[BESAdmin-Announcements] IBM License Metric Tool application update 9.2.21 is now available!

[Announcements for BES Administrators]

This update introduces a new way of updating the PVU table and includes 
the following key features:

IMPORTANT: New way of updating the PVU table
Starting with this application update, the PVU table is delivered only 
with the installer of the License Metric Tool server. To stay up to date 
with the quarterly updates of the PVU table, upgrade the License Metric 
Tool server. Regular upgrade of the server ensures correctness of 
reporting by maintaining currency of elements such as the PVU table, the 
software catalog and the license calculation logic.
Due to the new way of delivering the PVU table, the Metric Table Upload 
panel is removed from License Metric Tool. It is also not possible to 
upload the PVU table to older application updates of License Metric Tool 
as the table is no longer published externally.
In rare cases, when you cannot upgrade the License Metric Tool server but 
you need to align the PVU table with the latest values, you can manually 
change the PVU per core value. For more information, see the License 
Metric Tool documentation. 

Benefits: Simpler process of staying up to date and ensuring currency of 
all elements that are required for accurate reporting.


Enhanced dashboard: new and updated statuses for improved overview of 
infrastructure and scan health
The following changes are introduced on the License Metric Tool dashboard: 

NEW: The Delayed Data Upload status is added to the Deployment Health 
widget. It is displayed for computers that have not uploaded new data to 
the License Metric Tool server for more than 10 days. 
NEW: The Old Scanner Version status is added to the Deployment Health 
widget. It is displayed for computers on which the scanner should be 
upgraded.
NEW: The Outdated Scan status is added on the Capacity Scan Health widget. 
The status is displayed for computers on which capacity scans are failing 
or have not been scheduled. 
UPDATED: The Missing Scan status on the Software Scan Health widget is 
updated. It is now displayed for computers on which the last successful 
software scan is older than 40 days. 
Benefits: The dashboard provides a better overview of scan and 
infrastructure health allowing for quick identification of issues. 

Improved way of declaring software entitlements
The following enhancements are introduced on the Products & Metrics report 
to facilitate declaring and updating software entitlements:
You can set and clear software entitlements for multiple products.
You can view and edit software entitlements per computer group. 
Due to a close correlation between importing part numbers and setting 
software entitlements, part numbers are now imported on the Products & 
Metrics report.
Because of this change, the Part Numbers Upload panel is marked as 
deprecated and no longer in use. It is also no longer necessary to run the 
import to have the newly uploaded part numbers to take effect.
Benefits: The Products & Metrics report becomes the single place for 
easily managing your software entitlements, both through importing part 
numbers and manually. The fact that it is no longer necessary to run the 
import for the new part numbers to take effect improves the operational 
efficiency of License Metric Tool.

Enhanced control over endpoint updates: new way of distributing software 
catalogs
For a few years, all IBM software is discovered by using ISO tag files. 
Thus, updating the software catalog on the endpoints is rarely needed, 
typically only to resolve defects in signatures for older products. To 
limit the amount of work related to updating the software catalog, the 
following improvements are introduced: 
The software catalog is no longer sent by the License Metric Tool server 
to the endpoints. The catalog is embedded in the scanner and thus it is 
updated with every upgrade of the scanner. It allows for full control of 
the update process and limits the amount of changes on the endpoints.
Software catalogs are embedded in the disconnected scanner package. It is 
no longer necessary to download the catalogs separately.
NOTE: Due to this enhancement, the Outdated Catalog status is removed from 
the dashboard and is replaced by the Old Scanner Version status.
Benefits: The need to update the endpoints is reduced.

Support for new platforms and virtualization technologies 
Alibaba Elastic Compute Service
Disconnected scanner on Red Had Enterprise Linux 8 on zSystems
You can install the License Metric Tool server on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 
8.1 or a higher 8.x version. It does not apply to the All-in-One 
installation as BigFix does not yet support Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.



Security enhancements
For more information, see: Security enhancements.


Other important changes:
computer_health_status association
The computer_health_status association is added to allow for retrieving 
information about computer health through REST APIs
 

Action to take
To learn how to get the application update and deploy it as well as to 
view the full list of new features and APARs that were fixed in this 
application update, see: Release Notes.

Questions
If you have any product-related questions, post them on the License Metric 
Tool forum: https://ibm.biz/LMT-support-forum.  

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