Cloud Service Provider Inventory

This page lists the majority of devices revealed in inventory gathered from cloud service providers.

Tip:Entries in this page may come through different methods:

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The page automatically shows information from AWS EC2 and Microsoft Azure.

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It includes inventory reported from Google Cloud instances where the Inventory Agent is locally installed, and able to report to an inventory beacon; but in the case of Google Cloud, other instances that do not have the Inventory Agent are not listed.

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It includes inventory reported from Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) virtual machines. If the FlexNet Inventory Agent inventories a VM running on OCI, this information will be automatically fed into IT Asset Management.

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You may add rows to this listing either by a spreadsheet import (see Inventory Data One-Off Upload Page) or through the Business Importer.

The listed devices are typically 'floating' virtual machines, although they may include some special cases (for example, for AWS EC2, the list may include dedicated instances and bare metal instances). The one exception is that AWS "dedicated hosts" are not displayed in separate rows in this listing. Since this is the host type that gives visibility of sockets, cores, and host affinity that may be required for some licenses, the Host value of any virtual machine running on your dedicated host links to the inventory device record for the dedicated host. You may review the hardware details imported from the cloud service provider there.

Important:Be careful to ensure that instances generated at different times from the same base image have been given distinct computer names or domain names. If this is not done, the records are assumed to come from a single device, and are merged into a single device record. Changing names may require that you customize start-up scripts to modify preferences for Inventory Agent when your VMs are instantiated; or your cloud service provider may provide other techniques to achieve unique naming of instances. For more information, see Common: Ensuring Distinct Inventory in Gathering FlexNet Inventory.

For listed types other than dedicated hosts, where you have arranged for collection of FlexNet inventory (or imported third-party inventory) from one of these devices, this cloud instance record is linked to a separate inventory device record where, as always, you can study details of installed software and the like. Where the instances reported cannot be linked to an inventory device record (when the Inventoried column displays No), then apart from related reports, this page is the only view in IT Asset Management that summarizes these devices.

Important:Only instances that are linked to inventory device records have any impact on license compliance calculations. It is assumed that for software on other, unlinked instances reported by the cloud service provider, the software license is part of your rental agreement; or that you have made other arrangements for licensing software on instances where you do not gather software inventory. If neither of these assumptions is correct, installed software may represent an audit risk, and you should remedy the lack of inventory.

The following properties (listed alphabetically) are available in the Cloud Service Provider Inventory page. Some are displayed by default, and others are available in the column chooser (see Managing Columns in a Table).

Cloud Service Inventory Page Properties

Property

Description

Account

The identifier or name for your enterprise, as provided by your cloud service provider

(Not available from Google Cloud instances.)

Editable in the Cloud hosting tab of the inventory device properties.

Availability type

The type of hosting under which your virtual machine is made available:

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On hardware shared with other enterprises (Default)

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On hardware reserved for your enterprise alone, but managed by your cloud service provider, creating a dedicated instance (Dedicated)

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On hardware reserved for your enterprise and where you control the configuration directly, sometimes called a dedicated host (Host).

(Not available from Google Cloud instances.)

Editable in the Cloud hosting tab of the inventory device properties.

Availability zone

The particular availability zone (subsection of a region) associated with this virtual machine, as reported by the cloud service provider.

Editable in the Cloud hosting tab of the inventory device properties. Imported directly for cloud service providers where IT Asset Management supports a direct data-gathering connection, such as AWS.

Cloud service provider

The name(s) of the cloud service provider(s) hosting your instances in the cloud. Possible values include all the names defined in the Cloud service providers tab on the IT Asset Management Settings General page (Administration > IT Asset Management Settings > General). The default values include:

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Amazon Web Services

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Google

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IBM SoftLayer

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Microsoft Azure

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Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

Any other cloud service providers defined by your operators are also available in the list.

For manual editing of inventory device records, this value is set in the Hosted in property on the General tab of the inventory device properties. For instances identified in automated imports from supported cloud service providers (such as AWS), this value is set on import, and any manual changes are overwritten at the next import.

Cloud service provider date

The date when instance metadata was collected from the cloud service provider. Values may be:

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The date when the cloud adapter was last run and collected information pertaining to the instance.

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The date when information was collected by the FlexNet Inventory Agent (if the agent was configured to collect cloud instance metadata when it ran).

Cluster Name

The name of the cluster to which a host or virtual machine (VM) is associated.

Editable in the Hosts tab of the Cluster properties.

Cores

For a virtual machine instance reported by the cloud service provider, this is the number of cores assigned to the instance.

(Not available from Google Cloud instances.)

Creation date

Charges for the particular cloud service commence from this date and time, being when either:

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The virtual machine was instantiated, or

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For other device types, rental commenced.

(Not available from Google Cloud instances.)

Editable in the Cloud hosting tab of the inventory device properties.

Device name

The name of the inventory device linked to this record. Click to open the properties of the inventory device.

Host

For a virtual machine instance that is running on a dedicated host, this identifies the host reported by the cloud service provider. For details of the dedicated host itself, the Host provides a link to the inventory device properties for that host — a dedicated host (and only this type) always automatically has an inventory device record created for it, so that it can display its hosted VMs in the Virtual Machines tab of its inventory device properties. In summary:

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For a floating instance, this column is blank, and the host may be changed from time to time at the discretion of the cloud service provider

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For a "dedicated instance", this column is blank, because you do not have detailed management control of the host

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Only for a "dedicate host", this column identifies the host and links to the inventory device record automatically created for the dedicated host.

In contrast, an inventory device record for each hosted virtual machine is created only when inventory is imported from the VM (that is, when there is a link available under Device name in this listing). For an instance without inventory, the appearance in this listing is the only management record. Therefore, if you use this Host to drill through to the host properties, and check the Virtual Machines tab for the host, you find this current instance only if inventory has been returned from the instance.

(Not available from Google Cloud instances.)

Image ID

Identifies the machine image (operating system, software, and configuration) from which this virtual machine (or instance) was launched.

Editable in the Cloud hosting tab of the inventory device properties.

Instance ID

The unique identification code supplied by your cloud service provider to represent this virtual machine (or instance). Used for matching with incoming inventory to create/update an inventory device record.

Editable in the Cloud hosting tab of the inventory device properties. Editing is useful only when you are manually creating records. For AWS, the value is recovered from the API and overwrites any local edits.

Instance region

This geographic area reported by your cloud service provider as 'owning' the Instance ID for the current virtual machine. This region is the parent of the Availability Zone in which the virtual machine was launched.

(Not available from Google Cloud instances.)

Editable in the Cloud hosting tab of the inventory device properties.

Instance type

The kind (or size) of virtual machine reported by the cloud service provider for this device. Typically this choice directly controls the pricing for the virtual machine.

Editable in the Cloud hosting tab of the inventory device properties. Imported directly for cloud service providers where IT Asset Management supports a direct data-gathering connection, such as AWS.

Inventoried

Displays Yes if this device has been linked to a separate inventory device record (look for its name linked in the Device name column). Displays No if IT Asset Management has been unable to match this incoming record with any detailed inventory import.

Tip:If the Inventory Agent is installed on the device hosted by the cloud service provider, records should be matched by either the Instance ID (requires Inventory Agent version 13.1 or later) or the MAC address. Inventory collected by other third-party tools may also be matched on the MAC address. Alternatively, you may create a business adapter to link the cloud service provider record with an inventory device record. As noted above, records here that display No may represent a compliance risk, so that you should investigate these devices, and arrange for inventory collection from them. Best practice is to include Inventory Agent (version 13.1 or later) within the images used to start all instances, and have Inventory Agent configured to collect inventory immediately after start up.

Inventory date

The date when the most recent information was received about this instance.

Tip:The imported information may come from either of two sources:

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From direct connection to the cloud service provider to import available details. It can be the case (such as with the AWS EC2 connector) that this is high-level information only, and lacks details about installed software needed for license management.

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From an inventory source such as Inventory Agent or a third-party tool such as Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (previously Microsoft SCCM). In this case, the instance is linked to an inventory device name, and the detailed inventory is held in that inventory device record.

For a given instance, if both data sources are available, the date of the more recent import (from either source) is shown.

Last known state

Specifies the status of this cloud instance (typically a virtual machine) when most recently reported by your cloud service provider. For a virtual machine, it may be one of:

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Started—The virtual machine was running at the last import.

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Stopped—The virtual machine has been stopped, releasing all its resources to the host. Some cloud service providers allow for a virtual machine to be restarted from this state.

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Suspended—The virtual machine has been put to sleep mode. All the running processes still consume resources, and the machine can quickly resume.

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Terminated—(Value available from AWS) The virtual machine has been permanently deleted and cannot be restarted. At the next full import and compliance calculation, which by default happens overnight, any matching inventory device record will be removed (unless you have taken the most unusual step of linking that inventory device record to an asset record). Removing the inventory device record prevents the terminated virtual machine having any future impact on license consumption calculations. See also tip below.

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For Microsoft Azure hosted short-lived cloud instances imported into IT Asset Management by way of a locally installed agent, but not reported by the Microsoft Azure adapter, the Last known state value will be specified as Terminated. In total, there are six scenarios pertaining to Microsoft Azure hosted short-lived cloud instances which determine the status of the Last known state column, three of which will result in a Terminated status. The Data Import Cases and Outcomes table shows six data import cases and their corresponding outcomes.

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Unknown—The state is unknown.

Note:These state values are standardized by Flexera and might not be exactly the same as the values defined in the inventory source. For example, there is no Terminated state in Azure and Flexera has mapped the Azure state Deallocated to the standardized state value Terminated. The Last Known State Values table shows each of the different states and what they correspond to in Flexera One.

Tip: Some inventory sources take time to clean up inventory records, so that inventory imports may unavoidably include stale inventory in that period between the instance termination and the inventory clean-up. To help resolve any confusion, terminated instances remain available in the Cloud Service Provider Inventory page so that you can check there, confirming that the instance's inventory device record is correctly suppressed because the instance was terminated.

By default, terminated instances are hidden, to reduce clutter. To review a terminated instance, in the simple filter area (top left), change the Include terminated instances setting to Yes.

Thereafter, you may like to manage the number of terminated instances by changing the second simple filter for Instances reported from Any time, and choosing In last 30 days, In last 60 days, or In last 90 days. (Typically this has little effect on instances that are not terminated, since these are always showing their current state at the time of last import, and don't have historical records.)

MAC address

The Media Access Control (MAC) address of the hosted instance. If the instance is hardware with multiple network interface cards, this field displays a comma-separated list of MAC addresses.

Tip:Where an Instance ID is not available in the incoming data (because, for example, data came from third-party inventory, or from an incomplete spreadsheet upload, or from an outdated version of Inventory Agent), the MAC address may be used instead to link this record with the inventory device record that shows inventory imported from the instance.

(Not available from Google Cloud instances.)

This value, collected from the cloud service provider, is not editable in IT Asset Management.

Network ID

The primary network interface reported by the cloud service provider as associated with this virtual machine or instance. (This is the default interface, and remains associated with the instance throughout its lifetime.)

(Not available from Google Cloud instances.)

Editable in the Cloud hosting tab of the inventory device properties. Overwritten by incoming data for those cloud service providers for which IT Asset Management supports a direct connection (such as AWS).

Purchased option

The instance option you have purchased, such as Scheduled (instances always available on a recurring schedule) or Spot (running only on unused instances).

(Not available from Google Cloud instances.)

Editable in the Cloud hosting tab of the inventory device properties.

RDS license type

The method of licensing Oracle Database running in Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS). Values may be:

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BYOL — Bring Your Own License, meaning that you are taking license entitlements that were originally purchased to authorize an installation of Oracle Database in your own on-premises data center, and transferring these to now cover the database running in the AWS cloud. (This is typically used for a scenario where you are migrating the database operations from your data center to the cloud.) Only instances using this license type can be inventoried by direct connection to the Oracle Database (and only when running in Amazon RDS).

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PAYG — Pay As You Go, meaning that AWS is providing license coverage for the Oracle Database running in Amazon RDS, and you are covering the costs in your AWS subscription. Do not allow any PAYG licenses to consume from active license records within IT Asset Management, as this would be double-counting.

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Unknown — There is not enough information in the imported inventory to allow the method of licensing to be determined.

Resource ID

Unique identifier for the Azure VM instance.

Scaleset name

The name of the virtual machine scale set that the instance belongs to. This is applicable for Microsoft Azure instances only.

Service type

The kind of service from AWS that is in use. Values may be:

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EC2 — An instance in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, which may run a variety of software (optionally, though perhaps unconventionally, including an Oracle Database). Inventory can be collected from EC2 instances by installing the FlexNet inventory agent on the instance.

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RDS — Amazon Relational Database Service. Notionally this service offers any mainstream relational database; but Oracle Database is the special case that allows direct connection for inventory collection (provided that the Service type is RDS and the RDS license type is BYOL).

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Blank when the cloud service provider is not AWS.

SQL server mobility

Tracks the method of licensing Microsoft SQL Server on virtual instances hosted by any cloud service provider. For Microsoft Azure, the cloud license model is collected by the Azure connector (see Managing Azure Connections). For other cloud service providers where there may not be information available, you can set the cloud license model in the application properties. Possible values are:

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Blank for installations where this is not relevant (either because the cloud instance is not running Windows Server, or because Azure Hybrid Benefit does not apply)

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BYOL — Bring Your Own License, meaning that you have re-purposed license entitlements originally purchased to authorize on-premises installations to now cover installations hosted by the cloud service provider. To be eligible for BYOL, your license entitlements must be covered by current Software Assurance.

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PAYG — Pay As You Go, meaning that the cloud service provider licenses the relevant software, and includes the costs in your cloud subscription (these instances should not be allowed to consume from your purchased license entitlements, and by default do not). Be careful not to allocate license entitlements to these instances, as an allocation may trigger license consumption.

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Unknown — There is insufficient evidence in the incoming inventory to determine how the software is licensed (these instances consume from your on-premises licenses by default, to minimize exposure in a license audit). If you have additional information, you can override the Unknown status with either of the values described above.

Subscription ID

An ID for the subscription (or billing arrangement) for services your enterprise uses from this cloud service provider. Your enterprise may have multiple subscriptions with a given cloud service provider, for example for different departments (corporate units), or for different specialized services. You may use separate subscriptions as a way to divide costs between business units for more efficient charge back.

Every subscription must be linked to exactly one Tenant ID. This page allows you align the individual VMs with the subscription where they are charged for – and since the subscription ID maps to a single tenant ID, to also follow through to the higher level if required (for those with multiple tenant IDs).

Tip:Not all CSPs supply subscription IDs, so that the column may remain blank. One CSP that supplies this value is Azure.

Tenant ID

The tenant ID is generated by the cloud service provider as you create your new subscription, and represents the highest level contract between your enterprise and the cloud service provider. This tenant ID may relate to multiple subscriptions.

Tip:This tenant ID from the cloud service provider is completely unrelated to the IT Asset Management tenant ID used for multi-tenant implementations operated by Managed Service Providers.

It is common for an enterprise to have only one tenant ID from a given cloud service provider. However, if your enterprise has (for example) a history of mergers and acquisitions, you may have multiple tenant IDs from one cloud service provider.

Tip:Not all CSPs supply tenant IDs, so that the column may remain blank. One CSP that supplies this value is Azure.

Threads per core

The number of threads that your cloud service provider reports are available for each core assigned to this virtual machine (or, when this inventory device is a server, for each of the cores available in the server). This property is available in reporting of your cloud service provider instances.

(Not available from Google Cloud instances.)

Windows server AHB

Tracks the method of licensing Microsoft Windows Server, taking account of the Azure Hybrid Benefit (AHB). Values may be:

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Blank for installations where this is not relevant (either because the cloud instance is not running Windows Server, or because Azure Hybrid Benefit does not apply)

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Data Import Cases and Outcomes

The table below details six data import cases and their corresponding outcomes.

Data import cases and outcomes
Data import cases	Outcome
Short-lived cloud instance inventory data reported by both the FlexNet Inventory Agent, and Microsoft Azure adapter.	Normal behavior as it is now.
Short-lived cloud instance inventory data reported by the FlexNet Inventory Agent, but not reported by the Microsoft Azure adapter.	Only instance inventory data reported by the FlexNet Inventory Agent for subscriptions managed by the Microsoft Azure adapter is marked as Terminated in the Last known state column.
Short-lived cloud instance inventory data reported by the FlexNet Inventory Agent, but the Microsoft Azure adapter has not been configured.	Normal behavior as it is now.
Short-lived cloud instance inventory data is not reported by either source.	Marked as Terminated in the Last known state column.
Short-lived cloud instance inventory data is reported by both sources, but previously marked as Terminated.	Normal behavior as it is now.
Short-lived cloud instance inventory data is reported by the FlexNet Inventory Agent, but previously marked as Terminated.	Marked as Terminated in the Last known state column.

Last Known State Values

The table below shows each of the different Last known state values and what they correspond to in IT Asset Management.

Last known state values
Flexera One	AWS	Azure	Hyper V	GCP	VMware
Started	Running	Running	ON	Running	Enabled Starting Resuming
Stopped	Stopped	Stopped	OFF	N/A	Disabled Stopping
Terminated	Terminated	Deallocated	Suspended	N/A	Paused Pausing Suspended Saving
Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	N/A	Unknown Snapshotting