Updates to Kubernetes agent

FlexNet Manager Suite version 2021 R1.4
There are several updates to the Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent, used to help gather inventory from containers in Kubernetes clusters within your network:
  • The krm file (the code object for the Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent) now has the internal version number 1.3.0.
  • The download for the Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent now includes version 17.4.0 of the FlexNet inventory agent.
  • The Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent now supports using custom CA certificates. If you are using the https protocol to secure communications between your installed agents and an inventory beacon, where you previously needed a certificate chain from a recognized external Certificate Authority (CA), you can now use a custom certificate, such as one that you generate internally within your enterprise.
  • The Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent now supports adding customizations to the config.ini file, the primary configuration source for the downloaded FlexNet inventory agent. You may be familiar with changing agent policy on the central application server in FlexNet Manager Suite, after which the changed config.ini is automatically deployed through inventory beacons and collected by the FlexNet inventory agent locally installed on inventory devices. However, this mechanism does not reach the FlexNet inventory agent within its container in a Kubernetes cluster (and in any case, there may be specific changes required for containers within clusters). Whereas making such changes might be difficult within Kubernetes, the Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent now includes a way to patch the local config.ini automatically.
  • You can now manually supply to the Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent a name for the cluster, giving you better control than automatic discovery of the cluster name (because Kubernetes does not have a standard way of storing the cluster name). As well, discovery of the existing cluster name has been improved so that, rather than sometimes returning the URL for the cluster's internal API service (which, let's face it, may not be very meaningful), it always returns the cluster ID to use as the automatically-discovered cluster name. But you may find manual naming gives even more meaningful results.
  • To remove the Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent from a cluster, there is an uninstall.sh script provided. The supported flags for this script have been changed, with --keep-namespace removed, and a new --delete-namespace added. This also signals a change in the default behavior of the script: where previously by default it removed the flexera namespace that was created during installation, now by default (unless you specify --delete-namespace) it preserves the namespace so that it preserves any additional resources (like ConfigMaps or Secrets) that you may have added manually, independent of the install.sh script action.
  • Zombies are now reaped. When the Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent invokes the FlexNet inventory agent to take inventory from its container, it can sometimes result in zombie processes being left behind. While these are not directly harmful, they each retain a process ID (PID) that cannot be reused by the operating system until the zombie is reaped. Since the FlexNet inventory agent is run by default every 30 minutes, allowing the zombies to accumulate could eventually impact the system. Following this change, the Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent inherits, and then reaps, the zombie processes to free up the PIDs. Restarting the node component pods also causes any zombies to be reaped.
To secure your updated version of the Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent, repeat the installation process found in the online help under FlexNet Manager Suite Help > Discovery and Inventory > Inventory Settings Page > Inventory Agent for Download > Download Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent.

FlexNet Manager Suite (On-Premises)

2022 R1