Web User Interface Availability

Snow License Manager 9

2019-04-02

Introduction

Changes made in how Data Update Job works, from Snow License Manager 9.1 and forward, allows users to sign in to Snow License Manager and perform critical work while Data Update Job runs. The following sections describe the technical details for what makes the web user interface availability possible.

Background

The reason why Snow License Manager web interface was made completely unavailable while Data Update Job ran was mainly to prevent users from making critical decisions based on incomplete data.

Snow License Manager environments have evolved over time, notably with the addition of more data, e.g. metering, computers, users, and software-recognition rules. This evolution affects environments so that Data Update Job runs for longer with every time that data is added, which ultimately can result in a situation where users are not able to sign in during office hours, because Data Update Job is running.

Solution

Snow License Manager 9 introduces the improved Data Update Job, which, among other improvements, contains a rewritten data-transfer solution, introduces parallelism and staging tables, decreases data input/output loads for production tables, and ultimately minimizes the run time of Data Update Job.

The changes in Data Update Job, especially the more granular inspection endpoint, have made it possible to identify exactly what is processed by Data Update Job at any point in time. By mapping this information to corresponding areas in the Snow License Manager web interface, users can now sign in to Snow License Manager, and a more selective lockdown of certain areas of the Snow License Manager web interface is introduced.

User interface

The two tables in this section show which functionalities and what sections of the Snow License Manager web user interface are made unavailable, when Data Update Job-related stored procedures are running on Microsoft SQL Server.

If you wish to see which areas are made unavailable, follow these steps:

Open Snow Management and Configuration Center and sign in.
Select Snow License Manager > Administration > Data Update Job.
The Data Update Job view appears.
Match the name of a running stored procedure in the Action Info column, with those that are listed in the Stored Procedure column in the table named Stored Procedure-Domain Area Mapping, which is located in this section.

The area that matches the stored procedure that is running is made unavailable in Snow License Manager.

By matching Area from the Stored Procedure-Domain Area Mapping table with Area from the SLM Web Section-Domain Area Mapping table, one can see which sections and functionalities inside Snow License Manager are made unavailable, in the latter table.

Only the stored procedures that are described in the Stored Procedure-Domain Area Mapping table cause areas of Snow License Manager to be unavailable.

The value ANY in the Area column of the SLM Web Section-Domain Area Mapping table means that if any of the stored procedures that are listed in the Stored Procedure-Domain Area Mapping table are running, SLM Web Section/Functionality that is related to ANY will be unavailable.

If any stored procedures run that affect the METERING area, they will make what is listed for the ANY section in the SLM Web Section/Functionality table unavailable.

Table 3. Stored Procedure-Domain Area Mapping

Area	Stored Procedure
APPLICATION	dbo.JobPreCrunchCustomFields
	dbo.JobIdentifyVDIComputers
	dbo.JobApplicationInfoUpdate
	dbo.JobApplicationUsageUpdate
	dbo.JobApplicationConcurrencyDailyPeakUpdate
	dbo.JobApplicationConcurrencySummaryUpdate
	dbo.JobInventoryApplicationConcurrencyUpdate
COMPUTER	dbo.JobInventoryComputerSoftwareCleanup
	inv.UpdateQuarantinetblComputer
	dbo.JobInventoryComputerHistory
	dbo.JobCalculateCoreFactors
	dbo.JobInventoryDCCUpdate
	dbo.JobPreCrunchCustomFields
DEVICE	dbo.JobInventoryDeviceApplicationBundlesUpdate
	dbo.JobInventoryDeviceApplicationsGroupsUpdate
	dbo.JobInventoryDeviceApplicationsUpdate
	inv.UpdateQuarantinetblDeviceInfo
METERING	slm.ArchiveMeteringConcurrency
	dbo.JobOrganizationAutoConnectRulesApply
	dbo.JobInventoryComputerSoftwarePVUMetricsUpdate
	dbo.JobInventoryComputerSoftwareProductUpdate
	dbo.JobInventoryComputerSoftwareBundlesUpdate
	dbo.JobInventoryComputerSoftwareGroupsUpdate
	dbo.JobInventoryComputerSoftwareUpdate
USER	inv.UpdateQuarantinetblUser
USER	dbo.JobPreCrunchCustomFields

Table 4. SLM Web Section-Domain Area Mapping

Area	SLM Web Section/Functionality
ANY	All Reports sections
	Home > Import data
	Home > Administration > Custom compare value types
	Home > Administration > Custom fields
	Home > Import data > Import
APPLICATION	Home > Applications > List all applications > [select check box for computer(s)] > [context menu] > Edit applications
	Home > Applications > Application family details
	Home > Enterprise > Oracle overview > Edit Database Management Packs
	Home > Enterprise > Oracle overview > Edit Database
COMPUTER	Home > Computers > List all computers > [select check box for computer(s)] > [context menu] > Edit/Delete/Archive computers
	Home > Computers > Datacenters and clusters > [select computer] > Edit datacenter/cluster
	Home > Computers > List all mobile devices > [select check box for mobile device(s)] > [context menu] > Edit mobile devices
DEVICE	Home > Computers > List all devices > [select check box for device(s)] > [context menu] > Edit devices
USER	Home > Users > List all users > [select check box for user(s)] > [context menu] > Edit users

Background services

The background services, which are the Windows Services on the Snow License Manager application server, work in the same way that they did before Snow License Manager 9. When Data Update Job is running, the background services do not perform any tasks. The sole exception is the Compliance service, which will accept calculation requests, but will not automatically run them, but place them in queue, and process them in turn when Data Update Job has finished.

Reports

Most reports are unavailable when Data Update Job is processing, because most of them contain many dependencies on other areas of Snow License Manager.

Database tables

The database tables named inv.tblJobParallelStep and dbo.tblApplicationDomainMaster are joined to indicate whether the system should perform lockdown on an area in Snow License Manager.

inv.tblJobParallelStep

Snow License Manager 9 introduces the following table to keep track of datastreams and stored procedures that are running as part of Data Update Job.

Column name	Allowed data types
DataFlowId	FK, tinyint, not null
DataStreamId	PK, FK, tinyint, not null
DataFlowProcedure	PK, sysname(nvarchar(128)), not null
InventoryDBName	PK, nvarchar(100), not null
JobName	sysname(nvarchar(128)), null
Status	int, not null

Note

For the "Status" column, -1 signifies that any stored procedure that Data Update Job consists of, is currently running.

dbo.tblApplicationDomainMaster

Snow License Manager 9 introduces the following table to facilitate the Snow License Manager web user interface availability.

Column name	Allowed data types
DataFlowProcedure	sysname, not null
TableImpacted	sysname, not null
ApplicationDomain	nvarchar(100), not null

Conclusion

The web user interface availability solution allows users to sign in to Snow License Manager. Pages that are being processed by Data Update Job will be unavailable for a minimal time span, with the exception of reports. Users are able to work with data, for example by editing applications, computers, and users.

In this section: