adoption

Adoption is the automated process of installing and configuring the FlexNet Inventory Agent on a device, using an inventory beacon as the deployment channel. By design, this happens automatically when:

• A target has been defined in the web interface for IT Asset Management that covers the device
• That target has the Adoption options set to Allow these targets to be adopted
• No other target also covering the device exists with the setting Do not allow these targets to be adopted (since a 'deny' overrides an 'allow')
• An inventory beacon has assigned subnet(s) that include the target, and applies a rule bound to the target.

It is possible to deploy FlexNet Inventory Agents by other means, including manual installation or deployment through other tools. In such cases, if the devices are not also covered by targets that Allow these targets to be adopted, IT Asset Management does not regard the device as adopted. As for all non-adopted devices that are included in inventory targets, IT Asset Management attempts inventory collection by alternate means, usually by Zero-footprint inventory collection by the FlexNet inventory core components installed on an inventory beacon. This may result in inventory being independently gathered by the locally-installed FlexNet Inventory Agent and by the Zero-footprint process. Normally, data sets from these two sources are matched, and reconciled into a single inventory record. However, notice that there are two schedules involved:

• The schedule for all installed FlexNet Inventory Agents (set in Discovery & Inventory > Settings — as part of their separate deployment, the installed FlexNet Inventory Agents were directed to the appropriate inventory beacon from which they have collected their policy and this schedule)
• The schedule determined when the rule was created (which drives the remote execution process).

Because of different schedules, you may notice that the value of the Last inventory source (in inventory listings) toggles back and forth between these two data sources.

Tip: If you deploy the FlexNet Inventory Agent by means other than the adoption process, consider subsequently setting Adoption options to Allow these targets to be adopted for at least one target in an active rule to cover these devices. When an inventory beacon attempts the agent installation, it finds the FlexNet Inventory Agent already installed, and 'backs off', assuming that the device has been previously adopted. Because IT Asset Management now recognizes the device as marked for adoption, it no longer attempts any alternative methods of inventory collection.