User’s Guide

Information about how to use this product, including detailed technical information and instructions for performing common tasks.

This information is available in PDF format.

• The Documentation Library, available in the Symantec Management Console on the Help menu.
• The Documentation Web site, available at the following URL:
   http://www.altiris.com/Support/Documentation.aspx
• The Product Support page, which available at the following URL:
  http://www.symantec.com/business/support/all_products.jsp
  When you open your product’s support page, look for the Documentation link on the right side of the page.

Help

Help is available at the solution level and at the suite level.

This information is available in HTML help format.

The Documentation Library, which is available in the Symantec Management Console on the Help menu.

Context-sensitive help is available for most screens in the Symantec Management Console.

You can open context-sensitive help in the following ways:

• The F1 key
• The Context command, which is available in the Symantec Management Console on the Help menu.

Symantec Management Platform Release Notes

This information is available as an article in the Knowledge Base.

https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=45141&p=1

You can also search for the product name under Release Notes.

Installing the Symantec Management Platform products

This information is available as an article in the Knowledge Base.

https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=45732&p=1

Altiris 7 Planning and Implementation Guide

This information is available as an article in the Knowledge Base.

https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=45803&p=1

Knowledge Base

http://kb.altiris.com/

Symantec Connect

(formerly Altiris Juice)

http://www.symantec.com/connect/endpoint-management-virtualization

Online Forums

http://forums.altiris.com/

Dell Client Manager upgrade issues

Collected inventory data not transferred during upgrade

When you upgrade Dell Client Manager from version 2.2 (Notification Server 6.x based) to 3.0, some hardware and BIOS inventory is not transferred to the new database. This is because of the changes to the database structure in this release. After you install Dell Client Manager 3.0, simply run the inventory tasks and re-collect all inventory.

If you still want to see the inventory data you collected using the previous version of Dell Client Manager (for example, you want to see the inventory you collected from the computers that are not available any more and whose inventory you cannot re-collect), you can use the Altiris Notification Store Browser to view the Store.adb file that you exported.

Issue when upgrading to a different location

If you install Symantec Installation Manager 7.0 to a location, other than where the previous version of Dell Client Manager and the Notification Server 6.0 is installed, the Dell Client Manager exporters are not available in the Migration Wizard.

To resolve this issue, do the following before clicking Next in the Migration Wizard:

1. On the Notification Server computer, open to the Notification Server 6.0 installation folder, and find the Upgrade folder.
2. Copy all files from this Upgrade folder into the Upgrade folder that is located at the new Symantec Installation Manager installation directory.
3. In the Migration Wizard, click Next, and continue with the migration.

Client upgrade issues

Upgrading the client computer from OMCI 5.x and 6.x

Upgrade from OMCI versions earlier than 7.x is not supported. You must manually uninstall OMCI and then use the Dell Client Manager Agent - Install policy to install the current version.

Upgrading the client computer from OMCI 7.x

If you upgrade OMCI from an earlier version of 7.x, a restart may be necessary. You can configure the upgrade task to restart the computer after upgrade, or you can run the restart task on the Supported Dell Client Computers Awaiting Reboot to Finish Installation filter later.

User rights and OMCI 7.1 upgrade on client computer

If a computer has OMCI 7.1, and the current logged on user does not have administrator rights, an automatic upgrade to a newer version of OMCI will fail. To upgrade, manually uninstall OMCI 7.1, then use the Dell Client Manager Agent - Install policy to reinstall OMCI. Dell Client Manager includes a collection named “Dell OMCI Previous Version installed” to help you identify these computers.

Do not perform the shutdown operation after the BIOS version update

After performing a BIOS update, the computer must be restarted rather than shut down. If a computer is shut down, the BIOS upgrade will not take effect and you may cause the computer to not start properly.

• BIOS Update Task—We recommend that you do not run the BIOS Update Task alone without a follow-up restart task. Combine the BIOS Update Task and the Restart by Power Control task into a job, or use the sample BIOS Update Job included with Dell Client Manager.
• BIOS Update Job—The BIOS Update Job includes the Restart by Power Control task. We recommend that you use the BIOS Update Job to update a BIOS.
• BIOS Update Stand-alone Package—When you run the BIOS Update stand-alone package, the computer will be restarted in 2 minutes by default.

BIOS password restrictions

BIOS Passwords set in a BIOS policy have the following restrictions:

• Only alphanumeric passwords are supported.
• Spaces may not be used. Using spaces will result in incorrect passwords. For example, if you specified the BIOS password as "qwe 123", the password will be set as "qwe".
• The maximum length is dependent on the computer model. For example, on Dell Latitude notebooks, the maximum is eight characters. When using the Real-Time view to provide a password with more than the maximum characters, the password will be truncated to the first number of characters allowed. For example, if the maximum is eight characters and you provide a 12-character password, only the first eight characters are used. You will need to use that truncated password to use or clear the BIOS password.

These restrictions apply to both setting passwords and password verification.

BIOS password numeric values

When using a computer's BIOS configuration utility (after a start or restart), a BIOS password entered from the numeric keypad on the keyboard (under the NumLock key) doesn't match a similar password entered by using the numeric keys under the F1...F10 keys. Dell Client Manager does not recognize the format from the numeric keypad in the BIOS.

If you use the numeric keypad in the BIOS, you cannot match the password using Dell Client Manager.

Scenario 1:

1. In the BIOS, you turned on NumLock and provided a password from the numeric part of the keyboard (under the NumLock key).
2. Using a policy, stand-alone package, or the Real-Time view, attempt to modify this password (or apply some BIOS Settings on the computer where you need to provide a password to change them). Your password (the same as you entered in the BIOS) will not be accepted. It doesn't matter which kind of number keys you use in Dell Client Manager; it won't match.

Scenario 2:

1. Using a Dell Client Manager policy, stand-alone package, or the Real-Time view, set the BIOS password using numbers (either form of numbers).
2. Enter BIOS and attempt to enter the same password using numeric keypad keys—it will not match. It will work only if you enter this from the numeric keys (under F1...F10 keys).

Solution:

When using a computer's BIOS configuration utility (after a start or restart), to enter the BIOS password, always use the numeric keys under the F1...F10 keys.

Extracting .hdr file from non-packaged BIOS upgrade .exe file

When using DOS-based BIOS upgrade files, you must extract the .hdr file from the downloaded .exe file. You can do this by running filename.exe –writehdrfile.

Some files may not extract correctly. This occurs because the extraction process requires more memory than it's allocated by default. If this occurs, right-click the .exe, click the Memory tab of the .exe file properties, and modify memory allocation values to maximum values for all settings. Then close the Properties dialog box and re-execute the extraction process.

Asset tag length limitations

When setting the Asset Tag value in the BIOS Settings Task, there is a 10-character limit. If you have more than 10 characters, this will cause the changing of an Asset Tag (of more than 10 characters) to fail.

For example, if you use a %systemname% macro as a value for the Asset Tag, and if %systemname% is more than 10 characters, the set operation will fail.

Asset tag macro limitations

When you use a %username% macro as a value for the Asset Tag when no user is currently logged on the target computer, the set operation will fail.

Boot order limitations

Drive type limitations

The current boot order functionality cannot distinguish between different hard drive types (IDE, SATA, SCSI) and multiple hard drives of the same. If you have multiple hard drives, you cannot configure a specific hard drive to boot from.

RAID volumes not recognized for boot order

RAID volumes are not recognized for boot order configuration. RAID volumes are also ignored if boot order configuration is imported using the Import feature of BIOS Profile Editor.

BIOS upgrade not automatically performed with password-locked screen saver

When using the BIOS Update Job for a client computer that has a password-locked screen saver, by default the screensaver will prevent the computer from automatically restarting and flashing the BIOS. (If the computer is manually rebooted, it will then flash the BIOS.) In the Restart by Power Control task, there is the Force applications to close without prompting option that is cleared by default. If you select this option, the computer will restart and flash the BIOS.

Hyperthreading settings management not possible on some models

Hyperthreading status on Dell OptiPlex 745 and 745C computers is displayed as Disabled or Enabled, but in fact, the settings are not supported by the BIOS and cannot be changed.

On Dell Latitude D420, D520, D620, D820, Dell Precision Workstation M65, and M90 notebooks, changing Hyperthreading settings (using the BIOS Settings task or the Real-Time view) changes MultiCore settings instead.

You must upgrade BIOS on Dell Latitude 131L before managing the computer

Hardware inventory collection, monitoring policies, and stand-alone packages fail to run on Dell Latitude 131L computers with BIOS version 1.7 or earlier. To manage the computers, manually upgrade the BIOS to version 2.1 or later by running Dell's BIOS upgrade package on the client computer.

The BIOS upgrade package can be obtained from the Dell Web site (http://support.dell.com/).

BIOS cannot be upgraded on Dell Latitude 131L

You cannot upgrade the BIOS to versions 2.1 or earlier on Dell Latitude 131L remotely, using the BIOS Update Task. You have to upgrade the BIOS manually by running Dell's BIOS upgrade package on the client computer.

Dell is currently working on resolving the issue. Check the Dell Web site if a newer version of BIOS is available (http://support.dell.com/).

BIOS settings cannot be changed on Dell Latitude 131L

BIOS settings on Dell Latitude 131L cannot be changed, either by using the BIOS Settings Task or the Real-Time view.

BIOS cannot be upgraded on Dell OptiPlex 740

You cannot upgrade the BIOS to versions 1.0.5 or earlier on Dell OptiPlex 740 remotely, using the BIOS Update Task.

Dell is currently working on resolving the issue. Check the Dell Web site if a newer version of BIOS is available (http://support.dell.com/).

ASF out-of-band power management limitation

Dell Latitude D531, D630, D631, and D830 notebooks with ASF 2.0 capability do not support the Reboot/Reset power action (see the Real-Time Console Infrastructure's Power Management task) using ASF technology—only Power On and Power Off power actions are supported.

ASF Configuration takes an excessive amount of time to complete or times out on Vista x64

ASF Configuration/Inventory tasks take a long time to complete or times out completely.

Not possible to create dynamic filters

Currently, it is not possible to create dynamic custom filters.

How to turn on the Dell Client Monitoring Policy

If you turn on the policy by right-clicking Dell Client Monitoring Policy in the left pane and then clicking Enable, the automated action that is defined in the policy (By default: Email Automated Action for Dell Client Manager Alert) will not work.

Instead, turn on the policy using the On/Off button on the upper-right of the Dell Client Monitoring Policy page, and then click Save changes.

Dell Client Monitoring Policy automated action issue

When you click Edit input parameters on the Dell Client Monitoring Policy page, the Edit Job/Task Input Parameters virtual window appears. If you click Cancel or close this virtual window, the pre-populated Data Source fields can be lost. Instead, click OK, even if you did not change anything in the virtual window. If you did click Cancel, then navigate away from the Dell Client Monitoring Policy page without saving anything. Then come back to the page—the lost Data Source fields should be now restored.

Power Scheme Tasks conflict with Dell Control Point software

When you run a power scheme task on a Dell computer with the Dell Control Point software installed, the power scheme settings take effect, but the values in the Power Options Properties dialog box on the Dell client computer do not change.

Where to look for the WSMAN event descriptions

WSMAN event messages in the Event Console do not contain a description of the event. To understand the event, you must refer to the Standard Message Registry. This registry is not provided in the Help documentation. The registry is attached to article 43656.

Do not use Dell Client Configuration Utility on computers with BitLocker

Do not use the stand-alone Dell Client Configuration Utility to update BIOS version or change BIOS settings on the computers that have BitLocker drive encryption enabled. If you make changes to the BIOS without disabling BitLocker first, the computer will fail to start. A TPM recovery code is needed to start the computer again.

To manage computers with BitLocker, use the BIOS jobs that are included with Dell Client Manager.

Issue when unistalling Dell Client Manager Standard 3.0 SP1

After you uninstall Dell Client Manager Standard 3.0 SP1, the Symantec Installation Manager still displays Dell Client Manager 3.0 as an installed product. To remove this product from the listing, click the Uninstall button and ignore all errors that are displayed in the Altiris log.

The "Reboot after change" option on the BIOS Settings and Boot Order pages does not work

The "Reboot after change" option on the BIOS Settings and Boot Order pages in the Resource Manager's Real-Time view does not work. After you click Save changes, the changes that you made apply to the target computer, but the computer does not restart.

Changing some BIOS settings requires the target computer to be restarted. You can use the Real-Time Console Infrastructure's Power Management task to reboot the computer remotely.

Real-Time Console Infrastructure Known Issues in this Release

Dell Client Manager installs Real-Time Console Infrastructure 7.0 SP1.

For the list of Real-Time Console Infrastructure known issues in this release, see article 44492.