How the FlexNet Inventory Agent gathers IBM Installation Manager (IIM) evidence

• InstallationManager.dat
• config.ini
• installed.xml

• Windows operating systems:
  • The registry entry HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\IBM\Installation Manager\appDataLocation is read to identify a directory.
  • Any installed.xml file in that directory is added to the investigation list.
• UNIX-like operating systems:
  • The file /etc/.ibm/registry/InstallationManager.dat, which is the standard data location, is searched.
  • The user home’s /etc/.ibm/registry/InstallationManager.dat subdirectory is also checked if present.
  • Any discovered InstallationManager.dat files are analyzed to locate config.ini files.
  • config.ini files are then scanned for references to installed.xml files.

How are software details recorded?

<location id='IBM Tivoli Storage Manager' kind='product' path='C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM'>
  <property name='user.license,com.tivoli.dsm.server' value='tsm'/>
  <package kind='offering' name='IBM Tivoli Storage Manager device driver' id='com.tivoli.dsm.devices' [...]>
    <property name='cic.info.version' value='7.1.1.20141123_0819'/>
    <property name='vendor.name' value='IBM'/>
[...]

Package details extracted by the FlexNet Inventory Agent for inclusion in the gathered inventory data include:

• Name is taken from package/@name
• Version is taken from package/property[@name='cic.info.version']/@value
• Publisher is taken from package/property[@name='vendor.name']/@value

<Package Name="IBM Tivoli Storage Manager device driver" Evidence="IIM" Version="7.1.1.20141123_0819">
	<Property Name="InstallLocation" Value="C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM"/>
	<Property Name="Publisher" Value="IBM"/>
</Package>

Identifying where IIM evidence has come from on a device

When the FlexNet Inventory Agent's inventory gathering process finds an installed.xml file on the filesystem during a filesystem scan, details of the path are noted in the tracker.log log file with messages similar to the following:

[2026-03-07T12:09:32+1100 (G, 0)] {42568} Scanning directory 'C:\' for files
[2026-03-07T12:09:32+1100 (G, 0)] {42568} The file 'C:\Path\installed.xml' has been detected as a possible package registry
[2026-03-07T12:09:32+1100 (G, 0)] {42568} Finished tracking files

Note: No logging of this nature is generated showing details of installed.xml files found based on path details obtained from well-known locations, such as through the ...\Installation Manager\appDataLocation registry entry on Windows, or details found in InstallationManager.dat files.

Review the contents of each installed.xml file listed in the logging to identify which specific file(s) contain evidence of interest.

On devices running Unix-like operating systems, a command like the following can also be used to find installed.xml files and search for particular details in them:

find / -name installed.xml -print0 | xargs -0 grep -H 'IBM Tivioli Storage Manager device driver'

Additional diagnostics

Additional diagnostic tracing information from the inventory gathering process can be obtained by enabling the following agent trace classes in the etcp.trace file:

• +Inventory/FileSystemScanListener
• +Inventory/Tracker/Package
• +Inventory/Tracker/Software/Files

Instructions on how to do this are located here: How to enable FlexNet Manager Suite diagnostic tracing.

This style of diagnostic tracing can help to identify exactly where installed.xml files have been found (including files that were not found through a filesystem scan, and so were not referenced in the tracker.log file), and what package details have been retrieved.

Here are some examples of the style of diagnostic tracing information that may be seen:

2026-03-07T17:45:43, pid 40184, thread 34304 (Inventory/FileSystemScanListener/General): CFileSystemScanListener - listener "IM" listing file "C:\Path\installed.xml" as REG_SYSTEM.
2026-03-07T17:45:43, pid 40184, thread 34304 (Inventory/FileSystemScanListener/General): CFileSystemScanListener - listener "IM" listing file "C:\Path\installed.xml".
2026-03-07T17:45:43, pid 40184, thread 34304 (Inventory/Tracker/Package): Package tracked: IBM Tivoli Storage Manager device drivers

Or:

2026-03-07T17:45:43, pid 40184, thread 34304 (Inventory/Tracker/Software/Files): TrackFile(1) RealFile [C:\Path\installed.xml] MainDirName [C:\] NameInStage [C:\]

What if details are incorrect?

• Finding information about what packages are installed by Installation Manager

Additional Information 

The following article summarizes different types of evidence gathered by the FlexNet Inventory Agent: What file and installer evidence is gathered by the FlexNet Inventory Agent?