26 - Implementing SMS

• How to set up your Systems Management Server (SMS) site - Learn how to establish basic site properties that will control the behavior of SMS at your site. Find out how to establish a relationship with other sites if necessary.

• How to add sites and computers to the SMS site hierarchy - Discover how SMS sites are expanded and how both servers and client workstations are added to an SMS site. Learn how to set up communications between physical locations.

• How to use SMS to inventory computers on your network - Find out how to automate the collection of inventory information for your network, how to view the information you have collected, and how to use queries.

• How to audit the software on your network - Explore the auditing capabilities of SMS. Learn how to check workstations for a large list of potential software packages that may be installed and how to view the results.

So far you have learned why Systems Management Server (SMS) is so important and what it can do for your network. In this chapter, you learn how to set up SMS on your network and use it to make your work more productive. Detailed information is provided to help you set up a primary site server for your central site, install other primary site servers and secondary site servers, and implement the site relationships you have already planned. You learn how to add logon servers and clients to a site. Finally, you learn the basics of defining packages and jobs, a topic explored in more detail in Chapter 27, "The Role of the SMS Administrator."

As noted in Chapter 25, "Preparing for SMS," it is wise to proceed carefully when implementing SMS. The automatic installation features of SMS are powerful and potentially dangerous. The default settings are safe, but with a few clicks of the mouse you can tell SMS to automatically detect logon servers and update logon scripts. Depending on how your network is set up, SMS will find servers and clients, even those across routers in other cities. If this is what you want to happen, and proceeds according to plan, it saves a tremendous amount of time and effort. If it happens by accident, it can be a disaster. Take the time to review Chapter 25 and complete the recommended planning process if you haven't already done so.

Setting Up Your Site

During the set up process, you will need the following key pieces of information:

• A three-character site code

• A login ID and password for SQL Server

• The name of the SQL Server and the database (usually SMS) you will use

• The database device name

• The log device name

• The name of the computer you will use as your site server

• The name of the domain in which the computer resides

• The SMS service account that you have established and its password

If you are adding a site to an existing SMS system, you must be sure that you have a unique, three-character site code. This code must be unique across the entire SMS system. Check with the administrator of the existing SMS system to get an unused code.

Be sure that you have these available before you start. Site codes for all sites should be available from the planning process carried out earlier. The database administrator (DBA) for the SQL Server you will be using can provide the database information in addition to a SQL Server ID and password. This account will need sa (system administrator) or dbo (database owner) privileges for the SMS database. The SMS service account can be created by an administrator of the domain containing the account. If you are using a master domain model, the SMS service account should be a master domain account. The computer name and domain name you can find by logging on to the proposed site server computer and double-clicking the Network icon in the Control Panel.

If you are using Integrated or Mixed security for SQL Server, you can use your Windows NT domain account as the ID for SQL Server. Be sure to GRANT this ID sa or dbo privileges for the SMS database and log.

See "Creating a Service Account," (Ch. 6)

If the SQL Server that will store your SMS database is running on a different computer from what you will use for your SMS site server, the SMS database, and an appropriately sized log file, should already be created as well. You can create SQL Server devices, the SMS database, and the log file with the SQL Enterprise Administrator. If the same server will be used for SMS and SQL Server, the SMS Setup program automatically creates the SMS database.

A good rule of thumb to use when calculating database size for SMS is to take the number of clients you will manage, multiply by a size of 10K per client, and add 5 to 10M extra space. You can expand this later if needed.

If you haven't already done so, log on to the computer that will be your primary site server. You must log on with an account that has administrator privileges on this computer. Make sure that the account you are using, and the SMS service account, have access privileges to the SMS database on the SQL Server you will be using. If you are using a master domain model, this should be a master domain account.

Insert the CD-ROM containing SMS. The BackOffice CD contains a Setup program for the entire BackOffice product suite and separate directories containing Setup programs for the individual BackOffice components. The separate directories are on the second CD of the dual-CD package.

SMS can be installed as part of a BackOffice installation process that includes multiple components. The following procedure describes how to install the SMS component separately. You need to run the Setup program for SMS, which you can do in several ways.

Primary site servers including the central site server must be either primary domain controllers or backup domain controllers. You cannot use a Windows NT server that has been configured with the role "Server."

See " Understanding the Server's Role," p. (Ch. 4)

To launch the Setup program, you must know the directory in which it is located. You can select File, Search from the menu in File Manager to find the location of the SMS Setup program. The exact location depends on the specific product you are using (SMS itself, BackOffice, CPU type, upgrade, and so on), but for BackOffice 2.0 for Intel processors it should be located in the \sms11\smssetup\x86 directory. Using the Program Manager or the File Manager, follow these steps:

1. Choose File, Run.

2. In the Run dialog box, enter D:\sms11\smssetup\x86\SETUP (for example) as the command line. If your CD-ROM is a different drive letter than D, or the path to your Setup program is different, substitute the appropriate letter or path.

3. Click OK.

You can also open a command prompt window and enter D:SETUP as the command line.

After you have started the Setup program for SMS, take the following steps:

1. Read the Welcome Screen.

2. Click Continue. The Registration dialog box appears.

3. Enter your name, organization name, and the product identification number. Click Continue.

4. Verify the information you just entered and either correct it or click Continue again. The Installation Options dialog box appears (see fig. 26.1).

   Fig. 26.1 - The SMS Installation Options dialog box is used to select the type of SMS installation you will perform.

5. Click Install Primary Site. The Licensing dialog box appears.

6. If you agree with the terms of the license agreement, click the check box to signify your agreement. Click OK. The Systems Management Server Setup dialog box appears.

7. This dialog box provides important reminders about the steps you should have already taken prior to starting Setup. Make sure that you have completed these steps and then click Continue.

8. The Installation Directory dialog box appears after the Setup program checks for necessary disk space.

9. Specify the directory where you would like to install the SMS system. By default, SMS chooses the root directory of the NTFS partition that has the largest amount of free space available. You should have at least 100 megabytes (M) of available space on the drive you select.

10. Click Continue. The Setup Install Options dialog box appears, as shown in figure 26.2.

    Fig. 26.2 - The SMS Setup Install Options dialog box allows you to select the SMS components that you will install.

11. The Setup Install Options dialog box lists the default components that Setup is about to install. You can select additional components to install by clicking Custom. If you are unsure, use the default selection. You can run the Setup program again later if you need to add additional components to support other types of computers. When you have selected all the components you want to install, click Continue. The SQL Database Configuration dialog box appears, as shown in figure 26.3.

    Fig. 26.3 - The SQL Database Configuration dialog box provides the opportunity to specify the SQL Server you will use and to enter the login ID and password required to connect to SQL Server. You must also enter the database name, database device, and log device that will be used.

12. Enter the name of the SQL Server, the account that SMS will use to log on, the password, the name of the database, the database device, and the log device. Click Continue. The Primary Site Configuration Information dialog box appears (see fig. 26.4).

    Fig. 26.4 - The Primary Site Configuration Information dialog box is used to specify the unique three-character site code that will identify this site. You must also enter other site-specific information and specify the server and domain that will contain the site server.

    
    The three-character site code you enter in the Primary Site Configuration dialog box must be unique across the entire SMS system. If you are becoming part of an existing SMS system, contact the SMS administrator to obtain a unique site code.
    

13. Fill in the dialog box. The three-character site code is the unique code discussed earlier. The site name is not as critical as the site code, but it will be used as a label in the Sites window of the SMS Administrator program. It should be chosen carefully to make it easy to identify the site. The site server name is simply the name of the computer on which you are currently running the Setup program. Enter the name of the domain that this computer resides in as well. Then enter the SMS service account information. Click Continue.

    
    The Automatically detect all logon servers option should be used only if you are sure that you understand the ramifications of this selection. In particular, you should not use this option if you want the site server domain to span multiple sites. See "Automatically Adding Servers to Your Site," later in this chapter.
    

    See "Understanding Sites and Domains," (Ch. 25)

14. If you have not already granted the SMS service account the Log on as a service right (which can be accomplished with User Manager for Domains), you will receive an Account Error message box asking you if this right should be granted. Click Yes to continue.

15. SMS attempts to verify the user account you entered. In addition, if the SQL Server that you specified does not have maximum user connections set to a number larger than 20, SMS displays the SQL Connections dialog box.

16. Enter a number greater than 20. Click Set.

    
    A good rule of thumb for SQL Connections is to add 20 (or more) to the existing number of connections if you have additional databases. If the SQL Server is only used for SMS, 20 connections should be plenty. You can change this setting later using the SQL Enterprise Administrator if needed.
    

17. SMS will now complete installation of all components. It will also set up the site database and start all SMS services. The SMS Setup Progress dialog box appears to confirm that the Setup program is still active and display its current progress. When it is complete, the Setup Success dialog box appears.

18. Click OK.

To be certain that everything has been installed properly, you should verify that all SMS services have been started and check the event log for possible errors. You can check the status of SMS services using the SMS Service Manager. Check the event log using the Windows NT Event Viewer. SMS events appear in the applications log.

Setting Basic Site Properties

To change the site properties, you must first start the SMS Administrator program. This utility is the master control panel for the entire SMS system. It allows you to change settings for server-based services and select the client components that will be installed. It also allows you to establish the site hierarchy of your SMS system and to control the flow of information within the system.

To start the SMS Administrator program, follow these steps:

1. Log on to the SMS primary site server or any Windows NT computer on which the SMS tools have been installed.

2. Open the Program Manager. Open the Systems Management Server group, if it is not already displayed in a window.

3. Double-click the SMS Administrator icon. The SMS Administrator Login dialog box appears (see fig. 26.5).

   
   SQL Server uses the term login ID, whereas all other BackOffice components use the term logon. Don't let this slight variation in terminology bother you. The terms are interchangeable and have the same meaning.
   

   Fig. 26.5 - The SMS Administrator Startup Screen is used to gain access to the SQL Server database for SMS so that you can run the SMS Administrator program.

4. Enter the SQL Server Name that contains the SMS database, which is usually the same as the name of the computer running SQL Server.

5. Enter the name of the Database - usually SMS.

6. Enter the Login ID and Password for SQL Server. Click OK.

   
   If you are still using the sa (system administrator) ID with no password, change it soon. Complete your immediate tasks, but don't put this important task off for long. Failing to change the sa password and create new logins is a common mistake made by beginners, and it leaves your SMS database open to unauthorized access, tampering, and deletion.
   

7. The SMS Administrator starts and presents you with the Open SMS Window dialog box, shown in figure 26.6. This dialog box makes it easy to open the windows that you will be working with when you use the SMS Administrator. Select the windows you want to work with. For now, you will only need the Sites window open.

   Fig. 26.6 - The SMS Administrator Open SMS Window dialog box is used to open selected windows when you start the SMS Administrator. You can open these windows later using toolbar buttons if you prefer.

8. You can open these windows with toolbar buttons as well. You may prefer to clear the Show This Dialog at Startup check box if you don't want to see this dialog box each time you start the SMS Administrator. Click OK.

9. If you see the Sites window, you have successfully started the SMS Administrator (see fig. 26.7).

Fig. 26.7 - The Sites Window in the SMS Administrator displays the site hierarchy.

Now that you know how to start the SMS Administrator program, you'll learn a safe procedure for viewing the properties that control your site without any danger of accidentally changing something. Because a few actions in the SMS Administrator program can lead to network-wide changes involving hundreds of computers, SMS has been designed to make it difficult to change settings by accident.

The dialog boxes that allow you to change properties for the SMS system have two option button controls. One indicates that you are viewing the current properties, and the other indicates that you are viewing proposed changes to the properties. When the Current Properties button is selected, all the other controls on the dialog box are grayed out, indicating that changes are unavailable. As long as you don't click the Proposed Properties button, you will not change any site properties. You can safely view all the current selections.

To open the Site Properties dialog box, follow these steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the primary site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears (see fig. 26.8).

   Fig. 26.8 - The Site Properties dialog box displays the site code, site server name, and various other site properties.

5. You can now view some of the site's properties such as the site code, site server name, and site server domain. You also have buttons that allow you to call up other dialog boxes with additional properties. These dialog boxes are discussed in the next four sections of this chapter.

6. If you just want to view the properties do not click the Proposed Properties option button on any of the additional properties dialog boxes (Services, Inventory, Parent Site, and so on). As long as you leave the Current Properties button selected, you can not make accidental changes.

7. Click OK to close the dialog boxes when you are done viewing property settings. If you are prompted to confirm an update to the site, choose No.

Site Services Settings

An SMS system works in cycles. When you give SMS a job to do, it typically takes several minutes to an hour or more for the job to be completed. This makes sense, given the nature of the work SMS is designed to perform. At regular intervals, a new cycle begins, and SMS checks to see what work, if any, it should perform.

The Services dialog box controls the speed of the SMS system. It does this by controlling the interval between cycles for seven of the SMS server-based services. These services are responsible for carrying out jobs and coordinating system events in the SMS system. By making the interval between cycles longer or shorter, and exercising good judgment about how many jobs you create, you can control the amount of work that SMS is given in a particular time period. You have the choice of four settings for the Response rate:

• Very Fast

• Fast

• Medium

• Slow

The Very Fast speed is only appropriate to use for testing in a small SMS environment. Setting your site services to Very Fast potentially will waste processing power by causing the SMS services to frequently poll for work that isn't there and initiate unnecessary monitoring processes.

The following four services poll the SMS database for updates at a regular polling interval:

• Site Hierarchy Manager

• SMS Alerter

• SMS Scheduler

• Applications Manager

In addition, three other services have specific monitoring intervals affected by the Response rate:

• Site Configuration Manager

• Maintenance Manager

• Despooler

Table 26.1 shows the polling interval setting shared by four of the services and the monitoring intervals used by three other services (Maintenance Manager, Site Configuration Manager, and Despooler), based on the setting you select.

Table 26.1 Response Rate Settings (minutes)

Setting	Very Fast	Fast	Medium	Slow
Polling Interval	1	5	15	30
Maintenance Manager	12	60	180	360
Site Configuration Manager	24	120	360	720
Despooler	24	120	360	720

To change the Response Rate settings for a site, follow this procedure:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the primary site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Click Services. The Services dialog box appears, as shown in figure 26.9.

   Fig. 26.9 - Changing the Response Rate Setting for SMS Site Services is done using the Services dialog box.

6. Select the Proposed Properties option button.

7. Select the option button that corresponds to the Response rate that you want.

8. Click OK. Then click Yes when prompted to confirm an update to the site.

You can also move some services to other servers using the Services dialog box. If you are using SMS for a lot of package distribution, you may want to move some of the workload off the site server and onto a helper server. The four services that can be moved to a helper server are as follows:

• Scheduler

• Inventory Data Loader

• Inventory Processor

• Despooler

To move these services, follow this procedure:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the primary site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Click Services. The Services dialog box appears, as shown in figure 26.10.

   Fig. 26.10 - To change the Location of SMS Site Services use the Services dialog box.

6. Select the Proposed Properties option button.

7. On the line corresponding to the service you want to move, enter the name of the server and the disk drive you want to use in the Server Name and Drive text boxes. Make sure that you have designated a server that is already running and attached to the network. Also make sure that the SMS service account has administrative rights on the server you designate.

8. Click OK. Then click Yes when prompted to confirm an update to the site. SMS automatically finds the server, installs the services on the new computer(s), deinstalls the services from the original server, and synchronizes everything. This may take some time - be patient.

Default Client Component Settings

You can control which of the client components of SMS are installed on client workstations as they are added to the SMS system. By making selections on the Clients dialog box, you control which, if any, of the components are added to a new client workstation and whether they are automatically started.

To set default client setup properties for a site, follow these steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the primary site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Click Clients. The Clients dialog box appears (see fig. 26.11).

   Fig. 26.11 - Setting default client setup properties for a site is accomplished using the Clients dialog box.

6. Select the Proposed Properties option button.

7. Select the components you want to load by default on all clients added to the site. You can also indicate whether you want them to be automatically loaded when the client workstation is started.

   
   Automatically Configure Workstation Logon Scripts is one of the powerful and potentially dangerous SMS options that you should be careful with. Used properly, it is a tremendously helpful tool. Before you proceed with this option, you should have manually added and tested a representative sample of various workstations, alerted appropriate support personnel and the user community that a change is occurring, and prepared an emergency plan if something goes wrong.
   

8. If you want SMS to automatically update logon scripts for the entire site, select the corresponding box. You can instruct SMS to add its instructions at the top or the bottom of existing logon scripts. If a particular user doesn't have a logon script, he will be set up to run SMSLS.BAT, the SMS logon script.

9. Click OK. Then click Yes when prompted to confirm an update to the site.

Inventory Settings

To change the inventory properties for your site, follow this procedure:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the primary site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Click Inventory. The Inventory dialog box appears, as shown in figure 26.12.

   Fig. 26.12 - The Inventory Properties dialog box is used to set the frequency at which inventory information is collected for a site.

6. Click Proposed Properties.

7. Make selections for the hardware inventory frequency, the software inventory frequency, and the slow network strategy. Hardware inventory happens quickly enough (usually under ten seconds) that it is negligible at most sites with the majority of computers. It is often done at every logon, or once a day. Software inventory on the other hand can take quite a bit longer, even several minutes. You may also want to consider how current your information needs to be. A good place to start with these settings is to set hardware frequency to every (1) day and software to every seven days.

8. Inventory can take significantly longer on a slow network link. Your strategy should be dictated by your situation. If you have a group of users that requires the services SMS offers, but are always on the other side of a slow link, you will probably want to take inventory anyway. If the usual scenario for a slow link is a laptop that has been taken home or on a trip connecting to the network over a Remote Access Service (RAS) line, then you are likely to already have inventory information for that computer and can wait until it returns to the office for an update.

9. Click OK. Then click Yes when prompted to confirm an update to the site.

SMS Service Account Settings

In accordance with a sound security policy, you should change these settings at regular intervals just as you should regularly change passwords for all accounts.

To change the SMS service account and password properties for a site, follow these steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the primary site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Click Account. The Account dialog box appears (see fig. 26.13).

   Fig. 26.13 - The Account dialog box is used to change SMS service account properties.

6. Select the Proposed Properties option button.

7. Enter the User Name (ID) that you want to use for the SMS service account. This account with its associated rights is the security context that all SMS services will run under. In other words, when an SMS service attempts an action, its capability to perform that action depends on the rights associated with this account. The user name is not case-sensitive - that is, upper- and lowercase letters are treated the same. If you are using a master domain model, this account should be a master domain account. Enter the name with the following format: domain\name.

8. Enter the password associated with the account. For security reasons, you do not see the letters of the password as you enter them.

9. Enter the password again to confirm that you entered the password accurately. This is done to prevent you from making a typographical error as you enter the password because you cannot see what was typed. The password is not verified at this time, but if you enter an incorrect ID or password, the services will not be able to start the next time they are shut down and restarted.

10. Click OK. Then click Yes when prompted to confirm an update to the site.

Changing the Account properties for a site does not create an account. The account must have already been created with User Manager for Domains or by some other method. In addition, changing the account properties does not affect the SQL Server account used. You can also use the SMS Setup program to change the service account. The SMS Setup program allows you to change both the service account and the SQL Server account. Furthermore, the Setup program checks that the ID and password are valid, which the Account dialog box does not do. However, the Setup program only works on primary site servers. You must use the Account dialog box as illustrated in the preceding steps to change the service account for secondary site servers.

It is a good idea to change the account being used at regular intervals, rather than simply changing the password. This is due to the nature of SMS and the time that elapses while some actions are carried out. If you simply change the password and the site server is rebooted while the service account change is being done, your server can get caught in an intermediate state.

Implementing Your Site Relationship

In the simplified case where you are connecting to another site on the same LAN, you do not need to worry about creating senders because the LAN sender is installed by default. You do still need to create an address, but this can be done directly as part of the site relationship procedure, discussed in the steps immediately following.

To change the Parent Site properties for a site, follow this procedure:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the primary site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Click Parent Site. The Parent Site dialog box appears, as shown in figure 26.14.

   Fig. 26.14 - The Parent Site dialog box is used to create a site relationship with another site. The other site will become the parent of the current site.

6. Select the Proposed Properties option button.

7. Click Attach to Parent Site and enter the three-character site code of the primary site that is to be the parent of this site, or select it from available sites in the drop-down list box. The parent site only shows up in the list box if you have already defined an address for the proposed parent site. If the address has already been created, skip to step 11.

8. If you have not defined an address for the parent site, a message box prompts you to create an address. Click Yes. The Address Properties dialog box appears (see fig. 26.15).

   Fig. 26.15 - The Address Properties dialog box is used to define the type of connection between two sites.

9. The Destination Site Code should already be filled in with the proposed parent site code. Select the type of connection you will use to communicate between these sites from the Type drop-down list box. Your choices are the three sender types - LAN, RAS, and SNA. Then click Details. A Lan Address From sitecode To sitecode dialog box appears (see fig. 26.16).

   Fig. 26.16 - Details for the Address Properties dialog box are entered into a dialog box that is specific to the type of connection between the sites. This figure depicts a LAN Address dialog box.

10. Enter the name of the site server for the destination site in the Destination Server box.

11. Enter the Logon Account that the sender will use to access the other site. You can use the SMS service account that you have already defined, or you can define an account for use by senders. If you are using a master domain model, this account should be a master domain account.

12. Enter the Password and then confirm the password. Click OK.

13. Click Yes when prompted to confirm an update to the site.

Adding Computers to the SMS System

If you have only one site, you can skip the sections about establishing communications. With a single site, you will still use the default LAN sender, described in the next section; but because this is set up automatically during site installation, no further action is necessary on your part.

As a separate task, independent of adding other sites, you are ready to add additional computers to your local SMS site. SMS can automatically scan for computers or allow you to manually add only the machines you want. Once again, remember to be careful with the automatic scan. On some networks, this process can "see" as far as 16 router hops!

Setting Up Communications Between Physical Locations

• Senders

• Outboxes

• Addresses

A sender is a Windows NT service that moves instructions and data from one site to another. It uses one of three means of communication:

• Local Area Network (LAN)

• Windows NT Remote Access Service (RAS)

• Systems Network Architecture (SNA) link

These communications links must be established independently of SMS. For example, if you are going to use an SNA link, you need to install Microsoft SNA Server to create the SNA link. If you want to use RAS as a method of connectivity, you need to install a RAS server at each site. In addition, with both RAS and SNA senders, you have multiple options for the type of link. RAS, for example, supports connections over a standard phone line, X.25 network, or ISDN. There are different sender types for each of these different links. Configuring a LAN sender is easier, but you should make certain that both sites are running at least one common LAN protocol.

The instructions and data processed by senders are temporarily stored in outboxes. After you have installed a sender, you must configure an outbox for the sender to use. An outbox is simply a directory on a server's hard disk that is used by a sender to pick up instructions and data that needs to be transferred to another site. All senders of a particular type share the same outbox. When you install a site server, an outbox for each type of sender is created on the site server's hard disk. There are six types of outboxes, corresponding to the six types of senders.

You also need to create addresses for other sites that your site will communicate with. An address defines the information needed to connect to another site, including the destination site code and the type of sender to use. A site can have multiple addresses defined for a particular destination site. SMS automatically keeps statistics on the speed with which jobs are processed using different addresses. The SMS system reviews the requirements for a specific job, and other current system status information, and chooses the fastest means possible.

A default LAN sender is automatically created when you install a primary site. In addition, an outbox for each type of sender is created on the primary site server. If you need to manage additional sites linked to your primary site via a RAS connection or an ISDN line, you will need to define additional senders to move data between sites over these links. You may even want to install an additional LAN sender on a server besides the site server to offload work from the site server and improve throughput of site-to-site data.

The default LAN sender created during site set up is used to help manage the local site in addition to connecting to other sites linked by a network connection. Even if you do not need to connect to other remote sites, do not delete the original LAN sender.

Three pieces of information are needed to define a sender:

• Sender type

• Name of the server where the sender is installed

• Drive letter for the hard disk drive on which the sender will be installed

To define a new sender, follow these steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Select Senders. The Senders dialog box appears.

6. Select the Proposed Properties option button. Click Create. The Sender Properties dialog box appears.

7. Select the type of sender you want to create from the drop-down list box.

8. Enter the name of the server on which you want to install the sender.

9. Enter the drive letter for the disk drive on which you want to install the sender.

10. Click OK. When asked to confirm updating the site, click Yes.

By reconfiguring the outbox for a particular type of sender, you can control when those senders are active and the priority level of jobs they will process during specific hours of the day. For example, you may not want LAN senders to process any jobs at all during the busiest part of the business day, to handle only high-priority jobs during the evening, and to process all types of jobs during the night when traffic is lightest. In addition, if you install a sender on a server other than the site server, you may want to move the outbox for that type of sender to the same server.

As an additional example, you may decide to install RAS and a RAS sender on a server other than the site server. You would then probably want to move the RAS outbox to that same computer to reduce network traffic and improve throughput. You may also rename outboxes if you want. You cannot create new outboxes, but you can move or rename the outboxes originally created.

To reconfigure an outbox, follow these steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Select Outboxes. The Outboxes dialog box appears (see fig. 26.17). Click the Proposed Properties option button.

   Fig. 26.17 - Select the Outbox you want to reconfigure using the Outboxes dialog box.

6. Select the outbox you want to reconfigure. Click Properties. The Outbox Properties dialog box appears, as shown in figure 26.18.

   Fig. 26.18 - Reconfiguring an Outbox is accomplished using the Outbox Properties dialog box.

7. Make the changes you want to the name, server, and drive for the outbox. By default, all outboxes are on the site server.

8. If you want to change the schedule for this outbox, click Schedule. The Outbox Schedule dialog box appears (see fig. 26.19).

   Fig. 26.19 - The Outbox Schedule dialog box allows you to set the hours of operation for a particular outbox and the priority of jobs that will be handled at specific time intervals.

9. Highlight any block of time you want to change by clicking and holding down the mouse button on a particular cell in the grid and dragging to the opposite corner of the block you want to change. This area of the grid changes color to indicate that it has been selected.

10. Click one of the buttons to indicate what type of jobs should be handled, if any, during this block of time. To prevent a particular sender type from being active during a block of time, highlight that block and click Closed.

11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 as often as required. When you are through changing the schedule, click OK.

12. Click OK on the Outbox Properties dialog box, and the Outboxes dialog box. When asked to confirm updating the site, click Yes.

To use a sender, SMS must also have at least one address defined to connect to another site. In addition, the other site must have an address to reach your site, because the communications need to be bidirectional. Both of these addresses are automatically created for any secondary sites that are set up. Only the addresses between primary sites need to be created manually.

To define an address for another site, take the following steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Select Addresses. The Addresses dialog box appears, as shown in figure 26.20. Click the Proposed Properties option button.

   Fig. 26.20 - The Addresses dialog box is used to create, modify, or delete addresses.

6. Click Create. The Address Properties dialog box appears (see fig 26.21).

   Fig. 26.21 - The Address Properties dialog box is used to create a new address.

7. Enter the site code you want to communicate with in the Destination Site Code box. Using the Type drop-down list box, select the type of sender you want to use to move information between these sites. Click Details. A dialog box with the specific properties for the type of sender you selected appears. The example shown in figure 26.22 is for a LAN sender.

   Fig. 26.22 - Setting properties for a LAN sender address can be done using the LAN Address From <site> to <site> dialog box shown here.

8. Enter the name of the destination server in the Destination Server box.

9. Enter the ID for the account that will be used by the sender in the Logon Account box.

10. Enter the password for the account and confirm it in the boxes provided.

11. Click OK in the Address Properties dialog box and the Addresses dialog box. When asked to confirm updating the site, click Yes.

Adding Other Sites to the SMS System

After the server and its sender have been established at a remote site, it is not necessary to have an on-site administrator. It is possible to build the server for a remote site at your main location, complete some basic testing, and then ship it to the remote site. Obviating the need for an on-site administrator at each location is one of the main benefits of a well-run SMS system.

It is occasionally useful to be able to completely shut down a remote server, power it off, and then turn it back on again. If you have set up your server on a computer from the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) for Windows NT Server, applied all available service releases, and tested the server for a "burn in" period of a few days, you should have very few surprises. You may, however, encounter an intermittent hardware failure or a problem with power surges. For these and a handful of other reasons, you may want to install a device that allows you to power cycle the computer remotely. A number of devices are available that let you turn a computer off and back on using a telephone or LAN connection. If there a person isn't available to provide occasional assistance, one of these devices can be very helpful.

Adding Primary Sites

To create other primary sites, follow the same procedure as you did with the original central site server. These servers must be configured by running SETUP from the distribution media (usually CD). There is no automatic installation procedure for primary sites. After these servers have been installed, you should set basic site properties and implement the site relationship using the procedures outlined in the first section of this chapter.

Adding Secondary Sites

A secondary site is a site that does not contain its own SMS database. It will not be administered by anyone locally, but rather by someone at its (primary) parent site. A secondary site cannot have any subsites beneath it as child sites.

Secondary sites are created by an administrator of the primary site that will manage the new secondary site. A server must already be prepared to have the secondary site components installed. This server could have Windows NT Server installed and configured at the primary site and then shipped to the secondary site. Alternatively, the server can be prepared at the secondary site by a person with Windows NT experience or a visiting administrator.

The server should be a member of the appropriate domain. If you are using a master domain model, the secondary site server's domain may need a trust relationship established with the domain containing its parent primary site server. Alternatively, it may be a member of the same domain as its parent.

See "Understanding Sites and Domains," (Ch. 25)

At the primary site, you must also be sure that the sender that will be used to communicate with the new secondary site is operational, as well as any communications services that will be used by the sender (for example, RAS or SNA). If you are using a LAN sender, you need only verify that the LAN or WAN link to the other site is functioning properly and the SMS service account has the appropriate permissions.

If you are using a RAS or SNA sender, make sure that these communications services are operational at the secondary site and that the primary site can successfully connect. Finally, if you are using an SNA sender, you must install an SNA receiver at the secondary site. The secondary site server must also be running SNA Server.

To create a secondary site, you need the following information:

• A three-character site code

• A name for the new site

• The name of the computer you will use as the secondary site server

• The location for the directory that SMS will create on the new site server. This must be a fully qualified path name and must specify an NTFS partition.

• The name of the domain in which the computer resides

• The type of sender that will be used for the installation

• The type of computer (architecture) of the secondary site server (the default is INTEL X86)

• The SMS service account that you have established and its password. This is the account that will be used by all services that run at the secondary site.

Make sure that you have a unique, three-character site code. This code must be unique across the entire SMS system.

Site codes for all sites should be available from the planning process carried out earlier. The database administrator for the SQL Server that you will be using can provide the database information in addition to a SQL Server ID and password. This account will need sa or dbo privileges for the SMS database. The SMS service account can be created by any administrator of the domain containing the account. If you are using a master domain model, the SMS service account should be a master domain account. The computer name and domain name can be found by logging on to the proposed site server and double-clicking the Network icon in the Control Panel.

To create a secondary site server, follow these steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, New. The New Secondary Site dialog box appears (see fig. 26.23.

   Fig. 26.23 - The New Secondary Site dialog box is used to initiate the creation of a secondary site and its site server.

5. Enter the information required in the dialog box.

6. If you are using an account from a trusted domain, you must enter the Username as domain\username.

7. If desired, select the check box to Automatically Detect Logon Servers. Click OK.

   
   The Automatically Detect Logon Servers option should be used only if you are sure that you understand the ramifications of this selection. In particular, you should not use this option if you want the site server domain to span multiple sites. See "Automatically Adding Servers to Your Site," later in this chapter for more information.
   

   See "Understanding Sites and Domains," (Ch. 25)

8. If you chose LAN sender in the Installation Sender Type drop-down list box, you are done. If you selected a RAS or SNA sender, you must define addresses for the two sites' senders to use when communicating. You will first enter the address the secondary site will use to contact its parent, and then the address that the parent primary site will use to connect with the new secondary site. Click OK.

9. If you are using an SNA sender, you should be sure that the SNA receiver is installed and started at the secondary site. This can be done using the Windows NT Server Manager utility.

After you have completed the preceding process, the secondary site will automatically be installed and configured. This process may take several hours depending on the speed of the communications link and the workload the SMS system is already processing. While this process is occurring, an "under construction" icon appears in the Sites window of the SMS Administrator program. If you want to check the status of the site installation, select the secondary site and then choose File, Properties. A properties dialog box appears. During installation, the site will go through four phases. The complete system flow for a secondary site is shown in an appendix of the SMS Administrator's Guide.

You've already learned how to connect to other sites. Now you learn how to add entire domains and individual computers, both servers and clients, to your own site.

Adding Domains

If you want, SMS can automatically add all servers in the domain being added to the SMS system. Alternatively, you can add the domain and then select specific servers within the domain to be added. This is strictly a matter of personal preference. The Use All Detected Servers option is an easy and powerful way to handle a domain with multiple servers, however, there is a relationship between power and responsibility. If something goes wrong, a manual "one-at-a-time" process will be less catastrophic than an automated multiple server process. And there is at least a small chance that something will go wrong. You must weigh the safety versus ease of installation tradeoff and decide what is best in your situation.

The Use All Detected Servers option should be used if you have enabled the Automatically Configure Workstation Logon Scripts option for this site. Logon scripts will not be automatically set up for a domain with the Use Specified Servers option set. See "Automatically Adding Client Workstations to Your Site," later in this chapter for more information.

To add a domain to the site, take the following steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Select Domains. The Domains dialog box appears, as shown in figure 26.24. Click the Proposed Properties option button.

   Fig. 26.24 - The Domains dialog box is used to add, modify, or remove domains. The domains currently defined in this site are listed.

6. Click Add. The Domain Properties dialog box appears (see fig. 26.25).

   Fig. 26.25 - The Domain Properties dialog box is used to select the servers from a domain that will be used as logon servers. You can use all servers, or select them by name.

7. Enter the Name of the domain you want to add. If you are adding a Windows NT or LAN Manager domain, the domain must already exist. If you are adding a NetWare domain, you are free to create a unique domain name under which you can group one or more NetWare servers. Select the Type that describes the network operating system being run on the servers in this domain.

8. Click the option button corresponding to your preference for adding logon servers in the domain to the SMS system. Select Use All Detected Servers if you want to automatically add the servers in the domain, or Use Specified Servers to manually add selected servers.

9. Click OK. When asked to confirm updating the site, click Yes.

Managing a Domain Containing Multiple Sites

Adding Servers

You can add servers to a site one at a time or have the SMS system automatically scan for, or enumerate, all the servers in the site server domain. In this section, you learn how to add servers using both methods. The best method to use depends on your particular situation. Guidelines for selecting the best method for your site are given in "Adding Domains" earlier in this chapter.

Automatically Adding Servers to Your Site

For the site domain (the domain that contains the site server) there are two methods to tell the SMS system to automatically detect all logon servers. You can set the option during the installation of the site, or you can later change the properties for the site domain using the Domains dialog box. For domains other than the site domain, you must change the Use All Detected Servers setting for the domain in question using the Domains dialog box.

When you set up a primary site, the Primary Site Configuration Information dialog box includes the option to Automatically Detect All Logon Servers. During the installation of secondary sites, the New Secondary Site dialog box includes the option to Automatically Detect Logon Servers. Selecting this option when installing either type of site causes the Use All Detected Servers option for the site domain to be set. Conversely, if you do not select this option during installation, the Use All Detected Servers for the site domain will not be set. See "Setting Up Your Site" and "Adding Secondary Sites" earlier in this chapter for more information.

You can change the Use All Detected Servers setting for any domain, including the site domain, by accessing the Domains dialog using this procedure:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Select Domains. The Domains dialog box appears. Click the Proposed Properties option button.

6. Select the Domain you want to configure and click the Properties button. The Domain Properties dialog box appears (see fig. 26.26).

   Fig. 26.26 - The Domain Properties dialog box is shown here with settings for the INTERNAL domain. Only two servers, DATASRV and PRIMSRV will be used as logon servers.

7. Click the Use All Detected Servers option button to turn on this setting (see fig. 26.27).

8. Click OK. When asked to confirm updating the site, click Yes.

Fig. 26.27 - Setting the Use All Detected Logon Servers property causes all servers in the domain to be used as logon servers.

Manually Adding Servers to Your Site

To manually add logon servers, take the following steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Select Domains. The Domains dialog box appears. Click the Proposed Properties option button.

6. Select the Domain you want to configure and click the Properties button. The Domain Properties dialog box appears.

7. Click the Use Specified Servers option button to turn on this setting.

8. Enter the name of the logon server you want to add in the New Logon Server box (see fig. 26.28). If you want, you can specify on which drive (for LAN Manager and Windows NT servers) or on which volume (for NetWare servers) the SMS components should be located. By default, SMS uses the drive or volume with the largest amount of free space.

   Fig. 26.28 - This figure depicts the process of manually adding Logon Servers using the Domain Properties dialog box.

9. Click OK. When asked to confirm updating the site, click Yes.

Adding Client Workstations (PCs)

• The logon script for a user is manually modified to include SMSLS, the SMS logon script. The user subsequently logs on and the computer being used is added.

• The Automatically Configure Workstation Logon Scripts option is set for a site. Subsequently, the logon scripts for all users are modified to include the SMSLS logon script for SMS. When users next log on, their computers will be added to the SMS system.

• A user or an SMS administrator logs on to the computer, manually attaches to the SMS_SHR share on the logon server, and executes SMS procedures to add the workstation to the system.

Be sure that client workstations have their date and time set accurately. If your clients are running LAN Manager software or Windows NT, you can synchronize their time with the site server using the command net time \\siteserver /set. A similar feature is available to set NetWare clients' time the same as their logon server. Make sure that NetWare servers' times are set the same as the site server.

Automatically Adding Client Workstations to Your Site

If you want to automate the process of adding client workstations to your site, you should use the Automatically Configure Workstation Logon Scripts option for the site. This option only works if two other conditions are met:

• The Use All Detected Servers option must be set.

• For Windows NT or LAN Manager networks, the Replicator service must be operational because it is the mechanism used to update logon scripts on all logon servers in a domain.

Because this option depends on the Use All Detected Servers option, it cannot be used in situations where a single domain spans multiple sites. You cannot use Use All Detected Servers in such a scenario, and therefore you also cannot use Automatically Configure Workstation Logon Scripts. You can, however, manually set up these domains, and they can still participate in the SMS system.

To set the Automatically Configure Workstation Logon Scripts for a site, use the following procedure:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window.

3. Highlight the primary site name in the left pane of the window by clicking it once with the mouse.

4. Choose File, Properties. The Site Properties dialog box appears.

5. Click Clients. The Clients dialog box appears (refer to fig. 26.11).

6. Click the Proposed Properties option button. Then click Automatically Configure Workstation Logon Scripts. You can instruct SMS to add its instructions at the top or the bottom of existing logon scripts. If a particular user doesn't have a logon script, their account will be set up to run SMSLS.BAT, the SMS logon script.

   
   Automatically Configure Workstation Logon Scripts is one of the powerful and potentially dangerous SMS options that you should be careful with. Used properly, it is tremendously helpful. Before you proceed with this option, you should have manually added and tested a representative sample of various workstations, alerted appropriate support personnel and the user community that a change is occurring, and prepared an emergency plan if something goes wrong.
   

7. Click OK. Then click Yes when prompted to confirm an update to the site.

For this option to function properly in a Windows NT domain, you must make sure that the Replicator service is operational. The administrator for the site domain may have already configured this service for existing logon scripts. If not, an administrator for the domain will need to set up the Replicator service.

Manually Adding Client Workstations to Your Site

To manually add a single client workstation to your SMS system, you can do one of two things:

• Change the logon script for the user who uses that workstation.

• Log on at the workstation, connect to the SMS_SHR share on the logon server, and manually run the SMS logon script.

If you plan to manually change logon scripts for selected users instead of than using the Automatically Configure Workstation Logon Scripts option for a site, you must manually copy a number of SMS files to the directory containing logon scripts on your logon servers. If you are using the Replicator service, you should copy the files to the SCRIPTS directory in the REPL$ share. If you are not using Replicator, you should copy the files to the NETLOGON share. Copy the following files from the SMS_SHR of a logon server:

• CLRLEVEL.COM

• CHOICE.COM

• DOSVER.COM

• NETSPEED.COM

• NETSPEED.DAT

• SETLS programs for the processor types you support at your site. (See the following Note.)

• SMSLS.BAT

• SMSLS.INI

The SETLS files will need to be renamed. For example, the SETLS32.EXE for Intel X86 processors should be renamed to SETLS32I.EXE. The different versions are located in subdirectories of the LOGON.SRV directory.

By default, the computer will be added to the domain containing the logon server. You can use the SMSLS.INI file to control which domain the SMS client is added to. If you are using a master domain model, all client workstations will appear in the master domain by default, because this is the domain containing the logon servers. You may want to have client workstations appear in resource domains instead of having all client workstations appear in the master domain.

By making an entry of the form:

logondomain = SMSDomain

GSULLIVAN = INTERNAL

After you have placed the files listed previously in the logon scripts directory and optionally created appropriate SMSLS.INI files, you are ready to modify user logon scripts. The format for the SMSLS.INI file is detailed in Appendix E of the SMS Administrator's Guide.

To change a user's logon script, follow these steps:

1. Run User Manager for Domains.

2. If the site domain is not the domain that is displayed, choose User, Select Domain. Select the site domain from the list of domains or enter the domain name in the Domain box.

3. Scroll down the list of users until you find the user in question. Double-click the user's name. The User Properties dialog box appears.

4. Click Profile. The User Environment Profile dialog box appears (see fig. 26.29).

   Fig. 26.29 - The User Environment Profile dialog box is used to select the logon script for a user.

5. Enter the name of the SMS logon script (SMSLS.BAT) in the Logon Script Name box. If the user already has a logon script, you must find the logon script and edit it to include a line calling SMSLS.BAT. Click OK.

6. Close User Manager for Domains.

You can also add a client workstation to the SMS system manually without modifying the user's logon script. This process adds the SMS components to the client workstation and adds the workstation to the SMS system. If the user manually deletes one or more components from the workstation, however, they will not be automatically added back to the workstation. If the user's logon script executes the SMS logon script, the SMS system is quite resilient at repairing or replacing damaged or missing client files. The logon script modification is, therefore, a slightly preferable method for adding clients.

If you do want to manually add a client workstation without modifying the user's logon script, follow these steps:

1. Connect a drive letter to the SMS_SHR of a logon server. Change the currently logged drive to the new drive letter.

2. Run the SMSLS batch file.

In a LAN Manager or Windows NT environment, this could be accomplished by entering the commands:

NET USE Z: \\logonserver\SMS_SHR
Z:
CALL SMSLS
NET USE Z: /DELETE

MAP L: \\logonserver\volume
L:
CD \SMS\LOGON.SRV
SMSLS.BAT

A closely related task is the capability to audit software packages. Software inventory looks for a small number of well-defined software packages on a relatively frequent basis. A software audit, on the other hand, will scan computers for a relatively large number of potential software packages. Because the number of packages to search for is greater, the audit takes longer and is therefore done less frequently to avoid alienating the user community. Software auditing is discussed in the next section, "Setting Up Auditing."

The SMS system uses the Inventory Agent service to scan servers running LAN Manager and Windows NT. NetWare servers are scanned by the Maintenance Manager service running on the site server. These services scan the servers at intervals controlled by the Hardware Inventory Frequency and the Software Inventory Frequency settings. These settings appear on the Inventory dialog box, which is opened from the Site Properties dialog box. If the settings indicate to scan at every workstation logon, servers are still scanned only once in each 24-hour period.

The inventory process for client workstations begins with a user logging on to the network. Client components on the user's computer scan for hardware and software depending on the inventory interval settings. The scanning process creates a "raw" file that is placed on the logon server in the INVENTORY.BOX directory. The Maintenance Manager service on the site server polls the INVENTORY.BOX directories on all logon servers at regular intervals and moves the raw files to the SITE.SRV\INVENTORY.BOX directory on the site server.

The Inventory Processor processes files that it finds in the site server's inventory box and creates another intermediate file type called a Delta-MIF. The Delta-MIFs created by the Inventory Processor are placed in another directory on the site server. They are then loaded into the site database by the Inventory Data Loader service. Appendix C in the SMS Administrator's Guide provides detailed system flow information for all SMS processes.

This process obviously takes some time. A common misconception for new SMS administrators is to expect inventory information to show up immediately. The actual time required for a particular computer to be added to the site and inventory information to be processed depends on many factors, including the monitoring frequency and system load settings for the site, the number of computers on the network, and the amount of network activity. Even if the Response setting for site services is set to Fast, the Maintenance Manager's logon server monitor interval is 60 minutes. It is not unusual, therefore, for an hour or more to elapse before computers appear in the site database. See the earlier section, "Site Services Settings," for more information.

Client workstations that have been added to the SMS system will automatically begin hardware inventory scanning at the interval specified. To conduct a software inventory, however, the software packages that you want to inventory must be defined for the SMS system. This process is described in the following section.

An interesting problem occurs when a mobile user connects to a WAN in various locations using the same portable computer. The question arises, in what location or site should SMS report the computer's inventory information? The SMS system defaults to a rule of three times. If a user logs on to the network at a new site with a portable computer three consecutive times, the computer will be moved to the inventory of that site.

Defining Packages for Inventory

• Workstations properties

• Sharing properties

• Inventory properties

In this section, you learn about setting Inventory properties for packages to enable the SMS inventory collection components to recognize specific software applications. The other two types of properties are discussed in Chapter 27, "The Role of the SMS Administrator."

See "Defining Packages for Software Distribution and Installation," (Ch. 27)

To define an inventory package, follow these steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Packages window. Choose File, New. The Package Properties dialog box appears (see fig. 26.30).

   Fig. 26.30 - The Package Properties dialog box is used to define new packages.

3. Enter a name for the package in the Name box. If the package describes an application, it is usually a good idea to use the name of the application itself as the name of the package.

4. Enter a brief description of the package in the Comments box.

   
   A package can be made up of one or more files of any type, including data files, although they are most often used to define applications.
   

5. Click Inventory. The Setup Package for Inventory dialog box appears (see fig. 26.31).

   Fig. 26.31 - Defining package properties for software inventory is accomplished using the Setup Packages for Inventory dialog box.

6. Click the Inventory This Package check box. An X should appear in the box. You will now begin an iterative process of defining the rule(s) used to identify a particular package.

7. Click Properties. The File Properties dialog box appears, as shown in figure 26.32.

   Fig. 26.32 - The File Properties dialog box is used to describe a file so that it can be identified during inventory processing.

8. Enter the name of a particular file that is part of this package (for example, EXCEL.EXE). Enter the complete filename with extension. You may not use wildcard characters.

9. If you want SMS to collect a copy of this file and store it on the site server, click the Collect This File check box. Collecting the file is not necessary if you just want to scan computers to inventory this package.

10. Select one of the properties listed in the Properties Available scrolling list box. For example, you might select SIZE if you want to specify the size of the file as an identifying attribute. Click Add, and a dialog box for the specific attribute appears.

11. Enter a value for the attribute selected. For example, enter the size of the file in bytes (characters) if you selected the size attribute. Click OK to close the attribute's dialog box.

12. Repeat step 9 as many times as desired to define attributes for the file specified in the File Name box. When you have entered all attributes for this file, click OK to close the File Properties dialog box.

13. If you have entered all the identifying characteristics you need to identify the package, skip to step 13.

14. If the package includes multiple files, and you would like to add one or more additional rules to specify identifying attributes for other files, you may add additional clauses. These clauses can be combined with the original clause using logical AND and OR operators to form a complex expression. Click the Add AND or the Add OR button to insert a logical operator into the Count This Package If System Finds box. Return to step 6.

15. When you have specified all the files and properties you need to uniquely identify this package, click OK. You will return to the Package Properties dialog box.

16. Click OK.

SMS will now scan for this package using the rules you defined whenever software inventory is performed. Packages defined with Workstations properties or Sharing properties do not become active until a job is created. There is no need, however, to create a job to activate the Inventory properties of a package. After the inventory properties have been defined, the package definition will be used to inventory this package whenever software inventory is taken.

Viewing Inventory Information

To view the inventory information for a particular computer, follow these steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Sites window. Choose Tree, Expand All from the menu to completely expand the display to show all sites and domains in the left pane of the window. Select the domain that contains the computer in which you are interested.

3. In the right pane of the Sites window, select the computer. Choose File, Properties. The Personal Computer Properties - [computername] window appears, as shown in figure 26.33.

   Fig. 26.33 - The Personal Computer Properties - [GAMBIT] window shows properties for the computer named GAMBIT.

4. This window also has a left and right pane. Highlight an item in the left pane, and details regarding that item are displayed in the right pane. The left pane shows the computer's properties. A property in this window might be the computer's disk drives, for example, or the computer's network information. Properties may also include tools such as the Help Desk utilities that are part of the SMS system. Some of the items listed in the Properties pane are specific to particular types of machines and will not appear for all computers.

5. Scroll down the Properties pane and select any item you want. Details for that item will be displayed in the right pane. If the item has multiple instances, a computer with several disk drives for example, the details for those items will be displayed in tabular format in the right pane.

6. To view information on software inventory, scroll down the Properties pane until you see the Packages icon. Click the icon, and information about the packages you have defined with inventory properties are displayed in the right pane.

7. To view historical information for a particular item, highlight the item in the left (Properties) pane. The current information for that item will be displayed in the right pane. You can step one record backward or forward by choosing View, Previous History Record or View, Next History Record from the menu.

8. Alternatively, you can choose View, History Record at Time from the menu. The History dialog box appears. Select the View Historical Data option button. You may enter the date for which you want to view information. The date and time specified appear in the title bar of the Personal Computer Properties - [computername] window.

   You can select any item in the Properties pane to see the historical information for that group. Any information that differs from that in the current inventory record for a particular group appears in red so that it can be readily identified. When you want to reset the view to current data, choose View, History Record at Time from the menu again. Select the View Current Data option button.

9. To close the Personal Computer Properties window for a computer, click the Control Menu icon at the left end of the title bar. Choose Close from the Control menu.

You can view inventory information in many different ways. You have already learned how to use the SMS Administrator program to see the details of a particular computer's inventory. In an upcoming section, you learn how to use Queries to find all computers with a certain attribute. For example, you can display all computers that have a 486 processor or all computers that have more than 20M of available disk space. In addition, a utility program called SMSVIEW makes it easier to use other applications to view information in the SMS database. For example, you could use Microsoft Access to create reports on the inventory information. The SMSVIEW utility program is discussed in Appendix I of the SMS Administrator's Guide.

Interpreting Inventory Information

Understanding Where the Information Is Stored

What Is Collected?

• Identification. The unique name and SMS identifier given to this computer along with its site name, domain name, and other identifying attributes.

• Workstation status. This includes the date and time of the last inventory update and other status information.

• Processor. Number and type of Central Processing Units (CPUs) that the computer has.

• Operating system. The name and version number of the operating system.

• Network. The name and version number of the networking software the computer is using. This group also includes the transport protocols being run and the IP address (if TCP/IP is being used).

• Netcard. The brand of network interface card being used and any pertinent settings such as interrupt, I/O address, DMA usage, and so on.

• Disk. The number, type, and size of disk drives in the system, including information about the amount of space used and available.

• Video. The type of video hardware in use and, if possible, the resolution of the video display.

• Mouse. The type of mouse being used.

• Packages. The software found on this computer that matches identifying attributes defined in packages with inventory properties.

• Audited software. Software that matches criteria defined in a package rule file and used by the software audit program.

• Services. Server-based services, if any, that are installed on this computer and their status (running, paused, or stopped).

• Environment. Environment variables, if any, that have been set and their values.

• IRQ table. The hardware interrupts being used by this computer.

This list is not comprehensive, and not all of these items are available for every type of computer. It does, however, give you an overview of the type of information and the level of detail that is available. The SMS system may be constrained in what it is able to determine about a particular piece of equipment by the characteristics of the hardware itself. The more current the product, the likelier it is that SMS will be able to accurately identify it and provide detailed information on its attributes. With some older equipment, it is simply impossible to tell exactly what is being scrutinized through an automated scanning process. A good example is the video resolution of a particular system. This can be determined on some equipment, and not on others.

Using DMI (Desktop Management Interface Specification) to Add Information

As discussed in Chapter 25, "Preparing for SMS," a group of companies in the information systems business formed an association called the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF). The DMTF created a standard file format for identifying information called the Management Information File (MIF). By creating a file that adheres to this format, you can cause SMS to include additional information in the inventory database.

You could use any word processor or text editor to create a MIF because it is a standard ASCII text file. There are rules regarding the structure of the file, however, and it may be easier to create a MIF using the utilities provided with SMS for this purpose. There are two such utilities - the SMS MIF Form Generator and the MIF Entry utility. Using the MIF Form Generator you can create a form that is then used by the MIF Entry utility to capture information that you want to add to the inventory. This process can be automated by creating a Run Command on Workstation job to send this utility to an appropriate group of users or everyone on the network. These utilities are documented in Appendix G of the SMS Administrator's Guide.

See "Run Command on Workstation Jobs," (Ch. 27)

Using Queries to View Inventory Information

The process for creating each type of queries is similar. You learn how to create and store queries, and how to execute a stored query. Using ad hoc queries is a simplification of this process, which is not covered.

To create a query, follow these steps:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Queries window. Choose File, New. The Query Properties dialog box appears (see fig. 26.34).

   Fig. 26.34 - The Query Properties dialog box is used to define a query that can be applied to the SMS database.

3. Enter a name for the query in the Query Name text box. Then enter descriptive text in the Comment text box. The name and comment together should describe the query well enough that you can tell what the query is for without having to view the query properties you are about to define.

4. Select the architecture appropriate to the items you want to find in the Architecture drop-down list box. The default is Personal Computer, which is the architecture you will probably use most often.

5. Click Add AND or Add OR. The Query Expression Properties dialog box appears, as shown in figure 26.35.

   Fig. 26.35 - The Query Expression Properties dialog box is used to create expressions that will be combined to build a query.

6. Select the attribute you want to add to the query expression from those listed in the list box at the top of the dialog box. You may resort this list by group, class, or attribute by clicking the heading of that column.

7. Choose an Operator from the drop-down list box in the middle of the dialog box.

8. Select a value using the Value drop-down list box. You may also manually type in a value if an appropriate value does not appear in the list. Click OK to add this expression to the query you are building.

9. If you have entered all the expressions you need to build your query, skip to step 12.

10. If you would like to add one or more additional expressions to specify identifying attributes for this query, you may add additional clauses. These clauses can be combined with the original clause using logical AND and OR operators to form a complex expression. Click Add AND or Add OR to insert a logical operator into the Find All 'architecture' Items Where box. The Query Expression Properties dialog box appears again. Return to step 7.

11. When you have specified all the expressions you need for this query, click OK. You return to the Queries window.

To execute a query that you have defined, follow this procedure:

1. Start the SMS Administrator program.

2. Open the Queries window. Choose File, Execute Query. The Execute Query dialog box appears (see fig 26.36).

   Fig. 26.36 - The Execute Query dialog box is used to specify the target sites for a query and to begin its execution.

3. Select the query you want to execute from the Query drop-down list box.

4. Select the format you want to use to display your query results from the Query Result Format drop-down list box.

5. If you want, you can limit the sites that the query is applied against. Click the Limit to Sites check box and select the topmost parent site of the subtree of the site hierarchy you want to examine. If you want to include subsites of this parent site, click the Include Subsites check box.

6. Click OK. The query executes and displays your results in a Query Results - queryname window.

Setting Up Auditing

These are the steps you must complete to audit software packages:

1. Define a set of rules to identify the packages you want to audit. SMS includes a utility called FILETOKN.EXE that will find six identifying characteristics of a file that can be used to uniquely identify a file. After you have found these characteristics, you can follow the process used to create inventory properties for a package to generate a package rule file. See the earlier section, "Defining Packages for Inventory," for more information.

2. The SMS system creates a package rule file that contains rules for all files for which inventory properties have been defined. This file is stored in the SITE.SRV\MAINCFG.BOX\PKGRULE directory on the site server. You should make a copy of this file in the \PRIMSITE.SRV\AUDIT directory and edit it so that it only includes those packages you want to audit. Alternatively, you may want to use the AUDIT.RUL file provided with SMS as a starting point and add to it. See Appendix E, "File Formats," in the SMS Administrator's Guide.

3. Convert this file to the format used by the Software Audit program using the RUL2CFG.BAT utility provided in the \PRIMSITE.SRV\AUDIT directory. This converts the file and copies it to the \PRIMSITE.SRV\AUDIT\PACKAGE directory.

4. Create a package for software auditing by importing the AUDIT.PDF package definition file. Specify the \PRIMSITE.SRV\AUDIT\PACKAGE directory as the source directory for the package.

5. Create a Run Command on Workstation job to execute the Software Audit program using the rule file you created.

To view the audited software, follow the steps outlined earlier in the section "Viewing Inventory Information." The software audit information appears in the Audited Software group of the Personal Computer Properties window.

See "Using Package Definition Files," (Ch. 27)

See "Run Command on Workstation Jobs," (Ch. 27)

From Here...

• For a review of SMS basics, see Chapter 25, "Preparing for SMS."

• For information on automatically distributing and installing software and using the Help Desk features of SMS, see Chapter 27, "The Role of the SMS Administrator."

• For information on establishing policies for improved security and specific guidelines for securing your site, your servers, and client workstations, see Chapter 28, "Implementing Real-World Security."

• For information on developing a proactive approach to avoiding network problems and server outages, see Chapter 30, "Proactive Network Administration."

Table of Contents

25 - Preparing for SMS

27 - The Role of the SMS Administrator