Vector Asset Management v6.00 ===================================================== Build 6.0.0.1261 English ======= Release Notes ------------- 15-June-2011 Copyright ©, Vector Networks Technologies. All Rights Reserved Contents ========= 1 Introduction 2 New Features in This Release 3 Installation Instructions 4 Known Problems, Restrictions and Notes 5 Request for Feedback 6 Vector Networks Web Site 1 Introduction ================ This document contains the most up-to-date information for Vector Asset Management v6.00. The release notes list important information you should know prior to deploying and using Vector Asset Management, including known issues. Vector Asset Management 6.00 is the first public release after v5.80. It includes important bug fixes and enhancements that affect both the Console and the Clients. It supports upgrades of the Console and the Clients from PC-Duo Enterprise version 4.x and Asset Management 5.x. 2 New Features in this Release ================================= Version 6.00 is the first public release after v5.80. - Faster Software Inventory Software Identification Manager has been undergoing a major restructuring to deliver more accurate results a lot faster. These significant improvements in performance are reflected in Clients taking much less time to do the software scans and the Schedulers (Consoles) to process the data from all clients. Results from early field tests indicate reduction in processing time of the order of 85%. - More accurate Software Inventory The Applications Library is being rebuilt from the ground up using new rules, based generally on the operating system registry information but also still able to use file and path information. The flexible rules-based software identification engine has been extended to include hybrid conditions that use files version information in combination with the operating system program registry for the most accurate results. - Automatic rule creation Having the most flexible rules-based software identification engine also means easier maintenance. The new engine automatically discovers new software in your network and creates new software identification rules as needed. - Increased scalability Asset Management 6.0 offers increased scalability, providing greater efficiency for all sites, especially for sites of tens of thousands of clients. Important Fixes in 6.00 ======================== Important notes in 6.00 ======================== + Patch Management has been deprecated since v5.7 and it`s only available on demand. New Features in 5.x ======================== - Support reporting on Windows Serial Numbers (Keys) for new Volume License Keys. Vector Asset Management is able to report the serial numbers or product keys of the new volume license keys introduced by Microsoft for Windows 7. - Updated Software Identification rules database, including new software categories such as Social Media. - New ability to identify and to report on the Registered vs Unregistered copies of Winzip. - Improved performance of the Software Metering Collator Job. - New capabilities that extend the Software Identification rules, such as multiple root-folder file detection. - Support for Windows 7. Vector Asset Management fully support Windows 7, both for the Client and the Console. - Automatic Self-Updates. The new Asset Management Client introduces the Self-Update capability. This feature keeps your software current in all your Clients, automatically fetching the latest fixes and feature updates via the Internet. This means you won't need to deploy future services packs, fixes or extensions again. Centralized Management - Full Control You have full control over the automatic updates. You can specify what updates are deployed to the Clients and whether they get their updates from Vector Networks or from your server. Managed Service Providers can also specify their own servers and deploy different updates to different clients. If more refined control is needed, you can limit the deployment of specific updates to only certain computers, group of computers or Active Directory OUs. Using an advanced, unique three-tier technology, the self-update allows for increased levels of security, reliability and trust beyond the standard. - Vector Asset Management 5.7 supports Clients on Windows Server 2008 R2. - Vector Asset Management 5.6 supports the Console and the Clients on Windows Server 2008. Computers with Windows Server 2008 can also function as Scheduler-only hosts for distributed processing. - Enhanced Microsoft Serial Numbers reports. Asset Management 5.6 introduces important enhancements to the Microsoft Serial Numbers reports that facilitate license management and better prepare you for license compliance audits. The new reports include new Microsoft products as well as new information such as the application edition and the last scan date. Enhancements in the report layout also provide better and more structured information, separating the Applications from the Operating Systems. - New Overwrite Installation of Vector Asset Clients. Asset Management 5.6 greatly simplifies the distribution of service packs for clients located within the network. This new feature also provides easy remote recovery for clients that may have lost their connection to the Offline Area. - New Uninstall for Vector Asset Clients. Asset Management 5.6 simplifies the remote uninstallation of Asset Management Clients through a simple menu item in the Interactive Deployment. Uninstallation is fast and silent. - New custom group "Client - Installed Version" A new custom group is included by default to display the different versions of the installed Asset Management Clients. This information is particularly useful during upgrades or in environments running multiple versions. - Asset Management 5.5 introduces support for the Console on Windows Vista. Computers with Windows Vista can also function as Scheduler-only hosts for distributed processing. - Software Distribution is supported for Windows Vista computers. - Asset Management Client 5.5 introduces the ability to detect multiple monitors connected to the same system and provides an increased level of detail of each one. - Asset Management Client and Web Client support Windows 64 bit operating systems. This includes the ability to use automatic deployment for the Asset Management Client from the Console. - The Asset Management Portal provides and increased level of security when sending e-mails. E-mails sent from the portal can now be encrypted through SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) over SMTP. - Asset Management has now improved support for sites whose clients are organized into many offline areas. - Reports in Asset Management can be run on a scheduled basis –hourly, daily, weekly, monthly - and the generated report can be saved in different formats such as PDF or RTF. - Asset Management can now support multiple sites using a single host computer and a single scheduler. - The Asset Management Portal introduces a new option for specifyng a public URL for the Portal. This alternative URL allows users located either inside or outside of the local area network to make use of the Portal. - New Hardware, Software and Network Devices reports are available in the Asset Management Portal. These reports are equivalent to the ones included in the Asset Management Console. - Asset Management clients can be installed in remote computers that are located outside the LAN through the firewall-friendly Asset Management Web Client. The Asset Management Web Client can be configured from the Console in the same way as regular clients. - Asset Management Web Client supports Hardware and Software Inventory, Software Application Usage (Software Metering) and User Prompting. - Deployment of the Asset Management Web Client is supported in Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers. 3 Installation Instructions ============================ - You should install the Vector Asset Management Console and Client kits as described in the Evaluators Guide. The Vector Portal can be installed at the same time as the Console and on the same server. Alternatively, the Portal can be installed at a later time in the same or another computer that has Microsoft IIS installed. - Vector Diagnostics and Vector HelpDesk kits should be installed in accordance with the associated documentation. - The following minimum versions of support software are required for this release: Internet Explorer v6.0, Jet v4.0 SP3, MDAC v2.61 and MMC v1.2. Jet 4.0 SP8 is required as a minimum if using Microsoft Access Site databases (This is already included in Windows XP SP2, Update Rollup 1 for Windows 2000 SP4, and Windows 2003 SP1). - The Console supports the following Operating Systems: Windows 7 Windows 2008 Windows Vista Windows 2003 Windows XP Windows 2000 - The Portal supports the following Operating Systems Microsoft IIS installed: Windows 2003 Windows XP Windows 2000 - The Asset Management Client supports the following Operating Systems: Windows 7 Windows 2008 Windows Vista Windows 2003 Windows XP Windows 2000 Windows ME Windows 98 Windows 95 - Existing Vector Asset Management or PC-Duo Enterprise databases should be updated to Vector Asset Management. Please refer to the Upgrade Guide for more details. 4 Known Problems, Restrictions and Notes ========================================= Clients ------- - Existing Vector Asset Management Clients running version 5.x are not required to be upgraded and they can coexist with other Clients even when the Console has been upgraded to the current version. - Remote deployment of the Client from the Console to Windows XP and Vista Clients involves a Windows requirement that the Console must be run in a domain environment (otherwise Windows XP and Vista refuses connection to the ADMIN$ share), although this can be avoided by disabling the ForceGuest Windows local security policy. - The Asset Management One-shot Client cannot be deployed in remote computers through the Web. There is no One-shot Web Client. The alternative is to manually run the One-shot Client offline and load the collected information into the Console as described in the Help and in the Readme.txt of the One-shot Client. Microsoft Access and Oracle Databases ------------------------------------- The following database management Operations work correctly on Microsoft MSDE and SQL Server databases but fail on Microsoft Access and Oracle: o Delete Job Logs o Delete Metering Data o Delete Change History Data This is caused by SQL syntax inconsistencies across these databases and the following command lines can be used as a workaround for Access & Oracle in place of the normal Operation Customizations: Delete Job Logs: $DSNACCESS "PROMPT=Delete Old Job Logs?" /SQLUPDATE "SQL=Delete * from NETJOBLG Where ENDDATE < #$MM/DD/YY(-60)$#" Delete Metering Data: $DSNACCESS "PROMPT=Delete Old Metering Data?" /SQLUPDATE "SQL=Delete * from SWMDETAIL Where FINISHTIME < #$MM/DD/YY(-60)$#" Delete Change History Data: $DSNACCESS "PROMPT=Delete Old Change History Data?" /SQLUPDATE "SQL=Delete * from NODEHISTORY Where ENTRYDATE < #$MM/DD/YY(-60)$#" Similarly, the "Not Pushed Recently" Group fails on Access and Oracle. The following SQL syntax can be used in place of the default (replacing the '#' date delimiters with single quotes): SELECT DISTINCT NODENAME FROM HWUPDATE WHERE CREATEDATE < #$MM/DD/YY(-31)$# Microsoft SQL Server -------------------- For Microsoft SQL Server, if the SQL Server client code page setting is different to the SQL Server server code page, you may get loss of textual data in the database. Please ensure that the system(s) where you run the Enterprise Console(s) and Scheduler(s) have a SQL Server database client configuration that matches that on the SQL Server server system. 5 Request for Feedback ======================= We are very interested to hear your comments on the appearance and usability of this software, and your suggestions on relative priorities for new features. Please send your comments to: Vector Networks Americas (Headquarters) --------------------------------- Sales: 770-622-2850 Support: 800-330-5035 Fax: 770-495-6214 Email Sales: solutions@vector-networks.com Email Support: support@vector-networks.com Vector Networks (Europe) Ltd. - EMEA --------------------------------- 183 Fraser Road Sheffield, S8 0JP United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0)20 3286 7500 Email Sales: solutions@vector-networks.eu Email Support: support@vector-networks.eu Vector Networks Canada -------------------- Phone: 514-341-9113 Fax: 514-341-4757 Email Sales: solutions@vector-networks.com Email Support: support@vector-networks.com 6 Vector Networks Web Site ============================ Visit our World Wide Web site for new product, software update, and release information. Point your Web browser at the following URL: http://www.vector-networks.com