Step 2a: Optimized mode - Automatic scanning of remote shared disks (BigFix scenario)

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Available from 9.2.12. To discover software that is installed on shared disks in your infrastructure, enable automatic scanning of shared disks. As a result, a single computer is designated to scan a specific shared disk and discover the installed software. The data is then automatically populated to all computers on which the same shared disk is mounted. Use this mode when a single shared disk is mounted on many computers.

Before you begin

  • This method of scanning is advised for environments with a heavy use of shared disks in which a single shared disk is mounted on many computers. For information, see: Discovering software on shared disks (BigFix scenario).
  • This method is not supported in environments in which multiple instances of License Metric Tool use a single BigFix® server as the data source.
  • An icon representing a user. You must be an Administrator to perform this task.
  • Ensure that the parameter enable_automatic_task_deployment is set to true on the Advanced Server Settings panel. It is the default setting.

Procedure

  1. Discover shared disks that exist in your infrastructure.
  2. Enable optimized scan of shared disks.
    1. Log in to License Metric Tool and go to Management > Advanced Server Settings.
    2. Change the value of the autoscan_shared_disks_enable parameter to true.
      Note: If you disable this parameter, and then want to enable it back, you need to wait at least one day. Alternatively, you can log in to the BigFix console and remove the ILMT_Autoscan_Shared_Disks property from all computers on which you ran the scan of shared disks.
  3. Wait for the scheduled import or run it manually.
    During the import, a single computer is designated to scan a specific shared disk. An action that is called Optimized Shared Disks Scan Update Resources List is created on the BigFix server. Each action represents designation of a single computer. Additionally, the software scan is triggered on every designated computer.
    Important: Because these actions are triggered during the first import after you enable the scanning, it might take a couple of consecutive imports to discover software that is installed on shared disks.

What to do next

To see software that was discovered on shared disks, go to Reports > Software Classification. Hover over Configure, and click Configure View. Then, and add the following filter: From Software Template, equal to, yes.

When you click the link in the Details column, you can see on which shared disk the software is installed.


Shared disks results