10.4 Using a Task to Deploy the Agent

The ZENworks Server can deploy the ZENworks Adaptive Agent to devices. This requires that you create a task, called a deployment task, for the ZENworks Server. The task identifies the target devices, the credentials required to perform an installation on the devices, the registration key to use (optional), the date and time to perform the installation, and other tasks you want performed on the devices either before or after the installation.

The time required to complete the deployment task is less if you use one deployment platform per task.

The steps for creating a deployment task vary slightly depending on whether or not the target devices are already listed as discovered devices in your Management Zone (see Section I, Device Discovery):

10.4.1 Prerequisites for Deploying to a Device

Before the ZENworks Server can deploy the ZENworks Adaptive Agent to a device, make sure the following prerequisites are satisfied:

In addition to these requirements, ensure that the date and time are correct on both the ZENworks Server and on managed devices.

Enabling File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks

You need to enable the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks option to allow other computers on a network to access resources on your computer by using a Microsoft network.

Windows 2000, Windows 2003, and Windows XP
  1. Right-click My Network Places > Properties.

    The Networks Connections window is displayed.

  2. Right-click Local Area Connection > Properties.

    The Local Area Connection Properties dialog box is displayed.

  3. In the General tab, ensure that the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks option is selected.

  4. Click OK.

For more information, see File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks.

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
  1. Right-click Network > Properties.

    The Network and Sharing Center window is displayed.

  2. In the left pane, click Manage network connections.

  3. Right-click Local Area Connection > Properties.

    The Local Area Connection Properties dialog box is displayed.

  4. In the Networking tab, ensure that the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks option is selected.

  5. Click OK.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
  1. Right-click Network > Properties.

    The Network and Sharing Center window is displayed.

  2. Right-click Local Area Connection > Properties.

    The Local Area Connection Properties dialog box is displayed.

  3. In the Networking tab, ensure that the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks option is selected.

  4. Click OK.

Enabling File and Printer Sharing through Windows Firewall

Any target device that is using Windows Firewall needs to be configured to allow file and printer sharing through the firewall. This is done by enabling the File and Printer Sharing exception in the Windows Firewall configuration settings. You can access Windows Firewall through the Control Panel or through the Windows Security Center.

By default, the scope of the exception applies only to a local subnet. If the target device is in a different subnet than the Primary Server from which the deployment is run, you must add the IP address of the Primary Server to the Windows Firewall along with the local subnet.

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
  1. From the desktop Start menu, click Settings > Control Panel.

  2. Double-click Windows Firewall.

    The Windows Firewall window is displayed.

  3. Click the Exceptions tab.

  4. In the Programs and Services list, select File and Printer Sharing, then click Edit.

    The Edit a Service window is displayed.

  5. Click Change Scope to include the IP address of the Primary Server and the local subnet.

  6. Click OK.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
  1. From the desktop Start menu, click Settings > Control Panel.

  2. Double-click Windows Firewall.

    The Windows Firewall window is displayed.

  3. In the left pane, click Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall.

  4. In the Allowed Programs and Features list, select File and Printer Sharing.

  5. Click OK.

Enabling Classic File Sharing

The ZENworks Server needs classic file sharing access to the administrative share (displayed as Admin$) on target devices.

Windows 2000

Windows 2000 devices use classic file sharing by default. If deployment of the Adaptive Agent to a Windows 2000 device fails, check the HKLM\System\currentcontrolset\services\lanmanserver\parameters\AutoShareWrks registry entry to see if it is set to 0 (disabled). If it is set to 0, Admin$ share is not accessible and the error is displayed. Delete the entire setting.

Windows 2003

Windows 2003 devices use classic file sharing by default. If deployment of the Adaptive Agent to a Windows 2003 device fails with an invalid credentials error, you must enable classic file sharing.

  1. On the Windows 2003 device, click the desktop Start menu > Settings > Control Panel.

  2. Double-click Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy.

    The Local Security Settings window is displayed.

  3. In Security Settings, navigate to Local Policies > Security Options.

  4. Change the value of Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts to Classic - local users authenticate as themselves.

  5. Click OK.

You can also use a Windows Group Policy to change the setting.

Windows XP

Windows XP uses simple file sharing by default. You need to disable simple file sharing to enable classic file sharing.

  1. On the Windows XP device, right-click the My Computer icon, then click Open.

  2. Click the Tools menu > Folder Options to display the Folder Options dialog box.

  3. Click the View tab.

  4. In the Advanced Settings list, deselect the Use simple file sharing option, then click OK to save the change.

Disabling this option changes the setting for the Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts option in the Local Security Policy (Local Policies > Security Options) to Classic - local users authenticate as themselves. You can also use a Windows Group Policy to change the setting.

Windows Vista
  1. Open the Windows Registry and access the following:

    HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/System/LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy

    If the registry key does not exist, you need to create it.

  2. Change its DWORD (32-bit) value to 1.

    This allows remote users to log in and not be forced to be “guest.”

  3. Close the registry to save the change.

  4. Open the Services window and set the Remote Registry service to start automatically, then start it.

  5. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel.

  6. Double-click Network and Sharing Center.

  7. Select Turn on File Sharing, then click Apply.

Windows Server 2008
  1. Open the Windows Registry and access the following:

    HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/System/LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy

    If the registry key does not exist, you need to create it.

  2. Change its DWORD (32-bit) value to 1.

    This allows remote users to log in and not be forced to be “guest.”

  3. Close the registry to save the change.

  4. Open the Services window and set the Remote Registry service to start automatically, then start it.

  5. Click the desktop Start menu > Settings > Control Panel.

  6. Double-click Network and Sharing Center.

  7. Select Turn on File Sharing, then click Apply.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
  1. Open the Windows Registry and access the following:

    HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/System/LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy

    If the registry key does not exist, you need to create it.

  2. Change its DWORD (32-bit) value to 1.

    This allows remote users to log in and not be forced to be “guest.”

  3. Close the registry to save the change.

  4. Open the Services window and set the Remote Registry service to start automatically, then start it.

  5. Click the desktop Start menu > Settings > Control Panel.

  6. Double-click Network and Sharing Center.

  7. In the left pane, click Change advanced sharing settings.

  8. Select Turn on file and printer sharing, then click Save Changes.

10.4.2 Deploying to a Discovered Device

This section assumes that you’ve already performed a discovery task to add the target devices to your ZENworks database. If you have not, you can perform the discovery task before continuing (see Section I, Device Discovery) or you can perform the discovery as part of the deployment task (see Section 10.4.3, Deploying to a Non-Discovered Device).

To deploy the ZENworks Adaptive Agent to a discovered device:

  1. In ZENworks Control Center, click the Deployment tab.

    The Deployable Device panel lists all the devices (imported or discovered) to which you can deploy the Adaptive Agent.

  2. In the Deployment Tasks panel, click New to launch the Deploy Device Wizard.

    Deploy Device Wizard > Enter Deployment Task Name page
  3. Complete the wizard by using information from the following table to fill in the fields.

    Wizard Page

    Details

    Enter Deployment Task page

    Specify a name for the task. The name cannot include any of the following invalid characters: / \ * ? : " ' < > | ` % ~

    Select Devices page

    1. Click Add to display the Discovered Device Browser dialog box.

      The default view displays all discovered devices in your Management Zone.

    2. Click Arrow icon to select a device.

    3. When you have finished selecting devices, click OK to return the Select Devices page.

      The devices you selected are displayed in the list.

    Enter Credentials page > Save Credentials to DataStore field

    The Enter Credentials page lets you provide the usernames and passwords required to deploy the Adaptive Agent to the devices included in the task.

    Unless you save the credentials, they are stored only in memory. Saved credentials are encrypted in the database for increased security.

    Credentials that are not saved are cleared from memory when the ZENworks Server is restarted. If you are creating a scheduled deployment task, you might want to save the credentials to ensure that they are still available when the deployment is performed.

    Enter Credentials page > Credentials field

    To add a credential:

    1. Click Add to display the Enter Credential Information dialog box. In the Username field, specify the appropriate username.

      To deploy the Adaptive Agent, the ZENworks Server must be able to map a drive to the device’s administrative share (ADMIN$). This requires the following credentials:

      • If the device is a member of a domain: You can use a domain or local Administrator group credential. If you use the local credential, you must specify the username as workstation_name\username to distinguish it from domain credentials.

      • If the device is not a member of a domain: You must use a local Administrator group credential.

    2. Enter the user password in the Password and Reenter Password fields.

    3. Click OK to save the credential.

    Depending on your environment, one credential might not provide access to all of the devices where you want to deploy the Adaptive Agent. In this case, you need to add as many credentials as necessary to cover the devices included in the task. The ZENworks Server uses the first credential that works.

    Select Schedule page

    The Select Schedule page lets you choose whether you want the task to run as soon as it is created (the Now option) or if you want to schedule the task to run at a future date and time. If you select Scheduled, choose one of the following schedules:

    No Schedule: Indicates that no schedule has been set. The task does not run until a schedule is set or it is manually launched. This is useful if you want to create the task and come back to it later to establish the schedule or run it manually.

    Date Specific: Specifies one or more dates on which to run the task.

    Recurring: Identifies specific days each week, month, or a fixed interval on which to run the task.

    See Section B.0, Schedules or click the Help button for more information about the schedules.

    Select Primary Server page > Primary Server field

    Select the ZENworks Server that you want to perform the deployment task.

    Select Windows Proxy page > Override Zone Windows Proxy Settings field

    Select this option if you want to override the Windows Proxy settings configured at the Management Zone in order to modify the settings of a task.

    A Windows Proxy is primarily used for Linux Primary Servers that cannot perform deployment tasks on Windows managed devices. However, you can also use a Windows Proxy for Windows Servers if you want to deploy devices in a different subnet than the Primary Server.

    In order to protect information, such as a deployment credential, that is passed between the ZENworks Server and the Windows Proxy, the connection between the ZENworks Server and the Windows Proxy is secured through SSL.

    Select Windows Proxy page > Use Windows Proxy for Windows Primary Server field

    Select this option if you want to use a Windows Proxy instead of the Windows Primary Server to perform the deployment tasks.

    For deployment, you need to add File and Printer Sharing as an exception in the Windows Firewall configuration settings. By default, the scope of the exception applies only to a local subnet. If the target device is in a different subnet than the Primary Server from which the deployment is run, you also need to add the IP address of the Primary Server as an exception. However, if you use a Windows Proxy in the same subnet as a target device, you do not need to change the scope of the Windows Firewall exception.

    Windows Proxy: Select the managed Windows device (server or workstation) on which you want to perform deployment tasks on behalf of Linux Primary Servers or Windows Servers.

    Windows Proxy Timeout: Specify the number of seconds you want the ZENworks Server to wait for a response from the Windows Proxy.

    General Options page > Deployment Package field

    Depending upon the processor architecture of the managed device, select the deployment package to be used for installing ZENworks Adaptive Agent on the device.

    If you are not sure about the device's processor architecture, choose the package with target architecture as All, which applies to 32-bit and 64-bit platforms. If the selected package has been deleted from the Primary Server, then the default deployment package is deployed.

    General Options page > Specify Agent Installation Folder field

    Specify the directory on the managed device where you want to install ZENworks Adaptive Agent. By default, the agent is installed to the directory specified in the %ZENWORKS_HOME% system environmental variable or to the %ProgramFiles%\novell\zenworks directory if the variable is not set on the managed device.

    Ensure that the installation path does not contain spaces.

    NOTE:If the directory you specify cannot be created, then the agent is installed in the default location.

    General Options page > Reboot Option

    After the installation of ZENworks Adaptive Agent, a device must reboot to make the Adaptive Agent functional. Do the following:

    1. Select the desired reboot option.

      • Immediate: To reboot immediately after installation of the Adaptive Agent, select Immediate to force the device

      • Manual: To allow the user to manually reboot the device at his or her convenience, select Manual.

      • Scheduled: To reboot the device at a specified time, select Scheduled. Fill in the schedule’s fields.

        • Start Date: Click Calender Icon to display a calender you can use to select a date for the event.

        • Start Time: Specify the time at which the event must start.

        • Use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): The Start Time is converted to Universal Coordinated Time (UTC). Select this option to indicate that the Start Time you entered is already in Coordinated Universal Time and should not be converted. For example, suppose you are in the Eastern time zone. If you enter 10:00 a.m. and select this option, the Start Time is scheduled for 10:00 UTC. If you don’t select this option, the Start Time is scheduled for 14:00 UTC because Eastern time is UTC - 4 hours.

    2. (Optional) Select the Do Not Prompt for Reboot option if you do not want the reboot prompt message to be displayed.

    Add Registration Key page

    Select a registration key to use during the registration portion of the deployment process. A registration key provides information about the folders and groups to which a device is assigned during registration. Selecting a registration key is optional; if you don’t select one, registration rules are used to determine the folder and group assignments. To deploy to servers or workstations, choose a server registration key or a workstation registration key respectively.

    For more information about registration keys and rules, see Section 9.0, Registering Devices.

    Pre/Post Deployment page

    Specify commands that you want run before and after the Adaptive Agent is installed on a device. For example, you can execute operating system commands, run scripts, and launch executables.

    The commands are passed to the preagent as part of the deployment task package. The preagent executes the commands in the system space, so you must specify commands that do not require user interaction.

    For more information about predeployment and post-deployment commands, click the Help button.

    When you finish the wizard, the deployment task is added to the list in the Deployment Tasks panel. You can use the panel to manage current tasks and create new tasks for deploying the ZENworks Adaptive Agent to devices. The panel includes the following information for each task:

    • Name: Displays the name given to the task. If Credentials Cleared is displayed below the task name, the credentials required to perform the task on the targeted devices have been cleared from the ZENworks Server’s memory and must be entered again. To avoid having credentials lost when they are cleared from memory, you must store them in the ZENworks database.

    • Schedule: Displays the dates on which the task is scheduled to run.

    • Status: Displays the following status information: Scheduled, Pending, Installing, Registering, Inactive, Finished, or Error. You can mouse over certain statuses to receive more information about the status.

      If an error occurred, the error is also recorded for the target device in the Deployable Devices panel. You can click the target device in the Deployable Devices panel to receive more information about the error.

10.4.3 Deploying to a Non-Discovered Device

If a target device has not been added to your ZENworks database through a discovery task, you can select the device while you are creating the deployment task. The following sections explain how to create the deployment task depending on whether you want to identify the target device by its IP address/hostname, from a CSV file, or from an LDAP directory.

  1. In ZENworks Control Center, click the Deployment tab.

  2. In the Deployment Tasks panel, click New to launch the Deploy Device Wizard.

    Deploy Device Wizard > Enter Deployment Task Name page
  3. Complete the wizard by using information from the following table to fill in the fields.

    Wizard Page

    Details

    Enter Deployment Task page

    Specify a name for the task. The name cannot include any of the following invalid characters: / \ * ? : " ' < > | ` % ~

    Select Devices page

    Allows you to identify the devices to which you want to deploy the ZENworks Adaptive Agent.

    Click Add to display the Discovered Device Browser dialog box.

    Discovered Device Browser dialog box > Source > IP Address

    1. In the Source list, select IP Address.

    2. Fill in the IP Address Range/Host Name field.

      The address can use any of the following formats:

      xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx: Standard dotted-decimal notation for a single address. For example, 123.45.167.100.

      xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx - xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx: Standard dotted-decimal notation for a range of addresses. For example, 123.45.167.100 - 123.45.167.125.

      xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/n: Standard CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing) notation. For example, 123.45.167.100/24 matches all IP addresses that start with 123.45.167.

      hostname: Standard device hostname. For example, workstation1.

    3. To add the device to the Selected Devices list, click Add.

    4. When you are finished selecting devices, click OK.

    Discovered Device Browser dialog box > Source > Add New CSV File

    1. In the Source list, select Add New CSV File to display the Add New Source dialog box.

    2. Fill in the following fields:

      CSV File: Browse for and select the CSV file containing the devices to which you want to deploy the agent.

      DNS Name Column: Select the number of the column that contains the DNS name information.

      IP Address Column: Select the number of the column that contains the IP address information. If you want the IP address to be resolved from the DNS name rather than imported from the file, select the Resolve IP from DNS name option.

      OS Type Column: Select the number of the column that contains the operating system information. If you want to specify a default OS type rather than importing it from the file, select the Use default OS for all selections option, then select the default operating system in the Default OS Type field.

    3. Click OK to display the devices in the source list.

    4. Click Arrow icon to move a device to the Selected Devices list.

    5. When you are finished selecting devices, click OK.

    Discovered Device Browser dialog box > Source > existing user source

    1. In the Source list, select the existing user source.

      The root of the user source is displayed in the source list.

    2. Browse the directory to find the desired device.

    3. Click Arrow icon to move the device to the Selected Devices list.

    4. When you are finished selecting devices, click OK.

    Discovered Device Browser dialog box > Source > Add New LDAP Source

    1. In the Source list, select Add New LDAP Source to display the Add New Source dialog box.

    2. Fill in the following fields:

      LDAP Source Name: Provide a name for the LDAP source.

      LDAP Server: Specify the IP address or DNS hostname of the LDAP server.

      LDAP Port/Use SSL: Defaults to the standard SSL port (636) or non-SSL port (389) depending on whether the Use SSL option is enabled or disabled. If your LDAP server is listening on a different port, select that port.

      LDAP Root Context: Establishes the point in the directory where you can begin to browse. If you don’t specify a base DN, the directory’s root container becomes the entry point.

      Save Credentials to Datastore: Unless you save the credentials (defined in the Credentials list), they are stored only in memory. Saved credentials are encrypted in the database for increased security. Credentials are cleared from memory when the ZENworks Server is restarted. If you want to permanently retain the credentials as part of the deployment task, you should save the credentials.

      Credentials: Click Add to enter a username and password that provides read-only access to the directory. The user can have more than read-only access, but read-only access is all that is required and recommended.

      For Novell eDirectory access, use standard LDAP notation. For example:

      cn=admin_read_only,ou=users,o=mycompany

      For Microsoft Active Directory, use standard domain notation. For example:

      AdminReadOnly@mycompany.com

    3. Click OK to display the LDAP directory in the source list.

    4. Browse the directory to find the desired device.

    5. Click Arrow icon to move the device to the Selected Devices list.

    6. When you are finished selecting devices, click OK.

    Enter Credentials page > Save Credentials to DataStore field

    The Enter Credentials page lets you provide the usernames and passwords required to deploy the Adaptive Agent to the devices included in the task.

    Unless you save the credentials, they are stored only in memory. Saved credentials are encrypted in the database for increased security.

    Credentials that are not saved are cleared from memory when the ZENworks Server is restarted. If you are creating a scheduled deployment task, you might want to save the credentials to ensure that they are still available when the deployment is performed.

    Enter Credentials page > Credentials field

    To add a credential:

    1. Click Add to display the Enter Credential Information dialog box. In the Username field, specify the appropriate username.

      To deploy the Adaptive Agent, the ZENworks Server must be able to map a drive to the device’s administrative share (ADMIN$). This requires the following credentials:

      • If the device is a member of a domain: You can use a domain or local Administrator group credential. If you use the local credential, you must specify the username as workstation_name\username to distinguish it from domain credentials.

      • If the device is not a member of a domain: You must use a local Administrator group credential.

    2. Enter the user password in the Password and Reenter Password fields.

    3. Click OK to save the credential.

    Depending on your environment, one credential might not provide access to all of the devices where you want to deploy the Adaptive Agent. In this case, you need to add as many credentials as necessary to cover the devices included in the task. The ZENworks Server uses the first credential that works.

    Select Schedule page

    The Select Schedule page lets you choose whether you want the task to run as soon as it is created (the Now option) or if you want to schedule the task to run at a future date and time. If you select Scheduled, choose one of the following schedules:

    No Schedule: Indicates that no schedule has been set. The task does not run until a schedule is set or it is manually launched. This is useful if you want to create the task and come back to it later to establish the schedule or run it manually.

    Date Specific: Specifies one or more dates on which to run the task.

    Recurring: Identifies specific days each week, month, or a fixed interval on which to run the task.

    See Section B.0, Schedules or click the Help button for more information about the schedules.

    Select Primary Server page > Primary Server field

    Select the ZENworks Server that you want to perform the deployment task.

    Select Windows Proxy page > Override Zone Windows Proxy Settings field

    Select this option if you want to override the Windows Proxy settings configured at the Management Zone in order to modify the settings of a task.

    A Windows Proxy is primarily used for Linux Primary Servers that cannot perform deployment tasks on Windows managed devices. However, you can also use a Windows Proxy for Windows Servers if you want to deploy devices in a different subnet than the Primary Server.

    In order to protect information, such as a deployment credential, that is passed between the ZENworks Server and the Windows Proxy, the connection between the ZENworks Server and the Windows Proxy is secured through SSL.

    Select Windows Proxy page > Use > Windows Proxy for Windows Primary Server field

    Select this option if you want to use a Windows Proxy instead of the Windows Primary Server to perform the deployment tasks.

    For deployment, you need to add File and Printer Sharing as an exception in the Windows Firewall configuration settings. By default, the scope of the exception applies only to a local subnet. If the target device is in a different subnet than the Primary Server from which the deployment is run, you also need to add the IP address of the Primary Server as an exception. However, if you use a Windows Proxy in the same subnet as a target device, you do not need to change the scope of the Windows Firewall exception.

    Windows Proxy: Select the managed Windows device (server or workstation) on which you want to perform deployment tasks on behalf of Linux Primary Servers or Windows Servers.

    Windows Proxy Timeout: Specify the number of seconds you want the ZENworks Server to wait for a response from the Windows Proxy.

    General Options page > Deployment Package field

    Depending upon the processor architecture of the managed device, select the deployment package to be used for installing ZENworks Adaptive Agent on the device.

    If you are not sure about the device's processor architecture, choose the package with target architecture as All, which applies to 32-bit and 64-bit platforms. If the selected package has been deleted from the Primary Server, then the default deployment package is deployed.

    General Options page > Specify Agent Installation Folder field

    Specify the directory on the managed device where you want to install ZENworks Adaptive Agent. By default, the agent is installed to the directory specified in the %ZENWORKS_HOME% system environmental variable or to the %ProgramFiles%\novell\zenworks directory if the variable is not set on the managed device.

    Ensure that the installation path does not contain spaces.

    NOTE:If the directory you specify cannot be created, then the agent is installed in the default location.

    General Options page > Reboot Option

    After installation of the ZENworks Adaptive Agent, a device must reboot to make the Adaptive Agent functional. Do the following:

    1. Select the desired reboot option.

      • Immediate: To reboot immediately after installation of the Adaptive Agent, select Immediate to force the device

      • Manual: To allow the user to manually reboot the device at his or her convenience, select Manual.

      • Scheduled: To reboot the device at a specified time, select Scheduled. Fill in the schedule’s fields.

        • Start Date: Click Calender Icon to display a calender you can use to select a date for the event.

        • Start Time: Specify the time at which the event must start.

        • Use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): The Start Time is converted to Universal Coordinated Time (UTC). Select this option to indicate that the Start Time you entered is already in Coordinated Universal Time and should not be converted. For example, suppose you are in the Eastern time zone. If you enter 10:00 a.m. and select this option, the Start Time is scheduled for 10:00 UTC. If you don’t select this option, the Start Time is scheduled for 14:00 UTC because Eastern time is UTC - 4 hours.

    2. (Optional) Select the Do Not Prompt for Reboot option if you do not want the reboot prompt message to be displayed.

    Add Registration Key page

    Select a registration key to use during the registration portion of the deployment process. A registration key provides information about the folders and groups to which a device is assigned during registration. Selecting a registration key is optional; if you don’t select one, registration rules are used to determine the folder and group assignments. To deploy to servers or workstations, choose a server registration key or a workstation registration key respectively.

    For more information about registration keys and rules, see Section 9.0, Registering Devices.

    Pre/Post Deployment page

    Specify commands that you want to run before and after the Adaptive Agent is installed on a device. For example, you can execute operating system commands, run scripts, and launch executables.

    The commands are passed to the preagent as part of the deployment task package. The preagent executes the commands in the system space, so you must specify commands that do not require user interaction.

    For more information about predeployment and post-deployment commands, click the Help button.

    When you finish the wizard, the deployment task is added to the list in the Deployment Tasks panel. You can use the panel to manage current tasks and create new tasks for deploying the ZENworks Adaptive Agent to devices. The panel includes the following information for each task:

    • Name: Displays the name given to the task. If Credentials Cleared is displayed below the task name, the credentials required to perform the task on the targeted devices have been cleared from the ZENworks Server’s memory and must be entered again. To avoid having credentials lost when they are cleared from memory, you must store them in the ZENworks database.

    • Schedule: Displays the dates on which the task is scheduled to run.

    • Status: Displays the following status information: Scheduled, Pending, Installing, Registering, Inactive, Finished, or Error. You can mouse over certain statuses to receive more information about the status.

      If an error occurred, the error is also recorded for the target device in the Deployable Devices panel. You can click the target device in the Deployable Devices panel to receive more information about the error.