Jeff Gilbert's Web blog at myITforum.com

Importing Non-Microsoft License Data into the Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 Site Database

I'm updating the official documentation for this right now, but since there seems to be a lot of confusion about this process, I figured I'd post here as well. This way the information will be 'out there' before the next documentation update to the Web (planned for when Configuration Manager 2007 R2 RTM's).

First off, you can only do this with the Asset Intelligence feature included in Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 so if you are not running that stop reading and go upgrade your site!

Anyway, the quick intro to this is that by using the Asset Intelligence License Import Wizard included in ConfigMgr SP1, you can import both Microsoft and non-Microsoft software license information into the site database to help in inventorying the licensed software in use in your enterprise. You can then use Asset Intelligence reports to compare what you have versus what you paid for. Pretty handy.

NOTE: Microsoft MVLS license import files need to be in .xml format and non-Microsoft license import files need to be in .csv format to import the information into the site database.

Regardless of whether or not you're importing Microsoft MVLS license information or non-Microsoft software license information, the license information stored in the database is completely overwritten with the new values in the import file so make sure that the license file you import is all-inclusive or else you might lose some licenses already stored in the database.

This post isn't about importing MVLS license statements into the site database, but rather how to create your own "3^rd party", non-Microsoft license import file. That's not to say you can't have Microsoft software license information in the file, just that it's not a direct conversion from an MVLS license file.

So that's the preamble and here is a snippet from the topic with the procedure for importing non-Microsoft licenses using Microsoft Office Excel and the Asset Intelligence License Import Wizard:

The following procedure describes the process that can be used to create a non-Microsoft software license import file using Microsoft Office Excel.

To Create a non-Microsoft License Import File Using Microsoft Office Excel

1. Open Microsoft Office Excel and create a new spreadsheet.
2. On the first row of the new spreadsheet, enter all software license data field names.

   Note

   While all header fields must be defined on the first row, only the Name, Publisher, Version, and Effective Quantity fields are required to contain data on subsequent rows. All fields requiring a date formatted entry should be entered in the following format: Month/Day/Year as in this example: 8/4/2008.

3. On the second and subsequent rows of the new spreadsheet, enter software license information as required. Ensure that at least all of the required software license data fields are entered on subsequent rows for each software license to be imported. The software title name entered in the spreadsheet must be the same as the software title that is displayed in Resource Explorer for a client computer after hardware inventory has run.
4. From the Microsoft Office Excel file menu, save the file in .csv format.
5. Copy the .csv file to the file share that will be used to import software license information into the Asset Intelligence catalog using the Asset Intelligence License Import Wizard.
6. From within the Configuration Manager console, use the Asset Intelligence License Import Wizard to import the newly created .csv license information file.
7. Run the Asset Intelligence License 15A – Third Party Software Reconciliation Report to verify that the licensing information has been successfully imported into the Asset Intelligence catalog.

When everything is ready to go (with only the required fields filled in), your .csv should look something like this:

When viewed with notepad it looks like this:

Name,Publisher,Version,Language,EffectiveQuantity,PONumber,ResellerName,DateOfPurchase,SupportPurchased,SupportExpirationDate,Comments

Software Title 1,Software Publisher 1,1,,1,,,,,,

Software Title 2,Software Publisher 2,1,,2,,,,,,

Software Title 3,Software Publisher 3,1.1,,3,,,,,,

Software Title 4,Software Publisher 4,1.2,,4,,,,,,

Software Title 5,Software Publisher 5,1.3,,5,,,,,,

Software Title 6,Software Publisher 6,1.4,,6,,,,,,

Software Title 7,Software Publisher 7,1.5,,7,,,,,,

Software Title 8,Software Publisher 8,1.6,,8,,,,,,

Software Title 9,Software Publisher 9,1.7,,9,,,,,,

Software Title 10,Software Publisher 10,1.8,,10,,,,,,

I hope this helps!

Published Thursday, July 17, 2008 6:36 PM by jgilbert