Assessing Computer and Software Inventory

In planning your migration strategy, it is important to have an understanding of the scope of the migration. This chapter helps you understand the scope of computers and software applications that already exist in your network environment. Assessing these elements of you current network environment will help you plan for a successful Vista migration.

You can download the PDF version of this document here.

There are several aspects of your network environment that you must consider. The following are a few examples:

• What computers are already compatible with Microsoft Vista?
• Which computers need more RAM or hard drive space?
• How many computers will be migrated?
• What operating systems are currently installed?
• Which computers support PXE and allow for remote deployment and management through the migration?
• What software applications are users in your organization running?
• Are these applications compatible with the new operating system?
• What kind of data and application settings should be migrated to the new operating system?

Altiris® Migration Suite™ software lets you perform tasks that gather specific inventory data about the computers and software applications on your network. You can use reports to analyze the inventory data collected.

Process Overview

The computer and software inventory assessment phase is divided into the following tasks:

Consider Important Issues when Planning a Migration
Gather Information about Your Network Environment
Analyze Information about My Environment

Consider Important Issues when Planning a Migration

Before starting a migration, you should consider the following issues and plan accordingly.

Migrating Computers

• What Computers Currently Exist
  • What hardware components to computers have?
  • What OS do the computers have?
• Assessing Vista Readiness
  • Which computers meet minimum requirements for different levels of Vista?
  • Which computers would need a hardware upgrade?

Migrating Applications

• What Software Applications Currently Exist
  • How many different applications are installed?
  • How many different versions are installed?
  • What licenses are needed or can be harvested and re-used?
• What Applications to Migrate
  • Which applications are critical to business?
  • How many people actually use the installed applications?
  • How will applications be re-deployed after migration?

Migrating User Data

• What User Data Exists on User's Computers
  • What kind of data exists?
  • How much data exists?
• What Data to Migrate
  • Which data is critical to business?
  • What kinds of personal data will you migrate (.MP3s, .JPGs, and so on)?
• Data Migration Policies
  • Make sure you are clear to users what data will be migrated and what will not.

Gather Information about Your Network Environment

While there are many questions that need to be answered for a Vista migration, the fundamental concern in this information-gathering step is, "How can the information I need to answer these questions be easily and accurately gathered?" Altiris® Migration Suite™ software supports either an agent software installation or zero footprint assessment to determine necessary hardware and software upgrades, and to perform a migration cost analysis. A Migration Suite assessment can determine in minutes what hardware and software is compatible with the upgrade.

User-defined input parameters let IT managers run scenarios based on variables such as the amount of memory and/or hard drive space required for the upgrade, minimum CPU speed, estimated labor costs, licensing costs, and so on. Graphical reports can be presented to management detailing specific compatibility data to pinpoint licensing, hardware, and labor costs, as well as activities required for the migration. Report text and graphics can be copied and pasted into Microsoft* Word or Microsoft Excel for further analysis or inclusion as part of other reports.

Click to view.

Manually gathering assessment data can take weeks and introduces risks in accuracy that can exact time and money in later steps. Migration Suite removes these risks and provides a detailed foundation for the rest of the migration. Automated assessment improves accuracy and reduces time. Establishing an exact, detailed plan at the beginning of a large-scale migration will maintain time lines and pay big dividends in cost control by the project's end.

Inventory tasks provide comprehensive inventory for Windows computers including serial number, hardware inventory, software audit inventory, and user/contact information (with Exchange profile). Altiris® Inventory Solution® software also:

• Supports zero-footprint configuration.
• Operates in always connected, sometimes connected and standalone (through floppy) computing environments.
• Can be installed to run on a recurring basis in conjunction with the Altiris Agent.

The information that is gathered is the same regardless of whether or not you use the zero footprint option.

The following sections describer how to obtain inventory data using the following methods:

• Collecting Inventory Using Notification Server
• Collecting Inventory Not Using Notification Server
• Customizing the Inventory Scan

Collecting Inventory Using Notification Server

Notification Server is the key server component for the Notification System. It installs and manages the Altiris Agent. It manages the Notification Database. The Altiris Console is provided for interacting with the Notification Server as well as most of the other Notification System components.

Notification Server runs according to policies set by an administrator. These policies activate components of the Notification Server that are used to process and store inventory data, host Web pages, forward data to SMS, and many other tasks. This simplifies the administration of systems management in your distributed network environment. Notification Server provides a common set of capabilities to all the Altiris solutions such as:

• SQL database management
• Agent/client distribution capabilities for PC and UNIX
• Automated Web-based reporting with drill down hyperlinks
• Processing events for solution clients

Notification Server policies run on the Notification Server. Notification Server automatically distributes the conditions to be monitored on the Altiris Agent computers, and when a specific condition is found, the Notification Server is notified. It then runs a script that executes the instructions that have been specified by the administrator.

Using Notification Server, you will perform the following tasks:

• Discovering Computers and Installing the Altiris Agent
• Perform a Complete Inventory Scan
• Perform a Hardware Inventory Scan
• Perform Software Inventory Scan

Discovering Computers and Installing the Altiris Agent

The Altiris Agent must be installed on the computers you want to manage, if you have not done so already (through the use of other Altiris solutions that require the agent).

When installing the agent, specify computers on which to install the agent. For large number of computers, use the Resource Discovery and Network Discovery features of Notification Server to discover the computers on your network and create a list. Select the computers from the list on which you want to install the agent. If you have only a few computers to manage, such as during an evaluation, you can skip computer discovery and perform the agent installation procedure.

Network Discovery can discover computers using Ping, Circular DNS resolution, SNMP, and NetBIOS name and domain. You can discover Linux, UNIX, Mac OS, and Windows computers. For details, see the Network Discovery Product Guide, which you can access from the Altiris Web site (altiris.com/support/documentation) or the Altiris Documentation page in the Altiris Console.

You need administrator rights to install the Altiris Agent.

For more information on the Altiris Agent, see the Notification Server documentation.

Resource Discovery is used to discover Windows computers. The following procedure describes how to use the Resource Discovery.

To discover Windows computers using Resource Discovery

1. On the Notification Server, select Start > All Programs > Altiris > Altiris Console to open the Altiris Console.
2. In the console, click the Configuration tab.
3. In the left pane, select Configuration > Server Settings > Discovery Methods > Resource Discovery.
4. In the content pane, click and select the domains in which to search for computers. Optionally, enter the name of a domain and click
5. Select the discovery methods you want to use. You must select at least one method.
   
   • Select the Domain Browse List option to discover computers (including Windows 95, 98, 98 SE, and ME computers) that are currently sharing files.
   • Select the Domain Membership option to discover computers that have trust accounts in the domain and are running Windows NT, 2000, XP, and 2003. This method will not find any Windows 98, 98 SE, or ME computers.
6. Click Discover Now.
7. After the discovery process completes, click Apply.

The computers in the specified domains are discovered and can be selected to receive the agent.

To install the Altiris Agent

This procedure does not work for Windows 98, 98 SE, and ME computers. For these operating systems, see the "Pull Method" in the Notification Server documentation.

1. On the Notification Server, select Start > All Programs > Altiris > Altiris Console to open the Altiris Console.
2. In the console, click the Configuration tab.
3. In the left pane, select Configuration > Altiris Agent > Altiris Agent Rollout > Altiris Agent Installation.
4. In the content pane, do one or both of the following:
   
   • If you did not perform a computer discovery (because you have only a few computers on which to install the agent, such as during an evaluation) or you want to specify a computer manually, enter the name of the computer on which you want to install the agent in the field next to the Add button, and then click Add. Repeat this for all computers on which you want to install the agent.
   • If you performed a computer discovery, click Select Computers. In the dialog that opens, select the computers on which you want to install the agent. Click OK.
   Note: The fact that a computer can be discovered does not mean that you can push the agent to it. The computer must be running an operating system that supports having agents pushed to it.
5. Click Install Altiris Agent. The Options page opens to let you set configuration properties for the Altiris Agent.
6. Select the Show the Altiris Agent icon in the system tray option.
7. Click Proceed with Install. The Altiris Agent is installed to the computers.

Perform a Complete Inventory Scan

When changes have been made to the hardware, software, or operating system, instead of running individual tasks to collect inventory for each change, you can run a complete inventory task to save time and get complete information too.

You can use a complete inventory scan when you install a new network and need to collect the complete inventory about all new unmanaged computers on the network.

The following task shows you how to perform hardware and software scans on unmanaged computers.

To perform a complete inventory scan

• On the computer you want to scan, run AeXInvSoln.exe from the install path\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86 folder on the Notification Server computer.

  An inventory scan is initiated based on the default AeXInvSoln.ini file. The Inventory Scan program closes automatically when the scan completes.

Perform a Hardware Inventory Scan

In Inventory Solution, among the different inventory tasks for collecting different types of inventory, there is the Hardware Inventory task that scans the target computer for the available hardware resources and reports the collected information to the Notification Server.

The information that the Hardware Inventory task reports, include the operating system, the set of local and network disks, the amount of physical memory, the TCP/IP configuration, CPU, and PCMCIA devices.

In the Altiris Console, a user has to apply the Hardware Inventory task to a collection of computers to collect the inventory of hardware resources.

In Inventory Solution, the Machine Inventory Agent collects hardware inventory.

Hardware Inventory Task

Hardware Inventory task lets you collect hardware inventory on managed computers. Hardware Inventory task is disabled by default. When the task is enabled, a package containing the necessary files to run the task is sent to all managed computers in the selected collection.

By default, the task is sent to All Windows Computers collection.

After receiving the package of files, each target computer runs the Hardware Inventory task on a schedule and sends the collected inventory to the Notification Server.

To enable the Hardware Inventory Task

1. In the Altiris Console, click View.
2. In the left pane, select Tasks > Assets and Inventory > Inventory > Inventory Tasks.
3. Select the Hardware Inventory task.
4. Keep the default settings for Program name and Package name.
   
   Note: The default program name is Hardware definition file and the default package name is Inventory Agent Package.
5. Select a schedule.
6. Under At the designated time the server should, choose an option.
7. Click Apply.

Data classes used for storing hardware inventory data

Inventory Solution uses following data classes to store the collected inventory of hardware resources.

Perform Software Inventory Scan

In Inventory Solution, among the different inventory tasks, there is the Software Inventory task that scans the target computer for the available software applications and suites, and reports the collected information to the Notification Server.

The information that the Software Inventory task reports, include standard software applications, such as Microsoft* Office, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat, and so on. Other than the standard software applications, Software Inventory task also collects information about the non-standard or custom software applications or suites available on the target computer.

In the Altiris Console, a user has to apply the Software Inventory task to a collection of computers to collect the inventory of Software applications.

In Inventory Solution, the Software Audit Agent collects the inventory for software applications and suites.
For each file that is scanned, the following information is recorded (if available): Manufacturer, Product Name, Product Version, Language, File Name, File Size, Directory File Time, Executable Type, Internal Name, KnownAs, File Description, File Path, File Modification Time, and File Extension.

Software Inventory Task

Software Inventory task lets you collect software applications and suites inventory on managed computers. Software Inventory task is disabled by default. When the task is enabled, a package containing the necessary files to run the task is sent to all managed computers in the selected collection.

By default, the task is sent to All Windows Computers collection.

After receiving the package of files, each target computer runs the Hardware Inventory task on a schedule and sends the collected inventory to the Notification Server.

To enable the Software Inventory Task

1. In the Altiris Console, click View.
2. In the left pane, select Tasks > Assets and Inventory > Inventory > Inventory Tasks.
3. Select the Software Inventory task.
4. Keep the default settings for Program name and Package name.
   
   Note: The default program name is Software definition file and the default package name is Inventory Agent Package.
5. Select a schedule.
6. Under At the designated time the server should, choose an option.
7. Click Apply.

Data classes used for collecting software inventory

Inventory Solution uses following data classes to store the collected inventory of software applications and suites.

Collecting Inventory Not Using Notification Server

Inventory Solution supports inventory collection from target computers which are unmanaged, that is there is no Altiris Agent installed on such computers or the computers are not in the network of Notification Server. The method used to collect inventory from such computers is called as zero-footprint.

Inventory Solution has provided different ways to collect inventory from such unmanaged computers.

If you are not using Notification Server, you will perform the following tasks:

• Zero-Footprint Inventory Collection

Zero-Footprint Inventory Collection

Inventory Solution supports zero-footprint inventory collection. In this mode, Inventory Solution collects inventory from target computers on which no Inventory Solution related application is running or no Altiris Agent is installed. Inventory Solution has provided different ways, such as HTTP, UNC, and e-mail to collect inventory from such unmanaged target computers and send it to the Notification Server.

Running Inventory Solution using HTTP, E-mail Deployment, or a File Server

Inventory Solution has provided self-extracting executable that users can run, see Web Inventory Package. This self-extracting executable does not require the Altiris Agent to be loaded on the target computer.

Zero-footprint options for Inventory Solution

• HTTP - Send the Inventory Solution files (using the Web Inventory Package) through HTTP to the target computer. For details, see Inventory Solution Reference Guide.
  Advantages to using HTTP:
  • No need for security validation
  • No connection through MS Networking is required
  • Works through proxy servers and firewalls
  • No Altiris Agent is needed
  • Zero Footprint
• Network File Path (UNC) - Let the target computer user access the Inventory Solution files from a network path. You can use either the Web Inventory Package or point the user directly to the Inventory Solution directory. For details, see Inventory Solution Reference Guide.

  Advantages to using UNC:

  • Inclusion of login scripts, e-mail, etc.
  • Security through MS Networking or Active Directory (not everyone can run and post)
  • No Altiris Agent needed
  • Zero Footprint

Gather Inventory Using HTTP

Using HTTP, you can gather inventory for unmanaged computers, which are physically at separate locations, or belong to different domains. The process of sending information to the Notification Server using the HTTP protocol is called HTTP posting. HTTP posting uses the settings that Internet Explorer defines to determine the user of proxy servers for HTTP traffic.

To gather inventory using HTTP

• In the Altiris Console, select View > Configuration.
• In the left pane, select Solutions Settings > Assets and Inventory > Inventory > Windows > Standalone Win32 Inventory.
• From the right pane, copy the URL or UNC link provided on the page.
• In the separate e-mail application, create a new e-mail.
• Paste the copied link in the e-mail body.
• Send the e-mail to the networked target computer.

By accessing the link directly from the e-mail, the user can see the files extract, but the actual scan is not visible. The user does not receive confirmation when the scan is complete.

Gather Inventory Using a Network File Share

A network file share is a shared folder on the Notification Server that contains executable files through which you can gather inventory. You can gather inventory on any computer that can connect to the Notification Server using this network file share. The network file share on the Notification Server is called NSCap share.

A network engineer uses this method of collecting inventory for a computer that does not have the Altiris Agent installed and can connect to the NSCap share.

To gather inventory on the target computer, navigate to the NSCap share from the target computer, and execute the required files.

Some advantages of gathering inventory using a network file share are:

• Inclusion of login scripts, e-mail, and so on
• Security through Microsoft Networking or Active Directory (not everyone can run and post)
• No Altiris Agent needed
• Zero footprint

To gather inventory using a network file share

1. Ask users of target computers to navigate to the following NSCap share on the Notification Server: install path\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\
2. Ask users to double-click the self-extracting AeXWebInvPkg.exe file, from the Bin\Win32\X86 directory.
   
   Note: You can also use another file server. Copy the self-extracting AeXWebInvPkg.exe file to another file server (another Windows NT server in another LAN or domain, NetWare, UNIX, and so forth) that the target computers can connect to and have the users of the target computers run the self-extracting AeXWebInvPkg.exe file from this server.
   Note: The self-extracting AeXWebInvPkg.exe file is found in the install path\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86 directory.+

Web Inventory Package

During installation of Inventory Solution, a self executing EXE (Web Inventory Package) is created. This executable is found at install path\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86\AeXWebInvPkg.exe.

As the Web Inventory Package is being created, the name of the Notification Server that it is being created on is placed in the .INI file. This means that the Web Inventory Package will work only with the Notification Server that it came from. If you want to use this package on another Notification Server, you need to modify the package using the Package Editor.

The Web Inventory Package contains all Inventory Solution files needed to run an inventory on a target computer. It lets you run inventory on computers that do not have the Altiris Agent installed.

Customizing the Inventory Scan

Inventory Solution uses a number of executable modules to scan for specific types of information and post the data to Notification Server.

Inventory Solution agents generate output files with an extension of .NSI (Notification Server Inventory). The .NSI files contain inventory data in an .XML format. The default output folder used by the agents when creating an NSI file is installpath\Altiris\express\Inventory. The folder used can be customized with command line arguments to the various Inventory Solution agents. To do this, use the /o outputpath argument.

AeXInvSoln.exe executes the programs that are listed in the AeXInvSoln.ini file sequentially.

Each of the various agents have command line arguments. You can run each application with a /? command argument for a usage dialogue that provides the full command line usage details. The Inventory Solution agents are described in the following table.

• Customizing the Hardware Inventory Scan
• Customizing Software Inventory Scan

Customizing the Hardware Inventory Scan

The Machine Inventory agent is used to collect the hardware inventory.

For customizing hardware inventory collection, you can create a new or modify the existing MachInv.ini file that Machine Inventory Agent use while scanning target computers.

Customizing inventory lets the scan execute faster because it does not scan everything. You can specify which drives, files, folders, and file types are to be excluded from the hardware scan in the MachInv.ini file.

Machine Inventory Agent

The AeXMachInv program runs on any Windows 32-bit Intel-based computer. It reports data from the core Win32 API such as the operating system, the logged-on user, the set of local and network disks, the amount of physical memory, TCP/IP, CPU, and PCMCIA devices. There are options to run AeXMachInv.exe with the /zfp argument which will cause the agent not to report memory and disk change history. The /zfp argument will also remove the GUID from the registry. Then, the next time Inventory Solution is run, a new GUID will be generated and the computer will appear as a new computer in the database.

You can also specify which inventory groups to include or exclude from the output of AeXMachInv.exe.

Command-Line Arguments for the Machine Inventory Agent

To exclude inventory groups from being inventoried, you can create the MachInv.ini file containing the groups to be excluded. This file should be placed in the same directory as AeXMachInv.exe. For a list of inventory groups, see Data classes used for storing hardware inventory data.

Example

Suppose you want to exclude the following groups from the Machine Inventory results.

• AeX HW Physical Disk
• AeX HW Printer
• AeX HW SCSI
• AeX HW Serial Number
• AeX HW Physical Disk

To do this, you first create a file, MachInv.ini, which lists these group names. Then place this file in the same directory as AeXMachInv.exe.

MachInv.ini contents:

AeX HW Physical Disk
AeX HW Printer 
AeX HW SCSI 
AeX HW Serial Number

Next, run AeXMachInv as follows:

AeXMachInv /ini MachInv.ini

AeXMachInv Executable

AeXMachInv	[/?]
		[/o NSI File Full Path]
		[/outfilename NSI File Name]
		[/ini ini File Path]
		[/inc]
		[/norbin]
		[/zfp] 

AeXMachInv Parameters

Customizing Software Inventory Scan

You can add programs to a software scan to exclude particular drives, files, folders, and file types from the software scan. This lets the scan execute faster because it does not scan everything. This also lets you customize the scan and free the Notification Server to perform other tasks.

Computer Discovery and Inventory You can specify which drives, files, folders, and file types are to be excluded from the software scan in the AuditPls.ini file. The Audit Plus Configuration Editor provides a user-friendly Graphical User Interface to modify the AuditPls.ini file. You can view the drives, files, folders, and file types currently excluded and add and remove items according to your requirements.

To add programs to a software scan

1. Navigate to the X86 folder in the NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86 directory.
2. In the X86 folder, make a backup copy of the AuditPls.ini file and place it on your desktop for safekeeping.
3. In the X86 folder, double-click on the AeXAPedit.exe file. The Audit Plus Configuration Editor opens.
4. In the Audit Plus Configuration Editor, select File > Open and open the AuditPls.ini file (from the X86 folder).
5. Under the File Masks tab, enter *.dll in the File Mask field. Click Add.
6. Under the Disk Usage tab, enter zip in the Extensions field. Click Add.
7. Under the Special Groups tab, click Add.
8. Enter a GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) for this Special Group.
9. In the New Special Group dialog, enter AeX SW ACME in the Name field.
10. In the Class field, enter ACME|Engineering|1.0.
11. Make sure Filename is selected in the Attribute field and add the following three attribute values:
    
    1. Enter sol.exe. Click Add.
    2. Enter freecell.exe. Click Add.
    3. Enter winmine.exe. Click Add.
12. In the Attribute field, select Internal Name and add the following three attribute values:
    
    1. Enter sol.exe. Click Add.
    2. Enter freecell. Click Add.
    3. Enter winmine. Click Add.
13. Click OK.
14. Under the Known As tab, enter sol.exe in the Internal name field and Solitaire in the Known as field. Click Add.
15. Repeat step 14 for winmine (Minesweeper) and freecell (Freecell).
16. Under the Overrides tab, click Add to open the Override Properties dialog box.
17. Under the A file with this property column, enter sol.exe in the Filename field.
18. Under the is to be overridden with this property column, enter Solitaire in the Product name field.
19. Click OK.
20. Repeat step 16 through step 19 for Freecell and Minesweeper.
21. In the Audit Plus Configuration Editor, click File > Save to save changes to the AuditPls.ini file.
22. Close the Audit Plus Configuration Editor.
23. Test the new auditpls.ini file by manually running the AexInvSoln.exe in the X86 directory to ensure that it selects the file you want and reports it into inventory. You can tell it works because the inventory under this server explorer drill-down will reflect the modifications made to the auditpls.ini file.
24. Copy the new auditpls.ini file in the X86 directory to the distribution directory. The auditpls.ini file that is distributed with the inventory tasks is located in install path\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\nscap\bin\win32\X86\Inventory Solution.
25. Update the distribution point to force Notification Server to verify the contents of the Inventory Agent package.
    
    1. Open the Altiris Console.
    2. Click the Resources tab.
    3. Select Resource Management > Resources > Defaults > Package.
    4. In the content pane, double-click the Inventory Agent Package.
    5. When the package window appears, click the Update Distribution Points button.
26. In the X86 directory on the Notification Server computer, double-click the AeXInvSoln.exe file to run a new inventory scan.

When an Altiris Agent requests a new configuration, it will know that something in the package has changed and download your new auditpls.ini file and run the new auditpls.ini file.

Capture Non-Standard Software Inventory

Certain files don't display resource information when you view their properties. Such files are not included in the software scan by default. There Other version information area does not have any entries for these files. You can include these files in the scan by capturing non-standard software inventory.

To capture non-standard software inventory

1. On the Notification Server, browse to the following folder: install path\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86.
2. Double-click the AeXAPedit.exe file. The Audit Plus Configuration Editor opens displaying the File Masks tabview.
3. In the Configuration Editor, open the auditpls.ini file from the install path\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86\Inventory Solution folder.
4. On the File Masks tabview, enter the extensions or the files to be captured by the audit scan in the File Mask field.
5. The File Mask option on the File Masks tabview lets you enter extensions or filenames to be captured by the audit scan.
   
   Note: A number of factors can override what you enter on the File Mask tabview. The other settings need to be specified to ensure that the filename or extension you have entered is not filtered out. Ensure that the included files are not overridden by any rules created on the Exclusion Filters tabview. Example: If you have an a.xls on the D drive of the computer to be included in the scan, then you should not have the D drive or Excel files excluded from the scan.
6. Click the Include Unknown tab. The executable types that are excluded by default are displayed.
7. Click the Overrides tab. The properties of the file that is read by the Audit Plus are displayed.
8. On the Overrides tab, click Add.
9. On the left side, enter the property values for a file.
10. On the right side, enter the property values that would override the corresponding values on the left side.
11. Click OK.
12. On the Audit Plus Configuration Editor screen, select File > Save.
    
    Note: You have to also save the changes to the auditpls.ini file located in the X86 folder, because this file is used on computers where inventory is run manually using the e-mail link. Select File > Save As and save the file to the X86 folder.
    Note: After you save the auditpls.ini file, the detection of the files is based on the information provided on the File Mask and Include Unknown tabviews. When the files are detected, the audit scan checks if an override is present for the file. If the override exists, the reported information is converted to the settings on the Override tabview. The Exclusions and Special Groups settings are applied next.
    The following list shows the order of the application execution when AeXAPedit.exe is used:

    1. File Masks
    2. Include Unknown
    3. Overrides
    4. Exclusion Filters\Special Groups
13. Change the scan mode.
    
    1. Open the AeXInvSolnAdm2.ini file from the install path\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86\Inventory Solution folder in a text editor. Example: Notepad.
    2. In the file, modify the first line from aexauditpls.exe /hidden /output xml to aexauditpls.exe /hidden /File /output xml.
    3. Save the file.
    Note: Changing the scan mode is essential; otherwise, audit scan detects only one instance of the file even if the computer has more than one versions installed. If you do not change the scan mode, the audit scan cannot accurately report the computers that need to be upgraded.
14. Follow the steps mentioned in the step 13 for the file AeXInvSoln.ini located in the install path\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86 folder.
    
    Note: The AeXInvSoln.ini file is used for the manual and stand-alone inventory, whereas the AeXInvSolnAdm2.ini file is used for inventory by the Altiris Agent.

The updated settings help capture all the versions of the software and identify computers running the older version of the software and those without the software installed.

Analyze Information about My Environment

After you have gathered inventory data, you can use reports to analyze that data. This section contains the following topics:

• Using Vista Readiness Reports to Assess Hardware Readiness
• Using Reports to Assess Software Applications
• Using Reports to Assess User Data

Using Vista Readiness Reports to Assess Hardware Readiness

Inventory Solution for Windows 6.1 SP2 release provides various reports for identifying target computers that are Vista ready. The SP2 release also provides the reports for finding information about the required hardware and software resources for upgrading to Vista.

Following is a list of available reports:

• Reports for resource information on Vista computers
  
  • Computers with Free Memory Slots. This report displays information about computers that are having free memory slots.
  • Computers with too Little Disk. This report displays information about computers that does not meet the disk space requirement for the operating system upgrade.
  • Count of Computers Requiring Resources. This report displays information about computers that do not meet the hardware requirements, such as CPU speed, disk size, free disk space, and RAM for the operating system upgrade.
  Note: For upgrading to Vista, you have to select Vista as the operating system for the Operating System Upgrade Target parameter in the report.
• Reports for information on Vista readiness
  
  • Windows Vista Upgrade Cost Analysis. This report displays information about the cost incurred on upgrading to Windows Vista.
  • Count of WinNT/2000/XP/2003/Vista Computers without Update 'X'. This report displays information about the computers that do not have specified operating system update.
  • Distinct WinNT/2000/XP/2003/Vista Updates by Computer. This report displays information about the computers having the operating system update.

Using the Windows Vista Upgrade Cost Analysis report, you find target computers that are ready for Vista upgrade.

To decide the target computers for Vista readiness, the report analyzes various hardware and software resources, such as CPU, Disk, Memory, and operating system that are available on the target computer. The reports also analyzes the cost, which is based on the various parameters, such as support staff rate, operating system license cost, upgrade license cost, time of new operating system install, time for upgrade, time for system upgrades, and so on to determine the cost that is incurred on upgrading to Vista.

To find target computers for Vista Readiness

1. In the Altiris Console 6.5, select View > Reports.
2. In the left pane, select Reports > Assets and Inventory > Inventory > Windows > Upgrade Analysis > Windows Upgrade > Windows Vista Upgrade Cost Analysis.
3. In the right pane, click the Run this report link.

   A list of computer resources with their default values appears.

   Note: The default values of each resource parameter are considered for upgrading to the Windows Vista Premium version.

   You can modify the default parameter values to customize the search of target computers for other Vista versions.

4. Click the link corresponding to Collection, and select the required collection.
   
   Note: By default, the All 32-bit Windows Computers collection is selected.

   The All 32-bit Windows Computers collection provides information about all 32-bit target computers that are ready for Vista upgrade. You can select All 64-bit Windows Computers for 64-bit computers or All Computers for both 32-bit or 64-bit computers.

5. Click Refresh.

   A table with Category, Number of Computers, and Total Cost columns appears. In the Category table, you can view the Windows Vista Installed category with the information about the number of computers on which the Windows Vista operating system is installed.

   You can double-click the category to view the detailed information. The detailed information includes the Cost column that provides the cost required to upgrade the selected resource.

Using Reports to Assess Software Applications

The deployment reports help you understand which computers are new, which ones are no longer reporting current information, and the size of the inventory data being transmitted over the network.

The other reports provide details about the inventory data that is gathered.

View Reports on Inventory Data

Inventory Solution provides reports that help you analyze inventory data on your managed and unmanaged computers. You can customize these built-in reports or create new reports to meet your needs.

Inventory Solution also provides reports that let you discover which software applications in installed on target computers. Some of these reports are:

• Count of Microsoft Products
• Distinct Components and Versions
• Count of Operating System Type
• Count of Operating System, Version and Service Pack.

To view reports for Software applications

1. In the Altiris Console, select Reports > All Reports.
2. In the left pane, select Reports > Assets and Inventory > Inventory > Windows > Software/Applications.
3. In the right pane, a list of software application report categories appears.
4. In the right pane, right-click any report category and select Open. In the right pane, a list of reports in the selected category appears.
5. Right-click any report and select Open.
6. Click Run this Report.

To view report for software applications on target computers

1. In the Altiris Console, select Reports > All Reports.
2. In the left pane, select Reports > Assets and Inventory > Inventory > Windows > Software/Applications > Software.

   In the right pane, a list of software application reports appears.

3. In the right pane, right-click the Count of Products by Computer report and select Open.
4. Click Run this Report. A table with information about the collected inventory appears.
5. (Optional) Select different values for Collection, Domain, Computer Name, and Product Name, and click the Refresh button to display the information.
6. Check the Product Name, and Number of Computers columns for information on count products available on target computers of selected collection.

Special Groups Summary Reports

These reports list the Special Groups mentioned in the AuditPls.ini file. The list also contains the Custom Special Groups, if any were created. The information about these Special Groups is collected from the Audit Software data class.

By double-clicking a Special Groups name, you can view its details in the form of summary reports.

To view Special Groups summary reports

1. In the Altiris Console, select View > Resources.
2. In the left pane, select Resource Management > Collections > Computer Collections > All Computers.

   In the right pane, a list of all the client computers connected to the Notification Server is displayed.

3. Right-click a client computer and select Resource Manager. The Resource Manager Console opens in a new window.
4. In the Resource Manager Console, click the Summaries tab.
5. In the left pane, select Resource Manager > Software Summary.

   All Special Groups, like Adobe, Microsoft Office, and Games, are listed in the right pane. The list also includes the Custom Special Groups, if any were created.

6. Double-click a report. A report page opens in a new window.

Using Reports to Assess User Data

The Disk Usage by File Extensions report in Inventory Solution displays information about the various types of files available on the disk of target computers and the disk usage by each type of the file. You can configure the inventory scanning task to display information of the specific file types and the disk usage by them. For details, See Customizing the Inventory Scan.

To view Disk Usage by File Extensions report

1. From the Altiris Console, apply the Software Inventory task to a collection of computers. See To enable the Software Inventory Task (page 9) or To enable the Hardware Inventory Task.
2. From the InstallPath\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86 directory, run the AeXInvSoln.exe file to collect inventory from target computers and report it to the Notification Server.
   
   Note: The inventory is collected into various files, created in the InstallPath\Altiris\eXpress\Inventory directory.
3. In the Altiris Console, select Reports > All Reports.
4. In the left pane, select Reports > Assets and Inventory > Inventory > Windows > Software/Applications > General Software.
5. In the General Software node, select the Disk Usage by File Extension report.
6. In the right pane, click the Run this report icon. A table with information about the collected inventory appears.
7. (Optional) Select different values for Collection, Domain, and Computer Name.
8. Check the Extension, Avg Disk Usage (MB), and Max Disk Usage (MB) columns for disk usage by file extensions information.