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Enterprise User Manual
Chapter 18
Audit Clients
Audit mode collects and maintains inventory data from PCs that are not connected to a network, or PCs where it is not appropriate to install the Enterprise Client application. This chapter describes the how to run the Audit capture process, how to configure it, and how to load the audit data into the Console.
The Audit mode enables you to run Client application from diskette and to capture inventory data to diskette. Networked environments can benefit from higher performance by running the Audit capture process from a network drive, and writing results back to a network location.
Audit mode does not require the Client application to be installed on the Client PCs and it is triggered by executing a single command with no subsequent user configuration required.
Audit mode captures Hardware Inventory data and user-prompted information, and Software Inventory is supported by collecting compressed directory snapshots for all hard disks. This allows Enterprise to provide comprehensive Hardware and Software Inventory reports for Audit Clients, in the same way as for Online or Offline Clients.
The Audit process is similar to Offline Client support. Offline Clients use an intermediate area on a file server as a repository for data that cannot be accessed in real-time on the PCs themselves. Audit data is handled in a similar manner. When the data capture is complete, the Console is used to load the Audit data into an Offline Area from where it can be accessed by the hardware and software inventory Operations.
Audit mode is supported on all Windows platforms. It is not supported on DOS-only PCs.
Understanding the Audit Architecture
Audit mode exploits the Offline architecture used for networked Clients. The programs that perform the data capture are the same as those used in normal installation, but they are delivered in a different way to allow easy configuration and to provide fast execution from a single diskette.
To support these requirements, the data capture programs are compressed and packaged in special self-extracting Zip files, which are built using a variant of the WinZip product. The 16-bit and 32-bit data capture executables are delivered in different self-extractors to avoid extraction of files that are not required.
The self-extracting Audit executables are built with the full version of WinZip Self Extractor. They should not be modified with PKZIP or WinZip.
The Audit data for each PC takes up about 100KB; Hardware Inventory data comprises approximately 20KB of that total, and the Software Inventory compressed directory snapshots taking the rest. The directory tree snapshots store the filenames, sizes and dates, but no file contents, for all files on local hard disks.
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The size of the snapshots depends on the number of files present on each drive. When capturing Audit data onto a removable device, such as a diskette, Enterprise checks that there is at least 300KB free before it starts the capture process. If there is insufficient space available, you are prompted to insert a fresh diskette. (If the Audit data requires more than 300KB and the output device runs out of space, Enterprise prompts you to restart with a fresh diskette.)
In the specific case of running the Audit executables from a diskette drive (or any other removable device), Enterprise must take extra actions if a disk swap could occur for the captured data. So, if you run the Audit code from A:\, and the captured data is also directed to A:\, then a disk swap must be allowed in order to insert an Audit data disk. The Audit code prepares for this by copying extra files to the Windows TEMP directory so that the executables diskette is not required again.
Files copied to the TEMP directory are deleted afterwards (sometimes the file deletion occurs when the PC is rebooted), so the main Client application does not remain installed on the PCs.
The Audit data handling overlaps with Offline Client support. When you have captured the Audit data, use the Console to load data into an Offline Area. When you have transferred the Audit data to the Offline Area, you can use the inventory Operations to analyze the data and generate reports in the normal way.
The Audit architecture is designed to provide maximum performance, especially when the Audit is executed from a diskette, and to allow ready configuration of the capture process.
Configuring the Audit Procedure
By default, the Enterprise audit procedure collects hardware inventory, software inventory and user prompt information and saves it to the audit PC's A: drive. If you want to select which information is collected, or specify the location of the saved files, configure the LUCLIENT.INI file with a text editor, such as Notepad, before using the Audit procedure to collect data.
- The standard LUCLIENT.INI file is located in the \Enterprise\Audit\32-bit and \16-bit directories of the Enterprise CD. If you are running the audit from diskette or a network share, it must be located in the same directory as the other Audit files.
Specifying the Data Collection Area
Capturing data to diskette is only necessary for non-networked PCs. Networked PCs are handled better by copying the Audit executable area to a file server and editing the LUCLIENT.INI file to nominate another server area to receive the data. The Audit executable area must be read-only (write-protect any diskette copy), but the data area must allow full read/write access.
LUCLIENT.INI specifies A:\ as the root directory for collected Audit data. The Audit process prompts the Audit operator to insert the diskette and checks that there is sufficient free space available. You can continue to use each diskette until it runs out of space.
You can specify the data collection area as a drive letter and directory path, or in UNC format, including a username and password if required. To specify the data collection area, edit the following entry in LUCLIENT.INI:
[Offline Mode] OfflineDirPath=a:\OfflineDirPath=\\aws\push%guest:secretto specify an area on a server called AWS, with a share called PUSH, a username of guest and a password of secret.
- Do not save Audit data directly into an Offline Area. The audit data must be placed in this area using the Load Audit Data Operation in the Console.
We recommended you setup a new server share with full read/write access for collecting Audit data
- Do not specify Disabled=Yes in the [Offline Mode] section. This disables the entire audit process.
User Prompted Information
By default, the Audit process prompts you to enter user-level information, such as the user's name, department and telephone number. These questions are specified in LUTINFO.REF. To edit the questions, double-click Audit LUTINFO.REF from a Console PC.
- LUTINFO.REF must be present in the Audit executable directory if you want to use user prompting.
If you do not want to use prompting in Audit mode, disable the user-prompting using the following entry in LUCLIENT.INI:
[User Prompting] Disabled=Yes
- Non-networked PCs do not normally have a node name. Since Enterprise uses node names to identify Clients in the Site Database, you must use user prompting to obtain a unique, identifying characteristic for each PC when auditing non-networked PCs. For example, you can use an asset code, a location, or any other characteristic that identifies the PCs.
If you add a user prompted question that uses a database key of $NODENAME', the Load Audit Data Operation uses the answer as the Client name when the PC has no name of its own.Software Inventory Directory Snapshot
The Audit process scans all directories on all drives of each PC and writes a compressed snapshot file for each drive. To specify which drives are scanned, edit the following entry in LUCLIENT.INI:
[Directory Snapshot] Drives=C,D,E,FThe audit software skips any removable drives (such as CD-ROMs), and any drives that are not present.
The directory snapshot is compressed and encrypted by default. To disable this compression, change the Directory Snapshot settings in LUCLIENT.INI:
[Directory Snapshot] Win16CompressThreshold=1 Win32CompressThreshold=1The setting of 1 forces the compression of data for drives that have more than one file. To disable compression on Windows 3.x PCs, set the Win16CompressThreshold to its maximum value of 32000. To disable compression on Windows 95 or later, set Win32CompressThreshold to 32000. The threshold settings are separated because PCs running 16-bit operating systems are usually less powerful than 32-bit systems.
You can disable the directory snapshot using the Directory Snapshot parameter in LUCLIENT.INI:
[Directory Snapshot] Disabled=YesSegregating PCs
Offline mode and Audit mode enable you to split PCs by category, such as department, or network domain. Each group of PCs can be assigned a different prefix by editing the OfflinePrefix parameter in LUCLIENT.INI:
[Offline Mode] OfflinePrefix=LUYou can specify a prefix of up to four characters. Offline IDs are prefixed with this string, and it is stored as a property value for each Client in the Site Database.
The Load Audit Data Operation assigns fresh IDs when it loads audit data. You must customize the Operation to set the offline prefix before loading audit data from a group of PCs.
Although prefix settings are not preserved by the Load Audit Data Operation, they can be used to separate the audit data. For example, if you collect audit data into a network location using prefixes of ENG for the Engineering department and MKTG for the Marketing department, the audit data is captured into ENGnnnn and MKTGnnnn subdirectories. You can then copy these subdirectories to a different location and load them into the Site Database separately.
Pre-Process and Post-Process Commands
The Audit process can execute a command before data capture begins and another command after it is completed. You can use this to map a drive letter to a server share if Enterprise is unable to do this automatically. (This may be the case in non-Microsoft network environments, such as Windows 3 and Windows for Workgroups.) The drive letter can then be used to specify the Offline directory path in LUCLIENT.INI.
The default LUCLIENT.INI includes pre- and post-process examples. To enable these features, set Disabled=No and enter the command line you want to execute.
Debug Mode
Debugging causes the data capture process to display windows during execution and generates extra logging information to help identify problems. Debugging is disabled by default. To enable Debug mode, locate the Boot Control section in LUCLIENT.INI and change the parameter to:
EnableDebug=YesDisabling DOS-Level Inventory Tests
The LUHDWCHK program performs the DOS-level inventory capture process. If you encounter any problems during this process, you can disable individual tests and sub-tests that cause a failure using the LUHDWCHK.CFG file in the Audit executable area.
Do not change any of following settings in LUCLIENT.INI:
[Install] ApplicationDirectory= DataDirectory= [Boot Control] EnableFileSharing=No
[Offline Mode] Disabled=No PushOnce=No [Software Distribution] Disabled=YesPerforming Audits
Auditing can be performed by an audit operator, or by PC users themselves. The Audit process is automatic and it prompts only when you are capturing data to diskette, or when you have specified user questions. Enterprise prompts for the correct disk to be inserted, if there is an error (for example, if the audit results diskette is full, or a network connection could not be made to deliver the audit results to a server location), or on completion of the Audit sequence.
The Audit process can be customized to specify the location for collected data, to ask specific user prompted questions, and to select categories of information to be collected. You can perform an audit on a PC, in several ways:
To perform an audit from diskette:
- Create an audit diskette by copying the audit software from the Enterprise CD to the root directory of a blank diskette.
For PCs running Windows 95 or later, copy the contents of \Enterprise\Audit\32-bit directory.
For PCs running Windows 3, copy the contents of \Enterprise\Audit\32-bit directory.
- Insert the diskette in the PC and run LUAUDIT.EXE.
To perform an audit from the Enterprise CD:
- Insert the PC-Duo Enterprise CD and a blank diskette in the PC.
- Run LUAUDIT.EXE. from the CD's \LU32\AUDIT\32-bit or 16-bit directory.
To perform an audit from a network share:
- Copy the contents of \Enterprise\Audit\ directory to a network share that is accessible to the PCs you want to audit.
- On the PC you want to audit, run the appropriate version of LUAUDIT.EXE from the share.
- The Audit kit is pre-configured to capture data to the PC's A: drive, and to display the default user prompts supplied with Enterprise. If you want to save the audit data to another drive or a share on the network, or if you want to customize or disable user prompting, you must configure the LUCLIENT.INI file before running LUAUDIT.EXE. For more information, see "Configuring the Audit Procedure".
When the audit is complete, use the Console to load and analyze the data.
Loading Audit Data
When the data capture is complete, copy the Audit data to the Offline Area of a Site using the Load Audit Data Operation in the Console. From there, you can save to the Site Database using the hardware and software inventory Operations.
Before using the Load Audit Data Operation, you must specify the Offline path in which the audit data is located. In addition, if you have collected data to a network location, you must specify the path of that location instead of A: in the Audit device path field. To specify these locations, customize the Load Audit Data Operation, and click the browse buttons in the Audit Loader tab.
When you have customized the Operation, click the Operation icon to load the audit data.
Populating a Site with Audit Clients
When you have performed the Load Audit Data Operation, the audit Clients are displayed in the Console's All Clients Group. Use the hardware and software inventory Operations to collect the data from the Offline Area and load it into the Site Database. For example, you can perform an Update Software Inventory Operation across a mixture of Offline Clients, Online Clients and Audit Clients. You can then analyze the data and create reports using the standard Console Operations.
Re-auditing Clients
Audit support is intended for single Audits and not for repeated use on the same PCs. Rerunning the Load Audit Data Operation with the same diskette can copy the data into fresh subdirectories each time, but the new copies are ignored, as the Clients are already in the Site Database.
If you want to load updated data for previously published Clients, or if you have repeated the Audit data capture to collect revised data, use the following procedure to flush the old data and makes the new data available:
- Delete the Offline Area\Offline ID directory for each Client.
- Delete the Clients from the Clients View.
- Delete all files from the Audit data diskette used previously.
- Repeat the Audit data capture process on the Client PCs, using the new Audit settings and user prompt questions.
- Check the Load Audit Data Operation is configured, then run the Operation to load the data from diskette.
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