVENTORY_DEVICE has a last inventory date of January 1, 2023
- The SCCM inventory for INVENTORY_DEVICE has a last inventory date of February 1, 2023
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Pre-FlexNet Manager Suite 2018 R2
In all versions before FlexNet Manager Suite 2018 R2, if two different inventory sources are merged to the same compliance computer record, and the non-primary connection has a more recent inventory date, FlexNet Manager Suite will select the primary connection as the last inventory source but will use the last inventory date from the non-primary connection.
In this case, INVENTORY_DEVICE would show the following column values:
- Last Inventory Source = FlexNet inventory agent (primary connection)
- Last Inventory Date = February 1, 2023 (date from non-primary connection)
FlexNet Manager Suite 2018 R2 - 2021 R1
In FlexNet Manager Suite 2018 R2 to version 2021 R1, an improvement was implemented that changes the columns’ behavior. In these versions, if a device is reporting inventory from the primary connection, both the Last Inventory Source and Last Inventory Date columns will show data from the primary source over any non-primary sources. This change was done to align the two column values. The primary source is prioritized due to its importance in the role of IBM sub-capacity calculation, which requires the FlexNet inventory agent to be the primary inventory connection source with inventory reporting occurring every 30 minutes.
In this case, INVENTORY_DEVICE would show the following column values:
- Last Inventory Source = FlexNet inventory agent (primary connection)
- Last Inventory Date = January 1, 2023 (date from primary connection)
FlexNet Manager Suite 2021 R1 - current
In FlexNet Manager Suite 2021 R1, another improvement was implemented to address concerns that the last inventory date may not show the true last inventory date if a non-primary inventory source has reported more recently than the primary source. To clarify the presented data, two columns were added, Primary Inventory Source and Primary Inventory Date. These columns provide the source and last inventory date for the primary inventory source.
The enhancement also changes the behavior of the Last Inventory Source and Last Inventory Date columns. The values in these columns are no longer exclusively bound to the primary compliance connection. The two columns are populated with the true most recent inventory date and inventory source, regardless of if these values come from the primary source or not.
In this case, INVENTORY_DEVICE would show the following column values:
- Last Inventory Source = SCCM
- Last Inventory Date = February 1, 2023
- Primary Inventory Source = FlexNet inventory agent
- Primary Inventory Date = January 1, 2023
Learn More
For more information on the behavior of these columns in the current version of FlexNet Manager Suite, see Flexera’s IT Asset Management Online Help section on All Inventory.
