Rule Construction

Use this dialog box to configure a Closest Server rule. Click OK when you are finished to save the rule definition and close the dialog box.

Rule Name

Specify a name for the rule. It displays in the Closest Server Rules listing in ZENworks Control Center. To access this listing, click Configuration in the left pane, click the Configuration tab, click the Management Zone Settings panel to open it, click Infrastructure Management section to open it, then click Closest Server Rules. All defined rules for the current level are displayed there.

Exclude the Closest Server Default Rule

Select this check box if you do not want to append the default rule. The Closest Server rules feature first uses the servers specified in the rule, then proceeds to any other servers listed in the Closest Server Default rule if the specified servers are not available to the managed device. Therefore, to obtain content only from the servers specified in the rule, select this check box to exclude all other servers.

Rule Logic

Using the Rule Logic fields, create the rule expression.

An expression consists of a criteria option, operator, and value. For example:

DNS Name Filter equal to *.novell.com

DNS Name Filter is the criteria option, equal to is the operator, and *.novell.com is the value. In the above example, the Closest Server rule is applied only to devices whose DNS name ends with .novell.com.

If necessary, you can use NOT to perform a logical negation of the expression. For example:

NOT DNS Name Filter equal to *.novell.com

In the above example, the Closest Server rule is applied only to devices whose DNS name does not end with .novell.com.

You can use more than one expression for the rule. For example:

DNS Name Filter equal to provo.novell.com or IP Address equal to 123.45.678.12/24

The criteria options you can use are listed below.

Option

Explanation

DNS Name Filter

Matches DNS names that meet the filter criteria. You can specify an exact filter or use a question mark (?) or an asterisk (*) as a wildcard to match one or more characters in the DNS name. A ? matches one character and an * matches one or more characters. Examples:

  • provo.novell.com: Matches all devices in the provo subdomain of the novell.com top-level domain.
  • *.novell.com: Matches all devices in the novell.com top-level domain, including any devices in subdomains.
  • provo?.novell.com: Matches all devices in the provo1 and provo 2 subdomains of the novell.com top-level domain; does not match devices in the provo12 subdomain.

IP Address /n

Matches IP addresses that fall within the specified CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing) block. With CIDR, the dotted decimal portion of the IP address is interpreted as a 32-bit binary number that has been broken into four 8-bit bytes. The number following the slash (/n) is the prefix length, which is the number of shared initial bits, counting from the left side of the address. The /n number can range from 0 to 32, with 8, 16, 24, and 32 being commonly used numbers. Examples:

  • 123.45.678.12/16: Matches all IP addresses that start with 123.45.
  • 123.45.678.12/24: Matches all IP addresses that start with 123.45.678.

Collection, Content, and Configuration Server Lists

You can perform the following tasks for the servers in each of the three section’s lists. As noted in the first column, some of the tasks apply to only the Closest Server Default Rule page, and other tasks apply to only the Rule Construction dialog box.

Task

Steps

Additional Details

Add members to a servers list

(Rule Construction dialog box only)

  1. In one of the role section listings, click Add.

  2. Browse for and select one or more servers.

    You can add Primary Servers and Satellites.

  3. Click OK to add the selected servers to the list.

The selected servers are added only into the list where you clicked Add. You can have different servers in each list.

Primary Servers and Satellites with the assigned role are automatically included in the lists for the Closest Server Default rules.

Reorder the servers

  1. In one of the role section listings, select the check box for one of the servers.

  2. Click Move Up or Move Down as necessary to change its order in the list.

  3. Repeat as necessary for the other servers listed.

Determines the order devices should use to contact the servers for collection, content, and configuration purposes.

You can order the servers in the lists differently. This allows you to spread the collection, content, and configuration workload initiated devices by placing different servers higher in one list than in the other two lists. For example:

  • Collection Servers:  

    Server1, Server2, Server3

  • Content Servers:  

    Server2, Server3, Server1

  • Configuration Servers:  

    Server3, Server1, Server2

Copy an existing group

  1. In one of the role section listings, click Groups > Copy Existing Group.

  2. Select a group from the drop-down list, then click OK.

  3. Click Apply to make the change effective.

When you copy an existing group, it retains its group name and some of its members.

For a member to be retained in the copied group, it must already have the role assigned to it that matches the role for the copied group’s new section.

Create an empty group

  1. In one of the role section listings, click Groups > Create Empty Group.

    You can add members to it later using the Groups > Add to Group option.

  2. Click Apply to make the change effective.

The created group displays only in the role section where it is created.

Create a group from the selected servers

  1. In one of the role section listings, select the check boxes for one or more servers.

  2. Click Groups > Create Group from Selection.

  3. Specify a group name, then click OK.

  4. Click Apply to make the change effective.

Servers can be members of multiple groups and L4 switch definitions.

Servers that are members of a group or L4 switch definition are no longer listed at the top level of the server listing.

Remove a group

  1. In one of the role section listings, select the check boxes for one or more groups.

  2. Click Groups > Remove Group, then click OK.

  3. Click Apply to make the change effective.

In order to retain servers that were previously added to a role section’s listing, when you remove a group, any of its members that are not members of another group or L4 switch definition in the listing are moved to the top level of the listing.

Add servers to a group

  1. In one of the role section listings, select the check boxes for one or more servers.

  2. Click Groups > Add to Group.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To add the selected servers to a new group, select Create New and specify a group name, then click OK.

    • To add the selected servers to an existing group, select a group from the drop-down list in the Select Existing field, then click OK.

  4. Click Apply to make the change effective.

Servers can be members of multiple groups and L4 switch definitions.

Servers that are members of a group are no longer listed at the top level of the server listing.

Remove servers from a group

  1. In one of the role section listings, select the check boxes for one or more servers that are listed under the group.

  2. Click Groups > Remove from Group, then click OK.

  3. Click Apply to make the change effective.

In order to retain servers that were previously added to a role section’s listing, this places the removed servers back at the top level of the listing, unless they are a member of another group or L4 switch definition in that listing.

Create an empty L4 switch definition

(Closest Server Default Rule only)

  1. In one of the role section listings, click L4 Switch > Create Empty L4 Switch Definition.

  2. Specify an L4 switch definition name, then click OK.

    IMPORTANT:The L4 switch definition name must be either the DNS name or IP address of the L4 switch itself.

  3. Click Apply to make the change effective.

The L4 switch definition is displayed in each of the three listings, no matter where it is created.

Create an L4 switch definition

(Rule Construction dialog box only)

   

This option is not used in the Rule Construction dialog box.

Create an L4 switch definition from selected servers

(Closest Server Default Rule only)

  1. In one of the role section listings, select the check boxes for one or more servers.

  2. Click L4 Switch > Create L4 Switch Definition from Selection.

  3. Specify an L4 switch definition name, then click OK.

    IMPORTANT:The L4 switch definition name must be either the DNS name or IP address of the L4 switch itself.

  4. Click Apply to make the change effective.

The created L4 switch definition is displayed in each of the listings, no matter where it is created, with the selected servers listed under each instance of the L4 switch definition.

Servers can be members of multiple groups and L4 switch definitions.

Servers that are members of an L4 switch definition or group are no longer listed at the top level of the server listing.

Remove an L4 switch definition

(Closest Server Default Rule only)

  1. In one of the role section listings, click L4 Switch > Remove L4 Switch Definition, then click OK.

  2. Click Apply to make the change effective.

Removing an L4 switch definition from one role section removes it from the other two role sections.

In order to retain servers that were previously added to a role section’s listing, when you remove an L4 switch definition, any of its members that are not members of another group or L4 switch definition in the listing are moved to the top level of the listing.

Remove L4 switch

(Rule Construction dialog box only)

  1. In one of the role section listings, click L4 Switch > Remove L4 Switch, then click OK.

  2. Click Apply to make the change effective.

Removing an L4 switch definition from one role section removes it from the other two role sections on the dialog box.

Removing an L4 switch definition in the Rules Construction dialog box does not remove the definition from the Closest Servers Default Rule page.

In order to retain servers that were previously added to a role section’s listing, when you remove an L4 switch definition, any of its members that are not members of another group or L4 switch definition in the listing are moved to the top level of the listing.

Add servers to an L4 switch definition

(Closest Server Default Rule only)

  1. In one of the role section listings, select the check boxes for one or more servers.

  2. Click L4 Switch > Add to L4 Switch Definition.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To add the selected servers to a new L4 switch definition, select Create New and specify an L4 switch definition name, then click OK.

      IMPORTANT:The L4 switch definition name must be either the DNS name or IP address of the L4 switch itself.

    • To add the selected servers to an existing L4 switch definition, select an L4 switch definition from the drop-down list in the Select Existing field, then click OK.

  4. Click Apply to make the change effective.

Servers can be members of multiple groups and L4 switch definitions.

Servers that are members of an L4 switch definition are no longer listed at the top level of the server listing.

Add L4 switch

(Rule Construction dialog box only)

  1. In one of the role section listings, click L4 Switch > Add L4 Switch, select an existing switch from the drop-down list, then click OK.

  2. Click Apply to make the change effective.

Allows you to select an existing L4 switch definition from those displayed on the Closest Server Default Rule page.

Remove servers from an L4 switch definition

(Closest Server Default Rule only)

  1. In one of the role section listings, select the check boxes for one or more servers that are listed under the L4 switch definition.

  2. Click L4 Switch > Remove from L4 Switch Definition, then click OK.

  3. Click Apply to make the change effective.

In order to retain servers that were previously added to a role section’s listing, this places the removed servers back at the top level of the listing, unless they are a member of another group or L4 switch definition in that listing.

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