Discovery and Inventory
The Discovery & Inventory menu contains pages related to discovery and inventory of devices in your organization. This menu also enables you to define discovery and inventory settings.
Data Sources
- FlexNet inventory agent — You can install FlexNet inventory agent on the computers in your enterprise. When FlexNet Manager Suite installs FlexNet inventory agent on a computer, it is called an adopted computer. This agent collects and reports discovery and inventory data according to the schedule defined in the Inventory Settings page. The agent sends discovery and inventory information to the inventory database from where it is imported into FlexNet Manager Suite. For more information about configuring the inventory agent schedule, see System Settings: Inventory Tab. The adopted computers are not affected by discovery and inventory rules.
- Remote inventory collection — You can use an inventory beacon when you cannot install FlexNet inventory agent on every computer in your network. The inventory beacon collects discovery and inventory information according to the schedule set for an applicable discovery and inventory rule. The inventory beacon remotely collects discovery and inventory information for the computers within its assigned subnet.
- Third-party data sources — Inventory adapters extract data from third-party systems like Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) and upload it to the compliance database directly.
- Spreadsheet inventory: You can create an
XLSX
or aCSV
file with the inventory information and upload it to FlexNet Manager Suite. This can be a one-time activity or a recurring activity through FlexNet Beacon. For details, see Importing Inventory Spreadsheets and CSV Files in the FlexNet Manager Suite 2019 R1 System Reference PDF available through the title page of online help.
Discovery & Inventory Rules
The remote inventory collection process is directed by discovery and inventory rules. A rule is a combination of one or more targets, an action, and a schedule. When a discovery and inventory rule is run, it identifies devices based on the target definition and performs the actions specified in the action definition on those devices. The underlying action properties determine the actions to perform and the underlying targets' properties determine the devices to perform the action onto. Once a computer is adopted by installing the FlexNet inventory agent, it is no longer affected by discovery and inventory rules. For more information on rules, see Discovery and Inventory Rules.