Support for ISO/IEC 19770-2

ISO/IEC 19770-2 is an international standard for creating software identification (SWID) tags. The tags are XML files that are used for discovering and identifying software. They are delivered with software products and contain unique product-related information such as its name, edition, version, whether it is a part of a bundle and more. SWID tags facilitate software discovery and the overall process of software asset management.

10.0.2 Component Detailed Version now provides complete information about fix packs through ISO 19770-2 patch/delta tags. Previously the tags used to get rejected on both, endpoint side and server side. The functionality works with BigFix Inventory server version 10.0.2 or higher and Initiate Software Scan fixlet version 10.0.2 or higher.

Supported schemas

BigFix Inventory supports SWID tags in the 19770-2:2014-CD1 and 19770-2:2015 schemas. BigFix Inventory supports ISO 19770-2 SWID tags. Initial support for provided for the 19770-2:2014-CD1 and 19770-2:2015 schemas and only primary tags.With version 10.0.2 there has been added support for delta/patch tags. Starting from version 10.0.4 there has been added support for 19770-2:2008 schema as well improved recovering information from not well formed ISO tags, including tags without changed tagID/tagVersion but updated release information.

BigFix

When BigFix is discovered with an SWID tag that is not contained in the current catalog, a warning sign is displayed on the Software Catalog widget. If you want to see what components were detected, perform the following steps:
  1. In the top navigation bar, click Reports > Software Installations.
  2. Hover over Configure, and click Configure View. Select the Component Definition Source check box to display the column, and add the following filter: Component Definition Source, equal to, SWID IBM Tags Without License Info. Then, click Submit.
To be able to bundle such components, upload the latest software catalog.
Tip: You can create a custom bundling definition on the Software Classificationpanel.

Limitations

  • Bundling assistance might not be available for IBM components that are discovered with the SWID tag. To assign such a component to a product, upload the latest software catalog to BigFix Inventory. If the catalog contains the relation, automatic bundling is done. You have to either confirm the suggested relation or, if the relation is not correct, reassign the component to a different product.