PerformOracleFMWScan

FlexNet Manager Suite 2021 R1 (On-Premises)

Command line | Registry

Tip: This preference requires that:
  • The FlexNet Manager for Datacenters product has been licensed
  • The up-to-date InventorySettings.xml file (version 56 or later) is either:
    • Co-located with the FlexNet Inventory Scanner (or the scanner-like ndtrack.sh on UNIX-like platforms)
    • Correctly installed with the fully-installed FlexNet inventory agent.
Unless both of these conditions are met, this preference is ignored.

Oracle Fusion Middleware is a large collection of software products used for the development, deployment, and management of software services. Oracle have specific conditions for tracking licensing for Fusion Middleware, and FlexNet Manager Suite is verified by Oracle as an acceptable tool to collect the appropriate inventory.

By default, the tracker code (ndtrack executable) assumes the value False for this preference, and therefore takes no related action. However, if an operator sets the Enable collection of Oracle Fusion Middleware audit data check box (located in Discovery & Inventory > Inventory Settings > Oracle Fusion Middleware scanning), the change is distributed through device policy to the locally-installed FlexNet inventory agent on all managed inventory devices. When the setting arrives through device policy, it is saved by setting this preference to True in the registry, as shown in the table below. Alternatively, as is typical, the preference may be set in the registry manually or through the use of a third-party registry management tool; or it may be set in the command line for the tracker.
Important: For the PerformOracleFMWScan preference to take effect, the following preferences must also be set:
  • PerformLocalScripting must be true (this is its default value).
  • IncludeDirectory must not be turned off through the web interface of FlexNet Manager Suite. This is controlled through the Inventory Settings page (navigate to Discovery & Inventory > Settings, and expand File evidence), where for each type of computer platform, there are three options:
    • Do not collect file evidence — Do not select this option, since turning off collection of file evidence prevents gathering of inventory for Oracle Fusion Middleware.
    • Collect file evidence for all folders — This setting requires a careful balancing act:
      • On the one hand, use this option with caution, since its effect is not limited to Fusion Middleware. It may cause very large increases in total file evidence collected, uploaded, and processed during license reconciliation, and may therefore have major impacts on system performance. (However, the good news is that, if you use this setting temporarily and then turn if off again, excess uploaded file evidence that subsequently disappears from future inventory uploads is automatically cleaned up in the next compliance calculation.)
      • On the other hand, Oracle requires that all folders are scanned, to ensure that no installations of Fusion Middleware products are overlooked.
      You might consider, for example, a strategy like this:
      • Select Collect file evidence for all folders for short, intermittent periods (such as two days each quarter), using the next option at all other times. A two-day window allows time for the policy change to be distributed to all managed inventory devices, for the resulting large inventory to be collected and uploaded, and for completion of a compliance calculation that takes all the extra data into account. Remember that the Include Oracle Fusion Middleware check box (on the Inventory tab of the System Settings page) must be selected so that the consumption results are included in the OracleGLASEvidence.zip archive.
      • Use the results in this period to identify where products from Oracle Fusion Middleware are installed in your environment. For the intervening periods, you could use the next option, fine tuning your settings to ensure that all installations of Fusion Middleware products are included in the results.
      Such a strategy is more labor-intensive than we would like, but could be defensible in an audit and provide reasonable system performance overall.
    • Collect file evidence for specified folders — You may use this option to specify as many directories as needed to ensure coverage of all your Fusion Middleware installations. Keep in mind that these settings are distributed through policy to all managed inventory devices (those getting policy from an inventory beacon and uploading to one as well) throughout your computing estate. The option is therefore best suited if you distribute a Standard Operating Environment (SOE) to your servers, so that Fusion Middleware products are installed in folders consistently named per platform across your enterprise.
  • Optionally, as always, ExcludeDirectory may be used, for example, to filter out child directories that are not required from the parents included in the previous settings.
Once PerformOracleFMWScan is set to True (and its prerequisites are correctly set), the FlexNet inventory agent (version 17.0.1 or later) collects inventory, along with certain additional files that Oracle requires, for Oracle Fusion Middleware. The collected inventory is included with the standard archived .ndi file in each inventory upload, and eventually imported into FlexNet Manager Suite in the standard processes. By default, the uploaded data is only available within FlexNet Manager Suite, and not included in the nightly archive saved for possible submission to Oracle. A separate check box, Include Oracle Fusion Middleware (on the Inventory tab of the System Settings page) allows the uploaded data and files to be incorporated into the OracleGLASEvidence.zip archive, ready for submission when an audit is required.
Tip: As well as this preference and its prerequisites mentioned above, any of the following preferences may also affect collection of Oracle inventory. However, none of the following have any impact on the collection of Oracle Fusion Middleware inventory, controlled through PerformOracleFMWScan:
  • PerformOracleInventory
  • PerformOracleListenerScan
  • ExcludeLocalScriptRule — has no effect provided that it does not list the rules controlling Oracle Fusion Middleware inventory collection (OracleFMWBase, OracleFMWRule, or OracleCPURule)
  • IncludeLocalScriptRule — has no effect either when it is not set, or is set to a value that includes the three rule names mentioned above (recall that this is an exclusive list when it is set, so that anything not included in its value is effectively excluded).

Values

Values / range

Boolean (True or False)

Default value

 
False
Tip: If the preference has not been set in the registry following the download of device policy, this default value is supplied by the tracker internally.

Example values

 
True

Command line

Tool

ndtrack

Example

 
-o PerformOracleFMWScan=true

Registry

Installed by
Either:
  • Manual configuration (without which, code internals supply the default)
  • Download of device policy that sets the value to True.

Computer preference

[Registry]\Managesoft\Tracker\CurrentVersion

FlexNet Manager Suite (On-Premises)

2021 R1