Adding Useful Utilities to the Altiris DS Tools Menu

Did you know here are some very useful (and very well hidden) utilities waiting to be added to you Deployment Solution tools menu?

Read on to get a description of each tool and how to plug 'em in and fire 'em up.

The ATools.ini file installed in the Deployment Server folder can be opened in Notepad and contains the following items.

[SwitchManagement] 
MenuText=Switch &Management
Description="Altiris Deployment Solution Switch Management"
WorkDir=
Executable=.\SwitchMngt.exe

[DSInfo]
MenuText=&DSInfo (Altiris DS Support Information)
Description="Altiris Deployment Solution Support Information"
WorkDir=
Executable=.\TechSup\Windows\DSInfo.exe

These two sections correspond to the items listed in the DS Console under Tools > Altiris Tools. Following are sections for some of the other utilities that Altiris supplies in the installation of Deployment Server.

Password Utility

The Password Utility is used to change the password for task types of Deployment Server that have been set up to use a specific user context for running that job. Some examples of that are Run Script, Distribute Software, and Distribute Personality. This utility allows the passwords to be changed all at once so the administrator doesn't have to change each job individually.

To add the Password utility to the Tools > Altiris Tools menu:

After making sure that the PWUtil.exe is in the Deployment Server directory, add the following to the atools.ini file:

[PWUtil]
MenuText=&Password Utility
Description="Altiris Password Utility"
WorkDir=
Executable=.\PWUtil.exe

The Password utility now shows in the Tools menu after the console is restarted. You may want to change where the ampersand (&) is on the menu text if there are other tools already in the menu that use p as the hot key.

The Deployment Server system uses a license utility to update or add licenses to installed sites, allowing you to apply the license activation key file (an .LIC file) when you install the product. The license utility is installed when the Deployment Solution is installed. The license utility allows you to install a newer license for installed software and add additional licenses for installed software. The licensing utility also shows the license status. It is not on the menus in the console, so adding it to the Tools menu can be a time saver.

License Utility

To add the License utility to the Tools > Altiris Tools menu:

Add the following to the atools.ini file:

[LicenseUtil]
MenuText=&License Utility
Description="Altiris License Utility"
WorkDir=
Executable=.\license.exe

The utility now shows in the Tools > Altiris menu. You may want to change where the ampersand (&) is on the menu text if there are other tools already in the menu that use l as the hot key.

A2i Editor

The Altiris A2i Editor lets you easily view and change an existing .A2i file. It provides an easy to use GUI interface, and provides the drag and drop functionality to copy settings from one version to another version. The A2i Editor enables you to enter settings for applications whose settings cannot be captured when A2i builder launches the application. The A2i Editor displays the versions, sections, and variables of the A2i file.

To add the A2i Editor utility to the Tools menu, add the following to the atools.ini file:

[A2iEdit]
MenuText=&A2i Editor Utility
Description="Altiris A2i Editor"
WorkDir=
Executable=.\PCT\A2iEditor.exe

The utility now shows in the Tools menu. You may want to change where the ampersand (&) is on the menu text if there are other tools already in the menu that use A as the hot key.

Application Install Administrator

The Application Install Administrator is a new tool for creation of application installation .ini files. This tool reads all the .A2i files and finds out all the versions of the applications. It reads the description for each version from the .A2i files. The Application Install Administrator shows a list of applications for which there is an entry in the .ini file. The user can install only one version, either the same version or the upgraded version.

The information is stored in the .ini file in the following format:

[APP INI INFO]
Version=1.0
[EN > ACT! for Windows > 4.x]
InstallPath=d
InstallOptions=d
UnInstallOptions=d
Description=ACT! for Windows 4.0
InstallFiles=
WaitForChildProcess=0
[EN > ActiveSync Application > 3.x]
InstallPath=3
InstallOptions=3
UnInstallOptions=3
Description=ActiveSync Application 3
InstallFiles=
WaitForChildProcess=0

To add the Application Administrator utility to the Tools menu, add the following to the atools.ini file:

[AppAdmin]
MenuText=&Application Administrator Utility
Description="Altiris Application Administrator"
WorkDir=
Executable=.\PCT\AppAdmin.exe

The utility now shows in the Tools menu. You may want to change where the ampersand (&) is on the menu text if there are other tools already in the menu that use A as the hot key.

The PCT Template Builder allows users to build and edit templates outside the PC Transplant Wizard. The Template Builder allows a user to define a template without being on the source computer. The tool has an interface similar to the PC Transplant Wizard. Because the tool is generic, a user does not have the ability of selecting a specific user's settings to migrate.

The tool provides a list of all Desktop and Network settings. It does not include any system specific options like the listing of a specific printer.

The tool displays a list of all applications supported by PC Transplant. The list is built using the current applications defined in the A2i files. No application versions are presented to the user, keeping the template generic. It also includes all the applications for the .A2i files created by the user. The Template Builder displays a list of applications that it finds defined as the .A2i files in a particular language's folder. Example: EN folder.

Files, folders, and file types are also flexible. A user can add a file or a folder that may or may not exist on the source computer. This same flexibility is included with Filters.

Template Builder

All templates built by the Template Builder are compatible with the PC Transplant Wizard and all the PC Transplant Wizard templates are compatible with the Template Builder.

However it is important to note that templates created in the PC Transplant Wizard are not computer independent.

Definitions defined in a template built by the PC Transplant Wizard may include items specific to a computer. Example: specific folders, printers, mapped drives, and so on.

To add the Template Builder utility to the Tools menu, add the following to the atools.ini file:

[Builder]
MenuText=&Template Builder for PCT
Description="Altiris PCT Template Builder"
WorkDir=
Executable=.\PCT\Template.exe

The utility now shows in the Tools menu. You may want to change where the ampersand (&) is on the menu text if there are other tools already in the menu that use T as the hot key.

PC Transplant Editor Package

The Altiris PC Transplant Package Editor lets you easily view and change an existing Personality Package. You can also launch PC Transplant tools and update .A2i files.

The PC Transplant Package Editor displays the title, description, created date, created version, total number of files and folders, and the total size of files and folders of the Personality Package.

To add the PCT Package Editing utility to the Tools menu, add the following to the atools.ini file:

[PCTEdit]
MenuText=&PCT Editor
Description="Altiris PCT Package Editor"
WorkDir=
Executable=.\PCT\PCTEdit.exe

The utility now shows in the Tools menu. You may want to change where the ampersand (&) is on the menu text if there are other tools already in the menu that use P as the hot key.

For Viewing and Printing a PCT Package's Contents

The Package Contents tool outputs the contents of a Personality Package to a file that can be viewed and printed. The file includes information such as the package version, title, description, computer it was built on and it's domain, who built the package, a summary of it's contents, and detailed information regarding files and registry values.
You can start the Package Contents tool (Pkgcntnt.exe) on a shared network device.

To add the PCT Package Editing utility to the Tools menu, add the following to the atools.ini file:

[PCTContent]
MenuText=PCT Package &Content Utility
Description="Altiris PCT Package Content Utility"
WorkDir=
Executable=.\PCT\PkgCntnt.exe

The utility now shows in the Tools menu. You may want to change where the ampersand (&) is on the menu text if there are other tools already in the menu that use C as the hot key.

PCT Password Encryption Utility for Command Line Uses

You can pass any string to the Password Encryption tool to get it converted to an encrypted string. The encrypted string can be passed with the command-line options that accept passwords. A new switch -DecryptPwd is also included. -DecryptPwd must be passed when using encrypted passwords from the command line. This switch decrypts all the encrypted passwords provided from the command line. You cannot use encrypted and unencrypted passwords together with a command-line option.

To add the PCT Package Editing utility to the Tools menu, add the following to the atools.ini file:

[PCTPWDGEN]
MenuText=PCT Encrypted Password &Generator
Description="Altiris PCT Encrypted Password Generator"
WorkDir=
Executable=.\PCT\PWDGenerator.exe

The utility now shows in the Tools menu. You may want to change where the ampersand (&) is on the menu text if there are other tools already in the menu that use G as the hot key.

These and other executables under the Deployment Server folder can be accessed in the Tools menu by adding entries for those utilities that you use with the Deployment Server Console. Note also that a Working Directory can also be used in each of the sections to have starting place for the utility.