Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Autodesk Inventory Advisor

Quick Start Guide

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Contents
Overview ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Installation and Configuration ................................................................................................... 3
Supported operating systems ................................................................................................................ 3
Firewall port requirements (network-based scan options only) * ......................................................... 3
Installation .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Continue trial .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Initial configuration ................................................................................................................................ 5
Recommended Scan Method ....................................................................................................... 6
Additional Scan Options ............................................................................................................... 8
Import from Active Directory ................................................................................................................. 9
Scan IP range ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Import nodes list from file .................................................................................................................... 11
Manual scan without Central Repository ............................................................................................. 12
Reporting ......................................................................................................................................... 15
Creating a report .................................................................................................................................. 15
Exporting a report ................................................................................................................................ 16
Troubleshooting ........................................................................................................................... 17

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Overview
Autodesk has licensed ClearApps technology to address your Autodesk software inventory needs. Autodesk Inventory
Advisor (AIA) has been configured to search client machines across an entire organization for Autodesk products. AIA is
a highly configurable, robust inventory tool that leverages Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to provide
near seamless data collection of Autodesk product information.

Installation and Configuration

Supported operating systems

Windows XP Professional, 32-bit
Windows 7, 32 and 64-bit
Windows 8, 32 and 64-bit
Windows 10, 32 and 64-bit

Firewall port requirements (network-based scan options only) *

TCP 135, TCP 139, TCP 445, UDP 137, and UDP 138

If using the Windows Firewall, the Remote Administration Firewall Rule must also be enabled:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff800857.aspx

*The above firewall requirements only apply to Active Directory, IP range, and target scanning from file

Installation
Double click on iadvisor-x.x-setup.xxxx.ad.demo.exe, select your language, and follow the steps below:

Click Next Accept the License Agreement by clicking I Agree

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Select the directory to where the application will be Click Install to begin installation
installed and click Next

Click Finish to start AIA

Continue trial
Upon launching AIA, you will be prompted to Continue trial, Buy license now, or Enter unlock code. Simply click
Continue trial to begin using the application:

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Initial configuration
After selecting Continue trial, the following screens will appear:

Click Yes to dismiss the dialog. AIA is pre-configured out of

the box

Click Skip it

Click Run scan wizard Click Show me advanced options

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Recommended Scan Method

AIA offers many scan methods to collect data from your organization’s systems. The recommended method is the logon
script scanning with central repository method. This method provides the ability to export a small, command-line
version of AIA to use in a logon script or deploy to your endpoints using an existing software asset management (SAM)
tool such as Microsoft System Center. The data collected from the scan is automatically saved back to a common share,
which is known in AIA as the Central Repository. This method eliminates many of the issues commonly associated with
network-based scanning.

Click Configure audit agent for offline scanning (logon script, manual)

Select …logon script scanning with central repository, ensure the check box next to Hide agent console when scanning
is checked (the default), and click Next:

Click the folder icon in the toolbar and select a location to save the agent. IMPORTANT: This must be a local folder.
Using a UNC path will cause the export to not save the required agent files:

Click Click here to change Repository settings:

Enter a valid UNC path to store the inventory data and click OK. NOTE: It is recommended this be a subfolder of where
the agent files will be stored. Leave the default check of 5 minutes:

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide
When prompted, click Modify login details:

Enter a valid user name and password and click OK:

Click Export agent utility now:

Ensure the box next to Open folder where agent was exported to is checked and click Finish:

Copy the 4 files from the local folder to the network share you specified earlier. NOTE: It is recommended this be the
parent folder of where the actual inventory data will be stored.

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide
Create a batch file or VB script to execute iadvisoragnt.exe on your workstations and place it in the same directory as
the exported files. Here is a sample batch file:

@echo off
::create a temporary drive letter mapped to your Central Repository
pushd \\server\share
::Run AIA
iadvisoragnt.exe

::remove the temporary drive letter

popd

Implement the script using standard procedures as outlined by Microsoft. More information on Startup, Shutdown,
Logon, and Logoff Scripts can be found on TechNet:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753404(v=ws.11).aspx

The results of the scan will be placed in the share specified earlier. It will be a single file per machine and be uniquely
named based on the computer that was scanned:

Autodesk Inventory Advisor is not required to be launched or active to check the Central Repository location for new
inventory data. It is done in the background by a service that is running regardless if AIA is launched or not. The data
will be automatically imported the next time you launch AIA. The results will appear in the Network structure alongside
your network-scanned assets.

Additional Scan Options

In addition to the recommended logon script scanning with central repository method, there are four additional scan
methods available within AIA. If you are unsure as to the best method, please consult your network administrator.
Please note that administrative rights are required for all scan methods.

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Import from Active Directory

If your organization has Active Directory (AD), then this would be the preferred method of import. When using this
method, AIA will create a tree hierarchy of all the nodes to be scanned in the network.

Note: If AD contains nodes that are no longer present in the organization, this will have a negative impact on scan
performance time, as AIA will still try to scan the node even if it does not exist. Importing from AD will require domain
administrative rights.

To import from AD, follow these steps:

Clear the check box next to Use current user login, Enter the IP address or DC name and click Connect to Active
enter the appropriate credentials, and click Import Directory
from Active Directory

Note: Depending on how big the organizational structure is, the time to retrieve the information from AD will vary.

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Select the nodes you wish to import and click Scan selected nodes now

Scan IP range
Scanning via IP range is helpful in environments where Active Directory is not clean or a list of nodes is not readily
available. To scan an IP range, follow these steps:

Clear the check box next to Use current user login, Enter in one or more ranges to scan and click Start scan
enter the appropriate credentials, and click Scan IP
range

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Import nodes list from file

If your organization has a list of computer names or IP addresses readily available, commonly generated from a software
asset management (SAM) tool, you can import the list directly into AIA. To import from a list, follow these steps:

Clear the check box next to Use current user login, Browse to the list and click Import File
enter the appropriate credentials, and click Import
nodes list from file

Click All to select all nodes and then click Add & Scan

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Manual scan without Central Repository

This method provides the ability to export a small, command-line version of AIA to use from a USB stick, network share,
or simply emailed to your end users. The data collected from the scan is automatically saved in a subfolder in the same
location the agent utility is run from. This option is best for environments with 30 computers or less.

Click on the Export audit agent button in the toolbar:

Select …manual scan without central repository, ensure the check box next to Hide agent console when scanning is not
checked, and click Next:

Click the folder icon in the toolbar and select a location to save the agent. IMPORTANT: This must be a local folder.
Using a UNC path will cause the export to not save the required agent utility files:

Click Export agent utility now:

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Ensure the box next to Open folder where agent was exported to is checked and click Finish:

Copy the 4 files to a USB drive, network share, or ZIP and email them to your end users.

To launch the scan, simply double-click iadvisoragnt.exe. You will see a command window open indicating the scan is in
progress. It should take less than 10 seconds to complete and the window will automatically close:

The results of the scan will be placed in an Information folder in the same directory as iadvisoragnt.exe. It will be a
single file and be uniquely named based on the computer that was scanned:

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide
To import the results into AIA, click on the Import nodes button in the toolbar:

Select the folder location where the manual inventory results reside. NOTE: You can place multiple results in a single
folder and import them all at once.

Wait for the import to complete and click the OK button:

The results will appear in the Network structure alongside your network-scanned assets.

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Reporting
Once your assets have been successfully scanned, a report for Autodesk products may now be created. NOTE: This
report is not automatically sent back to Autodesk.

Creating a report
To create an Autodesk inventory report, start by selecting the Reports tab in the upper left-hand corner of AIA. Next,
click the Software by serial numbers button:

From the asset wizard, click All to select all the nodes and then click Build:

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Exporting a report
Once a full inventory of your assets has been completed, it will be required to export the results into an XML file. To do
this, select the report date to be exported in the Software by serial number reports section under Your reports history.
Normally, this will be labeled as TODAY:

In the top right section of the toolbar, click Export this now and select Export to XML file:

Select a location to save the XML file and click Save.

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 Autodesk Inventory Advisor – Quick Start Guide

Troubleshooting
AIA is a robust tool and is capable of addressing and dealing with large complex networks. However, issues on networks
do arise. Lack of administrative privileges, blocked firewall ports, and reverse DNS name resolution are the most
predominate problems seen.

Issue Solution
No such host is known/Computer not found The node was not accessible on the network. Check to make
sure the node is present then rerun the scan for this node.
A connection attempt failed because the connected This is typically caused by a firewall blocking access to the node.
party did not properly respond after a period of Please enable ports TCP 135, TCP 139, TCP 445, UDP 137, and
time, or established connection failed because UDP 138
connected host has failed to respond.

Access is denied. AIA does not have the correct permissions to access the node.
Remote computer doesn’t respond. Maybe it is This is typically caused by remote administration being denied
switched off or WMI service is not running on it. on the destination node. Please see the following link which
addresses this issue:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/ff800857.aspx
The requested name is valid, but no data of the Typically, a name resolution issue within the network
requested type was found environment. Attempt to scan using the IP address instead or
correct the name resolution issue.
Asset cannot be scanned Commonly associated with reverse DNS lookup not resolving
properly or node is a non-Windows device therefore can be
ignored.
Unknown error 0x80041014 Please see the following link which describes the issue and how
to address it:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318849
Scan is transferring large amounts of data across In Settings go to the Windows reports pane and ensure only
the network the following categories are selected:
- OS info
- Processor
- System & motherboard
- Network adapters
- Licenses audit

In Settings go to the General pane and change the Maximum

simultaneous scanning threads to a lower number (default is
20)

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