You must complete a number of configuration steps before you can use Asset Intelligence in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager to inventory and manage software license usage throughout your enterprise.
Steps to Configure Asset
Intelligence
Use the steps in the following table to configure Asset Intelligence in Configuration Manager.
Step | Details | More Information | ||
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Step 1: Enable Asset Intelligence Hardware Inventory Reporting Classes |
Asset Intelligence information collection is not enabled when Configuration Manager is first installed. To enable Asset Intelligence, at least one of the required hardware inventory reporting classes that Asset Intelligence reports rely on must be enabled.
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For more information, see the following procedure in this topic: Enable Asset Intelligence Hardware Inventory Reporting Classes. |
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Step 2: Install an Asset Intelligence Synchronization Point |
The Asset Intelligence synchronization point site system role is used to connect Configuration Manager sites to System Center Online to synchronize Asset Intelligence catalog information. The Asset Intelligence synchronization point can be installed only on a site system located at the top-level site of the Configuration Manager hierarchy and requires Internet access to synchronize with System Center Online by using TCP port 443. In addition to downloading new Asset Intelligence catalog information, the Asset Intelligence synchronization point can upload custom software title information to System Center Online for categorization. Microsoft treats all software titles uploaded to System Center Online for categorization as public information. Therefore, you should ensure that your custom software titles do not contain confidential or proprietary information. For more information about requesting software title categorization, see Request a Catalog Update for Uncategorized Software Titles. |
For more information, see the following procedure in this topic: Install an Asset Intelligence Synchronization Point. |
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Step 3: Enable Auditing of Success Logon Events |
Four Asset Intelligence reports display information gathered from the Windows Security event logs on client computers. If the Security event log settings are not configured to log all Success logon events, these reports contain no data even if the appropriate hardware inventory reporting class is enabled. To enable the Hardware Inventory Client Agent to inventory the information required to support these reports, you must first modify the Windows Security event log settings on clients to log all Success logon events, and enable the SMS_SystemConsoleUser hardware inventory reporting class. |
For more information, see the following procedures in this topic: Enable Auditing of Success Logon Events. |
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Step 4: Import Software License Information |
The Import Software License Wizard is used to import Microsoft Volume Licensing (MVLS) information and general license statements into the Asset Intelligence catalog. The MVLS license statement contains information about the license entitlements, or number of purchased licenses, for Microsoft products. A general license statement contains information about the purchased licenses for any publisher. |
For more information, see the following procedures in this topic: Import Software License Information. |
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Step 5: Configure Asset Intelligence Maintenance Tasks |
The following maintenance tasks are associated with Asset Intelligence. By default, both maintenance tasks are enabled and are configured on a default schedule.
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For more information, see the following procedures in this topic: Configure Asset Intelligence Maintenance Tasks. |
Supplemental Procedures for
Configuring Asset Intelligence
Use the following information for the steps in the preceding table.
Enable Asset Intelligence Hardware
Inventory Reporting Classes
To enable Asset Intelligence in Configuration Manager sites, you must enable one or more Asset Intelligence hardware inventory reporting classes. You can enable the classes on the Asset Intelligence home page, or, in the Administration workspace, in the Client Settings node, in client settings properties. Use one of the following procedures to enable the Asset Intelligence hardware inventory reporting classes.
To enable Asset Intelligence hardware
inventory reporting classes from the Asset Intelligence home
page
To enable Asset Intelligence hardware
inventory reporting classes from client settings properties
Install an Asset Intelligence
Synchronization Point
Use the following procedure to install an Asset Intelligence synchronization point site system role.
To install an Asset Intelligence
synchronization point site system role
Enable Auditing of Success Logon
Events
Use the following procedure to configure computer security policy logon settings to enable auditing of Success logon events.
To enable success logon event logging
by using a local security policy
To enable success logon event logging
by using an Active Directory domain security policy
Import Software License
Information
The following sections describe the procedures necessary to import both Microsoft and general software licensing information into the Configuration Manager site database by using the Import Software License Wizard. When you import software license information into the site database from license statement files, the site server computer account requires Full Control permissions for the NTFS file system to the file share that is used to import software license information.
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When software license information is imported into the site database, existing software license information is overwritten. Ensure that the software license information file that you use with the Import Software License Wizard contains a complete listing of all necessary software license information. |
To import software license information
into the Asset Intelligence catalog
Create a General License Statement
Information File for Import
A general license statement can also be imported into the Asset Intelligence catalog by using a manually created license import file in comma delimited (.csv) file format.
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While only the Name, Publisher, Version, and EffectiveQuantity fields are required to contain data, all fields must be entered on the first row of the license import file. All date fields should be displayed in the following format: Month/Day/Year, for example, 08/04/2008. |
Asset Intelligence matches the products that you specify in the general license statement by using the product name and product version, but not publisher name. You must use a product name in the general license statement that is an exact match with the product name stored in the site database. Asset Intelligence takes the EffectiveQuantity number given in the general license statement and compares the number with the number of installed products found in Configuration Manager inventory.
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To get a complete list of the product names stored in the Configuration Manager site database, you can run the following query on the site database: SELECT ProductName0 FROM v_GS_INSTALLED_SOFTWARE. |
You can specify exact versions for a product or specify part of the version, such as only the major version. The following examples provide the resulting version matches for a general license statement version entry for a specific product.
General license statement entry | Matching site database entries |
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Name: ”MySoftware”, ProductVersion0: ”2” |
ProductName0: “Mysoftware”, ProductVersion0: “2.01.1234” ProductName0: “MySoftware”, ProductVersion0: “2.02.5678” ProductName0: “MySoftware”, ProductVersion0: “2.05.1234” ProductName0: “MySoftware”, ProductVersion0: “2.05.5678” ProductName0: “MySoftware”, ProductVersion0: “2.05.3579.000” ProductName0: “MySoftware”, ProductVersion0: “2.10.1234” |
Name: “MySoftware”, Version “2.05” |
ProductName0: “MySoftware”, ProductVersion0: “2.05.1234” ProductName0: “MySoftware”, ProductVersion0: “2.05.5678” ProductName0: “MySoftware”, ProductVersion0: “2.05.3579.000” |
Name: “Mysoftware”, Version “2” Name: “Mysoftware”, Version “2.05” |
Error during import. The import fails when more than one entry matches the same product version. |
The following procedure describes the process that can be used to create a general license statement import file by using Microsoft Excel.
To create a general license statement
import file by using Microsoft Excel
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For an example of a general software license file that you can use for testing purposes, see Example Asset Intelligence General License Import File. |
Sample Table to Describe Software
Licenses
Configure Asset Intelligence
Maintenance Tasks
The following maintenance tasks are available for Asset Intelligence:
- Check Application Title with Inventory
Information: This maintenance task checks that the software
title that is reported in software inventory is reconciled with the
software title in the Asset Intelligence catalog. By default, this
task is enabled and scheduled to run on Saturday after 12:00 A.M.
and before 5:00 A.M. This maintenance task is only available at the
top-level site in your Configuration Manager hierarchy.
- Summarize Installed Software Data:
This maintenance task provides the information that is displayed in
the Assets and Compliance workspace, in the Inventoried
Software node, under the Asset Intelligence node. When
the task runs, Configuration Manager gathers a count for all
inventoried software titles at the primary site. By default, this
task is enabled and scheduled to run every day after 12:00 A.M. and
before 5:00 A.M. This maintenance task is available only on primary
sites.