12.2.0

ptarmiganlabs · Apr 23, 2024 · cb9eb26 · cb9eb26
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diff --git a/content/en/_index.html b/content/en/_index.html
@@ -184,10 +184,9 @@
 
 {{< blocks/section color="dark">}}
 
-{{% blocks/feature icon="fa-lightbulb" title="Latest release: 12.0" %}}
-Outgoing webhooks when reloads fail or Windows services stop are great.  
-
-Now they also support https, even with self-signed certificates!
+{{% blocks/feature icon="fa-lightbulb" title="Latest release: 12.2" %}}
+Control which access licenses will never be released, using user IDs, tags,  
+custom properties, user directories and other user attributes.
 
 Available on [GitHub](https://github.com/ptarmiganlabs/butler/releases).
 {{% /blocks/feature %}}

diff --git a/content/en/docs/about/use cases/_index.md b/content/en/docs/about/use cases/_index.md
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ weight = 10
 - [Extract metadata for apps](#extract-metadata-for-apps)
 - [Easily post messages to Slack](#easily-post-messages-to-slack)
 - [Monitor Windows services](#monitor-windows-services)
+- [Monitor and release Qlik Sense user licenses](#monitor-and-release-qlik-sense-user-licenses)
 
 ## Instant notifications when reload tasks fail or are stopped
 
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ For both Slack and Teams there are options to use more flexible/configurable ale
 
 The result is a very poweful tool for QSEoW sysadmins, who get real-time insight into what's happening with respect to task execution.
 
-More info [here](docs/getting-started/setup/reload-alerts/).
+More info [here](/docs/getting-started/setup/reload-alerts/).
 
 ## Forward failed reload events to incident management systems (New Relic, Signl4)
 
@@ -177,7 +178,7 @@ I.e. notifying specific Slack users that they have a new message.
 
 Can for example be used to notify user(s) that an app has reloaded with new data, or that some error condition has occured.
 
-More info [here](docs/examples/sense-demo-apps/post-to-slack/).
+More info [here](/docs/examples/sense-demo-apps/post-to-slack/).
 
 ## Monitor Windows services
 
@@ -188,3 +189,14 @@ Monitoring here means tracking the services' state and sending messages to email
 
 It can for example be used to get alerts if a Qlik Sense service for some reason stops.  
 The concept is not limited to Qlik Sense services though - any Windows service can be monitored.
+
+## Monitor and release Qlik Sense user licenses
+
+Butler can monitor the usage of Qlik Sense user licenses and store the data in InfluxDB, from where the license data can be visualized in Grafana.
+This makes it easy to track (and alert if needed) on the number of used licenses, how many are available and when it's time to get more licenses.
+
+Butler can also automatically release Professional and Analyzer user licenses that have been inactive for a certain period of time.
+This is useful in environments where some users use Sense sporadically, for example only during certain times of the year.
+In such cases it's a waste of resources to keep the license assigned to the user when it's not being used.
+
+More info [here](/docs/concepts/qlik-sense-licenses/).
diff --git a/content/en/docs/concepts/qlik sense licenses/_index.md b/content/en/docs/concepts/qlik sense licenses/_index.md
@@ -26,7 +26,22 @@ Butler can automatically release Professional and Analyzer user licenses that ha
 This is useful in environments where some users use Sense sporadically, for example only during certain times of the year.  
 In such cases it's a waste of resources to keep the license assigned to the user when it's not being used.
 
-Butler can be configured to release the license after a certain period of inactivity, allowing it to be used by other users.
+Here is how it works:
+
+- Butler will evaluate allocation of professional and analyzer access licenses on a configurable schedule, for example once per day.
+- Licenses that have not been used for a certain period of time (e.g. 30 days) will be released.
+  - Separate inactivity periods can be configured for professional and analyzer licenses.
+- Licenses that are within quarantine period will never be released.
+- It is possible to exclude certain users from having their licenses released, i.e. guarantee they will always have a license available.
+  Can be useful for administrators or users that need guaranteed access to Sense.
+  - The following criteria can be used to exclude users from having their licenses released:
+    - Specific users (by userDirectory\userId)
+    - Specific tag(s) assigned to a user.
+    - Specific custom property value(s) assigned to a user.
+    - Users belonging to a user directory.
+    - Users being marked as (not) active in the QMC.
+    - Users being marked as (not) blocked in the QMC.
+    - Users being marked as (not) externally removed in the QMC.
 
 ## Disclaimer
 

diff --git a/content/en/docs/reference/config file/_index.md b/content/en/docs/reference/config file/_index.md
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ Butler:
   # Settings for monitoring Qlik Sense licenses
   qlikSenseLicense:
     licenseMonitor:
-      enable: true
+      enable: false
       frequency: every 6 hours        # https://bunkat.github.io/later/parsers.html#text
       destination:
         influxDb:                     # Store license data in InfluxDB
@@ -179,15 +179,32 @@ Butler:
               - name: foo
                 value: bar
     licenseRelease:
-      enable: true
+      enable: false                    # true/false. If true, Butler will release unused licenses according to settings below
+      dryRun: true                    # true/false. If true, Butler will not actually release any licenses, just log what it would have done. 
       frequency: every 6 hours        # https://bunkat.github.io/later/parsers.html#text
-      neverReleaseUsers:              # Users that should never have their license released
-        - userDir: 'INTERNAL'
-          userId: 'sa_repository'
-        - userDir: 'INTERNAL'
-          userId: 'sa_api'
-        - userDir: 'USERDIR'
-          userId: 'qs_admin_account'
+      neverRelease:                   # Various ways of defining which users should never have their licenses released
+        user:                         # Users who should never have their licenses released
+          - userDir: 'INTERNAL'
+            userId: 'sa_repository'
+          - userDir: 'INTERNAL'
+            userId: 'sa_api'
+          - userDir: 'USERDIR'
+            userId: 'qs_admin_account'
+        tag:                          # Users with these tags will never have their licenses released
+          - License do not release
+          - some other tag
+        customProperty:               # Users with these custom properties will never have their licenses released
+          - name: LicenseManage
+            value: do-not-release
+        userDirectory:                # List of user directories whose users should never have their licenses released
+          - INTERNAL
+          - ADMIN
+        inactive: Ignore              # Ignore/Yes/No. The value is case insensitive
+                                      #   No = Don't release licenses for users marked as "Inactive=No" in the QMC
+                                      #   Yes = Don't release licenses for users marked as "Inactive=Yes" in the QMC 
+                                      #   Ignore = Disregard this setting
+        blocked: Ignore               # Ignore/Yes/No, No = Don't release licenses for users marked as "Blocked=No" in the QMC
+        removedExternally: ignore     # Ignore/Yes/No, No = Don't release licenses for users marked as "Removed externally=No" in the QMC
       licenseType:                    # License types to monitor and release
         analyzer:                     
           enable: true                # Monitor and release Analyzer licenses

diff --git a/docs/docs/about/index.xml b/docs/docs/about/index.xml
@@ -71,14 +71,15 @@ This simplifies things - just download, configure and run.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&#34;#extract-metadata-for-apps&#34;&gt;Extract metadata for apps&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&#34;#easily-post-messages-to-slack&#34;&gt;Easily post messages to Slack&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&#34;#monitor-windows-services&#34;&gt;Monitor Windows services&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
+&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&#34;#monitor-and-release-qlik-sense-user-licenses&#34;&gt;Monitor and release Qlik Sense user licenses&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
 &lt;/ul&gt;
 &lt;h2 id=&#34;instant-notifications-when-reload-tasks-fail-or-are-stopped&#34;&gt;Instant notifications when reload tasks fail or are stopped&lt;/h2&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Information about failing tasks&lt;/strong&gt; can be sent as emails, to Microsoft Teams, Slack, as MQTT messages or outgoing webhooks.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;Email, Slack and MS Teams notifications all use a templating concept where HTML/Markdown template files describe what the alert message should look like. Before the alert is sent the template is populated with actual data from the failed reload task.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;Both subject and body of email can use the template fields.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;For both Slack and Teams there are options to use more flexible/configurable alert formats and more basic pre-configured alerts.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;The result is a very poweful tool for QSEoW sysadmins, who get real-time insight into what&amp;rsquo;s happening with respect to task execution.&lt;/p&gt;
-&lt;p&gt;More info &lt;a href=&#34;docs/getting-started/setup/reload-alerts/&#34;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
+&lt;p&gt;More info &lt;a href=&#34;https://butler.ptarmiganlabs.com/docs/getting-started/setup/reload-alerts/&#34;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;h2 id=&#34;forward-failed-reload-events-to-incident-management-systems-new-relic-signl4&#34;&gt;Forward failed reload events to incident management systems (New Relic, Signl4)&lt;/h2&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;Butler offers advanced failed reload alerts via Slack, Teams, email and outgoing webhooks.&lt;br&gt;
 Configurable templates means you can customize emails/Teams/Slack messages.&lt;/p&gt;
@@ -156,13 +157,20 @@ MQTT (and the pubsub concept in general) is a great way for systems to communica
 &lt;p&gt;Slack messages can include full formatting (web links, text formatting etc), as well as &amp;ldquo;poking&amp;rdquo; users.&lt;br&gt;
 I.e. notifying specific Slack users that they have a new message.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;Can for example be used to notify user(s) that an app has reloaded with new data, or that some error condition has occured.&lt;/p&gt;
-&lt;p&gt;More info &lt;a href=&#34;docs/examples/sense-demo-apps/post-to-slack/&#34;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
+&lt;p&gt;More info &lt;a href=&#34;https://butler.ptarmiganlabs.com/docs/examples/sense-demo-apps/post-to-slack/&#34;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;h2 id=&#34;monitor-windows-services&#34;&gt;Monitor Windows services&lt;/h2&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;If Butler is running on Windows (server or even desktop) it can monitor one or more Windows services.&lt;br&gt;
 This feature is &lt;strong&gt;not&lt;/strong&gt; available when running Butler on Linux, macOS or in Docker.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;Monitoring here means tracking the services&amp;rsquo; state and sending messages to email, InfluxDB, New Relic, MQTT, Webhooks, Slack or Teams when services stop or start.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;p&gt;It can for example be used to get alerts if a Qlik Sense service for some reason stops.&lt;br&gt;
 The concept is not limited to Qlik Sense services though - any Windows service can be monitored.&lt;/p&gt;
+&lt;h2 id=&#34;monitor-and-release-qlik-sense-user-licenses&#34;&gt;Monitor and release Qlik Sense user licenses&lt;/h2&gt;
+&lt;p&gt;Butler can monitor the usage of Qlik Sense user licenses and store the data in InfluxDB, from where the license data can be visualized in Grafana.
+This makes it easy to track (and alert if needed) on the number of used licenses, how many are available and when it&amp;rsquo;s time to get more licenses.&lt;/p&gt;
+&lt;p&gt;Butler can also automatically release Professional and Analyzer user licenses that have been inactive for a certain period of time.
+This is useful in environments where some users use Sense sporadically, for example only during certain times of the year.
+In such cases it&amp;rsquo;s a waste of resources to keep the license assigned to the user when it&amp;rsquo;s not being used.&lt;/p&gt;
+&lt;p&gt;More info &lt;a href=&#34;https://butler.ptarmiganlabs.com/docs/concepts/qlik-sense-licenses/&#34;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
 
       </description>
     </item>

diff --git a/docs/docs/about/printview/index.html b/docs/docs/about/printview/index.html
@@ -262,14 +262,15 @@ <h1 id="pg-060a814a29b90c6effd5c82768bae391">2 - Use cases</h1>
 <li><a href="#extract-metadata-for-apps">Extract metadata for apps</a></li>
 <li><a href="#easily-post-messages-to-slack">Easily post messages to Slack</a></li>
 <li><a href="#monitor-windows-services">Monitor Windows services</a></li>
+<li><a href="#monitor-and-release-qlik-sense-user-licenses">Monitor and release Qlik Sense user licenses</a></li>
 </ul>
 <h2 id="instant-notifications-when-reload-tasks-fail-or-are-stopped">Instant notifications when reload tasks fail or are stopped</h2>
 <p><strong>Information about failing tasks</strong> can be sent as emails, to Microsoft Teams, Slack, as MQTT messages or outgoing webhooks.</p>
 <p>Email, Slack and MS Teams notifications all use a templating concept where HTML/Markdown template files describe what the alert message should look like. Before the alert is sent the template is populated with actual data from the failed reload task.</p>
 <p>Both subject and body of email can use the template fields.</p>
 <p>For both Slack and Teams there are options to use more flexible/configurable alert formats and more basic pre-configured alerts.</p>
 <p>The result is a very poweful tool for QSEoW sysadmins, who get real-time insight into what&rsquo;s happening with respect to task execution.</p>
-<p>More info <a href="docs/getting-started/setup/reload-alerts/">here</a>.</p>
+<p>More info <a href="/docs/getting-started/setup/reload-alerts/">here</a>.</p>
 <h2 id="forward-failed-reload-events-to-incident-management-systems-new-relic-signl4">Forward failed reload events to incident management systems (New Relic, Signl4)</h2>
 <p>Butler offers advanced failed reload alerts via Slack, Teams, email and outgoing webhooks.<br>
 Configurable templates means you can customize emails/Teams/Slack messages.</p>
@@ -347,13 +348,20 @@ <h2 id="easily-post-messages-to-slack">Easily post messages to Slack</h2>
 <p>Slack messages can include full formatting (web links, text formatting etc), as well as &ldquo;poking&rdquo; users.<br>
 I.e. notifying specific Slack users that they have a new message.</p>
 <p>Can for example be used to notify user(s) that an app has reloaded with new data, or that some error condition has occured.</p>
-<p>More info <a href="docs/examples/sense-demo-apps/post-to-slack/">here</a>.</p>
+<p>More info <a href="/docs/examples/sense-demo-apps/post-to-slack/">here</a>.</p>
 <h2 id="monitor-windows-services">Monitor Windows services</h2>
 <p>If Butler is running on Windows (server or even desktop) it can monitor one or more Windows services.<br>
 This feature is <strong>not</strong> available when running Butler on Linux, macOS or in Docker.</p>
 <p>Monitoring here means tracking the services&rsquo; state and sending messages to email, InfluxDB, New Relic, MQTT, Webhooks, Slack or Teams when services stop or start.</p>
 <p>It can for example be used to get alerts if a Qlik Sense service for some reason stops.<br>
 The concept is not limited to Qlik Sense services though - any Windows service can be monitored.</p>
+<h2 id="monitor-and-release-qlik-sense-user-licenses">Monitor and release Qlik Sense user licenses</h2>
+<p>Butler can monitor the usage of Qlik Sense user licenses and store the data in InfluxDB, from where the license data can be visualized in Grafana.
+This makes it easy to track (and alert if needed) on the number of used licenses, how many are available and when it&rsquo;s time to get more licenses.</p>
+<p>Butler can also automatically release Professional and Analyzer user licenses that have been inactive for a certain period of time.
+This is useful in environments where some users use Sense sporadically, for example only during certain times of the year.
+In such cases it&rsquo;s a waste of resources to keep the license assigned to the user when it&rsquo;s not being used.</p>
+<p>More info <a href="/docs/concepts/qlik-sense-licenses/">here</a>.</p>
 
 </div>
 

diff --git a/docs/docs/about/use-cases/index.html b/docs/docs/about/use-cases/index.html
@@ -394,6 +394,7 @@
     <li><a href="#extract-metadata-for-apps">Extract metadata for apps</a></li>
     <li><a href="#easily-post-messages-to-slack">Easily post messages to Slack</a></li>
     <li><a href="#monitor-windows-services">Monitor Windows services</a></li>
+    <li><a href="#monitor-and-release-qlik-sense-user-licenses">Monitor and release Qlik Sense user licenses</a></li>
   </ul>
 </nav>
       </div>
@@ -487,14 +488,15 @@ <h1>Use cases</h1>
 <li><a href="#extract-metadata-for-apps">Extract metadata for apps</a></li>
 <li><a href="#easily-post-messages-to-slack">Easily post messages to Slack</a></li>
 <li><a href="#monitor-windows-services">Monitor Windows services</a></li>
+<li><a href="#monitor-and-release-qlik-sense-user-licenses">Monitor and release Qlik Sense user licenses</a></li>
 </ul>
 <h2 id="instant-notifications-when-reload-tasks-fail-or-are-stopped">Instant notifications when reload tasks fail or are stopped</h2>
 <p><strong>Information about failing tasks</strong> can be sent as emails, to Microsoft Teams, Slack, as MQTT messages or outgoing webhooks.</p>
 <p>Email, Slack and MS Teams notifications all use a templating concept where HTML/Markdown template files describe what the alert message should look like. Before the alert is sent the template is populated with actual data from the failed reload task.</p>
 <p>Both subject and body of email can use the template fields.</p>
 <p>For both Slack and Teams there are options to use more flexible/configurable alert formats and more basic pre-configured alerts.</p>
 <p>The result is a very poweful tool for QSEoW sysadmins, who get real-time insight into what&rsquo;s happening with respect to task execution.</p>
-<p>More info <a href="docs/getting-started/setup/reload-alerts/">here</a>.</p>
+<p>More info <a href="/docs/getting-started/setup/reload-alerts/">here</a>.</p>
 <h2 id="forward-failed-reload-events-to-incident-management-systems-new-relic-signl4">Forward failed reload events to incident management systems (New Relic, Signl4)</h2>
 <p>Butler offers advanced failed reload alerts via Slack, Teams, email and outgoing webhooks.<br>
 Configurable templates means you can customize emails/Teams/Slack messages.</p>
@@ -572,13 +574,20 @@ <h2 id="easily-post-messages-to-slack">Easily post messages to Slack</h2>
 <p>Slack messages can include full formatting (web links, text formatting etc), as well as &ldquo;poking&rdquo; users.<br>
 I.e. notifying specific Slack users that they have a new message.</p>
 <p>Can for example be used to notify user(s) that an app has reloaded with new data, or that some error condition has occured.</p>
-<p>More info <a href="docs/examples/sense-demo-apps/post-to-slack/">here</a>.</p>
+<p>More info <a href="/docs/examples/sense-demo-apps/post-to-slack/">here</a>.</p>
 <h2 id="monitor-windows-services">Monitor Windows services</h2>
 <p>If Butler is running on Windows (server or even desktop) it can monitor one or more Windows services.<br>
 This feature is <strong>not</strong> available when running Butler on Linux, macOS or in Docker.</p>
 <p>Monitoring here means tracking the services&rsquo; state and sending messages to email, InfluxDB, New Relic, MQTT, Webhooks, Slack or Teams when services stop or start.</p>
 <p>It can for example be used to get alerts if a Qlik Sense service for some reason stops.<br>
 The concept is not limited to Qlik Sense services though - any Windows service can be monitored.</p>
+<h2 id="monitor-and-release-qlik-sense-user-licenses">Monitor and release Qlik Sense user licenses</h2>
+<p>Butler can monitor the usage of Qlik Sense user licenses and store the data in InfluxDB, from where the license data can be visualized in Grafana.
+This makes it easy to track (and alert if needed) on the number of used licenses, how many are available and when it&rsquo;s time to get more licenses.</p>
+<p>Butler can also automatically release Professional and Analyzer user licenses that have been inactive for a certain period of time.
+This is useful in environments where some users use Sense sporadically, for example only during certain times of the year.
+In such cases it&rsquo;s a waste of resources to keep the license assigned to the user when it&rsquo;s not being used.</p>
+<p>More info <a href="/docs/concepts/qlik-sense-licenses/">here</a>.</p>
 
         <div class="section-index">