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Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 : Configuring Software Metering (part 1) - Configuring the Software Metering Client Agent

3/5/2013 6:07:03 PM

Software metering is configured in two areas of reference: software metering rules and the client agent. Let’s begin by looking at the server components because without these the client agent is useless. The two server components that need to be configured are the Software Metering component and the software metering site system. Both are definable through the Site Settings node in the SMS Administrator Console.

Configuring the Software Metering Client Agent

Like the other SMS client features we’ve seen, you enable software metering by configuring a client agent—in this case, the Software Metering Client Agent. And, like the other client agent settings, the options you choose when you configure the agent are considered site-wide options and are propagated to all clients in the site.

To configure the Software Metering Client Agent, follow these steps:

1.
In the SMS Administrator Console, navigate to the Client Agents node under Site Settings.

2.
Right-click Software Metering Client Agent and choose Properties from the context menu to display the Software Metering Client Agent Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The Software Metering Client Agent Properties dialog box.


3.
In the General tab, select the Enable Software Metering On Clients check box.

4.
In the Schedule tab, shown in Figure 2, use the Schedule buttons to determine how frequently you want to send collected data from the client back to the site system (Data Collection Schedule) and how often you want to download software metering rules for Legacy Clients (Metering Rules Download Schedule). Note that Advanced Clients download metering rules as part of their Advanced Policy refresh schedule, which is once an hour by default. The minimum actual value that SMS will use for either of these options is 15 minutes.

Figure 2. Specifying software metering process flow.


5.
Choose OK to save your settings and configure the agent.

Note

Software metering won’t collect a data file that’s more than 90 days old. If it finds such a file, it generates status message 5614 and moves the data file to its own folder.


On a Legacy Client, after the next client update cycle (every 25 hours or the next time you start the client), the agent component files will be copied to the client and the agent will be started. On an Advanced Client, all agents are automatically installed when the Advanced Client is installed. So, at the Advanced Client’s next refresh cycle (once an hour by default), it receives an Advanced Client policy indicating that the agent has been enabled and the agent is configured and started on the client.

After the rules are downloaded to the client, the agent can begin to monitor programs, even if the program is currently running in computer memory.

Configuring Software Metering Rules

Software metering rules identify for the client agent which programs should be monitored and how they should be monitored. Rules can be identified at any SMS site in your hierarchy and can apply only to that site or, as mentioned earlier, to any lower-level child site below it in the hierarchy. The catch is that any rules created higher up in the hierarchy can be modified only in the site in which they were created. This behavior is consistent with the way package, advertisement, and collection data are handled as well.

The rule configuration information is propagated down the hierarchy to child sites, but maintenance of the rule is effected at the site in which the rule is created. Consequently, it’s important that you carefully consider whether the rule you create should be propagated and applied to SMS clients in child sites.

Software metering is supported on SMS clients running Terminal Services or Remote Desktop Connection. Program usage in this case is monitored individually—that is, each program run through a Terminal Services session is counted as a distinct usage of that program, even if the same program is being run in each session. However, the programs run in the Terminal Services session are treated as remote connections and are reported with the same computer name. Programs run using Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows XP Remote Desktop Connection, however, are treated as local connections and the local computer name is reported.

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