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Enterprise User Manual
Chapter 9
Software Inventory
The Update Software Inventory Operations collect information on the applications installed on Client PCs. Enterprise supports this using an Application Library, which enables it to recognize many common applications automatically; discovery utilities, which assist in the identification of applications; and a Rule Editor and Software Identification Wizard that enable you to generate rules for the identification of applications not included in the library.
Enterprise uses a two stage process to scan Clients for their installed software:
- The Client collects information on the directory structure of the PC and the size, datestamps and attributes of its files at the frequency specified by the Client's configuration settings. The Client then copies this information to the Offline Area.
- For more information on configuring Clients, see "Controlling Client Behavior".
- When you run a software inventory operation, the Console or a Scheduler processes the data in the Offline Area using the rules in the Enterprise Application Library. The processed inventory results are saved directly in the Site Database when you run the Update Software Inventory Operation, or displayed using the Software Identification Manager when you run the interactive version of the Operation.
Customizing Software Inventory Operations
The Update Software Inventory Operations have several configurable options. These enable you to control the behavior of the Operations, and to control the inventory data saved to the Site Database.
To customize a Software Inventory Operation:
- In the Console, right-click the Update Software Inventory Operation you want to change, and choose Customize. The Customize Software Inventory dialog is displayed.
- Select the Software tab and choose the options you want to use. Select:
Save results to the database to automatically save the results of the Operation to the Site Database. To avoid corrupting your database, perform a test run before selecting this option.
Reset results status before scan to reset the installation status of all applications on all Clients in the Site before running the Operation. This resets the new and updated indicators to unchanged and removes the records of deleted applications so that only changes made since the previous Software Inventory Operation are recorded.
- If this option is not selected, the Site Database maintains information on all software changes recorded by all software inventories.
Exclude directories from application recognition to prevent the Operation from scanning the specified directories and drives. Use this option to exclude directories you do not want to check, such as those that only store data.
Report directories containing unrecognized applications of types to list all directory paths where Enterprise is unable to identify files of the specified types.
- The provisionally identified and unidentified files listed in the Software Identification Manager are controlled by the file types specified in this option. For example, if you want software inventory operations to report any unidentified executables that are found, enter the extensions that you want it to search for in this field. For more information, see "The Software Identification Wizard".
Exclude directories from unrecognized application report to exclude specified directories from the unrecognized applications reports. You can exclude multiple directories by separating their paths with commas.
- Use the asterisk as a wildcard character. For example, C:\Windows\* excludes all subdirectories and files in the Windows directory. If you want to exclude subdirectories but not files, enter C:\Windows\*\.
Attempt automatic identification of unrecognized applications to use version information from file properties to identify unrecognized applications.
- Some manufacturers encode the name and version number of an application in the version information of their application files. Select this option if you want the Software Identification Manager to identify installed applications using this information. For more information, see "Provisional Identifications".
- Click the OK button to close the dialog and save your changes.
Collecting Software Inventory Data
Two versions of the Update Software Inventory Operation are supplied with Enterprise:
Update Software Inventory Interactively
Displays the inventory results without saving the data to the Database. Use this Operation when you want to check the results before saving them.
Update Software Inventory
Saves the Software Inventory results to the Site Database. You can submit this Operation as a Scheduled Job.
To collect software inventory data:
- Click an Update Software Inventory Operation.
- Because software inventory operations can collect a large volume of information, they can cause significant network traffic. To schedule the inventory to take place overnight, right-click the Update Software Inventory Operation and choose Submit Job. For more information, see "Scheduling Operations".
- In the Select Clients dialog, select the Groups and Clients from which you want to collect inventory data, then click the OK button.
Optimizing Software Inventory Operations
The speed of a software inventory operation is affected by the Scheduler or Console running the Operation, and the number of files on the Client. Operations on Online Clients are also affected by the power of the Client PC. If a software scan is running slowly, try the following methods to improve its performance:
- The Client application opens each file of the types specified in the LUCLIENT.INI file to collect version information. To minimize the time needed for this, configure the Client application to exclude directories that do not contain application files.
- By default, Clients collect version information from .EXE, *.DLL and *.OCX files. For information on configuring Clients to collect version information from other file types, see "Directory Snapshot Settings".
- Similarly, software inventory operations can generate a lot of data, especially when the Client is a server. To reduce the amount of data transferred across your network, customize the software inventory operations to check only those drives and directories that are likely to contain application files.
- Disable CPU-intensive screensavers on Online Clients as these can cause slow scans.
- On large networks, you can improve the performance of software scans by splitting the Clients across several software inventory Jobs and assigning the Jobs to different Schedulers.
Software Identification Manager
When you run an Update Software Inventory Interactively Operation, the results of the scan are displayed in the Software Identification Manager. The results are divided in three categories:
Confirmed Identifications
lists applications identified by application definitions in the Enterprise Applications Library.
Provisional Identifications
lists applications identified using version information from the file properties of executables.
Unidentified Software
lists the directories that contain executable files which Enterprise is unable to identify.
To display the information associated with each category, select the tabs at the top of the window.
To save the results of an Update Software Inventory Interactively Operation to the Site Database, choose Save Results in the File menu.
Confirmed Identifications
The Confirmed Identifications tab lists software identified by recognition rules in the Applications Library. The Confirmed Identifications tab can list the software detected by Client or by application.
The Clients View
The Clients View displays the location of each installation of each application found on the selected Clients. It also specifies whether the application has been installed, updated or uninstalled since the previous software inventory. To display the Clients View, select the Details button. To sort the list, click a column heading.
Use the Clients View to perform the following tasks:
- To list previous software changes for a Client, right-click its entry in the list and choose Display Software Changes.
- To display the rules used to identify an application, right-click its entry in the list and choose Display Application Definition.
- By default, the Confirmed Identifications tab does not list applications that have been uninstalled since each Client's previous software inventory. To display these applications, right-click the list and choose Show Removed Applications.
- To display or hide applications that are excluded from reports, right-click the list and choose Show Hidden Applications.
- When you create an application definition, you can choose to hide the application from reports. This enables you to prevent reports from displaying applications that you do not want to manage. For more information, see "Adding and Editing Application Definitions".
- To print the Clients view, right-click the list and choose Print.
The Applications View
The Applications View lists confirmed identifications by application. The View also displays the number of installations detected for each application detected and, if you entered the number of licenses purchased, it also shows whether the number of installations detected exceeds your current license limit. To display the Applications View, deselect the Details button. To sort the list, click a column heading.
Use the Applications View to perform the following tasks:
- To display the Clients on which an application was detected, right-click the application and choose List Locations. The Clients are listed in the Software Locations dialog.
- To display the rules used to identify an application, right-click the application and choose Display Application Definition.
- To display applications that are excluded from reports, right-click the application and choose Show Hidden Applications.
- To display the number of each different version of an application installed, right-click an application and choose Show Version Numbers.
- To print the Clients view, right-click the list and choose Print.
Provisional Identifications
When a software inventory operation detects files on a Client PC, Enterprise attempts to identify the application they belong to by first trying to match the file and its directory location with an entry in the Applications Library, and then by searching the file properties for version information. The
Provisional Identifications tab of the Software Identification Manager lists the software that has been identified using this version information. Like the Confirmed Identifications tab, the Provisional Identifications tab can list the software detected by Client or by application.
- If you do not want to use provisional identification, deselect the Attempt automatic identification of unrecognized applications option in your software inventory operations. For more information, see "Customizing Software Inventory Operations".
The Clients View
The Clients View displays the location of each installation of each application identified using version information. It also specifies whether the application has been installed, updated or uninstalled since the previous software inventory.
To display the Provisional Identifications Clients View, select the Details button. To sort the list, click a column heading.
Use the Clients View to perform the following tasks:
- To define identification rules for an application using the Software Identification Wizard, right-click an entry and choose Create Identification Rules. For more information, see .
- To view the directory in which an application was detected, right-click the application in the Clients view and choose Browse Location from the shortcut menu.
- To create an application recognition rule from the information that Enterprise used to make a provisional identification, right-click an entry and choose Rapid Rule Creation from the shortcut menu.
By default, the Provisional Identifications tab does not list applications that have been uninstalled since each Client's previous software inventory. To display these applications, right-click the list and choose Show Removed Applications.
The Applications View
The Applications View lists the applications identified using version information. Use this View to perform the following tasks:
- To list the Clients on which an application has been detected, right-click the application in the list and choose List Locations from the shortcut menu. The Clients are displayed in the Software Locations dialog.
- To define identification rules for this application using the Software Identification Wizard, right-click a Client in the Software Locations dialog, and choose Create Identification Rules.
Unidentified Software
The Unidentified Software tab of the Software Identification Manager lists the locations of executable files that Enterprise has not been able to identify. Use it to find sample installations on which you can base new definitions for the Applications Library, and to help detect unauthorized software installations.
To sort the list, click a column heading.
- To list unidentified software files, you must customize your software inventory operations to report directories containing unrecognized applications. For more information, see "Customizing Software Inventory Operations".
Use the Unidentified Software tab to perform the following tasks:
- To view the Clients on which the software was detected, click the Details button.
- To view the directory in which the software was detected, right-click its entry in the Clients view and choose Browse Location from the shortcut menu.
- To create identification rules for the software that the file belongs to, right-click the entry in the Clients view and choose Create Identification Rules from the shortcut menu. The Software Identification Wizard is displayed. For more information on creating application definitions, see "The Software Identification Wizard".
Displaying Saved Software Data
In addition to viewing the software inventory data found when you run the Update Software Inventory Interactively Operation, you can also view the software information saved in the Site Database using one of these methods:
To display the saved software inventory for a Client, right-click the Client in a Clients group and choose Software Details from the shortcut menu. The Software Inventory Manager lists the information for the selected Client only.
To display the saved software inventory for all Clients, click the Manage Software Identification Operation in the Console, and select the tab you want to display.
- To choose the default display settings for the Manage Software Identification Operation, right-click the Operation and click Customize from the shortcut menu . For more information, see the Online Help.
The Applications Library
The Applications Library enables Enterprise to identify the applications installed on Client PCs. Each entry in the library contains the details of directories, files and file properties that uniquely identify an application. When you run a software inventory operation, Enterprise checks the files detected on a Client against each entry in the library. If the files meet the criteria specified in an entry, the Software Identification Manager reports a confirmed installation of the application. Use the Applications Library tab to view and change the rules with which Enterprise identifies applications on Client PCs.
To display the Applications Library, click the Manage Software Identification Operation in the Console, and select the Applications Library tab.
Using the Applications Library
The Application pane at the top of the library tab displays the definitions currently held in the Site Database. It lists the name of the application, the application type and the vendor. The Version field displays the version of the application identified by the definition, or an asterisk if the definition can identify multiple versions.
To display the identification rules for a definition, select its entry in the list.
To add a new definition, or to work with the Applications Library, right-click an entry in the applications menu. Choose:
- Application Properties to display and update the Vendor, Type and License details of an application.
- List Locations to list the Clients on which an application has been detected.
- Add Application to define identification rules for a new application. Choose Software Identification Wizard to create an application definition by supplying information about the application, or choose Build Custom Definition to select the recognition rules you want the application definition to use.
- Delete Application to remove an application from the list of application rules.
- Policies to list the installation policies defined for applications in the current Site. (For more information on application policies, see "Package Policy Manager".)
- Import Application to import identification rules from a text file. Use this to transfer modified and new definitions from an export file to a new Site.
- Export Application to save the selected application definitions to a text file.
- Export Library to save all the definitions in the application library to a text file.
The Rule pane at the bottom of the window displays the identification rules associated with the selected definition in the Applications pane. To modify the application definition, right-click a rule to display the rule menu, and choose:
- Edit Rule to update the selected rule.
- Add File Rule to specify the details of a file that Enterprise can use to identify the application. If you specify multiple file rules, all files must be in the same directory unless you embed them within a subdirectory rule.
- Add Subdirectory Rule to add a new directory rule at the same level as the current directory.
- Add Nested Subdirectory Rule to add a new directory within the current directory.
- Add Optional Block to add rules optional recognition rules to the application definition.
- Add Version Rule to specify or refine the version number of the application.
- Delete Rule to delete the selected check.
The Software Identification Wizard
The Software Identification Wizard helps you create new application definitions. It guides you through the process of specifying the file, directory and file property that will enable Enterprise to uniquely identify an installed application. Use it to create entire definitions or to create basic rules that you can refine later. To open the Wizard, right-click the Applications pane and choose Add Application, Software Identification Wizard.
Specifying Software Properties
The Software Properties dialog enables you to supply the name and type of the application, and its source. This information is used to categorize the application in various reports and views.
To specify the details of the application:
- In the Name field, enter the name of the application, or click the down arrow and select the name from the list.
- In the Type field, enter a category for the application, or click the down arrow and select the category from the list.
- In the Vendor field, enter the name of the application's manufacturer.
- If you have purchased a specific number of licenses for this application, type the number of licenses in the Licenses field.
- When you enter the number of licenses, Enterprise compares the number of detected instances of the application with the License number. This enables you to track spare software assets and enables Enterprise to alert you when it identifies more installed instances of the application than you have licenses.
- If you want to identify an application but do not want to manage it, select Hide this application in asset management and software inventory reports.
For example, if you want to remove an entry, such as WINZIP.EXE, from the Software Identification Manager's Unidentified Application list, but do not want to manage it, select this check box.
- Click the Next button to create identification rules for the application. The Sample Location dialog is displayed.
Sample Location
The Software Identification Wizard uses an installed instance of the application as the basis for the recognition rules it creates. This enables it to display file and directory information from a real installation when you are choosing the items that best identify the application.
To specify a location details for the application:
- To create application identification rules using the installation on your Console, select Use local copy.
Alternatively, to create identification rules using an installation from a Client PC:
- In the Directory field, enter the location of the application for which you want to create identification rules. Alternatively, click the browse button to search for the location.
- Click the Next button to specify the files that you want to use to identify the application. The Software Identification dialog is displayed.
Software Identification
Software inventory operations identify the applications installed on Client PCs by checking for distinguishing features, such as installed files and the location and properties of the files. Use the Software Identification dialog to select the files that Enterprise can use to identify the application.
To select files for application identification:
- For each file you want to use to identify this application, double-click its entry in the Available files list to add it to the Required files list.
- To prevent executable files in subdirectories from being identified as separate applications, select Exclude subdirectories from scans for unrecognized applications.
- If you want to create an application definition that identifies different versions of an application, select Specify rules to identify application versions and click the Next button. The Version Identification dialog is displayed.
If you do not want to distinguish between different versions of an application, select Do not identify versions and click the Finish button. The Wizard creates rules for the identification of the application and adds them to the Applications Library.
Version Identification
In addition to identifying installed applications, Enterprise can recognize specific application versions. Use the Version Identification dialog to specify the files and properties which Enterprise can use to distinguish between application versions.
To select files for version identification:
- For each file you want to use to identify this version of the application:
- Double-click its entry in the Available files list to add it to the Required files list.
- By default, Enterprise checks for the presence of this file. If you want it to check for specific properties of the file, such as its size, timestamp or version information, select the file in the Required files list, and click Specify properties. The File Rule dialog is displayed. (For more information on specifying, see "File Rules".)
- If you want to specify the application version identified by these files, select Use these files to identify only version, enter the version number, and click the Finish button. The Wizard creates rules for the identification of the application and adds them to the Applications Library.
If you want Enterprise to determine the version number by extracting it from the properties of a file, select Use properties of these files to identify versions, and click the Next button. The Version Identification Properties dialog is displayed.
Extracting Version Numbers
Some manufacturers encode software version information in the timestamp or product version properties of files. Using these properties to perform software recognition enables you to provide automatic version recognition for software installed on your Client PCs. Use the Version Identification Properties dialog to select the properties from which you want Enterprise to extract the information.
To extract the version information from the selected file:
- In the Filename list, select the file that contains the version information. The Available file properties list displays the values of the properties for the file you selected.
- In the Specify the property fields that contain version information field, enter the tokens that specify the location of the version information.
Alternatively, double-click the properties that contain the version information from the available property fields list. The token for the property is added to the Specify the property fields that contain version information field.
For example, if the version number of the product is specified in the first two product version fields, select Product version fields 1 and 2 in the list and click the Select button. The tokens that enable Enterprise to extract the version information are displayed in the Specify the property fields that contain version information field.
- When you have selected all the properties that contain the version information, click the Finish button to create the application definition. The definition is added to the Applications Library.
Testing the Application Definition
Test the application definition, by running the Update Software Inventory Interactively Operation against a Client PC where the application is installed. This enables you to check the application definition is working correctly before updating the Site Database.
Adding and Editing Application Definitions
While the Software Identification Wizard generates basic software recognition rules, creating and editing application definitions manually gives you greater control over the attributes used to detect an application. It also enables you to refine the rules created by the wizard and optimize the software inventory operations for your organization.
To add an application definition to the Applications Library:
- Right-click the Applications pane and choose Add Application, Build Custom Definition from the shortcut menu.
- Type the name of the application in the Name field.
- In the Type field, click the down arrow and select a category of software that best describes how the application is used. Alternatively, enter a new category in the field.
- In the Vendor field, click the down arrow and select the vendor from the list. Alternatively, enter the name of a new vendor in the field.
- If you want to use this definition to identify only one version of the application, type the version number in the Version field. If you want to use this definition to identify multiple versions of the application, type an asterisk.
- If you want to record extra information about the application, enter it in the Comment field.
- If you have purchased a specific number of licenses for this application, type the number of licenses in the License limit field.
- If you want to identify an application, but do not want to manage it, select Hide this application in asset management and inventory reports.
For example, if you want to remove an entry, such as WINZIP.EXE or NOTEPAD.EXE, from the Software Identification Manager's Unidentified Application list, but do not want it to appear in reports and views, select this check box.
- Click the OK button to save your changes and close the dialog. The application definition is selected in the Applications Library. Right-click the Rule pane and choose an entry in the shortcut menu to add recognition rules for the application.
File Rules
Software inventory operations compare the files found on Clients with the definitions specified in the Applications Library. If a software installation matches the file names, file properties and directories specified in an application definition, the software inventory operation reports the application as present.
Use the File Rules dialog to specify a file that identifies this application, and optionally the properties that the file must have.
To add a file rule to the application definition:
- Right-click the Rule pane of the Applications Library, and choose Add File Rule from the shortcut menu. The File Rule dialog is displayed.
- In the Name field, type the name of the file that can be used to identify the application. For example, to create a rule that identifies Microsoft Word using its executable file, type WINWORD.EXE.
- Some file names can vary across different versions of an application. For example, manufacturers may add an identification suffix to a file name to differentiate between different language versions of a file. To check for different versions of a file name with one rule, you can use the question mark and asterisk characters as wildcards.
- By default, Enterprise uses the names of installed files to identify applications. However, you can extend file rules to check for specific file properties, such as its size or timestamp. This enables you to create version checks as you can use these properties to distinguish between different versions of the same file. To add a property check to a file rule, choose a property check box and enter the values you want to test for:
- To check the size of a file, select Enable file size check, select a test option in the drop-down list and enter the file size in the entry fields. We recommend you specify a range rather than an exact value because file sizes can vary across different systems.
- To check the timestamp of a file, select Enable time stamp check, select a test option in the drop-down list and enter the timestamp range the file must have.
- You can enter the time in 12- or 24-hour format. For example, to enter a timestamp of 10 p.m., type either 22:00 or 10pm.
- To check the datestamp of a file, select Enable date stamp check, select a test option in the drop-down list and enter the date stamp range the file must have.
- Enter the date in the format MM/DD/YY or DD-MMM-YY. For example, to specify a datestamp of 25 August 2003, type 08/25/03 or 25-Aug-2003.
- Some manufacturers encode software version information in the timestamp or product version properties of files. To check the version information of a file for a specific version number, select the version information fields you want to test, select a test option in the drop-down lists and enter the value each field must have.
For example, if the version number is held in the first two fields of the file's version information, and you want to check whether the application version is 3.1, select Field 1 and enter 3, then select Field 2 and enter 1.
- Click the OK button to save your changes and close the dialog.
Subdirectory Rules
Subdirectory rules enable you to create application definitions that check for files in the subdirectories of an application's installation directory. They also enable you to create rules that check for the presence of subdirectories created by an application.
Choose the Add Subdirectory Rule option when you want to add a subdirectory rule at the same level of the directory hierarchy as the currently selected rule; choose the Add Nested Subdirectory Rule option when you want to add the subdirectory rule within the currently selected directory.
To add a subdirectory rule to a definition:
- Right-click the Rule pane and choose Add Subdirectory Rule or Add Nested Subdirectory Rule from the shortcut menu. The Sub-Directory Rule dialog is displayed.
- In the Sub-Directory Rule dialog, enter the name of the subdirectory you want to check for.
- Click the OK button to save your rule and close the dialog.
Optional Rules Blocks
By default, applications fail recognition checks when a file or directory fails any check within the appropriate application definition. For example, if the name of a file matches a file rule, but the file size does not match the size check, Enterprise will not recognize the parent application. However, rules embedded in optional rule blocks do not cause a recognition failure when a check is not met. This enables you to create application definitions that can include tests for several different versions of an application. By embedding each version test within an optional rule block, you can ensure that the application is recognized even when several version tests fail.
To add a new Optional Rule Block to an Application Definition:
- Right-click the Rule pane in the Applications Library and choose Add Optional Block from the shortcut menu.
- Enter a name for the rule in the Option field.
- Click the OK button to create the optional rule block and close the dialog. To add rules to the new block, right-click its entry in the Rule pane and choose an option from the shortcut menu.
Version Rules
Enterprise can identify specific versions of applications by the files installed, and by the properties of those files, such as their size or timestamp. Use version rules in conjunction with file rules to specify the properties you want Enterprise to use to identify application versions.
To specify the version number for an application:
- In the Rule pane, right-click the File Rule that uniquely identifies this version of the application, and choose Add Version Rule from the shortcut menu. The Set Version Rule dialog is displayed.
- To replace the current number associated with this rule set, select Replace existing version number. To concatenate this value to the version number currently assigned to the rule set, select Append to existing version number.
For example, if a previous rule identified the application as version 6 and this rule identifies the minor version number, select the append option to add the minor number to the existing version number.
- If you want Enterprise to identify the application with a different string to the tested value, enter the string you want to use in the Version template field.
For example, if the rule identifies WinWord 10, but you want the software inventory to display the version name by which it is commonly known, type Word XP in the Version template field.
- Click the OK button to save your changes and close the dialog.
An application definition can contain several Set Version Rules in Optional Rule Blocks. This enables you to create definitions that progressively home in on the version number of an installed application.
For example, by using the Append to existing version number option in the Set Version Rule dialog, you can create a set version rule that first identifies version 4.x of an application, another rule that resets the version to 4.02, and finally a third rule that identifies version 4.02b.
Extracting Version Information from Files
Some manufacturers encode software version information in the version information properties of files. If the files of an application include version information, you can use a version rule to extract the version number and create an automatic, future-proof application definition.
- To use this feature, Clients must be configured to collect version information from applications, and software inventory operations must be customized to enable the Report directories containing unrecognized applications of types option.
To extract the version information from a file:
- In the Filename list, select the file that contains the version information. The Available file properties list displays the values of the properties for the file you selected.
- In the Specify the property fields that contain version information field, enter tokens to specify the location of the version information.
Alternatively, select the properties that contain the version information from the Property list, and click the Select button. The token for the property is added to the Specify the property fields that contain version information field.
For example, if the version number of the product is specified in the first two product version fields, select Product version fields 1 and 2 in the list and click Select. The tokens that enable Enterprise to extract the version information are displayed in the Specify the property fields that contain version information field.
- Click the OK button to save your changes and close the dialog.
Extracting Version Information from Timestamps
Some applications encode the version number in the timestamp of application files. Enterprise enables you to extract this information using tokens. For example:
- If the file has a timestamp of 04:20:00 (4:20 a.m.), $HOURS.$MINUTES returns a version of 4.2.
- If the file has a timestamp of 7:28, the following token values are returned:
In this case, $MINUTES produces the same result as $MINUTETEN$MINUTEUNIT.
- If the file has a timestamp of 7:08, the following token values are returned:
$MINUTES = 8 (the leading zero is deliberately dropped)
$MINUTES returns a value of 8, but $MINUTETEN$MINUTEUNIT returns a value of 08. If the application followed this convention only after a certain date, apply a date range check before the Set Version Rule.
Choosing Application Recognition Rules
The choice of recognition rules can affect the performance and accuracy of software inventory operations, and the ease with which other users are able to extend and maintain the Applications Library. Use the following tips to help optimize your own application definitions:
Use application-specific names
Choose filenames that are application-specific. For example, PRINT.DLL could be a component of any application, but WINWORD.EXE is specific to Microsoft Word. Similarly, if an application always creates its own subdirectories as part of an installation, you can create rules that check for the directory rather than a specific file.
Choosing unique files and placing them at the top of the application definition helps reduce the scope for recognition failures and increases the efficiency of software inventory operations.
Avoid too many file rules
Too many rules can restrict the application definition to one installation of an application and cause recognition failures for other installations that are only slightly different. For example, checking for an optional component, such as TUTORIAL.HLP, may prevent Enterprise from recognizing an application when the file is not installed.
Version information checks
Check whether the application manufacturer has specified the application's version number in the timestamp, datestamp, or version information properties of their application files. If they have, use Version Rules to extract the version information and automatically keep the application definition up-to-date without the need to extend the application definition whenever a new version of the application is released.
Use flexible file property checks
Precise file size checks can cause a recognition failure when an application variant is installed. For example, applications that are shipped in multiple language variants often differ in size between the US English and the International English versions. Similarly, vendor-supplied patches can include a new version of a file whose size is different to the original. Using a size range can help you produce application definitions that reliably identify new versions of application versions.
Sometimes a new version of an application can be identified by the addition of completely new files or directories. Rather than relying on a size change in one application file, you may be able to check for a file which was not present in previous versions.
Use optional rule blocks to test for application versions
Normally, all tests within an application definition must be passed to successfully identify an application. However, rules embedded within optional rule blocks do not cause recognition failures. This enables you to create general rules that identify all versions of an application, and then to create a series of optional rule blocks that identify specific versions.
For example, using this technique, the Microsoft Word definition in the Applications Library first identifies the Word using a file rule to test for the main executable file, and then attempts to identify the Word version using size and date checks, in optional blocks. This ensures Word is identified even when no version rule has been defined for the version of the application that is installed.
Exporting and Importing the Application Library
When you create a new Site, the standard library of application definitions is included in it as part of the Site creation process. However, if you create or modify an application definition, you must copy it to all your Sites to ensure that the application is recognized on all Clients within your Enterprise installation. Use the export and import functions of the application library to copy individual definitions or the entire library.
To export application definitions:
- To export a single application definition, right-click its entry in the Applications Library, and choose Export Application from the shortcut menu.
Alternatively, to export all application definitions, right-click a definition and choose Export Library from the shortcut menu.
- In the Save As dialog, enter a File name and location for the definition file and click the Save button.
- In the Site to which you want to copy the definition, open the Site Identification Manager.
- Right-click an application in the Application Library and choose Import Application from the shortcut menu.
- In the Open dialog, select the *.DB file you created and click the Open button. The definitions are imported.
Software Inventory Data
When software inventory data is saved in the Site Database, each instance of an application found on a Client is allocated a record in the Software Inventory Results table. The process automatically compares all the applications identified against the existing records:
- If the application was not previously installed on that Client, or this is the first time the application is identified by an application definition, a new record is created and the status is set to New.
- If a new version of an application is identified, the status of the existing record is set to New Version. Any new options detected are added to the record.
- If there is no corresponding scan result for a previously recorded application, the status is set to Removed.
- If a previously recorded application has not changed since the previous software inventory, the status is set to Unchanged.
Software Reports
Enterprise includes a range of pre-formatted Software Inventory Reports. For example, the Software Inventory Change Summary Report lists Clients where the installed software has changed. For more information, see Chapter 12, "Reports and Database Views".
You can print data in the list views produced for Software Inventory results by choosing Print in the File menu, or by clicking the Print button in the toolbar.
You can print the Job Log list view. The contents of the Event view can also be printed from the File menu but the width of the data in some situations means that truncation is possible. If truncation is likely to be a problem in an Event report, we recommend you save the Event Log to a file.
Software Prompt for Package Report
The Software Prompt for Package Report enables you to select Packages for reporting using a drop-down list.
- If you add new entries to the Application Library, the new Packages are not displayed in the Report's drop-down list.
If you own a copy of Crystal Reports (v7.0 or later), you can update the SwPkgsPrompt.RPT report definition file using the following steps.
- Open the file SwPkgsPrompt.RPT in the Crystal Report Designer.
- Choose Parameter Field in the Insert menu.
- Select Package Name, then click Edit.
- Click Set Default Values, then type the new name. Click Add for each application you want to add to the list.
- When you have added all your applications to the list of default values, save the changes to the report definition.
Software Change History
You can view all significant software configuration changes to a Client PC using two methods:
From the Software Details and Software Results Views
The Database Viewer displays the changes affecting the selected PC. The Stored Change History View lists all changes on the selected PC and the Stored Software Changes View lists software changes only.
From the Reports folder in the Console
Crystal Reports is used to run the corresponding reports - Software History Summary and History Summary. These fixed format reports can be run against selected PCs.
Note that if you ran the software inventory interactively and have not yet published the results, any new changes will not appear in these reports.
To remove old changes from the Changes Table (by default, anything older than 60 days), click the Delete Change History Data Operation.
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