Testing Workstation Inventory

The following sections explain how to get started using Workstation Inventory:

IMPORTANT:  After installing and configuring Inventory, you must run the Inventory Services on the server.

To run the Inventory Services on a NetWare server, at the server prompt, enter startinv.

On a Windows NT/2000 server, start the Inventory Service Manager (ZENworks Inventory Service).


Configuring Workstation Inventory Settings

After you install the Inventory components on servers and workstations, you must configure the workstations that need to be scanned, associate the appropriate servers for the workstations, identify the database for the Inventory servers, and schedule the scans on the workstation and roll-up of scan data from the servers.

The configurations for setting up inventory are done using the Server Policies and Workstation Policies in ConsoleOne.

To use policies in ConsoleOne, you must first create the appropriate policy packages, then configure the policies you need, enable them, and associate each package with a server or container. All policies enabled in a package will be enforced for all objects associated with that policy package.

To set up the workstations for scanning, the workstations must be registered in NDS and be imported as NDS Workstation objects. See Setting Up Automatic Workstation Import for more information.

Complete the steps in the following sections to configure the Workstation Inventory settings:

After completing these steps, you need to ensure that the database is up and running.

The following table is an overview of the packages, policies, and objects that you need to configure for Workstation Inventory:

Policy / Package / Objects Description of the Configuration Settings

Server Package

Contains the Roll-Up Policy to identify the next-level server.

Service Location Package

Contains the Database Location Policy to associate the database.

Workstation Package

Contains the Workstation Inventory Policy with the inventory scan settings.

Inventory Service object

Server object created in NDS with the following attributes: ZEN:INV-Host-Server, ZEN:INVRole, and ZEN:InvScan-File-Path.

Database object

Contains the configurable parameters for the database.

Workstation Inventory Policy contained in the Workstation Package

Contains the inventory settings for the workstations.

Roll-Up Policy contained in the Server Package

Contains the server setting for roll-up of scan data.

Database Location Policy contained in Service Location Policy

Contains the location of the database.


Setting Up Servers for Workstation Inventory

To set up Workstation Inventory, you need to set up the servers. Based on the server you have installed, configure the inventory settings. The following table lists the actions that you should follow:

To set up this type of server: Do this:

Standalone Server
  1. Assign the role as Standalone Server during installation. See Assigning the Roles for the Server.
  2. Configure the Inventory Policies for workstations attached to this server. See Configuring the Inventory Policies for Workstations.
  3. Configure the Policies for the database. See Configuring the Policies for the Database.

Root Server
  1. Assign the role as Root Server during installation. See Assigning the Roles for the Server.
  2. Configure the Policies for the database. See Configuring the Policies for the Database.

Root Server with Workstations
  1. Assign the role as Root Server with Workstations during installation. See Assigning the Roles for the Server.
  2. Configure the Inventory Policies for the workstations attached to this server. See Configuring the Inventory Policies for Workstations.
  3. Configure the Policies for the database. See Configuring the Policies for the Database.

Intermediate Server
  1. Assign the role as Intermediate Server during installation. See Assigning the Roles for the Server.
  2. Configure the Roll-Up Policy for this server. See Configuring the Roll-Up Policy for Roll-Up of Scan Data.

Intermediate Server with Database
  1. Assign the role as Intermediate Server with Database during installation. See Assigning the Roles for the Server.
  2. Configure the Roll-Up Policy for this server. See Configuring the Roll-Up Policy for Roll-Up of Scan Data.
  3. Configure the Policies for the database. See Configuring the Policies for the Database.

Intermediate Server with Database & Workstations
  1. Assign the role as Intermediate Server with Database & Workstations during installation. See Assigning the Roles for the Server.
  2. Configure the Inventory Policies for the workstations attached to this server. See Configuring the Inventory Policies for Workstations.
  3. Configure the Roll-Up Policy for this server. See Configuring the Roll-Up Policy for Roll-Up of Scan Data.
  4. Configure the Policies for the database. See Configuring the Policies for the Database.

Leaf Server with Database
  1. Assign the role as Leaf Server with Database during installation. See Assigning the Roles for the Server.
  2. Configure the Inventory Policies for the workstations attached to this server. See Configuring the Inventory Policies for Workstations.
  3. Configure the Roll-Up Policy for this server. See Configuring the Roll-Up Policy for Roll-Up of Scan Data.
  4. Configure the Policies for the database. See Configuring the Policies for the Database.

Leaf Server
  1. Assign the role as Leaf Server during installation. See Assigning the Roles for the Server.
  2. Configure the Inventory Policies for the workstations attached to this server. See Configuring the Inventory Policies for Workstations.
  3. Configure the Roll-Up Policy for this server. See Configuring the Roll-Up Policy for Roll-Up of Scan Data.

Intermediate Server with Workstations
  1. Assign the role as Intermediate Server with Workstations during installation. See Assigning the Roles for the Server.
  2. Configure the Inventory Policies for the workstations attached to this server. See Configuring the Inventory Policies for Workstations.
  3. Configure the Roll-Up Policy for this server. See Configuring the Roll-Up Policy for Roll-Up of Scan Data.


Configuring the Roll-Up Policy for Roll-Up of Scan Data

If there is a need for roll-up of scan data in your inventory setup, you specify the details, such as the next-level server(DN of the Inventory Service object) for roll-up in the Roll-Up Policy that is contained in the Server Package.

To configure the Roll-Up Policy:

  1. Create a Server Package that contains the Roll-Up Policy for identifying the next-level server for roll-up.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Policy Packages container > click New > click Policy Package > click Server Package > click zeininvRollUpPolicy > click Next.

    2. Type the name for the Server Package > click Next > click Finish.

  2. Enable the Roll-Up Policy in the Server Package and associate the Server Package.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Server Package > click Properties > click Policies.

    2. Click one of the following subtabs: General, NetWare, or WinNT-2000.

      General: Creates the Server Package for NetWare and Windows NT/2000 servers.

      NetWare: Creates the Server Package for NetWare servers.

      WinNT-2000: Creates the Server Package for Windows NT/2000 servers.

    3. Check the check box under the Enabled column for the zeninvRollup Policy.

    4. Click Properties.

      The Roll-Up Policy tab should be displayed.

    5. Browse to select the DN of the Inventory Service object > click OK.

    6. Click the Associations tab > Add.

      The first time you enable the Roll-Up Policy, you will prompted to associate the policy package. The policy you configured and enabled earlier will not be in effect until you associate this policy package with a server.

    7. Browse for the server that you want to associate the Roll-Up Policy to > click OK twice.

  3. Schedule the Roll-Up time.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Server Package > click Properties > click Policies.

    2. Click one of the following subtabs: General, NetWare, or WinNT-2000.

      General: Creates the Server Package for NetWare and Windows NT/2000 servers.

      NetWare: Creates the Server Package for NetWare servers.

      WinNT-2000: Creates the Server Package for Windows NT/2000 servers.

    3. Click the Roll-Up Policy row > Properties > Roll-Up Policy tab > Roll-Up Schedule.

    4. Modify the settings for scheduling the roll-up time > click OK.

      HINT:  While scheduling the roll-up of data in the Inventory Policies, we recommend the roll-up frequency should be at least one day. It is likely that if the roll-up of scan data is scheduled too frequently, for example less than one hour, there may be some performance degradation of the Inventory server.


Configuring the Policies for the Database

The installation program creates the database object for Sybase and configures the database server. However, you need to do the associations for the server as specified in Step 4 through Step 7.

If you are maintaining the Inventory database in Oracle:

  1. Create the Database object.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click a location in the tree for the Database object > click New > click Object > click ZENworks Database > click OK.

    2. Type a name for the Database object > click OK.

  2. Configure the Database Server options of the Database object.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Database object > click Properties > click ZENworks Database.

    2. Browse for the DN of the server or type the IP address of the server.

      For a NetWare 4.x server, specify the IP address.

    3. Type the values for the following options:

      • Database(Read-Write) User Name: MW_DBA
      • Database(Read-Write) Password: novell

    4. Click OK.

  3. Ensure that the JDBC Driver properties are correct as per your database configuration.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Database Object > click Properties > click Jdbc Driver Information.

    2. Click Populate Fields with Default Values for an Oracle Database > click Populate Now.

      Database Settings For a Sybase Database For an Oracle Database

      Driver

      com.sybase.jdbc.SybDriver

      oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver

      Protocol

      jdbc:

      jdbc:

      SubProtocol:

      sybase:

      oracle:

      SubName:

      Tds:

      thin:@

      Port:

      2638

      1521

      SID Service Name (Service ID of the Oracle database)

       

      orcl

    3. Click OK.

  4. Create the Service Location Package to associate the Database object with this package.

    You must set up the ZENworks Database Policy to establish the location of the database; otherwise, no information can be logged to the database.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Policy Packages container > click New > click Policy Package > click Service Location Package > click ZENworks Database > click Next.

    2. Type the name for the Service Location Package > click Next > click Finish.

  5. Configure the Service Location Policy and associate the database with the policy.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Service Location Package > click Properties > click Policies.

    2. Check the check box under the Enabled column for the ZENworks Database Policy.

    3. Click Properties.

    4. Browse to the DN of the ZENworks Database object > click OK twice.

  6. Click the Associations tab > Add.

  7. Browse to select the container under which the Database Object is present > click OK twice.


Configuring the Inventory Policies for Workstations

In the Workstation Inventory Policy, you configure the following settings for scanning workstations:

To configure the Workstation Inventory Policy:

  1. Create a Policy Package for the workstations.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Policy Packages Container > click New > click Policy Package > click Workstation Package > click Next > click Workstation Inventory > click Next.

    2. Type the name for the Workstation Package > click Next > click Finish.

  2. Enable and associate the Workstation Inventory Policy.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Workstation Package > click Properties > click Policies > click one of the following subtabs: Win95-98 or WinNT-2000.

    2. Check the Workstation Inventory Policy > click OK.

    3. Click the Associations tab > Add.

    4. Browse to select the container object under which the workstations are registered > click OK twice.

  3. Specify the Inventory server to which the scanner will send the workstation scan data.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Workstation Package > click Properties > click Policies > click one of the following subtabs: Win95-98 or WinNT-2000.

    2. Click the Workstation Inventory row > Properties > the Workstation Inventory Policy tab.

    3. Browse to select the DN of the Inventory Service object.

    4. Check the Enable the software scan option to include software scanning of workstations.

    5. Click the Custom Scan Editor button to select the software that you want to scan for at the workstations > modify the list.

    6. Click OK.

  4. Schedule the time for activating the scanning at the workstations.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Workstation Package > click Properties > click Policies > click one of the following subtabs: Wind95-98 or WinNT-2000.

    2. Click the Workstation Inventory Policy row > Properties > the Policy Schedule tab.

    3. Modify the settings for scheduling the scan of the workstations > click OK twice.

  5. Ensure that scanning is enabled.

    In the Inventory Service Object property page, you enable the scan of the workstations associated with the selected Inventory server.

    1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Inventory Service object (servername_ZenInvService) > click Properties > click the Inventory Service Object Properties tab.

    2. Check Enable Scan of Workstations > click OK.

      If you have configured the Inventory server that is a Windows NT/2000 server and there are Windows 95/98 workstations that will send their scan data to that Windows NT/2000 server, you must do the following for the scanners to collect data:

      If there are NDS users who are also Windows NT/2000 Domain Users, ensure that the users logged in are valid users of the Windows NT/2000 domain in the existing Share created by ZENworks.

      If there are users logged in to a different domain, ensure that the users are Trusted users of the domain in the existing Share created by ZENworks.

      If there are NDS users who are not users of any Windows NT/2000 domain, ensure that the users do not log in to NDS during workstation startup. However, these users can log in to NDS later.


Viewing the Inventory Information

The following table shows you the steps required to view and query inventory information and to generate inventory reports:

HINT:  To view the inventory information, you must have administrative privileges. An administrator can assign users as trustees of the database object, see Assigning Trustees to the Database Object in Workstation Inventory in Administration.

To: Do this:

View the Inventory Summary of a managed workstation
  1. In ConsoleOne, click Tools > click Configure DB > click a ZENworks Database object > click OK.
  2. Right-click a managed workstation > click Actions > Inventory.

View the Minimal Inventory Information of a managed workstation
  1. Right-click a managed workstation > click Properties > click ZENworks Inventory > click Minimal Information.

Query the Inventory database

  1. In ConsoleOne, click Tools > click Configure DB > click a ZENworks Database object > click OK.
  2. Click a container > Tools > Inventory Query.

Generate the inventory reports
  1. In ConsoleOne, click Tools > click Configure DB > click a ZENworks Database object > click OK.
  2. Click the server object.
  3. Click Tools > Inventory Reports.
  4. Click the report you want to generate.
  5. Specify the Selection Criteria.
  6. Click the Run Selected Report button.

HINT:  If you are generating inventory reports from an Inventory database that has inventory information of more than 2,000 workstations, we recommend that you use the Data Export tool for better performance. The Data Export tool generates the inventory information in to a Comma Separated Value (.CSV) file. Use this .CSV file along with any standard reporting tool such as Seagate* Crystal Reports*.

Exporting the inventory data to Comma Separated Value format
  1. In ConsoleOne, click Tools > click Configure DB > click a ZENworks Database object > click OK.
  2. Click Tools > Data Export.

You will be guided by the Data Export wizard to complete the data export.