Support for Anonymous Devices
Previously, registration of a device in FlexNet Operations required that a customer account be specified. The requirement assumed that most devices were sold to or through a customer account. The account information was used to validate the device’s eligibility to obtain licenses and Updates based on the entitlements associated with the account.
In this release, the requirement for a customer account is optional when registering a device (see Customer Account Now Optional for Devices). Devices that are registered without a customer account are called anonymous devices (a term used to describe this kind of device type but not actually used in the UI). Because an anonymous device is not associated with an account, it is also not associated with entitlements.
The following topics provide an overview of how anonymous devices are used in Updates and Insights. For details, see the “Getting Started with Updates and Insights” section of the FlexNet Operations User Guide.
| • | Anonymous Devices in Updates and Insights |
| • | Registration of Anonymous Devices |
| • | Requests for Updates from Anonymous Devices |
| • | Only Updates Without Entitlement Checks Returned |
| • | Logging Status Updates |
Important:Updates and Insights without entitlement management is a separately purchased module.
Anonymous Devices in Updates and Insights
The association of a device with a customer account to validate its entitlement to receive a software Update is not always necessary nor expedient in certain supplier environments. This might be the case in an environment where a high volume of devices are sold, each device shipped to an individual consumer—thus each device would require a separate account in order to receive software updates. Alternatively, a Supplier environment might want to use Updates and Insights to update software on sold devices but not manage entitlements through FlexNet Operations.
Changes in this release, including the introduction of anonymous devices, eliminate the need for customer accounts and thus address the difficulties with issuing Updates to such devices.
Registration of Anonymous Devices
Anonymous devices must be registered in FlexNet Operations in order to properly log Update status events and view the status information on the Devices page in the Producer Portal. You can register an anonymous device manually on the Devices page in the Producer Portal by creating the device without specifying a customer account. However, best practice is for an anonymous device to self-register by using the Updates and Insights REST API /registrations and omitting the activation ID in the call.
Requests for Updates from Anonymous Devices
The /updates and /signed-updates REST APIs in Updates and Insights have been modified so that the id, idType, and publisherName parameters are now optional. Anonymous devices should request updates without specifying these fields.
Only Updates Without Entitlement Checks Returned
When an anonymous device requests a software Update, only those Updates configured with the Entitlement check field set to None in FlexNet Operations are returned. Since anonymous devices are not associated with entitlements, they do not receive Updates that require an entitlement check.
Anonymous devices are able to log the status of Updates. However, it is strongly recommended to register the device with FlexNet Operations before logging statuses.