Fix for the issue of multiple buffer mishandling issues in the Oracle FMW script

Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 16.0.0 or newer

Previously, there was an issue where Oracle FMW data was not included in the NDI if the Oracle FMW data was greater than 16 MB in size. This release resolves this issue.

The Kubernetes agent has been enhanced to provide discovery and visibility of Red Hat OpenShift operators

Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 21.4.0 or newer

The Kubernetes agent can now recognize Red Hat OpenShift operators installed on all worker nodes in a Kubernetes cluster(s) in a customer environment. When inventory is collected by the Kubernetes agent, information is mapped over to IT Asset Management and installer evidence is created for each worker node in a Kubernetes cluster.

This enhancement is supported by the Standard Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent (often referred to as the "full" Kubernetes Inventory Agent), and the Lightweight Kubernetes Inventory Agent. Installer evidence will be updated to reflect new inventory, and inventory that is no longer present is removed each and every time the Kubernetes agent collects inventory from a Kubernetes cluster(s) in a customer environment.

Vulnerabilities addressed in the Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor

Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent and Kubernetes agent

The google.golang.org/protobuf component used in the Kubernetes agent, and github.com/docker/docker component used in both the Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor have been updated to prevent security vulnerabilities.

Fix for the issue of the agent failing to detect disk size of NVMe storage devices on Linux devices

Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent

Previously, the disk size of NVMe storage devices on Linux devices was not included in collected inventory data. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for the issue of inventory not being collected from an Oracle 21C database on Windows

Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent

Previously, Ndtrack failed to gather database inventory from the Oracle 21C database on Windows. This release resolves this issue.

Bundled software versions updated

Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent

The Expat library bundled with the FlexNet Inventory Agent used for parsing streams of XML data, has been upgraded to release version 2.6.2 to prevent security vulnerabilities.

Fix for the flxfsscan process reporting every file found during the file system scan to the flxfsscan_report file

Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 19.4.0 or newer

Previously, for FlexNet Inventory Agent versions 19.4.0 and later, the flxfsscan process would report every file found during the file system scan to the flxfsscan_report file (/var/opt/managesoft/cache/flxfsscan_report).

As per normal procedure, the flxfsscan_report file would normally be removed once processed by the ndtrack (FlexNet Inventory Agent). However, due to the flxfsscan_report file growing too large, the /var directory would run out of space and the ndtrack would subsequently fail, resulting in sizeable amounts of disk space being consumed.

As part of this fix, a new FlexNet Inventory Agent preference setting called MaxFSScanReportFileSizeInMB has been added. MaxFSScanReportFileSizeInMB specifies the maximum allowed size the /var/opt/managesoft/cache/flxfsscan_report file can grow to in Megabytes (MB).

This release further resolves the issue by including file filtering into the flxfsscan process, ensuring that only files relevant to the ndtrack are processed and reported to the flxfsscan_report file, reducing the file size significantly.

Bundled software versions updated

Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent

The following pieces of non-commercial software bundled with the FlexNet Inventory Agent have been updated in this release:

• Expat has been upgraded to release 2.6.0.
• The libxml2 utility, used for parsing XML documents, has been upgraded to release 2.11.7.

Fix for the issue of Windows agents creating output files containing unintelligible characters

Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 21.0.0 or newer

Previously, there was an issue where output files for Windows agents failed to convert correctly on the current ANSI code page for any characters not in standard ASCII. Consequently, this caused a failure when the rest of the output file was processed. This release resolves this issue.

Bundled software version updated

OpenSSL has been upgraded to version 3.0.13 in this release of the FlexNet Inventory Agent to address known security vulnerabilities.

Version updated for the runc command line tool in the Docker Monitor

The version of the runc command line tool has been upgraded to the latest secure version in order to prevent security vulnerabilities.

Fix for the issue of package installation failing when updating agent policy on Flexera One beacons

Previously, package installation attempts when updating agent policy on Flexera One beacons failed with the error, "This component has not been digitally signed by its publisher," because the VerifyCatalogSigned preference is true. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for the issue of Oracle inventory failing when the ORACLE_HOME variable is set incorrectly

Previously, there was an issue where the FlexNet Inventory Agent failed to inventory when the ORACLE_HOME environment variable was not set correctly in the impersonated users profile on Unix-like operating systems. This release resolves this issue.

RPM packages for Linux architectures are now signed using SHA-2 algorithm

The RPM packages for various Linux architectures supported by the FlexNet Inventory Agent are now signed using a SHA-2 algorithm. An updated public key is required which can be downloaded from the PLC.

In addition to this change, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are no longer supported as they do not support SHA-2 signing algorithms.

The FlexNet Inventory Agent can now encrypt NDI, DISCO, MMI and SWACC file data

The FlexNet Inventory Agent now has the capability to encrypt the data contained within the inventory (NDI), discovery (DISCO), usage (MMI) and client access (SWACC) files they generate. This capability encrypts the inventory data on the machine hosting the beacon and helps prevent inventory files from being viewed or modified by malicious actors.

This requires a setting to be enabled, which at present needs to be done on the customer’s behalf by Flexera. Contact Flexera Support to enable this setting.

Another requirement is that ALL agents AND ALL beacons in the customer's environment must be upgraded to at least version 21.0.

Fix for the issue of fnms-docker-monitor crashing after accessing containers

Previously, activation of Docker/Container may have resulted in the fnms-docker-monitor crashing after accessing containers with read-only filesystems with no mkdir in the container, or the container was based off a scratch image. This release resolves this issue.

Vulnerabilities addressed in the Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor

The Flexera Kubernetes inventory agent and Docker monitor, k8s.io/kubernetes component and golang.org/x/crypto component have been updated to prevent security vulnerabilities.

The FlexNet Inventory Agent updated to use the latest suitable version of dmidecode to address security vulnerability

The FlexNet Inventory Agent has been upgraded to use verion 3.5 of dmidecode. Versions prior to 3.5 are exposed to a potential security issue.

Fix for the issue of inventory collected from Hyper-V scans not including the cluster name

Previously, there was an issue where inventory collected from Hyper-V scans did not include the cluster name. This release resolves this issue.

Agent systemd .service file permissions update

Permissions on Linux agent systemd .service files have been adjusted.

Fix for the issue of imgtrack failing to run

Previously, there was an issue where the imgtrack failed to run when it was ran with the --from-ndtrack or --local-ndtrack command line arguments using an ndtrack.sh file where binary content does not start on line 300. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for Java evidence being collected with an incorrect publisher

Previously, there was an issue where Java evidence was collected with an incorrect publisher. This resulted in an evidence recognition error and reporting discrepancies. This release resolves this issue.

The FlexNet Inventory Agent has been extended to automatically switch to HTML mode when EBS queries fail

The FlexNet Inventory Agent has been extended to automatically switch to HTML mode when EBS queries fail in XML mode due to the returned data and for MOUNTED database scanning when the relevant XML procedure does not exist.

The Flexera Inventory Agent November 2023 release is the last release to support the HP-UX agent

The FlexNet Inventory Agent November 2023 release is the last release to support the HP-UX agent. This follows an announcement made by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) stating support for "HP-UX Itanium" will stop by the end of 2025. During the transition period from HP-UX Itanium to other platforms/architectures, customers can continue to use the FlexNet Inventory Agent version 2023 R2 (21.0.0) or earlier versions for HP-UX Itanium.

Support for Windows on ARM devices

From this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent supports inventory collection from Windows on ARM devices.

Ability to collect Resource IDs from Microsoft Azure instances

From this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent and Microsoft Azure adapter can collect Resource IDs from Microsoft Azure instances. This is beneficial for cloud cost management system customers, as the Resource ID is a key data element used to uniquely identify Microsoft Azure instances for billing, costing, and cost allocations.

Enhanced lightweight Kubernetes agent static image scanning tool for scanning Podman containers

Previously, the lightweight Kubernetes agent static image scanning tool would not work on images that had been created by Podman. In this release, this tool has been enhanced and can be used to scan Podman containers.

Folder permission changed for CommonAppDataFolder

From this release, the CommonAppDataFolder folder in the Windows agent (typically located in C:\ProgramData\ManageSoft Corp) is only readable by administrators.

Fix for the issue of files not being cleaned up automatically after container scanning

Previously, there was an issue where temporary files and directories were not cleaned up automatically after container scanning. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for the issue of incorrect core and processor counts on Citrix Hypervisor servers

Previously, there was an issue where the core and processor counts on Citrix Hypervisor servers might not be reported correctly. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for the issue of scanning excluded directories and mount points

Previously, there was an issue where the FlexNet Inventory Agent might scan excluded directories and mount points if it followed symbolic links that had been resolved to point to a directory that should be excluded, which could cause performance problems such as high CPU usage and long scanning time. This release resolves this issue.

Vulnerability addressed in the Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor

The Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor have been updated to prevent a security vulnerability (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures ID CVE-2023-39325).

Fix for the issue with file evidence reporting for java.exe on Windows

Previously, there was an issue with file evidence reporting for java.exe executables on Windows, where the file evidence of a java.exe file would not be reported if the file was not digitally signed or if the PerformOracleJavaAuditScan preference was not enabled. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for the issue with the reported version of Expat

Previously, there was an issue where the reported version of the Expat class library being used was incorrect in some cases. This release resolves this issue.

Bundled software version updated

OpenSSL has been upgraded to release 3.0.11 in this release of the FlexNet Inventory Agent. This update also resolves a security vulnerability (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures ID CVE-2023-4807).

Fix for the issue with automatic upgrading from version 18.4.0 or later to 20.1.0 or later on Windows

Previously, there was an issue on Windows where the automatic upgrading of the FlexNet Inventory Agent from version 18.4.0 or later to version 20.1.0 or later might fail due to the removal of the vdiendpointagent feature in the Feture table. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for the issue with config.ini on Unix-like operating systems

Previously, on Unix-like operating systems, there was an issue where the config.ini file could occasionally get corrupted or lost when the filesystem ran out of space. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for the issue with Oracle inventory on Windows

Previously, the FlexNet Inventory Agent might not return any Oracle inventory on Windows if the %TEMP% environment variable was resolved to a path containing spaces. This release resolves this issue.

Bundled software version updated

OpenSSL has been upgraded to release 3.0.10 in this release of the FlexNet Inventory Agent.

Vulnerabilities addressed in the Kubernetes agent

Several vulnerable components used in the Kubernetes agent have been updated to prevent potential security issues.

New support for Instance Metadata Service Version 2 in AWS

Previously, the FlexNet Inventory Agent only supported Instance Metadata Service Version 1 (IMDSv1). From this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent also supports Instance Metadata Service Version 2 (IMDSv2), which is more secure than IMDSv1.

Minimum required version of the glibc library changed from 2.34 to 2.17

Previously, the Linux ARM agent required the Linux operating system to have glibc version 2.34 at a minimum and did not support earlier Linux distributions. From this release, the Linux ARM agent also supports Linux distributions with glibc versions earlier than 2.34, with version 2.17 at a minimum.

Enhanced performance of the Oracle Fusion Middleware scanning

The Oracle Fusion Middleware scanning logic has been updated for enhanced performance.

Vulnerabilities addressed in the Kubernetes agent

Several vulnerable components used in the Kubernetes agent have been updated to prevent potential security issues.

New support for gathering inventory from Linux running on ARM64/AArch64

Previously, customers could not use the FlexNet Inventory Agent on Linux operating systems running on processors of the ARM64 architecture (also known as the AArch64 architecture), such as Amazon Graviton processors. From this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent supports gathering inventory from Linux running on the ARM64/Aarch64 architecture.

Enhanced support for macOS

Previously, for the FlexNet Inventory Agent to run on macOS on Apple M-series processors, Rosetta 2 must be installed and running. From this release, Rosetta 2 is no longer required.

Additionally, macOS versions 10.9–10.15.3 are no longer supported. The minimum supported version is now 10.15.4.

Bundled software versions updated

The following pieces of non-commercial software that are bundled with the FlexNet Inventory Agent have been updated in this release:

• OpenSSL has been upgraded to release 3.0.9.
• The libxml2 utility, used for parsing XML documents, has been upgraded to release 2.11.4.

Fix for the issue with daemon processes

Previously, on some Linux systems, some daemon processes of the FlexNet Inventory Agent might not successfully start following a system restart. This release resolves this issue.

Updates to the Usage agent on Windows

The Usage agent on Windows has been updated for unified and more robust application usage tracking.

• The default upload interval has been changed from every 24 hours to every 8 hours.
• Usage data is now stored while the Windows system is shut down and gets uploaded when the system starts again.
  Note: The usage service only saves data when systems are restarted and when systems are powered off to the power state S5 or G3, but not when systems are put into sleep, hibernation, or other power states. (For details about power states, refer to the Microsoft topic System power states). In particular, those systems that are configured to use the “fast startup” behavior do not move to the S5 or G3 power state when powered off but instead are put into a hibernation state S4. This means the system is not shut down, and the Usage agent, along with all other services, will continue when the machine is powered back up and resumed from hibernation. In this case, the Usage agent will continue to upload on the time period defined by the UploadPeriod setting.
• Previously, usage data for an application was only reported when the application was closed; from this release, usage data is also reported when the application is running.
• The vdiendpoint service has been removed.

Fix for the issue with application closure

Previously, an issue in the Usage agent might cause closure problems in some applications. This release resolves this issue.

Bundled software version updated

The libxml2 utility, used for parsing XML documents, has been upgraded to release 2.11.3.

Vulnerabilities addressed in the Docker monitor

The distribution library used by the Docker monitor has been updated to prevent potential security issues.

Ability to collect bundle installation evidence from all locations on Mac devices

Previously, the FlexNet Inventory Agent installed on Mac devices only collected bundle installation evidence from the standard /System and /Applications directories, which might lead to incomplete data collection if the bundles were installed at custom locations other than the standard directories.

From this release, FlexNet Inventory Agent collects bundle installation evidence from all locations on Mac devices.

Oracle reverification for database and middleware

The FlexNet Inventory Agent has been updated to collect additional data required for Oracle database and Fusion Middleware compliance.

Vulnerabilities addressed in the Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor

Several vulnerable components used in the Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor have been updated to prevent potential security issues.

Bundled software version updated

OpenSSL has been upgraded to version 3.0.8 in this release of the FlexNet Inventory Agent.

Fix for a performance issue during inventory collection on Windows

Previously, in some enterprise networks, it might take a significant amount of time to gather details of the last logged-on user during inventory collection on Windows. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for the issue of failed installation on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Previously, the agent installation might fail on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 if the chkconfig package had not been installed. This release resolves this issue.

Least privilege operation mode on UNIX platforms

Previously, when the FlexNet Inventory Agent was installed on a UNIX-like system, the entire agent had to run as root and required full root access. This could cause traceability issues or security issues to some users.

From this release, you can choose to install the FlexNet Inventory Agent into either of the following two operation modes:

• Default operation mode: The installed agent will run as the root user and requires full root access.
• Least privilege operation mode: The installed agent will run as the flxrasvc standard user.

This feature is only available for the third-party deployment but not for the adoption case.

For more details, see Agent Third-Party Deployment: Configuring the Operation Mode on UNIX in Gathering FlexNet Inventory available at https://docs.flexera.com/.

Version updated for the runc command line tool

The version of the runc command line tool has been upgraded to v1.1.5 in order to address a known security vulnerability (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) ID CVE-2023-27561).

Vulnerabilities addressed in the Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor

Several vulnerable components used in the Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor have been updated to prevent potential security issues.

Bundled software version updated

OpenSSL has been upgraded to version 1.1.1t in this release of the FlexNet Inventory Agent.

Fix for the issue of inventory gathered from LPAR on PowerPC not including the HostID and MachineID properties

Previously, inventory gathered from LPAR on the PowerPC architecture did not include the HostID and MachineID properties, which caused problems in the sub-capacity licensing. This release resolves this issue.

Vulnerabilities addressed in the Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor

Several vulnerable components used in the Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor have been updated to prevent potential security issues.

Support for Linux on IBM zSystems

Previously, customers using Linux platforms running on the IBM zSystems architecture (also known as "s390x" or "z/Architecture", which is a mainframe architecture developed and supported by IBM) could not use the FlexNet Inventory Agent but had to rely on the IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT). From this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent supports Linux operating systems running on the IBM zSystems architecture that support glibc version 2.17 or newer.

Ability to recognize JBoss installations

Previously, there was no visibility on JBoss usage. With this release, the inventory capabilities of the FlexNet Inventory Agent have been extended to detect the installation of the following Red Hat JBoss and middleware applications:

• JBoss Enterprise Application Platform
• JBoss Web Server
• Decision Manager
• Fuse.

Performance and quality issues with ndtrack file scans have been addressed

Previously, the agent's ndtrack file scanning functionality was prone to poor performance when machines had a significant number of ndtrack files. This release has made performance improvements to this functionality.

Fix for the issue of Oracle Fusion Middleware (FMW) inventory scanning not honoring the agent preference setting to exclude file paths

Previously, excluded file paths configured in the agent preference settings were not honored when Oracle FMW scanning was enabled. This release resolves the issue. Oracle Fusion Middleware scans now honor any excluded file paths that have been set by the user.

Fix for the issue of some informational messages being incorrectly logged as error messages

Previously, some informational messages during inventory gathering for Oracle products on Windows were recorded in the event log with an incorrect event level of Error, which was misleading for users. This release resolves this issue and the events are correctly logged with the level of Information.

Vulnerabilities in third-party components have been addressed

This release has addressed several vulnerabilities in third-party components in the Kubernetes agent and the FlexNet Inventory Agent.

Fix for the issue in gathering inventory from Oracle pluggable databases

Previously, gathering inventory from Oracle pluggable databases (PDB) might fail when the PDB case sensitivity parameter was set to TRUE. This release resolves this issue.

Bundled software versions updated

The following pieces of non-commercial software that are bundled with the FlexNet Inventory Agent have been updated in this release:

• The Expat utility, used for parsing streams of XML data, has been upgraded to release 2.5.0.
• The libxml2 utility, used for parsing XML documents, has been upgraded to release 2.10.3.
• The zlib utility, used for data compression, has been upgraded to release 1.2.13.

Bundled software versions updated

The Expat utility, used for parsing streams of XML data, has been upgraded to release 2.4.9.

Supported operating systems updated

HP-UX is only supported for 11i v3 (also known as 11.31) on the Itanium architecture. In other words, other HP-UX versions are no longer supported; HP-UX systems running on the PA-RISC architecture are no longer supported either. This change is due to the compiler libraries upgrade in order to stay on top of security vulnerabilities.

For the full list of the supported operating systems, see Adopted: System Requirements, Agent Third-Party Deployment: System Requirements, and Zero-Footprint: System Requirements in Gathering FlexNet Inventory.

Fix for the issue of high CPU usage for an extended period while processing RPM package information

Previously, ndtrack might cause high CPU usage for an extended period while processing RPM package information. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for the issue of missing evidence from directories with the same name on different drives

Previously, if two or more directories on different drives have the same directory name, only one of them would be scanned in file evidence gathering. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for the issue of false error messages upon Oracle inventory gathering status

Previously, a false error message might display even when the Oracle inventory gathering had succeeded, which would cost users unnecessary effort in investigation. This release resolves this issue.

Enhancement to detect the edition of SQL Server Reporting Services that is installed stand-alone

Previously, if the SQL Server Reporting Services was installed stand-alone and separate from the SQL Server Database installation, the edition of this stand-alone installation would not be reported. From this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent detects and reports the edition of the SQL Server Reporting Services that is installed stand-alone.

Using the "mgspolicy –s" command to update the machine policy

Previously, users were unable to update the machine policy by using the mgspolicy –s command. From this release, you can run the mgspolicy –s command to download the new policy.

Bundled software versions updated

OpenSSL has been upgraded to release 1.1.1q in this version of the FlexNet Inventory Agent.

Fix for the issue of Windows Docker containers not appearing in the Web UI

Previously, the Windows agent running a Windows docker container reported unnecessary hardware classes, which resulted in Windows Docker containers not appearing in the Web UI. This release resolves this issue.

Fix for the issue of unnecessary data being gathered from the Oracle Fusion Middleware scanning

Previously, the Oracle Fusion Middleware scanning returned unnecessary data. This release resolves this issue. As a result, you might notice a decrease in the size of database log files and the NDI files generated.

The FlexNet inventory agent has been enhanced to detect additional Java publishers

Enhanced the agent's Java publisher detection by making an additional call to the Java launcher with the HotSpot JVM flag "-XshowSettings -version".

This option is described in the Oracle Java launcher description page https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/tools/unix/java.html (look for "-XshowSettings").

In addition to this change, the agent will also check if calling the Java launcher with only the “-version” parameter produces output that mentions the words "Java HotSpot".

In the event that "-XshowSettings" is not supported in an older version of the Java launcher, the publisher is “Oracle Corporation”.

Bundled software versions updated

The following pieces of noncommercial software that are bundled with the FlexNet Inventory Agent have been updated in this release:

• OpenSSL has been upgraded to release 1.1.1o in this version of the FlexNet Inventory Agent.
• The libxml2 utility, used for parsing XML documents, has been upgraded to release 2.9.14.
• The libxslt utility, used for processing XSLT-1.0 style sheets, has been upgraded to release 1.1.35.
• The zlib utility, used for data compression, has been upgraded to release 1.2.12.

Computer domain reported by default from UNIX-like operating systems now reflects what has been identified in the output of the "hostname" or "domainname" commands

In the previous releases, the computer domain reported by FlexNet Inventory Agent from UNIX-like operating systems is blank by default, while the domain name reported by the inventory scanner by default is based on the output of the hostname or domainname commands.

From this release, the computer domain reported by FlexNet Inventory Agent is also based on what has been identified in the output of the hostname or domainname commands.

Supported operating systems updated

• Debian Linux 11.3 (x86, 32-bit and 64-bit)

• Fedora Linux 36 (x86 64-bit only)

• Oracle Linux 8.6 (x86 64-bit only)

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9.0 (x86 64-bit only).

The following operating system versions are no longer supported on the FlexNet Inventory Agent because the compiler libraries have been upgraded to newer versions to stay on top of security vulnerabilities.

• Debian 7
• Fedora Linux 25 (x86, 32-bit and 64-bit)
• macOS 10.6, macOS 10.7 and macOS 10.8
• Oracle Linux 4.x and 5.x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (x86 32-bit and 64-bit)
• Red Hat Linux 8–9
• Solaris (SPARC) 8 and Solaris (SPARC) 9
• Solaris (x86) 8 and Solaris (x86) 9
• SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (x86, 32-bit and 64-bit)
• Ubuntu 12 and 13
• Windows Server 2003 SP1 and SP2.

For the full list of the supported operating systems, see Adopted: System Requirements, Agent Third-Party Deployment: System Requirements, and Zero-Footprint: System Requirements in Gathering FlexNet Inventory.

Fixed unnecessary hardware inventory uploads for IBM PVU in high-frequency mode

New inventory NDI files are no longer generated by high-frequency IBM PVU inventory scans for changes in processor clock speed details. In other words, changes in the following attribute of a hardware device will not trigger the upload of an inventory file:

• MGS_Processor.CurrentClockSpeed.MaxClockSpeed

As a result, you might notice a decrease in the number of hardware inventory uploads for IBM PVU.

For more information, see HardwareChangesClassPropertyBlacklist in Gathering FlexNet Inventory, available in PDF format through the title page of online help, or as either a PDF or an HTML document from docs.flexera.com.

Bundled software versions updated

The following pieces of non-commercial software that are bundled with the FlexNet Inventory Agent have been updated in this release:

• OpenSSL has been upgraded to release 1.1.1n in this version of the FlexNet Inventory Agent.
• The Expat utility, used for parsing streams of XML data, has been upgraded to release 2.4.8.

Improved error message logging for the usage coordinator

In the previous releases, error messages about the usage coordinator were regularly generated into the usage agent log (usageagent.log). From this release, these messages are generated in the trace log instead as diagnostic logging. This change could significantly reduce the size of the usageagent.log file.

Improved collection of last logged on user for Windows and Mac devices

When the FlexNet Inventory Agent is collecting inventory, it tries to collect the name of the user currently logged on to the device being inventoried. When this is not possible, previously the inventory returned no user details; but with this change, the agent now tries to collect details of the last logged on user:

• For Windows devices, this is only possible when the device is a member of a domain and has access to the domain controller (the information is collected as WMI evidence through the Win32_NetworkLoginProfile class).
  Tip: The functionality is not available on early versions of Windows, prior to Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008.
• On devices running macOS, where the operating system records logged on users, the most recent such record is chosen.

Support for gathering inventory from POWER Linux platforms

The FlexNet Inventory Agent collects inventory from a wide range of Linux platforms (for details, see the System Requirements documentation), but until now, those distributions have been supported only when running on Intel 32-bit or 64-bit architectures. With this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent also supports a range of little-endian Linux distributions running on POWER8 (and later) processors that support glibc version 2.17 or later:

• CentOS 7.4 and later
• Debian 8 and later
• Fedora 21 and later
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.4 and later
• SuSE 12 and later
• Ubuntu 14.04 and later.

Fixed issues of false hardware inventory uploads for IBM PVU

New inventory NDI files are no longer generated by IBM PVU inventory scans for changes in inventory agent schedule settings or for changes in the following attributes of a hardware device:

• Win32_NetworkAdapter
• Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration
• MGS_NetworkAdapterConfiguration.

As a result, you might notice a decrease in the number of hardware inventory uploads for IBM PVU.

For more information, see HardwareChangesClassPropertyBlacklist in Gathering FlexNet Inventory, available in PDF format through the title page of online help, or as either a PDF or an HTML document from docs.flexera.com.

Bundled software versions updated

Several pieces of non-commercial software that are bundled with the FlexNet Inventory Agent have been updated at this release:

• OpenSSL has been upgraded to release 1.1.1m in this version of the FlexNet Inventory Agent
• The dmidecode utility, used to help parse BIOS information, has been upgraded to release 3.3
• The expat utility, used for parsing streams of XML data, has been upgraded to release 2.4.4
• The libxml2 utility, also used for parsing XML documents, has been upgraded to release 2.9.12
• The libxslt utility for processing XSLT-1.0 style sheets has been upgraded to release 1.1.34.

Disable all uploads from FlexNet Inventory Agent

A new preference setting saved in the registry on an inventory device allows you to turn off all uploads from the various components of the FlexNet Inventory Agent (such as the tracker and the uploader) when the FlexNet Inventory Agent is locally installed on an inventory device. This may be helpful if you are investigating possible security issues in your network. At present, the setting is only available by modifying the registry of the target Windows inventory device, or updating the config.ini file that functions as a pseudo-registry on UNIX-like platforms. Because the setting is also available in the command lines for the components of the FlexNet Inventory Agent, you can run tests such as collecting inventory without uploading the result, instead holding the inventory file for examination.

Support for mutual TLS security with HTTPS for UNIX-like devices

If you choose to use mutual TLS (where both sides of HTTPS communications use certificates for authentication), it tends to be a blanket decision affecting (minimally) a bounded segment of your corporate network, because a correctly-configured inventory beacon normally requires a client certificate from every inventory device that contacts it. While inventory devices running Windows already support mutual TLS, this release adds mutual TLS support for UNIX-like inventory devices. For more information, including links to updated documentation about configuration, see the equivalent topic in the Features by Release documentation available at https://docs.flexera.com/.

Oracle Fusion Middleware configuration improvement

The collection of specialized inventory for Oracle Fusion Middleware, announced in Support for Oracle Fusion Middleware data collection, has been refined. At first release, this functionality relied on the IncludeDirectory preference being set to / on UNIX-like systems; but experience shows that this can return excessive amounts of file evidence, much of which is unrelated to Oracle Fusion Middleware. From this release, IncludeDirectory reverts solely to its original purpose of specifying folders for collecting file evidence for either application recognition or usage tracking. When collection of inventory for Oracle Fusion Middleware is authorized (by the controls described in the announcement in Features by Release for release 2020 R2.1, Adding Oracle Fusion Middleware to GLAS evidence archive), the FlexNet Inventory Agent automatically scans the entire file system (as required by Oracle), independent of the setting in IncludeDirectory – almost. The system-wide scan knows which folders (in IncludeDirectory) have already been scanned, and where Oracle Fusion Middleware evidence has already been collected during the regular inventory scan of the target device; and no folder is scanned a second time, again optimizing performance and uploads.

Docker inventory files automatically cleaned up

The Docker monitor within the FlexNet Inventory Agent saves one .ndi file in the /var/opt/managesoft/tracker/inventories folder on the Docker host for each container image. To prevent too many of these files accumulating over time, the Docker monitor each day deletes any of these saved .ndi files that are over 7 days old. (As always, archived copies for upload are saved in /var/opt/managesoft/uploads/inventories, and these are deleted after a successful upload to the parent of this inventory beacon. A build-up of files in the uploads path indicates a problem with uploads.)

Fixes

• Usage tracking now works even for components in the Windows Installer package that are not identified as key components
• Paths recorded in Oracle comps.xml and inventory.xml are now validated to be current before they are reported in inventory
• Settings in ExcludeDirectory and ExcludeEmbedDirectories preferences are now honored, even if paths are included in Oracle comps.xml files
• CAL access files (.swacc) can now include multi-byte characters, and are processed appropriately
• Very long paths for ExcludeEmbedDirectories now work correctly.

Inventory on UNIX-like platforms now includes Java build version

Some builds of Java are licensable, and some are free. The only way to tell which is which is to examine the build number. Until now, the FlexNet Inventory Agent on UNIX-like platforms has returned the Java version number (such as 1.7.0_55), without the trailing build number, shown in this example as b13:

1.7.0_55-b13

Inventory gathering for Java on UNIX-like platforms has now been enhanced to include the build number in the version number, returned as always within the uploaded .ndi file. This enhancement does not currently affect recognition through the Application Recognition Library, since this uses wild cards while interpreting versions.

On Windows platforms, the FlexNet Inventory Agent already returns the build number for Java, so that this enhancement for UNIX-like platforms brings cross-platform parity.

Repaired usage time for Windows devices suspended over weekends

Previously, if a Windows device was in a suspended state at 12 AM on Monday mornings, the report of weekly usage times could not be generated and uploaded, with the result that the previous figures rolled forward into the next reporting period and usage appeared to grow continually. This issue has now been repaired, and (when usage tracking is enabled) the FlexNet Inventory Agent now triggers the weekly report as soon as the suspended device resumes normal operations. This timing is particularly valuable for enterprises wanting to use usage as a way to control internal cross-charging for computer use.

Inventory gathering on RHEL 5.11 repaired

We have repaired a previous problem on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (an old release, 5.11), where the FlexNet Inventory Agent would hang if the /var/run/xenstore.pid file could not be found, thereby blocking further inventory gathering on the device. The FlexNet Inventory Agent now checks for the presence of the file, and if it is missing, creates an entry in the mgstrace.log file:

(Inventory/Tracker/Hardware/Hypervisor): xenstore pid file "/var/run/xenstore.pid" 
                        does not exist, will not try to read "/sys/hypervisor/uuid" as it may hang.

AIX 7.1 inventory now skips missing custom installations

On AIX 7.1, Licensed Program Products (LPP) are saved in a directory in backup file format. You may specify a custom installation location for an application in a User-Specified Installation Location (USIL). If, for some reason, your USIL is "orphaned" (missing), the FlexNet Inventory Agent would previously fail and block further inventory gathering for LPPs. This issue has now been repaired so that the FlexNet Inventory Agent skips problem packages and continues to take inventory of valid packages, uploading the results in the .ndi file as usual. The problem packages are logged in the mgstrace.log file.

Gathering Oracle inventory on UNIX-like platforms improved

Handling of memory lock limits for running Oracle scripts has been improved, overcoming errors in running the Oracle Database inventory scripts. The new process is:

1. Before running the Oracle script, the FlexNet Inventory Agent saves its current memory lock limit, if present.
2. It then sets the memory lock limit to unlimited, as required for the Oracle scripts, and runs the script.
3. When the Oracle script is completed, FlexNet Inventory Agent restores its previous memory lock limit, and continues operation.

This behavior is now on by default. Although changing the behavior is not recommended, for special needs you can disable it with a new command-line option for ndtrack:

-o UseOracleMemLockLimit=false

Supports inventory of Toad for Oracle

The FlexNet Inventory Agent now collects evidence for installations of Toad for Oracle on Windows-based Oracle servers. Two new evidence types are created for upload, and the upload includes edition information collected from SettingsLocations.ini in the Toad installation.

By default, this new functionality is always on. For special reasons, if you need to suppress this behavior, you can add a new switch to the command line for ndtrack:

-o PerformToadForOracleInventory=false

For more information, see the Features by Release document.

Improved support for network adapters on UNIX-like platforms

The FlexNet Inventory Agent now collects all IPv4 addresses and subnet masks registered on a network adapter with multiple addresses on a UNIX-like device. Previously, on UNIX-like devices, the FlexNet Inventory Agent returned only the last value from the ifconfig -a command; but this behavior is now changed so that, as it has always done on Windows devices, the FlexNet Inventory Agent on UNIX-like devices returns all IPv4 addresses from a multiple-address network adapter. These addresses are displayed in inventory listings and inventory properties as a comma-separated list (up to 256 characters).

Support for Oracle Fusion Middleware data collection

The FlexNet Inventory Agent, whether locally installed on the relevant Oracle server or using zero footprint inventory collection from an appropriate inventory beacon, now supports a collection of audit-ready data for products in the Oracle Fusion Middleware collection. For more information including relevant controls, see the Features by Release documentation available at https://docs.flexera.com/.

Improved usage tracking resolution

An issue that caused usage tracking records to merge as if they applied to a single device has been corrected. (There is no workaround available for earlier versions of FlexNet Inventory Agent, and the fix requires upgrading to this release.)

Improved inventory of IBM Db2 and add-ons

The FlexNet Inventory Agent now uses the db2licm command to improve inventory recognition of IBM Db2 database and its available add-ons. This command is a standard part of the IBM Db2 installation and requires no special configuration. There is a 120-second timeout if the FlexNet Inventory Agent does not receive a response from the command, with the duration configurable in the registry, so that a failure in this command does not block all inventory gathering. If, for some unusual reason, you do not want the added accuracy in reporting inventory for IBM Db2 and its add-ons, you can turn off this functionality with a registry key.

FlexNet Inventory Agent excludes the scanning of Docker image folders on Linux machines running Docker containers

To prevent processing excessive file inventory evidence, the FlexNet Inventory Agent now does not scan Docker image folders on Linux machines, where possible containers are defined and saved. However, inventory from running Docker containers is still gathered directly by the FlexNet Inventory Agent, from both Linux servers and Windows Docket hosts, and returned as installer evidence in its own .ndi file.

FlexNet Inventory Agent generates a unique agent ID for Windows devices

For physical machines, the AgentID is generated based on the hostname and BIOS SerialNumber property. In certain circumstances on Windows devices, the serial number may be invalid, non-unique, or missing. If two or more devices shared the same device name and the serial number falls under this scenario, duplicate AgentIDs resulted. Now, the FlexNet Inventory Agent generates a unique agent ID for Windows devices with the same name even when serial number is unusable.

Fixes for issues related to adoption of certain Unix agents

Previously, adoption of Linux RPM-based and AIX devices could use the wrong path for the agent application data folder, or fail to adopt the device successfully. This update resolves this behavior, and adoption installs the agent correctly.

Fixes to update the FlexNet Inventory Agent policy information on some Windows 2008 and Windows 2012 servers

Agent modules that failed to start a required process have been updated with a retry that will use an additional Windows API flag that allows the process to start. The following modules require this update:

• The policy client (mgspolicy.exe) that needs to start the launcher (ndlaunch.exe)
• The launcher (ndlaunch.exe) that needs to start the schedule Agent (ndschedag.exe)
• The schedule Agent (ndschedag.exe) that needs to start the policy client (mgspolicy.exe) or the launcher (ndlaunch.exe) or the inventory agent (ndtrack.exe).

macOS FlexNet Inventory Agent now collects user information including domain for the currently logged-in user

On macOS, the FlexNet Inventory Agent now collects information for the currently logged-in user including their domain. This information is required with Mac software licensing when using Named User licenses. However, note that macOS does not track the last logged-in user, so that if no one is logged in when the FlexNet Inventory Agent runs, macOS returns system. Therefore, if you want the user name to appear in inventory, carefully review your inventory collection schedules for alignment with user working hours; or instead, use allocations of license entitlements to the user(s) in question. Relying on inventory from macOS may mean that the user name record bounces between the real user name and system, depending on whether the user was logged in at each day's inventory time.

macOS FlexNet Inventory Agent now collects inventory from Big Sur

IT Asset Management support for macOS now extends to the latest version, Big Sur, with the same inventory-gathering functionality as available on earlier releases of macOS.

New timeout when gathering Oracle inventory on UNIX-like platforms

A timeout for inventory collection from Oracle Database and associated options running on UNIX-like platforms now prevents a hung command from stopping the entire inventory-gathering process. For example, on some devices, certain commands might trigger a credentials challenge. Since FlexNet Inventory Agent does not provide passwords on demand, this timeout previously blocked all further action. Now the timeout means that the FlexNet Inventory Agent can "step back" from a blocking action, allow that single inventory command to fail, and then continue on with the rest of its process.

The timeout:

• Is available with the upgrade of the FlexNet Inventory Agent to version 15.2.0 (or later)
• Works for both the locally installed FlexNet Inventory Agent and the Zero-footprint method of remote inventory collection
• Defaults to 10 seconds, with no setup or configuration required
• Can be configured to any value from 1 to 60 seconds, either as a command-line option, or as a setting in the config.ini file that functions as a pseudo-registry on UNIX-like platforms.

The preference name is OracleEnvironmentCmdTimeoutSeconds, and full details are available in the Gathering FlexNet Inventory PDF (or HTML equivalent).

Handles more than 8 CPUs on Windows 2003 servers

The ndtrack executable now successfully gathers WMI inventory on servers running Windows 2003 Enterprise x64 SP2 and having more than 8 CPUs.

FlexNet Inventory Agent successfully inventories Linux servers with Docker installed

The FlexNet Inventory Agent now correctly filters Docker container data.

Local Oracle inventory now succeeds when tnsnames.ora is missing on Windows machines

When running local inventory, the Windows FlexNet Inventory Agent no longer requires tnsnames.ora on Windows computers.

Oracle Database In-Memory option is now reported by IT Asset Management

The version check logic for the query execution for Database In-Memory usage is now fixed, allowing Oracle Database In-Memory to successfully execute in-memory scans, joins, and aggregation. This change is pushed down through a content update.

Timeout when Oracle user login script hangs during Oracle Database inventory gathering

The FlexNet Inventory Agent attempts to call an Oracle executable with the current level of access. If the executable prompts for a password, the FlexNet Inventory Agent previously would hang. A timeout has been added that results in this scenario no longer hanging the FlexNet Inventory Agent.

Recognition of the Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) One Node option

Recognition of Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) One Node option supporting versions 11g, 12c, 18c, and 19c.

Enables usage tracking based on Add/Remove programs evidence when "Enable usage tracking" setting is selected

The FlexNet Inventory Agent for Microsoft Windows platforms supports gathering evidence from Add/Remove Programs to help in tracking software usage.

Collect inventory for Docker Containers, Images and Hosts

The FlexNet Inventory Agent now detects Docker images and containers when installed on your 64 bit Linux host. Application inventory is collected on running containers using Zero-footprint inventory collection through:

• Image and container discovery
• Event based container scanning identifies the status of each container
• Performs a one-time Zero-footprint inventory of application(s) on running containers
• Collects image ID, repository tags, and repository digest information.

Once an inventory for an image has been successfully collected, the FlexNet Inventory Agent will not inject the tracker into any subsequent containers based on that image. The image is identified by its ID, rather than its tag, so updating a particular image will result in the agent injecting the tracker into containers launched from the updated image.

To enable this feature, you can do either of the following:

• Enable the setting globally using the Enable detection of Docker and running inventory agent inside Docker containers in the Container Scanning section on the Inventory Settings page
• Create or set the PerformDockerInventoryScan Tracker setting to the value True in the mgspolicy command line.

Add identification for Oracle VM VirtualBox

The FlexNet Inventory Agent now detects and scans a VirtualBox instance on a computer. This functionality permits identification of the Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack.

Meter 64-bit applications for usage tracking

The FlexNet Inventory Agent now correctly meters executables under installation directories identified in Windows 64-bit Add/Remove Programs registry settings.

Remove possibility of usage tracking linking the executable to the wrong application

This update removes the possibility for an executable to map to the wrong application for usage metering on Windows devices. This possibility could occur when multiple applications share the same installation directory, and the UseAddRemove preference is set to true. For more information on this setting, see the Gathering FlexNet Inventory guide.

Recognition of Adobe Acrobat 2017 editions

Added the ability to identify Adobe Acrobat 2017 Standard, Pro and Trial editions.

Compatibility with Photon OS

Confirmation of the FlexNet Inventory Agent compatibility with Photon OS 3.0.

Support for macOS 10.15

The FlexNet Inventory Agent 14.0.0 introduces support for macOS 10.15 (Catalina):

• Installation: The installation package supports both:
  • 64-bit systems, to install the FlexNet Inventory Agent on macOS 10.15 and later devices
  • 32-bit systems, so that you can install this FlexNet Inventory Agent on devices running older 32-bit versions of macOS.
• Upgrade warning: If previous releases of the FlexNet Inventory Agent are already installed on Apple inventory devices currently running earlier versions of macOS, these installations need to be upgraded to FlexNet Inventory Agent version 14.0.0 or later before the OS is upgraded to macOS 10.15. If the OS is upgraded without first upgrading the installed FlexNet Inventory Agents, the existing 32-bit FlexNet Inventory Agent will no longer be able to run on the upgraded inventory device. As a result, in this scenario it will be impossible for device policy to upgrade the FlexNet Inventory Agent. Recovering from such a case will require manually upgrading the FlexNet Inventory Agent to version 14.0.0 or later. However, if you upgrade FlexNet Inventory Agentfirst to 14.0.0 or later, and subsequently upgrade the macOS version to 10.15, the 64-bit support in this latest FlexNet Inventory Agent means that the system continues to operate as usual after the upgrades.

Inventory of Linux KVM virtualization

A locally installed FlexNet Inventory Agent 14.0.0 collects inventory from virtual machines (and hosts, although here you may prefer zero footprint inventory collection by an inventory beacon version 14.0.0 or later) on Linux virtual hosts using Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) infrastructure. To ensure that inventory is imported from every guest VM on the host, the inventory from the host must be gathered by an FlexNet Inventory Agent 14.0.0 (or later) running as root, or the inventory beacon running zero footprint inventory collection as root. If, for some reason, you choose to execute FlexNet Inventory Agent as some other, non-root account, only those guest VMs to which that account has access are included in inventory.

FlexNet Inventory Agent unique identifier

The FlexNet Inventory Agent now creates a unique identifier on a device when it executes for the first time. This unique identifier, called the AgentID, is used when resolving the inventory data from a device to determine which computer record matches the inventory (earlier versions relied on the domain name and computer name, which are still the fallback used if the AgentID is missing). With the AgentID, multiple devices with same domain name and computer name can now be distinguished from one another, so that separate computer records are created in the inventory database. This feature works for any deployment of the ndtrack executable, including the locally installed FlexNet Inventory Agent, zero footprint inventory collection managed by an inventory beacon, or the lightweight FlexNet Inventory Scanner.

Java inventory also on UNIX-like platforms

Collection of additional inventory for Java, already supported on Microsoft Windows, is now added for all supported UNIX-like platforms. In the file /var/opt/managesoft/etc/config.ini, the includedirectory preference must be correctly set to allow scanning of the folder where Java is installed – this is set automatically when the installer for the FlexNet Inventory Agent is run; but if you are using third-party deployment, you may need to manage this separately. And as always, with the FlexNet Inventory Scanner, you must include the appropriate setting in the command line, overriding its default value of not doing any file scanning.

Enhanced inventory from Microsoft Azure VMs

Although inventory could be collected from VMs on Microsoft Azure since the earlier 2018 R1 (13.0.0) release, those intermediate releases relied on the parallel use of the Microsoft Azure adapter to complete the inventory picture (especially the host/guest relationships). From this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent locally installed on the guest instance reports the full set of Microsoft Azure VM data, so that running the separate adapter is no longer mandatory (however, the Microsoft Azure adapter remains useful for identifying inventory gaps, where the FlexNet Inventory Agent has not been installed on a guest).

Auto-upgrades of FlexNet Inventory Agent work in custom installation paths (AIX/Linux)

With previous versions of the FlexNet Inventory Agent on either AIX or Linux operating systems, upgrades (or downgrades) driven by downloaded device policy were available only when the installation was in the default location. From this release, policy-driven upgrades or downgrades are extended to cover installations in custom locations on either AIX or Linux operating systems.

Signing of Linux RPM packages

Signing of Linux RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) packages gives you an additional layer of security if you are managing your own installation of Linux RPM packages for FlexNet Inventory Agent. (Only RPM packages are now signed, with DEB packages unchanged.) The public key is available from the Product and License Center as a separate download titled Inventory agent 13-1-0+ Linux RPM installer public key.zip. Your company password for the Flexera Customer Community is required to access this download. The fact that the key must be downloaded from a separate, password-protected source gives you some improvement in security.

Local inventory from Oracle pluggable databases

Introduced in Oracle 12c, pluggable databases could previously be inventoried using direct inventory collection managed by an inventory beacon. With this release, this inventory is now also supported using all forms of the FlexNet inventory component locally installed on the Oracle server:

• The full FlexNet Inventory Agent, whether deployed by "adoption" or by third-party tools
• The lightweight FlexNet Inventory Scanner
• Zero-footprint inventory gathering, where an inventory beacon temporarily installs the inventory component on the target server, runs it, and removes it again (leaving a zero installation footprint).

Gathering inventory from standby Oracle database instances

The FlexNet Inventory Agent, locally installed on an Oracle Database server, collects software inventory from any operational Oracle database instances (as well as collecting hardware inventory, as required for certain license types). From this release, it also gathers inventory from Oracle instances that are in standby (that is, instances that are in MOUNT mode but not READ mode). This inventory includes Oracle Data Guard instances that are in standby, awaiting a possible switch into production.

However, Oracle advises that certain inventory queries are impossible on a standby Oracle database instance. Therefore, the inventory data from an Oracle instance that is only ever inventoried while in standby is less complete than the inventory collected from active Oracle database instances. If the same (standby) database instance is subsequently inventoried while in MOUNT mode, the missing inventory values are added to the instance record in IT Asset Management. Conversely, if an Oracle database instance has been inventoried while active, and is subsequently inventoried while in standby, the additional values are removed for consistency with the latest inventory.

This functionality is also available in the lightweight FlexNet Inventory Scanner, and in the zero footprint inventory collection, where an appropriate inventory beacon downloads and runs the inventory core components on a target device.

Support for IPv6 address families

Support for the FlexNet Inventory Agent communicating with an inventory beacon includes the following:

• Both IPv6 and dual stack (IPv6 and IPv4) networks are supported, in addition to existing IPv4 support.
• Includes both the full FlexNet Inventory Agent and the lightweight FlexNet Inventory Scanner.
• Link-local IPv6 addresses, which are valid and unique only on a single network link, are not supported, since these addresses are contrary to the policy-driven nature of managed devices. However, both global and unique local scopes are supported.
• The FlexNet Inventory Agent uses the first IP address returned after a DNS request, by default – regardless of its address family. There is also a preference you can set to favor either IPv6 or IPv4, for those situations where manual configuration is desirable.
• Files downloaded to all FlexNet Inventory Agents cannot use the IPv6 address family, since such details may reach legacy versions of FlexNet Inventory Agent that cannot process the new address format. Examples include the fail-over list of all inventory beacons, or the networkname property in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Flexera Software\Inventory Beacon\DotNet\conf\BeaconEngine.config file that configures the web server on the inventory beacon. Instead, use either the hostname or fully qualified domain name of the inventory beacon, so that inventory devices rely (as normal) on DNS results to contact an inventory beacon appropriate for them.
• CAL device license consumption is only supported using the IPv4 address family.

Remediation of security vulnerability

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) identifier of this vulnerability is CVE-2017-6885. To understand the potential consequences of this vulnerability, see the Common Consequences section of Common Weakness Enumeration CWE-426. The Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score for this vulnerability is 7.8, and the temporal score is 7.0.

This fix applies to both the full FlexNet Inventory Agent and the lightweight FlexNet Inventory Scanner, and also requires updates of the FlexNet Beacon.

Improved HTTPS support on UNIX-like platforms

Communication between the FlexNet Inventory Agent and the inventory beacons may be secured with the HTTPS protocol. For typical (maximum) security, this protocol requires the exchange of server certificates, and checking by the FlexNet Inventory Agent that the server certificate has not been revoked by the Certificate Authority (CA).

On Windows platforms, certificate checking is determined by Group Policy. In previous releases for the FlexNet Inventory Agent running on UNIX-like platforms, revocation checking was supported using Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs). This revocation checking can be time-consuming, since each check can require downloading the entire listing of revoked certificates.

A newer technology uses Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) revocation checking. The OCSP allows a much faster request to the OCSP server for the revocation status of a single certificate.

This release allows administrators to prioritize OCSP and CRL checking for UNIX-like platforms. It also allows failover from one system to the other with a simple preference setting for the FlexNet Inventory Agent.