Installing Data Platform Extractor to Upload Data to IT Visibility

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Starting from beacon version 14.2.0, Data Platform standalone extractors can be executed on beacon to collect data using specific loader configurations (refer to the table below). The data will be imported into IT Visibility. 

Existing custom Data Platform extractors can be used with IT Visibility as long as they use loader configurations listed below. If you need to create a new custom extractor for IT Visibility, contact Flexera Services.

Prerequisites

• You are using IT Visibility, as the data is meant to be imported into IT Visibility.
• Beacon version 14.0.2 or later.
• If you are also using IT Asset Management, you do not need to have a separate new beacon installed, just make sure one of your IT Asset Management beacons is upgraded to version  14.0.2  or later. Note that the extracted data will be sent to IT Visibility from IT Asset Management but will not be processed in IT Asset Management.

To start using standalone extractors on beacon:

1. Copy the attached DNA_Normalize_Extractor_5.5.35_3003.zip file (at the bottom of this article) to a directory on Beacon server, e.g. C:\DPV5. Then extract the zip file.
2. After extracting the zip file, you will see ExtractorLoader.cmd, FLEXERA_Normalize_Extractor_XXXX.exe and a few config files for Solarwinds Orion and JAMF Casper in the extracted files. Double click FLEXERA_Normalize_Extractor_XXXX.exe, it will create a new folder called EXTRACTION in the same directory. In the EXTRACTION folder, you should be able to see Extractor.exe and which can be run later with a configuration file supplied.
3. Create a folder with the name DataPlatformExtractor if it does not exist under directory C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Beacon\IntermediateData on Beacon server.
4. Open a command line terminal and run the following command as an example. You need to replace the corresponding options according to your environment.

   C:\DPV5\EXTRACTION\Extractor.exe -X "C:\DPV5\orion(11.5.1).extractor(MSS).config" -O "C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Beacon\IntermediateData\DataPlatformExtractor" -H localhost -PT 1433 -C SolarWindsOrion -U sa -P Admin123456789 -I false -F SolarWindsOrion_US.zip

   Extractor Command Options and Example Values

   [-X]  <Xml Config file full path> ; C:\DPV5\orion(11.5.1).extractor(MSS).config
   [-O]  <Output file path> ; C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Beacon\IntermediateData\DataPlatformExtractor
   [-F]  <Output file name> ; SolarWindsOrion_US.zip
   [-H]  <Database host name> ; localhost
   [-PT] <Database port> ; 1433
   [-C]  <Database Catalog name> ; SolarWindsOrion
   [-U]  <Database user name> ; sa
   [-P]  <Database user password> ; Admin123456789
   [-I]  <Database Windows Authentication> ; true or false

   For the other options of the Extractor, you can check it by running the command Extractor.exe -?.

   1. Choose the correct config file to read data from your source. This is a mapping between their versions and the corresponding config file you should use in the command line.
      
      

      Extractor	Extractor Config File
      Solarwinds Orion (11.5.1,12.0,12.1) (MSS)	orion(11.5.1).extractor(MSS).config
      Solarwinds Orion (12.1) (MSS)	orion(12.1.0).extractor(MSS).config
      JAMF Casper (earlier than version 9)	casper.extractor(mysql).config
      JAMF Casper 9	casper9.extractor(mysql).config
      JAMF Casper 10	casper10.extractor(mysql).config
      ASG Trackbird	trackbird.extractor(MSS).config, trackbird.extractor(ORA).config
      BDNA Discover	discover.extractor(ORA).config
      BMC BladeLogic	bladelogic(8.8).extractor(ORA).config, bladelogic.extractor(ORA).config, bladelogic.schema_name.extractor(ORA).config
      CA IT Client Manager (ITCM)	itcm.extractor(MSS).config
      CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution (LMS)	ciscoworks.extractor(SQA).config
      HP Network Automation	hpna.extractor(ORA).config
      LANDesk	landesk.extractor(MSS).config, landesk.extractor(ORA).config, landesk.schema_name.extractor(ORA).config
      Lansweeper	lansweeper.extractor(MSS).config, lansweeper5.extractor(MSS).config, lansweeper6.extractor(MSS).config
      Novell ZENworks	zenworks.extractor(MSS).config
      OCS	ocs.full.extractor(mysql).config
      Scalable	scalable.extractor.config
      HP Discovery and Dependency Mapping Advanced (DDMa)	hpddma.extractor(MSSQL).config, hpddma.extractor(ORA).config, hpddma.schema_name.extractor(ORA).config
      IBM TCM	tivoli.tcm.extractor(MSS).config, tivoli.tcm.extractor(ORA).config
      IBM Tivoli Application Dependency Discovery Manager	taddm.extractor(DB2)(9.5)(L2INTRFC).config, taddm.extractor(DB2).config
      IBM Tivoli Asset Discovery for Distributed	tad4d.extractor(DB2)(7.5).config, tad4d.extractor(DB2).config
      IBM Tivoli Asset Discovery for z/OS	tad4z.extractor(DB2).config
      Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) 7	map.full.extractor.config
      Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) 8	map8.extractor(MSS).config
      Radia Client Automation Enterprise	radia.extractor(MSSQL).config
      Lakeside SysTrack	systrack.extractor(MSS).config

   2. For each of the individual connection, please use a unique name for the output file name. The output file name will be used as a unique identifier in IT visibility. It will be used as the connection name, which will be visible on FlexeraOne IT Visibility UI.
   3. The output file path must be C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Beacon\IntermediateData\DataPlatformExtractor. Unless your beacon is installed on a different drive then you can replace C drive with the correct one.

      If the same file already exists in folder C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Beacon\IntermediateData\DataPlatformExtractor, it will overwrite it next time when generating the new one.

      

      If you cannot see the generated zip file, please review the command options you used or see more details in the log folder. e.g. C:\DPV5\log\normalize.txt.

      
5. Once the above command can execute successfully and you can see the generated zip file in C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Beacon\IntermediateData\DataPlatformExtractor, use Windows task scheduler to schedule each of your individual extractor calls. In Windows task scheduler, you can create a task that runs regularly, e.g. daily or weekly.

   On the Action tab, please specify the full path of Extractor.exe for Program/script. For Add arguments (optional), please put the command options you used in step 5.

   
6. Once the scheduled task is created, it will generate the zip file in C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Beacon\IntermediateData\DataPlatformExtractor regularly based on the trigger you set in the scheduled task.

   NOTE: If you have multiple connections to several data sources, please create a scheduled task for each of the connections and make sure to leave enough time between them to let one to finish before the next one starts to run.

7. Each time the scheduled task Upload third party inventory data runs, it will upload any zip files within the C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Beacon\IntermediateData\DataPlatformExtractor folder to C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Beacon\IntermediateData\Upload.

   Any error during upload of the file will be moved to the Error folder C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Beacon\IntermediateData\DataPlatformExtractor\Error.

   It will only keep the latest error zip per connection. Upload third party inventory data is defaulted to run every 10 mins. If Data Platform extractor is scheduled to run more often than 10 mins, only the latest zip file within the 10 mins will be uploaded.

See the attachment BDNA_Normalize_Extractor_5.5.35_3003.zip

If you encounter any difficulties while following the above steps and need further assistance, contact Flexera Support

[aburns]

I found that running FLEXERA_Normalize_Extractor_5.5.35_3003.exe as described in step 2 did not create the EXTRACTION folder.  It only displayed the BDNA Normalize Extractor dialog.  The FLEXERA_Normalize_XXX.zip file is a 7-Zip self-extracting file, so you can use the 7-Zip File Manager to extract the files and manually put them in the EXTRACTION folder.

1. Open 7-Zip File Manager.
2. Browse to the file FLEXERA_Normalize_Extractor_5.5.35_3003.exe and select it.  (See Figure 1.)
3. Click the Extract button on the toolbar.
4. On the "Extract" dialog, specify the location of the EXTRACTION folder, which should be an empty directory. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 1: Use the 7-Zip File Manager to extract the files from the self-extracting executable.

Figure 2: Specify the "EXTRACTION" directory where you want to save the files.