Inventory Solution for Network Devices 6.0 SP2 Release Notes

Article:DOC1321  |  Created: 2006-12-12  |  Updated: 2006-12-12  |  Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC1321
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Documentation

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Description



Question
What do I need to know about the 6.0 SP2 release of Altiris® Inventory Solution® for Network Devices.

Answer

Altiris® Inventory Solution® for Network Devices 6.0 SP2

Release Notes

Installation and Upgrade

New Features in this Release

Fixes in this Release

Known Issues

Additional Documentation

Document History

Installation and Upgrade

When you perform a new installation or upgrade your current version, be aware of the prerequisites and follow the instructions below.

Prerequisites

  • Altiris Notification Server 6.0 SP2 or later
  • Network Discovery 6.0 SP4 or later

Where to Download Inventory Solution for Network Devices 6.0 SP2

You can download Inventory Solution for Network Devices 6.0 SP2 from http://www.altiris.com/Download.aspx to install for the first time or upgrade from previous versions.

You can also download documentation from the Altiris Web site by clicking http://www.altiris.com/Support/Documentation.aspx, as well as from the Altiris Solution Center at http://www.altiris.

You can download beta versions of Altiris products from http://beta.altiris.com.

New installation

After you successfully install Notification Server, you can easily download Inventory Solution for Network Devices from the Altiris Solution Center, a central product download location. See Prerequisites before installing or upgrading this product.

To install Inventory Solution for Network Devices

  1. From the Altiris Console, click the Configuration tab.
  2. In the left pane, click Upgrade/Install Additional Solutions.
  3. In the right pane, click the Segments tab.
  4. Click the Components sub-tab.
  5. Click Inventory Solution for Network Devices.
  6. Click Start.

To uninstall Inventory Solution for Network Devices

  1. From the Altiris Console, click the Configuration tab.
  2. In the left pane, select Configuration > Upgrade/Install Additional Solutions.
  3. In the right pane, click the Currently Installed tab.
  4. Select Altiris Inventory Solution for Network Devices and click Remove.
  5. Follow all prompts to remove Inventory Solution for Network Devices. 

Upgrade Issues

You can install Inventory Solution for Network Devices 6.0 SP2 even if you are currently running an older version. During the upgrade process, Inventory Solution for Network Devices deletes previously installed Network Discovery program files and then installs new program files and new product documentation. However, you must go to the Altiris Solution Center and download new versions of report and language packs, if there are any available.

Note: Data files, such as policies, is preserved during the upgrade process so inventory data is maintained. However, all user-defined information is deleted when the upgrade is performed. If you want to preserve user-defined data tables, perform a table export, upgrade the Inventory Solution for Network Devices software, and then import the tables you exported.

Upgrade Steps
You can upgrade to Inventory Solution for Network Devices 6.0 SP2 if you are currently running Notification Server, and have a previous version of Network Discovery already installed.

To upgrade Network Discovery

  1. From the Altiris Console, click the Configuration tab.
  2. In the left pane, click Upgrade/Install Additional Solutions.
  3. In the right pane, click the Segments tab.
  4. Click the Components sub-tab.
  5. Click Inventory Solution for Network Devices.
  6. Click Start.

New Features in this Release

Improvements for this release include the following new features:

 Feature Description

1.      Inventory Solution for Network Devices processing engine redesigned

The engine was modified to remove a scan limitation, which was caused by a size limit on XML strings. The engine is now aware of dataclasses rather than just providing data to the Notification Server for processing. By improving the processing engine, Inventory Solution for Network Devices is more efficent and scalable.

2.   Support for x64 operating systems

The Inventory Solution for Network Devices user interface elements in the Altiris Console can run on both, the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer found in 64-bit editions of Windows operating systems. However, ActiveX controls will not work correctly on the 64-bit version, but pages that do not require ActiveX will work correctly.

3.     Vista support

The Inventory Solution for Network Devices user interface elements in the Altiris Console run on both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista operating system.


Fixes in this Release

The following issues were resolved in this release. For additional information regarding a fixed issue, click on the Article ID link for additional information.

 Fixed Issue  Article ID

Cannot import a table with the same name as a table that has been deleted

The error, "the table already exists" appears when you try to import a table that has been exported and then deleted. The table name is now deleted from all tables in the database so you can import tables without error.

  

Network Inventory still tries to collect information on deleted OID’s

Previously, object IDs were not deleted from the database when a table was deleted. This issue interfered with collecting inventory from IP devices, since Inventory Solution for Network Devices tried to collect data from object IDs that had been deleted from the database. The object IDs are now removed from all tables so Inventory Solution for Network Devices does not attempt to collect information from those object IDs.

  

An Error stating that “Another installation is already in progress” appears when installing Inventory Solution for Network Devices Documentation from the Solution Center

The Altiris Inventory Solution for Network Devices Documentation Setup errors when downloading the installation package from the Solution Center. You can now download any installation package without error, since each package contributing to a full installation will only begin after the previous package is finished installing.

  

The message “Error during network inventory process: External component has thrown an exception” appears when running an inventory on more than 3000 IP devices

Inventory Solution for Network Devices had a size limitation on strings being passed from the engine to the solution. The engine can now handle the processing of all data internally without limitations.

  

The error “Invalid Cast” appears after an inventory policy runs

This error occurs when user-defined data mappings cause data inconsistencies. Users can now define their own user-defined data mappings without causing errors when inventory policies run.

  

Duplicate entries are not removed when deleting from Inventory Data Mapping a device type that had been previously discovered

Deleting a device type from the Inventory Data Mapping tables causes a page error when navigating back to the Inventory Data Mapping page in your web browser. You can now delete a specific device type from the Inventory Data Mapping table without causing page errors.

  

Known Issues

The following are unresolved issues and workaround instructions for issues in this release:

 Known Issue  Article ID
Inventory Solution for Network Devices must be installed after Network Discovery

It is possible to install Inventory Solution for Network Devices before Network Discovery, but only when users perform a manual installation. However, you will receive several errors through out the installation of Inventory Solution for Network Devices if installed first, even if Network Discovery is installed thereafter. You can correct the installation errors by uninstalling, and then reinstalling Network Discovery first, followed by Inventory Solution for Network Devices. We recommend that you install Inventory Solution for Network Devices from the Altiris Solution Center, so that dependencies can be checked to ensure a proper software installation.

  

No message is displayed showing status of inventory run


When an inventory runs, there is no progress bar or time reference to indicate how long the process is expected to take. We expect to better communicate this information to users in a later release.

  

Inventory Policy is enabled by default

 

The Inventory policy is installed in an enabled status and will perform an inventory every day at 2:00am.

 

Editing changes in the Inventory Data Mapping tables do not stick

 

The UI allows users to mark or unmark items such as the “Key” column making users think that they can edit their settings when in fact they will not stick. We need to change the UI so that these changes cannot be made.

  

The ‘SNMP Inventory Results’ data class is not created and populated after an inventory run

 

This class includes information of the last inventory run. We are currently not creating or populating this information because an .NSE is not created to do it.

  

The table dropdown in Inventory Data Mapping disappears sporadically


Under the Inventory Data Mapping you can create your own tables to collect inventory information. If you create a table and apply the changes but then cancel to go back, the dropdown control will not show up.

  

A Network Server Error occurs in the Inventory Data Mapping when you test a table and sort the results by column

 

Test a table definition on a device then try sorting the results by clicking at the top of a column.  You will see a Network Server Error appear.

  

Netware server does not show up in Netware Server Report

If a Netware server has the functionality of being a router installed, the Netware server will show up in the router reports and not in the Netware Server reports. This will be fixed in a later release.		  

Additional Documentation

Altiris product documentation is available in Microsoft HTML Help* (.CHM) and Adobe Acrobat* (.PDF) formats. To view Altiris product documentation in .PDF format, use Adobe Acrobat Reader (available at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html).

Documentation files are installed in the following directory on the Altiris® Notification Server™ computer: C:\Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Help

The following documentation is provided with Inventory Solution for Network Devices 

  • Inventory Solution for Network Devices 6.0 SP2 Help

You can access documentation from the Altiris Console by clicking the following icons in the upper-right corner of the console:

  • Access the contextual online help by clicking the online help icon .
  • Access an index of all installed help by clicking the index icon help index.

Altiris Information Resources

Source What Information it Includes Where to Find it
Altiris Documentation Information about new features, update instructions, and known issues for each release. Includes Altiris formal documentation such as Release Notes, Help, Reference Guides, Best Practice Articles, and Technical Reference Articles. http://www.altiris.com/support/documentation
Altiris Knowledgebase Comprehensive collection of articles, incidents, and issues for Altiris solutions. http://kb.altiris.com/
Altiris Juice:
an online magazine for Altiris users		 Best Practices, tips and tricks, and articles for users of Altiris solutions. http://www.altiris.com/juice
Online Forums Forums for Altiris solutions and suites. http://forums.altiris.com/

Document History

 Date  Changes
January 22, 2007 Inventory Solution for Network Devices 6.0 SP2 was formatted and posted to the knowledgebase for the first time.


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30921


Article URL http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC1321


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