Lesson 2: Creating computer groups that define the scope of reports

Available from 9.2.2.

To manage software and generate audit snapshots for subsets of computers, divide the computers in your infrastructure into groups in License Metric Tool.

1. Log in to License Metric Tool.
2. Create a computer group that contains all computers that are used by the HR department.
   1. In the top navigation bar, click Management > Computer Groups.
   2. To create a computer group, click New.
   3. Provide the name of the computer group. For example, HR.
   4. Optional: Provide a description of the computer group.
   5. Specify criteria that must be met by the computers that belong to this group.
      To reuse the computer group that you created in the BigFix console, select Data Source Groups, in set, and select the proper BigFix computer group. In this case, select HR.
   6. From the Type section, select Reporting.
   7. Select Enable license usage calculations to calculate utilization in this computer group.
   8. Specify the number of days for which the data is to be calculated. This number defines the default period for which the data that is show on the All Metrics report is calculated and up-to-date.
      For example, when you set the value to 30 days, and then display a report for the last 90 days, the report shows the following data:

      • If you display the report for a newly created computer group, the report shows values for the last 30 days and is empty for the rest of the period.
      • If you display the report for an existing group, the values might be outdated.

      In both cases, recalculate the data.
   9. To save the group, click Create.
3. Create a computer group for the IT department.
4. Optional: If you do not need a collective snapshot for all computers, but separate audit snapshots for each computer group, open the All Computers group, and clear Enable license usage calculations. Then, click Save.
   Important: Perform this step in the following scenarios:

   • You are creating computer groups to report subcapacity usage for IBM software that is installed in multiple IBM subcapacity regions. If you choose to calculate subcapacity data for the All Computers group, see: IBM subcapacity regions to understand what is the difference between reports generated for each region separately and the report generated for the All Computers group.
   • You are a service provider and you want to generate reports per customer but you do not want to generate a single report for all your software.

   Do not perform this step if you are creating computer groups to manage software that is installed in multiple business units. When you do not calculate subcapacity data for the All Computers group, you will not be able to generate audit snapshots for the entire environment.

5. To make the computer groups available in License Metric Tool, wait for the scheduled import or run it manually.
6. Optional: If software in each computer group is managed by a separate person, create dedicated users, each with access to one computer group.
   1. To create a user, go to Management > Users, and click New.
   2. Select the role or roles that you want to assign to the user.
      Restriction: To ensure that each user has access to information only about computers that he uses, do not assign the user with the Administrator role. By default, this role has access to the All Computers group. Thus, a user who is assigned this role can view information about all computers in the infrastructure.
   3. Select the computer group to which you want the user to have access.
   4. Choose the authentication method. If you choose Password, provide the password and confirm it.
   5. Click Create.