Collecting an Application Inventory | Introducing Microsoft Windows Server(TM) 2003

Before testing for application compatibility can begin, you need to know and understand which applications are present in your environment. Many organizations will miss the vital nature of this inventory by assuming that they already have a list of every application approved for use. This does not take into account limited-use applications for special projects within the organization, nor does it include nonapproved software that is inevitably present. The need for a proper software inventory then becomes clearer.

There are multiple approaches to the problem of creating a software inventory. Many of those methods are beyond the scope of this book. Microsoft currently offers two methods for collecting a software inventory: Systems Management Server (SMS) and the Analyzer that ships as part of the Application Compatibility Toolkit.

The Compatibility Analyzer tool collects application information from computers, along with identifying machine information, and writes it to log files in XML format. Compatibility Analyzer then consolidates the log files into a database in a central location, from where you can analyze the applications for compatibility status as well as review reports . Compatibility Analyzer comprises three distinct parts :

Collector.

Collector is the first part to run. Collector is a command-line tool that runs quietly in the background without interrupting the user while it collects data about every application on the computer. It then records the data in a log file in a specified location. (It defaults to the user 's desktop but can be directed to a network share for central collection.)
Merger.

Merger (Merger.exe) combines the various collected log files into a single database file. By default, Merger enters the data in a Microsoft Access database file (.MDB), but the logs can also be sent to a SQL database.
Analyzer.

Analyzer is the graphical workspace for viewing the collected data and generating meaningful reports from the data.

Collecting Information

You collect application information with Compatibility Analyzer by distributing and running a command-line tool (Collector.exe) on the computers where you want to inventory applications. You can configure this tool to define the scope of the inventory: You can specify which drives , either network or local, and which paths to search and whether to collect device information. You can also specify where you want the logs to be saved. You can collect inventory information on the following platforms:

Windows 98 clients
Windows Me clients
Windows NT 4.0 servers and clients
Windows 2000 servers and clients
Windows XP clients
Windows Server 2003 family servers
Mixed domains of clients, including any of Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP
Mixed domains of servers, including any of Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows Server 2003 family

Collector detects the client operating system when it starts and loads the appropriate support. For example, the native character type on Windows 98 or Windows Me is ANSI, so Collector would load ANSI support to store the log information. On Windows NT or Windows XP, Collector would load Unicode support to store its data.

The most important function of Compatibility Analyzer is the collection of application compatibility information from client computers. In fact, each successive step in the process assumes that you've already gathered this data from at least one client computer into a log file. The performance of Collector can be customized through the use of command-line switches. The following shows the syntax of the Collector command:

 collector.exe[o  filename  ][f  source  ][e  department  ] [n][d  days  ][a][p  profile  ]

-o filename	Directs Collector to produce output on the specified path . By default, Collector places output file on the user's desktop.
-f source	Provides the source path, either a file or a directory, for Collector to gather information from. If a file or directory is not specified, directs Collector to gather information from all drives on the machine.
-e department	Provides department information for use in processing collector logs. This data helps to separate collected information into useful categories once the logs are merged later in the process.
-n	Directs Collector not to collect information from mapped (network) drives. By default, network drives are included.
-d days	Directs Collector to collect information only if Collector has not run within the number of days specified by the parameter; if the number of days is not specified, Collector will not run if it has already been executed on the machine once.
-a	Collects information from the shell and installed programs and combines it with information from specified drives and paths.
-p profile	Directs Collector to use a specified profile (initialization file).

Reporting Information

The analysis component of Compatibility Analyzer runs on the administrator's computer, where all operations are sent and received. From here, you can analyze compatibility information and generate reports. This component consolidates all the logs into a database, combining identical application information into one record. You can use an ODBC SQL database or an Access database.

You can analyze application compatibility and generate reports on the following platforms, all of which must be running Internet Explorer 5.0 or later:

Windows NT 4.0 servers or clients
Windows 2000 servers or clients
Windows XP clients
Windows Server 2003 family servers

Here's an overview of using Compatibility Analyzer:

Install the analysis component on the administrator's computer where you want to review reports.
Define the analysis database, either as an ODBC SQL database or as an Access database.
Configure the collection component to define the scope of inventory and the location of the logs.
Distribute the collection component to the computers where inventory information is to be collected, and run it. This component does not need to run under an administrator account. You can distribute the component in the following ways:
- Floppy disk
- CD-ROM
- Logon scripts
- Group Policy in an Active Directory environment
- Hyperlink in e-mail
- Network distribution share
- SMS
Consolidate the log files into a database.
Analyze the compatibility status.
Review the reports.

You can review reports by application or by computer, and you can filter and sort the results. When viewing reports by computer, you can see all the applications installed on a specific computer. When viewing reports by application, you can see how many instances of the application are installed on the network.

As you make your test plan, you will want to focus most of your efforts on the applications that are installed on many computers and the ones that are incompatible or whose compatibility status is unknown.

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