Endpoint Management Community Blog

Admin | 29 May 2007 | 10 comments

Q:
Austinn wrote: "How do I delete a worker in the HelpDesk Worker Console? There are a couple of dummy accounts created, and I can't seem to get rid of them!"

A:
Good question, Austinn. The current version of Helpdesk Solution will not allow you to delete a worker (default or user created) account. This is by design to preserve the integrity of the database for any worker accounts associated with work items. The only option is to make the worker account inactive. However, because you could theoretically delete an unused worker account without affecting the solution, I have submitted an enhancement request to the product manager to handle this scenario.

Greg Giles

Changing Tab Order in the Edit Incidents Screen

John Doyle | 26 Jul 2006 | 5 comments

When you create or edit an incident in the Altiris Helpdesk, pressing the Tab key from the textbox labeled Title: takes you to the control bar when it really should take you to the textbox labeled Comments:. To correct this you will need to edit the WorkItemEdit.ascx user control.

First you should follow the normal procedure for creating a custom console as explained in the Helpdesk Reference manual. Create the custom.config file and redirect the file id="WorkItemEdit" to your custom copy of the WorkItemEdit.ascx file.

Having done all that, open your custom copy of the WorkItemEdit.ascx file with your favourite text editor and locate the FinalizeTemplate subroutine. Scroll down a few lines and just before the line End Sub add the code:

tbTitle.Attributes.Add("onblur","javascript:" + stUBBEdit.GetControl("tbUBBEdit").ClientID + ".focus();")

Save the file. Now when you create a new incident or edit an existing one,...

Help Working with Multiple NSs

JeffDG | 26 Jul 2006 | 3 comments

Ever get annoyed when working with multiple NSs and they're all titled "Altiris Console" in your task bar? I personally work daily with 5 production NSs, along with 2-3 test NSs, and often with IE consoles, up to 3-4 of them are open at a time.

If you find yourself in this situation, I've found a way to make it work much better. I'm not sure if this is "supported" as you need to edit one of Altiris' files to make it work, but it's a minor edit...

The file in question is the Console.aspx. This is in the Notification Server directory (default is c:\program files\altiris\notification server\console.aspx)

Open the file up in Notepad, and near the top, you will see a line like:

rm.GetString("PageTitle") %

To help you out, add your server name or other identifier in here

rm.GetString("PageTitle")

+" - ServerName"

%

Now in your task bar, it will show up as "Altiris Console -...

After using NS to push a virtualized app to a client machine, I sometimes have to reboot the client. How could this be?

Admin | 29 May 2007 | 0 comments

Q:
Rick noted, "The marketing fluff for SVS says that after I deploy an application, no reboot is required. But I've run into a couple cases where I push a VSP with Notification Server, and it doesn't work right until the client is rebooted. What's going on?"

A:
After Beta 3, we did a detailed vulnerability analysis of SVS (both ourselves and we also contracted with an external security expert). Eight issues were identified, all of which have been resolved. One of the issues was that when an activation is done via a management agent, that management agent is typically running in the SYSTEM context. So any of the startup stuff that SVS does on activation (run and runonce keys, Startup folder items, etc.) ended up running as SYSTEM. Normally, during a Windows boot, these items get run in a variety of contexts depending on where they are and how they are set up. To eliminate the risk of inadvertently leaving the end user...

Use ASDK to Launch Connector Imports

JeffDG | 19 Jul 2007 | 0 comments

I've found a really handy way to integrate some of my databases into Altiris.

I use multiple tools to manage data from lots of different sources. One of my new favourites in SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) - the SQL 2005 version of Data Transformation Services (DTS).

Well, I started out having SSIS do a bunch of data consolidation and massaging, and guestimating how long it will take to complete, and scheduling my Connector imports to run after the completion of the SSIS stuff.

Then I noticed in the ASDK under the ItemManagementService I found the ExecuteSchedulableItem method...so I said to myself: "Self, why couldn't you put an element into the SSIS control flow to run the import via Connector?"

So, I build myself a little command-line C# program, added the proxy webservice for ItemManagement and this is what I got:

itemMS.Url = string.Format("http://{0}/Altiris/ASDK.NS/ItemManagementService.asmx", targetServer);...

More Asset Automation, Please

JeffDG | 31 May 2007 | 2 comments

Q:
When are you going to add some meat to the bones of the Asset ASDK?

Currently the only functions available are "GetAssetStatus" and "SetAssetStatus" I'd love to be able to manage a lot of my associations (like Location or Cost Centre) via an automation.

I currently do quite a bit of this via Connector, but his is pretty kludgy, and being able to gin up some C# to take care of things would be very handy!

How do you monitor an application when a user renames the file?

Admin | 11 Mar 2009 | 2 comments

Q:
A monitor was set up by specifying the File Name and Internal Name which prevents the user from running the application. If the user renames the file, the denial no longer works. Is there a solution?

A:
When monitoring an application, the attributes of the file must match all values specified in the monitor. If a value is specified in the monitor, and the application does not match that value, then the application will not be denied.

To resolve this issue, instead of specifying the File Name and Internal Name, only specify the Internal Name. Then if the user modifies the file name, it will still be denied.

Using Validation Rules with Data Macros to Enforce Workflow and Edit Rules

ribak | 11 Mar 2009 | 1 comment

The Altiris Helpdesk Solution provides a robust library of data macros to simplify the coding and implementation of business rules. The PREVIOUSITEM macro is a great tool to query the previous value of a field prior to updating the database. The PREVIOUSITEM macro combined with Validation Rules are a powerful combination of easy to use features that enforce workflow and business logic in the Helpdesk Solution.

The following example uses the PREVIOUSITEM macro to prevent the editing of an incident that has already been closed. This is useful in environments that have SLA agreements triggered by the closing of an incident and also prevents multiple notifications and reporting of closed incidents.

The rule can easily be imported into Helpdesk Solution and modified to meet your business requirements. Follow the steps below to import and test this rule in your environment.

Step 1: Create the import file

Copy and paste the following text into...

TCP/IP Configuration Settings

Admin | 26 May 2006 | 0 comments

Here's a handy reference for when you're working with Deployment Solution and need to remember how to configure TCP/IP. This is sure to take the devil out of the details.

Enter TCP/IP settings for one or more network adapters. Click Advanced to view or setup IP interfaces, DNS, WINS, and static routes. For computer groups, click Associate to assign a range of pre-defined IP addresses.

Host Name Field: The DNS name of a device on a network. The name is used to locate a computer on the network.

Network Adapter Field: A list of all network adapters installed in the selected computer.

The network adapter with the lowest bus, device, and function number will be the first listed (NIC0 - zero based). If the bus, device, and function information cannot be determined for a network adapter, it will be enumerated in the order it is detected....

Forcing a One-Time PXE Boot on Dell Clients

Jordan Gardner | 07 Jul 2009 | 0 comments

Dell pro Jordan Gardner shows us some tricks he's learned to force a PXE boot on Dell clients using the magic of Altiris Deployment Solution and Dell OMCI.

This tip shows how one can use Deployment Solution's system tokens, a run script task, and Dell OMCI to force a one-time PXE boot of Dell client machines.

Create a Windows Run Script Task

In the DS Jobs pane, right click "New Job"
Name the Job "Force PXE Boot – Dell Clients"
In the Center Pane, add a "Run Script" Task
Paste the following into the "Run this Script" box:

'vbscript to Force a PXE boot on next boot
Option Explicit
Dim WMIobj
Set WMIobj = GetObject("WinMgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}" & _
                  "//%COMPNAME%/root/Dellomci:Dell_Configuration=" & _
                  Chr(34) & "Configuration" & Chr(34))
'Set Option to 3 to Force...

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