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eventually appears in the Out-Of-Date Inventory list.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 SuiteSchema Reference.
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:
Navigate to the system menu ( in the top right
corner), and
click Data
Inputs.
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.
Click One-off upload.
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.
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.
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).
For each kind of inventory that you wish to import from spreadsheets:
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.
Next to each identified data file, click
Upload.
"File uploaded successfully" message
displays.
Repeat the identification and upload process for all files included in
this named upload.
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.
in the top right
corner), and
click Data
Inputs.
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: