Inventory Device Matching

FlexNet Manager Suite (Cloud)

The Inventory Device Matching page gives you insight into the complex process of matching overlapping hardware inventory, imported potentially from multiple different sources, and resolving these overlaps into a unified set of records of inventory devices in your compliance database. This data is refreshed with each overnight inventory import and license consumption calculation, and so includes the latest data as at the date and time for Reconciled shown at top right of the page. (Records previously imported are also included in the reconciliation and therefore in this listing, even when those same records were not updated in the latest import.)

Note: The page may not include every hardware record imported from every inventory source. Instead, it focuses only on those imported records that were merged with existing (or other incoming) records, so that you can track both which records were merged together, and why they were merged – using what data-matching rule, which also identifies the matching properties of the inventory devices. (In general, if there is an incoming inventory record that does not match anything else on its first appearance, it is used to create a new device record in the compliance database, and does not appear here on that first day. However, the same inventory record imported the next night now matches the inventory device record created yesterday, and the match appears in the new day's listing.)

The page combines data from three different sources to assist your investigations:

• Existing database records of inventory devices: These reproduce entries found (for example) in the All Inventory page, and these columns are grouped under a heading of Inventory device properties. A single inventory device database record may appear multiple times in this listing, once for every incoming inventory record that was matched to it. (Other records from your All Inventory page may be missing from this listing if they have not been matched by imported inventory – for example, manually-created computer records, computers imported through a business adapter, or inventory devices automatically created to match imported asset records.)
• Imported inventory: Grouped under the heading Raw inventory device properties, these records are "raw" in the sense of being original and untouched, as received from the inventory source. No normalization has been applied to these columns (for example, if different inventory sources report properties of the same inventory device in different ways, you can see all those differences in these columns). In general, there is a simple mapping between a "raw" attribute and the "normalized" attribute in the inventory device record (for example, the Raw chassis number after import and possible merging appears as the Chassis number in the Inventory device properties). To save space and repetition, only summary notes are given below for the raw attributes, and for more details, you may look back to the equivalent in the first set.
  Tip: As always, the set of imported data includes all imports, including your historical import results, as updated by the most recent import on the date of the last reconcile. In this way, even if there is a device that temporarily misses out on inventory gathering, its previous inventory still contributes to the inventory device matching and record updates.
• How these two data sets were matched: The columns that (by default) are in between the above two data sets, grouped under Rules results, explain several aspects of the process:
  • What processing rule matched the incoming and existing data
  • For some cases, the particular properties matched
  • If the top priority/best quality match was not available, what weaker rule was used to give the best available result under the conditions.

Some understanding of the process helps you interpret the Rules results in particular. In summary:

1. All the incoming inventory records are compared with each other, using the various matching rules in order. They are grouped into "clumps" of records that match each other, representing the same device.
2. Each existing inventory device (technically, each record in the ComplianceComputer table) is then tested against the incoming inventory records. When any match is found, the match is recorded against every incoming record in that same clump of matching inventory imports.
3. The properties of the incoming clump of inventory records are checked against the current inventory device (ComplianceComputer) to see whether any additions or updates to its properties are required.

In this way, incoming inventory records are merged to make (or update) the ComplianceComputer table of inventory devices. However, this may mean that a complete understanding of a merge requires that you read a chain of matched results.

Tip: Keep in mind that, in step 1 when incoming inventory records are compared, a match may be direct, based on a "first quality" match of properties held in common; or a match may be transitive, meaning that it goes through a "third party". For example, suppose that imported device A and device B are a top-quality match by name and serial number. But now device C is imported from a poor quality inventory source that does not include the serial number or even the device name; but it turns out that both device B and device C have the same (hidden) property of host identifying number, and the same manufacturer. Devices B and C are therefore counted as matched; and as a result, device C is now counted as matched to device A transitively, through their 'mutual relationship' with device B. All three imports, A, B, and C, are now included in the same "clump" of matched records; and as soon as any one of these imports is matched to an existing inventory device, they are all counted as matched. This example results in three rows in the Inventory Device Matching listing:

• The existing inventory device record is repeated in each row in the first set of Inventory device properties
• Imports A and B each get a row where they populate the Raw inventory device properties (and there are no "secondary" values required or shown)
• Import C also has a row in the Raw inventory device properties, but since it was only matched through device B, this row shows that intermediary device B as a "secondary" device under Rules results, as explained in the columns below.

Because this listing of matches can include almost all your inventory device records, multiplied by all the inventory sources that each one appears in, the total number of results can be unmanageable in even a reasonably-sized environment. The page is not intended to be read as an unfiltered mass, but used as an investigative tool to probe individual devices through searching and filtering.

One particularly effective way to focus your investigation is to start from the All Inventory page, where you can add the Matched raw devices column from the column chooser. This displays the number of matched inventory records as a hyperlink to this page – when you click the hyperlinked number, this page appears pre-filtered to show only the incoming inventory related to the existing inventory device database record you originally selected. You then have a large number of properties available here in the column chooser, both for the existing database record and the original inventory sources, which you can pick and choose to assist your investigation. (For the existing database records, the properties are not limited to those available in the All Inventory page, but include others from the inventory device properties page.)

The following columns, shown first in their groups and within those listed alphabetically, are available. For help with adding or removing columns, see Managing Columns in a Table.

Chassis number

The chassis number assigned to (or reported for) the device. It is a manufacturer-provided identification code that you can use for identification and inventory purposes. For Windows-based computers, it is often displayed on the back of the computer's case, and often the same as the serial number. For UNIX-based computers, you can use system commands similar to getconf MACHINE_SERIAL. For inventory imported from ILMT, this is the Identifying Number reported by ILMT. This identifying number is unique only within the context of a given manufacturer and computer model.

Note: Depending on the operating system and hardware type, the Host identifying number of some inventory devices takes this Chassis number value.

Not available for Mobile Device and Virtual Machine inventory device types.

Domain name

The name of the domain to which the computing device belongs.

Tip: Records fabricated for special purposes display special values:

• A dummy device record created for imports through your connector to Flexera One SaaS Management displays flexera.com
• A record representing an Oracle Database running in Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) shows the full DNS alias (excluding the actual machine name), such as

  clv8xj7busyg.eu-west-1.rds.amazonaws.com

Firmware serial number

Displays the firmware serial number of an inventory device. This is a unique identification number for an inventory device.

Normally available only for partitions and the hosts where those partitions are executing.

Not available for Mobile Device, Remote Device, or VDI Template inventory device types.

Host ID

Typically displays None, except in a few cases:

• The inventory device is a virtual machine on a host running Solaris, where it effectively displays the "system serial number". This number is not guaranteed to be unique across all SVR4 implementation, and in fact can change over the lifetime of a given system.
• The inventory device is running HP-UX, and is not a vPar partition (and the result depends on the inventory tool).
• The host is running AIX, where it is based on the InternetAddress or HostName parameters.
• The inventory device is a "dedicated host" offered by AWS, when the Host ID is returned in inventory for the host itself, and not for inventory from its hosted virtual machine instances.

Tip: A simpler way to identify the host for most VMs is to check the Host field on the VM properties tab of its inventory device properties.

This field displays None for:

• Physical devices (computers)
• Virtual machines that are not linked to a virtual host (when reported by your cloud service provider)
• Virtual machines running operating systems that do not report this value.

Host type

The type (or model) of a physical host computer. Generally known for stand-alone devices and for partitions on UNIX-like platforms, and is used for matching incoming inventory records.

Not available for virtual machines.

Hosted in

Shows whether the inventory device is on-premises (the default, meaning the device is within your enterprise), or in a cloud operated by a particular service provider. For some cloud service providers (like AWS and Azure), the Hosted in value is set automatically through inventory. For other cloud service providers, you must make a selection manually.

ILMT agent id

The unique ID used by the ILMT agent on this device (only available when either the ILMT agent or the FlexNet Inventory Agent is the inventory source).

Instance ID

The unique identification code supplied by your cloud service provider to represent this virtual machine (or instance). Used for matching with incoming inventory to create/update an inventory device record.

Inventory device type

Specifies the type of the inventory device, which may be any of the following values:

• Cluster — A cluster of several computers, typically managed by Kubernetes and with consumption reported by the IBM License Service (which does not allow for further breakdown, for example to individual hosts or VMs within the cluster)
• Computer — A computing device like a desktop, laptop, workstation, or a non-virtualized server.
• Mobile device — A mobile device like a tablet or smart phone.
• Product — Not a device type, but a pseudo-value used only in IBM VPC licenses to identify rows showing the licensed IBM product. This value may appear only if the Bundle consumption rules (in the license properties Use Rights & Rules tab, under License consumption rules) have the option Consume for each product on a device selected.
• Remote Device — The device is a remote device (not appearing in inventory) known to have accessed virtualized applications. This value is created automatically.
• VDI Template — The VDI template used to create the virtual desktop instance that was accessed from an inventory device (see Virtual Desktop Templates). This value is created automatically.
• Virtual Machine — A virtual machine running on a physical host machine. A physical host can run multiple virtual machines using virtualization technologies from VMWare, Oracle, Microsoft, and so on. Note that this value is also used for a record fabricated to represent an Oracle Database running on Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS).
• VM Host — A physical virtual host running one or more virtual machines using any virtualization technology, such as VMWare.

Last inventory date

The date when the most recent inventory information was collected by the Last inventory source for this inventory device.

The inventory process generates the value of this field.

Machine ID

The name assigned to this device.

• For Windows-based computers, this property is called Computer Name
• For AIX devices, it is the System ID
• For HP-UX, it is the Machine/Software ID
• Not applicable for other platforms.

Not available for Mobile Device, Remote Device, or VDI Template inventory device types.

Manufacturer

The manufacturer of the inventory device.

Tip: If the device is a virtual machine (such as Linux KVM), this column may display the publisher of the software that is running the VM.

Model

The manufacturer’s model name or number for this device.

Name

The name of the inventory device. The compliance calculation updates this field with the machine name returned in inventory (matched by several properties, including serial number).

Tip: The name displays as Flexera SaaS Manager if this is a dummy device record created for imports from your Flexera One SaaS Management connector.

Partition ID

Populated only for appropriate virtualization technologies (and otherwise blank), this is the unique identifier for the partition returned in inventory by the virtual host.

Partition number

An alternative method of identifying a partition used by some virtualization technologies. Sometimes this is used in conjunction with the Partition ID, in which case the Partition number is often the last digit of the complete ID.

Serial number

The serial number of the device, attempting to uniquely identify either the hardware (for a stand-alone device) or the virtualization container (for a virtual machine), as reported in inventory.

Tip: This displays Flexera SaaS Manager with a numerical suffix in the special case where the inventory device is a dummy record created for linking with imports through your Flexera One SaaS Management connector.

Service inventory date

The date when inventory was last collected from the Oracle Database (where one is installed on the inventory device).

UUID

The unique identification number of the computer (in the byte order reported in inventory).

Applicable only to inventory devices of the type Virtual Machine.

VM name

The name of the virtual machine that is recognized by the host server.

VM type

The type of the virtual machine.

Matching rule

The rule used during inventory import that caused the current raw inventory to be matched to the current inventory device record in the compliance database. Possible values include:

• Matched to raw inventory device '{0}' from '{1}' by rule '{2}' – parameter {0} is replaced by the name of a "secondary" raw inventory device, {1} by the inventory source from which that record was imported, and {2} by the rule matching this secondary device with the new incoming inventory record in this row (listed in the set of Raw inventory device properties). This result is displayed when direct comparison could not establish a match between (A) the existing inventory device record and (C) the incoming raw inventory; but a 'secondary' match has been established through the extra computer mentioned in this summary. This means that the incoming raw inventory record (C) was first matched to this extra computer (B), and since this secondary, "intermediary" computer is already known to be matched to the inventory device record, the incoming inventory is also counted as matched through the secondary computer. (This is technically known as a "transitive match": if A=B and B=C, then also C=A.)

  While this summary result may be convenient for quickly assessing the result, it is less useful for exporting data to manipulate in external tools. For data exports, select from the column chooser the three Secondary... columns listed below, which repeat the value of the matched secondary device, the source from which it was imported, and the secondary matching rule as separate values for easier export and manipulation.

• Match by manufacturer, model, firmware serial number and host ID for physical computer
• Match by manufacturer, model and firmware serial number for physical computer with no host ID
• Match by manufacturer, host type, firmware serial number and host ID for physical computer
• Match by manufacturer, host type and firmware serial number for physical computer with no host ID
• Match by machine ID for physical computer
• Match by manufacturer, host ID and computer name for physical computer
• Match by partition ID for LPAR, vPar and zone
• Match by firmware serial number and partition number for LPAR
• Match by machine ID and partition number for LPAR
• Match by machine ID and partition name for vPar, nPar and LPAR
• Match by firmware serial number and partition name for vPar, nPar and LPAR
• Match by host ID and partition name for zone
• Match by host ID, host identifying number, host type and manufacturer
• Match by host identifying number, host type and manufacturer when host ID not provided
• Match by host ID, host identifying number and host type
• Match by host identifying number and host type
• Match by host ID, host identifying number and manufacturer
• Match by host identifying number and manufacturer
• Match by host ID and host identifying number
• Match by host identifying number
• Match VMware ESX Servers by computer name and domain ID
• Match by serial number and computer name – this is the common "standard" rule by which imported stand-alone devices are matched against existing database records
• Match by ILMT agent ID
• Match by instance ID
• Weak match by computer name and domain – weak matches are only applied when all better rules have failed (only the remnant rules are considered lower priority than the weak matches)
• Weak match by computer name
• Match remnant by computer name and domain – here the "remnant" means those incoming inventory records (with neither a serial number or an instance ID) that have failed to match under any rule, and are now retried with rules considered a last resort
• Match remnant by computer name and domain and untrusted serial number
• Match remnant by computer name

For details about the matching rules, see Identifying Related Inventory in Gathering FlexNet Inventory available at doc.flexera.com.

Secondary matched device

A "go-between" device that matches the incoming raw inventory record, and is already known to be matched to the existing inventory device record. By "transitive" logic (if A=B and B=C, then it follows that C=A), this secondary device shows that the incoming record is also matched to the inventory device.

Secondary matched inventory source

The inventory source from which the inventory device listed in Secondary matched device was imported.

Secondary matching rule

The rule that was used to determine that the secondary device was matched to the incoming inventory record shown in this row.

Incomplete record

A Boolean flag set when the data is imported from the inventory source into the staging tables in the compliance database. It displays Yes when the source record is missing important attributes (typically necessary hardware properties, such as when inventory is reported for an Oracle database instance without hardware data for the host; or an inventory source reported only the device name and domain name, but no hardware details), and No when the record is considered good and complete.

Inventory source

The display name of the inventory connection. These names were created when the inventory connection was originally set up.

Primary inventory source

A Boolean column that displays:

• Yes when the Inventory source for this raw inventory record is the one that your enterprise has nominated as primary
• No when the source is one of your additional sources.

Raw chassis number

The chassis number assigned by the manufacturer and reported for the device in the inventory upload.

Raw domain name

The name of the domain to which the computing device belongs. Often blank in inventory from non-Windows devices.

Raw firmware serial number

Displays the firmware serial number for a partition, or the host where a partition is executing. Normally expected only for UNIX-like platforms.

Raw host id

See details under Host ID above (frequently empty).

Raw host type

The type (or model) of a physical host computer, or a partition on a UNIX-like platform.

Raw hosted in

Shows whether the inventory device is in a cloud operated by AWS or Azure.

Raw ILMT agent id

The unique ID used by the ILMT agent on this device (and so, for most inventory sources, blank).

Raw instance id

The unique identification code supplied by your cloud service provider to represent this virtual machine (or instance).

Raw inventory device type

Specifies the reported type of the inventory device. For possible values, see the previous table entry for Inventory device type.

Raw last inventory date

The date of the most recent inventory import through the Inventory source collecting this raw inventory.

Raw machine id

For AIX, it is the System ID. For HP-UX, it is the Machine/Software ID. It is empty for other platforms.

Raw manufacturer

The manufacturer of the device, as reported in the uploaded inventory. Notice that this value depends on both the information stored on the inventory device itself, and on the particular inventory tool gathering the information (which may apply some normalization).

Raw model

The manufacturer’s model name or number for this device.

Raw name

The name of the inventory device, as gathered by the inventory tool that is imported through the Inventory source connection shown in this table row.

Raw partition id

Populated only for appropriate virtualization technologies (and otherwise blank), this is the unique identifier for the partition generated by the managing virtualization platform and returned in inventory by the virtual host.

Raw partition number

When available, the number of this partition on the virtual host.

Raw serial number

The serial number of the device, attempting to uniquely identify either the hardware (for a stand-alone device) or the virtualization container (for a virtual machine).

Raw service inventory date

The date when inventory was last collected from the Oracle Database (when present on the device).

Raw UUID

The unique identification number of the virtual machine (in the byte order reported in inventory).

Raw VM name

The name of the virtual machine that is recognized by the host server.

Raw VM type

The type of the virtual machine, with possible values like VMware, Hyper-V, LPAR, Zone, Oracle VM, AWS EC2, and others.