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November 2020

Flexera One introduced the following new features and enhancements this month.

IT Asset Management​

IT Asset Management added the following new features and enhancements in November 2020.

Improved recognition of application usage​

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This enhancement is available with IT Asset Management.

The inventory agent, when locally installed on an inventory device, can help to track application usage, particularly on Windows-based devices. This requires that the inventory device is included in a target where Allow application usage tracking on these targets has been set (see Creating a Target in the Flexera One Help). In this case, the locally-installed inventory agent monitors executing processes, and, to show which application is running, tries to match the path of the executable to paths recorded for installed applications. Until now, by default this has involved looking up Windows Installer applications in the MSI repository; and if you needed to include paths from Add/Remove Programs, that required a registry change on every target device.

This is now greatly simplified, as the setting to allow usage tracking now automatically enables both MSI lookups and Add/Remove Programs lookups. As a result, the registry setting UseAddRemove on targeted inventory devices may be turned on or off through downloaded device policy, based on your settings in the web interface.

Microsoft Azure connector now selects cloud environments​

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This enhancement is available with IT Asset Management.

The Microsoft Azure inventory connector, one of a series of PowerShell-based connectors that you can configure from an appropriate inventory beacon, now allows you to specify the Azure environment you are connecting to. Currently, the Azure environments include AzureChinaCloud, AzureCloud, AzureGermanCloud, and AzureUSGovernment, each having its own distinct set of application credentials (that is, you must specify the connection for exactly one of these environments, and not try to mix details across environments). If you do not specify any environment, the connection tries the default AzureCloud environment.

This update to the Azure inventory connector is downloaded to the inventory beacon as part of the regular beacon policy update. It automatically updates the previous version of the Azure adapter and is compatible with IT Asset Management Inventory Beacon version 13.2.0 and later.

Improved inventory for IBM DB2 databases and add-ons​

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This feature is available with IT Asset Management.

Inventory gathering by the inventory agent (whether locally-installed or running on an inventory beacon in Zero-footprint mode to take inventory “remotely”) has been improved for IBM Db2 Database and its add-ons. On both Microsoft Windows and UNIX-like platforms, the inventory agent now makes use of commands built into Db2 to identify the version, edition, IBM license type, and any licensed/used add-ons, and presents the resulting inventory in a separate IBM Db2 Database and Add-Ons report. This inventory is quite separate from other inventory (like file evidence or MSI installer evidence) that the inventory agent may collect, even from the same servers or VMs—the report excludes all the previously-available inventory types, and shows exclusively the results of the DB2 commands as used by the inventory agent (no other inventory sources can contribute to this report). It shows both the raw information returned by the Db2 commands, and the applications recognized when this raw inventory is processed in the nightly license reconciliation.

The defaults have been arranged so that the updated inventory agent automatically collects this special inventory on any device where it finds IBM Db2 Database installed, and they also include a 120-second timeout so that a failure of a Db2 command to respond does not permanently block other inventory gathering. On any individual target device, you can turn off this specialized inventory gathering, or change the timeout setting, with new preferences.

Recognition of IBM Db2 versions and editions is also being improved in the Application Recognition Library. In November 2020, the following versions are automatically recognized: 9.1, 9.5, 10.1, 10.5, 11.1, 11.5. In addition, if unrecognized application names appear in the raw imports, application records are automatically created in your compliance database to allow for matching. And because Db2 add-ons are now recognized, you can assign licenses in IT Asset Management to manage coverage of that software as well. The improvements in both inventory gathering and the Application Recognition Library may result in some small variations in license consumption with this release.

Full details are available in the Flexera One Help, with (as always) details of the new agent settings/preferences included in the Gathering FlexNet Inventory reference.

HSTS security header is now standard​

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This enhancement is available with IT Asset Management.

Consistent with current security best practice for web-based applications, now the presentation server for the web interface of IT Asset Management issues the HSTS header (HTTP Strict Transport Security) with all responses. This header instructs all client web browsers to enforce HTTPS for access to the presentation server.

This is in addition to the existing 307 redirects, which correct any browser using the standard HTTP protocol to access the same site using the HTTPS secure protocol. The HTTPS protocol, along with an accompanying server certificate, protects from malicious activity like man-in-the-middle attacks. Even if an operator accidentally enters the HTTP protocol, the client web browser, after receiving the HSTS header, automatically corrects the URL to the HTTPS protocol before transmitting the request.

Support for IBM Cloud Paks with new VPC license​

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This feature is available with IT Asset Management.

IBM encourages customers to license IBM Cloud Paks with a new form of sub-capacity licensing that counts virtual processor cores assigned to run the software. Added to Flexera One is a new IBM VPC license type for non-containerized infrastructure that simplifies this form of licensing, as well as licensing traditional bundles or individual products. (Support for containers is planned.)

As IBM Cloud Paks may be bundles with multiple primary products, the VPC license Consumption tab is specialized to allow the consumption tree(s) to start from the product(s) attached to the license, below which you can identify the virtual host, any applicable resource pools, and the virtual machines running the software. Alternatively, for those VPC licenses covering only a single primary product, the consumption tree(s) are more familiar, starting with the virtual host(s) where the licensed software is running on a guest VM.

tip

In Cloud Pak bundles, the licensing of primary products also covers any bundled supplementary products, so these supplementary cannot be separately licensed.

For software running on an instance provided by an eligible cloud service provider, IBM's eligible public cloud BYOSL policy now recommends counting assigned vCPUs (or threads), and using these for both IBM PVU and VPC licenses instead of the core count. For any inventory device record where the Hosted in property has been set to a cloud service provider (and not, of course, to On-premises), both these IBM license types automatically take account of assigned vCPUs. Similarly, if the software runs on a stand-alone (non-virtualized) server, the licenses automatically take account of processor cores.

A VPC license doesn't have a points table as such (the way that a PVU license assigns points based on the processor type); but each licensed product in an IBM Cloud Pak bundle has an individual ratio of the number of VPCs permitted for each license entitlement. For example, if a particular product in the bundle has a 2:1 ratio, two VPCs can be used to run that product for every individual license entitlement. If another product in the same bundle has a 1:1 ratio, then that same single license entitlement also authorizes one core (VPC) to be assigned to run the second product.

In general, the IBM VPC license is for managing sub-capacity consumption in a way very similar to the IBM PVU license, and in fact all the same PVU sub-capacity rules apply to licensing IBM Cloud Paks. For example, the VPC license tracks peak consumption within the same three mandatory IBM regions, and for the same reporting period, as do PVU licenses. Another familiar requirement, if you have been granted a license variation to use IT Asset Management to track sub-capacity consumption of PVU license, is that you must archive your sub-capacity consumption reports for two years. IT Asset Management now includes two additional reports that can be saved/archived in the same cycle as your equivalent PVU reports:

  • IBM Cloud Pak License Consumption records the region-based peak sub-capacity license consumption for a given reporting period
  • IBM Cloud Pak License Current Consumption shows the region-based consumption for all Cloud Pak licenses as of the most recent license compliance calculation (typically overnight last night).

You can jump directly to either report from the Consumption tab on an IBM VPC license's property sheet, and they are of course also accessible through the Reporting menus.

Customizable IT Asset Management dashboard​

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This feature is available with IT Asset Management.

Involving extensive interviews and input from customers, the first customizable edition of the IT Asset Management Dashboard was included in Flexera One.

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Customizing the IT Asset Management Dashboard requires IBM Cognos Analytics v11.0.13 or later. If you do not have IBM Cognos Analytics v11.0.13 or later installed, the options to customize your dashboard are hidden.

This lets you personalize your dashboard to visualize only the items you feel are most important to your particular tasks. You can select from a wide range of widgets available, or you can create your own. 

As well, you can save a customized dashboard as a template that can be used by other operators, or use ones that they prepare and share. The original IT Asset Management Dashboard is the default shown when you go to the page the first time or before you customize it. However, when you create your own personalized dashboard or load a copy of a template saved by another operator, your current choice persists (even across multiple login sessions) until you choose another. In this way, each operator may have their own personalized 'default' dashboard, but each can switch whenever they choose.

With the new customizable IT Asset Management Dashboard, you can:

  • Create your own dashboards
  • Add out-of-the-box Cognos widgets
  • Add a broad array of out-of-the-box IT Asset Management widgets
  • Create custom widgets
  • Rearrange widgets on the page
  • Change your personal choice of dashboard at any time

Give the customizable IT Asset Management Dashboard a try and see what it can do for you!

Scanning uploaded documents to eliminate malicious content​

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This feature is available with IT Asset Management.

At several points in IT Asset Management, such as in the properties of purchases, contracts, assets, and licenses, you can reference supporting documents to help with record management. One available method for electronic documents is to upload the files to the application server, and save them with your license management data.

To prevent the accidental upload of malicious files, all such document uploads are now subject to automatic virus scanning at the time of upload.

If malicious content is found in a file, a red block of warning text appears in the web interface to alert the operator:

Antivirus scanning has quarantined this file as malicious. If you think this is a mistake, please contact your IT department for analysis, or contact Flexera Support.

Naturally, it is up to the operator (or perhaps your IT Department) to attend to the original file on the external device from which you attempted the upload – IT Asset Management has no capacity to remove files from external devices. The upload is blocked from the cloud web application server, and the malicious file is discarded.

Inventory connector for ServiceNow​

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This feature is available with IT Asset Management.

A new connector for your inventory beacons allows you to use ServiceNow as an inventory source for hardware and installed software information.

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This inventory connector is quite separate from the existing integration between ServiceNow and IT Asset Management that allows two-way exchange of information about contracts and assets. You can continue to use that kind of data exchange alongside the import of raw inventory information with the new inventory connector.

The inventory collection process requires some set-up in the ServiceNow side:

  • At a minimum, the Discovery plugin must be in use within ServiceNow. More complete inventory is available if you also have the SAM plugin in use.
  • The Flexera Integration app must be scheduled to run under a suitable user account, and extract data and save it into .csv files on your chosen MID server (typically, in a relatively stable environment, data collection once a week is adequate). This is the same Flexera Integration app that you may already have in place for other forms of interaction between the products, including the contracts/assets exchanges mentioned above. There is no 'second installation' required: it is 'one app to save them all', regardless of data type.

Once the raw inventory data is being saved into .csv files on your MID server, the new ServiceNow inventory connector, configured on a convenient inventory beacon, extracts the data from the .csv files, and uploads the raw inventory to the central application server. There it joins the normal process of import and license consumption calculations.

One limitation of inventory “discovery” by ServiceNow concerns partitioning technologies that provide virtualization on several UNIX-like platforms. If you are supporting these platforms, best practice is to install the inventory agent locally on them, reporting directly to your inventory beacon(s). This allows collection of all details needed for your license consumption calculations. This additional information integrates smoothly with the information collected from ServiceNow.

Full details are available in the Flexera One Help, and in even greater depth in within the ServiceNow Inventory Connector topic in the Inventory Adapters and Connectors Reference guide.

Oracle options usage tracking enhanced​

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This enhancement is available with IT Asset Management.

In the Options tab of the property sheet for Oracle database instances, the Used (Yes or No) property is a hyperlink that displays an additional dialog of Usage Details for the corresponding Oracle option. That usage dialog is now enhanced with an additional column for Last usage date, where this information is available. Only a small selection of the Oracle sources investigated (and shown in the Source column) provide this value:

  • DBA_FEATURE_USAGE_STATISTICS
  • FEATURE_INFO
  • PACK_FEATURE_USAGE
  • PACK_USAGE

Even from these sources, the Oracle GLAS (Global Licensing and Advisory Services) data does not always include the usage date; but where the date of the most recent usage is available, it is now visible in this dialog. The date is also maintained in the Oracle database instance, so that even if an option is subsequently “switched off” (and the Used column therefore shows No), the Last usage date continues to display the last date reported before usage was discontinued.

jQuery support updated​

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This enhancement is available with IT Asset Management.

Integration of IT Asset Management with the jQuery library has been upgraded to the latest version (3.5.1). In general, there is no visible impact from this update, except that IT Asset Management supports only those web browsers that are themselves compatible with this jQuery version or later. The list of the minimum supported versions of various web browsers has been updated in the System Requirements and Compatibility document, in the Prerequisite Software section.

Latest macOS supported​

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This enhancement is available with IT Asset Management.

The inventory agent version 16.0.1 now supports gathering software inventory from the Big Sur release (version 11) of macOS. This means the existing methods of inventory collection from macOS are now extended to the latest release of Apple's operating system.

SaaS Management​

SaaS Management added the following enhancements in November 2020.

Creative Cloud license differentiation​

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This enhancement is available with SaaS Management.

The following Creative Cloud integration instruction sections were updated to reflect the new Creative Cloud license differentiation feature.

Application Roster​

The Creative Cloud application roster now stores the Assigned User Groups and Product Names.

License Types​

Creative Cloud uses Product Profiles to enable customers to manage their usage. The Creative Cloud integration displays the applications or license type from each discovered user’s product profile in the License Type column of the Activity tab.

The following links list the applications or license types that are tracked.

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These Creative Cloud links exclude all special offers or region-specific product plans.

License Differentiation​

Flexera One offers a license differentiation feature that allows you to view users by application or license type. To view this license differentiation feature, navigate to the Activity tab of the Creative Cloud App Details screen where you can filter and export the Creative Cloud application or license types.

The total spend for the billable Creative Cloud accounts displayed in the Creative Cloud App Details screen is based on the Creative Cloud license cost details entered in the License Details tab. For details, refer to Entering license details for license differentiation.

Application Roster API endpoints​

List Users​

https://usermanagement.adobe.io/v2/usermanagement/users/<<OrganizationID>>/

List Groups and Product Profile​

https://usermanagement.adobe.io/v2/usermanagement/groups/<<OrganizationID>>/

Application Task Tracking​

License Differentiation has been added to Creative Cloud in the Application Task Tracking chart.

Salesforce Reclamation API endpoint​

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This enhancement is available with SaaS Management.

The Salesforce Integration Instructions now include a Reclamation API endpoint to deactivate a Salesforce user.

Salesforce Reclamation API endpoint​

https://<<SalesforceInstance>>.salesforce.com/services/data/v48.0/composite/batch

To deactivate a user in Salesforce, add the following URL in the request body of the API:

{ "method" : "PATCH", "url" : "v48.0/sobjects/user/<<userId>>",  "richInput" : \{"IsActive" :false} 
}

Refer to the Salesforce documentation regarding all User Deactivation Considerations (billing and license, record access, etc.).

Slack license differentiation​

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This enhancement is available with SaaS Management.

The Slack integration instructions were renamed as Slack (for Workspace) to reflect users integrating with Slack at a workspace level. The following integration instruction sections were updated to reflect the new Slack license differentiation feature.

Application Roster​

The Slack (for Workspace) application roster now stores the license types: Free and Billable.

License Types​

Slack has a Fair Billing Policy where only “Active” members are billed. This information is available via the Billable Info API. The following Slack license types displayed in the Activity tab are available:

  • Free
  • Billable

License Differentiation​

Flexera One offers a license differentiation feature that allows you to view which users have free Slack accounts and which users have billable Slack accounts. To view this license differentiation feature, navigate to the Activity tab of the Slack App Details screen where you can filter and export the Slack license types.

The total spend for the billable Slack accounts displayed in the Slack App Details screen is based on the Slack license cost details entered in the License Details tab. For details, refer to Entering license details for license differentiation.

Application Roster API endpoint​

The following endpoint has been added for license differentiation:

https://slack.com/api/team.billableinfo

Application Task Tracking​

License Differentiation has been added to Slack (for Workspace) in the Application Task Tracking chart.