Novell ZENworks® : Custom Scanning and Custom Reporting

Jon Lorton

Category Specialist

jlorton@novell.com

Mike Ellerbe

Category Specialist

mellerbe@novell.com

Agenda

Novell Resource Management

Inventory Architecture

Software Scan Configurations

Custom Inventory

Custom Reports

Resources

Novell Resource Management

Architecture

Basic Inventory Components

Service Manager

Loads inventory components on the server based on the server properties files

Inventory Scanner

Collects workstation hardware and software information based on the inventory policy

WINSCAN.EXE on Win9x

NTSCAN32.EXE on NT/2000/XP

ZENworks Inventory Components

Scanner

Policies

Agent on ZENworks managed device which discovers hardware and software inventory and component information. The scanner pulls information from multiple sources.

Middle Tier

Inventory Database

Console

Inventory Server

ZENworks Inventory Components

ZENworks Inventory Policies manage inventory scanning configuration, scope and schedule. Policies are also used to roll up inventory data from multiple Inventory Servers and control the distribution of the software dictionary.

Scanner

Policies

Middle Tier

Inventory Database

Console

Inventory Server

ZENworks Inventory Components

The ZENworks Middle Tier Server allows devices outside of the firewall to securely connect and send inventory data to an Inventory Server. It also provides access to directory-based policies needed to control inventory scanning.

Scanner

Policies

Middle Tier

Inventory Database

Console

Inventory Server

ZENworks Inventory Components

The ZENworks Inventory Server receives scans directly from inventory agents or from other inventory servers through the rollup process, and stores the information in an inventory database.

Scanner

Policies

Middle Tier

Inventory Database

Console

Inventory Server

ZENworks Inventory Components

The ZENworks Inventory Database is a repository of hardware and software information of managed devices. Console components, such as Inventory Reporting and Inventory Query, extract information from an Inventory Database.

Scanner

Policies

Middle Tier

Inventory Database

Console

Inventory Server

ZENworks Inventory Components

The ZENworks Console provides administration tools to administer the ZENworks Inventory system. Examples of tools include ZENworks Inventory Reporting and ZENworks Inventory Query.

Scanner

Policies

Middle Tier

Inventory Database

Console

Inventory Server

Inventoried Devices w/

ZENworks scanner

Database

Server

Inventory Display

Reporting Windows

Management Console

ZENworks

Inventory

Server

Inventory

Policies

Novell eDirectory™

Software

Dictionary

Server/Workstation

Inventory Data:

Software

Hardware

How it Works

ZENworks

Mid-Tier

Server

What's New:
What was added with ZENworks 6.5

Platform Support

New Inventory Sever Support:

Windows Server 2003

Continued Inventory Server Support:

NetWare® 6 SP3 & NetWare 6.5 SP1

Windows Server 2000 SP4

Support for Oracle 9i

Linux & Solaris Servers

Windows NT & 2000 Server

Supported Desktops:

Windows XP Professional

Windows 2000

Windows 98 SE

Added Hardware Scanning

Chassis type

Chassis Type:

Manufacturer:

Asset Tag:

Serial Number:

Version Number:

Unique chassis ID Tag:

Number of power cords:

Monitor

Device ID:

Description:

Serial Number:

Model:

Model ID:

Manufacture Date

Size (Normal and Viewable):

Software Inventory Data Sources

Windows Platforms

File scanning

OS Information

Windows Add/Remove Programs

Add'l registry information

Local MSI database

NetWare Platforms

File scanning

Product.dat

Software Scanning:
OS

Windows OS & Components

Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Outlook

Windows Hotfixes, Patches and Support Packs

NetWare OS & Component

Client32™ components

ZENworks Components

Management Agents

NAL, Workstation Manager, R/C, Inventory, Imaging, PDS, MMS

ZENworks Servers

Software Scanning:
ARP

Add/Remove Programs

Name

Vendor

Version

Category

Description

Helplink

Package GUID

Product Identifier

Internal version

Uninstall string

Last execution time

Frequency of usage

Support pack version

Edition

Software Scanning:
Local MSI DB

MSI Installed Applications

Package Name

Package Vendor

Package Version

Package GUID

Install Source

Normalization
of Software Inventory Data

ZENworks 6.5 uses an established list of 17,000 known software applications to:

Distinguish between individual components/files and an application

Identify Microsoft Office and ZENworks 6.5 Suites and their components.

Insure that products are not “double reported” when multiple executables make a single program

Insure components left over from removed programs do not report a false positive.

Normalization
of Software Inventory Data

Based on 33,000+ entries in a dictionary of “known” software titles

Software discovered on managed devices, but not in the software dictionary is reported as “unknown”.

Wizard for adding “unknown” software to the software dictionary via a wizard, and is reported as know from then on.

Updated quarterly from support.novell.com with X new software titles.

Software Scanning control

New flexibility in scanning controls include...

Include/Exclude drives

Include/Exclude directories

Wild card and regular expressions are supported in include/exclude rules.

Configuring the Software Dictionary

Providing Accurate Software Inventories

* Configured in Inventory Service Object

Software Dictionaries-

General Dictionary – Base-line Rules for all Users

Ex: exclude- My Documents, My Pictures, My Downloads, Filedate <2002-30-01, *.jpg and Platform=Win 95

Private Dictionary – User Defined for any Exceptions and	overrides the General Dictionary

Ex: Include- *.jpg, or other Filedate>2004-25-05, WinXP

Software Identifier – identifies particular product installed

Ex: Include – Msaccess.exe, Winword.exe

Identifier Rules – a set of conditions that controls scope of	scanning process

Ex: Include - *.exe, exclude - *.jpg

Providing Accurate Software Inventories

* Configured in Inventory Service Object

Edit Dictionary -> Edit Table

Include Unidentified Software -

Ex: Custom applications or non-defined applications

Exclude Applications in the Inventory

Ex: Solitaire or other utilities

Software Versioning

Maximum Version – report only highest version

Ex: Acrobat 6

Multiple Version – all versions of a product

Ex: Acrobat 5, 6, 7

Software Scanning

Include/exclude -> .extensions, directories, drives, software

Providing Accurate Software Inventories

* Configured in Inventory Service Object

Software Aliases -

Vendor Names

Ex: Novell* -> Novell Incorporated

Software Names

Ex: Microsoft Internet Explorer -> Internet Explorer

Add/Remove Software

The software information of the same vendor might sometimes have different vendor names or product names

Ex: Adobe Acrobat 5.0 -> Acrobat Reader

Custom Hardware Inventory

Custom Inventory

Customizing the DMI scanner

Use a DMI browsing tool

ie. Intel's DMI Explorer

Insert the correct path into the ASSET.INI

Add vendor specific path for:

Serial Number

Asset Tag

Model Number

etc.

Creating the ASSET.INI file

Custom Inventory

User-defined inventory information

Cubicle Number, Cost, Location, Admin. Name

Custom.ini file on the workstation

Custom.ini created by Custom executable or manually

Custom executable to be developed by user

Custom.ini is read by scanner

Regular and Custom data are merged

Inventory Query, Workstation Inventory, Data Export can operate on Custom data

Security via policy for Custom attributes

Configuring Custom Scanning

Server Side

Use ConsoleOne® to edit the Workstation Policy Package

Inventory Policy > Hardware Scan

Enable Custom Scanning

Use the Attribute Editor to add new entries

Workstation Side

Create the custom.ini file

Distribute to the workstations with a ZENworks application package

Place in the <windows_system_drive>:\ZENWORKS folder

Configuring Custom Inventory

Custom.ini Format

[START_CIM_OBJECT]

<Class Name>

<comma-separated list of regular attribute names>

<comma-separated list of regular attribute values>

<Operation A/D>

Custom attribute Name 1 = value 1

Custom attribute Name 2 = value 2

...

[END_CIM_OBJECT]

…

Custom.ini—Example

[START_CIM_OBJECT]

Class = Asset

Location = Portland

[END_CIM_OBJECT]

Identification Information

Specify regular attribute values to identify the instance to which the custom attributes belong

One or more attribute values uniquely identify an instance of a class

Class

Required Attributes

CIM.IPProtocolEndpoint

Address

ZENworks.LogicalDiskDrive

Caption

CIM.Processor

DeviceID

Viewing Custom Information

Inventory Summary reports custom information

Inventory Query allows filtering on custom information

Custom Reports

Predefined set of reports

Customization is not possible

Reports available include Operating System Listing, Network Adapter Listing and Software Listing

Uses Crystal Reports

Canned Inventory Reports

New Server and Desktop Inventory Reports

25 new report types... and counting

What do you want? Let us know!

Based on new Software/OS Inventory scanning

MSI Applications

Add/Remove Programs

Microsoft Office

IE, Outlook, Media Player

Anti-virus programs and signature file

Programs/Products/Application files...

Canned Inventory Reports

Viewing Custom Reports in ConsoleOne

Create an RPT file with Crystal Reports

Save the file in the appropriate folder

...\ConsoleOne\1.3.6\Reporting\canned\Novell Reporting\ZENInventory\en

Edit the UserReports.ini file

Located in the ...\ConsoleOne\1.3.6\bin directory

Install ODBC driver on the management workstation

Configure ODBC DSN for Zeninventory

Run the user defined report from ConsoleOne

ZENworks Reporting > Other Reports > User Defined Reports

Data Export

Export from the Inventory database in to a comma separated value (CSV) file

Select the inventory components that should be exported, such as the Operating System Name and Version

Filter the managed nodes whose attributes will be exported

Save the data export configurations

Import the CSV file into a report-generating tool

Select Software Filter to export the specified software

1

2

3

4

5

6

Things to cover:

Upgrade from current products

Co-existance with past versions (details)

Crystal is now the common reporting engine for all ZENworks

No need for duplicate inventory infrustructure

Things to cover:

Upgrade from current products

Co-existance with past versions (details)

Crystal is now the common reporting engine for all ZENworks

No need for duplicate inventory infrustructure

Things to cover:

Upgrade from current products

Co-existance with past versions (details)

Crystal is now the common reporting engine for all ZENworks

No need for duplicate inventory infrustructure

Things to cover:

Upgrade from current products

Co-existance with past versions (details)

Crystal is now the common reporting engine for all ZENworks

No need for duplicate inventory infrustructure

Things to cover:

Upgrade from current products

Co-existance with past versions (details)

Crystal is now the common reporting engine for all ZENworks

No need for duplicate inventory infrustructure

Things to cover:

Upgrade from current products

Co-existance with past versions (details)

Crystal is now the common reporting engine for all ZENworks

No need for duplicate inventory infrustructure

Windows OS & Components

Internet Explorer, Windows Mediaplayer, Outlook

Windows hotfixes, patchs and Support Packs

NetWare OS & Component

Client 32 components: NDPS, NMAS, NICI, NetIdentity

Windows OS & Components

Internet Explorer, Windows Mediaplayer, Outlook

Windows hotfixes, patchs and Support Packs

NetWare OS & Component

Client 32 components: NDPS, NMAS, NICI, NetIdentity

Windows OS & Components

Internet Explorer, Windows Mediaplayer, Outlook

Windows hotfixes, patchs and Support Packs

NetWare OS & Component

Client 32 components: NDPS, NMAS, NICI, NetIdentity

Windows OS & Components

Internet Explorer, Windows Mediaplayer, Outlook

Windows hotfixes, patchs and Support Packs

NetWare OS & Component

Client 32 components: NDPS, NMAS, NICI, NetIdentity

Windows OS & Components

Internet Explorer, Windows Mediaplayer, Outlook

Windows hotfixes, patchs and Support Packs

NetWare OS & Component

Client 32 components: NDPS, NMAS, NICI, NetIdentity

Windows OS & Components

Internet Explorer, Windows Mediaplayer, Outlook

Windows hotfixes, patchs and Support Packs

NetWare OS & Component

Client 32 components: NDPS, NMAS, NICI, NetIdentity

Windows OS & Components

Internet Explorer, Windows Mediaplayer, Outlook

Windows hotfixes, patchs and Support Packs

NetWare OS & Component

Client 32 components: NDPS, NMAS, NICI, NetIdentity

2003-12-08T12:43:39