Cautions, Prerequisites, and References

FlexNet Manager Suite 2020 R1 (On-Premises)

CAUTION:

Be aware that the Inventory Adapter Studio is an advanced tool, and incorrect use can result in data changes in your FlexNet Manager Suite environment that will affect your license position. If you are uncomfortable with performing these changes yourself, please contact the Flexera services team.

The Inventory Adapter Studio has the following requirements:

• Location. The Inventory Adapter Studio may be installed either:
  • On an inventory beacon that will run the downstream functions of the adapter, connecting to the third-party inventory source within your enterprise. The intermediate files collected on this inventory beacon are then uploaded automatically to your central batch server. (This is called "disconnected mode" as it does not allow direct access to the underlying database.)
  • On the same central batch server as will perform the import process. In smaller implementations, use the server fulfilling that role. (This is called "connected mode", since it allows the inventory connector run from the central server to have direct access to your central database.)
• File access. On the server orbeacon where it is installed, Inventory Adapter Studio requires permission to create and edit files in the C:\ProgramData\Flexera Software\Compliance\ImportProcedures directory.
• Downstream database access. Inventory Adapter Studio requires permission to access the source databases. Read-only access may be sufficient, depending on how you write the adapter: many adapters write temporary tables on the source database to allow joins with existing data (for example, to create differential inventory of changes since the last import). Clearly, testing adapters such as these means that Inventory Adapter Studio must have full access to the source database.
• Upstream database access. When installed on the batch server, Inventory Adapter Studio needs both read and write access to the operations database of FlexNet Manager Suite. For large-scale systems where the operations database is split out to separate servers for the inventory database and compliance database, Inventory Adapter Studio requires read/write access to both databases. In contrast, when Inventory Adapter Studio (or any completed adapter) runs from an inventory beacon, the intermediate files are uploaded automatically to the central server, and automatically imported into the database.

Operator Requirements

To use the Inventory Adapter Studio successfully, you will need:

• A working knowledge of SQL, so that you can modify queries in the templates provided.
• Some data analysis experience.
• To edit the SQL queries to collect data from the source database(s), you need to know where to get the data in those source databases is located. This probably requires read access to the database and also access to the inventory tool’s user interface for data validation.
• Direct access to the FlexNet Manager Suite server. This may be on the server console directly, or using terminal services.
• A detailed working knowledge of the FlexNet Manager Suite product. This is required so that data imports can be verified, along with the expected application installations.
• Good insight into database schemas.

Restrictions

Several inventory adapters are supplied as standard with FlexNet Manager Suite (these are sometimes referred to as "Tier 1" adapters). These are installed on your central server, and are automatically downloaded to inventory beacons as required. This means:

• You cannot modify Tier 1 inventory adapters on an inventory beacon.
• You cannot store anything else in the same folder on the inventory beacon used to store Tier 1 adapters distributed by the central server. Changes are always removed automatically within a short time, keeping the distributed adapters safe and in line with the latest versions stored on the central server.
• You can, however, modify inventory adapters (using the Inventory Adapter Studio) on your central application server. These then become your latest version and are automatically distributed to your inventory beacons.
• You can install your custom inventory adapters into %CommonAppData%\Flexera Software\Compliance\ImportProcedures\CustomInventory on your batch server. As with Tier 1 adapters, adapters in this folder are automatically distributed to (and can be exercised on) all your inventory beacons.
• You can also create custom inventory adapters on inventory beacons, using the Inventory Adapter Studio and the object adapter model described in the following topics. These are stored separately, and are not over-written by downloads from the central server. This also means that a custom inventory adapter is by nature restricted to the inventory beacon on which it is created. However, if you need the identical adapter operating from multiple inventory beacons, you can manually copy the adapter between beacons, always using the same file path (%CommonAppData%\Flexera Software\Compliance\ImportProcedures\ObjectAdapters).