Configuring FlexNet Beacon for Import

IT Asset Management (Cloud)

If you are not already familiar with importing business-related data to IT Asset Management, the following terminology summary may help:

A "business adapter" is an XML file that allows configuration of a connection to a source of business data, as well as mapping of that data from the source format to the database tables and columns required in IT Asset Management. The data from ServiceNow is handled as business data, and therefore data transfers make use of business adapters.
The "Business Adapter Studio" is a utility available on each inventory beacon for customizing and testing business adapters.
The "Business Importer" is the process that exercises the business adapters to the schedule you define, and controls each import as defined in its business adapter.

In previous tasks, you have configured ServiceNow to run two exports that queue data about hardware assets and contracts and send it to the MID server of your choice. On the MID server, the data is written into XML files. Once these have been completed, two business adapters running on your inventory beacon collect this data and upload it to your central operations databases. You must use the following process to configure these business adapters before they can operate.

Tip: Clearly, the inventory beacon and the ServiceNow MID server must access a common folder for the transfer of the XML files. It is possible that the FlexNet Beacon software and the ServiceNow MID server are installed on the same physical machine; but if they are on separate machines, network access allowing a file share is required. This means you may need to grant at least read access for the share on your MID server to two accounts on your inventory beacon:

The local administrator account with which you will log in now for configuring and testing your business adapters
The account that runs your FlexNet Beacon Service, which will exercise the business adapters in production (by default, this is the local SYSTEM account on your inventory beacon).

As well as access to the MID server, your inventory beacon requires access to the unzipped archive you downloaded for the ServiceNow integration application to complete this process.

To configure an inventory beacon for importing data for IT Asset Management:

On your chosen inventory beacon, log in as a local administrator.
If necessary, validate that, from this server, you can access the file share where the MID server saves the completed XML files.
In the unzipped archive you downloaded for the ServiceNow integration application, open the Importer folder and locate the two business adapters ServiceNowAssets.xml and ServiceNowContracts.xml.
Copy these two files to the business adapters folder, %CommonAppData%\Flexera Software\Beacon\BusinessAdapter, on the inventory beacon.
Start the FlexNet Beacon software from the Windows start menu on the inventory beacon, using the Run as administrator option.
In the interface for FlexNet Beacon, select the Business Importer page from the Connections group (in the left-hand navigation pane).
The two adapters appear in the list of available business adapters.
For each of these adapters in turn, select the adapter from the list, and click Edit.... In the following dialog, click Edit Adapter.
The Business Adapter Studio opens, editing this adapter.
In the Business Adapter Studio, select the top level import node (like ServiceNowAssets or ServiceNowContracts) and locate the File name field. Complete the file path and file name for the appropriate XML file on the MID server. If you have already exported data from ServiceNow to the MID server, you may click the ... button and browse to the respective XML file in the folder on the MID server.
The following example from the assets adapter shows a path when the MID server and inventory beacon are installed on the same physical computer:
```
   C:\ServiceNow\MyMIDServerFolder\agent\x_fls_flexera_fnms_asset.xml
```
The following example from the contracts adapter shows a path when the MID server is separate, using UNC format:
```
   \\MyMIDServer\ServiceNow\MyMIDServerFolder\agent\x_fls_flexera_fnms_contracts.xml
```
When the file path and name are identified, click Refresh (just below the ... button).
Save the modified adapter; and repeat the process for the other adapter.
When both are completed and saved, close Business Adapter Studio.
If you have not already created the schedule(s) on which you want to run these adapters, switch to the Scheduling page of the FlexNet Beacon interface, and create one or two now.
You may run these two business adapters on the same schedule, as the inventory beacon queues them and runs them one after the other.
Important: Remember that there is a delay between when the scheduled job starts executing in Service Now, and when the MID server finishes assembling the transmitted chunks into a valid XML file. You can test the elapsed time for your environment by triggering each export, and waiting until, in the Export Runs view (in ServiceNow), it reaches the Succeeded state. Allow a safety buffer for future data growth, and set the schedule for the business adapters to run after the exports and assembly of the XML files are completed.
In the Business Importer page of the FlexNet Beacon, select each adapter in turn, and:
1. Click Schedule....
2. From the list of available schedules, select the one for each adapter.
3. Click OK.
4. Ensure that the adapter is marked as Enabled.
5. Repeat for the other adapter.
At the bottom of the inventory beacon interface, click Save to store your changes.
Optionally, if you have test data waiting for a system check, you can select each adapter in turn, and click Execute Now.
The Business Importer takes the raw data from XML files, transforms it into the formats required for IT Asset Management, and uploads it to the central application server.

To check the status of imports, in the web interface of IT Asset Management, navigate to the system menu (

in the top right corner) and choose either Data Inputs (in the Business Data tab) or System Health > System Tasks.

Tip: If you need to interrupt the export from ServiceNow, disable the scheduled jobs in ServiceNow, and disable the relevant schedule(s) in FlexNet Beacon.

IT Asset Management (Cloud)

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