Beacon Properties / General Tab

Open the inventory beacon properties by clicking the edit (pencil) icon on the appropriate row of the Data Collection > IT Assets Inventory Tasks > Beacons page.

The General tab enables you to modify the general properties of an inventory beacon. You can perform the following actions on this page:

General Tab Actions

Action

Description

View activity log for an inventory beacon

You can click the View activity log link to view an activity log for this beacon. See Activity Log.

Reconfigure the inventory beacon

You can click the Reconfigure beacon link to reconfigure this inventory beacon. For more information, see Configuring a Beacon.

Note:If the inventory beacon version is outdated, an alert is displayed suggesting you to upgrade the inventory beacon. To use all the features of an inventory beacon, you should regularly update it to the latest version. See Downloading and Installing the FlexNet Beacon Software.

Properties

The following controls (in alphabetical order) are available on this tab.

General Tab Properties

Property

Description

Beacon description

Describe the inventory beacon in ways helpful to its management (for example, its location).

Beacon name

Name the inventory beacon in a way that is meaningful within your list of inventory beacons.

Beacon status

Shows the operational status of an inventory beacon. This field can have any of the following values (listed alphabetically):

• Beacon disabled at server—An operator has disabled this inventory beacon. You can do this by selecting Disabled for the Configuration property, under Status section on the General tab of the inventory beacon properties. In this state, the inventory beacon does not execute any rules declared in the user interface that would otherwise apply to it, does not update schedules, and it will not commence a self-upgrade process. (However, this setting does not prevent manual execution of a rule in the interface for FlexNet Beacon; nor does it interrupt the upload of inventory gathered by Inventory Agents locally installed on target inventory devices. It also has no effect on the import and upload of third-party inventory on connections and schedules defined in the interface of FlexNet Beacon, other than to over-ride the corresponding value in this Beacon status list.)
• Beacon set to disconnected—The inventory beacon is operating in disconnected mode, and its status files have been moved to the matching folder on another inventory beacon (see File Paths for Inventory Beacon).
• Executing rules—The inventory beacon is currently executing discovery and inventory rules.
• Never reported—The inventory beacon has not yet reported any data to the central application server. This may happen if the inventory beacon is new.
• Not reporting normally—The inventory beacon is not reporting results, perhaps due to a network error, a misconfiguration, or a FlexNet Beacon error.
• Operating normally—The inventory beacon is operating as expected, and is not currently busy.
• Processing a business Import—The inventory beacon is importing business data from third party systems (such as an order processing system).
• Processing an inventory import—The inventory beacon is importing inventory from a third-party inventory source Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (previously Microsoft SCCM), through one of the inventory connections configured in the FlexNet Beacon interface.
• Upgrading—The inventory beacon is currently upgrading to a newer version of the FlexNet Beacon software. See the Upgrade status field for progress.

IT Asset Management generates the value of this field.

Beacon version

Identifies the version of FlexNet Beacon currently installed on the inventory beacon. FlexNet Beacon automatically upgrades itself, based on the settings in Beacon version approved for use (on the Inventory Settings page) and Upgrade mode (in the inventory beacon properties of the IT Asset Inventory Tasks Beacons page (Data Collection > IT Asset Inventory Tasks > Beacons).

Tip:Self-upgrades require that the FlexNet Beacon user interface is closed.

IT Asset Management generates the value of this field.

Beacon Web server status

Indicates the type of web server running on the inventory beacon. The web server allows for adopted devices to upload their inventory results. This field can have any of the following values:

• Never reported—The inventory beacon has never reported its web server status to IT Asset Management (perhaps because the inventory beacon is new).
• Disabled—In the FlexNet Beacon interface, a local administrator has selected No local web server (will not allow any incoming web requests). In this state, the inventory beacon cannot collect FlexNet inventory from adopted devices.
• Self hosted—Indicates that the inventory beacon is using the self-hosted (built in) web server.
• IIS—Indicates that the inventory beacon is using Microsoft Internet Information Server.

IT Asset Management generates the value of this field.

Configuration

Turn on or off the execution of discovery and inventory rules by the inventory beacon:

• For normal production use, select the Enabled option.
• Choose the Disabled option to temporarily turn off rule execution by the inventory beacon. (This does not affect the upload of FlexNet inventory, nor the exercise of third-party inventory connections scheduled in the FlexNet Beacon interface.)

Tip:Use this option with care, as the setting is not visible in the Data Collection > IT Assets Inventory Tasks > Beacons page, and you may need to remember to re-enable the inventory beacon at some later time. Also be aware of the Enable parent connection check box on the Parent connection page of the FlexNet Beacon user interface, which can independently disable communications to/from the inventory beacon.

Host name

Specifies the host name of the server where the FlexNet Beacon software has been installed.

IT Asset Management generates the value of this field.

Last reported

Indicates the date and time when the inventory beacon last reported data to IT Asset Management.

IT Asset Management generates the value of this field.

.NET Framework

The version of .NET Framework reported by the inventory beacon. See System Requirements and Compatibility for the minimum requirement for .NET Framework on inventory beacons.

OS version

The version of the Microsoft Windows (or Windows Server) operating system running on this inventory beacon. This may be helpful information when you are deciding which inventory beacons to upgrade.

Policy status

The status of the discovery and inventory policy currently held by the inventory beacon. IT Asset Management generates a new policy based on the discovery and inventory rules that instruct the inventory beacon about what it has to do. This field can have any of the following values:

• Awaiting update—The inventory beacon has a recent policy, but since then there has been a change in rules or other content that triggers creation of an updated policy.
• No Policy—The inventory beacon has no policy at all. This may be the case if the inventory beacon is newly installed (and still collecting its policy); or more likely there is a communication problem between the inventory beacon and its reporting parent (typically, the central application server, or in a hierarchy of inventory beacons, one or more of the inventory beacons further up the hierarchy). Check the logs on the inventory beacon(s).
• Out of date—The inventory beacon has a policy considerably older than the latest policy available with IT Asset Management. This also may reflect communications problems as described above, and you should check the log files.
• Up to date—The inventory beacon has the latest policy. IT Asset Management generates the value of this field.

PowerShell version

The release of Windows PowerShell scripting language installed on the inventory beacon. Certain inventory adapters running on inventory beacons rely on minimum versions of PowerShell.

Reconfigure beacon

Exposes a new work area within the tab:

To reconfigure a beacon:

1. Click Download configuration to download a new configuration file for the current inventory beacon to the computer where you are currently working in Flexera One.

Immediately, as soon as you click this button, the central application server stops allowing connections from the inventory beacon that are initiated using the old, expired configuration details.

2. If you are not already working on the inventory beacon server, copy the downloaded file and take it to the inventory beacon.
3. Log into FlexNet Beacon on the inventory beacon, remembering that this requires an account with administrator privileges.
4. Load this new configuration file into FlexNet Beacon (for more details, see Updating the Inventory Beacon Configuration, picking up from about step 4).
5. Back in Flexera One, you may click Close to remove the work area from the tab.

Upgrade mode

Indicates how IT Asset Management performs the FlexNet Beacon software upgrade:

• Always use the approved version (currently release-number)—Use the global settings specified for all inventory beacons (navigate to Data Collection > IT Asset Inventory Tasks > Beacons). See Adjusting Global Settings for Updates of Inventory Beacons.
• Always use the latest version (currently release-number)—Allows automatic updates.
• Do not upgrade automatically—You undertake to manage versions of FlexNet Beacon independently.
• Choose a specific version—Deploy the version selected, and then make no further changes (until this setting is changed).

For more details, see Configuring a Beacon.

Upgrade status

Specifies the progress of a FlexNet Beacon software upgrade. IT Asset Management upgrades the installed software on an inventory beacon in accordance with two settings:

• The system-wide default setting (see Beacon Settings, or navigate to Data Collection > IT Asset Inventory Tasks > Beacons.)
• The Upgrade mode setting in the General tab of the properties for the individual inventory beacon (see Beacon Properties / General Tab).

Tip:The software upgrade to FlexNet Beacon cannot proceed if there is anyone logged in to the interface on the inventory beacon. If an upgrade falls due when the interface is open, FlexNet Beacon displays a dialog to alert the administrator on the inventory beacon to log out, closing the interface.

The Upgrade status field can have any of the following values:

• Up to date (timeStamp)—Indicates that the FlexNet Beacon software has been upgraded to the latest version. The time and date is when the last check was made.
• Not reported—Indicates that the inventory beacon has not responded back to IT Asset Management. This may happen due to a connection loss or another error (check the log files on the inventory beacon).
• Upgrade pending—Indicates that the inventory beacon is running an older version of software and an upgrade is pending.
• Downloading package—Indicates that the inventory beacon is currently downloading an upgrade package.
• Upgrade in progress—Indicates that the upgrade process is currently running on the inventory beacon.
• Upgrade failed—Indicates that the upgrade process failed due to one or more errors (check the log files on the inventory beacon).
• Manual upgrade required—Indicates that the inventory beacon does not support automatic updates and a manual upgrade is required.
• Blocked (unsaved changes in inventory beacon)—A pending upgrade cannot proceed because the FlexNet Beacon UI is open (upgrades can only occur when the interface is closed).

Important:When a required update is blocked, all other activity by the FlexNet Beacon engine may also be blocked. Do not leave the FlexNet Beacon UI open and unattended!

IT Asset Management generates the value of this field.

View activity log

Navigates to the Activity Log page, with filters automatically applied to restrict the listing to this inventory beacon over the last 7 days.