Purchased Software License Compliance from Start to Dashboard, Part 1

Part 1 of this article is intended to guide you through the process of creating a software purchase, software license and tying them together for compliance reports.

Part 2 of the article will walk you through creating a web part, portal page and then a "Dashboard" for easy viewing of software compliance for your management and helpdesk teams.

This article assumes you have Contract Management Solution 6.5 installed.

To make the collections do the following:

Go to View>resources>collections> and right click to create new collection.

Click to view.

Name the collection, make the membership automatic.

Click to view.

Under resource type choose computer and create a filter based on add/remove programs.

Click to view.

Hit OK then apply. Repeat steps for all purchased software you want to create software purchases and licenses to meter.

I. Creating a new Software Purchase Resource.

1. Go to https://localhost/Altiris/Console/
2. Then navigate to Manage -> Contract Management.
   
   

   Click to view.

3. From there breakdown the tree structure, Contract Management -> Contract Types -> Software Licensing. Then run the software purchase.
   
   

   Click to view.

4. Press the star to create a new resource. This will generate a pop up window.
   
   
5. Fill out the form your desired information as shown below.

   Software Purchase Name: Name of Software
   Purchase Date: Date in which the software was purchased.
   Description: Description of the Software
   Product Name: Name of the Product
   Version: Version of the Software
   Quantity: The number of software licenses purchased.

   

   Click to view.

6. Press Apply, then done when finished with the form.

II. Creating the Win32 License

1. From there breakdown the tree structure on the main screen go to, Contract Management -> Contract Types -> Software Licensing -> Software Licenses. You can then select Win32 License.
   
   

   Click to view.

2. Click the star to create a new resource. A pop up window will generate.
   
   
3. On for the form fill out the following information on the General Tab.

   License Type: This should be Per Installed Node.
   Description: This should be the description of the software.
   Start Date: This should be when the license was purchased.
   End Date: This would be when the license expires.
   Press the check mark to mark that it was approved.

   

   Click to view.

4. Select the Software Installs tab. Press Add in the Software License Search Rules section. Fill out the File name with the executable on the end users machine and version if desired. Next choose the Scope Collection as it would install on the users system. The scope collection is the collection you created earlier based on the add/remove programs and assist with providing accurate data for the *.exe you are metering only under that collection and thus not pulling in other versions of the software.
   
   Note this is important because it will search end users machines and pull back all installed copies for the reports
   

   Click to view.

5. Software Purchase Search Rule:

   Searches for and creates an association with any software purchase contracts with the text specified in the rule, then adds them to the Software Purchases list. Click Add new to add a new rule.

   Add the name and version of the software.

   

   Click to view.