Alternate Admin Console v3.4
Juice contributor and SVS pro FrankB needed a few features the standard SVS console didn't offer. So he built his own. Lucky for the rest of us he's inclined to share. [Updated with a host of new options. See the update history for a complete list.]
This is a major release version, it has something everybody wants: Dependencies
How does it work:
You will recognize a Layer with Dependencies because it has a green icon in front of it.
You'll set the Dependencies as follows:
- Right Click a (Deactivated) Layer
- Choose: Layer Settings
- Choose: Create Dependencies
The following window appears:
Now you can choose (up to 10 Layers) that depend on this Layer:
The numbers in front of it shows the order they will start, if you don't like it, just click "Reset" and start again.
You must choose the starting order, if these selected layers have to start Before or After the layer with dependencies.
This can be handy if you have an application that depends on a Datalayer, in this case you choose the application layer to give dependencies, and choose the datalayer to start before your application layer.
Click "Save" when you want to save the settings, and then double-click on the Layer with dependencies and you'll see the others will start also before or after this Layer.
If you want to remove the dependencies then click "Reset" and "Save" your settings, you'll see the icon in front of it isn't green anymore.
This doesn't work for Autostart layers, the dependencies only work with the AA Console.
The "Pre-Set Dependencies" part of the window shows the dependencies you've chosen the first time, if you want to keep it as it is, just click "Cancel".
For Personal Use
I've added another feature many people won't like.
I've been told by several people that this tool is used in a corporate environment. That is illegal! It states clearly in the Disclaimer of the Setup and in the About window that this tool is only for Personal Use.
History
Version 3.4
- Added: MultiExport, you can now export several Layers at once.
- Added: AA Console detects changes now, if something is done outside AA Console it will detect that and show the changes made to the Layers.
- Fixed: The Change Uninstall form didn't show correctly if an application contained more then 1 uninstall string.
- Fixed: Faster show, when the application shows itself (either first start of brought to the front) it does this 10 times faster.
- Fixed: When maximized the window will fit as normal on screen, this was not the case in the past.
Version 3.3
- Changed: From now on AA Console won't use the registry to write his own settings anymore, it uses an INI file now. This makes it possible to use it from external media like USB etc... if requirements are fulfilled.
- Added: After extensive, and I mean extensive typing I've written a Help File, Press F1 when AA Console has started.
- Added: Automatic Update Feature, whenever a newer version is released, AA Console will notify you and give you the option to go to this page.
- Fixed: The Export Function didn't work anymore.
- Added: Last but not least, I've rewritten AA Console (again) to support external medias so it was inevitable that I needed to create a U3 Edition. So download the Edition you like :)
Version 3.2
- Added: No need for EasyExcluder anymore, Create Excludes for every Layer with AA Console.
Version 3.1
- Added: Tooltip to show which dependencies are on a Layer.
- Fixed: Crash on some machines during startup.
- Added: Skins on all other windows within AA Console.
If you want to use it in a corporate environment, you have to pay for this tool. AA Console checks if your computer is in or on a corporate environment, and will tell you that you are using this tool in a corporate environment.
| License: | Proprietary By clicking the download link below, you agree to the terms and conditions in the Airheads Software License |
| Support: | User-contributed tools on the Juice are not supported by Altiris Technical Support. If you have questions about a tool, please communicate directly with the author by visiting their profile page and clicking the 'contact' tab. |
SVS Admin
Damn, this one is really good.
Keep on the good job, and improve us.
Regards
Erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
Thank You, I'll keep doing
Thank You, I'll keep doing my best with comments like these :)
Kind Regards, Starf0x
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
Interesting tool, I have
Interesting tool, I have just a comment about the export layer function , if I select a layer and Export Layer , the layer will be exported in any case even if I choose the Cancel button.
Regards
Hmm, let me verify this,
Hmm, let me verify this, and if needed, fix this.
Thank you for the suggestion.
Kind Regards, Starf0x
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
Great GUI
Great GUI. I like the design.
What's the language behind it?
Thanks for sharing.
Ciao
toralf
Erhm
Should I disclose this secret?
Nah it is not secret, it is created with Visual Basic 6.
Kind Regards, Starf0x
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
Basic vs Script
Thanks to lift that secret. I was wondering which language you used, since it didn't look like AutoIt or AutoHotkey. Very nice layout, I doubt that it would be possible duplicate this exactly with these script languages.
Ciao
toralf
Alternate SVS Console
Starf0x, again you've proven yourself with the new version.
And again, thanxssss for the contribution.
Regards
Erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
Thank You
Thank You for the compliement Erikw.
Don't I know you from somewhere :-)
Kind regards, Starf0x
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
Know me?
I think you know me Starf0x?
You should know me?
I'm not crazy,
If studied to be an airplane
Regards
Erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
I still have the same
I still have the same problem. I see the 1.0.0 version even if I have removed and did an new installation ....
Do you have any ideas ?
Thanks
Let me investigate this
It works as it should here.
But I'll have a look at it.
Starf0x
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
Guess What :-)
It is fixed.
Just download it again.
Kind Regards, Starf0x
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
Fantastic Starf0x , the
Fantastic Starf0x, the software version now is the 1.2.3 and I see a lot of interesting updates .
Regards
Voice Control
Voice Control,
This is freaky. I wish I could switch to Vista just for this feature. Thanks for rewriting it from scratch.
Ciao
toralf
Well...
I don't think you need Vista, any voice control application is possible.
I don't know if you can call the program, but you can control it with it.
Starf0x
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
The voice control is really
The voice control is really a pretty feature, I'll try to my test pc with MS Vista on board!
kind regards
Wonderful tool, I
Wonderful tool, I downloaded, installed and run very well!
Thank you
Tabilio
Got an problem running AA console
Hi,
I installed the AlternateAdminConsole.msi on a Windows Server 2003, but when I run the tools the Visualstudio just in time debugger starts. "An unhandled win32 exception occured in AA console.exe 3404" -"Unhandled exception at 0x00172944 in AA Console.exe: 0xC0000005: Access violation."
IS this a known issue..?
/Tjabocom
Depends...
The problem is that I don't know what you where doing at the moment.
What Kind of AV do you have running, Servicepack etc...
I can support you on this, you can contact me.
Kind Regards, Starf0x
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
I really like the design
I really like the design and layout for this console, it makes SVS more approachable (and easier to use) than the standard one.
If a forum post solves your problem please flag is as the solution
I you like an article, blog post or download vote it up
Fan*tas*tic!
Hey, this tool is fan*tas*tic!
I wanted to know which of my layers was using so much disk space (C:\fasldr\2E).
Your tool showed me straight away (Altiris apparently thinks this level of detail is not important enough!)
Turns out my RAR unzipper was keeping track of the things I was unzipping. Saved me some disk space anyway!
Thanks agin,
Richard Artes
"Altiris apparently thinks this level of detail...
...is not important enough!"
On the contrary, it's pretty critical for anyone doing hands-on troubleshooting of SVS.
In SVS Admin, layer numbers can be displayed by adding a reg key. In Wise 7 and in SVS 2.1, this option is exposed in the SVS Control Panel Applet.
Scott Jones
Product Manager
Altiris, Inc.
Access Denied
When I click on the .MSI for this, I get an "Access Denied" message... ?
I am able to install with the command line, however (msiexe /i AAConsole.msi).
I've tested...
I've tested it on Windows 2k / Windows XP & Windows Vista, and it worked.
Could it be that you have policies running on your machine?
As I suspect you're on a corporate machine?
The commandline is exactly the same as the msiexec would use to install when a msi is double clicked.
That's why i'm asking.
Starf0x
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
Access denied
Scott,
Could it be that you get the access denied from the new security in Microsoft?
If that is the reason, right click on the program, and go to properties. On the bottom of the screen there will be an extra field to give the application free. Then it should work.
regards
Erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
Nice tool
This is a nice tool.
I noticed that when I move my mouse over the "Actions" menu I get a Flashing and moving bar that goes up and down in that area of the screen. I think it is a "Refresh" bar.
I am running XP with SP2 and I have about 14 layers in it.
Nothing much to be concerned about. It does not effect the functioning of the tool just a Visual Annoyance thats all.
GREAT TOOL
Thanks - Tom Fronza
Flashing screen
Tom,
I noticed a kind of a flashing screen also. it only appears in version 2.1 beta 1.6.
The beta 1.5 does not have this.
When I checked the code, I cannot find anything that can be a explanation for this.
regards
erik
www.svs4u.nl
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
Hmmm...
Thanks Erik for your support but I don't think it has something to do with SVS (any version).
I didn't see this because it happens too fast to see it with the visible eye.
It is a sort of refresh of the control.
After simulating a slower computer it was visible, I'll investigate this.
Kind Regards, Starf0x
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
thnxsss starf0x
I appreciate your work Starf0x.
Keep in touch with me.
Regards
Erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
Longest thread
This is probably the longest thread on the whole Juice.
Juicy as we should say.
Keep on the work frankB (the artist formerly known as starf0X)(TAFKAS).
Regards
erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
I suppose that's true
I suppose that's true, seems that this article has the longest thread in this forum.
Hope the rating can be increased a lit bit, now is only 3.8 but the level can be really more than now....
regards
PM
Low rate
I agree Riva, but we only may vote once, and the real juice adepts already voted on it.
It definitely deserves more than a 3.8.
I suggest for a 4.8 or so.
regards
Erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
Good add on
Frank,
The layer dependencies is a very good add on.
Thanxss for that one.
Using it in a corporate environment is illegal, and I agree with that. But you stated that if we wish to use it in a corporate environment, that we have to pay for it.
If we wish to, where can we get the agreement and were and how much do we have to pay for it?
Should be a good suggestion to clean that one out.
Regards
Erik
PS
Keep on the good work.
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
Erikw...
I will not blurt out that information on this thread, that can be obtained directly.
Cheers, FrankB
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
I know
Frank, I know that I can contact you directly, but we know each other. There are probably more people on the Juice that want to use tools on the Juice.
They don't know you.
And it is also for tools that other people build.
Like the thread with the HII tools for DS 6.8.
No one of us use a deployment server at home. So you can be sure that the HII tools are used in a corporate environment.
Altiris should make this easier to make a way for legal use.
So my comment was not intended directly to you.
regards
Erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
AA Console License
Part of the confusion, I'm sure, is that the Juicemaster wasn't aware that AA Console is under a proprietary license. As per the submissions page for downloadables, if you don't specificy something else, we post it under the AJSL, which is a BSD-style license that allows free use and redistribution.
FrankB -- The Juicemaster will get that fixed on the AA Console download page soon.
As for Altiris providing a channel for purchase of 3rd party tools, that's not something on our radar. I think what is more appropriate at this point is for the developer to include a URL in their posting that points people where to go for purchase. A button, menu item or link inside the product would do the trick as well.
Question Scott?
Does this imply that we can use all the software on the Juice at our customers?
regards
erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
Licenses for Juice Downloads
Every download has a "License" indicated on the download page. Check each one to determine any restrictions. If it's under the Altiris EULA (which the tools developed by Altiris employees usually are) or the AJSL (which most everything else is under), then use anywhere is free.
AA Console, tho, is under a proprietary license, and the download page has just been updated to reflect that. We'll post "Where to Buy" info soon as FrankB sends it.
Scott Jones
Product Manager
Altiris, Inc.
Interesting option
Interesting option the proprietary license option.
Create a software product that enhances the standard function. Build in a license key option. Perhaps build in a key that is valid for 30 days. After the 30 days, the user needs to validate with his NAT IP address. The program checks on a website (PHP with encryption)if the license is valid after 30 days for that IP address, and you're up and running.
That already is a great option.
Regards
erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
You can do anything you want...
If you use the SVS SDK to develop a tool (or even if you just use the CLI or whatever), it's your property. You can do whatever you want to with it. Share it freely, sell it, or some combination thereof.
The only restriction is that if you use the SDK and you want to distribute it anywhere other than the Juice, you need to contact me and sign a commercial SDK license. This is described on the Developer Kit page, linked to from the SVS Juice left nav menu.
Using The SDK
Most of the Juice products are not built with the SDK. They are built in C, C+, Visual Basic, or like what I do, in Delphi.
The tools that FrankB builds are developed in Visual Basic.
Regards
erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
Script languages
Rajat and myself are using AutoHotkey. And I guess some others use AutoIt. Thus we use the SVScmd heavily. But I guess I have to get a look at the SDK.
Ciao
toralf
Script languages
I use a reverse engineering tool to take a very close look in the dll's and the svscmd.exe.
That gave me a good insight view of what it does, and made it possible for me to create the code for a Citrix and terminal server compliant version.
The version that i developed is completely written in VB.
I also brought in a activation license that validate the Ip address that the user is using to see if there is a license purchased.
This is a similar technique that Microsoft uses for the validation program.
Now i'm creating a special website to create the faq, and to give support.
The program can be revealed somewhere in May.
Regards
Erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
AutoHotkey
I use AutoIt, big brother of "AutoHotkey"
lol
Google English…
SVSLoad.com
AutoIT
I looked at AutoIT, and it is very interesting.
Fast, easy, and very well documented.
This is a good tip Frank.
Regards
Erik
Regards
Erik
www.DinamiQs.com
Dinamiqs is the home of VirtualStorm (www.virtualstorm.org)
AutoIT is pretty good
I have used AutoIT a few times and I was really pleased with it. If you know how to program you are all set. Like is said above, it is really well documented.
We used AutoIT to solve two problems that really helped us out:
- We have a printing billing system, and we used AutoIT to fill out the user's information when they go to print
- After a program is done imaging, we used AutoIT to block the keyboard and mouse while the image is updating itself
I was very pleased with the results.
AutoIT Menu
I know, this is not the place for AutoIT!
But, there is a great Firefox extension. (Menu)
Firefox Extension for AutoIT.
Google English…
SVSLoad.com
I use Internet Explorer...
And would suggest to delete some messages that are old, as this column is geting very small now :)
Frank B
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
"AA" freezes
Hi,
When I use "change AutoClose Timeout"
but I leave the field blank, without entry and close the window. AA freezes.
regard
Frank(M)
Google English…
SVSLoad.com
Excuse me :)
Is this the place to talk about AutoIT?
I now know why this topic is this long already :)
Kind Regards, FrankB
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
Window
Hey Frank, do you think of the small window?
Greeting
Frank(M)
Google English…
SVSLoad.com
Super program
This program is easy to use for beginning users.
Keep up the good work!
Not for corporate environment?
What is the point of having an SVS admin console if you don't plan on using it for corporate environments?
Dear JGallas
The SVS Client software is also free for personal use.
And a lot of the members of this community are also personal users.
It is still functional in a corporate environment.
Cheers, FrankB
______________________________________________
Frank Bastiaens
Senior Technical Consultant
Vanderlet B.V.
Replied to wrong group
I must have been tired. I was looking at the previous software download titled SVS Admin Enterprise Edition v1.02 [updated] and thought I was replying to that thread (and replied to yours instead). I was objecting to that software not being available for enterprise uses. It appears though that that software is available for enterprise use.
Instant Delete
Thanks for this interesting tool.
If I might make one suggestion:
A comfirmation box for the delete layer function could be handy !
I was just testing your App for the first time and looking at the right-click menus and, being an older person - I guess I just fumbled the mouse and accidentally clicked this and POOF there goes one of my layers !
I consider myself very lucky that when I finally figured out which one it was (Sun's Java RTE) that I can reinstall this one painlessly. Had it been a layer that I'd spent a great deal of time on (ie Installing Opera on a new system and migrating over and tweaking all the profile information from the old install) it might have been very, very disappointing :(
I'm also gratefull that I've learnt early (and painlessly) to always export my layers for backup !
Any chance you could add this in the next version ?
Thanks again :)
Col
Dependencies?
I think I must be missing something, I've just installed v3.4 of this but I can't see the option anywhere to set dependencies. How can I access this option? (The other Layer Settings options also appear to be missing, apart from "Set Layer Details".)
Never mind...
Never mind, I just found it... in the right-click menu... just as it says in the article. D'oh!
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