Multitenancy

With LOGINventory it is possible to manage network inventory and license management for different clients or end customers with only one installation. Different clients can be created and managed for this purpose. Per client:

• a separate database is created;
• own acquisition methods and scan definitions can be used;
• own licenses must be imported into the respective database;
• you can define your own tasks and notifications.

Managing Clients

If no mandates were created, all settings for acquisition, evaluation, and so on apply to the default profile.

With the help of the program Multitenancy Management it is however possible to create further profiles and thus support different clients from one installation. Multitenancy Management can be run from the Start menu.

By clicking on the "+" sign, you can create a new profile and also copy the settings of an existing profile. Then, for a new profile (e.g. "Customer_A")

• a new database (name here Customer_A) is created.
• an own data directory is created: Here, all .inv files created by the respective data acquisition methods must be written (here by default C:\Users\Public\Documents\LOGIN\LOGINventory 8\Customer_A).
• a new profile is created in the LOGINventory Data Service which monitors this new data directory of the end customer.
• a new service has been set up that performs agentless acquisition for this end customer (here LOGINventory9-InventorySvc-Customer_A).
• a new service has been created which manages the tasks and notifications for this end customer (here LOGINventory9-AutomationService-Customer_A).

Then you can call the Management Center, Configuration, PowerShell, and Event Viewer in the context of the client using Multitenancy Management.

Existing profiles can be deleted by clicking on the "-" sign. However, the database is not deleted as a result, but remains in the SQL Server instance.

Acquistion and Evaluation with Different Mandates

All existing data acquisition methods can of course be used for each client. Typical application scenarios are presented in the following, but of course other combinations are also conceivable.

Acquisition via a VPN Connection

If there is a VPN connection from the LOGINventory computer to the network of a client, this connection can be used for agentless scanning. To do this, you can start the Management Center in the context of the relevant client. Then the appropriate definitions and user accounts and, of course, a schedule for recording can be stored under Acquisition.

Acquisition with a Laptop at the Client

If there is no permanent connection to the client network and nothing is to be installed there, the devices can be captured using a laptop if it has access to the network during visits. To do this, a distinction must be made between whether the database in which the customer data is to be entered is located on the laptop, or whether the data is only to be collected from the customer and then later entered into a database in the service provider's network.

Acquisition without Direct Regular Access to the Client Network

If data is to be collected without direct regular access to the client network, software must be installed or distributed at the client. The Offline Agent can thus be configured in such a way that the data can be transferred to the service provider's database via the Internet even without an existing LAN connection. For this approach, the Offline Agent is beeing installed on every device.

A leaner, simpler option requires only the installation of software on a single device at the client's site: The data entry module and the Offline Agent are installed on one Windows computer at the client. With the stand-alone version of the acquisition module, all computers in the client's network are regularly scanned. Then only one way has to be found to transfer the resulting .inv files to the service provider's complete installation. In this way, the offline agent can be configured so that the inv files of all devices (and not only those of the client's own device) are transferred.

Alternatively, the .inv files could be zipped and sent by e-mail with the help of a scheduled task. Or the data is transferred manually using a USB stick. In any case, it must be ensured that the data is stored at the end in the correct data directory for the respective tenant.

Tips for Evaluation

If the data of the different clients were stored in different databases, no evaluation of all databases is possible at the same time (e.g. "Which client still uses Windows 7?"). Instead, the queries of interest must be executed in the respective databases.