Software Detection
Software detections comprise information on files on the hard drives in your computers and Windows system registry entries. The Software products library is used to create a list of installed products based on the data detected.
Before you run your first detection, load the current library version in Software – Software products library – Load updated library. We recommend loading the library directly from the Internet.
Note: If you can not load software products library directly from the Internet due to Internet connection, download the current files first: save them to hard drive and then load them to database using the Software – Software products library – Load updated library command.
Tip: If you enable the option Detect if the software product library is up-to-date automatically on the General tab in the application Settings, the system will check for new library versions automatically whenever you open the Console.
Before you run a software detection, you will need to save all computers that you wish to detect in the tree. Creating the object type Computer in the tree is fully sufficient. Running hardware detections is not necessary.
Also, please refer to Hardware and Software Detection for more information on how to run detections.
Once the Collector has run the detection and loads the detection results in the database, the detection results are automatically evaluated based on the Software products library and the Collector updates the Installation Registry. This is why we first loaded the most recent library version.
Note: The application will identify to ALVAO service by data contained in the activation key after loading the library.
Tip: If the system does not detect some applications and unrecognized records are displayed on the Software tab, select the unrecognized records and select Send SW for identification... from the context menu. A wizard will open where you can provide additional information regarding the unrecognized records. Once the wizard is completed, a new request will be created which will be sent by the Collector to our technicians. They will add the unrecognized products to the standard library. The updated library will then be available for download from the Internet in the Software – Software products library – Load updated library menu. Once the new library has been downloaded and the respective detections re-evaluated, all records will be recognized.
Note: The Installation Registry is only updated automatically according to the software detection if this option is enabled in the Detection Settings for the respective machine.
Tip: A quick overview of the software installed in a specific machine or in a specific organizational part can be obtained on the Software tab in the Main Console Window.
Installations Registry
The Installation Registry keeps track of which program (software product) has been installed or uninstalled, along with the information on when and by whom the respective action was performed. The Installation Registry can also maintain any information on activations, configurations etc. If software detections are run regularly, the records of software installations and uninstallations are created automatically in the Installation Registry to make sure the current status of the Installation Registry corresponds to the status based on the detections.
You can open the Installation Registry either from the main menu in Software – Installation Registry, or by right-clicking on a computer in the tree and selecting Software – Installation Registry from the context menu.
In either case, the Installation Registry window opens with the list of records stored in the Installation Registry. You can edit this list with the buttons on the right-hand side of the window.
Manual Installation Registry Updates
Whenever you run the software detection, the Installation Registry will be updated automatically to ensure that the Installation Registry corresponds to the detected status. If you need to update the Installation Registry manually, you can disable the Auto update in the Detection Settings (see Detection Settings) by unchecking the option Software detection – Update Installation Registry.
Follow the steps below to update the Installation Registry manually after a software detection run:
- Go to the Main Console Window, click on the Detection tab in the top-right corder of the window, select the respective detection, right-click on the detection and select Software – Compare to installation status from the context menu.
- The Installation Registry vs. Software detection window opens with an overview of differences between the selected software detection and the Installation Registry status.
- In this window, select all changes that you wish to apply on the Installation Registry and click on the Create missing records button.
You can also write any records to the Installation Registry manually directly in the Installation Registry window.
Installation Log
The Installation Registry has the function of an installation log in compliance with the Czech Government Decree 624/01 which applies to Ministries and other Government Authorities in the Czech Republic. If you want to ensure compliance with this Decree, we recommend that you leave the Auto update of the Installation Registry based on software detection enabled. The person responsible for software installations in your company should authorize the installation records created automatically by providing his/her name as the person who installed or uninstalled the respective software product.
On the Software, tab displaying an overview of SW products on specific computer, you can view the Approved installation column. If there is Yes in the column, the installation has been authorized (approved) by a specific person.
You can view the Installed by column, the installation date and the employee who executed it, on the same spot. If the license has been assigned automatically, this item is not filled in.
The license can be approved by two methods:
- By license allocation – if the license is assigned by a person (not automatically), this person is also the one who executed and approved the installation.
- By manual authorization – on the Software tab you can approve the installation for the selected products (even batch approve it) using the Edit command from the context menu.
Note: The license is not required for legal usage of some products (e.g. freeware). If the ordinance should be fulfilled when such product is detected, the corresponding employee must also authorize it manually, though the product has no license assigned.
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