One-Off Import of an Inventory Spreadsheet

FlexNet Manager Suite 2020 R2 (On-Premises)

You can manually upload your inventory data from a spreadsheet to FlexNet Manager Suite.

The Inventory Data One-Off Upload page (accessible through the Inventory Data tab of the Data Inputs page) is for a single import of inventory data from spreadsheets. If you need to repeat the inventory data import (for example to make a data correction), you must first delete the previously set-up connection (the corresponding server-side copy of the spreadsheet is automatically deleted as well). For details, see Deleting Spreadsheet Inventory Data from the Database.

Each one-off upload creates a separate import connection. This is true even if two uploads have an identical name: updates are not possible through the web interface, and two uploads of the same name produce two identically-named connections, functioning separately.
Important: Do not allow two or more one-time connections for inventory spreadsheets to exist at the same time, even with different import names. Data from every upload is persisted on the central application server, and is imported afresh from the central spreadsheet copies into the operations databases for every inventory import and license calculation. Having multiple connections to spreadsheets that contain the same computers (for example, from the mandatory Computer spreadsheet, reflected in lists of inventory devices) can cause data 'toggling' between imported values, based on the which connection for spreadsheet data was most recently processed. Therefore you must delete the previous one-off upload connection before uploading a newer batch of inventory data.
Scheduling regular imports of inventory spreadsheets is not supported through the web interface: it is a one-time connection. Once data from this connection is processed, the connection is disabled (and cannot be re-enabled). Inventory from this connection ages, and eventually appears in the Out-Of-Date Inventory list. To clear the stale data, delete the connection: everything imported (only) from that connection is then removed from the operations databases. (In contrast, you can arrange regularly scheduled spreadsheet imports through an inventory beacon, as described in Setting Up Scheduled Imports of Inventory from Spreadsheets.)
Tip: One-off import of an inventory spreadsheet in the .xlsx file format requires that you have installed a 32-bit version of Microsoft Access Database Engine on your central batch server (or central server fulfilling that function). In a multi-server implementation, the import request is received by the web application server, placed in the MSMQ message queue, and then executed by the batch server — which is why the driver must be on the batch server. (This requirement does not apply to .csv files.)
The data from an individual spreadsheet file may affect several database tables in FlexNet Manager Suite. For more details about the template’s column names and their corresponding database fields, see the corresponding section in FlexNet Manager Suite Schema Reference, available through the title page of online help.
Remember: Within your spreadsheets, the column names and column order cannot be modified from those supplied in the template files. Any such change results in an import failure. (Here, for a one-off import, you may rename the spreadsheet files themselves, since their purpose is made clear by the field through which you identify and upload each spreadsheet. In contrast, when the same templates are used on an inventory beacon for scheduled uploads, the file names as well as the column names and column order must all be maintained.)

To perform a one-off upload of an inventory spreadsheet:

  1. Navigate to the system menu ( in the top right corner), and click Data Inputs.
  2. Click the Inventory Data tab, and ensure that the inventory data Name which is marked as Primary has a Task status of Completed.
    At least the first occurrence of the primary inventory import must have completed successfully before any secondary source (including the one-off inventory spreadsheet) can be imported. If you attempt a one-off import of an inventory spreadsheet before the first successful primary import, it results in an error Inventory import failed because data has not been imported from the primary data source. This is because of the rules for data merging, explained in more detail in Making a Data Source Connection the Primary One. By default, the primary connection is the internal inventory connection, named FlexNet Manager Suite in this list. If it has not yet completed, a member of the Administrator role can run an import and compliance calculation manually by navigating to License Compliance > Reconcile (in the Events group). Be sure to select Update inventory for reconciliation (available only to administrators) before clicking Reconcile.
  3. Click One-off upload.
  4. Download the InventoryTemplates-version.zip file, and populate the template that you need with the inventory data.
    Tip: When you process spreadsheets uploaded through the Application virtualization section, there are two possible paths:
    • You may want to record consumption against existing users on their computers that are already recorded in the operations databases. In this case, be certain that the user's ID from the central database is exactly recorded in the UserID column in (either or both of) the spreadsheets used for Application virtualization, which are identified in the Access shown by file evidence or Access shown by installer evidence fields of this Inventory Data One-Off Upload page. When the user is matched, the installation is recorded against a computer that the user 'owns' (that is, is linked as either the assigned user or calculated user).
    • You may want to create new records for remote devices and remote users who are not already recorded in your operations databases. To do this, make sure that both these statements are true:
      • The Computer spreadsheet (identified in the Computers and VMs field) contains data in both the ComputerName and LastLoggedOnUser columns.
      • The value in that LastLoggedOnUser column matches the value in the UserID column in (either or both of) the spreadsheets used for Application virtualization, which are identified in the Access shown by file evidence or Access shown by installer evidence fields.
  5. In the Upload name field, enter a name for this inventory data upload.
    It is best practice to specify an easily recognizable name, because this name is used in lists of data connections. In particular, when the time comes to delete the connection to this one-off import, you will value a self-evident name. Perhaps consider a name space prefix, such as OOIIS- or some other convention to help you isolate one-off imports of inventory spreadsheets.
  6. From the Spreadsheet type drop-down list, select the inventory file format you are going to upload.
    Attention: This control selects the kind of processing applied to your uploaded files. Your upload may include several files for different groups of inventory (one for each kind of inventory listed on this page – for example, a Computers and VMs spreadsheet, an Installation evidence spreadsheet, and a File evidence spreadsheet); but within a single upload, all of the uploaded files must be of the same file type (for example, all Excel XLSX with headers).
  7. For each kind of inventory that you wish to import from spreadsheets:
    1. Next to the field for the appropriate data type, click Browse, and select the matching .csv or .xlsx template-based file containing your inventory data.
      Restriction: As a minimum, you must upload one file through the Computers and VMs field. This file is mandatory because it contains computer names and serial numbers, plus the Processor Cores field required for license optimization.
    2. Next to each identified data file, click Upload.
      "File uploaded successfully" message displays.
    3. Repeat the identification and upload process for all files included in this named upload.
  8. Scroll down to the bottom of the web page, and click Start processing.
    The name of your inventory connection is added to the table at the bottom of the page, and In progress gets displayed in the Status column. When the inventory file is fully processed, and the license reconciliation is finalized, Completed displays instead. Note that all inventory sources are reconciled, regardless of type.

Depending on the file type you imported, its data is available from the corresponding area of the web interface. For example, if you imported computer-related data, navigate to Discovery & Inventory > All Inventory to view the uploaded records.

Note: License reconciliation does not imply that there are no validation errors: you might need to click in the Task/Step name column to see the results of individual steps. If there are any errors, click the hyperlink and troubleshoot as needed. For example, an error that occurred during the Import into staging step indicates an issue with the staging, in-memory tables or an invalid spreadsheet type. File-import tasks with the Failed status are displayed below the menu, and are indicated with a red dot:

You can also view a detailed log of any step within the inventory import: click to expand its task, and in the Logs column for the step in question, click Download log.

FlexNet Manager Suite (On-Premises)

2020 R2