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Enterprise User Manual


Chapter 17

Online Clients


Online Client mode enables you to directly transfer data to and receive commands from network PCs using local shares. Unlike Offline Clients, which communicate with Consoles through an intermediate Offline Area, Online Clients provide real-time management of PCs and immediate access to their data. However, Online mode requires you to identify the disk shares you want to monitor on each Client, and also requires the Clients to be running and available on the network when they are accessed.

Operations on Online Clients work by interactively accessing the Client shares as a background task. Non-disruptive background access is provided by an Enterprise component for DOS and Windows 3.x and through Microsoft file sharing on other Windows platforms. So, for example, when you run Update Hardware Inventory or Update Software Inventory Operations from the Console, the data is retrieved by background access to files on the Clients' local disks.

You can combine Online and Offline Clients in the same Site and perform Operations on any mixture of Clients.

Installing Clients in Online Mode

By default, the Create New Site Operation configures the Client kit to install and run the Client application in Offline mode. This is because the kit needs to specify the Offline Area with which the Client can communicate with the Console. If you want to install your Clients to work in Online mode, you must configure the Client kit before installing it.

To install an Online Client from the CD:
  1. Insert the Enterprise CD and choose the Install Enterprise Client installation option. In the Welcome dialog, click the Next button.
  2. In the Software License Agreement dialog, click the Yes button to accept the agreement.
  3. In the Setup Type dialog, select Custom Setup and click the Next button.
  4. In the Advanced Installation Options dialog, select Enable Online Mode, deselect Enable Offline Mode, and click the Next button.
  5. In the Online Mode Options dialog select Create Hidden Shares, select Create Client Share and click the Next button.
    Enterprise uses disk shares to collect software inventory data from the disk drives of Online Clients. Select Create Hidden Shares to create them as administrative shares.

    Other Operations use the Client installation directory to relay instructions to and collect data from the Client. The Create Client Share option creates a hidden share for that directory. However, if you choose not to create this share, you can access the directory through the disk share.
  6. In the Online Mode Parameters dialog, enter the letters of the drives for which you want to collect software inventory data. Enter a Prefix if you want to add a string to the share names to identify where they are used.

    Click the Next button to continue.

  7. In the remaining dialogs, accept the default settings and click the Next button.
To configure the Client kit to create Online Clients:
  1. Using a text editor, open the LUCLIENT.INI file in your Offline Area.
  2. In the Boot Control section, specify the following parameter settings:

    EnableFileSharing=Yes

    SharesHidden=Yes

    You must also specify the drives for which you want to collect software inventory data using the Shared Drives parameter.

    For example, to collect software inventory data from the C, D and E drives of Online Clients, enter:

    SharedDrives=C,D,E

  3. In the Offline Mode section, specify

    Disabled=Yes

  4. Save your changes and close the file.

Follow the instructions in Chapter 4, "Installing the Client Application" to deploy the Client Kit to the PCs you want to run as Online Clients.

Adding Online Clients to the Site Database

New Client PCs must be registered with Enterprise and added to the Site database before you can access them from the Console. Because Offline Clients store their data in Client-independent Offline Areas, the Find Offline Clients Operation, or the Offline Scanner can detect new Clients just by checking the Offline Areas associated with your Site. However, because Online Clients use their own shares to transfer data, you must register your Online Clients with your Site before you use Enterprise to manage them.

To add an Online Client to a Site Database:
  1. Right-click All Clients in the Clients folder and choose Create Online Client from the shortcut menu.
  2. In the Create Online Client dialog, enter the node name for the PC and click OK. The new Client is displayed in the All Clients view.

You must now define the shares that Enterprise can use to access the Client. For more information, see "Specifying Shares".

Importing Online Clients

It can be time-consuming to add Online Clients to a Site singly using the Create Online Clients option. If you want to add several Online Clients to a Site, you can instead import them from a text file. This enables you to specify which PCs you want to use as Online Clients, and to enter some user-specific data without the need to collect it through user prompts.

To create a Client import file, enter the following data using a text editor, such as Notepad:

Parameter
Contains
NODENAME
The name by which the PC is known to the network
DOMAINNAME
The name of the domain to which the PC belongs
NDLOCATION
The location of the PC
DEPARTMENT
The business unit to which the PC belongs
OWNERNAME
The name of the main user of the Client PC
OWNERTELE
The telephone number of the main user

Each Client must be entered on a separate line, and each parameter must be separated by a delimiter such as a comma. All parameters are optional except NODENAME. To represent empty parameters, use adjacent delimiters. You do not need to include delimiters for undefined trailing parameters. For example:

 PKS023,,Main Office,Engineering,Travis Bickle,

The Client data is saved in the NODES table of the Site database; any missing fields are held as empty strings.

To import Online Clients into the Site Database:
  1. In the Clients folder, right-click a Group and choose Import Clients from the shortcut menu.
  2. In the Import File field, enter the name of the text file that contains the Clients you want to import. Alternatively, click the Browse button to locate the file.
  3. Enter the Field delimiter character.
  4. If you want the imported information to overwrite existing entries in the Site database, select Modify existing Client settings.
  5. Click the OK button to create the Clients.

When you have imported the Clients, you must define the shares that Enterprise can use to access them. For more information, see "Specifying Shares".

Detecting Online Clients

New Offline Clients are detected when the Find Offline Clients Operation finds their data in the Site's Offline Areas. You can create a similar Operation (see "Creating and Customizing Operations") for Online Clients that detects PCs connected to your network. This enables you to identify potential Online Clients using a similar method to that used for Offline Clients, but has the disadvantage of finding all PCs and servers whether or not the Enterprise Client application is installed. This means that you must take care when enabling the Online Client settings as you can easily use up your Enterprise licenses by filling your Site database with PCs you do not want to manage.

To create a Find Online Clients Operation:
  1. In the Console, right-click the Find Offline Clients Operation and choose Create Operation from the shortcut menu.
  2. In the Add New Operation dialog, select Auto-populate/Scan from the Type list, and click the OK button. The Customize Auto-populate/Scan dialog is displayed.
  3. In the Operation name field, type Find Online Clients.
  4. In the Description field, type the description that you want to appear with the Operation. For example:

    Add new Clients to the Site Database

  5. Select Site Management in the folders list.
  6. Select the Auto-populate/Scan tab and deselect the Enable offline scan check box.
  7. Select Enable online scan to configure the Operation to detect Online Clients.
  8. Select Create groups for domains if you want the Operation to create a new Dynamic Group for each domain on your network.
  9. If you want to check the list of detected PCs before adding them to your Site, deselect the Add to clients database option.
  10. Choose the domains you want to search for new Clients:

    To populate the Site database with all Online Clients from all domains on your network, select Scan all domains.

    To populate the Site database with Clients from domains specified when you run the Operation, select Prompt for domains. You are prompted to specify the domains using the Select Domain dialog.

    To populate the Site database with Clients from specified domains, select Scan specified domains and type the domain names in the entry field.

  11. Click the OK button to save your changes and close the dialog. You can now detect your Online Clients by clicking the Operation.

Specifying Shares

Online Clients use local disks and shares (referred to as Resources) to transfer data to and relay commands from PC-Duo Enterprise. Before you can perform Operations on Online Clients, you must ensure shares are available on each Client and register the details of the shares that you want to access with the Site.

To specify Resource details for an Online Client:
  1. In the Site Management folder, click the Change Online Resources Operation. The Select Clients dialog is displayed.
  2. In the Select Clients dialog, select the Online Clients Only check box, then select Clients for which you want to specify or change the Resources, and click OK. The Online Resources dialog is displayed. It lists the Resources defined for one or more of the Clients you selected.
    You can identify the Online Clients for which no Resources are currently defined by creating a Dynamic Group and entering the following SQL statement:

    SELECT NODES.NODENAME FROM NODES
    WHERE NODES.NODENAME NOT IN
    (SELECT RESRCES.NODENAME FROM RESRCES) AND NODES.NDSERVER = O;
  3. To specify a new Resource for the Clients, click Add. The Resource Details dialog is displayed.
  4. In the Name field, enter the name of the share you want to register. If you created hidden (administrative) shares for the Client, you must append a $ character after the disk name. For example, to specify the name of the administrative share for the C: drive, type C$.
    By default, the Client application creates shares for all disk drives on the Client. If this is prevented by Windows Security Policies or changes to the Client kit, you must create the shares on Client PCs before using Online mode.
  5. In the User, Password and Verify fields, enter the details of a user account that Controls and Schedulers can use to access the selected Resource. You must also enter the Domain name if the account belongs to a domain.
    The account must have Admin privileges to access hidden shares.
  6. Select Client Area if the Client application is installed on this Resource. Only one Client Area Resource can be specified for each Client.
    Because most Operations need to access the Client installation directory, you must specify a Client Area for each Client. If you select this check box, this share will replace any previously defined Client Area. To prevent accidental deselection of the Client Area, you cannot deselect this check box.
  7. If you want to use the Free Space Operation to warn you when a Client share is running out of free disk space, enter a warning level in the Free space threshold field. For example, to display a warning when the free space on the share falls below 50 MB, type 50 in this field.
    The Free Space Operation is only supported for Online Clients and is not included in the standard Console installation. For more information on creating Operations, see "Creating and Customizing Operations")
  8. Click the Add button to save the Resource details and close the dialog.
  9. When you have finished defining Resources for the selected Clients, click the Close button to close the Online Resources dialog.
    To quickly view a Client's current Resources, right-click the Client in the Clients view, and choose Display Resources from the shortcut menu.

Converting Online Clients to Offline Mode

Both Online Clients and Offline Clients use the same Client application. The mode in which the Clients work is determined by the Offline Mode section of the LUCLIENT.INI file. The Client mode is normally specified as part of the Client installation. However, you can reconfigure the mode of installed Clients from the Console using Configure Clients Operation.

To convert Clients from Online mode to Offline mode:
  1. Right-click the Configure Clients Operation and choose Customize from the shortcut menu.
  2. Select the Offline mode tab.
  3. Modify the following settings:

    Select the Enable offline mode check box.

    In the Offline path list, select the Offline Area with which you want to access the Clients.

    In the Push interval field, enter the frequency with which you want the Clients to transfer their inventory data to the Offline Area.

  4. Make sure all the other Modify Settings check boxes in the dialog are deselected. Click the OK button to save your changes and close the dialog.
  5. Click the Configure Clients Operation. In the Select Clients dialog, select the Clients you want to convert, and click the OK button.

    The Client mode will change when the Client application is next scheduled or when the user next reboots the PC. To check the mode has changed, look for Client data in the specified Offline Area.

Enterprise does not automatically check the mode of Clients after they are added to a Site. If you convert a Client from Online to Offline mode, you must update the Site database before you can start using the Client in its new mode.

This procedure will result in the loss of your Clients' historical data. Contact Vector-Networks' Technical Support for more advice if you need to reconfigure your Clients without losing their data.
To update the Site Database with a reconfigured Client:
  1. Right-click the Client in the All Clients folder, and choose Delete Client from the shortcut menu. Click Yes to confirm you want to delete the Client.
  2. In the Site Management folder, click the Find Offline Clients Operation to repopulate the Site database.

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Vector Networks
http://www.vector-networks.com
Voice: +44 (0) 1827 67333
Fax: +44 (0) 1827 67068
info@vector-networks.co.uk
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