3.2 Managing Systems

The Systems area of Novell Customer Center is where you view and manage information about individual installations of Novell products. A system is any device that consumes a Novell activation code that is registered in Novell Customer Center.

The following tasks are available:

3.2.1 Viewing Your Installed Systems

A system is automatically created when a product is registered with Novell Customer Center during installation, even if the product didn’t use an activation code during registration. If you are an administrator, Novell Customer Center lists all systems registered to your organization and shows whether those systems need to be activated. If you are not an administrator, you see only your own installations.

To view the registered systems:

  1. Log in to Novell Customer Center as described in Section 2.1.2, Logging In to Novell Customer Center.

  2. Click My Products > > Systems in the left navigation frame to display the Systems Information page.

  3. (Optional) Use the filter to search for specific content, or click the column heading to reorder the list. The icon to the right of the filter fields applies the filter; the icon clears it.

3.2.2 Activating a System

If a system is registered without an activation code during installation, it is listed in Novell Customer Center as needs activation under the Systems section. You can activate a system at any time after installation by entering the system’s activation code in Novell Customer Center.

  1. Log in to Novell Customer Center as described in Section 2.1.2, Logging In to Novell Customer Center.

  2. Click My Products > Systems in the left navigation frame.

  3. (Optional) Use the filter to search for specific content, or click the column heading to reorder the list. The icon to the right of the filter fields applies the filter; the icon clears it.

  4. Click the system you want to activate, then click the Key icon.

  5. Select a subscription from the list or type your activation code in the box.

    You can search for a subscription in the list by entering a subscription name in the Subscriptions field and clicking Find.

  6. Click Activate.

3.2.3 Moving a System to a New Subscription

  1. Log in to Novell Customer Center as described in Section 2.1.2, Logging In to Novell Customer Center.

  2. Click My Products > Systems in the left navigation frame.

  3. (Optional) Use the filter to search for specific content, or click the column heading to reorder the list. The icon to the right of the filter fields applies the filter; the icon clears it.

  4. Click the system you want to move, then click the icon.

  5. Select the subscription or type the activation code for a subscription you want to move the systems to.

    You can search for a subscription in the list by entering a subscription name in the Subscriptions field and clicking Find.

  6. Click Move.

3.2.4 Placing Systems in Groups

If your organization contains many systems, it is easier to manage those systems if they are in groups. For example, you might create groups for different departments, different groups of users, or different products.

To create a group:

  1. Log in to Novell Customer Center as described in Section 2.1.2, Logging In to Novell Customer Center.

  2. Click My Products > Systems.

    The left column of the Systems list shows the currently available groups. By default, there is one group, All.

  3. Click the Add icon under the list of groups.

  4. Type the new group name, then click Add.

    The newly created group appears in the list.

To move a system to a group:

  1. Log in to Novell Customer Center as described in Section 2.1.2, Logging In to Novell Customer Center.

  2. Click My Products > Systems in the left navigation frame.

    The Systems Information page appears. The left column of the Systems list shows the currently available groups. The other columns show information about each installed system.

  3. Select the name of the system you want to move, then drag it to the name of the group you want to move it to.

    You can Shift+click or Ctrl+click to select multiple systems.

    The system is moved to the selected group and that group’s contents display.

3.2.5 Viewing Information About a System

You can view information about any installed system, including general system information, system properties, the system’s product subscriptions, and information about available downloads.

  1. Log in to Novell Customer Center as described in Section 2.1.2, Logging In to Novell Customer Center.

  2. Click My Products > Systems in the left navigation frame.

  3. (Conditional) If your systems are organized in groups, click the name of the group containing the system whose information you want to view.

  4. (Optional) Use the filter to search for specific content, or click the column heading to reorder the list. The icon to the right of the filter fields applies the filter; the icon clears it.

  5. Double-click the desired system.

    The Information page for the selected system opens.

3.2.6 Editing System Properties

You can store useful information about each system in the system’s properties page. The information you can store includes the system name, a description of the system, and details about where the system is located.

To edit system properties:

  1. Log in to Novell Customer Center as described in Section 2.1.2, Logging In to Novell Customer Center.

  2. Click My Products > Systems in the left navigation frame.

  3. (Conditional) If your systems are organized in groups, click the name of the group that contains the system you want to edit.

  4. Double-click the desired system.

  5. Edit the properties as desired, then click Save.

    To manually add systems to a subscription that aren’t connected to the Internet, see Manually Adding Systems without Internet Access.

3.2.7 Downloading Patches and Updates

  1. Log in to Novell Customer Center as described in Section 2.1.2, Logging In to Novell Customer Center.

  2. Click My Products > Systems in the left navigation frame.

  3. (Optional) Use the filter to search for specific content, or click the column heading to reorder the list. The icon to the right of the filter fields applies the filter; the icon clears it.

  4. Double-click the system you want to patch or upgrade.

  5. Click Patches & Updates in the Downloads section.

    If there aren’t any patches or updates available, the Patches & Updates link is not visible.

  6. Follow the on-screen instructions to download the patch or upgrade for the selected system.