IBM License Metric Tool V7.5.0.10

Manage Software Inventory

Use this window to get a hierarchical view of the software in your infrastructure. To see the description of the icons used in the panel, go to the bottom of the window.

The Manage Software Inventory window gathers in one place all the functionalities necessary for aligning the detected software inventory with licensing data. To learn how to use this panel, click the Getting started link at the bottom of this topic.
Report group
Specifies which report group is displayed in the window. The drop-down list is activated after the creation of the first report group. You can choose from the following:
  • DEFAULT view, which shows the software instances assigned to the default report group.
  • another_report_group view, which shows the software instances reassigned to the new report group.

    There can be many report groups in your infrastructure. For more information, see License compliance responsibility in a shared infrastructure at the bottom of the window.

Show
Specifies which product group is displayed in the window. You can choose from the following:
  • All products view, which shows the instance assignments to the products without detailed processor or PVU information. All products is the default view and includes products from other vendors.
  • PVU products view, which shows only the PVU products with processor and core information.
  • Systems products view, which shows only the systems products with information about the number of cores, tier and system model. This view includes some additional columns related to systems software pricing.
Discovery start
Specifies the start date of the period for which you want to view your software inventory. This date must be after the end date of the last signed report (or it cannot be earlier than the system installation date if there are no signed reports), but not later than the present date.
Discovery end
Specifies the end date of the period for which you want to view your software inventory. By default, for PVU products and Systems products views, the end date is the last aggregated date, meaning the day when the pricing metrics were gathered and calculated. The end date must be later or the same as the start date and not later than the present date.
Note: For the All products view, the default end date is the current date.
Hide free instances
Hides software instances for which all bundling options are free of charge. To save the setting and refresh the panel, click Update.
Note: The setting is applied globally for all users and all sessions.
Trigger essential periodic calculations for the selected report group
Schedules processing of the report data that is used to generate up-to-date reports for the selected report group. By default, the process is executed at midnight.
Trigger automated bundling for the selected report group
Schedules the process of automated bundling for the selected report group. By default, the process is executed within the next six hours.
Configure options
Allows you to choose which columns are displayed in the table. Some columns are displayed only if they contain relevant data, for example, the Explanation of Confidence column is displayed only on the Component level.
Actions
Specifies the actions that you can perform on the selected elements to improve the confidence level. The same options are available in the menu which appears when you right-click the table.
The following actions are available:
  • Reassign instances to this product, shows potential instances for the selected product and allows you to reassign them. The list of available instances does not include instances that are shared, even if they can be assigned to the selected product. To assign an instance to the selected product, use Reassign instances to another product.
  • Reassign instances to another product, shows all potential bundles for the selected instances and allows you to reassign them.
  • Confirm the assignment of instances, confirms the instance assignments and assures the confidence level of 100%.
  • Include instances in the pricing calculation, includes one or more product instances in the PVU and systems products calculations.
  • Exclude instances from pricing calculation, excludes one or more product instances from the PVU and systems products calculations.
  • Share instance, allows you to make the same instance of a component to be used by more than one product (it may be a shared component) and contribute to the pricing of both products.

For more detailed information about actions, see Working with instances in Related concepts at the bottom of the window.

Filter
All products and PVU products view- you can specify on which column to apply the filter by selecting the column name from the drop-down list next to the filter.
Systems products view - you can filter all elements on product, release, and component levels. Filtering does not include the Explanation of Confidence and numeric columns.
Product/Release/Component
Shows the hierarchical view of your software inventory in the specific period.
Confidence
Specifies the calculated bundling confidence for each product, release, and component. On Product and Release levels, the values are arithmetic means of all the components. On the Component level, the value is the probability that the instance belongs to the release. The confidence values are rounded down. Automated bundling assures up to 99% confidence. Products can be sorted in ascending or descending order, by name or by instance confidence level.

To achieve the confidence level of 100% and assure that the bundling matches your entitlements, you must manually confirm the correctness of the product-component relations or reassign. To check the actions that can be performed to improve the confidence level, see Working with instances in Related concepts at the bottom of the window.

Note: If the confidence level amounts to 100%, the instances were either assigned to the product manually by the user or belong only to one release. In the second case, the instance is assigned automatically and cannot be modified. Even if the confidence level of the product equals 100%, check if there are any other instances to be assigned.
Tip: If you want to filter the products by the confidence level, click the Confidence scope toolbar button in the upper left corner of the table. From the drop-down list, select the action you want to perform. You can clear the confidence filter or change the confidence scope. The filtering is based on instances confidence level, which means that products and releases are displayed only if they have matching instances.
Explanation of Confidence
Shows a combination of several product-component linking rules that were used during automated bundling. The rules determine the degree of confidence that a given component belongs to the product. To check how a particular rule works, see Automated bundling in Related concepts at the bottom of the window.
Current Server ID
Specifies the serial number of the machine on which the agent is installed.
Installation Path
Specifies where the component instance is installed. Installation path may not contain data for the following reasons:
  • The signature is based on registry or is a complex signature. Complex signatures consist of multiple files. If these files are available in different locations, there is no single path for the signature.
  • Multiple signatures were found, which means that the product is installed in more than one location and there is more than one place in which the signatures are located.
Part Numbers
Shows the part numbers that you purchased. The numbers from the part numbers list are displayed only if they match the software catalog content. You can import the list from Passport Advantage® or create it on your own. For more information about how to obtain the part numbers list, see Importing part numbers in Related concepts at the bottom of the window.
Tip: If you have imported the list of part numbers, the window shows both: the software that you have installed and all the products corresponding to the imported part numbers (no matter whether their instances have been found or not).
Download as CSV
Downloads the whole table as a single document in the CSV format for saving and editing. The format retains the filtering and sorting performed on the table. It has no limitations as far as the number of rows is concerned. You should use a spreadsheet application to open it.

The following icons are used in the panel:

The agent that had been installed on the specific host was removed.

The results of the data aggregation process are not available. To see the detailed description of data aggregation, see the Aggregation process in the Related concepts section.

The data aggregation process is currently running. As soon as it finishes, the results will be available.

The instance has been excluded.

The instance is free of charge.

The product is not eligible for subcapacity pricing.

The instance is installed on a shared file system and is charged based on its use. If the product instance has not been used recently, it is not charged for.