New Capabilities in 2024.12
In the 2024.12 release, FlexNet Operations introduces the following new capabilites.
| • | Support for Producers to Configure Single Sign-On (SSO) |
| • | Device Event Notifications Published to Webhook |
| • | New Software Delivery Download History Report |
Support for Producers to Configure Single Sign-On (SSO)
(SWM-20853)
This release introduces the ability for producers to configure Single Sign-On (SSO) within FlexNet Operations.
Producers configure SSO in the Producer Portal on the Configure Single Sign-On page (under Administer > Configure Single Sign-On) for the Producer Portal and/or the End-User Portal. For procedural information, refer to the topic Single Sign-On Support with SAML in the FlexNet Operations User Guide.
The user configuring SAML SSO requires the Manage SAML SSO permission, which is part of the System Administrator role. A user with the System Administrator role can assign this permission to other users as required.
FlexNet Operations supports SSO using the SAML 2.0 (Security Assertion Markup Language) protocol.
SAML is an XML-based open standard for transferring identity data between two parties: an identity provider and a service provider. With SAML, a user signs in to the Producer Portal and the End-User Portal using an identity provider, who authenticates the user and grants access if authentication is successful. This allows users to log in to FlexNet Operations using their existing organizational credentials, reducing the need to remember multiple usernames and passwords.
Benefits of SAML Single Sign-On
| • | Simplified Access Management: Centralize user authentication and reduce administrative overhead. |
| • | Streamlined Authentication: Enable users to log in once and gain access to multiple systems effortlessly. |
| • | Enhanced Security: Benefit from robust security by leveraging your organization's identity provider (IdP) for authentication, ensuring user credentials are never exposed outside your system. |
| • | Customizable Configurations: Tailor SSO settings to align with your enterprise's specific security and usability needs. |
| • | Support for Leading Identity Providers: Integrate with any identity provider that complies with SAML 2.0 and later, such as Okta, Microsoft Entra, and Salesforce. |
Device Event Notifications Published to Webhook
(SWM-23427)
Producers can now use the Event Notification Service API to trigger an event notification whenever a change is made to a license server. Real-time data about the event is delivered to a specified webhook URL where the data can be consumed programmatically to update the producer’s upstream or downstream systems.
Changes that can now trigger an event notification include the following:
| • | Changes to license server attributes like device name, site name, notes, device owner, set of line items mapped to it, or the quantities mapped. |
| • | Certain events on the license server, such as: |
| • | Return license server |
| • | Move license server |
| • | Mapping entitlements to license server |
| • | Removing license from license server |
| • | Mapping activation ID to license server |
New Software Delivery Download History Report
The Software Delivery Download History report (available from the Analytics menu) provides a record of all software and files that have been downloaded by users within an organization or customer base. It empowers organizations to manage software distribution effectively, gain actionable insights, and maintain trust through transparency and reliability.
Main Benefits of the Software Delivery Download History Report
| • | Tracking and Accountability—Maintains a record of who downloaded what, when, and where, thus helping organizations ensure compliance with software licensing agreements. |
| • | Provides Insights—Analyzes which software or updates are most frequently downloaded, providing insights into user behavior and demand. |
| • | Compliance—Captures the download origin and provides insights on the geographical location which aids in audit trail for compliance. |
The Software Delivery Download History report draws data from the Downloads and File Details datasets that are used by the FlexNet Operations Data Access API.
Producers can obtain download data using the API /report/report-names and either of the following two new report groups:
| • | esd-download—Get detailed information about the download packages that users downloaded from the End-User Portal. |
| • | esd-file—Get details of all the files in FlexNet Operations along with the file status and information about the user who created or updated a file. |
For more information, see FlexNet Operations Data Access APIs.
Sample of the Software Delivery Download History report
Note:A known issue related to the data in the Software Delivery Download History report exists, see SWM-24505: Incorrect Values for Account Name in ESD Data.