Assigning components to products and Cloud Paks

Available from 9.2.7.

After a new component is discovered, it is assigned to a product based on bundling rules. Compare the automatically created assignment with information in your license agreement. If the assignment is correct, you can confirm it to easily see how many software items still require your review. If the assignment is incorrect, change it. If a component was purchased under a product that is a part of a Cloud Pak or FlexPoint bundle, assign it accordingly. Correct assignment of software components reduces the cost of software ownership and ensures audit readiness.

Before you begin

You must have the Manage Software Classification permission to view the Software Classification panel and classify software. To view some additional columns related to computers on which the components are installed, you also need the View Endpoints permission.

About this task

During the assignment, you can perform the following actions:

• Assign a single component to a single product.
• Assign multiple components to a single product. To properly use this option, set filters that limit the number of displayed components. Then, select the components and assign them to the product.
• Share a component between multiple products.
• Indicate that the component or components belong to a product that was purchased under a Cloud Pak or FlexPoint bundle. For more information, see: Licensing of non-containerized Cloud Pak programs.

You can automate software classification by creating custom rules that automatically classify newly discovered components. For more information, see: Creating and managing custom rules for software.

To properly classify the installed software, start by assigning the discovered components to products in accordance with your license agreement. In this example, the discovered components are assigned as follows.

• Component 1 and Component 2 that are installed on Computer 1 are assigned to Product 1.
• Component 3 that is installed on Computer 2 is assigned to the first instance of Product 2.
• Component 3 that is installed on Computer 3 is assigned to the second instance of Product 2.

Then, assign proper product instances to Cloud Paks or FlexPoint bundles if you have any. In this example, Product 1 and the first instance of Product 2 are a part of Cloud Pak 1. The second instance of Product 2 is licensed separately and thus is not assigned to any Cloud Pak.

If a component is assigned to a product that is a part of a Cloud Pak, and you reassign such a component, the component instance is no longer assigned to any Cloud Pak. In this example, Component 3 that is installed on Computer 2 is reassigned from the first instance of Product 2 to Product 3. As a result, the reassigned component is no longer a part of any Cloud Pak. The same applies to a situation in which you suppress a component that is assigned to a product that is a part of a Cloud Pak.

1. In the top navigation bar, hover over Reports, and click Software Classification.
2. Select a component or components that you want to assign.
3. Hover over Assign, and click Choose from Catalog.
4. Select the product, license metric, and Cloud Pak or FlexPoint bundle that are in line with information in your license agreement.
   Important: If the product is not a part of a Cloud Pak or FlexPoint bundle, the value in the Cloud Pak or FlexPoint Bundle column should be None.

   • To narrow the list of displayed products, sort the results by columns or use the search bar that is available at the top of each column. After you type the search phrase, press Enter.
   • If you defined your software entitlements, type "Yes" in the column Entitled to view only the software that you own. For more information, see: Defining software entitlements.
   • If the product under which you purchased the component is not listed by default, create a custom bundling. For more information, see: Assigning components to products and Cloud Paks according to custom bundling relations.
   • If the product is not detected and the value of the Product Name column is <not set>, see: Software inventory problems.

   
5. Optional: To extend the current component assignment with the selected product instead of reassigning the component, select Share component. As a result, the component is shared between the product to which it is currently assigned and the selected product. Each assignment is listed as a separate instance on the report.
   Important:

   Sharing does not work if you try to share a component that is assigned to a product that is a part of a Cloud Pak and the same product with the same metric but under a different Cloud Pak. In such case, the component and product are reassigned to the new Cloud Pak.

   To stop sharing the component between multiple products, select all instances of the component and assign them to a common product, but leave the Share component check box cleared.

6. Optional: Confirming the assignment is optional and is used to indicate how many software items still require your review. If you do not want the assignment to be automatically confirmed, clear the Automatically confirm the affected components check box.
7. To change the assignment, click Assign.