Consider the following when setting up the server portion of Automatic Workstation Import and Removal:
Generally, more workstations are imported than are removed. Therefore, you should have more servers set up with the Automatic Workstation Import service than with the Automatic Workstation Removal service.
To minimize network traffic, you should install the Automatic Workstation Import service on at least one server per WAN location. Automatic Workstation Removal does not generally produce a lot of network traffic, so it can be used across WAN links.
If you create a Server package in ZENworks Desktop Management 4.x or later, you cannot associate the package with a ZENworks for Desktops 3.x import server. You must associate it with a ZENworks Desktop Management 4.x or later import server.
In setting up Automatic Workstation Import, you should use DNS for TCP/IP addresses so that hostnames can be found automatically, instead of setting up and maintaining a hosts file on every workstation.
Using DNS names in your network provides you with automated management of workstation importing. You should coordinate with your DNS administrator to set up IP addresses for your workstation import services according to physical location in order to allow workstations to contact the import service locally, rather than across WAN links.
You can differentiate IP addresses according to domain or zone by using multiple domains or by using primary and secondary zones. For example, you could have a DNS entry for Automatic Workstation Import using the following syntax:
zenwsimport.context_string.com
Hosts files can be used to handle exceptions, such as when you want a specific workstation to resolve to a specific workstation import service. A hosts file is useful for manually importing a workstation, such as in a test environment. For information about setting up a hosts file on a local workstation, see Setting Up a Hosts File on a Local Workstation.
To set up workstation import on a local workstation, open and edit the hosts file on the local workstation.
For Windows 98, the hosts file's location should be:
Win98_drive:\ Win98_directory\hosts
IMPORTANT:The default hosts file in Windows is named hosts.sam. Do not use the .sam extension with your filename. Rename hosts.sam to hosts, or make a copy and rename the copy. By default, Windows 98 hides filename extensions that are of a known type, so you should make sure that filename extensions are being displayed so that you can correctly rename the hosts.sam file to hosts.
For Windows 2000/XP, the hosts file's location should be:
Win_drive:\Win_directory\SYSTEM32\drivers\etc\hosts
Hosts as shown above is a filename, not a folder name.
The following is an example of the text you would add in a hosts file for Automatic Workstation Import:
151.155.155.55 zenwsimport
In this example, the TCP/IP address is for the server where you are running the Automatic Workstation Import service. “zenwsimport” is not the name of a server, but a DNS name that resolves to this TCP/IP address. In other words, zenwsimport is a label to identify the server as the one running the Automatic Workstation Import service.
You should schedule workstation removal so that it is performed periodically when the network is least busy, such as during non-work hours.