Configuring Asset Management › Collect Tasks › Software Usage › Software Usage Components

Software Usage Components

The software usage feature uses the following components:

Software Usage Server

The software usage server resides on the scalability server. It performs the following functions:

• Tracks and saves the online utilization data of the monitored applications.
• Keeps track of the audit information and the licenses available for each application.
• When an agent request for access to an application, the server checks the available licenses for the requested application and grants the access if a license is available and reduces the number of available license by 1. If not, it instructs the agent to perform the actions specified in the software usage collect task.
• Maintains a queue. When the number of licenses exceed, the server puts further requests in the queue and manages this queue by releasing the licenses once the existing users close the application.

Note: The software usage server can distinguish different versions of the same application, for example, Microsoft Word 97 and Microsoft Word 2000.

Software Usage Agent

The software usage agent resides on all the assets managed by asset management and is started whenever the asset management agent starts.

• For online software usage, the agent performs the following functions:

  Note: Online software usage is not supported on UNIX/Linux agents. In order to prevent malfunction of the UNIX software usage agent, the Online Metering option needs to be disabled for UNIX/Linux software usage tasks. This can be verified and adjusted using the DSM Explorer user interface. Navigate as follows: Computers and Users, All Computers, Group Details, Configuration, Collect Tasks, Software Usage. Open the Properties dialog for the Software Usage tasks, and on the Online tab, ensure that the Enable Online Software Usage option is disabled.

  • Monitors the application usage, the start and stop time of the monitored applications and whether they are started and stopped normally. The agent ignores multiple instances on one computer.
  • When a user tries to open an application that is enabled for software usage, the software usage agent takes the request to the software usage server.
  • If a license is available, the server notifies the agent which in turn, allows the user to work on the application. If not, either displays a warning message or prevents the user from accessing the application.
  • Notifies a previously prevented user about the availability of the application when the license count is below the maximum.
• For offline software usage, the agent performs the following functions:
  • Monitors the application usage, the start and stop time of the monitored applications and whether they are started and stopped normally. The agent ignores multiple instances on one computer.
  • Saves the data in the asset management agent's working directory, just like any other collected data.

Note: The software definitions must be unique. If you create two or more identical software definitions and configure the software usage agent to monitor them, only the first definition added to the software usage collect task is reported as started.