Symantec ALTIRIS CLIENT MANAGEMENT SUITE 7.0 SP2 - V1.0, Altiris Client Management Suite 7.0 SP2 User Manual

AltirisClient Management Suite from Symantec User Guide
Version 7.0 SP2
AltirisClient Management Suite from Symantec User Guide
Documentation version 7.0 SP2
Legal Notice
Copyright © 2010 Symantec Corporation. All rights reserved.
Symantec, the Symantec Logo, Altiris, and any Altiris or Symantec trademarks used in the product are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
The product described in this document is distributed under licenses restricting its use, copying, distribution, and decompilation/reverse engineering. No part of this document may be reproduced in any form by any means without prior written authorization of Symantec Corporation and its licensors, if any.
THE DOCUMENTATION ISPROVIDED"AS IS" AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID. SYMANTEC CORPORATION SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH THE FURNISHING, PERFORMANCE, OR USE OF THIS DOCUMENTATION. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENTATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
The Licensed Software and Documentation are deemed to be commercial computer software as defined in FAR 12.212 and subject to restricted rights as defined in FAR Section 52.227-19 "Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights" and DFARS 227.7202, "Rights in Commercial Computer Software or Commercial Computer Software Documentation", as applicable, and any successor regulations. Any use, modification, reproduction release, performance, display or disclosure of the Licensed Software and Documentation by the U.S. Government shall be solely in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.
Symantec Corporation 20330 Stevens Creek Blvd. Cupertino, CA 95014
http://www.symantec.com
Technical Support
Symantec Technical Support maintains support centers globally. Technical Supports primary role is to respond to specific queries about product features and functionality. The Technical Support group also creates content for our online Knowledge Base. The Technical Support group works collaboratively with the other functional areas within Symantec to answer your questions in a timely fashion. For example, the Technical Support group workswith Product Engineering and Symantec Security Response to provide alerting services and virus definition updates.
Symantecs maintenance offerings include the following:
A range of support options that give you the flexibility to select the right
amount of service for any size organization
Telephone and Web-based support that provides rapid response and
up-to-the-minute information
Upgrade assurance that delivers automatic software upgrade protection
Global support that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Advanced features, including Account Management Services
For information about Symantecs Maintenance Programs, you can visit our Web site at the following URL:
www.symantec.com/techsupp/
Contacting Technical Support
Customers with a current maintenance agreement may access Technical Support information at the following URL:
www.symantec.com/techsupp/
Before contacting Technical Support, make sure you have satisfied the system requirements that are listed in your product documentation. Also, you should be at the computer on which the problem occurred, incase it is necessaryto replicate the problem.
When you contact Technical Support, please have the following information available:
Product release level
Hardware information
Available memory, disk space, and NIC information
Operating system
Version and patch level
Network topology
Router, gateway, and IP address information
Problem description:
Error messages and log files
Troubleshooting that was performed before contacting Symantec
Recent software configuration changes and network changes
Licensing and registration
If your Symantec product requires registration or a license key, access our technical support Web page at the following URL:
www.symantec.com/techsupp/
Customer service
Customer service information is available at the following URL:
www.symantec.com/techsupp/
Customer Service is available to assist with the following types of issues:
Questions regarding product licensing or serialization
Product registration updates, such as address or name changes
General product information (features, language availability, local dealers)
Latest information about product updates and upgrades
Information about upgrade assurance and maintenance contracts
Information about the Symantec Buying Programs
Advice about Symantec's technical support options
Nontechnical presales questions
Issues that are related to CD-ROMs or manuals
Maintenance agreement resources
If you want to contact Symantec regarding an existing maintenance agreement, please contact the maintenance agreement administration team for your region as follows:
contractsadmin@symantec.comAsia-Pacific and Japan
semea@symantec.comEurope, Middle-East, and Africa
supportsolutions@symantec.comNorth America and Latin America
Additional enterprise services
Symantec offers a comprehensive set of services that allow you to maximize your investment in Symantec products and to develop your knowledge, expertise, and global insight, which enable you to manage your business risks proactively.
Enterprise services that are available include the following:
These solutions provide early warning of cyber attacks, comprehensive threat analysis, and countermeasures to prevent attacks before they occur.
Symantec Early Warning Solutions
These services remove the burden of managing and monitoring security devices and events, ensuring rapid response to real threats.
Managed Security Services
Symantec Consulting Services provide on-site technical expertise from Symantec and its trusted partners. Symantec Consulting Services offer a variety of prepackaged and customizable options that include assessment, design, implementation, monitoring, and management capabilities. Each is focused on establishing and maintaining the integrity and availability of your IT resources.
Consulting Services
Educational Services provide a full array of technical training, security education, security certification, and awareness communication programs.
Educational Services
To access more information about Enterprise services, please visit our Web site at the following URL:
www.symantec.com
Select your country or language from the site index.
Technical Support ............. . . . . ............. . . . .............. . . . .............. . . . . ............. . . . ........... 4
Chapter 1 Introducing Client Management Suite .......... . . . .............. . . 9
About Client Management Suite ............ . . . .............. . . .............. . . . ....... 9
Components of Client Management Suite .......... . . . ............. . . . ............ 10
Where to get more information .. . .............. . . .............. . . . .............. . . . .. 13
Chapter 2 Using Power Scheme Task ............ . . . .............. . . . ............. . . . . 15
About Power Scheme Task component ............. . . . .............. . . ............. 15
Preparing target computers for power scheme management ............. . . . 16
Installing the Power Scheme Agent .. .............. . . . .............. . . . ....... 17
Upgrading the Power Scheme Agent .. . .............. . . . .............. . . . ..... 17
Uninstalling the Power Scheme Agent ........... . . . .............. . . . ........ 18
Collecting power scheme inventory data .. . .............. . . .............. . . . ....... 18
Creating a Power Scheme Task .. . . .............. . . . .............. . . .............. . . . . 19
Editing and deploying power scheme settings .. . .............. . . . .............. . . 19
Viewing power scheme inventory data ... . . . .............. . . . .............. . . . ..... 20
Index ....... . . .............. . . . .............. . . . .............. . . .............. . . . .............. . . . .............. . . ....... 21
Contents
Contents8
Introducing Client Management Suite
This chapter includes the following topics:
About Client Management Suite
Components of Client Management Suite
Where to get more information
About Client Management Suite
Client Management Suite combines the necessary tools that help you deploy, manage, secure, and troubleshoot your desktop computers and laptop computers throughout their entire lifecycle.
The solutions that are part of the Client Management Suite help you discover the resources in your network, and let you check their state. The reporting tools help you identify problems and take immediate action to fix them. Client Management Suite lets you automate time-consuming and redundant tasks to reduce the effort of managing your client systems.
Client Management Suite is a collection of solutions that run on the Symantec Management Platform. The platform and solutions of the Client Management Suite provide the following key features:
Discovery and inventory
The suite lets you gather comprehensive inventory of all hardware and software on your client systems. The collected inventory data helps you optimize software licenses and reduce the costs that are associated with operating system deployments and software rollouts.
Imaging and deployment
1
Chapter
The suite lets you deploy standardized and hardware-independent images on your managed computers. You can migrate to the latest operating system or hardware with fewer interruptions to users.
Software distribution and patch management
The suite lets you control the software configurations of your client systems. The automated policies for software and patch management help you distribute the latest software and operating system updates. Software management capabilities let you ensure that the required software remains installed, is always in a working state, and is correctly configured on the client systems.
Remote management
The suite lets you troubleshoot and remediate client computers remotely. You can remote control your client systems with pcAnywhere technology, or use Real-Time System Manager techniques to fix the problems of users.
See “Components of Client Management Suite” on page 10.
See “Where to get more information” on page 13.
Components of Client Management Suite
Client Management Suite is a collection of solutions that run on the Symantec Management Platform.
See “About Client Management Suite” on page 9.
Introducing Client Management Suite
Components of Client Management Suite
10
Table 1-1
Components of Client Management Suite
DescriptionComponent
Symantec Management Platform provides a set of services that IT-related solutions can leverage. By leveraging these services, the solutions that are built on the platform can focus on their unique tasks. They also can take advantage of the more general services that the platform provides. The platform services also provide a high degree of consistency between the solutions, so that users do not need to learn multiple product interfaces.
Symantec Management Platform includes the following components:
Configuration Management Database (CMDB)
Notification Server
Symantec Management Console
Altiris Agent for Windows, and for UNIX, Linux, and Mac
Network Discovery
Software Management Framework
Reports
Symantec Management Platform
Deployment Solution helps to reduce the cost of deploying and managing servers, desktops, notebooks, and thin clients from a centralized location in your environment. It offers operating system deployment, configuration, personality migration of computers, and software deployment across different hardware platforms and operating systems.
Deployment Solution provides integrated provisioning, disk imaging, and personality migration from the Symantec Management Console. Using Symantec Ghost, you can perform initial computer deployment using standard images and migrate user data or application settings to new computers.
Deployment Solution includes a 7.x version that runs on the Symantec Management Platform and a license for the latest 6.x version that can be installed separately.
Deployment Solution
11Introducing Client Management Suite
Components of Client Management Suite
Table 1-1
Components of Client Management Suite (continued)
DescriptionComponent
Inventory Solution lets you gather inventory data about the computers, users, operating systems, and installed software applications in your environment. You can collect inventory data from the computers that run Windows, UNIX, Linux, and Mac.
After you gather inventory data, you can analyze it using predefined or custom reports.
Inventory Solution
Inventory for Network Devices gathers inventory data from the devices that are not managed through the Altiris Agent.
You can gather inventory on the devices that are already discovered and exist as resources in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
Inventory for Network Devices
Out-of-Band Management component lets you discover computers with ASF, DASH, and Intel AMT in your environment and configure them for out-of-band management.
Out-of-band management lets you manage client computers regardless of the state of their power, operating system, or management agents. You can remotely change the power state of the computer and collect hardware inventory. You also can perform other management tasks that normally would require a visit to a client computer.
Out-of-band management
Patch Management Solution for Linux lets you scan Red Hat and Novell Linux computers for security vulnerabilities. The solution then reports on the findings and lets you automate the download and distribution of needed errata, or software updates. The solution downloads the required patches and provides wizards to help you deploy them.
Patch Management Solution for Linux
Patch Management Solution for Mac lets you scan Mac computers for the updates that they require. The solution then reports on the findings and lets you automate the downloading and distribution of needed updates. You can distribute all or some of the updates.
Patch Management Solution for Mac
Introducing Client Management Suite
Components of Client Management Suite
12
Table 1-1
Components of Client Management Suite (continued)
DescriptionComponent
Patch Management Solution for Windows lets you scan Windows computers for security vulnerabilities, and view the results of the scan. The system lets you automate the download and distribution of the security patches. You can create filters of the computers and apply the patch to the computers that need it.
Patch Management Solution for Windows
pcAnywhere Solution is a remote control solution. It lets you manage computers, resolve help desk issues, and connect to remote devices.
pcAnywhere Solution
The Power Scheme Task component helps you discover and remotely configure the power settings of your Windows computers.
See “About Power Scheme Task component” on page 15.
Power Scheme Task
Real-Time System Manager provides you detailed real-time information about the managed computer, and lets you remotely perform different administrative tasks. You can run the tasks immediately, or on a schedule.
Real-Time System Manager also lets you run some of the management tasks on a collection of computers.
Real-Time System Manager
Software Management Solution provides intelligent and bandwidth-sensitive distribution and management of software from a central Web console. It leverages the Software Catalog and Software Library to ensure that the required software gets installed, remains installed, and runs without interference from other software.
Software Management Solution supports software virtualization technology, which lets you install software into a virtual layer on the client computer.
Software Management Solution also lets users directly download and install approved software or request other software.
Software Management Solution
Where to get more information
Use the following documentation resources to learn and use this product.
13Introducing Client Management Suite
Where to get more information
Table 1-2
Documentation resources
LocationDescriptionDocument
http://kb.altiris.com/
You can search for the product name under Release Notes.
Information about new features and important issues.
This information is available as an article in the knowledge base.
Release Notes
The Documentation Library, which is
available in the Symantec Management Console on the Help menu.
The Product Support page, which is
available at the following URL:
http://www.symantec.com/business /support/all_products.jsp
When you open your products support page, look for the Documentation link on the right side of the page.
Information about how to use this product, including detailed technical information and instructions for performing common tasks.
This information is available in PDF format.
User Guide
The Documentation Library, which is available in the Symantec Management Console on the Help menu.
Context-sensitive help is available for most screens in the Symantec Management Console.
You can open context-sensitive help in the following ways:
The F1 key
The Context command, which is available
in the Symantec Management Console on the Help menu.
Information about how to use this product, including detailed technical information and instructions for performing common tasks.
Help is available at the solution level and at the suite level.
This information is available in HTML help format.
Help
In addition to the product documentation, you can use the following resources to learn about Altiris products.
Table 1-3
Altiris information resources
LocationDescriptionResource
http://kb.altiris.com/Articles, incidents, and issues about Altiris
products.
Knowledge base
http://www.symantec.com/connect /endpoint-management-virtualization
An online magazine that contains best practices, tips, tricks, forums, and articles for users of this product.
Symantec Connect
(formerly Altiris Juice)
Introducing Client Management Suite
Where to get more information
14
Using Power Scheme Task
This chapter includes the following topics:
About Power Scheme Task component
Preparing target computers for power scheme management
Collecting power scheme inventory data
Creating a Power Scheme Task
Editing and deploying power scheme settings
Viewing power scheme inventory data
About Power Scheme Task component
The Power Scheme Task component helps you discover and remotely configure the power scheme settings of your Windows computers.
The Power Scheme Task component includes predefined tasks with different power scheme settings. According to your requirements, you can change the settings of the predefined tasks, or you can create custom power scheme management tasks.
When the power scheme management task runs, it creates and activates the Altiris Power Scheme on target computers.
See “Editing and deploying power scheme settings” on page 19.
The Power Scheme Task component is installed as a part of the Client Management Suite.
The Power Scheme Task component requires that you install the Power Scheme Agent on your managed computers.
See “Installing the Power Scheme Agent” on page 17.
2
Chapter
Table 2-1
Power Scheme Task features
DescriptionFeature
You can edit and deploy different predefined power schemes.
See “Editing and deploying power scheme
settingson page 19.
The Power Scheme Task that you run does not change the power schemes that Windows or other applications install. It creates the Altiris Power Scheme with the power scheme settings that you specify.
Edit and deploy power schemes.
You can create custom power scheme management tasks, and you can specify the power scheme settings according to your requirements.
See “Creating a Power Scheme Task” on page 19.
Create power scheme management tasks.
You can collect information about the power scheme settings that are currently active on your Windows computers.
See “Collecting power scheme inventory data” on page 18.
Inventory power schemes on client computers.
You can use a predefined report to see the power scheme settings that are currently active on your Windows computers.
See “Viewing power scheme inventory data” on page 20.
View power schemes data.
Preparing target computers for power scheme management
To run power the scheme management tasks, you must install the Power Scheme Agent on the target computers. The Power Scheme Agent lets you configure the power scheme settings on your managed Windows computers. The Power Scheme Agent also lets you collect information about the power scheme settings that are currently in use on the managed computers.
The Power Scheme Agent works with the Altiris Agent to perform the power scheme management tasks.
See “About Power Scheme Task component” on page 15.
Using Power Scheme Task
Preparing target computers for power scheme management
16
Installing the Power Scheme Agent
The Power Scheme Agent lets you configure the power scheme settings on your managed Windows computers. The agent installation process can take some time to start, depending on the update intervals that you set for the Altiris Agent.
See “About Power Scheme Task component” on page 15.
To install the Power Scheme Agent
1
In the Symantec Management Console, on the Actions menu, click
Agents/Plug-ins > Rollout Agents/Plug-ins.
2
In the left pane, click Power Scheme > Power Scheme Agent Install.
3
In the right pane, make any wanted changes.
For more information about policy configuration options, press F1 or click
Help > Context.
4
Turn on the policy.
At the upper right of the page, click the colored circle, and then click On.
5
Click Save changes.
Upgrading the Power Scheme Agent
If you upgrade from a previous version of the Client Management Suite, you must also upgrade the Power Scheme Agent to the latest version. To upgrade the Power Scheme Agent, you must turn on the upgrade policy.
See “About Power Scheme Task component” on page 15.
To upgrade the Power Scheme Agent
1
In the Symantec Management Console, on the Actions menu, click
Agents/Plug-ins > Rollout Agents/Plug-ins.
2
In the left pane, click Power Scheme > Power Scheme Agent Upgrade.
3
In the right pane, make any wanted changes.
For more information about policy configuration options, press F1 or click
Help > Context.
4
Turn on the policy.
At the upper right of the page, click the colored circle, and then click On.
5
Click Save changes.
17Using Power Scheme Task
Preparing target computers for power scheme management
Uninstalling the Power Scheme Agent
If you do not perform the power scheme management tasks on your computers over an extended period of time, you can uninstall the Power Scheme Agent. Uninstalling the unused agents helps to eliminate the unnecessary network traffic. To uninstall the Power Scheme Agent, you must turn on the uninstall policy.
Note: Before you uninstall the Power Scheme Agent, make sure that you turn off the Power Scheme Agent Install policy.
See “About Power Scheme Task component” on page 15.
See “Installing the Power Scheme Agent” on page 17.
To uninstall the Power Scheme Agent
1
In the Symantec Management Console, on the Actions menu, click Agents/Plug-ins > Rollout Agents/Plug-ins.
2
In the left pane, click Power Scheme > Power Scheme Agent Uninstall.
3
In the right pane, make any wanted changes.
For more information about policy configuration options, press F1 or click Help > Context.
4
Turn on the policy.
At the upper right of the page, click the colored circle, and then click On.
5
Click Save changes.
Collecting power scheme inventory data
The Power Scheme Inventory task lets you collect power scheme settingsinventory from managed computers.
See “About Power Scheme Task component” on page 15.
To perform this task, you must install the Power Scheme Agent on the target computers.
See “Installing the Power Scheme Agent” on page 17.
After you run the inventory task, you can use the predefined report to view the collected power scheme settings data.
See “Viewing power scheme inventory data” on page 20.
Using Power Scheme Task
Collecting power scheme inventory data
18
To collect power scheme inventory data
1
In the Symantec Management Console, on the Manage menu, click Jobs and
Tasks.
2
In the left pane, click Client Tasks > Power Scheme Tasks > Power Scheme
Inventory.
3
Select the target computers and run or schedule the task.
Creating a Power Scheme Task
You can create custom power scheme management tasks, and you can specify the power scheme settings according to your requirements.
See “About Power Scheme Task component” on page 15.
For more information, see the topic about creating a task in the Symantec Management Platform Help.
To create a Power Scheme Task
1
In the Symantec Management Console, on the Manage menu, click Jobs and
Tasks.
2
In the left pane, click Client Tasks.
3
Right-click the Power Scheme Tasks folder, and then click New > Task.
4
In the Create New Task dialog box, in the left pane, click Power Scheme
Settings Task.
5
In the right pane, specify the power scheme settings.
6
Click Ok.
Editing and deploying power scheme settings
Power Scheme Tasks let you create and activate different power scheme settings on your managed Windows computers.
See “About Power Scheme Task component” on page 15.
To perform the power scheme management tasks, you must install the Power Scheme Agent on target computers.
See “Installing the Power Scheme Agent” on page 17.
When you select the target computers, be mindful that only one power scheme can be active on a computer at a time. When you run more than one Power Scheme Task on a target computer, the task that runs last sets the active power scheme.
19Using Power Scheme Task
Creating a Power Scheme Task
For example, you may run the Always On Power Scheme task on all your computers. Later, you can run the Portable/Laptop Power Scheme task on your notebook computers.
Note: The power scheme that the specified Power Scheme Task creates and activates, is always named Altiris Power Scheme on the target computers. For example, when you run Always On Power Scheme task, the created and activated power scheme is named Altiris Power Scheme on the target computers.
For more information, see the topic about running a task in the Symantec Management Platform Help.
To edit and deploy power scheme settings
1
In the Symantec Management Console, on the Manage menu, click Jobs and Tasks.
2
In the left pane, click Client Tasks > Power Scheme Tasks.
3
Select a Power Scheme Task that you want to run.
4
(Optional) In the right pane, configure the power scheme settings.
5
Click Save changes.
6
Select the target computers and run or schedule the task.
Viewing power scheme inventory data
You can use a predefined report to view the power scheme inventory data. The report lets you see the power scheme settings that are active on the client computers.
To collect the power scheme inventory data, you must run the Power Scheme Inventory task on target computers.
See “Collecting power scheme inventory data” on page 18.
To view power scheme inventory data
1
In the Symantec Management Console, on the Reports menu, click All Reports.
2
In the left pane, click Power Scheme > Power Scheme Settings.
For more information, see the topics about using reports in the Symantec Management Platform Help.
Using Power Scheme Task
Viewing power scheme inventory data
20
C
Client Management Suite
about 9 components 10
context-sensitive help 13
D
documentation 13
H
help
context-sensitive 13
P
Power Scheme Agent
installing 17 uninstalling 18 upgrading 17
power scheme management
preparing managed computers 16
power scheme settings
deploying 19 editing 19 inventory 18 inventory data 20 report 20
Power Scheme Task
about 15 creating 19 features 15 Power Scheme Agent 16 settings 19
R
Release Notes 13
Index
Loading...