15.3 Collection Role

This role causes the device to collect inventory information, messages (errors, warning, informational, and so forth), and policy and bundle statuses, then rolls that information up to its parent Primary Server, which in turn either writes to the database directly or passes the information to its parent Primary Server, which does the database writing.

When the Collection role is promoted to use SSL, the managed devices communicate with Satellite Servers through HTTPS. The Satellite Server and Primary Server communication also happens through HTTPS after the Satellite Server is upgraded to ZENworks 2020 or a later version. This feature is backward compatible. Hence, even for managed devices prior to ZENworks 2020, the collection rollup will be performed over SSL using the configured Satellites. Communication between the managed devices and Primary Server also happens through HTTPS after the Primary Server is upgraded to ZENworks 2020 Update 1 or a later version. This feature is backward compatible. Hence, even for managed devices prior to ZENworks 2020 Update 1, the collection rollup will be performed over SSL using the configured Primary Servers.

The Closest Server Rule for collection on agents changes to HTTPS URLs over the SSL port.

When an existing Collection Satellite Server is configured to use SSL, until the CSR is calculated and the agent is refreshed, the CSR will continue to point to the HTTP URL.If the agents are communicating with a Windows Satellite Server, since the CSR’s are still pointing to the HTTP URL, collection upload will fail until the above mentioned CSR calculation happens and the agent is refreshed to get the correct HTTPS URL.

To configure the Collection role:

  1. Select the check box next to Collection, then click Configure.

    1. Collection Roll-Up Schedule: Specify the number of days, hours, and minutes for how often you want the collected data to be rolled up from the devices that use it as a collection server.

      The Collection Roll‑Up schedule determines how often the collected inventory information is rolled up to the parent Primary Server for inclusion in the ZENworks database. When the information is in the database, it is viewable in ZENworks Control Center.

    2. Select the Use SSL to transport data securely check box to roll-up collection data from agents using SSL. By default, this option is disabled.

      NOTE:If you have installed ZENworks with external certificates, you must add an external certificate to the Satellite before enabling the SSL setting. For more information about adding an external certificate, see Prerequisites to Configure the Authentication Role on a Satellite.

  2. Configure any additional roles as desired, then click OK.

  3. Click OK.

  4. Continue with Step 4.