IT Asset Management Settings: Inventory Tab

Change management

The change management settings enable you to control how IT Asset Management manages the related data when you import new data from system like Active Directory, or change device properties for existing devices. The following change management settings are available in this section:

Synchronize device location with site subnets — Designed mainly to help you with initial setup, this option creates locations (a kind of enterprise group) that match the names of networking sites imported from Active Directory. It then uses the imported subnets within each site to select which inventory devices belong within each site, and automatically creates location entries in the Ownership tab of the inventory device properties to assign each device to the location that matches its networking site. Each time that you import data from Active Directory (with this option selected), IT Asset Management:
- Checks that each imported site (matched by name) already exists as a location; and if it does not, creates a location to suit
- Uses the IP address that each inventory device has reported in its previously-uploaded inventory to assign the device to the correct location.
Note: To avoid competing data overrides, leave this option unselected if either:
- You are managing your site, subnet, and location hierarchy manually through the web interface of IT Asset Management
- You prefer to import location structures using a business adapter, using the Business Importer.
Tip: If you are licensing software from IBM using IBM PVU licenses, and have made IT Asset Management the source of truth for sub-capacity PVU consumption calculations, locations must also be mapped to the three IBM regions that are mandatory for calculating and reporting peak points consumption. This is a separate step; and you can use the IT Asset Locations page (Organization > IT Asset Locations) to map the automatically-created locations to the appropriate IBM regions.
Synchronize enterprise groups in user and device properties — When you change the enterprise group allocations for a user, the same changes are made automatically to any devices assigned to that user. The reverse is not true: changes to the enterprise groups for a device record do not automatically change the user record.
Synchronize assigned user with calculated user — When the calculated user is updated for a device, the assigned user is also updated. This is another one-way relationship: changes to the assigned user do not affect the calculated user. Note that the first inventory import after the check box is turned on sets the assigned user to the calculated user for every device. If you turn this check box on and save the dialog, a warning message will advise you that this is going to happen.
Link virtual machine to the same asset as VM host — When a VM host is linked to an asset, virtual machines hosted on it are also linked to that asset.
Update virtual machine location to match host location — When you change the location to which a VM host is assigned, the locations of guest virtual machines associated with the VM host are also changed to the same value. The default setting is true, so that by default the locations of host and guests are matched. (Also notice that, where the host is linked to an asset, a change of location on either 'side' is reflected to the other. This means that in a chain of asset, host, and guest, changing the location for the asset is reflected to the host – and vice versa – and by default also copied to the guest VM.)
Tip: When this preference is true (the default), the Location value on the Ownership tab of the inventory device properties for the guest virtual machine is a read-only copy of the value on the host. If you now reverse this preference to false by clearing the check box and clicking Save, and then refresh the Ownership tab on the guest's properties, the Location field for the guest is now independently editable (while at first continuing to display its previous inherited value, which you may now replace).
Update virtual machine cost center and corporate unit to match host properties — When either the cost center or corporate unit is updated for a VM host, the corresponding property is also updated to the same value for all virtual machines running on the VM host. This is the default behavior when Always is selected and saved. To prevent any matching of the VMs' cost centers or corporate units with those of the host, select Never and save. A third option gives more flexibility: when you select Only when virtual machine has no existing group, those VMs for which you have not made a specific setting (in their inventory device properties) copy their groups from the host's settings; but you may give ownership of any VMs to specific groups, and these settings remain, independent of any setting or changes to the host's cost center or corporate unit.

Obsolete inventory

This section allows you to manage automatic cleanup of records of inventory devices that were previously reporting inventory from FlexNet Inventory Agent, but have now stopped reporting. The default setting is Never, meaning that cleanup of inventory devices is not performed. To trigger automatic cleanup, select a different value (such as 30 days) from the Remove after drop-down.

Important: The clean-up is irreversible. If you wish to preserve records of inventory devices that are no longer reported by FlexNet Inventory Agent, ensure that Never remains selected in the Remove after drop-down.

The removal of the inventory devices records is performed by the FlexNet inventory data maintenance scheduled task, applying the setting in this section. This task runs on the central application server after midnight (server time) each night.

Obsolete inventory devices remain visible in the web interface until the following steps are completed, in order:

Your selected period since their last appearance in imported inventory has expired.
The FlexNet inventory data maintenance scheduled task has run.
The next reconciliation (which, by default, happens each night) has completed.

Tip: This setting may be changed as required. For example, you could leave it as Never until you are aware that some data cleanup is required. You may then choose an appropriate period, and wait for the above three steps to be completed. Be aware, of course, that this cleans up all records of devices that have failed to report in your chosen time window.

Oracle Database instances

The Remove after drop-down list in this section enables you to choose a period of time to wait before any instances of Oracle Database that are no longer reporting inventory are to be automatically removed. The default is Never (that is, cleanup of these instances is not performed).

Important: If you want to preserve history on any instances of Oracle Database that are no longer reporting inventory, ensure that Never is selected for the Remove after drop-down list.

Actual cleanup of any instances of Oracle Database that have not reported inventory is performed by the FlexNet inventory data maintenance scheduled task, using the setting in this section. This task runs on the central application server after midnight (server time) each night.

Here are some examples of why Oracle database instances might stop reporting inventory:

The server previously hosting an Oracle database instance continues to report hardware inventory, but no Oracle database instance is appearing in software inventory. If Oracle Database has been uninstalled from this server, a record of the original Oracle database instance still exists, but software inventory can no longer report on any instances from this server.
The server previously hosting an Oracle database instance reports in inventory that the instance has changed: it is now hosting a new Oracle database instance, and the original Oracle database instance is no longer reported.
Authorization to access the database instance has changed on the Oracle server, but the connection details have not yet been updated in IT Asset Management.
The server previously reporting an Oracle database instance no longer appears in inventory at all.
You should also validate that software inventory is still being successfully imported form the target devices, to ensure that the lack of inventory from a previously reported database instance is not part of a wider failure of inventory gathering, perhaps because of configuration changes or virtual machine redeployment.

Oracle database instances that have been removed from their hosts remain visible in the web interface until all of the following steps have been completed, in this order:

Your selected period since their last appearance in imported inventory has expired.
The FlexNet inventory data maintenance scheduled task has run.
The next reconciliation (which, by default, happens each night) has completed.

Tip: This setting may be changed as required. For example, you could leave it as Never until you are aware that some data cleanup is required. You may then choose an appropriate period, and wait for the above-mentioned three steps to be completed.

Oracle GLAS audit report

This section controls what kinds of information are included in the nightly generation of the audit report that you can archive for the Oracle Global Licensing and Advisory Services (GLAS). For details about downloading this archive, see Oracle Instances.

Tip: Before these settings have any effect, you must first use the Inventory Settings page to authorize collection of the appropriate inventory and associated files. For details, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Scanning and Oracle Java Scanning.

The following controls are available:

Include Oracle database instances — Selected by default, this control allows you to deselect it and temporarily exclude evidence of Oracle Database instances from your audit report. Naturally, reporting on all Oracle Database instances is an Oracle requirement, so that in normal operations this check box should remain selected; but if you are doing unusual work such as relocating database instances to different servers, you might briefly exclude evidence until your environment is stable. This enables the baseline content of the audit report, which is combined with the other enabled audit evidence in the same OracleGLASEvidence.zip archive.
Include Oracle Fusion Middleware — Once authorized, the FlexNet Inventory Agent regularly returns specialized information collected from the relevant inventory devices, as well as files copied from the devices and uploaded, as required by Oracle GLAS for tracking compliance for Oracle Fusion Middleware. When this check box is selected, this uploaded information is combined with other enabled evidence sources in the same OracleGLASEvidence.zip archive, ready for submission when required.
Tip: This functionality requires FlexNet Inventory Agent version 16.1.0 or later, and you must have downloaded InventorySettings.xml version 56 or later, which contains the updated Oracle GLAS scripts. (The version number of this file is included in its first line, and the file is updated as part of the regular download of the Application Recognition Library.) Note that this functionality works for both:
- Local installation of the FlexNet Inventory Agent on the Oracle server
- The zero footprint inventory collection method, where the appropriate components of the FlexNet Inventory Agent operate from a selected inventory beacon to gather the inventory remotely (for details about the different methods of inventory collection, see the Gathering FlexNet Inventory guide, available at https://docs.flexera.com/).
If your computing estate includes any of the Oracle Fusion Middleware applications, reporting them as part of your audit information is a mandatory requirement for Oracle GLAS. Therefore, once the required versions of FlexNet Inventory Agent and InventorySettings.xml are deployed, it is normal to select this check box and leave it selected from that time forward. A change in this setting takes effect for the next license consumption (compliance) calculation, by default scheduled overnight.
This reporting of evidence (and uploaded files) for Oracle Fusion Middleware by the FlexNet Inventory Agent has been verified by Oracle as an acceptable source for your audit reports.

Warning: Importing all the installer evidence collected in the search for Oracle Fusion Middleware applications may cause significant increases in the amounts of data to process, and in resulting processing times (especially for the nightly inventory import associated with the license compliance calculations).
Include Oracle Java — Select this check box to include inventory evidence for Java installations in your report. Oracle requires that your report includes servers and clients, including freeware versions. The collected evidence is combined with other enabled evidence sources in the same OracleGLASEvidence.zip archive, ready for submission when required.
Tip: This functionality requires FlexNet Inventory Agent version 18.4.0 or later. Before this setting has any effect, you must first use the Inventory Settings page to authorize collection of the appropriate inventory. For details, see Oracle Java Scanning.
Once again, this reporting is mandatory where you have Oracle Java deployed, so you should normally select this check box, and leave it selected.
Include Oracle E-Business Suite — Select this check box to include Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) data in your audit report. For EBS verification, Oracle requires that your report includes key information pertaining to the installation, configuration, and usage of Oracle EBS products, their components, and features. Data will be collected from inventory devices using Oracle EBS software in your organization and combined with the other enabled audit evidence in the OracleGLASEvidence.zip archive, ready for submission when required.
Important: As part of the EBS data import process, an additional ORCL_OVERVIEW.csv file is generated and saved to the EBS data sub archive. This additional ORCL_OVERVIEW.csv file as well as the ORCL_OVERVIEW.csv file at the root directory level of the Oracle GLAS evidence archive needs to be edited and adapted as required prior to submitting the OracleGLASEvidence.zip archive for audit.

When using InventorySettings.xml version 73 or 74 (v73 and later contains the updated Oracle GLAS scripts), there is no specific FlexNet Inventory Agent version required in order to collect Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) data. However, it is recommended to deploy FlexNet Inventory Agent version 21.1.0 and later to take advantage of defect fixes and other improvements. The version number of the InventorySettings.xml file is included in its first line, and the file is updated as part of the regular download of the Application Recognition Library (ARL).

When using InventorySettings.xml version 75 you will need to deploy FlexNet Inventory Agent version 22.0.0 and later and upgrade to IT Asset Management 2024 R1. Furthermore, you will need to enable the EBS data collection by using the Enable collection of Oracle EBS audit data check box on the Data Collection > IT Asset Inventory Tasks > Inventory Settings page. This option is disabled by default.
Mask user names and IP addresses except for database evidence (passwords are always masked) — Select this check box to have all user names and IP addresses that appear in the Oracle Fusion Middleware imports, Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) imports, or the Oracle CPU queries replaced by the value text_removed. As noted on the check box, all passwords appearing in the imported information are always masked with the same replacement text value, regardless of the setting of this check box. These user name and IP address values are not required in an Oracle audit, and may legitimately be suppressed in this way, if this is required by your enterprise security standards.

In the early stages of data validation, you may wish to use these check boxes as toggles, turning each one on for one overnight license reconciliation (so that uploaded data is added to the audit file and may be inspected there); and turning it off next morning, so that the following full license reconciliation overwrites the audit archive with the previous data that excluded the relevant inventory contribution. Of course, this can be only a very temporary process while you get your licenses and supporting purchase information properly linked for these applications. As soon as possible, you should leave these check boxes turned on permanently, so that audit-ready information including your database instances, all your Fusion Middleware applications, and your Java inventory is available for archiving each day.

Blocklisted serial numbers for devices

The settings in this section enable you to match one or a set of serial numbers that are problematic. An inventory device with a serial number that matches these settings:

Is still included in imported inventory, through to the compliance database (blocklisting does not remove a device)
Still consumes from any appropriate licenses (license consumption is unaffected by blocklisting serial numbers)
Shows an alert in most lists of inventory devices, and in the properties of the affected inventory device (but not, for example, in the properties of any asset record linked to this device)
Appears on the Inventory Issues page
Cannot be matched by serial number against a hardware asset, although any devices already linked to assets remain linked (blocklisting a serial number prevents its further use for automatically matching inventory device records against asset records).
Tip: A blocklisted serial number cannot be used in "either direction":
- When you created/imported asset records with serial numbers before related inventory was imported (in which case, a normal serial number allows the newly-imported inventory device to be automatically and silently linked to the asset record)
- When you had the inventory device already imported, and subsequently created/imported asset records (in which case, a normal serial number allows the asset to appear as a Recommended asset link that you can accept in any inventory listing).
A blocklisted serial number prevents both of these processes.

If you make changes to the settings in this section, the serial numbers of inventory devices are reassessed at the next full inventory import (associated with the nightly compliance calculations). Alerts and listings are updated after that import.

The following options are available:

Serial numbers containing only these characters will be blocklisted — IT Asset Management blocklists the device if its serial number is made up exclusively from one or more of the characters listed here, in any order. Any additional characters not listed here but included in the serial number means that the serial number is not blocklisted. The pattern to match can be up to 512 characters in length. Examples:

Value	Result
`0.y46`	The source pattern.
`46y`	Serial number blocklisted.
`640.yyy`	Serial number blocklisted.
`640.ydx`	Serial number OK (contains one or more characters that are not blocklisted).

Blocklisted serial numbers — Use this setting when you know the exact serial numbers of the devices that you want to blocklist. You can use the + icon to add another serial number. Each serial number can be up to 100 characters long.

Managing the processing queue for imports and reconciliation

The settings in this section enable you to specify the schedule for queuing the import of FlexNet inventory (only - no fresh imports from inventory adapters from third party tools are included). This import, when completed, is followed automatically by the recalculation of license consumption. In this consumption calculation, all queued inventory is included (that is, any third party inventory imported previously but not yet processed is also included, along with the fresh FlexNet inventory).

Tip: The time you specify is the time when import and license reconciliation is added to the job queue. Jobs in the queue are processed in first-in-first-out order, so that any other jobs already in the queue at your selected time are processed before your job can commence. This means that your setting does not control the precise time when the job is started – your setting is the earliest time when the job could be executed.

Your choice for the Frequency option changes the following controls. You may select:

Daily to base your selection on a count of days (for example, every sixth day). Select the count of days from the Every drop-down list.
Weekly to schedule on named days of the week (you may select any number of weekdays by name).
Monthly. You can then choose a particular day of the month (such as the third Tuesday), or a single date in the month. As some months have a fifth week, you can select (for example) the Last Tuesday, which is equivalent to the fourth Tuesday for regular months and the fifth Tuesday whenever one exists. Similarly, if you pick a date like 31st that does not occur in all months, the last day of the month is used for shorter months.

Activity logs

This setting enables you to specify the number of days for which the activity logs are retained in the system.

CAL usage data retention

This setting enables you to specify the period for which the CAL usage inventory records are retained in the system. The default value for the Number of days to keep CAL usage inventory is 90 days, but you can specify any value up to 365 days.