Endpoint Management Community Blog

VBScript to Convert datetime Stamp to NSDate Format

dougj | 01 Oct 2007 | 0 comments

Here's a sample vbscript to use in Custom Inventory for Windows to convert a datetime stamp to NSDatetime format. It doesn't have all possible error checking, but it does have the main conversion logic. The entire vbscript will create an NSI file directly.

 Attribute definition: 

  objTextFile.WriteLine("<s:AttributeType name=""c1"" rs:name=""DateCreated"" rs:number=""2"" rs:keycolumn=""true"" mifAttrId='2'>")
  objTextFile.WriteLine("  <s:datatype dt:type=""dateTime""/>")
  objTextFile.WriteLine("</s:AttributeType>")

Call to function in rs:data section: 

  "c1="""  + nsDate(CStr(objFile.DateCreated)) + """" _ 

Function to convert the date: 

function nsDate(curDate)
  'remove " AM" and " PM" from the end of the value
  cd = Mid(curDate,1,len(curDate)-3)
    
 'Separate date & time values...

Summary Report Fix

Andrew Souter | 27 Sep 2007 | 3 comments

There is a known problem that sometimes arises when using Summary report definition. The COUNT does not report correctly but when drilling down the next level of the report is correct. For example the summary level of the report might show 58 computers of a particular operating system but when you drill down there are 65 computers listed, which is the correct number.

The issue usually surfaces when selecting data from multiple tables. To limit the data to the resource type selected, a view called vResourceEx is used. When fields are selected from the other tables the combining of the data from the view and the other tables is not done properly. It is simple to correct the problem with just a few steps using the Advanced edit button which opens the Report Query Builder.

Open a summary report
Click...

Assembly Rules While Packaging .NET Applications

R-Vijay | 26 Sep 2007 | 0 comments

Hi All,

This is a microsoft MSDN extract, I have still posted it because many of us do not follow these rules while packaging .NET applications.

Hope it is useful.

The Installer can install, remove and update Win32 and .NET assemblies, including side-by-side and private assemblies in Windows XP. To avoid common problems, follow these rules when using assemblies:

General:

A component should contain no more than one assembly.
All of the files in an assembly should be in a single component.
Each component that contains an assembly should have an entry in the MsiAssembly table.
The strong assembly cache name of each assembly should be authored into the MsiAssemblyName table.
Use the Registry table instead of the Class table when you register COM Interop for an assembly.
Assemblies that have the same strong name are the same assembly. When the same assembly is installed by different...

Custom Inventory Samples

jjesse | 19 Sep 2007 | 0 comments

I just got done attending the Advanced Inventory Solution class at Altiris, which is a great class btw.... Anyways one of the things mentioned in the class is the custom inventory samples that are available on the Altiris Site which I had no clue about.

There are win32 custom inventory samples along with Unix custom inventory samples.

ftp://ftp2.altiris.com/files/CustomInvSamples/

Altiris IRC Chat Room

MtBiker | 07 Aug 2012 | 2 comments

As an Altiris Administrator, I found it fairly easy to find solutions to my problems from either Connect, Altirigos or the Knowledge base. Then I took a Notification class with 8 other Altiris Administrators and discovered that I was learning more about Altiris and its products just by talking with my classmates on our breaks. I decided that Altiris should have a chat room where Administrators can discuss issues and help others struggling. I was unable to find a chat room so I created one of my own. I decided to use IRC because it was easy enough that anybody could use it.

So please join us on IRC for discussions, help, solutions and chatting.

You can access the chat from the web at http://webchat.freenode.net/

Channel: #Altiris

Leave me a message if you get confused or need help

You also may download a client such as mIRC at http://www...

Running a Process as a Different User in WiseScript (RUNAS & Sanur)

WiseUser | 13 Sep 2007 | 5 comments

Here's the scenerio: You have a system file that needs to be installed to the System32 folder. And, you have several HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry keys containing configuration information.

This causes problems since the installation writes a file to the System32 folder, which is locked down for non-administrator users. Read on for the solution.

Here are your options:

Require an administrator to install the application. While this places the file in the System32 folder, the registry keys install with the administrator's profile rather than the end users.
Split the install into a per-machine and per-user installation. This creates two installations to track and requires the administrator to run each per-machine installation and each user to run the per-user installation...

Rilasciata HotFix 2 per SVS 2.1

riva11 | 07 Sep 2007 | 0 comments

The original article SVS 2.1 HotFix 2 Available , submitted by Scott Jones can be read by here .

La HotFix 2 per Software Virtualization Solution 2.1 è stata rilasciata nel sito Altiris Knowledgebase. Questa HotFix include numerose fix riguardanti la stabilità ed è raccomandata per tutti gli utilizzatori di SVS . Questo è un aggiornamento cumulativo, che include tutti gli aggiornamenti a partire da HotFix 1.

Dettagli:

Workaround per difetti nei registri Microsoft che possono causare un blue screen quando sono chiamate certe funzioni di registro.
Fix per un problema di compatibilità di IIS -- Nota: IIS non è ancora supportato in un layer SVS ! Tuttavia, una prossima release di Wise Installation Studio richiede che SVS e IIS siano installate assieme nello stesso PC
Fix in caso di memory leaks che possono causare un anomalo supero del tempo nelle prestazioni di...

Patching Visio and MS Project

BRING | 22 Aug 2007 | 0 comments

Many people use Patch Management to meet all of the patching needs. Operating Systems, Office installations, and other applications all can get the benefit of Patch Management's capabilities.

When patching MS Office, frequently, access is required to the source files that were used during the install, in order for the patches to apply correctly. But what about other applications, such as MS Visio, and MS Project? Do they have the same requirements?

Well, KB article 37609 may not answer the questions for all other MS applications, but it does give the Visio and Project scoop. See the link here for the answer:

https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=37609&p=1

Patch Management Solution 6.2 and Recreating Packages

SK | 20 Aug 2007 | 0 comments

Patch Management Solution sometimes encounters problems when additional updates are created by Microsoft or when revised versions are released or even when the NS fails to download all of the updates the first time.

These scenarios will prevent you from creating a SW Update Task for the Bulletin until the missing updates have been downloaded.

I have quite frequently experienced that when using the "Recreate Packages" option, the NS still fails to download one or two of the updates.

When this happens, I simply disable the Bulletin, and then stage it again, as this always downloads all updates successfully.

Using Deferred Custom Actions in Wise Package Studio

WiseUser | 16 Aug 2007 | 3 comments

We use deferred custom actions to perform actions and manipulate system files. Here's an example where I learned something new about these actions and Installshield \ VB Script.

One of my applications needs to append a value to the Autoexec.bat file, and we use VBScript to do this work. I wrote a custom action to append a value in the .bat file. Since the file is present in "c:\" I used "WindowsVolume" but it was not recognized in the deferred custom action. This is because deferred custom actions doesn't recognize installer properties like SourceDir or WindowsVolume.

To solve this issue, here are the steps we took. This is not an issue if you use WiseScript. But not all projects use WiseScripts.

Create a custom action which has embedded VB code in it that appends the value to the .bat file. Let the custom action name be "APPBAT" and set the custom action as deferred system context and leave the sequence blank -- to be modified later

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