Home

ManageEngine Desktop Central :: Admin Guide

1. Configurations Install Uninstall Scan Systems Tools Audit Soh Getting Started Search Go Add Configurations igi Configuration Summary Useful Links Configuration Summary i Templates Collection st 7 days Last 30 days amp ui Recently Added Modified Configurations I Configuration Name Status daj Insta Software mg Ready tarnai g 24 Le LEE gaj Install Software 4 E in Progress 0 T MyConfiguration Ready To Execute r Install Patch B Executed 2 Comp UserMag Su Suspended O ag 1 iah 2 E Suspended 1 Comp Envi Check Executed E Draft 0 SB Power Managemen E SF Fower Wanegement coin Exetel Status Inventory Summary Computers by Operating System amp ui Software Summary a 6 Windows Vista 3 Total Software i Bd qi 4 2 B Windows XP 6 In Complicance Licenses 2 lia 3 ie Server 1 24 i ver 1 Under Licensed sn 2 F F Eo Windows 7 1 l gam License Expired 1 Operating Systems B Unknown 0 Prohibited Software li Tabbed Pane Tabs provides easier navigation between various modules features of Desktop Central Each tab represent a specific module feature in Desktop Central The content of the left pane varies depending on the tab selected The following are the tabs present in the product ZOHO Corp 15 Home The home tab provides a quick summary of the configurations defined in the form of charts Apart from the
2. Creating Custom Groups Desktop Central provides an option to create custom group of computers and users which can be used to as targets for applying the configurations The advantages of custom groups are 1 You can have any number of custom groups to group computers and users of a specific department You can create this once and can use these groups as targets for deploying the configurations 2 You can add or remove users computers from groups at any point of time 3 Groups once created can be used in any number of configurations To create a custom group follow the steps below 1 Select the Admin tab 2 Click the Custom Groups link available under the Global Settings This will list all the Custom Groups that have been created 3 Click the Create New Group button and specify the following values 1 Specify a name for the custom group This should be unique 2 Select the Domain or the Workgroup from the list 3 Select the Group Type as Computers or Users This will list the available computers users in the selected domain Tip By default the users computers will get displayed in Tree View Use List View link to view users computers as a list Manual entry of computers users is possible using Manual Input option 4 Select the computers users and move them to the Added list 4 Click Submit to create the group 1 Repeat step 3 amp 4 for creating more groups List View 1 Click on the List View link for the users com
3. __ keep Blocking Unblock Ask Me Later Windows Firewall has blocked this program from accepting connections from the Internet or a network IF you recognize the program or trust the publisher you can unblock it When should unblock program Fig MySQL Alert ZOHO Corp 10 Windows Security Alert a PN To help protect your computer Windows Firewall has blocked some features of this program Do you want to keep blocking this program Name Jara TM 2 Platform Standard Edition binary Publisher Sun Microsystems INe Keep Blocking Unblock Ask Me Later Windows Firewall has blocked this program from accepting connections from the Internet or a network you recognize the program or trust the publisher you can unblock it Wher should I unblock program Fig Java Alert Launching the Desktop Central Client To launch the Desktop Central client L 2 open a Web browser and type http hostname 8020 in the address bar Here the hostname refers to the DNS name of the machine where Desktop Central is running Specify the user name and password as admin in the respective fields and click Login Steps to Perform after Initial Login When you login to Desktop Central for the first time perform the following steps 1 oe Define the scope of management Scope can be limited to a small set of computers or the whole domain Define and apply configurations to either users or computer
4. Follow the step 4 to step 6 of the Adding the Script Details procedure 5 Click the Modify button ZOHO Corp 37 Removing the Script Details To remove the Script details follow these steps 1 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page 2 Click the Script Repository link in the Admin Links pane The Script Repository page is invoked 3 Click the icon under the Actions column next to corresponding Script name Click OK to confirm deletion The script will be removed from the Script Repository table ZOHO Corp 38 Configuring Server Settings Server settings like Web server port logging level and other properties can be configured from here These settings are common to all the users using Desktop Central and not user specific To configure the server settings select the Admin tab gt Server Settings link To configure server settings di 2 3 4 Select the Start Desktop Central automatically on machine bootup check box if you wish to start Desktop Central whenever the system is started Select the Launch the client upon successful server startup check box if you wish to open the client whenever the Desktop Central Server is started Select the Enable Secure Login Https option to enable https in the client Click the Save Changes button To change the log level l 2 Select the log level from the Current Log Level combo box Click Save Changes button ZOHO Corp 39
5. ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policy Remove drag and drop context menu on the start menu Prevent changes to taskbar and start menu settings Remove context menu for the taskbar Do not keep the history of recently opened documents Clear history of recently opened documents history on exit Turn off personalized menus Turn off user tracking Add run in separate memory space check box to run dialog box Do not use the search based method when resolving shell shortcuts Do not use the tracking based method when resolving shell shortcuts Gray unavailable Windows installer programs start menu shortcuts Prevents users from using the drag and drop method to reorder or remove items on the Start menu Also it removes context menus from the Start menu Removes the Taskbar and Start Menu item from Settings on the Start menu This setting also prevents the user from opening the Taskbar Properties dialog box Hides the menus that appear when you right click the taskbar and items on the taskbar such as the Start button the clock and the taskbar buttons Prevents the operating system and installed programs from creating and displaying shortcuts to recently opened documents Clear history of recently opened documents on exit Disables personalized menus Windows 2000 personalizes long menus by moving recently used items to the top of the menu and hiding items that have not been u
6. Password peo ered Prevents users from changing the account password of Passwords applet in Control Panel local users through the password applet in control panel Restrict using Change Prevents users from accessing change password Passwords page Hide Background page Prevents users using background page Hide Remote ee Removes remote administration page Administration page Hide User Profiles page Removes user profiles pages Hide Device Manager Removes device manager page page A Progs Prevents hardware profile page form being accessed Don t display the Suppresses the welcome screen This setting hides the getting started welcome screen that is displayed on Windows 2000 welcome screen at Professional and Windows XP Professional each time the logon user logs on Directs the system to search Active Directory for missing Component Object Model components that a program requires Prevent access to Disables the Windows registry editors Regedit exe and registry accessing tools Regedit exe Windows 2000 displays the instructions in logon scripts written for Windows NT 4 0 and earlier in a command Run legacy logon window as they run although it does not display logon scripts hidden scripts written for Windows 2000 If you enable this Prevents users from changing the password Download missing COM components setting Windows 2000 does not display logon scripts written for Windows NT 4 0 and earlier
7. Purchased Date The date of purchase Expiry Date The date of expiry License Key The Purchase license Key details License File The file containing the license particulars for a particular software Invoice File The file containing the Purchase information for a particular software You can filter the view based on the compliant status of the software like Under License Over license Expired Software etc ZOHO Corp 62 Create Software Groups Desktop Central allows administrators to group software that have to be seen as a single group For example if you have different versions of Microsoft Office installed in your network and you wish to view all the Microsoft Office installations as a single software you can group all the Microsoft Office versions and create a group This way it IS very easy to manage your software licenses You may have to move all the paid software in your network to Commercial category prior to grouping them To create a new Software Group 1 Click the Inventory tab to view the Inventory Summary 2 Click the Group Software link from the left pane available under Actions Settings This will list all the software groups that have been created Click the Add Software Group to create a software group 3 This opens the Add Modify Software Groups dialog listing all the commercial software installed in your network 4 Specify a name for this group 5 Select the software that you wish to group and m
8. Removes shutdown from the start menu and task ZOHO Corp 34 Security Policy No computers near me in My Network places No Entire network in My Network places Do not request alternate credentials Request credentials for network installations Hide logoff menu item Removes the Computers Near Me option and the icons representing nearby computers from My Network Places This setting also removes these icons from the Map Network Drive browser Removes the Entire Network option and the icons representing networked computers from My Network Places and from the browser associated with the Map Network Drive option This setting suppresses the Install Program As Other User dialog box for local and network installations This dialog box which prompts the current user for the user name and password of an administrator appears when users who are not administrators try to install programs locally on their computers This setting displays the Install Program As Other User dialog box even when a program is being installed from files on a network computer across a local area network connection This option removes Log Off item from the Start Menu It also removes the Log Off button from the Windows Security dialog box The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation 85 ManageEngine Desktop Central H
9. it also provides you with an automated patch management system that helps you to manage and apply Windows patches and hot fixes The Inventory Management module provides the hardware and software details of the devices in the network In enables you to manage the software licenses and detect any unauthorized software that are being used Remote Desktop Sharing enables you to gain access to a desktop in the network to be controlled remotely Desktop Central provides the complete history of the configurations applied to the users computers and by configuration types in the form of reports that can be used for auditing the deployed configurations In addition to the configurations reports it also provides Active Directory reports for Sites Domains Organization Units Groups Computers etc which gives you a complete visibility into the Active Directory The User Logon Reports provides an up to date user logon details like the logon time logoff time logon computer reported logon server etc It maintains the history of the logon details that can be used for auditing purposes The following sections will help you to get familiar with the product e Getting Started Provides you the details of system requirements product installation and startup e Configuring Desktop Central Helps you to customize our product to suit your working environment e Windows Configurations A step by step guide to define and deploy configurations to r
10. 3 Click Update The patches listed under Excluded Patches will not be scanned for by Desktop Central See Also Patch Management Architecture Patch Management Life Cycle Scan Systems for Vulnerability Patch Reports ZOHO Corp 58 Setting Up Asset Management This section will guide you through the configurations that have to be performed to manage the software and hardware assets Scan System for Inventory Manage Software Licenses Create Software Groups Manage Software Category Configure Prohibited Software Configure E Mail Alerts Schedule Inventory Scanning ZOHO Corp 59 Scan Systems for Inventory I g Scan Systems for Inventory To get the inventory details of the systems the following conditions have to be met e The systems should be added in the Scope of Management e The systems have to be scanned at least once You can also configure periodic scanning of systems to get an updated information e The systems to be scanned should have WMI Service running and DCOM enabled Steps to Enable DCOM To Enable DCOM in Windows 2000 Computers Select Start gt Run Type DCOMCNFG in the text field Click OK Select Default Properties tab Check the box Enable Distributed COM in this machine Press OK sa ee To Enable DCOM in Windows XP Computers Select Start gt Run Type DCOMCNFG in the text field Click OK Expand Component Services gt Computers gt My Computer Righe click My Computer and selec
11. 34 Configuring Mail Server Desktop Central has an option to send a notification by email when the patches are downloaded and are ready to be installed Email Alerts are also sent for notifying the Inventory related events To send email the mail server has to be configured Follow the steps given below to specify the mail server details L 2 3 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page Click the Mail Server Configuration link This opens the Configure Mail Server Settings page Specify the name and port of the mail server If it requires authentication select the Requires Authentication check box and specify the user name and password Click Save to save the configuration ZOHO Corp 35 Configuring Help Desk Integration Desktop Central provides an option to integrate with Help Desk With this users will be able to send their help desk queries and requirements so that they are attended by help desk professionals Steps to Integrate with Help Desk Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page Click the Help Desk Settings link available under Global Settings The Help Desk Settings tab is selected by default Specify the Email addresses of the help desk professionals If you have not already configured the Mail Server Settings specify the details here 6 Click OK to save the changes URWNK When you integrate with Help Desk the users will have an additional menu as Send Help Desk Requests in the
12. Failed 18 1113 The Given User Account is not a valid Domain Administrator 19 1114 The Given Password is wrong 20 1115 Active Directory Domain Controller not Found 21 1222 The Network is not present or not started 1001 Storage Error Occurred The configurations defined using Desktop Central are stored in the database If we are unable to store the configuration details this error message is shown The reasons could be any of the following Could not establish connection with the database Violations in data definitions 1002 Unknown error This error is shown when any runtime error occurs which is not defined in Desktop Central Please contact desktop central support with the details of the error 1003 DB Error This error is shown when the database connection is lost 1004 DB Error This error message Is shown when you try to access the data which has been deleted from the database ZOHO Corp 72 1010 Invalid User While defining the scope of management if the user name provided is invalid this error message Is shown 1011 User is already Inactive When you try to add an user which is already present in the Inactive User list this error message Is shown 1101 Invalid Container name While defining targets for the configuration or while defining the scope of management if an invalid nonexistent container name Is given this error occurs The error message is Shown when you click Add more targets bu
13. Ports Used by Desktop Central Server Installing Desktop Central Server Uninstalling Desktop Central Server Supported Operating Systems Desktop Central can be installed on computers running the following operating systems both 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 2000 Professional Windows XP Professional Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows 2000 Server Windows 2003 Server Windows 2008 Server Virtual Servers VM Ware Pre requisites for Installing Desktop Central Server 1 Desktop Central has to be installed in any of the operating systems mentioned above It can either be installed on the Domain Controller or in any Workstation Server in the network 2 Ensure that the hardware requirements are met in accordance to the number of computers being managed using Desktop Central 3 It is recommended to have a Static IP Address for the computer where Desktop Central Server is installed This is because the agents installed in the client computers communicates with the Desktop Central Server using this IP Address 4 You should install the product as an administrator since the product is installed and run as an Windows Service Ports Used by Desktop Central Server Desktop Central Server uses the following ports 1 TCP Port 8020 Used for HTTP communication between the server and the agent 2 TCP Port 8383 Used for HTTPS communication between the server and the agent 3 TCP Port 8443 Used for Remote Desktop Sharing If you are runni
14. been added 2 Click the Add Package button 3 Select the Package type as MSI and specify the following details Package Package Name Name of the Software Package Select any of the following e Network Path If the software has to be installed in computers in the same LAN select Select the path type this option HTTP Path If the software has to be installed in computers in branch offices over the VPN tunnel or internet select this option When you select the HTTP Mode you need to browse Add Files to Upload and select the installables which will be uploaded to the Desktop Central Server When you select the Network Path option specify the name of the MSI file with its complete network path This path should have all the related files and should have necessary read amp execute permissions Example MyServer MSIApps Skype skype msi MSI File Name with network path ZOHO Corp 46 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Parameter Description Advanced Options optional Installer Uninstaller Settings When you choose to copy the installables to individual MSI Root Path computers before installing the software you need to specify the directory to be copied For applications that supports customizations prior to installation you can customize the installation and specify it here For example you can customize the MS Office 2003 installation by specifying the license keys choosing the componen
15. configuration summary it also provides Inventory summary and the health patch status of the network Configurations The configurations tab provides the core functions of the product It has links to define configurations and collections and view the defined configurations based on the type and status Patch Mgmt This provides the details of the available and missing patch details along with options to install them Software Deployment Provides options to create MSI and EXE package repository which can then be used to deploy software to the windows machines in the network Inventory Provides the details of the software and hardware inventory of the network It allows you to manage software licenses and prohibited software Tools The Tools tab provides ability to share a remote desktop and control it through a Web browser You can also schedule a task to run various system tools like Disk Defrag Check Disk and Disk Cleanup on different machines in the network Reports The reports tab provides a comprehensive reports of the defined configurations based on users computers and type It also provides ready made reports of the Active Directory components For more details about the available reports refer to Viewing Reports topic Admin The admin tab helps you to customize the product to your environment It helps you to define the scope of management manage inactive users in your domain manage MSI EXE files and scripts apart from other p
16. configure advanced TCP IP settings If you enable this setting the Advanced button on the Internet Protocol Properties dialog box Is disabled for all users including administrators ZOHO Corp 89 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policy Determines whether users can view the status for an Prohibit viewing of status active connection The connection status taskbar icon for an active connection and Status dialog box are not available to users including administrators Prevents users from making network files and folders Remove make available available offline This setting removes the Make offline Available Offline option from the File menu and from all context menus in Windows Explorer Sync offline files before Determines whether offline files are fully synchronized logging off when users log off The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 90 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policies System Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in System category Security Policy he En Ede Disables the Windows registry editors Regedit exe editing tools If this setting is enabled and users try to start Task Remove task manager Manager a message appears explaining that a policy prevents the action Me eae Bock Prevents users from locking their workstation Workstation Restrict Changing
17. determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 100 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policies Computer Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in Computer category requirement for logon before a user can log on Restrict CD ROM access to locally logged on user only Mee access te Determines whether removable floppy media is locally logged on user only accessible to both local and remote users simultaneously Prevent users from It prevents users from installing printer drivers on the installing printer drivers local machine Prevent user from Disables the buttons on the File Types tab As a result changing file type users can view file type associations but they cannot association add delete or change them Determines whether a CD ROM is accessible to both local and remote users simultaneously The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 101 Windows System Tools e Check Disk Tool e Disk Cleanup Tool e Disk Defragmenter Tool ZOHO Corp 102 Check Disk Tool The Check Disk tool creates a status report of the disk based on its file system The errors in the disk is also displayed It can also be used to correct the disk errors Desktop Central supports the following options to run the check disk tool e
18. determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting
19. directed to only run those shell Shell extensions extensions that have either been approved by an administrator or that will not impact other users of the machine Determines whether Windows traces shortcuts back to Do not track Shell their sources when it cannot find the target on the user s shortcuts during roaming system Remove search button Removes the Search button from the Windows Explorer from Windows explorer toolbar Hides the manage item Removes the Manage item from the Windows Explorer on the Windows explorer context menu This context menu appears when you context menu right click Windows Explorer or My Computer This setting removes the Hardware tab from Mouse Keyboard and Sounds and Audio Devices in Control Remove hardware tab Panel It also removes the Hardware tab from the Properties dialog box for all local drives including hard drives floppy disk drives and CD ROM drives Remove DFS tab Removes the DFS tab from Windows Explorer Prevents users from selecting the option to animate the Remove Ul to change movement of windows menus and lists If you enable menu animation setting this setting the Use transition effects for menus and tooltips option in Display in Control Panel is disabled Remove Ul to change When this Display Properties option is selected the keyboard navigation underlining that indicates a keyboard shortcut character indicator setting hot key does not appear on menus until you press ALT
20. installation file and the path specified should be relative path from that directory When using absolute path use the environment variables instead of specifying the path directly For example for c use SystemDrive Modifying MSI EXE Packages To modify the MSI EXE packages follow these steps a a Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page Click the Software Repository link in the Admin Links pane Click the icon under the Actions column next to corresponding package Follow the step 4 and step 5 of the Adding MSI EXE Packages procedure Click the Modify Package button Removing MSI EXE Packages To remove the MSI EXE packages follow these steps 1 2 3 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page Click the Software Repository link in the Admin Links pane Click the icon under the Actions column next to corresponding package Click OK to confirm deletion The package details will be deleted from the table ZOHO Corp 51 Setting Up Patch Management This section will guide you through the configurations that have to be performed for managing patches of Windows OS and Applications Configuring Proxy Server Configuring Vulnerability DB Synchronization Interval Configuring Automated Patch Deployment Configuring System Health Policy Excluding Patches for Scan ZOHO Corp 52 Configuring Proxy Server configuring Proxy Server Desktop Central periodically updates the vulnerability databas
21. installed The user specified here can be either a domain user or a local user with admin privileges It is recommended to set the password of the user specified here to Password Never Expires When the password of this user changes Desktop Central Server will not be able to start as the credentials will fail ZOHO Corp 18 Defining Scope of Management Eg Defining Scope of Management After successful installation the first thing you do is to define the Scope of Management SoM to use the features of Desktop Central The SoM refers to the list of computers that are managed using Desktop Central The managed computers can be from Active Directory Workgroup or any other directory service like Novell eDirectory The managed computers can be either in the same LAN or in any remote location that are connected through VPN or Internet Following the Scope of Management section you can proceed with e Adding Domain Workgroup e Managing computers in LAN e Managing computers in WAN ZOHO Corp 19 Adding Domain Workgroup 4 a igs Adding Domain Workgroup A windows network is typically based on Windows Active Directory Workgroup or Novell eDirectory When you install desktop Central in your network it automatically discovers all the domains and workgroups available in your network Novell eDirectory based network are discovered and managed as workgroups in Desktop Central Discovering Domains Workgroups To
22. it to a computer in another Domain 2 Package is in computer share of a Domain and you are trying to install it to a computer in a Workgroup or vice versa 3 Package is in computer share of one Workgroup and you are trying to install it to a computer in another Workgroup In Custom Script configuration Logoff and shutdown scripts cannot be executed Known Issues in deploying Configuration to Windows Vista Client Machines l When Security Policies are deployed to Windows Vista machines the status will be shown as successful but the policies will not be applied Known Issues in Desktop Sharing 1 If the remote computer is shutdown using Remote Desktop Sharing the viewer will not close by itself and has to be closed manually It will display a blue screen Showing a message Meeting has stopped ZOHO Corp 110 2 4 When connecting from Firefox Flock browsers Desktop Central Add on xpi will be installed every time you access a remote computer using the Active X viewer If you do not accept to install the xpi within 20 seconds the remote service will be killed and you will not be able to access it You have to close the viewer and have to connect again In Java viewer Zoom In Zoom Out and Full Screen icons in the toolbar will not work When a remote connection is established a message You are now controlling the desktop will appear If you do not click OK within 20 seconds the connection will close automatic
23. rrnnnrrrnnrnnnnnnnnrrnrrrnnnnnnnrvnnnrnnnnnnnnrennnnnnnnnsnsrnnnrnnnnsnnnsrnnnrnnnnnnn 55 Configuring System Health Policy rrnrrrnrennrrnnnnnnnnrrrnnnnnnnnrrnnrrnnnnnnnsvnnnrnnnnnnnssennnnnnnnsnsssrnnnnnnnsnsssssssennnnnnnnn 57 ad 81 Ude 2 10 0 EEE EE E ER 58 ZOHO Corp 1 Setting Up Asset Management vesisicadnssiannnnmesweasioninsleaunnssondwendnendauesansteauiasaandudeaasnancananwnnandairnisawntanss 59 ocan OY EEE ET JER EE EE EN NN NR 60 Manage GI AE 90 GEER E 62 Create Sotware GOUNS Lusunde ad dais anise EEE E ret aE AA a raan ie 63 Manage Software Category i s sricisssinninssssiitin torniin itaona ng nednensdddsynnnduakenneedvsnennnndngesn ads sadesanenennnt ae 64 Configure Prohibited Software rrrrrrnnnnrnnrrrrrrnnnnnnnrrrvrrnnnnnnnvrnnnnnnnnnnnnsrnnnnnnnnnsnnssnnnnnnnnnsnernnnnnnnnnsnssaeennnnnnnnn 65 Configure E Mail Alerts cccccccsssseececececeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeseseeeeseceeeesseeesseseeeesseeaauaesseeeeeeessaaansess 67 Schedule Inventory SCANNING serae a eaae aR A EE RE 68 Setting Up User Logon Reports cccccceeeeceeceeeeceeaeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeaaeaeeesceeeeeeeeeeeeeeseesaaaaeganes 69 Setting Up Active Directory Reports cccccccccccccceeeeeesssseseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesuaaeaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesaaaaaaas 70 APPENDIX ernen EEE 71 Interpreting Error Messages rrrarrnrarrnnnnnnnnnnvnvanennnnrnnnnnnnnnnrnnnnennnnsnnnnsnnnnsennnnennnnsnnnnernnnsennn 72 DO EEE EE N
24. tab to view the Inventory Summary Click the Configure Email Alerts link from the left pane available under Actions Settings Select the alert criteria select all that apply Specify the email addresses as comma separated Click Update Alert Settings Note For email alerts to be sent you should have configured your mail server settings ZOHO Corp 67 Schedule Inventory Scanning l Schedule Inventory Scanning To schedule scanning of systems periodically 1 2 3 Click the Inventory tab to view the Inventory Summary Click the Schedule Inventory Scan link from the left pane available under Actions Settings Select the Enable Inventory Scan Scheduler check box and specify the frequency at which the scanning has to be performed You have the following options to choose the interval 1 Daily to update everyday You need to specify the starting time and Starting day 2 Weekly to update on specific day s in a week You need to specify the starting time and the day s on which the update should happen 3 Monthly to update on a specific day every month s You need to specify starting time select a day and select a month months Click Save Changes to Save the configuration ZOHO Corp 68 Setting Up User Logon Reports As a first step define the Scope of Management You should only be able to track the user login details for the users logging in from the computers that are within the defined scope After a
25. test mathi karups RO 2 3 yes zohocorpin DSserver2 192 168 1 232 8021 8384 http no RO 3 10 yes zohocorpin DSserver3 192 168 1 222 8021 8384 https yes web proxy 80 admin admin RO 4 30 yes zohocorpin DSserver4 192 168 1 233 8021 8384 https no ZOHO Corp 30 RO 5 2 n0 Nttp yes web proxy 80 admin admin RO 6 3 n0 http no RO 7 33 n0 https yes web proxy 80 admin admin RO 8 35 n0 Nttps no Editing Remote Office Parameters The CSV file import method offers simplified options to edit Remote Office parameters Let us say you want to change the proxy server name for your remote offices You don t have to manually edit the proxy details of each and every remote office This can be done by creating a CSV file that contains only the remote office name and the parameter that needs to be updated the proxy server name in this case for instance REMOTE OFFICE NAME PROXY SERVER RO 1 web proxyl RO 2 web proxy2 Installing Agents in Branch Remote Office Computers Note Desktop Central agents have to be manually downloaded and installed in Branch Remote Office computers To install agent in multiple computers in the same location you can use the command line tool provided Install Agent in a Single Computer 1 Download the Desktop Central agent from the SoM Page using the Download Agent Link Please make sure you have downloaded the Agent with respective Remote Office name Local Office re
26. to Name Executing Scripts in Software installation for more details Specify the arguments for the pre uninstallation Script if any Select this option and specify the exit code to check Continue uninstallation for successful pre uninstallation process before if the exit code is uninstalling of the software If the pre installation fails the uninstallation will abort Run Script after Uninstalling Software Specify the commands or scripts that has to be Script Command executed after uninstalling the software Refer to Name Executing Scripts in Software installation for more details Specify the arguments for the post uninstallation script if any Select this option and specify the exit code to verify Successful if the Exit whether post uninstallation has been successful If Code Is post installation is not successful the software will not be re installed Arguments 3 Click Add Package The package gets added to the table below 4 Repeat steps 3 to 5 for adding more packages ZOHO Corp 48 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Adding an MSI EXEC EXE I SS Command Package 1 Click the Software Deployment tab This invokes the Software Package Repository page listing the details of the packages that have been added wN Click the Add Package button Select the Package type as MSI EXEC EXE I SS Command and specify the following details Name of the Software Application Clic
27. to the EXE Root Directory specified above Example Skype uninstall exe If the uninstaller in the individual computers has to be invoked you can specify the complete path to the uninstaller please note that the uninstaller has to be in the same location in all the client computers You can use environment variables in the path Examples C WINDOWS ie7 spuninst spuninst exe q SystemRoot ie7 Spuninst spuninst exe q ZOHO Corp 49 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Parameter Description Advanced Options optional Installer Uninstaller Settings When you select the Network Path option specify the shared directory from where all the commands will be executed This directory should have access to all the executables that are required to install the application Package Properties Name of the software vendor EXE Root Path Version The software version The software language version Package Description Description of the software package Run Script before I nstalling the Software Specify the commands or scripts that has to be executed Script Command Name before installing the software Refer to Executing Scripts in Software installation for more details Arguments Specify the arguments for the script if any Select this option and specify the exit code to check for Continue installation if successful pre installation process before proceeding with the exit code Is the software i
28. Active Directory reports by email whenever it gets updated You have an option to select the reports to be e mailed and the email addresses Select Admin gt AD Reports Settings to open the report settings page Select the Enable AD Report Scheduler option Select the Send Reports by Email option Specify the From To Address and Email Subject Click the Select Reports button to select the reports to be sent by email Click Save Changes sd After the completion of every scheduled update the selected reports will be e mailed to specified email addresses ZOHO Corp 70 Appendix This section includes the following topics Interpreting Error Messages Knowledge Base FAQS Security Policies Windows System Tools Data Backup and Restore Dynamic Variables Limitations Glossary ZOHO Corp 71 Interpreting Error Messages 1 1001 Storage Error Occurred 2 1002 Unknown Error 3 1003 DB Error 4 1004 DB Error 5 1010 Invalid User 6 1011 User is already Inactive 7 1101 Invalid container name 8 1103 Group Policy Object GPO creation failed 9 1104 Group Policy Object GPO deletion failed 10 1105 Group Policy Object GPO linking failed 11 1106 Group Policy Object GPO unlinking failed 12 1107 WMI query failed 13 1108 Active Directory error occurred 14 1109 Unable to Extract Information from the given Msi Package 15 1110 Access is Denied 16 1111 File Copy Failed 17 1112 Folder Copy
29. Agent icon that is shown in the system tray of the managed computers It may be noted that the Agent Tray icon should have been configured to be shown to get this working Customizing the Ticket Subjects and Messages Desktop Central has a set of pre defined request templates that will be available under the Tickets tab The administrators has an option to modify the subject and messages to suit their need This helps them to automate the Help Desk Ticketing system based on the mail subject To add or modify a ticket follow the steps below Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page Click the Help Desk Settings link available under Global Settings Select the Tickets tab This will list all the pre defined ticket templates Click Add Ticket to add a new template or select a template and click Edit to modify 5 Specify the Subject and the Message and click OK BRWNE The templates specified here will appear in the users desktop when they click the Desktop Central icon from the system tray ZOHO Corp 36 Managing Custom Scripts e Adding the Script Details e Modifying the Script Details e Removing the Script Details Custom script files are used to configure the software settings trigger events etc in the computer of a network The custom script files can be batch bat command cmd Windows Script Host WSH files The WSH files includes the VBScript vbs Java Script js Perl php REXX and Python files The
30. All the selected computers gets added to the Scope of Management The Scope of Management page will list all the computers that are being managed by Desktop Central along with the status of the agent installation and the agent version Agents can also be installed at a later stage by selecting the computers from Admin gt SoM page and clicking the Install Agent button from the Desktop Central Console If you have problems in installing the agents refer to our online knowledge base for possible causes and solutions Installing Agents Using Windows GPO Agent installation through the console might fail due to various reasons like some security restrictions firewall configurations etc There is a possibility that even after trying the resolutions provided in the online knowledge base the installation can still fail In such cases you can install the agents with a startup script using Windows GPO The agents gets installed during the next computer startup ZOHO Corp 23 Refer to the online knowledge base for the steps to install the agents using Windows GPO Installing Agents Manually You can also install the agents manually by downloading the agent program from http lt host name gt lt port number gt agent DesktopCentralAgent msi where lt host name gt refers to the machine running Desktop Central and lt port number gt refers to the Web port to access the client the default being 8020 Double click the msi
31. Changes button ZOHO Corp 42 User amp Role Management e Overview e Role Management At times when you find a user s contribution obsolete you can go ahead and delete the user from the User List The user so removed will no more exercise Module Permissions ZOHO Corp 43 Setting Up Software Deployment To deploy software using Desktop Central the administrator has to first add the software packages by specifying the location and the installation switches Only Desktop Central users with administrative privileges can add software packages Separate packages have to be added for MSI and EXE based software applications The packages thus added can then be used to deploy the software to the users and computers by defining a Install Software Configuration You can also specify the Network Share for Software Repository to store all the Software binaries MSI EXE The following section describes the steps involved in adding a software package in Desktop Central e Configure Network Share for Software Repository e Managing Software Packages ZOHO Corp 44 Configure Network Share for Software Repository The Desktop Central application automatically prompts to configure Network Share path when proceeding with Software Deployment However you can exit this screen using the Skip button This section will guide you to configure Network Share for Software Repository 1 Click on Software Deployment tab This opens the So
32. Computer and My Network Places Restrict adding any Prevents users from adding Web content to their Active desktop items Desktop Restrict deleting any desktop items Restrict editing any desktop items Restrict closing any desktop items Do not allow HTML wallpaper Restrict changing wallpaper Enable active desktop Disable active desktop Prohibit changes Allow only bitmapped wall paper Prevents users from deleting Web content from their Active Desktop This setting removes the Delete button from the Web tab in Display in Control Panel Prevents users from changing the properties of Web content items on their Active Desktop This setting disables the Properties button on the Web tab in Display in Control Panel Restrict closing any desktop items This setting removes the check boxes from items on the Web tab in Display in Control Panel Permits only bitmap images for wallpaper This setting limits the desktop background wallpaper to bitmap bmp files Specifies the desktop background wallpaper displayed on all users desktops This setting lets you specify the wallpaper on users desktops and prevents users from changing the image or its presentation Enables Active Desktop and prevents users from disabling it This prevents users from trying to enable or disable Active Desktop while a policy controls it Disables Active Desktop and prevents users from enabling it This prevents users from t
33. Desktop Central sd Example Value of the Variable ComSpec uer ark eks C WINNT system32 cmd exe Refers to the home HomePath directory as defined in J OHNSMITH UMD AD NtType cae Server Workstation 605 Short name of currently Windows NT installed operating system 0SVersion oe Teper Beck Windows 2000 2000 amp XP will report back Refers to the build number OsBuildNumber of the currently installed 1381 2195 operating system Refers to the service pack OsCsdVersion of the currently installed operating system Will be replaced by the full l prof 3 ne oe profile Will be replaced by the full path of where user profiles C Documents and Settings are stored Will be replaced by the path C Documents and Internet Files shell folder Settings Temporary Internet Files Will be replaced by the path Cookies shell folder Will be replaced by the path n ShellDesktop to current user s Desktop edel and shell folder ettings J ohnSmith Desktop ZOHO Corp 108 DDE Description Example Value of the Variable Variable Will be replaced by the path to current user s Favorites C Documents and shell folder also referred to SettingsV ohnSmith Favorites as IE Bookmarks Will be replaced by the path C Documents and mee Shell folder Settings History Will be replaced by the path C Documents and ShellMyPictures to current user s My Settings ohnSmith My Pictures shell folder Documents My Pic
34. FOND Ole gene Chop or copying programs in the Scheduled Tasks folder Prohibit new task Prevents users from creating new tasks creation Prohibit task deletion Prevents user from deleting users from the scheduled tasks folder EE menu Prevents users from viewing or changing the properties of newly created tasks This setting removes the Browse button from the Schedule Task Wizard and from the Task tab of the Prohibit browse properties dialog box for a task Also users cannot edit the Run box or the Start in box that determine the program and path for a task Hide property pages The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 93 Security Policies Windows Installer Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in Windows Installer category Security Policy Description This setting extends elevated privileges to all programs These privileges are usually reserved for programs that have been assigned to the user offered on the desktop assigned to the computer installed automatically or made available in Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel This setting lets users install programs that require access to directories that the user might not have permission to view or change including directories on highly restricted computers Always install with elevated privileges This setting prevents Windows Installer from recording the original state of the
35. Game Graphics Internet Multimedia and Others You can modify delete or assign software to these categories You can also create your own category To add a new software category 1 Click the Inventory tab to view the Inventory Summary 2 Click the Manage Software Category link from the left pane available under Actions Settings This will list all the software categories that have been added including the pre defined categories Click the Create New Category to add a new category 3 Specify a name for the category 4 The details of the software available in your network is listed below Select the software that have to assigned to this new category and click gt gt button This is optional When you do not select any software an empty category gets created and you can assign software to this category later 5 Click Update The new category gets added to the table below To modify a software category 1 Click the Inventory tab to view the Inventory Summary 2 Click the Manage Software Category link from the left pane available under Actions Settings This will list all the software categories that have been added including the pre defined categories Click the Edit icon from the Actions column of the category that you want to edit 3 Rename the category and or add remove software to from this category and click Update To delete a software category 1 Click the Inventory tab to view the Inventory Summary 2 Click
36. If the setting is enabled the system displays each Run logoff scripts on in the Ff scri he visible Instruction in the logo script as It runs The instructions appear in a command window Run logon scripts If the setting is enabled Windows Explorer does not start synchronously until the logon scripts have finished running This setting ZOHO Corp 91 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policy Run logon scripts visible Do not process the legacy run list Do not process the runonce list Create a new GPO links disabled by default Enforce show policies only Turn off automatic update of ADM files ensures that logon script processing is complete before the user starts working but it can delay the appearance of the desktop If the setting is enabled the system displays each instruction in the logon script as it runs The instructions appear in a command window If the setting is enabled the system ignores the run list for Windows NT 4 0 Windows 2000 and Windows XP You can create a customized list of additional programs and documents that are started automatically the next time the system starts but not thereafter These programs are added to the standard list of programs and services that the system starts If you enable this setting the system ignores the run once list This setting creates all new Group Policy object links in the disabled state by default After you confi
37. LETT aae A Desktop Central Admin Guide www desktopcentral com Copynght 2010 Zoho Corp Table Of Contents INIRODOC HON sie aesecesncnsecescecaetenanetenievssavssaundesseesseeusen eccuneaunesasesasenvsenaesseeeaseceeeeweateus 3 INSTALLATION amp SETUP senennnnnnnnnnnvnnnnnnennnennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnnnennnennnnnnnnnnnnnnennnennnen 5 Oy SL Mi Fe CU Iie meno EE EN 6 Foire ae APER Ge JO ye EEE EN EE 8 Working with Desktop Central ccccccccccccesseeeceeeeeceseeeeeeeesseeeeeeseaeeeeeseeeeeesseaaeeeesaaeeeeseas 10 HANSE PAOR sirpin se anaE EEEE E E EEEE EE ENE iE 12 Licens ng Me gd 1016 1 C0 EN EE a N 13 Understanding the Chent EEE EE RE NE 15 Setting Up Desktop Central r rrrrnnrnnnnrrnrnnnnrrnnnnnnrvnnrnnnnennrnnnnennrnnnsennnnnnsrnnnnnsssnnnnnssennnnnene 17 Configuring Desktop Central for Windows Vista 2008 rrrnnnnnnnnnrnvnvvvvvvnnrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnrnereveeeeennnnen 18 Defining Scope of Management rrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnvnnnnnnnnsennnnnnnsnnnnnnnnnennnnnnnnsennnnnnsnsennnnnsnsennnnnsnseennn 19 Adding Domain Workgroup o EE nnen 20 Managing computers in LAN esronnrnnnnnrrnrnnnrvnnnnnrnnnnnnrnvnnnsnnnnnnsnnnnnnsnnnnnrnnnnnrnnnnnernnnnnsennnnrnnnnnrnnnnsnnennnnssennnn 23 Managing Computers in WAN rrrrnnnnrenrnnrrvnnnnnrvvnnnrennnnrrennnnnennnnnrennnnnennnnernnnnnrennnnsnennnnsennnnsnennnnssssennnnsennnn 25 Conigurnng Agent SENGS Laser aasdedjdn 33 Goniqunng Mall SEET soccccecvass neste ten
38. R 75 Security Policies cece ccceeccccceseececeeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeceesaeeeceesseaeeeeseeaeeeessuaeeeesseaeeessaaeeeessaaeeeeees 78 Security PASSE DESK Narve eee 79 Security Policies Desktop rrrrrnnrrrnnnnnnnovvnnrrrnnnnnnrrnnnrnnnnnnnnssrnnnnrnnnnnnnsssnnnnnnnnnnnnsennnnnnnnnssnssnsennnn 81 Security Policies Control Panel rrrnnnnrrnrrnnrrnnnnnnnnrnnnrrnnnnnnnsrnnnnnrnnnnnnnsssnnnnnnnnnnnssnnnnnnnnnnnnassennennn 82 Secufly Policies Explore sss cadensapsvedoccsacahacunssntsSasacedsendsacatssctaend sfonecstasu vedbicbuacedsfecacobecuvisad aewarededes 84 Security Policies Internet ExplOrer cccccccececeeccceeceeeeeeeeceeeseeeessceeeeeessaeeeseeeeeeesesaeagseeeeeessaeagas 86 Security Policies Network rrrrrnnnnrnnnnnnnnnrrvrrnnnnnnnnovnvnrnnnnnnnnnsrnnnnnnnnnnnnnssnnnnnnnnnnsesennnnnnnnnnnsssnsennnn 89 Security Policies System c0ssccececcecnsceesseeeeececccceseseeeeeeeseccsenseeeeeecsccassenseceenseeccesseeeeeeeeeseees 91 Security Policies Task Scheduler rrrrnrrnnrrnnnnnnnnnvrnnnrrnnnnnnnrnnnnnnnnnnnnnssennnnnnnnnnnnssennnnnnnnnnssennnnen 93 Security Policies Windows Installer ccc ccccccccceeeceeeeeeeceeeeeeseeeeseeceeeeeesseeaeceeeeeeseaeaseeeeeeeeesaaas 94 Security Policies Start Menu and Taskbar rrrnnrnnnrnnnnnnnnnrvnnrrnnnnnnnnrennnrrnnnnnnnnsrnnnnnnnnnnnsnnnnnnnnnnn 95 Security Policies Microsoft Management Console rrrnrrrnrrnnnrrnnnnnnnnrnrnnrrnnnn
39. Save Changes ZOHO Corp 106 The destination directory specified as the argument should be an existing directory If you specify a nonexistent directory the data backup will not happen The MySQL database should be running when the task Is called If Desktop Central is running the database will also be running Data Restore To restore the backed up data follow the steps below 1 Open a command prompt 2 Goto lt Install Dir gt DesktopCentral Server bin directory 3 Execute the restoreDB bat file as given below restoreDB bat lt backup file name gt The back up file name has to be the zip file from which you wish to restore the data This will restore the data from the backup file Note 1 Desktop Central should be shutdown prior to restoring the data 2 After restoration the changes made after the backup date will not be available ZOHO Corp 107 Dynamic Variables Dynamic Variables are those that are replaced dynamically by Desktop Central while applying the configurations As the name implies the value of these variables are not the same for all the users computers For example to redirect the shortcuts of the start menu that are common for all the users to the system drive you can use the dynamic variable SystemDrive This will be replaced by the corresponding system drive of that computer like C D etc while deploying the configuration The table below lists the dynamic variable supported by
40. Temp Will be replaced by the path to user s Windows folder WinDir usually same as C WINNT SystemRoot exception ShellFavorites C Documents and Settings ohnSmith NetHood ShellPersonal C Documents and Settings J ohnSmith Start Menu would be a terminal server ZOHO Corp 109 Limitations UT When a site is chosen as the target for a user configuration the status of the configuration will always be In Progress This is because it is not possible to get the exact user counts of individual sites When a user login to different computers in a domain the status of the configurations defined for that user will reflect the status of the latest deployment When an already defined configuration is modified and re deployed the previous data will be overwritten and will not be shown in history reports Remote Shutdown Tool will not work for Windows 2000 computers Disk Defragmentation is not supported in Windows 2000 computers Shared and IP Printer configurations will not work in Windows Vista Windows 2008 and Windows 7 computers Known Issues 4 Printers shared in a Domain cannot be shared to computers in a Workgroup or vice versa Redirecting folders between computers of different Domains or between a Workgroup and a Domain computer is not supported Software Installation will not work in the following cases 1 Package Is in computer share of one Domain and you are trying to install
41. Verbose Displays the name of each file in every directory as the disk is checked e Quick Check This option is available only for the NTFS File system Selecting this option will perform the check disk operation quickly by skipping the checking of cycles within the folder structure and by performing a less vigorous check of index entries ZOHO Corp 103 Disk Cleanup Tool The Disk Cleanup utility helps to cleanup the unwanted filed in the disk to increase the free space Desktop Central cleans the windows system for the following Remove Active Setup Temp Folders Compress old files Remove content indexer Remove downloaded Program Files Remove internet cache files Remove memory dump files Remove Office setup files Remove offline files Remove web pages Remove old check disk files Empty recycle bin Remove remote desktop cache files Remove setup log files Remove old system restore positions Remove Temporary files Remove temporary offline files Remove uninstall backup images Remove webclient and web publisher cache files See Also Windows System Tools Creating and Scheduling Tasks Viewing and Modifying the Tasks Viewing Task History Disk Defragmenter Check Disk ZOHO Corp 104 Disk Defragmenter Tool Adapted from Windows Help Documentation Volumes become fragmented as users create and delete files and folders install new software or download files from the Internet Computers typically save
42. ally You have to close the viewer and have to connect again ZOHO Corp 111 Glossary Site Domain Organizational Unit Group User Computer IP Address Group Policy Object GPO Client Side Extension CSE Define Target Scope of Management Inactive Users Collection Applicable Patches Latest Patches Missing Patches Missing Systems Affected Systems Informational Patches Obsolete Patches This section provides the description or definitions of the terms used in Desktop Central Site One or more well connected highly reliable and fast TCP IP subnets A site allows administrators to configure Active Directory access and replication topology quickly and easily to take advantage of the physical network When users log on Active Directory clients locate Active Directory servers in the same site as the user Domain Domain is a group of computers that are part of a network and share a common directory database A domain is administered as a unit with common rules and procedures Each domain has a unique name Organizational Unit OU An organizational unit is a logical container into which users groups computers and other organizational units are placed It can contain objects only from its parent domain An organizational unit is the smallest scope to which a Group Policy object can be linked or over which administrative authority can be delegated Group A collection of users computers contacts and ot
43. ams on settings menu Remove network connections from start menu Prevents Control Panel Printers and Network Connections from running Prevents users from running Network Connections Remove favorites from Prevents users from adding the Favorites menu to the start menu Start menu or classic Start menu Remove search from Start menu Removes the Search item from the Start menu and disables some Windows Explorer search elements This setting removes the Search item from the Start menu and from the context menu that appears when you right click the Start menu Also the system does not respond when users press the Application key the key with the Windows logo F Remove help menu from Removes the Help command from the Start menu start menu Remove run from start menu menu Remove logoff on the Start menu Remove and prevent access to the shutdown command Allows you to remove the Run command from the Start menu Internet Explorer and Task Manager Adds the Log Off lt username gt item to the Start menu and prevents users from removing it Removes the Log Off lt username gt item from the Start menu and prevents users from restoring It Prevents users from shutting down or restarting Windows This setting removes the Shut Down option from the Start menu and disables the Shut Down button on the Windows Security dialog box which appears when you press CTRL ALT DEL ZOHO Corp 95
44. anage Desktops of Roaming w Users Multi Technician Support Distribution Server for Bandwidth Optimization Free Edition can be used to manage up to 25 desktops Granular reports on Active Directory are not available in the Free Edition For purchasing the license or for any pricing related queries please contact sales manageengine com ZOHO Corp 13 To upgrade from a Trial Free Edition to Standard Professional Enterprise Edition 1 When you purchase the product the license file will be sent through e mail which can be used to upgrade the product 2 Click the License link available in the top right corner of the Desktop Central client This opens the License details of the product 3 Click the Upgrade Now link and select the license file received from ManageEngine using the Browse button 4 Click Upgrade button to upgrade ZOHO Corp 14 Understanding the Client UI Tabbed Pane Quick Links Left Pane Content Pane Desktop Central client presents complex desktop management information to administrators in a clear well organized and easily understandable manner The Client is a multi pane interface with tabs and quick links on the top pane tab specific links on the left pane and object specific views on the right pane The home page looks similar to the one shown below EE e Desktop Central 7 Configurations Patch Monit Software Deployment Inventory Tools Reports Admin amp Support
45. at the MSI package Is corrupted 1110 Access is Denied The Active Directory credentials are taken while you define the scope of management This credential is stored in Desktop Central which will be used for deploying configurations When this credential becomes invalid or if it does not have necessary privileges this error is shown One possible reason is that the credential is modified outside the Desktop Central 1111 File Copy Failed This error message Is shown when the user do not have necessary privileges to copy a file Check whether the credentials supplied while defining the Scope of Management has necessary privileges 1112 Folder Copy Failed This error message is shown when the user do not have necessary privileges to copy a folder Check whether the credentials supplied while defining the Scope of Management has necessary privileges 1113 The Given User Account is not a valid Domain Administrator When the user account provided in the Scope of Management does not belong to a Domain Administrator group 1114 The Given Password is wrong The password provided in the Scope of Management is not valid 1115 Active Directory Domain Controller not Found This error message is shown when no Active Directory Domain Controller is found in your network Desktop Central requires either of the two to perform the configurations 1222 The network is not present or not started This error message Is shown when Desktop Cen
46. ave Changes Note It may be noted that you will not be allowed to select the same patch severity in different health states i e if you select Low for Healthy Systems you will not be allowed to select Low option for Vulnerable and Highly Vulnerable states ZOHO Corp 57 Exclude Patches M exclude Patches Desktop Central allows administrators to configure the applications and patches that has to be excluded from scanning The patches excluded here will not be shown under the missing patches Administrators can choose to exclude 1 Specific missing patches for individual applications or 2 Missing patches of an application as a whole To Exclude Applications 1 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page 2 Click Exclude Patch link available under Patch Settings 3 Click on Exclude Applications tab 1 Select the Applications listed under Available Applications 2 Click on gt gt button to move them under Excluded Applications list 3 Click Update The patches of the Applications listed under Excluded Applications will not be scanned for by Desktop Central To Exclude Specific Patches 1 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page 2 Click Exclude Patch link available under Patch Settings 3 Click on Exclude Patches tab 1 Select patches listed under Available Patches You can use the Filter by product to view product wise patches 2 Click on gt gt button to move them under Excluded Patches list
47. below to configure the Auto Uninstall Policy 1 Select the Auto Uninstall Policy tab 2 Select Enable Automatic Uninstallation check box 3 Specify the Maximum number of Software that can be uninstalled from a computer during subsequent refresh cycle Note Increasing this number will cause high CPU usage during Uninstallation If the software count exceeds this number in a computer it will be uninstalled during the subsequent refresh cycle 4 Select Notify User before Uninstalling check box and specify any custom message in case you want to prompt to the user before the software uninstallation Note The user will be notified with an Alert message during logon and whenever the agent detects prohibited software This functionality will be applicable only if the Notify User Settings is configured 5 Specify the wait window for the software uninstallation Say if you want to remove the software three days after it has been detected then mention 3 in the text box provided 6 Click on Save to save changes Note Auto Uninstallation option is available only for msi based applications This functionality may not work for exe based software applications and you will need to remove them manually Excluding Custom Groups from Software Uninstallation In certain occasions you will need to allow the usage of prohibited software by certain custom groups One classic example is the usage of chat based applications Many organizations will u
48. ck Licensing the Product Understanding the Client UI Setting Up Desktop Central ZOHO Corp 5 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation System Requirements Hardware Requirements for Desktop Central Server Hardware Requirements for Distribution Server Hardware Requirement for Desktop Central Agent Software Requirements Hardware Requirements for Desktop Central Server No of Computers Hard Disk Processor Managed Space Upto 250 Computers Single processor Intel P4 1 5 GHz Single processor Intel P4 or Xeon 251 to 500 Computers 2 0 Ghz Dual Core 800 Mhz FSB 4 MB cache Single processor Intel Xeon 2 4 501 to 1000 Computers Ghz Dual Core 800 Mhz FSB 4MB 4 GB 3 GB cache Dual processor Intel Xeon 2 0 Ghz ENA Dual Core 1000 Mhz FSB 4 MB 4 GB 5 GB Computers cache 6 Dual Processor Intel Xeon 20 GB HDD processors Quad Core at 2 3 GHz speed 7200 1000 MHz FSB 4 MB Cache 10 000 rpm 3001 to 5000 Computers Quad Processor Intel Xeon 50 GB HDD processors Quad Core at 2 3 GHz speed 7200 1000 MHz FSB 4 MB Cache 10 000 rpm 5001 to 10000 Computers May dynamically grow according to frequency of scanning When managing computers above 1000 it is advisable to install Desktop Central on a Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition Hardware Requirements for Distribution Server Reporting to the Processor Hard Disk Distribution Sever Space Upto 250 Co
49. con from the Remove my documents desktop from Windows Explorer from programs that use icon on the desktop the Windows Explorer windows and from the standard Open dialog box ORY ME WORE Diaces Removes the My Network Places icon from the desktop icon in desktop Hide Internet explorer Removes the Internet Explorer icon from the desktop icon on desktop and from the Quick Launch bar on the taskbar Prevents users from manipulating desktop toolbars If you enable this setting users cannot add or remove toolbars from the desktop Also users cannot drag toolbars on to or off of docked toolbars Prohibit adjusting Prevents users from adjusting the length of desktop toolbars Also users cannot reposition items or toolbars desktop toolbar on docked toolbars Don t save settings at Prevents users from saving certain changes to the exit desktop Prevent adding dragging dropping and closing the taskbar tool The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 81 Security Policies Control Panel Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in Control Panel category Security Policy Hide Accessibility Options Prevents access to the accessibility applet in control Applet panel Hide Add Remove Prevents access to the Add Remove Hardware Applet in Hardware Applet control panel Hide Add Remove Programs Applet Removes Add Remove Programs Applet in control panel H
50. d ou eagzanantact bas EEA O Ea EE TEE EEA ENEE 35 Configuring Help Desk Integration cccccccccssescccceeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeceeeesaeeaeeeceeeessseaeaseseeeeeessaaas 36 Managing Custom SCLIPtS ccccccccsssseseceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseecceeeeesseeeseeeeeeeesseeaaseeeeeessseeaseeeeeeesseeaaas 37 Goniiguring Server Settings susnsnuavannatarenne aent face xaesedeasauasteataedeceeeaenevexseeaees 39 Creating Custom 10 EEE EEE EEEE 40 Personalizing the Client rrrnrnnnnnnvrrrnnnnnnrvnrnnnnrennnnnnnnsennnnnnnnnennnnnnsnsrnnnnnnnnsrnnnnnnnsnnnnnnnsennnnnnnnssee 42 User amp Role Management rrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnrnnnnnnnnsvnnnnnnnnsrnnnnnnnrnnnnnnnnsennnnnnnnssnnnnnnsssennnnnnsnsrnnnnnnssssen 43 Setting Up Software Deployment avsenderen 44 Configure Network Share for Software ReEPOSItOry ccccccccseeecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeceeeeeseaeeeeeeeeeesseaeaeseeees 45 Managing Software Packages ccccccsssssccccceecseeseeceeeeeseeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeeesseeeeseceeeeesseeaseeeeeeessaeeseesseeseeeeeeaaas 46 Setting Up Patch Manageme nt ccccccccccsssssseeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeseeeeeeessseeasseeeeessseaeageeeeeeessaaeass 52 Configuring Proxy Server soroeensis rer aE A EE EEE E EEEO EEOAE rA EErEE AEE REEERE EERE EEEE Ee 53 Configuring Vulnerability DB Synchronization cccccccccecccseeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseaeeeseeeeeeessaeaeeeeeeeessaaaeasansess 54 Configuring Automated Patch Deployment
51. dding the computers in SoM you can enable User Logon Reports To Maintain User Logon History 1 Select Admin gt User Logon Settings to open the report settings page 2 Select the Enable User Logon Reports and specify the number of days the history has to be maintained 3 Click Save Changes ZOHO Corp 69 Setting Up Active Directory Reports Desktop Central retrieves the information about the Active Directory infrastructure components and provides 100 out of the box reports You can schedule the report update interval to get an up to date details To configure the AD report update interval 1 Select Admin gt AD Reports Settings to open the report settings page 2 Select the Enable AD Report Scheduler option 3 Select the Domains for which the reports needs to be generated If no domains are selected the scheduler will be disabled 4 Select the Scan Mode to specify whether to update all the objects or only the modified objects 5 Specify the update interval as below Daily to update everyday You need to specify the starting time and starting day 2 Weekly to update on specific day s in a week You need to specify the starting time and the day s on which the update should happen 3 Monthly to update on a specific day every month s You need to specify starting time select a day and select a month months 6 Click Save Changes To send the reports by Email Desktop Central provides an option to send the
52. e missing patches 2 Scan and download the missing patches 3 Scan download and deploy the missing patches All the above operations can be done for specific set of target computers like few systems will only be scanned few other systems will be automatically patched and so on Follow the steps below to create scheduled tasks for automating patch management using Desktop Central 1 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page 2 Click Automate Patch Deployment link available under Patch Settings 3 Click Add Scheduled Task button and specify the following 1 Specify a name for the task 2 Select the deployment option from any of the following e Scan the Systems to Identify the Missing Patches This is the default option which scans your network to detect the vulnerable applications e Scan the Systems and Download the Missing Patches Use this option to detect the vulnerable systems applications in your network and download the corresponding fixes from the Microsoft website e Download the Missing Patches and Draft the Patch Configuration Use this option to automatically download the missing patches from the Microsoft website and create a draft of the Patch Configuration e Automatically Download and Deploy the Missing Patches Use this option to scan the systems periodically to identify the missing patches download the patches from the Microsoft website and deploy the patches to the computers 3 After selecting the requi
53. e with that of the Central Patch Repository that resides at Zoho Corp s site Desktop Central uses this configuration to connect to the internet to update the vulnerability database e Direct Connection to Internet e HTTP Proxy Configuration e FTP Proxy Configuration Direct Connection to Internet 1 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page 2 Click the Proxy Configuration link This opens the Proxy Settings page 3 Select the Direct Connection to the Internet option and click OK HTTP Proxy Configuration 1 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page 2 Click the Proxy Configuration link This opens the Proxy Settings page 3 Select the Manual Proxy Configurations option and specify the Proxy host port user name and password of the HTTP Proxy 4 Click OK to save the configuration FTP Proxy Configuration Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page Click the Proxy Configuration link This opens the Proxy Settings page Select the Manual Proxy Configurations option Select Enable FTP option and specify the Proxy host port user name and password of the FTP Proxy 5 Click OK to save the configuration RUNKE ZOHO Corp 53 Configuring Vulnerability DB Synchronization m configuring Vulnerability DB Synchronization The vulnerability or the patch database Is a baseline against which the available and missing patches in the machines are determined The database is periodically refreshed with latest i
54. elp Documentation Security Policies Internet Explorer Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in Internet Explorer category Security Policy option the File menu Restrict using open menu Prevents users from opening a file or Web page from the menu option File menu to their hard disk or to a network share customization appear dimmed exporting of favorites by using the Import Export Wizard F3 within browser and Windows Explorer Prevents users from saving the complete contents that Restrict using Save as are displayed on or run from a Web page including the Web page complete graphics scripts linked files and other elements It format option does not prevent users from saving the text of a Web page browser Prevents users from displaying the browser in full screen option kiosk mode without the standard toolbar Prevents users from viewing the HTML source of Web pages by clicking the Source command on the View menu Hide favorites menu Pl of Favorite links Options menu option box from the Tools menu in Microsoft Internet Explorer Remove Tip of the Day Prevents users from viewing or changing the Tip of the Users menu option switching from Netscape Restrict viewing source menu option Remove Tour menu option Remove the Tour menu option Remove Send Feedback Prevents users from sending feedback to Microsoft by menu option clicking the Send Feedback c
55. emote Windows users and computers ZOHO Corp 3 Configuration Templates Provides the details of configuration templates and helps you to define configurations from Templates Software Installation Helps you to install Windows software to the users and computers of the domain from remote Patch Management Details the steps involved in managing the Windows Patches and hot fixes It helps you to automate the patch management process Hardware and Software Inventory Guides you to collect the hardware and software inventory details of your network and view the reports Active Directory Reports Helps you to view the reports of the Active Directory components Windows Tools Provides the list of Windows tools like Preventive Maintenance Tools Remote Tools etc and the steps in using them User Logon Reports Helps you get an up to date details of the user logon and history Appendix This section includes Interpreting Error Messages Knowledge Base FAQs Known Issues and Limitations of Desktop Central and Glossary ZOHO Corp 4 Installation amp Setup This sections guides you in installing Desktop Central and performing the required configurations Setting up Desktop Central can only be done by users with administrative privileges in Desktop Central The following sections describes how to get started with Desktop Central System Requirements Installing Desktop Central Working with Desktop Central Installing Service Pa
56. er for instructions The default value is 2 minutes which is configurable 5 Select the Enable Secured Communication HTTPS check box for secured communication between the Desktop Central Server and Agent 6 If the systems in the branch office connects to internet through a proxy server select the Proxy Configuration option and specify the proxy server details of the remote office 7 Specify the computer name IP address of the remote computers you want to manage Use comma to specify multiple computers The computer names will be used to automate agent installation using the script However computer names can given at a later stage also and hence it is not a mandatory field 8 After specifying all the above details click Add 9 Click Add Importing Details of Branch Remote Offices Instead of adding the details of the branch remote offices as explained in the previous section you can also simplify the process further using the CSV Import option This method is especially useful when you are want to add multiple remote offices at a single instance Follow the steps given below to add remote office s importing a CSV file 1 2 3 4 5 6 f Select the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page Click the Scope of Management link available under Global Settings This invokes the Scope of Management page The Computers tab is selected by default showing all the computers that have been added already Select the Remote off
57. ers in Novel eDirectory based network are managed as Workgroups in Desktop Central Changing the Domain Workgroup Credentials Desktop Central establishes a remote connection to the managed computers to perform the various Desktop Management activities like agent installation upgradation patch inventory scanning and remote desktop sharing which requires an admin credential The credential provided when adding a domain workgroup is used for this purpose When the username password provided while adding the domain workgroup has changed later due to password expiry or other reasons you need to update the correct credentials from the Admin tab gt SoM page to avoid getting Access Denied errors while performing any remote operations To update the credentials click the Edit Credentials button available in the SoM page Select the Domain Workgroup from the select box update the username password and click Update Domain Details ZOHO Corp 21 Next Steps The next step is to add and install the agent in the client computers that have to be managed using Desktop Central The following sections will detail the steps e Managing Computers in LAN To add and install the agent in the client computers from the same LAN where Desktop Central Server is installed e Managing Computers in WAN To add and install the agent in the client computers from remote locations like branch offices and mobile users ZOHO Corp 22 Manag
58. ersonalization options For further details refer to Configuring Desktop Central section Support The support tab helps you to reach us for your needs such as getting technical support requesting new features participating in user discussions and so on It also provides self diagnostic details about the product Apart from the tabs it also has the following links on the top right corner Contact Us To reach us to support feedback sending logs joining web conference to troubleshooting etc Personalize To customize the skin password and session expiry time License To upgrade to the licensed version of the software and to view the license details About Us To view the product version details Help To view the product help documentation Sign Out To sign out the client Quick Links Quick links enables you to navigate to the frequently used pages instantly Left Pane The navigation links in left pane enables navigation across the various features in the tab The left side navigation links changes dynamically according to the tab selected Content Pane The content pane displays the specific view of the currently selected item from the tabbed pane quick links or the left pane ZOHO Corp 16 Setting Up Desktop Central Setting Up Desktop Central After installing Desktop Central the administrator has to setup the various modules in Desktop Central by making the required configurations Note The steps con
59. erver 2 DS NAME Computer Name where Distribution Server will be installed 3 DS IP IP Address of the computer where Distribution Server will be installed 4 DS PORT HTTP Port through with the Distribution Server and WAN Agents communicate 5 DS HTTPS PORT HTTPS Port through with the Distribution Server and WAN Agents communicate PROTOCOL The mode of communication between Distribution Server WAN Computers and Desktop Central Server The default is HTTP HAS PROXY The values can be Yes or No Yes means the communication between the Distribution Server WAN Computers to the Desktop Central Server happens throuh the Proxy Server The default is No if newly added or the previous value in case of modification If the value is yes the following columns are mandatory 1 PROXY SERVER The name IP Address of the Proxy Server 2 PROXY PORT The Proxy Port 3 PROXY USER The user name for accessing the Proxy Server 4 PROXY PASSWORD The password of the proxy user account COMPUTERS The computer names in that remote office If more than one computer is being specified it should be within double quotes Example john jerry Sample CSV Formats REMOTE OFFICE NAME POLLING INTERVAL HAS DS DS DOMAIN NAME DS NA ME DS IP DS PORT DS HTTPS PORT PROTOCOL HAS PROXY PROXY SERVER P ROXY PORT PROXY USER PROXY PASSWORD COMPUTERS RO 1 2 yes zohocorpin DSserverl 192 168 1 227 8021 8384 http yes web proxy 80 admin admin
60. ettings for these agents Agent General Settings 1 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page 2 Click the Agent Settings link available under Global Settings 3 The General Settings tab is selected by default You can specify the following from here 1 Server IP Address The IP Address of the computer where Desktop Central server is installed is displayed here The agents residing in the client computers communicate to the Desktop Central server using this IP Address Desktop Central automatically detects the server IP Address whenever Desktop Central Server is started If you wish to automatically detect and save the IP Address select the Automatically detect and save the IP Address change option 2 Enable Secured Communication Select this option if the communication between the Agent and the Desktop Central Server should be secured HTTPS 3 Disable Uninstallation Option in Control Panel Selecting this option will ensure that users do not uninstall the Desktop Central Agents from their computer 4 Perform Patch Scanning Select this option if Patch Scanning has to be initiated immediately after the agent installation If this option is not selected Patch Scanning will only happen when it is scheduled or when On Demand scanning Is initiated 5 Perform Inventory Scanning Select this option if Inventory Scanning has to be initiated immediately after the agent installation If this option is not selected Inventory Scan
61. ettings option enables you to change an existing password set the session time select a theme etc These settings are user specific and each user can have their own settings To personalize select the Admin tab gt Personalize link To change the password Enter the existing password in the Old Password field Enter the new password in the New Password field Enter the new password again for confirmation in the Confirm Password field Click the Save Changes button RUNKE The new password get updated Subsequently you have to use the new password to login to the client To set the session time 1 Select the session expiry time in hours from the Session Expiry Time combo box to the desired value 2 Click the Save Changes button The session expiry time gets updated To set the page refresh time 1 Specify the time in minutes at which the pages should get refreshed automatically 2 Click Save Changes button To configure general settings 1 Select the Show help card after deploying the configuration check box if you wish to view the help card after successful deployment of configurations 2 Select the Show help card throughout the product option if you wish to view the help card where ever applicable 3 Select the Save view settings to retain the view per page settings in the reports 4 Click the Save Changes button To change the theme 1 Select the theme from the available options 2 Click Save
62. face facilitates the administrators to access the product from anywhere in the network not requiring them to be glued at one place for managing the desktops using the product 12 How is Desktop Central licensed Desktop Central is licensed on annual subscription based on the number of Desktop it would manage You can get the Pricing for the specific number of desktops from our online store ZOHO Corp 17 Security Policies Using Desktop Central you can define the security restrictions for the users and computers in the domain This section provides you a brief description about the various security restrictions that can be applied using the product Follow the links to learn more about the supported security policies under each category Active Desktop Desktop Control Panel Explorer Internet Explorer Network System Task Scheduler Windows Installer Start Menu and Taskbar Microsoft Management Console Computer ZOHO Corp 78 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policies Active Desktop Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in Active Desktop category Security Policy Remove Active Desktop This setting will remove the Active Desktop options from item from Settings menu Settings on the Start Menu Remove all desktop items Removes icons shortcuts and other default and user defined items from the desktop including Briefcase Recycle Bin My
63. fers to the LAN where Desktop Central Server is installed 2 After downloading the DC Agents install it in the Branch Office computers manually 3 Extract the zip to a directory 4 Open a command prompt and change directory to lt Extracted Dir gt directsetup 5 Execute the following command systemroot system32 msiexec exe i DesktopCentralAgent msi ENABLESILENT yes qn Install Agent in Multiple Computers in the same location 1 Download the Desktop Central agent from the SoM Page Download Agent Link Please make sure you have downloaded the Agent with respective Remote Office name Local Office refers to the LAN where Desktop Central Server is installed 2 After downloading the DC Agents please install it in the Branch Office computers manually 3 Extract the zip to a directory ZOHO Corp 31 4 Edit the computernames txt file and add all the computer names to which the agent has to be installed Each computer has to be specified in a separate line 5 Open a command prompt and change directory to lt Extracted Dir gt directsetup Run the command setup bat Specify the Administrator user name and password when prompted This can be a domain administrator or a common user who has administrator privileges in all the computers where the WAN agent has to be installed The user name should be prefixed with the domain or the workgroup name eg zohocorpladministrator 8 This will install the des
64. figurations described in this section can only be performed by users with administrative privileges in Desktop Central Follow the links to learn more Configuring Desktop Central for Windows Vista 2008 Working with the Scope of Management Configuring Agent Tray Icon Settings Configuring Mail Server Configuring Help Desk Integration Managing Custom Scripts Configuring Server Settings Creating Custom Groups Personalizing the Client Settings User Administration Setting Up Software Deployment Setting Up Patch Management Setting Up Asset Management Setting Up User Logon Reports Setting Up Active Directory Reports ZOHO Corp 17 Configuring Desktop Central for Windows Vista 2008 This is applicable only if you install Desktop Central Server in Windows Vista or Windows 2008 For running Desktop Central Service in Windows Vista or Windows 2008 operating systems you need to specify user credentials with administrative privileges This Is not required for other operating systems like Windows XP 2003 Server etc Specifying Admin User Credentials for Windows Vista Windows 2008 When you install Desktop Central server in Windows Vista or Windows 2008 and start the Desktop Central client will show a page asking for the user credentials with administrative privileges on that computer Specify the user name and password of an user account that has administrative privileges on the computer where Desktop Central Server is
65. file to install the agent manually Uninstalling Agents To uninstall the agents from the computers select the desktops from the list and select Uninstall Agent from the Actions box Removing the Computers To remove the computers from the list select the computers and select Remove Computer from the Actions box The Desktop Central agents have to be uninstalled prior to removing a computer from the scope ZOHO Corp 24 Managing computers in WAN Ai i Managing computers in WAN What is a Remote Office Most of the time your business will operate from a Head Office and branch offices that are geographically distributed These branch offices that act as separate entities are termed as Remote Offices As Network Managers you need to ensure the computers at your Head Office and Branch Offices are monitored alike You will also need to manage the computers of roaming mobile users who connect to your network via Internet Some of the undeniable facts of managing computers that are spread across the WAN include e Bandwidth issues that degenerate the downloading speed etc e Resultant costs associated with Bandwidth utilization The choice of action to manage these computers is once again scenario dependant The following section will help you identify the solution that is ideal for you kind of infrastructure I ndentify the solution that suits your needs The type of solution that you need to adopt depends primarily on the n
66. files in the first contiguous free space that is large enough for the file If a large enough free space IS not available the computer saves as much of the file as possible in the largest available Space and then saves the remaining data in the next available free space and so on After a large portion of a volume has been used for file and folder storage most of the new files are saved in pieces across the volume When you delete files the empty spaces left behind fill in randomly as you store new ones The more fragmented the volume is the slower the computer s file input output performance will be Desktop Central provides option to run the defragmenter tool on multiple machines simultaneously It Supports the following options e Verbose Displays the complete analysis and defragmentation reports e Analyze Analyzes the volume and displays a summary of the analysis report e Force Defragmentation Forces defragmentation of the drive regardless of whether it needs to be defragmented ZOHO Corp 105 Data Backup and Restore Desktop Central stores all the configuration details status of deployed configurations User Logon Reports Active Directory reports etc in the database Backing up the data is necessary to prevent the data loss that may happen due to unforeseen circumstances e Manual Data Backup e Scheduled Data Backup e Data Restore Manual Data Backup Follow the steps given below to take a back up of the Mana
67. ftware Deployment workflow page 2 Click on Add MSI or Add EXE This opens the Network Share dialog 3 Specify the Network Share in the Edit Network Share text field You can also use the Browse button to select the path 4 Select the Domain Name from the drop down list 5 Click on the Save amp Continue button All the software binaries MSI EXE should be maintained in the specified Network Share The Share should be accessible from all the client computers and should have Readand Execute permission to the EveryOne group ZOHO Corp 45 Managing Software Packages Te LO Managing Software Packages Adding MSI EXE Packages Executing Scripts in Software installation Modifying MSI EXE Packages Removing MSI EXE Packages Desktop Central enables you store the commonly used applications which can be installed on to the client machines as required The common applications which includes both MSI and EXE files are stored under the Software Packages Repository The software packages that are added to the repository can then be used while defining the Software Installation Configuration Adding MSI EXE Packages Desktop Central allows you to add separate packages for MSI and EXE based software applications 1 Adding an MSI Package 2 Adding an EXE Package Adding an MSI Package 1 Click the Software Deployment tab This invokes the Software Package Repository page listing the details of the packages that have
68. geEngine Desktop Central data manually 1 Open a command prompt 2 Go to lt Install Dir gt DesktopCentral Server bin directory 3 Execute the backupDB bat as given below backupDB bat lt destination directory gt For example backupDB bat c DesktopCentralBackup The backup file will be created and stored in the specified location in date time zip format An example of the backup file name 061018 1635 zip Note The MySQL database should be running prior to running the script If Desktop Central is running the database will also be running If not start the database using the startDB bat located under the lt Install Dir gt DesktopCentral Server bin directory Scheduled Data Backup Follow the steps given below to schedule the data backup 1 Select the Admin tab 2 Click the Database Backup link available under the Tools category This opens the Database Backup screen 3 Specify the time for performing the backup operation The time should be specified in hh mm sec format The database will be backed up at this time everyday 4 Select the number of backups to be maintained The older ones will automatically be deleted 5 Specify the location to store the backed up database 6 Select the Notify when the database backup fails option and specify the email addresses if you want to be notified in cases of any failures Please note that you should have configured your mail server settings to get notified 7 Click
69. gure and test the new object links either by using Active Directory Users and Computers or Active Directory Sites and Services you can enable the object links for use on the system Prevents administrators from viewing or using Group Policy preferences A Group Policy administration adm file can contain both true settings and preferences True settings which are fully supported by Group Policy must use registry entries in the Software Policies or Software Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Policies registry subkeys Preferences which are not fully Supported use registry entries in other subkeys Prevents the system from updating the Administrative Templates source files automatically when you open Group Policy The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 92 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policies Task Scheduler Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in Task Scheduler category Security Policy This setting removes the Properties item from the File menu in Scheduled Tasks and from the context menu that appears when you right click a task As a result users cannot change any properties of a task They can only see the properties that appear in Detail view and in the task preview Pr ven tack runorend Prevents users from starting and stopping tasks manually ge Prevents users from adding or removing tasks by moving
70. her groups Groups can be used as security or as e mail distribution collections Distribution groups are used only for e mail ZOHO Corp 112 Security groups are used both to grant access to resources and as e mail distribution lists User The people using the workstations in the network are called users Each user in the network has a unique user name and corresponding password for secured access Computer The PCs in the network which are accessed by users are known as computer or workstation Each computer has unique name IP Address The expansion of IP Address is Internet Protocol Address An unique IP Address is provided for each workstation switches printers and other devices present in the network for identification and routing of information Group Policy Object GPO A Group Policy Object GPO is a collection of settings that define what a system will look like and how it will behave for a defined group of users Client Side Extension CSE Desktop Central installs an Windows compliant agent or a Client Side Extension CSE in the machines that are being managed This is used to get the status of the applied configurations from the targets Define Target Define Target is the process of identifying the users or computers for which the configuration have to be applied The targets can be all users computers belonging to a Site Domain OUs Groups or can be a specific user computer You also have an option t
71. ices tab This will list the details of the remote offices that have been already added The Remote Office Name as Local Office will be added by default which pertains to the LAN where Desktop Central Server is installed Click the Import Remote Offices link This opens the Import Remote Offices dialog Click on the Browse button to select the CSV file that needs to be imported Click on Import Once the above procedure is complete the remote offices that you have just imported will be listed under the Remote Offices tab Some important CSV file specifications l 2 The first line of the CSV file is the header specifying the column names The Remote Office Name is a mandatory field and all the other fields are optional If left blank the default values will be added to those fields ZOHO Corp 29 Column Names and their Description REMOTE OFFICE NAME The Remote Office name POLLING_INTERVAL Communication Interval Replication Interval based on the Communication Type The default value is 2 minutes SERVER IP The IP Address of the Desktop Central Server which is accessible from the Remote Office Computers HAS DS The values can be Yes or No Yes means that the communication Type is through the Distribution Server The default value is No if newly added or the previous value in case of modification If the value is yes the following columns are mandatory 1 DS DOMAIN NAME Domain Netbios Name of the Distribution S
72. ide Client Services for Netware supporting client service applet will be removed Network Applet from control panel Hide Data Sources Removes open data base connection applet from control ODBC Applet panel Hide Date Time Applet Removes date time applet in control panel Hide Desktop Themes Applet Removes desktop themes applet Hide Display Applet Removes display applet from control panel Controller Removes Games Controller Applet from control panel Removes LAN connection 2 Hide Mail Applet Removes mail configuring applet from control panel oe ene ance i Removes phone and modem options applet Options Applet 2000 p p pp Hide Power Options Removes power option from control panel Applet Hide Regional Options Applet Removes regional options applet Hide Scanners and Removes scanners and cameras applet Cameras Applet Hide Sounds and Multimedia Applet Removes sounds and multimedia applet Hide System Applet Removes system applet Hide Users ana Removes users and passwords applet from control panel Passwords Applet P Disables all Control Panel programs This setting prevents Control exe the program file for Control Panel from starting As a result users cannot start Control Panel or run any Control Panel items Disable control panel ZOHO Corp ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation 82 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policy Prevents users from us
73. important custom Script files can be stored in Inventory so that they can be used in future The custom scripts used in the Custom Script configuration are automatically added to the inventory The custom scripts available in the inventory can also be used while adding the Custom Script Configuration Adding the Script Details To add the script details to Desktop Central follow these steps 1 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page 2 Click the Script Repository link in the Admin Links pane This invokes the Script Repository page 3 Click the Add Script button to invoke the Add Script page 4 Select the script from local disk of the computer or from the shared network location using one of the following options This field is mandatory 5 Click Browse to select the script either from the local machine or from the network based on your choice above 6 Enter the description for the script in the Description field 7 Enter the arguments for the script in the Script Arguments field 8 Click the Add button You can find the script added to the table in the Script Details page 9 Repeat steps 3 to 8 for adding more scripts Modifying the Script Details To modify the Script details follow these steps 1 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page 2 Click the Script Repository link in the Admin Links pane This invokes the Script Repository page 3 Click the icon under the Actions column next to corresponding Script Name
74. in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited ZOHO Corp 98 Security Policy Restrict permit Telephony snap in Restrict permit WMI control snap in Restrict permit System properties snap in Restrict permit Group policy snap in Restrict permit Group policy tab for active directory tool snap in Restrict permit Administrative templates computer snap in Restrict permit Administrative templates users snap in Restrict permit Folder redirection snap in Restrict permit Internet explorer maintenance snap in If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this sett
75. ing Add or Remove Programs Remove add remove This setting removes Add or Remove Programs from programs Control Panel and removes the Add or Remove Programs item from menus Removes the Change or Remove Programs button from the Add or Remove Programs bar As a result users cannot view or change the attached page Removes the Add New Programs button from the Add or Hide add new programs ade Remove Programs bar As a result users cannot view or pag change the attached page Hide add remove Removes the Add Remove Windows Components button Windows components from the Add or Remove Programs bar As a result users page cannot view or change the associated page information programs on the Change or Remove Programs page themes page in Control Panel Hi Removes the Screen Saver tab from Display in Control screen saver are password protected paper design of the desktop control panel If you enable this setting or do not configure it when users click Add a network printer but do not type the name of a particular printer the Add Printer Wizard displays a list of all shared printers on the network and invites users to choose a printer from among them Prevent addition of Prevents users from using familiar methods to add local printers and network printers Prevents users from deleting local and network printers Prevent deletion of If a user tries to delete a printer such as by using the printers Delete option in Printers in Contro
76. ing computers in LAN Managing computers in LAN Desktop Central installs an agent in all the client computers that have to be managed using Desktop Central The agent properties can also be customized prior to installing the agents For details on customizations refer to Configuring Agent settings Installing Agents Installing Agents from Desktop Central Console 1 The client computers can be added from Admin tab gt SoM gt Add Computers button This will list the domains and workgroups that have been added 2 Click the Select Computers link pertaining to a domain workgroup This opens the Select Computers dialog listing all the available computers of the domain workgroup 3 Select the computers that have to be managed using Desktop Central and click OK You can also manually specify the computer names instead of choosing them from the list The selected computers gets added to the Selected Computers table in the Add Computers view 4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 for adding computers from multiple domains workgroups 5 Select the Start Agent Installation Immediately check box to install the Desktop Central agents in the selected computers immediately When this option Is not selected the computers are only added You need to install the agents later to manage them 6 Select the Configure Agent Settings option for configuring the agent properties and post installation actions 7 Click Done to add the selected computers
77. ing is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited ZOHO Corp ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation 99 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policy Restrict permit Remote installation services snap in Restrict permit Scripts logon logoff snap in Restrict permit Scripts startup shutdown snap in Restrict permit Security settings snap in Restrict permit Software installation computer snap in Restrict permit Software installation user snap in If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting
78. ing is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this sett
79. installed If you have problems in adding the domains refer to our online knowledge base for possible reasons and solutions ZOHO Corp 20 Adding Workgroups Similar to domains Workgroups can be added in Desktop Central in two ways 1 From the auto discovered list available in the SoM gt Add Computers page by clicking the Edit link corresponding to the workgroup 2 By Manually adding the workgroup If for some reason one or more workgroups are not discovered you can use the Add Domain link available in the same page to add workgroups manually Both the above options will open the Add Domain dialog for accepting the following information Parameter Description Type PORN The name of the workgroup Mandatory Name Network i n Network Select Workgroup option Mandatory A common user name which has administrative privileges in all the computers within that workgroup It is recommended to have a dedicated Mandatory user account for Desktop Central whose password policy is set to Never Expire The password of the common admin user Mandatory This is required to uniquely identify a computer within a workgroup For example if you have a DNS Suffix computer with the same name in two different Optional workgroups the DNS suffix is used to identify it uniquely Admin User Name If you have problems in adding the workgroups refer to our online knowledge base for possible reasons and solutions FAY Note Comput
80. ion Server s default ports for HTTP and HTTPs are 8021 and 8384 respectively However you can use different ports for the same ZOHO Corp 26 want the Distribution Server to synchronize with the Desktop Central Server The default is two minutes However you can customize the replication interval FAY Note The Replication Interval Time is the interval at which you Distribution Server WAN Agent to Desktop Central Communication 1 Enable Secured Communications HTTPS checkbox to establish a secure communication set up 2 Enable Proxy Configuration checkbox to specify the Proxy Host Port User Name and Password for that proxy Computers to be Managed Specify the computer name IP address of the remote computers you want to manage Use comma to specify multiple computers The computer names will be used to automate agent installation using the script However computer names can given at a later stage also and hence it is not a mandatory field After specifying all the above details click Add to create the Distribution Server How to deploy the Distribution Server at the Branch Office On successful creation of Distribution Server the Desktop Central Application will display the SoM page You will find the status as Yet to Install for the newly created Distribution Server Follow the steps given below to proceed with the deployment process 1 Click on Download Agent icon of Remote Office tab 2 Save the Distribu
81. ion has been successful If post Code is installation is not successful the software will not be re installed 3 Click Add Package The package gets added to the table below 4 Repeat steps 3 to 5 for adding more packages ZOHO Corp 50 Executing Scripts in Software Installation Desktop Central allows you to execute scripts in the following cases Prior to installing the software After installing the software Prior to uninstalling the software After uninstalling the software The following needs to be ensured while you specify a script to be executed in any of the above cases l The scripting engine should also be specified in the Script Command field For example if you are specifying a vb script say test vbs you should specify like this SystemDrive Windows cscript dc win2k1 scripts test vbs In this case the cscript should be in the same location in all the client computers Alternatively you can also specify the engine path in a network share like dc win2k1 Windows cscript dc win2k1 scripts test vbs When you select the Copy option while defining the Install Software Configuration the following needs to be taken care 1 When selecting None the script file should be in the network share 2 When selecting Copy file to client machines the script should be in the network share 3 When selecting Copy folder to client machines The script should be in the Same directory or sub directory as that of the
82. is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in IS prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap
83. k on the Select from Pre Defined Application link This Software Name Select the path type Add Files to Upload Installation Command with switches arguments Uninstallation Command with switches arguments opens the Select Application dialog You can make your selection from the pre defined packages that are listed Alternatively you can also select from the prompted list while typing the application name in the text field Select any of the following e Network Path If the software has to be installed in computers in the same LAN select this option e HTTP Path If the software has to be installed in computers in branch offices over the VPN tunnel or internet select this option When you select the HTTP Mode you need to browse and select the installables which will be uploaded to the Desktop Central Server Specify the command to be executed in the client computers for installing the application The command specified here will be as such executed in all the client computers Make sure that the path to the executables specified in the command is relative to the EXE Root Directory specified above Examples 1 msiexec exe Skype skype msi qn 2 googlesetup exe S Specify the command to be executed in the client computers for uninstalling the application The command specified here will be as such executed in all the client computers Make sure that the path to the executables specified in the command is relative
84. ktop central agents in all the computers specified in the computernames txt file 9 The logs txt file located in lt Extracted Dir gt directsetup will have the details on the errors encountered during installation if any add Modifying Remote Office Details In situations where you wish to change the mode of communication between the WAN Agents and the Desktop Central Server you can modify the Remote Office details and make the necessary changes For example if you have chosen the Direct Communication for a Remote Office and you wish the communication now happen through the Distribution Server you can modify the Remote Office to make this change by following the steps below 1 Select SoM gt Remote Offices tab 2 Click the Modify icon from the Action column pertaining to the Remote Office that has to be changed 3 Change the necessary parameters and click Modify Note If you have changed the mode of communication from Direct to Distribution Server you need to install and start the Distribution Server in the specified computer Till then the computers in that Remote Office will not get the configurations applied However you can still be able to deploy the configurations patches software etc to those computer ZOHO Corp 32 Configuring Agent Settings Desktop Central installs an light weight non intrusive agent on the computers that have to be managed using Desktop Central You have an option to configure the s
85. l Panel a message appears explaining that a setting prevents the action Hide change or remove programs page Browse the network to find the printers The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 83 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policies Explorer Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in Explorer category Security Policy Removes the Folder Options item from all Windows Explorer menus and removes the Folder Options item from Control Panel As a result users cannot use the Folder Options dialog box Remove folder options menu item from the tools menu Remove Shutdown from Start menu and task l manager dialog manager Remove File menu from Removes the File menu from My Computer and Windows Explorer Explorer REMOVE Map de Prevents users from using Windows Explorer or My drive and Disconnect her Network Places to map or disconnect network drives network drive Remove Context Menu in Removes context menus which appears while right Shell folders clicking any folder in the explorer This setting allows you to remove the Active Desktop and Turn on classic shell Web view features If you enable this setting it will disable the Active Desktop and Web view This setting is designed to ensure that shell extensions can operate on a per user basis If you enable this Allow only approved setting Windows is
86. mode console files they cannot use the tools that the files contain All snap ins are prohibited except those that you explicitly permit Use this setting if you plan to prohibit use of most snap ins To explicitly permit a snap in open the Restricted Permitted snap ins setting folder and enable the settings representing the snap in you want to permit If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins se
87. mputers Single processor Intel P4 1 5 GHz oa 1 GB 251 to 500 Computers Single processor Intel P4 1 5 GHz 1 2 GB ZOHO Corp ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation No of Computers Reporting to the Distribution Sever Single processor Intel P4 or Xeon 501 to 1000 Computers 2 0 Ghz Dual Core 800 Mhz FSB 4 MB cache Hard disk space may grow depending on the number of software and patches that are deployed Hardware Requirements for Desktop Central Agent Hardware Recommended Processor Intel Pentium Processor Speed 1 0 GHz RAM 512 MB Hard Disk Space 30 MB May dyanamically grow depending on the operations performed on the client computer Software Requirements Supported Platforms ManageEngine Desktop Central supports the following Microsoft Windows operating system versions Desktops e Windows 2000 Professional e Windows XP Professional e Windows Vista Servers e Windows 2000 e Windows 2003 e Windows 2008 and Terminal Clients Supported Browsers ManageEngine Desktop Central requires one of the following browsers to be installed in the system for working with the Desktop Central Client e Internet Explorer 5 5 and above e Netscape 7 0 and above e Mozilla Firefox 1 0 and above Preferred screen resolution 1024 x 768 pixels or higher ZOHO Corp 7 Installing Desktop Central Supported Operating Systems Pre Requisites for Installing Desktop Central Server
88. nformation and placed in the Central Patch Repository You can specify the interval at which the local vulnerability database be updated with that of the Central Patch Repository To configure the update interval follow the steps below Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page Click the rs Schedule Vulnerability Update link to invoke the Vulnerability Update page 3 The Enable Scheduler is selected by default To disable scheduler clear this option 4 The default update time is 10 00 hrs on weekdays To modify select the update interval from any of the following options e Daily to update everyday You need to specify the starting time and Starting day e Weekly to update on specific day s in a week You need to specify the starting time and the day s on which the update should happen e Monthly to update on a specific day every month s You need to specify starting time select a day and select a month months 5 If you wish a mail to be sent upon successful update select the Notify when Task Finishes check box and provide the email address You can specify multiple email addresses as comma separated values 6 Click Save Changes to save the configuration ZOHO Corp 54 Configuring Automated Patch Deployment m configuring Automated Patch Deployment Desktop Central allows automating Patch Management at various levels For example Administrators can 1 Choose to scan the systems in the network to detect th
89. ng Desktop Central lt port number gt refers to the port at which the product is started the default being 8020 9 What is Define Target Define Target is the process of identifying the users or computers for which the configuration have to be applied The targets can be all users computers belonging to a Site Domain OUs Groups or can be a specific user computer You also have an option to exclude some desktops based on the machine type OS type etc 10 My free trial expired before I was through evaluating Desktop Central Can I receive an extension Customer Satisfaction is our prime motive During the trial period of 30 days unlimited number of desktops can be managed by Desktop Central After the trial period the Software automatically switches to the free edition where only 25 desktops can be managed If you feel you would like to test the software for more number of desktops but your trial period has expired Kindly contact us so that we can arrange for a temporary license for few more days as per your requirement You may note that the transition is smooth with no data loss and the configurations are not lost at any point of time We want to make sure you are completely satisfied that the software Is satisfying your need and solving your problem before buying It 11 Why is Desktop Central configuration done through a Web interface Desktop administrators are always on the move Desktop Central with its web based inter
90. ng any third party firewall in the computer where Desktop Central Server is being installed open these ports by configuring the firewall If you are running Windows Firewall these ports can also be automatically be opened in the firewall from the SoM page post installation from the Desktop Central Console ZOHO Corp 8 Installing Desktop Central Server Desktop Central is distributed in the EXE Format Run the self extracting EXE with an Install Shield program for installation and follow the instructions provided The installation wizard will guide you through a series of instructions like the installation directory web server port etc You can either install the product with the default values or can change the values as required If you are changing the web server port default is 8020 ensure that you open the appropriate port in the firewall Upon successful installation of the product all the required components like the web server database server etc are automatically installed Uninstalling Desktop Central Server It is recommended to uninstall the agent from the client computers prior to uninstalling the product If the client computers are in the same LAN as that of the Desktop Central Server the agents can be uninstalled from the SoM page of the Desktop Central Console However the agent in the remote office computers have to be removed manually Refer to the online Knowledge base for the steps to remove the agent from
91. nging accessibility settings Restrict changing Prevents users from changing the content advisor Content Advisor settings settings Prevents users from changing certificate settings in p Internet Explorer Certificates are used to verify the certificate settings i identity of software publishers Bese i cnanging Frome Prevents users from changing Profile Assistant settings Assistant settings Prevents Microsoft Internet Explorer from automatically Restrict changing completing forms such as filling in a name ora AutoComplete clear form password that the user has entered previously on a Web Restrict changing home page settings Restrict changing page Restrict changing Disables automatic completion of user names and AutoComplete save passwords in forms on Web pages and prevents users password form from being prompted to save passwords Connection Wizard Wizard connection settings Automatic Configuration settings Automatic configuration is a process that ZOHO Corp 87 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policy settings Messaging settings messaging tasks Restrict changing Calendar and Contact Prevents users from changing the default programs for settings managing schedules and contacts Settings feature and search pages Restrict changing Check Prevents Microsoft Internet Explorer from checking to if Default Browser setting see whether it is the default brow
92. ning will only happen when it is scheduled or when On Demand scanning Is initiated 6 Enable Firewall Settings Desktop Central requires the Windows Firewall running in the client computers to be configured for using all its features Select this option to configure the firewall for enabling Remote Administration DCOM File and Printer Sharing and Simple File Sharing in Windows XP 4 Click Save Changes Agent Tray Icon Settings Desktop Central provides an option to display the Agent Icon in the System Tray of all the managed computers The users can perform the following actions using the system tray Initiate Patch Scanning Initiate Inventory Scanning Pull and apply configurations that are available to them Send requests to Help Desk for specific needs AWN ZOHO Corp 33 5 When User Logon Reports is enabled the user will be able to view his her login history Follow the steps below to configure the Tray icon settings 1 Click the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page 2 Click the Agent Settings link available under Global Settings 3 Select the Agent Tray Icon tab and specify whether to display the icon in the system tray of the managed computers When choosing this option you can choose the following 1 Show Patch Inventory and Configuration Menus 2 Show Last Logon Details 3 Show Information Balloons While Processing Configurations Patch Scanning and Inventory Scanning 4 Click Save Changes ZOHO Corp
93. nnnnsrnrnnnnnnnnnsennnnnnnnnn 97 Security PASS NE nace ee 101 ds SETTE vvs 102 CIC CK DISK OO li NE EN 103 ENTEN 104 Disk Defragmenter TN 105 Data Backup and Restore rrrnrrvranrvvnnrrvrnrrnnnnrnnnnnrnnnnennarennnnrnnnnrennnnennnnennnsrnnnnsnnnanennnsen 106 BEE TA SHON EE NE ER NT EE 107 PD ANIC WAN 9 EEE E E E 108 Mule ug SEE EEE EEE 110 OVO 2 EE EE EEE ve ee eee ee 112 ZOHO Corp 2 Introduction ManageEngine Desktop Central Desktop administration is a never ending job Configuration requests ranging from simple Drive Mapping configuration to software installation keep the administrators on their toes With increasing requests and a growth in the number of desktop it becomes more difficult to keep up with escalating demand on limited manpower Desktop Central enables configuring and managing desktop from a single point With the pre defined configuration options administrators can perform almost all the regular desktop administration management activities with ease The ability to execute custom script gives complete administration control over the desktop The Web based user interface allows for applying the configuration to a single or group of desktop using a powerful filtering capability Desktop Central ensures that the configurations are applied to the desktop and the Status is made available to the administrator to provide an end to end configuration experience In addition to the remote configuration options
94. nstallation If the pre installation fails the installation will abort Run Script after Installing the Software Specify the commands or scripts that has to be executed Script Command Name after installing the software Refer to Executing Scripts in Software installation for more details Arguments Specify the arguments for the script if any Select this option and specify the exit code to verify Successful if the Exit whether post installation has been successful If post Code is installation is not successful the software will not be uninstalled Run Script before Uninstalling the Software Specify the commands or scripts that has to be executed Script Command Name before uninstalling the software Refer to Executing Scripts in Software installation for more details Specify the arguments for the script if any Select this option and specify the exit code to check for Continue uninstallation if successful pre uninstallation process before uninstalling the exit code Is of the software If the pre installation fails the uninstallation will abort Run Script after Uninstalling the Software Specify the commands or scripts that has to be executed Script Command Name after uninstalling the software Refer to Executing Scripts in Software installation for more details Specify the arguments for the script if any Select this option and specify the exit code to verify Successful if the Exit whether post uninstallat
95. o exclude some desktops based on the machine type OS type etc Scope of Management Scope of Management SOM is used to define the computers that have to be managed using this software Initially the administrator can define a small set of computers for testing the software and later extend it to the whole domain This provides more flexibility in managing your desktops using this software Inactive Users In a Windows Domain there may be cases where the user accounts have been created for some machines but they remain inactive for some reasons For example users like Guest IUSER WIN2KMASTER IWAM WIN2KMASTER etc will never login These user accounts are referred to as Inactive Users In order to get the accurate configuration status of the active users it is recommended that the Admin User add the inactive user ZOHO Corp 113 accounts in their domain so that these users user accounts may not be considered for calculating the status Collection Configurations that are intended for the same set of targets can be grouped as a collection Applicable Patches This is a subset of the patches released by Microsoft that affect your network systems applications This includes all the patches affecting your network irrespective of whether they are installed or not Missing Patches This refers to the patches affecting your network that are not installed Latest Patches This refers to the patches pertaining to the recently
96. ommand on the Help menu Restrict using Open in New Window menu option Prevents using the shortcut menu to open a link in a new browser window Prevents users from saving a program or file that Microsoft Internet Explorer has downloaded to the hard disk Restrict using save this program to disk option ZOHO Corp 36 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Description gt Click menus click the right mouse button while using the prOwsel Screen Internet Options dialog box Screen Internet Options dialog box Hide Content Option Removes the Content tab from the interface in the Screen Internet Options dialog box Screen Internet Options dialog box Screen Internet Options dialog box Screen Internet Options dialog box Prevents users from changing the home page of the browser The home page is the first page that appears when users start the browser Restrict changing color Prevents users from changing the default Web page settings colors Restrict changing link Prevents users from changing the colors of links on Web color settings pages Restrict changing font Prevents users from changing font settings settings Ree changing Prevents users from changing language settings language settings KE ere ee Prevents users from changing Cache settings settings hr demens Prevents users from changing history settings settings Restrict changing aon accessibility setting Prevents users from cha
97. ove them to the Grouped Software list The software category and the prohibited status of the first software in the selected list will apply to all the software of that group You can change the position of the software in the selected list by selecting the software and clicking the arrow button on the right 6 After selecting the required software click Save To modify a Software Group 1 Click the Inventory tab to view the Inventory Summary 2 Click the Group Software link from the left pane available under Actions Settings This will list all the software groups that have been created 3 Click the Edit icon from the Actions column of the group that you want to edit 4 Add or remove the software from the group and click Save To delete a Software Group 1 Click the Inventory tab to view the Inventory Summary 2 Click the Group Software link from the left pane available under Actions Settings This will list all the software groups that have been created 3 Click the Delete icon from the Actions column of the group that you want to delete ZOHO Corp 63 Manage Software Category Manage Software Category Desktop Central allows you to categorize the software installed in your network in any of the pre defined categories You also have an option to create your own categories and add software to it Desktop Central comes with the following pre defined software categories Accounting Database Development Driver
98. p 56 Configuring System Health Policy What is System Health Policy Desktop Central periodically scans the systems in your network to identify the missing patches The missing patches include both the operating system and application patches pertaining to that system Generally patches are released with varying severities ranging from Low to Critical Based on these patch severities Desktop Central classifies the system into three categories to quickly identify the health status of the systems in the network How are the systems classified Based on the severity of the missing patches the systems are categorized as Healthy Vulnerable and Highly Vulnerable in Desktop Central The default health policy is as below e Healthy Systems are those that have up to date patches installed e Vulnerable Systems are those that have missing patches in Moderate or Low severity levels e Highly Vulnerable Systems are those that have missing patches in Critical or Important severity levels Note The patches that are excluded will not be considered for arriving at the system health status Customizing the Health Policy Desktop Central allows you to customize this categorization by selecting the patch severity levels for various health states as below 1 Select the Admin tab 2 Click the System Health Policy link available under Patch Settings 3 Select the patch severity levels that are allowed for each states and click S
99. pfront prohibit such software However top level executives at these organizations might need such applications to communicate with clients etc Desktop Central allows you to exempt Auto Uninstallation on computers in these specific custom groups You can create a custom group comprising specific computers and add it in the Exclude list The following steps will help you exclude groups 1 Click the Configure Prohibited Software link from the left pane available under Actions Settings of Inventory tab This will list the details of all the software that are already prohibited 2 Select the checkbox corresponding to the specified software and click the link under Exclusions column This opens the Add Exclusions dialog 3 Select the groups under Custom Groups and move it to the Excluded Groups list 4 Click on Save to save changes ZOHO Corp 66 Configure E Mail Alerts oe OA J Configure E Mail Alerts Desktop Central generates Email Alerts to notify the following events 1 2 3 4 2 When a new hardware is detected in the network When a new software is detected in the network Non Compliance of software licensing policy i e the license is inadequate and have to purchase more licenses to be compliant When a software is being used after its license has expired When a prohibited software is detected in the network To configure email alerts follow the steps below L 2 3 4 5 Click the I nventory
100. puters to be displayed as a list 2 Click on a particular alphabet to view the users computers with names that begin with alphabet specified Use All link to list all the users computers 3 Click on the Sort link to sort the listed user computer names Tip You can use the Ignore Prefix option in combination with your choice of alphabet This will list all users computers that have the specified prefix and whose names begin with selected alphabet For example the figure belows shows a case where DC is specified in Ignore Prefix and the alphabet chosen is W The resultant list therefore shows all the computers who have DC as their prefix but whose names begin with alphabet W ZOHO Corp 40 Available Computers Tree View List View Manual Input Go Ignore Prefix Sort OPMANMSP 1900 OPUTILS W2k2 Manual Input Option 1 Click on the Manual Input tab for the users computers to be manually added 2 Specify a valid User Computer in the text field 3 Click on gt gt button to add the user computer in the custom group Note Incorrect User Computer will not be added and the application will throw an error In that case specify the correct User Computer name and add it again 4 Click on Create Group button to complete custom group creation ZOHO Corp 41 Personalizing the Client Desktop Central provides users with the functionality to configure user accounts based on personal priorities and requirements The s
101. red option the next step is to schedule the frequency to scan the systems You have the following options to schedule e Daily to schedule the scan to run everyday You need to specify the starting time and starting day e Weekly to schedule the scan to run on specific day s in a week You need to specify the starting time and the day s on which the scan has to be run e Monthly to schedule the scan to run on a specific day every month s You need to specify starting time select a day and select a month months e If you wish a mail to be sent upon successful completion of the task select the Notify when Task Finishes check box and ZOHO Corp 55 provide the email address You can specify multiple email addresses as comma separated values 4 The next step is to select the target computers for which the above operations has to be performed The target chosen can be a whole domain site OU Group or specific computers You can also exclude computers from the chosen targets based on specific criteria 5 After adding the required target computers click Create Task Repeat the above steps to create more tasks Note It is advisable to schedule the Vulnerability Database synchronization prior to scanning the network systems so that the latest patch information will be available for comparison See Also Patch Management Architecture Patch Management Life Cycle Scan Systems for Vulnerability Patch Reports ZOHO Cor
102. released Microsoft bulletins Missing Systems This refers to the systems managed by Desktop Central that requires the patches to be installed Affected Systems This refers to the systems managed by Desktop Central that are vulnerable This includes all the systems that are affected irrespective of whether the patches have been installed or not Informational Patches There maybe some vulnerabilities for which Desktop Central is not able to determine if the appropriate patch or work around has been applied There could also be patches for which manual intervention is required These are categorized as Informational Items Remediation of these issues usually involves a configuration change or work around rather than a patch Obsolete Patches These are patches that are outdated and have another patch that is more recently released and has taken its place Superseding Patch If these patches are missing you can safely ignore them and deploy the patches that supersede them Some definitions are adapted from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 114
103. remote office computers To uninstall Desktop Central select Start gt Programs gt ManageEngine Desktop Central gt Uninstall If you have uninstalled the product before removing the agents and if you wish to remove later refer to the online knowledge base for steps ZOHO Corp 9 Working with Desktop Central Starting Desktop Central Starting Desktop Central Launching Desktop Central Client Steps to Perform after Initial Login Stopping Desktop Central To start Desktop Central select Start gt Programs gt ManageEngine Desktop Central gt Start Desktop Central On starting the Desktop Central the client is automatically launched in the default browser The following processes are started along with the Desktop Central e java exe Desktop Central Server e mysqld nt exe Database Server e wrapper exe For system tray operations When Desktop Central is started in Windows XP Windows 2003 machines with firewall enabled Windows will pop up security alerts asking whether to block or unblock the the following programs as shown in the images below 1 mysqld nt Database server 2 Java TM 2 Platform Standard Edition binary J ava You should Unblock these programs to start Desktop Central Windows Security Alert Eg io To help protect your computer Windows Firewall has blocked some features of this program Do you want to keep blocking this program nm Name mysqld nt Publisher Unknown
104. remote offices you need to add the details of the branch remote offices and generate Desktop Central Agent for each of your branch remote office This agent has to be installed in the managed computers of that branch To add the details of the remote offices follow the steps below 1 Select the Admin tab to invoke the Admin page 2 Click the Scope of Management link available under Global Settings This invokes the Scope of Management page 3 The Computers tab is selected by default showing all the computers that have been added already 4 Select the Remote offices tab This will list the details of the remote offices that have been already added The Remote Office Name as Local Office will be added by default which pertains to the LAN where Desktop Central Server is installed ZOHO Corp 28 D Click Add Remote Office and specify the following details 1 Remote Office Name 2 Specify the IP Address of the computer where Desktop Central Server is installed This IP Address should be common for all the Remote offices and will be used by the agents in the remote office computers to contact the Desktop Central Server If this IP Address is changed the agent MSI for remote offices will be recreated You need to reinstall the agents in all the remote computers 3 Select the Communication Type as Direct Communication 4 Specify the interval at which the agents from remote office computers should contact the Desktop Central Serv
105. rying to enable or disable Active Desktop while a policy controls it Prevents the user from enabling or disabling Active Desktop or changing the Active Desktop configuration This is a comprehensive setting that locks down the configuration you establish by using other policies in this folder This setting removes the Web tab from Display in Control Panel Permits only bitmap images for wallpaper This setting limits the desktop background wallpaper to bitmap bmp files ZOHO Corp 79 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policy a Displays the filter bar above the results of an Active Enable filter in Find Directory search The filter bar consists of buttons for dialog box ne applying additional filters to search results Hides the Active Directory folder in My Network Places Hide AD folder The Active Directory folder displays Active Directory objects in a browse window The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 80 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policies Desktop Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in Desktop category Security Policy Removes icons shortcuts and other default and user Hide and disable all items on the desktop defined items from the desktop including Briefcase Recycle Bin My Computer and My Network Places This setting removes the My Documents i
106. s The applied configurations will take effect during user logon for user configurations and during reboot for computer configurations View the status if the configurations applied to the users computers Setup Software Deployment Module Setup Patch Management Module Setup Inventory Management Configure AD Reports Update Interval and Enable User Logon Reports Stopping Desktop Central To stop Desktop Central select Start gt Programs gt ManageEngine Desktop Central gt Stop Desktop Central ZOHO Corp 11 Installing Service Pack Desktop Central periodically provides Service Packs which provide new features requested by the customers fixes for certain bugs and document updates in the form of HTML files Service Packs can be downloaded from the Web site and updated into ManageEngine Desktop Central using the Update Manager tool Note Ensure that no application is running when applying the Service Pack This prevents any files used by the application from being over written For example if the Desktop Central is running stop the server and then install the service pack Important You should login to the computer with the Domain Administrator credential as specified in the Scope of Management to install a Service Pack The steps to apply a Service Pack are as follows L 2 3 Stop Desktop Central Server Start Update manager by executing the script UpdateManager bat file located in lt Desktop Cen
107. sed recently Disables user tracking This setting prevents the system from tracking the programs users run the paths they navigate and the documents they open Lets users run a 16 bit program in a dedicated not Shared Virtual DOS Machine VDM process Prevents the system from conducting a comprehensive search of the target drive to resolve a shortcut Prevents the system from using NTFS tracking features to resolve a shortcut Displays Start menu shortcuts to partially installed programs in gray text This setting makes it easier for users to distinguish between programs that are fully installed and those that are only partially installed The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 96 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policies Microsoft Management Console Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in Microsoft Management Console category Security Policy Restrict user from entering author mode Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of Snap ins Restrict permit Component services snap In Restrict permit Computer Management snap in Restrict permit Device manager snap in Restrict permit Disk Management snap in Restrict permit Disk de fragmentation snap in Restrict permit Event viewer snap in Users cannot create console files or add or remove Snap ins Also because they cannot open author
108. ser Restrict changing any Prevents users from changing settings on the Advanced Restrict changing Automatic Install of IE components Restrict changing automatic check for software updates Restrict changing showing the splash screen Prevents Internet Explorer from automatically installing components Prevents Internet Explorer from checking whether a new version of the browser is available Prevents the Internet Explorer splash screen from appearing when users start the browser The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 88 Security Policies Network Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in Network category Security Policy Hide Entire Network from Network Neighborhood AlphaNumeric password Enable access to properties of RAS connections available to all users Ability to delete all user remote access connection Description Removes all computers outside of the user s workgroup or local domain from lists of network resources in Windows Explorer and My Network Places Windows by default will accept anything as a password including nothing This setting controls whether Windows will require a alphanumeric password i e a password made from a combination of alpha A B C and numeric 1 2 3 characters Determines whether a user can view and change the properties of remote access connections that are available to all u
109. sers of the computer Determines whether users can delete all user remote access connections LAN connections connections remote access connections Prohibit access to Determines whether users can change the properties of a Prohibit access to properties of components of LAN Prohibit access to the advanced settings item on the advanced menu Prohibit access to the dial up preferences item on the advanced menu Allow configuration of connection sharing User Prohibit adding and removing components for a LAN or RA connection Prohibit TCP IP advanced configuration Determines whether Administrators and Network Configuration Operators can change the properties of components used by a LAN connection Determines whether the Advanced Settings item on the Advanced menu in Network Connections is enabled for administrators Determines whether the Dial up Preferences item on the Advanced menu in Network Connections folder is enabled Determines whether users can use the New Connection Wizard which creates new network connections Determines whether administrators can add and remove network components for a LAN or remote access connection This setting has no effect on non administrators If you enable this setting the Install and Uninstall buttons for components of connections are disabled and administrators are not permitted to access network components in the Windows Components Wizard Determines whether users can
110. sktop Central allows you to add the details of the licenses purchased along with their expiry date This data will be used to arrive at the License Compliance Reports and Software Metering To Add Edit Software License details for commercial software follow the steps below 1 Click the Inventory tab to view the Inventory Summary 2 Click the Manage Software Licenses link from the left pane available under Actions Settings This will list the details of all the licenses that have been added To add or edit the license detail click the Add Edit Software License link 3 Select the software from the list You should have scanned the Windows systems at least once to have the details of the software here However you can also specify software that is not in the list The manufacturer and the software version details are pre filled and cannot be modified Specify the number of licenses purchased Specify the details to whom the software Is licensed to optional Specify the purchase and expiry date in the respective fields optional Add comments if required Click Update License P O ON AU The details gets updated in the table below It includes the following details Software Name Name of the commercial software Manufacturer The software manufacturer vendor Licensed To To whom the software is licensed Purchased No of licenses purchased Installed No of licensed software copies that are installed in the network
111. system and sequence of changes Prohibit rollback it makes during installation It also prevents Windows Installer from retaining files it intends to delete later As a result Windows Installer cannot restore the computer to its original state if the installation does not complete Disable media source for Prevents users from installing programs from removable any install media The policy descriptions are taken from Microsoft Help Documentation ZOHO Corp 94 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policies Start Menu and Taskbar Desktop Central supports configuring the following security policies in Start Menu and Taskbar category Security Policy Remove user s folder from the start menu Remove links and access to Windows update Remove common program groups from Start menu Prohibit user from changing My Documents path Hides all folders on the user specific top section of the Start menu Other items appear but folders are hidden This setting is designed for use with redirected folders Redirected folders appear on the main bottom section of the Start menu Prevents users from connecting to the Windows Update Web site Removes items in the All Users profile from the Programs menu on the Start menu Prevents users from changing the path to the My Documents folder Remove My Documents Removes the Documents menu from the Start menu from start menu Remove progr
112. t Properties Select Default Properties tab Check the box Enable Distributed COM in this machine Press OK sr em Scan Systems Manually To Scan the systems manually follow the steps below 1 Click the Inventory tab to view the Inventory Summary 2 Click the Scan Systems link from the left pane available under Actions Settings 3 This will list all the systems that are available under the Scope of Management Select the systems to be scanned for inventory and click San System To scan all the systems click Scan All The systems will be scanned and the status of the scanning gets updated under the Scan Status column ZOHO Corp 60 Troubleshooting Tips If you do not find the system here check whether you have added the system under the Scope of Management Check the Agent Status of all the systems it should be Agent Installed For systems with the status as Not Installed or Agent Installation Failed inventory scanning cannot be performed You need to reinstall the agents in these systems before scanning them for getting the inventory details If you get an error as WMI Service is not running start the WMI Service in the system and try scanning again If you get an error as Asset Scanning is locked contact desktopcentral Support manageengine com If you get an error as DCOM not enabled enable DCOM and try scanning again ZOHO Corp 61 Manage Software Licenses a 1 Manage Software Licenses De
113. t this option if you do not want the users to remove the software from Add Remove Programs in Add Remove Programs Manufacturer Package Description Description of the software package ZOHO Corp 47 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Parameter Description Run Script before Installing Software Specify the commands or scripts that has to be Script Command executed before installing the software Refer to Name Executing Scripts in Software installation for more details the arguments for the pre installation script if Select this option and specify the exit code to check Continue installation if for successful pre installation process before the exit code Is proceeding with the software installation If the pre installation fails the installation will abort Run Script after Installing Software Specify the commands or scripts that has to be Script Command executed after installing the software Refer to Name Executing Scripts in Software installation for more details ri the arguments for the post installation script Select this option and specify the exit code to verify Successful if the Exit whether post installation has been successful If post Code is installation is not successful the software will not be uninstalled Run Script before Uninstalling Software Specify the commands or scripts that has to be Script Command executed before uninstalling the software Refer
114. talled The user name should be prefixed with the domain or the workgroup name eg zohocorp administrator 5 This will deploy both the Distribution Server and also WAN agents on the branch office computers specified in computers txt To deploy WAN agent after Distribution Server deployment 1 Navigate to the working folder dssetup in the command prompt Example c Remote Office dssetup where Remote Office is folder in which the dssetup has been extracted 2 Edit the computers txt and specify the computers where the WAN Agents have to be installed 3 Run the command setup bat and select the option as 3 4 Specify the Administrator user name and password when prompted This can be a domain administrator or a common user who has administrator privileges in all the computers where the WAN agent has to be installed The user name should be prefixed with the domain or the workgroup name eg zohocorp administrator 5 This will deploy the WAN agents on the branch office computers specified in computers txt Manage Remote Office directly using WAN Agents When the number of computers is less than 10 and if there are no bandwidth related issues you can opt to manage your branch office desktops using WAN Agents The topics that wil be covered in this section include e Adding Details of Branch Remote Offices e Installing Agents in Branch Remote Office Computers Adding Details of Branch Remote Offices If you are managing in branch
115. te Offices Tab Click Add Remote Office button This opens the Add Remote Office page Specify Remote Office Name OU APUNE You will need to specify all the details under different sections Desktop Central Server Details Communication Details Distribution Server Details Distribution Server WAN Agent to Desktop Central Communication Computers to be Managed Desktop Central Server Details 1 Specify the IP Address in case you have a secondary IP address for the DC Server Note The HTTP and HTTPS ports represent the ones that have been designated for Desktop Central Server The default ports for HTTP and HTTPs are 8020 and 8383 respectively However these may vary based on what you have specified while installing Desktop Central Server Communication Details Select the Communication Type as Through Distribution Server Distribution Server DS Details 1 Specify the Domain NetBIOS Name 2 Specify the Computer Name on which DS is to be installed 3 Specify the IP Address of the computer on which Distribution Server will be installed Note It is recommended to have a dedicated computer as the distribution server with a static IP address This will facilitate hassle free communication of the Remote Agents with the Distribution Server 4 Specify HTTP port for DS 5 Specify HTTPS port for DS Note The HTTP and HTTPS ports for communication between the WAN agents and the Distribution Server The Distribut
116. tel Xeon 3001 to 5000 processors Quad Core at 2 3 Computers GHz 1000 MHz FSB 4 MB Cache 20 GB HDD speed 7200 10 000 rpm Quad Processor Intel Xeon 5001 to 10000 processors Quad Core at 2 3 Computers GHz 1000 MHz FSB 4 MB Cache 50 GB HDD speed 7200 10 000 rpm Environment Active Directory based Windows 2000 2003 domain setup ZOHO Corp 15 Supported platforms Windows 2000 Professional Windows XP Professional Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows 2000 Server Windows 2003 Server Windows 2008 Server Virtual Servers VM Ware Supported Browsers IE 5 5 and above Netscape 7 0 and above Mozilla 1 5 and above You must install and enable J ava plugin to use the software 2 What operating systems are supported by Desktop Central Desktop Central supports the following operating systems Windows 2000 Professional Windows XP Professional Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows 2000 Server Windows 2003 Server Windows 2008 Server Virtual Servers VM Ware 3 What is the difference between Free and Professional Editions While the free edition can be used to manage up to 25 desktops free of cost the professional edition can be used to manage the number of desktops for which it is licensed for The free edition can be upgraded to professional edition at any point of time by obtaining a valid license from ManageEngine 4 Do I have to write scripts for using Desktop Central No you do not ha
117. the Manage Software Category link from the left pane available under Actions Settings This will list all the software categories that have been added including the pre defined categories 3 Click the delete icon from the Actions column to delete individually or select the categories that you wish to delete and click Delete Category ZOHO Corp 64 Configure Prohibited Software d I lg Configure Prohibited Software Adding Prohibited Software e Removing Prohibited Software e Configuring Auto Uninstalling Policy e Exclude Custom Groups from Auto Uninstallation of Software Every organization prohibits employees from using certain software Desktop Central helps prohibit usage of certain software in accordance to your company policies Detecting such prohibited software will help tackle compliance issues that might otherwise pop up Desktop Central provides an option to add the list of software that are prohibited in the company You can also configure and receive notification through email and take the necessary action The auto uninstall feature allows you to automatically remove the software within a specified time frame once it is detected in the client machine However you can also exempt certain computers from the auto uninstallation routine Adding prohibited software You can simply add the list of software that is prohibited in the company to be detected during the regular scan cycles Follow the steps given belo
118. tion Server zip file in the machine on which Distribution Server needs to be installed You should login as an administrator in that computer to install the Distribution Server Extract the contents of the zip file i e dssetup folder on the same machine Open a command prompt Start gt Run gt type cmd Navigate to the working folder dssetup in the command prompt Example c Remote Office dssetup where Remote Office is folder in which the dssetup has been extracted 6 Run the command setup bat and select the option as 1 to deploy the Distribution Server alone Refer to the Remote Agent Installation section to install WAN agents also SS How to deploy WAN Agent on the Branch Office Desktops WAN Agent can be installed during two stages 1 During Distribution Server Deployment 2 After Distribution Server Deployment ZOHO Corp 27 To deploy WAN agent during Distribution Server deployment 1 Navigate to the working folder dssetup in the command prompt Example c Remote Office dssetup where Remote Office is folder in which the dssetup has been extracted 2 Edit the computers txt and specify the computers where the WAN Agents have to be installed 3 Run the command setup bat and select the option as 2 4 Specify the Administrator user name and password when prompted This can be a domain administrator or a common user who has administrator privileges in all the computers where the WAN agent has to be ins
119. tral Home gt bin directory Click Browse and select the Service Pack file ppm to be installed Click Install to install the Service Pack You can go through the Readme file of the Service Pack by clicking the Readme button Note On clicking Install the tool checks whether there is enough space for the installation of the service pack If there is no enough space the tool informs you about the lack of space You must clear the space and then proceed with the installation ZOHO Corp 12 Licensing the Product Desktop Central is available in four variants Free Standard Professional and Enterprise Editions Download the product from the Website The Free Edition Standard Edition Professional Edition and Enterprise Edition come packaged as a single download During the evaluation phase the Enterprise Edition is installed and can be evaluated for 30 days After 30 days it is automatically gets converted to the Free Edition unless the Standard Professional Enterprise Edition license is purchased Given below is the comparison matrix of the features available in the various editions i Free Standard Professional Enterprise E dition Software Deployment Patch Management Asset Management Remote Control Service Pack Deployment O Xoo Windows Configurations USB Device Management O xX Power Management System Tools User Logon Reports Active Directory Reports Managing Desktops Across WAN Yr M
120. tral is unable to discover any domain To fix this start the Workstation service in the machine where Desktop Central is installed ZOHO Corp 14 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation FAQs 1 What are the system requirements for Desktop Central 2 What operating systems are supported by Desktop Central 3 What is the difference between Free and Professional Editions 4 Do have to write scripts for using Desktop Central 5 What is Scope of Management 6 Do need to define configurations separately or can I group them and define 7 When are the configurations applied 8 How to access Desktop Central Ul or console from the remote 9 What is Define Target 10 My free trial expired before I was through evaluating Desktop Central Can I receive an extension 11 Why is Desktop Central configuration done through a Web interface 12 How is Desktop Central licensed 1 What are the system requirements for Desktop Central Hardware Requirements for Desktop Central Server No of Computers p Hard Disk rocessor Managed Space Single processor Intel P4 1 5 GHz Single processor Intel P4 or Xeon 251 to 500 Computers 2 0 Ghz Dual Core 800 Mhz FSB 4 MB cache Single processor Intel Xeon 2 4 Ghz Dual Core 800 Mhz FSB 4MB cache Dual processor Intel Xeon 2 0 Ghz Dual Core 1000 Mhz FSB 4 MB cache Upto 250 Computers 501 to 1000 Computers 1001 to 3000 Computers Dual Processor In
121. ts to install etc using the Microsoft Office Resource Kit Tools After customization an MST file gets created The MST file should also be placed in the network share where all the other installation files are present Specify the location of the MST file with the network path here MST file name with Network path If you are using the copy option while deploying the application the location of the MST file specified here should be relative to the MSI Root Path If the MSI Root Path is displayed as MyServer Shares MSIApps and your MST File is in MyServer Shares MSI Apps Office2003 Custom mst specify the location as Office2003 Custom mst Multiple mst files can be specified as semi colon separated Please note that the relative path is required only if you choose to copy the files to the individual computers before installing the software Else you can specify the complete network path Application specific installation parameters can be specified here For example for skype you can specify parameters like installlevel 10 This field can be left blank if you do not have any application specific arguments Install Arguments to MSI Uninstall Arguments to MSI Application specific installation parameters can be specified here For example REBOOT ReallySuppress Enable Logging for Select this option to enhance the logging to troubleshooting troubleshooting the deployment errors Disable Uninstall option Selec
122. tting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting ZOHO Corp 97 ManageEngine Desktop Central Help Documentation Security Policy determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in is permitted If the setting is disabled the snap in is prohibited Restrict permit Fax services snap in Restrict permit Indexing services snap in Restrict permit Internet Information Services snap in Restrict permit Local users and groups snap in Restrict permit Performance logs and alerts snap in Restrict permit Services snap in Restrict permit Shared folders snap in Restrict permit System information snap in If this setting is not configured the setting of the Restrict users to the explicitly permitted list of snap ins setting determines whether this snap in is permitted or prohibited If the setting is enabled the snap in
123. tton or during deployment 1103 Group Policy Object GPO creation failed For every configuration a Group Policy Object GPOs will be created When the GPO could not be created due to some access restrictions etc this error is shown 1104 Group Policy Object GPO deletion failed When an already defined configuration is deleted the corresponding GPO is also deleted This error is shown when the GPO could not be deleted 1105 Group Policy Object GPO linking failed When a configuration defined a GPO will be created and linked with the targets specified This error is shown when the linking fails 1106 Group Policy Object GPO unlinking failed When an already defined configuration is suspended respective GPO will be unlinked from the targets This error is shown when the unlinking fails 1107 WMI query failed Desktop Central fetches the computer details through WMI The WMI query may fail in the following cases 1 Authentication failure 2 When the machine is shutdown 3 When the RPC server is not running 1108 Active Directory error occurred Pertains to the Active Directory related error Please create a support file by clicking the Support File link available under the Support tab and send it to Support desktopcentral com Our support team will be able to assist you on this ZOHO Corp 73 1109 Unable to Extract Information from the given Msi Package The possible reason for this error could be th
124. tures Will be replaced by the path ShellNetHood to current user s Network Neighborhood shell folder Will be replaced by the path to current user s Personal C Documents and Shell folder also referred to Settings J ohnSmith My Documents as My Documents Will be replaced by the path en ShellPrintHood to current user s Printer Settings ohnSmith PrintHood Neighborhood shell folder Will be replaced by the path C Documents and ShellPrograms to current user s Start Menu Settings J ohnSmith Start Programs shell folder Menu Programs Will be replaced by the path C Documents and ShellRecent to current user s Recent Settings ohnSmith Recent Documents shell folder Will be replaced by the path es pocunienieand ShellSendTo to current user s Send To Se hnSmith SendT ahell foider ettings J onnSmith SendTo Will be replaced by the path ShellStartMenu to current user s Start Menu shell folder Will be replaced by the path C Documents and ShellStartup to current user s Start Menu Settings J ohnSmith Start Startup shell folder Menu Programs Startup Will be replaced by the path ShellTemplates to current user s Templates ume and Settings J ohnSmith Templates Shell folder Refers to the drive where l Will be replaced by the path n ee to operating system folder Et Will be replaced by the path C Documents and TempDir to the temporary directory Settings J ohnnSmith Local on the client Settings
125. umber of computers you are likely to manage at your branch remote office The options available include managing the Remote Office 1 Using a Distribution Server and WAN Agents When the computers to be managed are greater in number 2 Directly using WAN Agents When the number of computers is less than 10 The Agent Server Communication mode can also be changed later by modifying the Remote Office details Managing Remote Office using Distribution Server and WAN Agents Desktop Central s Distribution Server technology can help you plan and control bandwidth utilization and associated costs The Distribution Server located at the remote location synchronizes the Configuration Patch Software repositories with the Desktop Central Server located at the Main Office at specific intervals Now the WAN agents installed on the desktops at the remote location can download the patch service pack software from the Distribution Server locally within the Remote Office LAN This mechanism clearly addresses the bandwidth related issues and also improves the efficiency and control level that network managers administrators can exercise on the remote machines ZOHO Corp 25 How to create Remote Office with Distribution Server Creating a Distribution Server at a remote office of your enterprise is quite simple Follow the steps given below to accomplish this task Select Admin Tab Click Scope of Management link under Global Settings Select Remo
126. ve to write scripts for using any of the pre defined configurations provided by Desktop Central Just select the configuration specify the required inputs and deploy 5 What is Scope of Management Scope of Management is used to define what are the computers to be managed using this software When an Administrator use this software first time he she can use it with small set of computers then can slowly add more computers under management 6 Do I need to define configurations separately or can I group them and define Configurations that are intended for the same set of targets can be grouped and defined as collections However when the targets differ you have to define them separately 7 When are the configurations applied 1 All user configurations except Custom Script configuration are applied during user logon 2 All computer configurations except Custom Script configuration are applied during system startup 3 Custom Script configuration can be applied during user logon logoff or system startup shutdown 4 Both user and computer configurations are applied every 90 minutes through Windows Group Policies ZOHO Corp 76 8 How to access Desktop Central client or console from the remote To access the Desktop Central client from remote open a supported browser and type http lt host name gt lt port number gt in the address bar where lt host name gt refers to the name IP Address of the machine runni
127. view the discovered domains workgroups or to initiate the discovery select Admin tab gt Scope of Management SoM gt Add Computers This will discover all the available domains and workgroups and list them under Discovered Networks Adding Domains Domain can be added in Desktop Central in two ways 1 From the auto discovered list available in the SoM gt Add Computers page by clicking the Edit link corresponding to the domain 2 By Manually adding the domain If for some reason one or more domains are not discovered you can use the Add Domain link available in the same page to add domains manually Both the above options will open the Add Domain dialog for accepting the following information Domain Name of the domain This is usually the netbios or Terre Name the pre 2000 name of the domain y A Select Active Directory option Mandatory This should be the domain user name that has administrative privileges in all the computers of that Domain User domain It is recommended to have a dedicated Mandatory Name l domain admin user account for Desktop Central whose password policy is set to Never Expire Password of the domain admin user Mandatory En The DNS name of the Active Directory Domain Mandatory The name of the domain controller If you have Domain multiple domain controllers provide the name of the Controller Mandatory Ma domain controller that is nearest to the computer where Desktop Central Server is
128. w to add a prohibited software to the list 1 Click the Inventory tab to view the Inventory Summary 2 Click the Configure Prohibited Software link from the left pane available under Actions Settings This will list the details of all the software that are already prohibited 3 Click Add Prohibited Software This is open the Add Prohibited Software dialog listing all the software detected in the managed computers You should have scanned the Windows systems at least once to have the details of the software here 4 Select the software that you wish to prohibit and move them to Prohibited List Note In case you have grouped certain software and you are adding that Software Group under the Prohibited Software List then all the software in that group will be added 5 After adding all the software click Update The software gets added to the prohibited list Removing prohibited software To remove prohibited software select the software and click Remove Prohibited Software You can select the software that you wish to remove from the prohibited list and click Remove Prohibited Software to eliminate the selected software from the prohibited software list ZOHO Corp 65 Configuring the Auto Uninstall Policy Desktop Central s Auto Uninstall Policy helps you to automatically uninstall the detected prohibited software from the client machines The uninstallation will happen during the subsequent refresh cycle Follow the steps given

ManageEngine Desktop Central :: Admin Guide

Contents

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents