FlexNet Inventory Agent Change Log (SaaS)
The following table provides a change history of the FlexNet Inventory Agent released for the cloud edition of IT Asset Management, with links to descriptions of features and fixes per version.
IT Asset Management (On-PremisesCloud)
2024 R2Current
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 23.0.1
Support for TLS 1.3
This feature is available with FlexNet Beacon version 23.0.1 and later
In this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent has been upgraded to support TLS 1.3. It integrates with beacon servers configured for either TLS 1.3 or TLS 1.2, enhancing secure communication as well as offering flexibility.
Communication libraries updated
The FlexNet Inventory Agent has been upgraded to use the libcurl
library for the UNIX platforms and WinHTTP
for Windows. This
enhancement ensures that the FlexNet Inventory Agent remains up to date with
modern network standards and protocols. As a result, the
SSLOCSPCacheLifetime
and SSLOCSPPath
settings are no longer needed and have been removed. Additionally, the
PrioritizeRevocationChecks
setting has been updated.
Fix for an issue with incorrect directory and file permissions
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 22.0.0 to 22.4.0
Previously, there was in issue where directories and files could be created with excessively high permissions. This release resolves this issue.
Fix for an issue with the Linux agent installation process
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent
Previously, the Linux agent installation process did not start the services using
the systemctl
command. This caused the
systemctl
“status” command to indicate “Active: inactive
(dead)” unless the device was rebooted, or the services were manually started
via systemctl
after the installation. From this release, the
systemctl
“status” command will now report “Active: active
(running)” when services status is queried after installation.
Fix for an issue with the installation for the least privilege operation mode
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 22.4.0
Previously, there was an issue where installing agent version 22.4.0 in least privilege operation mode would result in incorrect permissions being set on the tracker directory. This release resolves this issue.
Fix for an issue with the detection of IBM WebSphere Application Server
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 19.0.0 to 22.4.0
Previously, there was an unnecessary dependency where detection of IBM WebSphere Application Server via installer evidence based on the IBM Installation Manager (IIM) required file scanning to be enabled, which could cause the IBM WebSphere Application Server not being detected as expected. This release resolves this issue.
Security vulnerabilities addressed
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 22.4.0
Several security vulnerabilities in the third-party libraries used by the Podman monitor have been addressed.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 22.4.0
New support for Podman inventory on Linux
This feature is available with IT Asset Management version 22.4.0 and later
From this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent supports inventory collection from Podman on Linux. This new feature ensures comprehensive inventory management and aligns with the industry shift towards Podman, particularly in environments like OpenShift where Podman serves as the underlying container runtime.
Visibility of Podman containers is disabled by default. To enable Podman inventory and running inventory agent inside Podman containers, go to the Inventory Settings page ( ) and select the corresponding checkbox in the Container scanning section.
/opt/managesoft/libexec/fnms-podman-monitor
to the
Cmnd_Alias FLEXERA
command alias in the sudoers file
/etc/sudoers.d/flexera
. For a sample sudoers file, see Agent Third-Party Deployment: Sample
Sudoers File.Enhanced software discovery for Unix-like platforms using running process tracking
This feature is available with IT Asset Management version 22.4.0 and later
Previously, software discovery on Unix-like platforms was inefficient and imprecise, with traditional scans generating excessive irrelevant file evidence. This led to poor visibility, identifying only about 10% of installed software, and required manual identification as the only alternative.
In this release, a new approach to software discovery on Unix-like platforms has been introduced to tackle the inefficiencies of traditional scanning methods. This approach uses running process tracking to identify installed software on Unix-like platforms, building a cache to validate and report software paths, thereby reducing irrelevant data collection. This new feature significantly improves the accuracy and relevance of software identification.
Fix for an issue with Zero-footprint inventory gathering
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 22.0.0 to 22.3.0
Previously, there was an issue where the Zero-footprint inventory gathering might fail when the option to gather CAL inventory was enabled. This release resolves this issue.
Fix for an issue with KubeVirt information collection
Affected Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent versions: 21.5.0 to 22.3.0
Previously, there was an issue with collecting KubeVirt information in the Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent, which could cause .ndi files not being uploaded. This release resolves this issue.
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 to address security vulnerabilities:
OpenSSL
has been upgraded to version 3.0.15.- The
Expat
utility, used for parsing streams of XML data, has been upgraded to release 2.6.3.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 22.3.0
Fix for an issue with the IncludeExtension preference
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent
Previously, when the IncludeExtension
preference was used to
include files with the specified extensions, the FlexNet Inventory Scanner
incorrectly checked the file extension in a case-sensitive manner instead of the
intended case-insensitive manner. As a result, some file evidence might not have
been captured. This release resolves this issue.
Fix for the issue of unnecessary scanning of excluded directories
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent
Previously, directories resolved from symbolic links were still scanned even if they were excluded by directory name or file system mount. Although the files and subdirectories within these excluded directories were eventually excluded, the unnecessary processing reduced efficiency. This release resolves this issue.
Fix for an issue in the Helm chart
Affected Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent
Previously, there was an issue in the Helm chart that prevented the namespace from being applied in the krm-chart/templates/flexera-krm.yaml file. This release resolves this issue.
Bundled software version updated
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent
The libxml2
utility, used for parsing XML documents, has been
upgraded to release 2.11.9 to address known security vulnerabilities.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 22.2.0
The FlexNet Inventory Agent can be configured using flxconfig
This feature is available with FlexNet Beacon version 22.2.0 and later
In this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent has been updated with a new component called flxconfig to handle agent configuration. flxconfig is a simplified implementation of agent configuration that allows for greater security and replaces the existing mgspolicy and ndlaunch components.
Both the mgspolicy and ndlaunch components will continue to be included in the agent installation; however, they are now considered obsolete and will no longer be used from version 22.2.0 onwards (for example, by the agent schedule). These components will be removed from the FlexNet Inventory Agent at some point in the future.
Increased security for downloading the FlexNet Inventory Agent
This feature is available with IT Asset Management version 22.2.0 and later
From this release, the FlexNet Inventory Agent will only download and install upgrade packages from the FlexNet Beacon where the digital signature can be successfully verified. This feature provides enhanced security measures for data obtained by an agent for inventory or upgrade purposes.
Support for downloading and automatically upgrading the FlexNet Inventory Agent on Debian-based Linux distributions
This feature is available with IT Asset Management version 22.2.0 and later
From this release, you can download the FlexNet Inventory Agent for Debian-based Linux distributions and choose whether to enable or disable its automatic upgrade, similar to installations and upgrades of the FlexNet Inventory Agent for other selected operating systems. You can download Debian-based Linux distributions inventory agent packages and enable or disable the automatic upgrade on the Inventory Settings page in IT Asset Management.
Enhancement with filtered macOS bundle data for the FlexNet Inventory Agent on macOS
From this release, macOS bundle data is filtered for the FlexNet Inventory Agent on macOS, using pattern matching and regular expressions, to exclude data of operating system or Apple bundles that is not useful for inventory purposes. This enhancement significantly improves relevant installer evidence data collection and normalization efficiency.
A new setting ExcludeBundlePath
is provided to control the
exclusion behavior. It uses semicolon-delimited values for each filter
expression. The default exclusions include the following regular expressions:
- Paths starting with /System/Library, /System/DriverKit, or
/System/iOSSupport:
^/System/(?:Library|DriverKit|iOSSupport)
- Paths starting with /System/Volumes/Update or /System/Volumes/Preboot:
^/System/Volumes/(?:Update|Preboot)
- Paths containing /private/var/root/.Trash:
/private/var/root/.Trash/
- Paths starting with /Library/Developer or /Library/Apple that are a
framework, xpc, or bundle:
^/Library/(?:Developer|Apple)/(?:.+)/(?:[^/]+)\.(?:framework|xpc|bundle)$
- Paths starting with /usr:
^/usr
- Xcode framework bundle paths:
^/Applications/Xcode.app/(?:.+)/(?:[^/]+)\.framework$
Fix for the issue of libxslt and libxml2 parser errors being printed to the console
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent
Previously, there was an issue that libxslt
and
libxml2
parser errors were printed to the console where the
agent was running, rather than the trace log. This release resolves this issue.
Fix for an issue with Flexera Kubernetes Agent Helm chart deployments on OpenShift
Affected Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent versions: 21.5.0 to 22.1.0
Previously, there was an issue with the OpenShift extension where the resource name was not set correctly in the YAML file that applies the cluster role for the Flexera KRM agent when installed via a Helm chart. This release resolves this issue.
Kubernetes Inventory Agent security vulnerability addressed
Affected Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent versions: 21.5.0 to 22.1.0
A security vulnerability was discovered in a third-party library used in the Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent. This vulnerability has been addressed.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 22.1.0
Bundled software version updated
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent
OpenSSL
has been upgraded to version 3.0.14 in this release of
the FlexNet Inventory Agent to address known security vulnerabilities.
Fix for the issue with concurrent operations on internal maps
Affected Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent
Previously, the Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent might crash when concurrent read and write operations occurred on a map. This could happen, for example, when there were many pods that started and stopped within a short period of time causing the agent's pod event listener to access its internal maps concurrently without locking. This release resolves this issue.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 22.0.0
The Kubernetes Inventory Agent recognizes accurate worker node inventory for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform clusters
This feature is available with IT Asset Management version 21.5.0 and later
The Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent has been enhanced to recognize accurate worker node inventory in a Kubernetes cluster for Red Hat OpenShift.
Prior to this enhancement, the Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent collected inventory data pertaining to the Kubernetes container, instead of collecting inventory data for the actual worker node that the Kubernetes container was deployed to.
On collecting accurate worker node inventory data, for any installed application(s) imported into IT Asset Management that are subscribed to and paid for, you can now license these applications accordingly by creating a license for the application(s) to consume against.
This enhancement is supported by the Standard Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent (often referred to as the "full" Flexera 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 will be removed each and every time the Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent collects inventory from a Kubernetes cluster(s) in your environment.
Verified Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) data collection can be switched on and off separately
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 21.1.0 to 21.5.0
The FlexNet Inventory Agent has been updated to run the verified Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) queries separately. This update is to support the functionality of switching the verified Oracle EBS data collection on and off separately in IT Asset Management, which improves the data collection performance.
The FlexNet Inventory Agent on Windows collects the complete version information of java.exe without executing it
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 17.4.0 to 21.5.0
Previously, the FlexNet Inventory Agent on Windows executed
digitally signed versions of java.exe
with SYSTEM privileges to
collect information for Oracle licensing. This method could potentially pose a
security risk.
java.exe
without having to
execute it, which eliminates the security risk.Fix for an issue with the flxfsscan tracing methods
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 21.3.0 to 21.5.0
Previously, the flxfsscan
tracing methods might cause a crash if
the file name being traced contained specifiers such as "%s
",
"%t
", and so on. This release resolves this issue.
Fix for an issue with the MGS_KubernetesPod.Node property
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent
Previously, theMGS_KubernetesPod.Node
property in
an NDI was sometimes returned as an empty value on some pods running in Kubernetes.
This release resolves this issue.Fix for an issue with incorrect reporting on Kubernetes nodes
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent
Previously, the FlexNet Inventory Agent running on a Kubernetes node might incorrectly report some class and property where they were not supposed to be reported. This release resolves this issue.Bundled software version updated
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: All previous versions of the agent
The libxml2
utility, used for parsing XML documents, has been
upgraded to release 2.11.8.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 21.5.0
The Kubernetes Inventory Agent now supports deployment of Helm chart templates
This feature is available with IT Asset Management version 21.5.0 and later
The Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent now supports predefined out-of-the-box Kubernetes Helm chart templates. For Flexera customers who use Helm charts, this new functionality will help to accelerate the deployment of the Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent to your Kubernetes clusters.
Prior to this new functionality, customers were required to write complex syntax
files and create their own Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent YAML file. From
this release, after pulling the Helm chart and saving it to a directory, you
only need to edit the options within the values.yaml
files as needed.
Two Helm chart templates are available: one for the Full Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent and one for the Lightweight Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent.
For more information about using the new Helm chart templates, see the note in the Online Help topic, Flexera Kubernetes Inventory Agent Configuration Examples.
Kubernetes agent and third-party library security vulnerability addressed
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 21.1.0 to 21.4.0
A security vulnerability was discovered in a third-party library used in the Kubernetes agent. This vulnerability has been addressed.
Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor third-party library security vulnerability addressed
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 21.4.0
A security vulnerability was discovered in a third-party library used in the Kubernetes agent and Docker monitor. This vulnerability has been addressed.
Special characters in directory names can crash the ndtrack process when the Java audit option is enabled
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 18.6.0 to 21.4.0
The Java audit processing of a directory with a non-standard or special character in the
directory name can cause the ndtrack.exe
process to crash. A
workaround for this issue is to exclude directories with non-standard characters.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 21.4.0
Fix for the issue of multiple buffer mishandling issues in the Oracle FMW script
Affected FlexNet Inventory Agent versions: 16.0.0 to 21.3.0
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
This feature is available with IT Asset Management version 21.4.0 and later
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 21.3.0
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 to 21.2.0
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 to 21.2.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 21.2.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 21.1.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 21.0.0
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).
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 20.5.0
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).
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 20.4.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 20.3.1
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 20.0.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 19.4.0
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 fullroot
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 19.3.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 19.2.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 19.1.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 19.0.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 18.7.0
Bundled software versions updated
The Expat
utility, used for parsing streams of XML data, has
been upgraded to release 2.4.9.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 18.6.0
Supported operating systems updated
The FlexNet Inventory Agent now supports Oracle Linux 9.0.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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 18.4.0
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”.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 18.3.0
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
The following operating system versions have been added to the list of supported operating systems on the FlexNet Inventory Agent: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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 18.2.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 18.1.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 18.0.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 17.4.0
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.
ppc64le
) only, and the FlexNet Inventory Agent does not
run on any distribution that is big-endian (ppc64
). Any
distributions that do not have a ppc64le
build (such as Amazon
Linux, Oracle Linux, and Photon OS) are not supported on POWER processors,
although of course existing support on Intel architectures continues
unchanged.
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 17.3.0
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.
DisableAllAgentUploads
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 17.2.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 17.0.1
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
andExcludeEmbedDirectories
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.The FlexNet Inventory Agent then moves on to the next inventory task.
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:
- Before running the Oracle script, the FlexNet Inventory Agent saves its current memory lock limit, if present.
- It then sets the memory lock limit to unlimited, as required for the Oracle scripts, and runs the script.
- 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(and restore it with the same option set to
true
). To restate, for
reliable normal operation, do not disable this improved behavior.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=falseHowever, the default behavior may be safely left enabled, since it does not create a significant load on devices where Toad is not installed.
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 13.0.1
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).
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 12.4.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 12.3.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 12.2.0
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.
FlexNet Inventory Agent Release 12.1.0
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.