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Understanding Product Compliance Issues
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The Systems Management Server (SMS) product compliance feature can help you identify software products in your organization that are affected by the Year 2000, Euro, and other compliance issues. Using this feature, you can compare the software inventory gathered from the computers in your SMS site with information contained in an SMS compliance database to determine which software needs your attention. Then, you can use software distribution to upgrade software or to add specific patches to bring software in your organization into compliance.
Related Topics
View Product Compliance Results
Customize the Product Compliance Database
Add New Products Manually
About the Year 2000 Problem
About Product Compliance Types and Levels
About Microcomputer Year 2000 Issues
About Microsoft's Year 2000 Effort
About the Microsoft Euro Strategy
About Product Compliance Database Design
Product Compliance Overview
Product Compliance Overview
The Systems Management Server (SMS) product compliance feature can help you identify software products in your organization that are affected by the Year 2000, Euro, and other compliance issues.
Note that not all product compliance operations are accomplished through the SMS product compliance feature. The following table lists additional SMS features you can use when working with product compliance issues.
|
SMS feature |
Function |
|---|---|
|
Software inventory |
Determines software products that should be added to the product compliance database. The information collected about the software installed on each computer can then be compared against the contents of the product compliance database. |
|
Hardware inventory |
Collects information about the hardware installed on each computer. The information collected can then be compared against the contents of the product compliance database. |
|
Queries |
SMS supplies several Year 2000 compliance type queries that can be used for determining Year 2000 compliance. You can also use these queries as models for queries about other compliance types. |
|
Reports |
SMS supplies several reports that can be used to communicate the results of product compliance queries to individuals in your organization who might not have access to the SMS Administrator console. These reports can help you maintain records of compliance activities. |
|
Collections |
After you determine which software should be upgraded or fixed to be brought into compliance, you can create collections to use for software distribution. |
|
Software metering |
Prevents users from accessing non-compliant applications. |
Related Topics
View Product Compliance Results
Customize the Product Compliance Database
About Product Compliance Analysis
About Product Compliance Solutions
About Product Compliance Enforcement
About Product Compliance Database Design
About SMS Product Compliance
About Product Compliance Types and Levels
Understanding Product Compliance Issues Overview
Customize the Product Compliance Database
You can customize information in the product compliance database by using any of the following procedures:
-
Modify product compliance information for products already in your database.
-
Add new products manually.
-
Import product compliance information into your database.
-
Download product compliance information from Web sites.
Related Topics
Analyze Product Compliance
About Product Compliance Database Design
About Product Compliance Analysis
About Product Compliance Solutions
About Product Compliance Enforcement
Product Compliance Overview
Add New Products Manually
You can add new products to your product compliance database manually by using any of the following procedures (these procedures are listed from simplest to most complicated):
-
Select a product from the software inventory list.
-
Load product compliance information from an .exe file.
-
Enter product compliance information manually.
Related Topics
Analyze Product Compliance
About Product Compliance Database Design
About Product Compliance Analysis
About Product Compliance Solutions
About Product Compliance Enforcement
Product Compliance Overview
Load Product Compliance Information from an .exe File
You can add a product to your product compliance database by loading the information contained in the header of the product executable file.
-
Navigate to Product Compliance. Systems Management Server
Site Database (site code - site name)Product Compliance -
Right-click Product Compliance, point to New, and then click Product Compliance.
-
In the Product Compliance Properties dialog box, click the General tab, and then click Browse.
Note Make sure that your site server has direct access to the .exe file for the product you want to add.
-
Navigate to the .exe file for the product you want to add, and then select it.
-
Although the new product information from the .exe file will appear in the General tab, note that some fields in this tab will still be empty.
-
To specify a friendly name for the product, click Set (which opens the Set Friendly Name dialog box), and then type the name.
-
In the Compliance group box, specify the compliance type and level.
-
Click the Information tab, and then review and modify the settings as needed.
Related Topics
Enter Product Compliance Information Manually
Select a Product from the Software Inventory List
Add New Products Manually
About Product Compliance Types and Levels
Product Compliance Overview
Select a Product from the Software Inventory List
You can add a product to your product compliance database by selecting a product included in your software inventory.
-
Navigate to Product Compliance.
Systems Management Server
Site Database (site code - site name)Product Compliance -
Right-click Product Compliance, point to New, and then click Product Compliance.
-
In the Product Compliance Properties dialog box, click the General tab.
-
Select a product from the Product Name list. This list is populated with the software inventory products listed in your SMS site database.
Although the information for the selected product will appear in the General tab, note that some fields in this tab will still be empty.
-
To specify a friendly name for the product, click Set (which opens the Set Friendly Name dialog box) and then type the name.
-
In the Compliance group box, specify the product compliance type and level.
-
Click the Information tab, and then review and modify the settings as needed.
Related Topics
Load Product Compliance Information from an .exe File
Enter Product Compliance Information Manually
Add New Products Manually
About Product Compliance Types and Levels
Product Compliance Overview
Enter Product Compliance Information Manually
Caution Although you can add a product to your product compliance database by entering the required information manually, if you do not enter the information exactly as it reads in the .exe file header, your query results might not be accurate. If you do not want to enter compliance information manually, you can load the information from an .exe file or select a product from the software inventory list instead.
-
Navigate to Product Compliance.
Systems Management Server
Site Database (site code - site name)Product Compliance -
Right-click Product Compliance, point to New, and then click Product Compliance.
-
In the Product Compliance Properties dialog box, complete the settings as needed in the General tab and the Information tab.
-
Make sure that the information you type matches the information in the .exe file header of the product you are entering.
Related Topics
View Product Compliance Results
Load Product Compliance Information from an .exe File
Select a Product from the Software Inventory List
Add New Products Manually
Product Compliance Overview
Modify Product Compliance Information for Products Already in Your Database
Use this procedure to modify existing product compliance information.
-
Navigate to Product Compliance.
Systems Management Server
Site Database (site code - site name)Product Compliance -
In the details pane, click the product whose information you want to modify.
-
Right-click the product, and then click Properties.
-
In the Product Compliance Properties dialog box, modify the settings as needed in the General tab and the Information tab.
Related Topics
Delete Product Compliance Information from Your Database
Export Product Compliance Information from Your Database
Product Compliance Overview
Import Product Compliance Information into Your Database
Before you import a new file from an information source, you should delete all unnecessary entries from your database. This will help prevent duplicate entries from being created after the new file is imported. Also, if any of the primary keys in your database have changed since you last imported the file, a new import might create multiple entries for these products.
-
Navigate to Product Compliance.
Systems Management Server
Site Database (site code - site name)Product Compliance -
Right-click Product Compliance, and then click Import Product Compliance Data.
-
In the Import Product Compliance Data dialog box, enter the file name and path or the universal naming convention (UNC) path of the ASCII tab-delimited text file you want to import, and then click OK.
SMS compares the information in each line of the imported file against each line of your current product compliance database. Any items whose primary keys match an imported text line is replaced with new information. Any lines remaining after the comparison is made are appended to the compliance database text file.
Related Topics
View Product Compliance Results
Export Product Compliance Information from Your Database
Customize the Product Compliance Database
About Primary Keys
About Product Compliance Types and Levels
Product Compliance Overview
Download Product Compliance Information from Web Sites
Note This procedure requires Internet access and an Internet browser, such as Internet Explorer version 4.0.
-
Open your Internet browser.
-
Use your browser to open the Web site that has the product compliance information you need.
-
Navigate to the link to the product compliance information file on the appropriate Web site. Right-click the link, and then click Save Target As or the equivalent command for your browser.
-
Save the database file to your hard drive.
-
Import product compliance data into your database.
-
Modify the product compliance properties as needed.
Related Topics
Modify Product Compliance Information for Products Already in Your Database
Import Product Compliance Information into Your Database
Customize the Product Compliance Database
Product Compliance Overview
Export Product Compliance Information from Your Database
Use this procedure to export information from the product compliance database.
-
Navigate to Product Compliance.
Systems Management Server
Site Database (site code - site name)Product Compliance -
Right-click Product Compliance, and then click Export Product Compliance Data.
-
In the Export Product Compliance Data dialog box, specify the information source and compliance type of the information you want to export.
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In the Export to file field, specify the name of the file you want to export the information to.
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Click OK.
Related Topics
View Product Compliance Results
Import Product Compliance Information into Your Database
Customize the Product Compliance Database
About Product Compliance Types and Levels
Product Compliance Overview
Delete Product Compliance Information from Your Database
Use this procedure to delete unnecessary information from the product compliance database.
-
Navigate to Product Compliance.
Systems Management Server
Site Database (site code - site name)Product Compliance -
Right-click Product Compliance, and then click Delete Special.
-
In the Delete Special dialog box, specify the source and compliance type of the information to delete from the compliance database text file.
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Click OK in the confirmation dialog box.
Related Topics
View Product Compliance Results
Import Product Compliance Information into Your Database
Export Product Compliance Information from Your Database
Customize the Product Compliance Database
About Product Compliance Types and Levels
Product Compliance Overview
Analyze Product Compliance
Use this procedure to analyze product compliance status for one or more products.
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In the SMS Administrator console, configure and run software inventory to gather software inventory information about the software in use in your organization. SMS gathers .exe file header information that can be compared against the .exe file header information in the product compliance database.
-
Use the Queries console tree item to compare the SMS site database hardware and software inventory information with the information in the product compliance database.
-
Use the Reports console tree item to prepare formatted reports that list compliant or non-compliant (depending on the query that you ran) hardware and software.
Related Topics
About Product Compliance Analysis
About Product Compliance Solutions
About Product Compliance Enforcement
About Software Inventory
Using Queries to Locate Resources Overview
Reports Overview
Product Compliance Overview
View Product Compliance Results
Use this procedure to view the product compliance information available for your site.
Note Not all product compliance functionality is accessed through the Product Compliance item in the SMS Administrator console. You can accomplish many product compliance operations by using other console items.
-
Navigate to Product Compliance.
Systems Management Server
Site Database (site code - site name)Product Compliance -
Double-click Product Compliance. In the details pane, the database items appear as follows.
|
Column name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Name |
Friendly name, version, and revision. |
|
Company |
Friendly company name for the product. |
|
Language |
Friendly language for the product. |
|
Platform |
Friendly platform for the product. |
|
Source |
Friendly information source to identify where the information was obtained. |
|
Type |
Compliance type (for example, Year 2000 or Euro). |
|
Level |
Compliance level for the compliance type. |
|
Comment |
Optional information. |
You can also modify product compliance information. For more information, see Modify Product Compliance Information for Products Already in Your Database.
Related Topics
Analyze Product Compliance
Customize the Product Compliance Database
About Product Compliance Types and Levels
About Friendly Names
Product Compliance Overview
