SNOW LICENSE MANAGER 8 CORE CHANGES OVERVIEW
Product Snow License Manager
Version 8.0
Document date 2016-05-16
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CONTENTS 1 ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT ......................................................................................................................... 3
2 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................ 3
3 CONCEPTUAL CHANGES ........................................................................................................................... 4
3.1 METRICS AND ASSIGNMENT TYPES .................................................................................................................. 4 3.2 MAINTENANCE PERIODS ............................................................................................................................... 5
4 FEATURE CHANGES .................................................................................................................................. 7
4.1 WEB USER INTERFACE ................................................................................................................................. 7 4.2 SNOW MANAGEMENT AND CONFIGURATION CENTER ........................................................................................ 7 4.3 WEB API .................................................................................................................................................. 7 4.4 REPORTS ................................................................................................................................................... 7 4.5 ACTIVE DIRECTORY DISCOVERY ...................................................................................................................... 9 4.6 NOTIFICATIONS .......................................................................................................................................... 9 4.7 SAVED SEARCHES ........................................................................................................................................ 9 4.8 LICENSE IMPORTS ....................................................................................................................................... 9 4.9 COMPUTER IMPORT .................................................................................................................................. 11 4.10 AD INTEGRATION ..................................................................................................................................... 11 4.11 WEBSITE CONFIGURATION .......................................................................................................................... 12 4.12 CUSTOM STORED PROCEDURES ................................................................................................................... 12
5 APPENDIX .............................................................................................................................................. 13
5.1 LICENSE FORM AND TYPE TO METRIC AND ASSIGNMENT TYPE MAPPING ................................................................ 13 5.2 CHANGES TO SNOW LICENSE MANAGER’S SQL DATABASE FIELDS AND TABLES ...................................................... 14
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1 ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT This document provides an overview of enhancements in Snow License Manager 8 that need to be considered when upgrading from Snow License Manager 7.
2 INTRODUCTION Snow License Manager 8 introduces a number of core changes to functions as well as the appearance as compared to Snow License Manager 7. Some of these changes have an impact that will require intervention to migrate custom data after an upgrade. Also, there is functionality that has been deprecated and no longer supported in Snow License Manager 8. This document outlines the different areas that have been impacted.
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3 CONCEPTUAL CHANGES
3.1 METRICS AND ASSIGNMENT TYPES In Snow License Manager 8, compliance capabilities have been expanded to handle more complex licensing situations.
Due to this, in Snow License Manager 8 the properties “license Form” and “license type” have been replaced by a new concept of “metrics” and “assignment types”. Metrics allow multiple ways of calculating license usage to apply to each application, increasing licensing functionality of the system.
This allows us to use licenses based on different metrics at the same time, for the same product. For example, I could have bought licenses based on processer cores and separately bought licenses based on installations for the same product and still have both of these metrics used to calculate compliance. We can also perform other complicated calculations, such as assignment of a license purchase of X number of processors to Y number of computers/servers/DCC, partial coverage of processors/cores, and more.
“Assignment type” allows more flexibility in how a license can be assigned, ultimately saving time and reducing the complexity for the user.
These enhancements can impact some customizations that have been made to the system and will be outlined below.
Example of the difference between Snow License Manager 7 and Snow License Manager 8:
Snow License Manager 7 Snow License Manager 8
License Form is set on each application
e.g. Based on installations
Default Metric is set on each application
e.g. Based on installations
License Type is set on a license
e.g. Named computer
Metric and Assignment Type are set on a license
e.g. combination of Metric = Installations and Assignment Type = Computer/datacenter
For details of which license types map to their equivalent metric and assignment types, see section 5.1.
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Snow License Manager 7 – License form and license type
Snow License Manager 8 – Metric, default metric, and assignment type
3.2 MAINTENANCE PERIODS In Snow License Manager 8, you can assign multiple maintenance and support periods to the same license, and each individual period can be configured to have upgrade rights as well as costs. This change has been done in order to make it easier for users to keep track of the costs related to maintenance and support on a per period basis, as well as understand the whole cost of a license over time.
Also relevant to name here is that the terms “Automatic downgrade” and “Automatic upgrade” have been changed in Snow License Manager 8 to “Downgrade rights” and “Upgrade rights”.
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Example of the difference between Snow License Manager 7 and Snow License Manager 8:
Snow License Manager 7 Snow License Manager 8
Automatic upgrade for license
e.g. based on installations
Maintenance and support tab with multiple periods and cost management each with upgrade rights
e.g. based on installations
License Type set on license
e.g. Named computer
Combination of metric on license and Assignment Type
e.g. Metric = Installations and Assignment Type = computer/datacenter
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4 FEATURE CHANGES
4.1 WEB USER INTERFACE The following changes have been made to the Snow License Manager 8 web user interface:
Widgets and reports related to compliance calculations will only show information generated after the upgrade to Snow License Manager 8. Historical compliance information will still be found in the 'Application compliance legacy history' report.
Quick search and RSS functionality have been deprecated.
4.2 SNOW MANAGEMENT AND CONFIGURATION CENTER The report building functionality in Snow Management and Configuration Center has been deprecated from Snow License Manager 8.
4.3 WEB API The Snow License Manager API has been enhanced both in terms of functionality and performance. A number of properties in the Snow License Manager web API have been deprecated and new properties have been added. In addition, some URI’s have been added, changed or removed. If you have custom integrations with Snow License Manager that utilize the Snow License Manager web API, they may need to be reviewed.
4.4 REPORTS
4.4.1 SUMMARY
Due to the enhancements outlined above, some of the data that is presented in the report fields contain more information than they previously did (for example: the total license cost field now includes support and maintenance cost). Some report criteria have also been updated.
The criteria and field changes affect any report created through the Snow MACC or a customized SQL script that uses such criteria or fields. These reports will remain in the database after the upgrade but will need to be validated and corrected if necessary. These changes are migrated automatically for any standard report saved from the web user interface.
Finally, due to the enhancements made to compliance by our introduction of “metrics” and “assignment types”, all reports presenting compliance statistics will show information from after the upgrade to Snow License Manager 8. Compliance statistics from the previous version can be found in the 'Application compliance legacy history' report.
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4.4.2 FIELD CHANGES
These changes impact on how a field functions:
4.4.2.1 DATA FIELD CHANGES
Licenses
Total license cost Total license cost includes support and maintenance cost
Applications
AD group Assignment AD group assignment has been removed
Average cost per license includes support and maintenance cost
Total license cost includes support and maintenance cost
Default metric replaces License form
Total license cost includes support and maintenance cost
Risk calculations based on the Total license cost
4.4.2.2 CRITERIA FIELD CHANGES BY REPORT
Report Name Criteria Name Change Replaced by
All agreements ComputerStatusCode Removed
All computers using Red Hat RPM's but not using Red Hat operating system
LastScanDate Removed
Applications per computer LicensingForm Replaced by Default Metric
Compliance overview per organisation LicenseCount Replaced by Quantity
Compliance overview per organisation LicensingFormReq Replaced by DefaultMetricReq
Compliance overview per organisation OperatingSystem Removed
Compliance overview summary LicenseCount Removed Quantity
Compliance overview summary LicensingFormReq Removed DefaultMetricReq
Computer applications history LicensingForm Removed Metric
License allocation overview LicensingFormReq Removed Metric
Mobile device relations per agreement ContractName Removed AgreementName
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4.5 ACTIVE DIRECTORY DISCOVERY The report 'Active Directory Discovery' in Snow License Manager 7 has been renamed to 'Computers that are not inventoried'. This report has been changed due to preparations for new features coming in Inventory 5.0. Nevertheless, the report in Snow License Manager 8 will still show the AD discovery information like in Snow License Manager 7.
Also, the Discovery widget in the Snowboard has been enhanced so that it shows other relevant information. Therefore, if this widget is available in a Snowboard, it will be empty after upgrade. The user can easily edit it, and decide afterwards what information is relevant to show.
4.6 NOTIFICATIONS Due to the compliance enhancements utilizing our new “metrics” and “assignments types” outlined above, license and application-related notifications using the affected settings will have to be recreated after upgrading to Snow License Manager 8.
4.7 SAVED SEARCHES Due to the compliance enhancements utilizing our new “metrics” and “assignments types” outlined above, searches saved in a previous version of Snow License Manager will have to be recreated in Snow License Manager 8.
4.8 LICENSE IMPORTS
4.8.1 SUMMARY
Due to the new license metrics, license imports based on application name and license type will need to be remapped to match the new metric settings available in Snow License Manager 8. This does not affect license imports based on SKU.
Automated procedures need to be adjusted to the new format. To do this, revisit the field mapping in the Snow License Manager Web Configurator to ensure that the target fields that have been changed still map to the correct place. As well as rename the affected fields and columns in any import files. A list of field changes is available in section 4.8.2. As well, a list of the mapping between license form and metric can be found in appendix 5.1.
See the below examples of remapping fields between Snow License Manager 7 and 8:
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4.8.2 FIELD CHANGES
These fields have been changed. Any existing import process needs to be aligned with the new Snow License Manager 8 column definitions below:
Snow License Manager 7 column Snow License Manager 8 column
Notes
License type Metric
Assignment type
Site License Coverage Assignment type (Site) This column is now handled within the assignment type (‘Site’)
Subscription start Subscription valid from
Subscription end Subscription valid to
Total purchase amount Purchase price
Activate Automatic downgrade Downgrade rights
Activate automatic upgrade (SA) Maintenance includes upgrade rights
SA uses agreement period Maintenance according to agreement
SA valid from Maintenance and support valid from
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Snow License Manager 7 column Snow License Manager 8 column
Notes
SA valid to Maintenance and support valid to
Named computer Deprecated, instead a license assignment import is available
Notes Purchase notes
Invoice reference Purchase invoice reference
Maintenance cost New
Support cost New
Maintenance and support notes
New
Maintenance and support invoice
New
Site License Coverage New
Cross Edition Rights New
4.9 COMPUTER IMPORT
Snow License Manager 7 column Snow License Manager 8 column
Notes
PVU PVU per core Renamed
4.10 AD INTEGRATION
4.10.1 SUMMARY
The installation and uninstallation of software through the Snow License Manager AD integration has been deprecated in Snow License Manager 8. It has been replaced by Snow Automation Platform which has enhanced capabilities to support this process.
4.10.2 DETAILED CHANGES
Install and uninstall application functionality has been removed from Computer Details. In Computer details and on the 'Other settings' tab, 'Active Directory group assignment' has
been removed. All applications report/list – 'AD group Assignment' has been removed from the Column
selector.
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4.11 WEBSITE CONFIGURATION Snow License Manager 8 will install a new Web site as part of the upgrade replacing configuration changes previously applied to Snow License Manager 7.
Before upgrading, create a backup of the existing web.config file from the Snow License Manager 7 website to retain any configuration changes. Please apply manually the desired changes to the Snow License Manager 8 web.config file.
4.12 CUSTOM STORED PROCEDURES
4.12.1 SUMMARY
Changes have been made to the database schema in Snow License Manager 8. Custom stored procedures will need to be updated if they have been affected by any of the changes. For a detailed list of all database field and table changes, see section 5.2.
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5 APPENDIX
5.1 LICENSE FORM AND TYPE TO METRIC AND ASSIGNMENT TYPE MAPPING
Snow License Manager 7 License Form
Snow License Manager 7 License Type
Snow License Manager 8 License Type (Metric) Assignment type
Based on installations Installations Installation Organisation
Based on installations Site - -
Based on installations Named Computer Installation Computer/Datacenter
Based on installations Number of Processors Processor Computer/Datacenter
Based on installations Number of Processor Cores Processor Core Computer/Datacenter
Based on installations DCC Installation Computer/Datacenter
Based on installations DCC (Processors) Processor Computer/Datacenter
Based on installations DCC (Processor Cores) Processor Core Computer/Datacenter
Based on installations CAL CAL Organisation
Based on installations Named Users Installation User
Based on users Users User User
Based on users Named Users User User
Based on devices Device Device Organisation
Based on concurrent user Concurrent User Concurrent User Organisation
Based on concurrent devices Concurrent Device Concurrent Device Organisation
Based on PVU PVU PVU Organisation
Based on Custom compare Value CCV CCV Organisation
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5.2 CHANGES TO SNOW LICENSE MANAGER’S SQL DATABASE FIELDS AND TABLES
5.2.1 CHANGED FIELDS
Table Name Field Name Change Replaced by
tblApplicationInfo UserMetricSetting Replaced by MetricSetting
tblApplicationStoreData ReharvestOption Replaced by UninstallOption
tblApplicationStoreData ReharvestDayLimit Replaced by DaysUntilUninstall
tblApplicationStoreData DaysUntilUninstallNotification Replaced by ReharvestNotifyWithin
tblApplicationStoreData ReharvestExtendSubscriptionDays Replaced by SubscriptionExtensionsDays
tblLicense IsCrossEdition Removed
tblLicense IsCrossPlatform Removed
tblLicenseEntitlement LicenseType Replaced by AssignmentType
tblLicenseEntitlement Entitlement Replaced by Quantity
tblSKURepository LicenseType Replaced by AssignmentType
tblSystemUserAlerts Rss Removed
5.2.2 REPLACED TABLES
Snow License Manager 7 Table Name Snow License Manager 8 Table Name
tblActiveDirectoryComputers tblComputerDiscovery
tblCompliance tblComplianceSummary
tblComplianceApplicationGrants tblComplianceLicense
tblComplianceDCCCoverage tblComplianceLicense
tblComplianceExtendedCoverageDeduction tblComplianceMetric
tblComplianceNamedComputerCoverage tblComplianceLicense
tblComplianceSiteDeduction tblComplianceCoverage
tblComplianceTransfer tblLicenseTransferSummary
tblComplianceVirtualCoverage tblComplianceCoverage
tblLicenseVirtualLink tblLicenseUseRightSettings
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5.2.3 REMOVED TABLES
Table Name
tblApplicationADActions
tblComplianceApplicationGrantsWork
tblComplianceAppVersioningWork
tblComplianceDCCCoverageWork
tblComplianceNamedComputerCoverageWork
tblComplianceOEMCoverage
tblComplianceTransferWork
tblComplianceVirtualCoverageWork
tblComplianceWork
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