10.1 What’s New in ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management

The following sections describe the new features and enhancements in Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management:

10.1.1 ZENworks Linux Management Server Support for SLES 10 Devices

Support for the ZENworks Linux Management Server on SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server 10 (SLES 10) on the 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x86_64) architectures (Intel EMT64 and AMD Opteron processors).

For more information, see Section 2.1, ZENworks Server Requirements.

10.1.2 Support for SLES 10 and SLED 10 As Managed Devices

ZENworks Linux Management lets you manage SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (SLES 10) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (SLED 10) devices. For more information, see Section 2.3, Managed Device Requirements.

ZENworks Linux Management offers the following features for managing SLES 10 and SLED 10 devices:

  • Policy Management: The SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) policy in ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management lets you configure the SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop GNOME settings on a managed device. Use the SLED policy to configure desktop features such as Main Menu, Favorite Applications, System Area, Control Center, and those items that appear on the user’s desktop and background settings. For more information, see SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Policy in the Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

  • Package and Content Management: ZENworks Linux Management lets you install packages or files on managed devices by using either a bundle or a catalog. It has the capability to mirror and manage SLES 10 and SLED 10 updates from public repositories. For more information, see Package and Content Management in the Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide

  • Preboot Services: ZENworks Linux Management Preboot Services (also known as imaging) lets you perform tasks on devices before their operating systems boot. Preboot Services allows you to automatically or manually run AutoYaST and kickstart installations, run ZENworks script devices, make an image of device hard drives, restore images to devices, and apply existing images to multiple devices. For more information, see Preboot Services in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

  • Hardware and Software Inventory: ZENworks Linux Management lets you collect hardware and software inventory information from each managed device. This inventory information is collected and stored in a database that can be viewed in the ZENworks Control Center and is available through the ZENworks Linux Management Reporting module. For more information, see Hardware and Software Inventory in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

  • Remote Management: ZENworks Linux Management lets you remotely manage devices from the ZENworks Control Center. You can remotely control managed devices, remotely view managed devices, remotely log in to managed devices, and view log information about any Remote Management sessions performed on any managed device from anywhere in your network. For more information, see Remote Management in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

10.1.3 Support for Dell Update Package Bundles

ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management lets you mirror Dell Update Packages (DUPs) from the Dell FTP site or from a CD to your ZENworks server. Dell Update Packages let you update and configure hardware and system settings (including BIOS, DRAC, RAID, BMC, and FRMW configurations) on Dell PowerEdge servers.

For more information, see Using Dell Update Package Bundles in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

10.1.4 Support for Dell Configuration Bundles

When a server boots, the ZENworks Dell Configuration bundle is executed on the server before the operating system boots. The Dell Configuration bundle is used in server provisioning to do the following:

  • Use scripts and files to configure the BIOS, BMC, RAID, and DRAC

  • Install a Dell utility partition

  • Overwrite an existing Dell utility partition

  • Update the files in an existing Dell utility partition

  • Execute another Preboot bundle to install an operating system after updating the Dell device

For more information, see Using Dell Configuration Bundles in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

10.1.5 New Package Management Features

  • Support for File Bundles: A file bundle lets you create a bundle containing one or more files of any type and distribute them to assigned devices. For example, you can include configuration files or data files in file bundles. A file bundle is useful to distribute any files that are not part of an RPM package. For more information, see Creating File Bundles in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide

  • Best Package Support: SLES 10 and SLED 10 users have the option of choosing the best package to install on their devices. This feature helps solve the incompatibility issues related to some key packages in the latest versions of SLES 10 and SLED 10, such as Kernel Modules, ATI, and XGL enabling.

  • Bundle Locking: Bundle locking options are available for SLES 10 and SLED 10 managed devices. The rug command line utility provides the following new bundle locking commands:

    • bundle-lock-add
    • bundle-lock-delete
    • bundle-lock-list

    For more information, see rug (1) in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

10.1.6 Package Management for PPC, Itanium, and zSeries Devices

In addition to x86 and x86_64, support is provided for PPC, Itanium*, and zSeries* in ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management.

For more information, see Section 2.3, Managed Device Requirements.

10.1.7 Updates to the Imaging Functionality

The imaging kernel has been updated to base 10 to provide better driver support and support for taking and restoring SLES 10 and SLED 10 images.

10.1.8 Mirroring

ZENworks Linux Management lets you connect to a remote server and copy software catalogs, bundles, or packages (including Dell Update Packages) from the remote server to your server by using a few simple commands. ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management lets you mirror the following new sources:

  • YUM repository: Yum (Yellow dog Updater, Modified) is an automatic updater and package installer/remover for RPM systems. It automatically computes dependencies and indicates what should occur to install packages, which makes it easier to maintain groups of machines without using an RPM to manually update each machine.

  • Dell repository: ZENworks Linux Management mirroring can be used to mirror Dell updates from ftp.dell.com and distribute them to all Dell PowerEdge devices using package management.

  • SLES 10 and SLED 10 repository: ZENworks Linux Management mirroring can be used to mirror SLES 10 and SLED 10 updates from http://update.novell.com and distribute them to all managed devices using package management.

For more information, see Mirroring Software in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

10.1.9 ZENworks Linux Management Agent

Enhancements to the ZENworks Linux Management client let you do the following:

  • Software Updater, Installer, and Remover: The ZENworks Linux Management Software Updater, Software Installer, and Software Remover applets are components of the desktop that work through the ZENworks Agent.

    In ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management, these three easy-to-use desktop applets provide users with the ability to update existing software, install new software, remove existing software from their managed devices, and view and edit system preferences. These three desktop applets replace the user interface clients used in previous versions of ZENworks Linux Management. Software Updater, Installer, and Remover provide users with a simple way to manage software, and the process is integrated into the managed device’s desktop.

    For more information, see Using the Software Updater, Installer, and Remover from Users’ Managed Devices in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

  • Change Settings by Using the Software Updater: The ZENworks Linux Management Agent is configurable and the settings that define the configuration can be modified using the ZENworks Linux Management Software Updater. For more information, see Using the Software Updater, Installer, and Remover from Users’ Managed Devices in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

  • rug: The rug command line utility (a component of the ZENworks Linux Management Agent) lets you perform software and user management on a managed device. ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management provides the following new rug commands:

    • Bundle Locking: Bundle locking options are now available. If a bundle is locked, the packages it contains cannot be updated after they are installed. If an attempt to update the package or bundle is made, an error “bundle xxx is locked and cannot be updated” displays.

    • Bundle Installing/Updating/Removing: When you use the rug command line interface to install, update, or remove bundles, the software informs users of dependencies that are installed, updated, or removed. This is the same behavior that the GUI ZENworks Linux Management Software Updater uses (zen-updater).

    • Upgrade Only: You use this option when installing a bundle. The installation is performed only if given packages are already installed.

    • Install: Advanced format for the rug install command. You can specify resolvables in the following formats:

      • name
      • name-arch
      • name-version
      • name-version-release
      • name-version-release-arch
      • name-epoc-version-release-arch
      • epoch:name-version-release-arch
      • /path/to/local/package.rpm

For more information, see rug (1) in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

10.1.10 ZENworks Control Center

ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management provides the following enhancements to the ZENworks Control Center (ZCC):

  • Bundle Details: ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management lets you view a device’s assigned bundles and packages. Click a device object, click the Inventory tab, then click Bundle Details. The Installed Bundles page provides a list of bundles that, when clicked, shows a detailed list of packages for the bundle.

  • Bundle Persistence: With ZENworks Linux Management, bundles persist. After the initial installation of the bundle, the ZENworks Linux Management Agent running on the managed device checks each time it refreshes to see if the bundle is installed. If it is not, it re-installs the bundle. This is the default behavior.

    With ZENworks Linux Management 7.2, there is an added option to make a bundle not persist. After the bundle’s initial installation, the ZENworks Linux Management Agent does not check when the device refreshes to verify that the bundle is still installed.

    For more information, see Step 4 under Creating RPM Bundles in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

  • Deploy and Install Immediately (When this Wizard Completes): The Deploy and install immediately option lets you immediately send a bundle to a managed device.

    This option is available from the following pages:

    • From the Bundle Options page when assigning a bundle to a device. For more information, see Step 15 under Creating RPM Bundles in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

    • From the device object > Effective Bundles snapshot > Advanced link (select a bundle, click Action, then click Deploy and Install Now).

    • From the bundle object > Assignments snapshot > select a device or folder > click Action > then click Deploy and Install Now.

  • Replicate Repositories Now: All RPM packages, Dell Update Packages (DUPs), and files contained in bundles reside in the package repository on the primary server. ZENworks Linux Management uses content replication to copy the package repository to each secondary ZENworks Linux Management server in your system. A Quick Task has been added that allows the user to trigger replication at will, outside the replication schedule. For more information, see Replicating Content in the ZENworks Management Zone in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

  • ZENworks Linux Management Agent Settings Available from the ZENworks Control Center: You can configure the ZENworks Management Daemon (zmd) settings for your ZENworks Management Zone. These settings apply to all devices in your ZENworks Management Zone unless they are changed on a device folder or individual device.

    ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management lets you configure these settings from the ZENworks Control Center in the following pages:

    • To change the zmd settings for your ZENworks Management Zone, click the Configuration tab, then click ZMD Settings in the Management Zone Settings list.

    • To change the zmd settings for a device or for the devices in a folder, click the Devices tab, click the link for a device or folder, click the Settings tab, then click ZMD Settings in the Settings list.

    For more information, see Configuring Management Zone Settings in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

  • View Printable Inventory: Available from Server/Workstation Tasks section in the upper left corner of the ZENworks Control Center while viewing the properties of a device.

  • View Bundle Locking Status using the ZENworks Control Center: If you use the new bundle locking features, the Lock icon icon in the ZENworks Control Center indicates that the bundle is locked. You can view the bundle’s lock status from the Devices tab > server or workstation object > Effective Policies section or from the Devices tab > server or workstation object > Inventory tab > Bundles (Details) link.

  • Visual Icon to Determine if Newer Packages are Available If the updates available icon Updates Available icon displays in the Updates column of a device list, packages and bundles are available to be installed on the device. Click the Updates Available icon icon to display the Updates Available dialog box. Click the Help button Help icon for more information.

    If the column is empty, all packages and bundles installed on the device are up-to-date with the packages and bundles in the ZENworks package repository (the /var/opt/novell/zenworks/pkg-repo directory on the ZENworks Server). Additionally, if this column is empty and the selected device is a Dell PowerEdge server, it is assigned to the correct Dell system set (assuming that the system set exists in the repository for the device's model).

    For more information, see Determining If Newer Dell Package Updates Are Available for PowerEdge Servers in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

10.1.11 Reporting

ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management provides the following new reporting features:

  • Scheduled Reports: The zlman utility now has options that allow users to run a report at the command line, specify the report format, and direct the output to a location in the file system. This lets users automate the running of reports.

    For more information, see zlman (1) in the . Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

  • Dell Update Package Reports: ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management lets you create reports to help you effectively manage your Dell PowerEdge servers. Reports allow grouping of Dell Update Packages (DUPs) by Platform (Dell Model); Component Type (BIOS, Firmware, etc.), and Operating System.

    For more information, see Dell Reports in the .Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide.

10.1.12 Integration with the Novell Customer Center

For more information, go to the ZENworks Control Center, click the Configuration tab, then click Novell Customer Center in the Management Zone Settings list. Click the Help icon icon for more information.