Configure Extender

Learn how to configure the Extender in the Extender configurator.

Extender is created and downloaded in Flexera One SaaS Management Settings, and installed in your environment, see Install Extender.

Start Extender

When you have configured your Extender, start the Windows service to enable the Extender to collect and transfer data from the customer premises to Flexera One SaaS Management.

  • On the Service tab, select Start.

Stop Extender

To Upgrade Extender, you must first stop your Extender.

  • On the Service tab, select Stop.

Set the user to run the Extender

Use a Custom user to run your Extender. This is an optional step.

  1. On the Service tab, select Set user.

    Set user is only available if the Windows service for Extender has been stopped.

  2. In Select user, select one of the two user account types:

    • To let the predefined local system account run the Extender, select Local system user. This is the default option.

    • To assign a specific Windows user account to run the Extender, select Custom user and then enter the Username and Password of a local Windows account.

  3. Select Ok.

Define proxy server settings

If you have a proxy server through which your Extender sends data, you must configure the proxy settings for the Extender to be able to establish a connection.

  1. On the Service tab, select Use proxy.

  2. Enter the hostname of your proxy in Host.

  3. Enter the port number for your proxy in Port.

  4. Select one of two ways to use credentials when authenticating against a proxy:

    • To use default credentials for proxy authentication, select Use default credentials.

    • To set the credentials for proxy authentication, clear Use default credentials and then enter a Username and Password.

Configure custom encryption keys

To ensure secure communication between the Inventory Agents and Extenders, and for smooth migration of the snowpack files to Flexera One SaaS Management, you can use custom encryption keys.

  1. On the Service tab, select Enable custom encryption keys. The Path field and Browse appears.

  2. To set the folder that contains the encryption keys used within your organization, select Browse.

  3. To save the changes made, select Save.

Re-enroll Extender

To change which Flexera One SaaS Management tenant your Extender is connected to, re-enroll Extender.

  1. On the Service tab, select Re-enroll.

  2. In Snow Extender, paste your secret key and select Enroll.

    This can be the secret key that you copied in Install Extender or another secret key for a different tenant.

    The Extender now attempts to connect with Flexera One SaaS Management. If the connection is successful, Service Status will be Running and your tenant-specific information will display in the Service tab.

    If the connection is not successful, make sure that your environment meets the System Requirements.

  3. If the Extender was deactivated previously, select Install after enrollment to reactivate the service in the configuration.

Configure settings for File Elevator

The File Elevator can monitor one or more local folders with inventory or discovery data on your Extender server, and forward the data to Flexera One SaaS Management. The polling interval controls how frequently the Extender checks for new files to be forwarded in the File Elevator folders.

  1. On the File Elevator tab, enter the number of seconds for the Extender to wait between polling folders in Polling interval.

  2. To add a folder, select New.

  3. Select Browse.

  4. Select the folder that you want to poll or manually enter the path to the folder.

  5. Select Enabled if you want this folder to be processed. Clear the check box if you want to save the folder but not have its contents processed.

  6. To confirm your new folder, select Save.

Configure Inventory API endpoints

The Inventory API endpoints are used by both Inventory Agents and Integration Manager to pass the inventory results to Flexera One SaaS Management. The DNS name and port you configure here are an important part of your Inventory Agent configuration when creating the agent installation packages.

You can set up more than one Inventory API endpoint, for example, if you want to be able to receive data over both HTTP and HTTPS, or support more than one server certificate.

  1. On the Inventory Api tab, select New.

  2. Optional: Enter a Name for the endpoint. This name is only used here to identify the endpoint.

  3. Confirm that the endpoint is Enabled. The endpoint is enabled by default. This means that it is ready to receive traffic from Inventory Agents when you save the configuration.

  4. Enter the Port to use. The port number is the TCP port that is opened for incoming traffic. It is used by Inventory Agents and other inventory sources to report inventory data. It is defined by you.

    The standard port for unencrypted HTTP is 80, and for encrypted traffic, it's 443. You can enter any port that is open across your network; however, you must use different ports for the Inventory API and the License Manager API.

  5. Enter a DNS Name that binds your API to a specific DNS name in one of the two ways:

    It is recommended that you use the following standard list of DNS names that are supported for the Extender: *, localhost, device hostname, and device IP address. If you want to use a custom DNS name, you must set up the host files in your local device.

    • If you have set up several APIs that all respond to the same port, enter a DNS Name. It is used as a filter to route the incoming traffic to the correct API.

    • If you have not set up several APIs that all respond to the same port, enter an asterisk, *, as a wildcard to make the API respond to all incoming traffic on the selected port.

  6. Optional: To secure the traffic between the Snow Inventory API and Inventory Agents using a server certificate, configure the setting for HTTPS.

    1. Select Use HTTPS

    2. Select Browse and select a Server certificate. The certificates in the list are from Windows certificate stores. If no certificates are listed, add a certificate to at least one of your Windows certificate stores.

    3. If you only want to accept data from clients that use a certificate, select Require Client Certificate, enter a client certificate thumbprint and then select Add.

      The thumbprint is a unique text string that can be found in the certificate properties.

  7. Optional: To enable the use of additional HTTP security headers, select Use strict security.

  8. Select Save.

Configure License Manager API endpoints

The License Manager API endpoints are used to export data from the SAM core APIs in Flexera One SaaS Management via the out-of-the-box ITSM connectors provided in Integration Manager. Additionally, these API endpoints are utilized by the built-in SaaS connectors in Integration Manager to import data for SaaS applications into SAM Core, such as Microsoft 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud.

You can set up more than one License Manager API endpoint, for example, if you want to receive data over both HTTP and HTTPS, or support more than one server certificate.

If you do not plan to set up one of the SaaS or ITSM connectors in the Integration Manager, you do not have to configure the License Manager API endpoint in your Extender.

  1. On the SLM Api tab, select New.

  2. Optional: Enter a Name for the endpoint. This name is only used here to identify the endpoint.

  3. Confirm that the endpoint is Enabled. The endpoint is enabled by default. This means that it is ready to send and receive traffic when you save the configuration.

  4. Enter a DNS Name that binds your API to a specific DNS name in one of the two ways:

    • If you have set up several APIs that all respond to the same port, enter a DNS Name. It is used as a filter to route the incoming traffic to the correct API.

    • If you have not set up several APIs that all respond to the same port, enter an asterisk, *, as a wildcard to make the API respond to all incoming traffic on the selected port.

  5. Enter the Port to use. The port number is the TCP port that is opened for incoming traffic. It is used by Inventory Agents and other inventory sources to report inventory data. It is defined by you.

    If you want to set up both the Inventory API endpoint and the License Manager endpoint on the same port, you must bind each API to a unique DNS name. If you do not do this, the Extender will not know which API the incoming data is meant for.

    The standard port for unencrypted HTTP is 80, and for encrypted traffic, it's 443. You can enter any port that is open across your network; however, you must use different ports for the Inventory API and the License Manager API.

  6. Enter a Username and Password to authenticate and protect the License Manager API.

    The username and password are used to set up basic authentication between the Integration Manager, or other parties, and the License Manager API. Create a username and a password here, and use the same credentials when configuring the Integration connectors for ITSM and SaaS for integration with SAM Core.

  7. Optional: To secure the traffic between the License Manager API and the Integration connectors using a server certificate, configure the settings for HTTPS.

    1. Select Use HTTPS.

    2. Select Browse and select a Server certificate. The certificates listed are from Windows certificate stores. If no certificates are listed, add a certificate to at least one of your Windows certificate stores.

  8. Select Save.

Add Active Directory domains

A connector for Microsoft AD Discovery was introduced in the Integration Manager, that reflects the current functionality in Extender, but with additional capabilities for flexible scheduling of AD discovery, support for multiple AD domains, and customized filtering of users and devices. For new and existing instances of AD domains, it is recommended that you use the Integration Connector, to leverage these additional features. For details on how to set up the Integration Connector, see the Microsoft AD Discovery connector guide.

The Active Directory Discovery interface lets you discover users and devices by adding one or more Active Directory domains.

  1. On the AD Discovery tab, select New.

  2. Enter a Name for this domain.

  3. Confirm that Enabled is selected.

  4. Enter an LDAP Path to your Active Directory where you want to search for users and devices.

    Example:

    • LDAP://DC=contoso,DC=local

    • LDAP://contoso.local

  5. Optional: If you want to connect to the Active Directory over secure LDAP, select Use SSL.

    Your Active Directory domain must support connection over secure LDAP.

  6. Enter a Username and Password of a user with read access to the Active Directory that you want to use to authenticate the Active Directory.

  7. Optional: If you want to inventory devices, select Get Devices.

  8. Optional: If you want to inventory users, select Get Users.

  9. To test the Active Directory Discovery setup, select Test.

  10. Select Save.

  11. To configure how often the Active Directory Discovery will query the Active Directory for users and computers, enter the number of hours that Active Directory Discovery waits between runs in Runs every.

  12. Select Save Interval.

Configure settings for Data Forwarder

The Data Forwarder is used for forwarding snowpack and inventory data to a secondary on-premises or publicly hosted destination containing Inventory Server, in addition to Flexera One SaaS Management.

  1. On the Data Forwarder tab, enter the Endpoint to which the data is to be forwarded.

  2. To activate the Data Forwarder component, select Enable.

  3. Optional: For additional certificate and site name settings in Optional settings:

    1. To provide a certificate file used for the connection, browse the Certificate Path. The selected file should have a .pfx extension.

    2. Enter the Certificate Password.

    3. Enter the Site Name. The value you define here overwrites the site name received in the .inv or .snowpack files.

  4. To test the configuration, select Test.

  5. To save the configuration, select Save.