Monitoring software inventory and usage

You can monitor and report software inventory and usage (SIU) on endpoints. For example, you might report the usage of a product to confirm that your enterprise is using the number of purchased licenses for the product and reclaim unused licenses.

Enable reporting on no more than 300 applications to minimize the impact on the Tanium Server.

The process for monitoring software inventory usage involves both collecting and reporting data.

  1. After the Tanium Client is installed on a Microsoft Windows or macOS endpoint, Asset starts collecting software inventory and usage on the endpoint. Usage is collected each minute.

  2. Reports on software inventory and usage generate after the following conditions are met:

    • You enable reporting for the product in the Asset Software Inventory & Usage > All Products page.

    • The Tanium Client and applicable product are installed for at least seven days or the specified baseline period.

    Asset reports the vendor, product, version, number of endpoints with installed product, and usage of the installed product on the endpoints, including last used date and usage levels.

If you want to view software usage for products that are not tracked and reported in Asset, use the SIU - Installed Products, SIU - Product First Used, SIU - Product Last Used, and SIU - Product Used sensors. For assistance, see Contact Tanium Support.

Enable reporting in Asset

Although Asset starts collecting software inventory and usage data immediately after the Tanium Client is installed on a Microsoft Windows or macOS endpoint, you must enable reporting in Asset to see the data. You can only report on a product or suite listed on the Software Inventory & Usage > All Products page. For example, if Microsoft Office 365 is listed on the page, Asset reports usage for the suite and not for individual products within the suite.

Because product usage information is stored on the endpoint, only enable reporting for products with an associated cost or similar concern. Enabling reporting for all products might create Asset performance issues. If you want to view software usage for products that are not tracked and reported in Asset, use the SIU - Installed Products, SIU - Product First Used, SIU - Product Last Used, and SIU - Product Used sensors.

  1. From the Asset menu, go to Software Inventory & Usage > All Products.
  2. Click next to the applicable product to enable reporting in Asset.

  3. To edit the usage parameters, in the Action column, click .

    1. Configure the reporting and baseline periods.

    2. Specify the total number of minutes per day for high and normal usage levels. The minutes do not need to be consecutive. The default high value is 240. The default normal value is 60.

    3. Click Save.

To stop reporting usage for a product and remove the associated data from Tanium-generated reports, click .

View software inventory and usage

You can view software inventory and usage details from the Software Inventory & Usage and Reports pages. To drill down for specific endpoint details, use the reports available on the Reports page.

View product inventory and general usage

  1. From the Asset menu, go to Software Inventory & Usage > All Products or Software Inventory & Usage > All Vendors.

    All Products shows only data for tracked products.

  2. To export the data to a CSV file, click Export . The export includes the data as it is currently shown in the data grid.

View last used date of a product

The last used date is the date the endpoint last reported usage for the product. For endpoints shared with multiple users, this is the last date that any user on the endpoint used the product.

  1. From the Asset menu, go to Reports > SIU Product Last Used.

  2. View the Last Used Date for the product.

View usage levels of a product

  1. From the Asset menu, go to Reports > SIU Product Usage.

  2. View the Usage for the product.

The report includes the average daily usage level for a product.

Level Description
High Number of minutes defined in Software Inventory & Usage > All Products > Edit Parameters .
Normal Number of minutes defined in Software Inventory & Usage > All Products > Edit Parameters .
Limited Number of minutes between one and the Normal usage level.
Baselining Product is newly installed and not reporting usage in Asset. Go to Software Inventory & Usage > All Products > Edit Parameters to define the Baseline Period.
Usage not detected Tanium Client does not detect usage of the product. For example, the baseline period has passed and the product has not been used.
Not installed Endpoint does not have the software installed or is unable to install the software.

View installed version of product

  1. From the Asset menu, go to Reports > SIU Installed Products.

  2. View the Version for the product.

Manage products based on product usage

Based on SIU usage reports, you can install or remove products on targeted endpoints.

Remove unused products from endpoints

Use Deploy to remove unused products from endpoints. The following example removes Microsoft Internet Explorer on endpoints that have not used it in the last 90 days. Adjust the example as needed.

  1. Create a software package to remove the product. For more information, see Tanium Deploy User Guide: Create a software package.

  2. Create a deployment package that uses the software package. For more information, see Tanium Deploy User Guide: Create a software package deployment.

    Part of creating a deployment package is targeting endpoints. Target endpoints that have not used Internet Explorer in the last 90 days.

    1. In Targeting section, click Set Targeting Criteria. Click Filter Builder > + Row.
    2. Select Sensor and then select the SIU - Product Usage sensor.
    3. Select contains and enter Usage not detected.
    4. In the Vendor field, enter Microsoft.
    5. In the Name field, enter Internet Explorer.
    6. In the Days Back field, enter 90. This value specifies the maximum number of days to evaluate.
    7. In the Baseline Period Days field, enter 90. This value specifies the minimum number of days that Internet Explorer needs to be on the endpoint.
    8. Click Apply.

Install required products on endpoints

Use Deploy to install a product missing on endpoints. The following example installs Quest Software TOAD for Oracle on Windows endpoints that have not had it installed. Adjust the example as needed.

  1. Create a software package to install the product. For more information, see Tanium Deploy User Guide: Create a software package.

  2. Create a deployment package that uses the software package. For more information, see Tanium Deploy User Guide: Create a software package deployment.

    Part of creating a deployment package is targeting endpoints. Target Windows endpoints that have not had TOAD for Oracle installed.

    1. In Endpoints to target, click Question Criteria > Filter Builder > Row.
    2. Select the SIU - Product Usage sensor.
    3. Select contains and enter not installed.
    4. In the Vendor field, enter Quest Software.
    5. In the Product field, enter TOAD for Oracle.
    6. In the Days Back field, enter 90. This value specifies the maximum number of days to evaluate.
    7. In the Baseline Period Days field, enter 0. This value specifies the minimum number of days that TOAD for Oracle needs to be on the endpoint.
    8. Click Apply.
    9. Click Row.
    10. Select the Operating System sensor.
    11. Select contains, and enter Windows.
    12. Click Apply.