Adapter Settings

Several features (locations, Communication Hardware policies, and VPN Enforcement policies) require ZENworks to detect the network adapters on a managed device. In some cases, detected network adapters provide incorrect information for their adapter type. This can negatively affect intended behavior when determining the device’s location or when enforcing the Communication Hardware policy and VPN Enforcement policy.

For example, virtual adapters will often enumerate as wired adapters. If you apply a Communication Hardware policy that disables Wi-Fi when the device has a wired network connection (the Disable Wi-Fi When Wired option), as soon as a VPN connection is initiated on a Wi-Fi connected device, Wi-Fi is disabled because the VPN adapter enumerates as a wired adapter. The result is no network connectivity for the device.

You can use the Adapter Settings page to resolve issues like the one described above. The Adapter Settings page lets you assign adapter types (wired, wireless, dialup/cellular, or virtual) to network adapters. Then, whenever one of these adapters is detected, it is assigned the adapter type specified in its definition. For example, if you have managed devices that use a Cisco adapter for their VPN connectivity, you can define the Cisco adapter as a virtual adapter. Whenever the Cisco adapter is detected on a device, ZENworks recognizes it as a virtual adapter regardless of the information provided by the adapter.

The following table provides instructions for creating and managing network adapter definitions:

Task

Steps

Additional Details

Add a network adapter definition

  1. Click Add.

  2. In the Name field, specify a display name for the adapter.

    The Name field is not used when determining if a device’s adapters match this definition.

  3. (Optional) In the Administrator Notes field, add notes to help identify the adapter.

    The Administrator Notes field is not used when determining if a device’s adapters match this definition.

  4. Use the Device Description (Friendly Name) and MAC Address fields to define the match criteria for the adapter:

    You can use one field or both fields. If you use both fields, an adapter must match both fields to match the definition.

    Both fields are substring (partial) match and not case sensitive. For example, entering Cisco in the Device Description field will match all adapters with Cisco in the description while entering 00:9A in the MAC address field will match all adapters with MAC addresses that contain that sequence of numbers.

    To discover the description and MAC address for an adapter, you can run ipconfig /all at a command prompt on the device.

  5. In the Assigned Adapter Type field, select the type (Wired, Wireless, Dialup/Cellular, or Virtual) to assign to any adapter that matches this definition.

  6. Click OK to add the adapter definition to the list.

 

Edit a network adapter definition

  1. Click the network adapter name.

  2. Modify the fields as desired.

  3. Click OK.

 

Copy a network adapter definition

  1. Select the network adapter definition to copy, then click Edit > Copy.

  2. Modify the adapter settings as desired.

  3. Click OK.

 

Rename a network adapter definition

  1. Select the network adapter, then click Edit > Rename.

  2. Modify the name as desired.

  3. Click OK.

 

Delete a network adapter definition

  1. Select the network adapter, then click Delete.

  2. Click OK to confirm deletion of the adapter.

 

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