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Enterprise User Manual


Chapter 16

Other Operations


Command Launch Operations enable you to run third-party applications from the Console and apply them to Clients or Groups. For example, Remote Control: Watch Mode is a Command Launch Operation that launches PC-Duo Enterprise Remote Control.

Command Launch Operations enable you to specify the command line for the target application, and the application's working directory. For example, you can use the $NODE token to supply the name of the currently selected Client to the external application so that Enterprise can pass an alert message into a help desk application.

Using Tokens in Command Launch Operations

Use Tokens to pass data from the Site database to Command Launch Operations. For example, the Delete Metering Data Operation uses the following command line to delete software- metering data from a Site database:

 $DSNACCESS "PROMPT=Delete Old Metering Data?" /SQLUPDATE "SQL=Delete * from SWMDETAIL
Where FINISHTIME < #$MM/DD/YY(-60)$#"

where:

$DSNACCESS supplies the current Site's DSN and the Username and Password of the logon.

$MM/DD/YY(-60)$ selects all data that is more than 60 days old for deletion.

You can use the following tokens with Command Launch Operations.

Token
Description
$DATE$
Today's date, in the form 26-January-2002
$DD$
The current day. For example 26.
$DDMMYY$
$DDMMYY(nn)$
$DD/MM/YY(nn)$
$DD-MM-YY(nn)$
$DDMMMYY(nn)$
Today's date in day, month, year format (plus or minus nn days). For example, if today's date is 02/01/2002 $DDMMMYY(12)$ returns 14JAN23.
$MONTH$
The full name of the current month.
$MM$
The current month in two digit format.
$MMM$
The abbreviated name of the current month.
$MMDDYY$
$MMDDYY(nn)$
$MM/DD/YY(nn)$
$MM-DD-YY(nn)$
$MMMDDYY(nn)$
Today's date in month, day, year format (plus or minus nn days).
$YY$
The year in two digit format.
$YYYY$
The year in four digit format.
$YYMMDD$
$YYMMDD(nn)$
$YY/MM/DD(nn)$
$YY-MM-DD(nn)$
$YYMMMDD(nn)$
Today's date in year, month, day format (plus or minus nn days). For example, if today's date is 2002/01/11 $YYMMMDD$ returns 02JAN11.
$TIME$
The current time. For example, 18:53.
$HOUR$
The current hour. For example, 18.
$MINUTE$
The current minute. For example, 53.
$DSNACCESS
The Data Source Name of the current Site plus logon name and password information. (Used by the Database Viewer to identify the current Site.)
$DSNNAME
The DSN of the current Site.
$DSNPWD
The Password associated with database-level logon
$DSNUSER
The Username associated with database-level logon.
$IPADDRESS
The TCP/IP address of the selected Client.
$KITDIR$
Specifies the path from which an installer is run (with a trailing backslash).
$MACADDRESS
Network MAC address. (Supplied by the Update Hardware Inventory Operation.)
$NODE(n)
The Client (or Node) name. Optionally, to return the first n characters of the name, enter a value in brackets. For example, $NODE(5) returns ACCOU when the name is ACCOUNTS.
$SITE$
The name of the current Site.
$SITEOFFLINE$
Returns a string specifying the location of the first Offline Area defined for the Site. For example, "SITEOFFLINE=
\\vecsrv\lupush\"
$SUBNETMASK
Hardware network subnet mask. (Supplied by the Update Hardware Inventory Operation.)
$JOBNAME$
When the Operation is scheduled, this parameter returns the Job name specified by the user. When the Operation is run interactively, the parameter returns an empty string.
$DBCONNECT$
Returns the location of the Site database and the details required to connect it.

PC Remote Control

Enterprise is fully integrated with Vector's companion product, PC-Duo Enterprise Remote Control. It is a sophisticated Remote Control package, which enables you to view, interact with and control other PCs on local and remote networks. As well as being able to view the user screens, you can interact with applications on users' PCs, and transfer files to and from the PC.

The Remote Control Operation can be configured to automatically launch the application you are using to control Client PCs. As this is a Command Launch Operation, you can customize it to include tokens in the command line. For example, you can pass the name of the PC that is currently selected in the Console using the $NODE token.

The Browse Clients Operation

Use the Browse Clients Operation to manage files on one or more Clients at your Site, using an Explorer-style interface.

Working with Directories

Like the Windows Explorer application, directories are shown in the left pane of a Browser window.

To create a directory, right-click in the Browser's Tree View and choose Create Directory from the shortcut menu.

To delete a directory, right-click its entry in the Tree View and choose Delete Directory from the shortcut menu.

To rename a directory, right-click the directory and choose Rename Directory from the shortcut menu.

To create an Application Definition that will enable software inventory operations to identify the files in a directory as belonging to an application, right-click the application's installation directory and choose Create Identification Rules. The Software Identification Manager is displayed. (For more information on identifying software installed on Clients, see "The Applications Library".)

To display any updated directories, right-click in the File View and choose Refresh.

Working with Files

Files are displayed on the right of a Browser window. Right-click the file to display the shortcut menu and choose:

Open to run the selected file.

Edit to edit a text file or a log file. The file contents is displayed in a text editor such as Notepad.

Print to print the selected file.

Delete File to delete the selected file.

Rename File to rename the currently selected file.

Create Identification Rules

To create an Application Definition that will enable software inventory operations to identify application files.

Refresh to display any updated files.

Free Disk Space Scans

Use the Free Space Operation to check how much free disk space is available on Online Clients. Free space can be checked at any time using background access to the PC hard disk, and any PCs with less free space than the user-specified threshold are recorded. You can then investigate these PCs using the Browse Client and Update Software Inventory Operations to check for unused and unnecessary files.

Creating a Free Space Operation

The standard installation of Enterprise does not contain a pre-defined Free Space Operation. If you want to check the amount of free disk space available to Online Clients, you must first create a Free Space Operation in the Console.

To create a Free Space Operation:
  1. In an Operations folder, right-click an Operation and choose Create Operation from the shortcut menu.
  2. In the Add New Operation dialog, select Free Space in the Type list, and click the OK button. The Customize dialog is displayed.
  3. Enter the Operation name and a Description for the Operation. Select the Free Space tab.
  4. In the Warning level fields, set the level at which you want the Operation to generate a warning message. If you don't want the Operation to generate a warning, type 0 in the Threshold field.

    For example, to generate a warning message when a Client has less than 10MB of free space, type 10 in the Threshold field, and select Megabytes (MB) in the Units list. The default level is 20% free disk capacity.

    You can specify warning levels as percentages of the disk capacity or as absolute values. This enables you to check for sufficient space when planning a new application installation, and to check for potential space problems when performing preventative maintenance.
  5. In the Severe level fields, set the level at which you want the Operation to generate a severe warning message. If you don't want the Operation to generate a severe warning, type 0 in the Threshold field.
  6. By default, the Free Space Operation checks all Client resources, including any that are read-only. If you don't want the Operation to check resources that have no free space, such as CD-ROMs, select the Do not check read-only resources check box.
    Read-only status is determined by lookup from the Resources table in the Site database.
  7. If you want to override these warning levels with the Free space threshold value in the Resource Details dialog, select Use per-resource free space threshold setting.
    The Free Space Threshold specified in the Resource Details dialog is treated as a Severe Warning. For more information on resource detail settings, see "Specifying Shares".
  8. Click the OK button to save your changes and close the dialog.

Free Space Scans

Free Space Operations can be executed interactively from the Console or by running a Job. For more information, see Chapter 6, "Working with Operations".

When you perform the Operation, the Console or Scheduler makes a connection to the disk or share, executes a free space check, and compares the result with the threshold value. An event list is generated if any of the selected Clients fail the free space threshold tests.

Viewing Free Space Scan Events

The Free Space Operation generates the following events:

When you run the Operation interactively, the events are displayed in the Event Viewer. It enables you to print the events and save them to a file.

When you schedule the Operation, the events are added to the Event Log. To display the Event Log for a Job, right-click the Job in the Console's Job Logs View and choose View Event Log from the shortcut menu.

The Free Space Operation does not update the Site database (except the Event Log). To store free space information in the Site database, use the Update Hardware Inventory Operation.

Waking Clients

Wake-on-LAN is a firmware technique, developed by Intel Corporation, that enables PCs to be powered-on remotely by sending special Wake-up packets to their network cards. In addition to LAN-based operation, Enterprise has the ability to reach PCs on routed networks, providing a Wake-on-WAN capability.

To wake Clients from the Console, click the Wake Clients Operation and select the Clients or Group you want to start. Alternatively, right-click the Operation and choose Submit Job to schedule the Operation.

Enterprise provides Wake-on-LAN as an independent, command launch program that can be used with automated processes, such as virus scans, and software distributions, that are run during off-peak periods when PCs are powered off. It enables Enterprise to switch on PCs, or to confirm that PCs are switched on.

For software distribution, you can achieve precise timings by posting data and instructions to the Offline Areas, then sending a Wake-on-LAN/WAN signal to switch on the PC at a specified time. The software distribution instructions are then processed when the PC starts.

Creating Database Operations

In addition to the Database Viewer, Enterprise also includes a utility, called DButil, which enables you to maintain and update your Site database. Use it to create customized operations that make your own SQL routines available from the Console.

DButil can overwrite data, delete tables and compromise the integrity of your database. Always test new DButil Operations on a copy of your database before using them with live data.
To create an Operation to use DButil:
  1. Right-click an Operations and choose Create Operation in the shortcut menu.
  2. In the Add New Operation dialog, select Command Launch in the Type list and click OK.
  3. In the Customize Command Launch dialog, enter an Operation name, and select the Operations view tabs in which you want to display the operation.
  4. Select the Command Launch tab and type DBUTIL.EXE in the Program field.
  5. In the Command line field, type:
     $DSNACCESS "PROMPT=UserMessage" /SQLUPDATE "SQL=SQLStatement"

    where:

    $DSNACCESS is an Enterprise token that specifies the DSN connection to the Site database.

    "PROMPT=UserMessage" specifies the text of the user prompt that is displayed before the Operation is run. Omit this parameter, if you want this operation to run with no user intervention.

    /SQLUPDATE "SQL=SQLStatement" specifies a single SQL command, or the name of a command file. The file can contain multiple SQL commands and must be located in the Console's installation directory.

    DButil supports the Enterprise tokens in addition to SQL commands. For more information, see "Using Tokens in Command Launch Operations".
  6. Choose the Run once only option and click OK to create the operation. You can now run the operation from the Console or submit it as a job.
    For examples of how to create an Operation using DButil, see the Delete Change History Data Operation in the Console.

Creating SQL Command Files

Using a separate file allows DButil to execute several SQL commands in one operation. You can create a command file using a text editor, such as Notepad. Enter each SQL command on a separate line and end them with a semi-colon.

For example, to add an operation that changes the name of a Client PC in the database, create a file called ChangeNodeName.SQL to update all Site database tables that contains the NODENAME field. For each database table that contains the name, use the following format:

 UPDATE Table SET NODENAME='NewNodeName' WHERE NODENAME='OldNodeName';

Save the file in the Console directory and create an Operation that references ChangeNodeName.sql in the Command line.


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