2.2 zman Command Line Utility

The zman utility provides a command line management interface that lets you perform many of the tasks available in ZENworks Control Center. For example, you can add content to bundles, assign policies to devices, and register devices. The main advantage to using the command line utility is the ability to create scripts for handling repetitive or mass operations. Like ZCC, the zman utility is installed on all Primary Servers, but it can only run from the command line on the server.

The primary purpose of the zman utility is to enable you to perform operations through a script. However, you can also perform operations manually at a command line.

2.2.1 Location

The utility is installed on all ZENworks Servers in the following location:

%ZENWORKS_HOME%\bin

where %ZENWORKS_HOME% represents the ZENworks installation path. On Windows, the default path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Novell\Zenworks\bin. On Linux, the default path is /opt/novell/zenworks/bin.

2.2.2 Syntax

The zman utility uses the following basic syntax:

zman category-action [options]

For example, to assign a software bundle to a device, you use the following command:

zman bundle-assign workstation bundle1 wks1

where bundle-assign is the category-action and workstation bundle1 wks1 are the options. In this example, the options are device type (workstation), bundle name (bundle1), and target device (wks1).

For example, to initiate an inventory scan of a device, you use the following command:

zman inventory-scan-now device/servers/server1

where inventory-scan-now is the category-action and device/servers/server1 is an option that specifies the folder path of the device to be scanned.

2.2.3 Help with Commands

The best way to understand the commands is to use the online help or see zman(1) in the ZENworks 11 SP4 Command Line Utilities Reference.

To use the online help:

  1. On the ZENworks Server, enter zman --help at a command prompt.

    This command displays the basic usage (syntax) and a list of the available command categories. You can also use the following to get help:

    Command

    Description

    zman --help | more

    Displays a complete list of commands by category.

    zman category --help | more

    Displays a complete list of commands within a category.

    zman command --help | more

    Displays help for a command