Content of the audit snapshot

Audit snapshot is a record of license metric utilization in your enterprise over a period of time. It is generated on the All Metrics/All IBM Metrics report and its derivatives. It is downloaded to your computer as the audit_snapshot_date_time.zip file that contains a number of other files.

Note: To clarify terminology around product bundles, the following changes are introduced:
  • The name of the Cloud Paks and FlexPoints report is changed to Product Bundles.
  • The name of the Cloud Pak or FlexPoint Bundle column is changed to Product Bundle.
  • The Bundle column is added to the Products&Metrics report to easily identify which products are bundles.
Important: If you use the audit snapshot for integration of BigFix Inventory with external tools, base the integration on column names, not their order. The order of columns might change if new columns are added.

The content of the audit snapshot reflects the All Metrics report view from which it is generated. The audit_snapshot_date_time.zip package consists of two types of files:

  • General files that contain the metadata of the snapshot, the summary of the actions and comments related to the software classification, overview of part numbers, an inventory of software that has been installed during the reported period, and the audit controls.
  • Files with license metric utilization that contain information about the license utilization of your IBM products over time.

General files

File Content
audit_attachment.extension Optional.

A file that was attached during the creation of the snapshot. The file is listed in the checksums.txt file.

audit_comment.txt Optional.

Comments that were added during the creation of the snapshot. The file is listed in the checksums.txt file.

9.2.12 audit_snapshot_summary.csv Summary of all software products that were installed in your environment during the period for which the snapshot is generated and which are charged. The file contains information about:
  • License metric that is used by the product.
  • The highest number of metric units that the product used during the specified period.
  • Part numbers that represents products that you purchased.
  • The need to perform recalculation to update the metric quantity for the product.
audit_trails.csv Information about the:
  • Software classification actions
  • Uploads and imports of the PVU table, software catalog, and charge units
  • Changes to the VM managers
The file is not generated if the user who generates the snapshot does not have the permission to view audit trails. It is also not generated when the snapshot contains only products that use license metrics other than PVU and RVU MAPC. For example, when the snapshot contains only products that use the Install Seats metric.
bundling_definitions.csv Information about:
  • All IBM software regardless of its license type and utilization
  • License metric that each product uses.
  • Details of computers on which the software is installed
  • Software instances that were excluded from license usage calculations.
  • Information whether the classification was created manually by the user.
checksums.txt Checksums that are used to verify whether any files from the audit snapshot were tampered with.
Linux To verify the report files on Linux, run the following command:
sha256sum -c pvu_sub_capacity.csv
Windows To verify the report files on Windows, run the following command:
CertUtil -hashfile pvu_sub_capacity.csv SHA256
data_condition.txt Information about:
  • 9.2.9 Version of BigFix Inventory in which the snapshot was generated
  • Author of the snapshot
  • Date of the snapshot
  • Period that is covered by the snapshot
  • Version of the PVU table
  • Version of the software catalog
  • Status of aggregation and recalculation
  • Filters that are used on the reports
  • Attached file (optional)
  • 10.0.5 Date when BigFix Inventory was installed
  • Information about accuracy of data that represents infrastructure health during the period for which the snapshot was generated. The information includes the number of disconnected computers and percentage of computers with the following statuses: Delayed Data Upload, Outdated Scan, Missing Software Scan.
part_numbers.csv Part numbers that are listed in the software catalog for software products included in any of the CSV report files.
pub_key.pem Public key file that can be used to verify the signature.rsa file against the checksums.txt file.
signature.rsa A digital signature that can be used to verify whether the checksums.txt file was tampered with. To verify the file, you can use OpenSSL.
Linux To verify the checksums.txt file on Linux, run the following command:
openssl dgst -sha256 -verify pub_key.pem 
-signature signature.rsa checksums.txt
Windows To verify the checksums.txt file on Windows, run the following command:
openssl -sha256 -verify pub_key.pem 
-signature file signature.rsa checksums.txt
suppressed_software_instances.csv The file contains a list of suppressed software instances that were present in the environment during the period for which the snapshot was generated.

Files with license metric utilization

The following files are included in an audit snapshot and contain license utilization data of your IBM products. An audit snapshot can contain each of these files, or can be limited.

The content of the audit snapshot reflects the report view from which it is generated. If you apply filters on the All Metrics report or its derivatives, the audit snapshot is limited to the filtered data only. For example, if you filter the report to show only a specific metric type, such as PVU subcapacity, audit snapshot only contains the pvu_sub_capacity.csv file. In this case, files with other metrics are not included. Notice, that there is one exception from this rule. When you filter the report to show Product Bundles or Product Bundles, the audit snapshot reports the license utilization of the entire bundles or paks as well as the license utilization of their underlying components. The products_daily_<start_date>_<end_date>_<LMT_server_FQDN>.csv file is always generated, regardless of the filters.

File Content
10.0.2 cloud_paks.csv Information about:
  • Product Bundles
  • Software products that are installed as part of Product Bundles
9.2.16 flexpoints.csv Information about:
  • Software licensed per number of FlexPoints
  • Details of software products that are licensed under the Product Bundles
9.2.7 install_instances.csv Information about:
  • Software licensed per number of installed instances
  • 9.2.13 Product Bundle offerings to which products and their components are bundled
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
9.2.5 install_seats.csv Information about:
  • Software licensed per number of computers on which it is installed
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
9.2.8 microsoft_dual_physical_processor.csv Information about:
  • Microsoft software that is licensed for the number of active physical processors
  • Utilization of the metric
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
9.2.8 microsoft_single_physical_processor.csv Information about:
  • Microsoft software that is licensed for the number of active physical processors
  • Utilization of the metric
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
9.2.7 microsoft_physical_core_with_sa.csv Information about:
  • Microsoft software that has Software Assurance and is licensed for the number of physical cores
  • Utilization of the metric
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
9.2.7 microsoft_virtual_core_with_sa.csv Information about:
  • Microsoft software that has Software Assurance and is licensed for the number of virtual cores
  • Utilization of the metric
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
9.2.8 oracle_processor_core.csv Information about:
  • Oracle software that is licensed for the number of physical cores
  • Utilization of the metric
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
pvu_full_capacity.csv Information about:
  • PVU software and its PVU utilization under full capacity license
  • 9.2.13 Product Bundle offerings to which products and their components are bundled
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
pvu_sub_capacity.csv Information about:
  • PVU software and its PVU utilization under subcapacity license
  • 9.2.13 Product Bundle offerings to which products and their components are bundled
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
9.2.13 registered_user.csv Information about:
  • Software that is licensed for the number of registered users
  • Utilization of the metric
  • Details of users who used or registered the software when the metric quantity was the highest
rvu_full_capacity.csv Information about:
  • RVU software and its RVU MAPC utilization under full capacity license
  • 9.2.13 Product Bundle offerings to which products and their components are bundled
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
rvu_sub_capacity.csv Information about:
  • RVU software and its RVU MAPC utilization under subcapacity license
  • 9.2.13 Product Bundle offerings to which products and their components are bundled
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
9.2.11 vpc_capacity.csv Information about:
  • VPC software and its VPC utilization
  • 9.2.13 Product Bundle offerings to which products and their components are bundled
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
pvu_warm_standby.csv The files contain the following information:
  • Software licensed under the particular license
  • Product Bundles or other bundles to which products and their components are bundled
  • Details of computers on which the software was installed when the metric quantity was the highest
vpc_warm_standby.csv
products_daily_<start_date>_<end_date>_<server_FQDN>.csvWhere:
start_date
Start date of the time range selected on the All Metrics report.
end_date
End date of the time range selected on the All Metrics report.
server_FQDN
Fully qualified domain name of the License Metric Tool server on which the snapshot was generated.
The file contains daily values of license metric utilization for products that were visible on the All Metrics report when the audit snapshot was generated. It provides a separate entry for every unique license offering (product and license metric record from the All Metrics report) for each day of the reporting period.

The purpose of this file is to allow for consolidating data from License Metric Tool and License Service to obtain overall license consumption across containerized and not-containerized environments.

To ensure seamless consolidation of data, names of the columns in the file are not translated.

Files for integration with IBM Cloud Platform Common Services

File Content
products_daily_<start_date><end_date><server_FQDN>.csv
  • start_date is the time range selected on the All Metrics reports .
  • end_date time range selected on the All Metrics report.
  • server_FQDN is the fully qualified domain name of the BigFix Inventory server on which the snapshot was generated.
The file contains daily values of license metric utilization for products that were visible on the All Metrics report when the audit snapshot was generated. It provides a separate entry for every unique license offering (product and license metric record from the All Metrics report) for each day during the reporting period. The purpose of this file is to allow for consolidating data from BigFix Inventory about IBM software in IBM Cloud Platform Common Services.