Managing Tanium Connections

FlexNet Manager Suite 2022 R2 (On-Premises)

FlexNet Manager Suite provides an inventory connector to import Tanium software and hardware data.

Establishing a connection between Tanium and FlexNet Manager Suite, consists of the following two stages:

• Configure Tanium Asset to connect to FlexNet Manager Suite
• Configure FlexNet Beacon to connect to Tanium.

Before you begin

To complete this process, your chosen FlexNet Beacon must meet the following requirements, some of which should have been fulfilled when the FlexNet Beacon software was installed:

• PowerShell 5.1 or later
• If the version of FlexNet Beacon installed on this inventory beacon is version 15.0.0 or earlier, it may be used to connect to versions of Tanium Asset earlier than 1.8.0.0075. If the installed version of FlexNet Beacon is 15.1.0 or later, it may be used to connect to Tanium Asset version 1.8.0.0075 or later. At that version, there was a change in the way that the Tanium API made available inventory information relating to Microsoft SQL Server. This means that you cannot mix old Tanium with new connector, or vice versa.

Note: The connection to Tanium supports optional use of a proxy.

To configure integration with Tanium:

1. Configure Tanium Asset to connect to FlexNet Manager Suite.
   1. You must have an SQL database configured that implements the required Flexera database schema. For instructions see the "Configure Flexera staging database" tutorial at https://docs.tanium.com/asset/asset/exportasset.html?Highlight=flexera. (This database is a requirement of Tanium, and is not used by the connector for inventory collection.)
   2. You must configure Tanium Asset to export data to FlexNet Manager Suite by adding FlexNet Manager Suite as a destination. For instructions see the "Add Flexera destination" topic at https://docs.tanium.com/asset/asset/exportasset.html?Highlight=flexera.
   3. You must create an Flexera SQL Edition view within Tanium Asset. For instructions see the "Creating a Flexera SQL Edition view within Tanium Asset" topic in FlexNet Manager Suite Inventory Adapters and Connectors Reference.
   4. You can optionally integrate Tanium Asset with Tanium Index to provide file evidence information to Flexera. For instructions see the "(Optional) Enable file evidence content" topic at https://docs.tanium.com/asset/asset/exportasset.html?Highlight=flexera.
2. Configure FlexNet Beacon to connect to Tanium:
   1. Run the inventory beacon interface (for example, in the Windows Start menu, search for FlexNet Beacon, right-click it, and select Run as administrator).
      Tip: Remember that you must run the inventory beacon software with administrator privileges.
   2. From the Data collection group in the navigation bar, choose Schedules.
      If there is not already a suitable schedule in the list ready for you to (re)use, click New... and complete the details (see Creating a Data Gathering Schedule for more information). Otherwise, identify the schedule you will use for importing data from Tanium to FlexNet Manager Suite. In normal operation, once a day in an off-peak time is generally sufficient. Allow enough time for data collection and upload to your inventory database – say, 30 minutes before your nightly full inventory import and license consumption calculations are scheduled.
   3. Below the list, select the down arrow at the right of the Next... button, and from the drop-down options, choose PowerShell.
      The Create PowerShell Source Connection dialog appears.
   4. Create a Connection Name.
      Make the name meaningful within the first few characters, as it will appear in lists with fairly narrow columns. The name you give this inventory connection is also used in the web interface of FlexNet Manager Suite to name the data import task. The name may contain alphanumeric characters, underscores or spaces, but it must start with either a letter or a number, for example Tanium.
   5. From the Source Type drop-down, choose Tanium.
   6. If a proxy server is in use between the inventory beacon and Tanium, select the Use Proxy check box, and complete the following additional details:
      • Proxy Server: Enter the address of the proxy server using HTTP, HTTPS, or an IP address. Use the format https://ProxyServerURL:PortNumber, http://ProxyServerURL:PortNumber, or IPAddress:PortNumber). If the protocol is omitted, it defaults to http:. If the port number is omitted, it defaults to :80 for http, or 443 for https.
      • Username and Password: If your enterprise is using an authenticated proxy, specify the credentials to access the proxy server you just identified.
   7. In the Tanium section, complete the following fields:
      • Tanium Server: Enter the IP address of your Tanium instance, for example 10.20.300.40. (Do not include the http:// or https:// protocol with the IP address.)
      • Username and Password: Enter the account name and password for the inventory beacon to use when accessing the API on your Tanium instance.
   8. Click OK to close this dialog, and you may also click Save.
      The new connection is added to the connections list in the Inventory Systems tab.
   9. Click Test Connection to make sure that your specifications are correct (adjusting as necessary for success).
      When FlexNet Beacon has successfully accessed the Tanium APIs using the details supplied, a Test connection succeeded message displays.
   10. When your connection test is successful, select your new connection from the displayed list, and click Schedule....
   11. In the dialog that appears, select the name of your chosen schedule for inventory collection through this connection, and click OK.
   12. At the bottom of the FlexNet Beacon interface, click Save, and if you are done, also click Exit. Your work here is done.
3. You may either:
   • Wait for the scheduled import, its upload to the central application server and import into the compliance database (review results tomorrow); or
   • Select the newly added connection and click Execute Now, click OK to confirm, and wait for an import, upload, and database load. The resulting import (which follows immediately) may take some time to complete. You may monitor progress in the web interface for FlexNet Manager Suite — navigate to the system menu ( in the top right corner) and choose System Health > System Tasks, and periodically refresh this page. When the process is complete, you can inspect the inventory imported from Tanium in the All Inventory page on FlexNet Manager Suite.