How software inventory rules work

Article:HOWTO75106

Created: 2012-04-20

Updated: 2012-04-20

Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO75106

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How software inventory rules work

When you create inventory policies and tasks with the option File Properties - manufacturer, version, size, internal name, etc. selected, you can configure the software inventory rules by clicking Advanced > Files Properties Scan Settings on the inventory policy or task page.

See Methods for gathering software inventory.

The software inventory rules let you filter drives, system types, folders, and files when you gather software inventory data. By default, all local drives and all folders on those drives are scanned. When you select a folder, all subfolders are included by default. You can add, edit, or delete items in the list.

The following table explains how the software inventory include and exclude rules work.

Table: Software inventory include and exclude rules

Option	Description
Drives > Include drive	Includes the drive in the scope of software scan.
Drives > Exclude drive	Ignores the drive from software scan.
Drives > Include file system type	For the target computers that are running UNIX and Linux, includes the file system of the given type in the scope of software scan.
Drives > Exclude file system type	For the target computers that are running UNIX and Linux, excludes the file systems of the given type from software scan.
Folders > Include folder	Includes the folder in the scope of software scan.
Folders > Exclude folder	Ignores the folder from software scan. Starting with Inventory Solution 7.0 SP1, new folders have been added to the list of excludes to reduce redundant data. You may want to review these settings to make sure that important applications are not excluded.
Folders > Include folder limits	For the target computers that are running UNIX and Linux. This setting tells the software scan to limit maximum number of subfolder levels or to ignore a folder where the count of files exceeds the given number.
File > Include Rule	Scans the files that match the given rules. Reports the size and the file count information if you have selected "Report size or file count information only" option on the Include file rules dialog. Otherwise reports file information (name, path, size, last modified date, manufacturer and so on).
File > Exclude Rule	Does not report the information about the files matching these rules to the CMDB.

The following table explains how the Inventory Plug-in behaves on different platforms.

Table: Software inventory behavior on different platforms

Possible settings on the Files Properties Scan Settings tab	Behavior of the software scan agent on Windows	Behavior of the software scan agent on UNIX/Linux	Behavior of the software scan agent on Mac
Does not include or exclude any drives or file system types and folders.	UI shows message "Please include at least one Drive or Folder for the Windows scan."	UI shows message "Please include at least one Drive or Folder for the UNIX/Linux scan."	UI shows message "Please include at least one Drive or Folder for the Mac scan."
Includes only drives and does not exclude any drive. Does not include or exclude any folders.	Scans the included drives.	N/A	Scans the included drives.
Includes only the file system type and does not exclude any file system. Does not include or exclude any folders.	N/A	Does not scan anything	N/A
Includes only the folders and does not exclude any folder. Does not include or exclude any drives or file system types.	Scans only the included folders.	Scans only the included folders.	Scans only the included folders.
Excludes a parent folder, but includes the child folder of it.	Does not scan the child folder.	Scans the included child folder.	Scans the included child folder.
Includes a parent folder, but excludes the child folder of it.	Scans the parent folder, but ignores the child folder.	Scans the parent folder, but ignores the child folder.	Scans the parent folder, but ignores the child folder.
Excludes a parent drive, but includes a folder on it.	Scans only the included folder.	N/A	Scans only the included folder.
Excludes the file system type, but includes a folder with this file system type.	N/A	Does not scan the included folder.	N/A
Includes a parent drive, but excludes a folder on it.	Scans the entire drive but ignores the excluded folder.	N/A	Scans the entire drive but ignores the excluded folder.
Includes the file system type, but excludes a folder with this file system type.	N/A	Does not scan anything	N/A
Does not include any files.	Does or does not exclude files.	Does not scan any files.	Does not scan any files.
Includes a few files. Does not exclude files.	The included files are scanned in the scope that drives and folders define.	The included files are scanned in the scope that the file system types and folders define.	The included files are scanned in the scope that the drives and folders define.
Includes a few files and also exclude files.	Scans the files matching include file's criteria. Out of these, those matching the exclude criteria are excluded from reporting to the CMDB.	Files not matching the exclude file's criteria and matching include file's criteria are reported to the CMDB.	Files not matching the exclude file's criteria and matching include file's criteria are reported to the CMDB.

See Inventory advanced options: Files Properties Scan Settings tab

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Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO75106

How software inventory rules work

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