M100879: Generating correct Microsoft SQL Server inventory in a ManageSoft environment

Overview

Installer evidence returned for various editions and components of Microsoft SQL Server is not adequate to differentiate those systems. In a ManageSoft environment, we can provide specialized inventory to correctly identify SQL Server.

This enhanced inventory is generated via a tracker plugin called cmtrack.dll. If this file is present on the managed device, additional inventory is generated for Microsoft SQL Server that is more accurate than the installer evidence or file evidence.

Importing the correct inventory data into ManageSoft Compliance Manager will give an accurate overview of Microsoft SQL Server installations in your organization.

Prerequisites

• ManageSoft Deployment Manager for administration servers, release 7.6.4 or later. (Releases up to and including 7.9.0 must be patched for compatibility with ManageSoft Compliance Manager. This patch is available from the ManageSoft\Patchesfolder on the Compliance Manager product DVD.)
• ManageSoft Deployment Manager for distribution servers, release 7.9 or later.
• ManageSoft for managed devices, release 7.9 or later.
• ManageSoft Compliance Manager (release 7.8.6 or later is recommended releases prior to 7.8.6 require a customization. Please see below for more information.)
• ManageSoft Application Recognition Library, release 205 or later.

Procedure

To set up inventory generation, follow these steps:

1. Download and save the .zip file linked at the bottom of this article.
2. Extract the package contained in the .zip file.
3. On the ManageSoft administration server, import the package into your software library. (For more information please refer to the ManageSoft Software Deployment Guidesupplied with Deployment Manager.)
4. Add the package to your policy so it is rolled out to clients. (For more information, please refer to the same manual.)
5. At the next inventory gather, you will begin to see the new inventory appear in Deployment Manager reports.
6. For release 7.8.6 and earlier releases of ManageSoft Compliance Manager, please ensure that, before you import the inventory into ManageSoft Compliance Manager, you have followed the steps outlined in the Additional customization section below.
7. Before you import inventory into ManageSoft Compliance Manager, ensure that you have ARL release 205 or later installed. Release 205 is the earliest ARL version that can detect the new inventory. The ARL is normally updated automatically by a scheduled task. To check the version currently installed, run the following SQL command in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio, using your Compliance Manager database:
   

   select * from SoftwareRecognitionImport

8. Follow the regular procedure to import inventory into ManageSoft Compliance Manager.

If this procedure is followed correctly, you should see the new software titles in ManageSoft Compliance Manager with correct install counts.

Validation

To confirm cmtrack.dll is working, ensure the managed device's inventory log contains an entry with the text &quotCompliance Manager tracker plugin started&quot. This message appears once each time inventory is gathered. The inventory log by default is saved in C:\Windows\Temp\ManageSoft\tracker.log (when the inventory is run by the schedule agent).

Limitations

• Instance names are not imported at this time, although the information is collected by the enhanced inventory agent.
• The plugin must be rolled out again after a managed device upgrade.
• No Itanium editions of Microsoft SQL are recognized (for more information, see http://www.microsoft.com/servers/64bit/itanium/overview.mspx).

Troubleshooting

If you receive no additional inventory, but are expecting additional inventory to appear, check your managed device version. This tracker plugin has been tested only on managed devices of release 7.9 and later.

Next, perform the validation check (see above) by inspecting the log files on relevant managed devices to ensure that the plug-in has been installed correctly and is operational.

Additional information about the tracker plugin

The tracker plugin generates additional inventory for:

MSSQL 2005:

• Database instances, Analysis Services, Reporting Services, and Client Tools, are detected and returned (as WMI evidence).
• Inventory is generated for 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) editions when t