Lesson 3: Managing software and generating audit snapshots per computer group

Available from 9.2.2. After you create computer groups in BigFix Inventory, you can manage software and generate audit snapshot separately for each computer group.

Procedure

Log in to BigFix Inventory.
- If software in all computer groups is managed by one person, log in as the user that has access to all computer groups, for example the Administrator.
- If software in each group is managed by a different person, log in as the user with access only to the computer group that represents the first BigFix subcapacity region.
If you have a file with part numbers related to the software that is installed in this region, upload the file.
1. Click Management > Part Numbers Upload.
2. Select the computer group for which you want to upload the part numbers. In this case, select Americas.
3. Browse for the file with part numbers and provide a comment to the uploaded file. Then, click Upload.
4. To make the part numbers available in BigFix Inventory, wait for the scheduled import or run it manually.
To bundle the software, click Reports > Software Classification. The panel contains software from all computer groups to which the user that you used to log in has access. Assign each component to a product, exclude, or suppress the instances that should not be included in the metric calculation, and confirm your actions. For more information, see: Software classification.
When you finish bundling the software, generate the audit snapshot for this region.
- If you logged in as a user with access to multiple computer groups, open the Computer Groups report, and click the computer group that represents the first BigFix subcapacity region. Then, in the upper left corner, select All IBM Metrics or IBM PVU Subcapacity.
  
  The report that opens contains information only about software that is installed on the computers in North and South America. Click Audit Snapshot. Provide a comment to the generated snapshot and upload any related files. Then, click Generate.
- If you logged in as a user with access only to the computer group that represents the first BigFix subcapacity region, open the All IBM Metrics or IBM PVU Subcapacity report, and click Audit Snapshot. Provide a comment to the generated snapshot and upload any related files. Then, click Generate

Results

You generated the audit snapshot with information about PVU consumption in the first BigFix subcapacity region: North and South America.

What to do next

Bundle software and generate audit snapshots for the remaining regions in which you have BigFix software installed. For every product, sum up the PVU values from all regions. The value that you obtain is the overall PVU usage for the particular product. This value might be different from the value that you obtain when you generate a single audit snapshot for the All Computers group. For more information, see: BigFix subcapacity regions.