Special Handling of Oracle Fusion Middleware

IT Asset Management (Cloud)

Oracle Fusion Middleware is a large collection of software products used for the development, deployment, and management of software services. Oracle have specific conditions for tracking licensing for Oracle Fusion Middleware, and IT Asset Management is verified by Oracle as an acceptable tool to collect the appropriate inventory.

Oracle requires that a full system scan is performed to check for Oracle Fusion Middleware, and that special file evidence is collected and submitted as part of your OracleGLASEvidence.zip archive for reporting or as part of an audit response.

For your convenience, the standard FlexNet Inventory Agent (version 17.0.1 or later) is able to collect the required evidence, along with the additional files that Oracle requires, ready for inclusion in the OracleGLASEvidence.zip archive. This functionality is available in any of:

• The complete FlexNet Inventory Agent locally installed on a target inventory device
• The lightweight FlexNet Inventory Scanner, where the self-extracting executables are available on the target inventory device
• The zero footprint inventory collection method, where the necessary inventory components are downloaded from an inventory beacon, executed, and subsequently removed from the target inventory device.

(Details of these methods are available in Gathering FlexNet Inventory.)

However, because the full system scan on each inventory device (and resulting data uploads) can be time-consuming, this functionality is disabled by default. There are two stages of control available, both of which default to off (false):

• The Enable collection of Oracle Fusion Middleware audit data check box (located in the Oracle Fusion Middleware scanning section of the Inventory Settings page (Data Collection > IT Assets Inventory Tasks > Inventory Settings)) enables the inventory collection process.
• The Include Oracle Fusion Middleware (on the Inventory tab of the IT Asset Management Settings General page (Administration > IT Asset Management Settings > General)) allows the uploaded data and files to be incorporated into the OracleGLASEvidence.zip archive.

When the first of these, the Enable collection of Oracle Fusion Middleware audit data check box, is selected:

1. The change is distributed through your inventory beacons as device policy to all managed inventory devices (those receiving device policy through any inventory beacon, and subsequently automatically uploading inventory through the inventory beacon hierarchy).
   Tip: This mechanism automatically updates locally-installed instances of FlexNet Inventory Agent, and the components on the inventory beacon used for zero footprint inventory collection. However, if you have deployed the lightweight FlexNet Inventory Scanner, ensure that you also update its associated copy of InventorySettings.xml, and if necessary update its command line with the -o PerformOracleFMWScan=true option.
2. Each inventory device saves the downloaded preference in the PerformOracleFMWScan preference in the registry (or pseudo-registry file on UNIX-like platforms).
   Tip: If you have disconnected inventory beacons, or inventory devices that are not managed automatically, you can arrange for your preferred registry tool to set this preference to true to enable this scanning by all locally-installed copies of FlexNet Inventory Agent.
3. If the FlexNet Inventory Agent needs to scan for file evidence (as authorized by the IncludeDirectory preference), it checks whether PerformOracleFMWScan is also true, and if so, it also scans each of the visited folders for the required Oracle Fusion Middleware evidence.
4. When the FlexNet Inventory Agent completes its regular (default: daily) inventory collection, including any required file evidence collection, it again checks whether PerformOracleFMWScan is true, and if so, begins a scan of the entire system for any remaining Oracle Fusion Middleware evidence. However, this is an intelligent scan that knows which folders have already been scanned as part of the normal file evidence gathering process, and so it skips all directories previously scanned. To optimize performance, no folders are scanned twice.
5. All found content related to Oracle Fusion Middleware on the inventory device is organized into a specific structure, and then archived, and included as a blob of binary data within the standard archived .ndi file.
6. As always, the inventory (.ndi) files are uploaded through your hierarchy of inventory beacons, and are eventually imported into IT Asset Management through the standard processes.
7. During import, the evidence for Oracle Fusion Middleware is processed and saved in the compliance database as installer evidence (not a typo – it is collected in the same manner as file evidence, but then presented as installer evidence, based on conversions found in InventorySettings.xml). Like all installer evidence, it can be linked to application records, which can in turn be linked to license records; and when appropriately configured, the nightly license compliance calculations include an assessment of consumption for Oracle Fusion Middleware applications. By default, this presentation of the uploaded data within IT Asset Management is the only use made of the uploaded data about Oracle Fusion Middleware applications.
8. However, once the Include Oracle Fusion Middleware check box is selected, the relevant uploaded data and files are also incorporated into the OracleGLASEvidence.zip archive (normally compiled after the nightly inventory import and license compliance calculations), ready for submission when an audit is required. This separation of control between the collection of inventory and its inclusion in the GLAS archive means you can collect the inventory, use it to correctly configure your application and license records, and correct any licensing oversights before you then save your corrected state, in case you need to submit it to Oracle in future.