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KACE Systems Management Appliance 13.2 Common Documents - Administrator Guide

About the KACE Systems Management Appliance Getting started
Configuring the appliance
Requirements and specifications Power-on the appliance and log in to the Administrator Console Access the Command Line Console Tracking configuration changes Configuring System-level and Admin-level General Settings Configure appliance date and time settings Managing user notifications Enable Two-Factor Authentication for all users Verifying port settings, NTP service, and website access Configuring network and security settings Configuring Agent settings Configuring session timeout and auto-refresh settings Configuring locale settings Configuring the default theme Configure data sharing preferences About DIACAP compliance requirements Configuring Mobile Device Access Enable fast switching for organizations and linked appliances Linking Quest KACE appliances Configuring history settings
Setting up and using labels to manage groups of items Configuring user accounts, LDAP authentication, and SSO Deploying the KACE Agent to managed devices Using Replication Shares Managing credentials Configuring assets
About the Asset Management component Using the Asset Management Dashboard About managing assets Adding and customizing Asset Types and maintaining asset information Managing Software assets Managing physical and logical assets Maintaining and using manual asset information Managing locations Managing contracts Managing licenses Managing purchase records
Setting up License Compliance Managing License Compliance Setting up Service Desk Configure the Cache Lifetime for Service Desk widgets Creating and managing organizations Importing and exporting appliance resources
Managing inventory
Using the Inventory Dashboard Using Device Discovery Managing device inventory
About managing devices Features available for each device management method About inventory information Tracking changes to inventory settings Managing inventory information Finding and managing devices Registering KACE Agent with the appliance Provisioning the KACE Agent Manually deploying the KACE Agent Using Agentless management Adding devices manually in the Administrator Console or by using the API Forcing inventory updates Managing MIA devices Obtaining Dell warranty information
Managing applications on the Software page Managing Software Catalog inventory
About the Software Catalog Viewing Software Catalog information Adding applications to the Software Catalog Managing License assets for Software Catalog applications Associate Managed Installations with Cataloged Software Using software metering Using Application Control Update or reinstall the Software Catalog
Managing process, startup program, and service inventory Writing custom inventory rules
Deploying packages to managed devices
Distributing software and using Wake-on-LAN Broadcasting alerts to managed devices Running scripts on managed devices Managing Mac profiles Using Task Chains
Patching devices and maintaining security
Using the Security Dashboard About patch management Subscribing to and downloading patches Creating and managing patch schedules Managing patch inventory Managing Windows Feature Updates Managing Dell devices and updates Managing Linux package upgrades Maintaining device and appliance security Manage quarantined file attachments
Using reports and scheduling notifications Monitoring servers
Getting started with server monitoring Working with monitoring profiles Managing monitoring for devices Working with alerts
Using the Service Desk
Configuring Service Desk Using the Service Desk Dashboard Managing Service Desk tickets, processes, and reports
Overview of Service Desk ticket lifecycle Creating tickets from the Administrator Console and User Console Creating and managing tickets by email Viewing tickets and managing comments, work, and attachments Merging tickets Using the ticket escalation process Using Service Desk processes Using Ticket Rules Run Service Desk reports Archiving, restoring, and deleting tickets Managing ticket deletion
Managing Service Desk ticket queues About User Downloads and Knowledge Base articles Customizing Service Desk ticket settings Configuring SMTP email servers
Maintenance and troubleshooting
Maintaining the appliance Troubleshooting the appliance
Appendixes Glossary About us Legal notices

Configuring Service Level Agreements

Configuring Service Level Agreements

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are the rules used to calculate the expected resolution time, or due dates, for Service Desk tickets based on ticket priority.

You can set the expected resolution time for each ticket priority, and you can enable SLAs to take the defined business hours and holidays into consideration when calculating due dates. For example, if tickets with a priority of Low are set to be resolved in two days, and a Low priority ticket is submitted the day before a holiday, the holiday is excluded from the two-day resolution time when calculating the due date.

In addition, if notifications and email events are enabled, email is sent to users specified in the SLA Violation email event when tickets are overdue. The frequency of email notifications is configured in the SLA settings, and notifications are sent according to that frequency, even if that frequency includes non-working hours or holidays.

Enable Service Level Agreements

Enable Service Level Agreements

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) define the time allowed to resolve tickets in each queue. If you have multiple Service Desk queues, you configure SLA settings for each queue separately.

SLAs are based on the priority values defined in the queue, so these values should be defined before SLAs are configured. See Customize ticket priority values. In addition, SLAs can use business hours and holidays only if those hours and holidays have been defined. See Configuring Service Desk business hours and holidays.

1.
Go to the Service Desk Queue Detail page:
a.
Log in to the appliance Administrator Console, https://appliance_hostname/admin. Or, if the Show organization menu in admin header option is enabled in the appliance General Settings, select an organization in the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page next to the login information.
b.
On the left navigation bar, click Service Desk, then click Configuration.
c.
On the Configuration panel, click Queues.
d.
To display the Queue Detail page, do one of the following:
Select Choose Action > New.
2.
Scroll down to the Service Level Agreement section. A row is displayed for each priority value defined for the queue. See Customize ticket priority values.
3.
For each Priority, such as High, Medium, and Low, specify the following settings:

Option

Description

Enabled

Whether the SLA is enabled for the priority. Select the check box to enable the SLA, clear the check box to disable it.

Resolution Time

The time, in hours or minutes, for the enabled priority. This time period is used to automatically calculate a ticket's due date and time based on the date and time the ticket is submitted.

Use Business Hours/Holidays

Whether to use the configured business hours and holidays when calculating ticket due dates for each priority. Select the check boxes to use these settings. See Configuring Service Desk business hours and holidays.

Notification Recurrence

The time, in hours or minutes, for email notifications to be sent. A recurring email notification is sent when a ticket has passed its due date and is not yet resolved. The email is sent to the users specified in the SLA Violation email event, if configured in the Email on Events section. See Configuring email triggers and email templates.

4.
Click Save.

Configuring Service Desk ticket queues

Configuring Service Desk ticket queues

Service Desk tickets are stored in queues on the appliance. Most organizations need only a single ticket queue. You can customize this single queue, or create and manage additional queues, as needed.

See Managing Service Desk ticket queues.

Configure ticket queues

Configure ticket queues

You can modify the settings of ticket queues as needed.

1.
Go to the Service Desk Queue Detail page:
a.
Log in to the appliance Administrator Console, https://appliance_hostname/admin. Or, if the Show organization menu in admin header option is enabled in the appliance General Settings, select an organization in the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page next to the login information.
b.
On the left navigation bar, click Service Desk, then click Configuration.
c.
On the Configuration panel, click Queues.
d.
To display the Queue Detail page, do one of the following:
Select Choose Action > New.

Field

Description

Name

The name of the Service Desk queue. This name appears in the From field when users receive email messages from the Service Desk.

Email Address

A fully qualified email address for the server. Users typically do not reply to this address.

If you want to allow users to reply to appliance email, specify an email address in the Alternate Email Address field.

Ticket Number Prefix

Specify a custom ticket prefix for this queue. You can use a different prefix for each queue to organize your Service Desk workflow, and to associate them with applicable categories, such as HD for Helpdesk or REQ for hardware and software requisitions.

Alternate Email Address

Support@mydomain.com

The primary email address your users send email to. The appliance also uses this address to send email from the Service Desk. Confirm that the domain name is correct for your email service.

3.
Optional: Configure the SMTP/ POP3 server settings. Click Configure Queue Email Settings and specify the SMTP/POP3 options on the Service Desk Queue Email Settings page, as required. See Configure queue-specific email settings.
4.
Click Save to create the queue and configure additional settings.
5.
Specify User Preferences:

Field

Description

Allow all users as submitters

Allow anyone who is a user on the appliance to submit tickets through this Service Desk queue.

Restrict Submitters by Label

Select submitters by label only. Available only when Allow all users as submitters is not selected.

Allow all users as approvers

Allow users on the appliance to approve tickets through this Service Desk queue.

Restrict Approvers by Label

Select approvers by label only. Available only when Allow all users as approvers is not selected.

Owner Label

If you want to enable all users to have the ability to approve tickets, select Allow all users as approvers.

Identify the users who are allowed to own and manage tickets — typically, your IT staff. You must have a Ticket Owner who is responsible for managing the ticket through its life cycle.

To do that, click Manage Associated Labels. In the Select Labels dialog box that appears, select one or more labels associated with the users that you want to select as Ticket Owners. Close the dialog box.

Accept email from unknown users

Allow unrecognized users to create tickets.

If this option is enabled in the queue configuration, any email sent to the Service Desk queue is allowed to set the Submitter field of a ticket. The sender is added to the appliance as a user with the User Console Only role. By default, this role has permission to create, view, and modify Service Desk tickets, and to interact with the appliance exclusively through the User Console. You can adjust the level of permissions associated with this and other roles, as applicable. For more information, see Setting up roles for user accounts.

If disabled, the preceding process works only when the email address of the sender is already associated with a Service Desk user account.

Allow ticket deletion

Allow ticket owners and administrators to delete tickets. This setting is useful if you do not want staff to delete tickets. You can periodically select this check box to clean out old tickets, then clear it again to prevent ticket deletion.

Allow parent ticket to close child tickets

Enable the system to automatically close child tickets when parent tickets are closed.

Allow last child ticket to close parent ticket

Enable the system to automatically close parent tickets when the last child ticket is closed.

Allow users with an Administrator role to read and edit tickets in this queue (Administrator Console only)

Grant read and write permissions to all users who are assigned to the Administrator role.

Default ticket owner comments to Owners Only visibility

Automatically select the Owners Only check box when comments are added to tickets.

Enable ticket conflict warning for ticket owners

Display a dialog, to administrators and ticket owners, that summarizes conflicts between the changes they are submitting and the changes submitted concurrently by other users. When administrators and ticket owners click Save or Apply Changes on the Ticket Detail page, the dialog appears if other users have edited and saved the ticket while it was open for editing. This enables administrators and ticket owners to choose whether to discard their changes, or overwrite the changes made by other users if there are conflicts.

The dialog is displayed only if other users have modified the ticket, and it is displayed to administrators and ticket owners only. The dialog is not displayed to other users.

Allow managers to view and comment on their employee's tickets

Enable manager accounts to view and edit comments in the tickets submitted by their employees. For more information, see View ticket comments.

Allow Ticket CC list to view and comment on the ticket

Allow the users on the ticket CC list to add comments to the ticket.

Add any user to Ticket CC list when they comment on a ticket

Add any users that comment on a ticket to a CC list for that ticket, allowing them to be notified by email about further changes to the ticket.

All users can edit/delete their own comments (including attachments)

Allow all users to edit or remove their own comments, including file attachments.

User Label

To allow specific users to edit or delete their own comments and attachments using labels, click Manage Associated Labels. In the Select Labels dialog box that appears, select one or more labels associated with the users that you want to select. Close the dialog box.

All technicians can edit/delete comments entered by others (including attachments)

Allow all technicians to edit or remove comments added by others, including file attachments.

Technician Label

To allow specific technicians to edit or delete their own comments and attachments using labels, click Manage Associated Labels. In the Select Labels dialog box that appears, select one or more labels associated with the technicians that you want to select. Close the dialog box.

Enable aggressive HTML sanitization

Remove all malicious code on all fields that accept HTML.

Allow Knowledge Base article suggestions

Display KB article suggestions while typing the ticket title.

Ticket attachment restrictions

Indicate how you want to handle file attachment restrictions, as applicable.

None: Allow users to add any types of files as attachments.
Allow images only: Allow only image files to be added as attachments.
Custom: Specify file extensions that you want to allow as attachments. You can also allow all files without extensions.
Prevent all attachments: Disable users from adding any file attachments.
6.
In the Archive Preferences section, select settings for ticket archival. Click the Settings link to enable ticket archival.

Option

Description

Archive closed tickets older than

The age of tickets to be archived. For example, if you select 3 months, tickets are archived when three months have passed since the tickets were closed. To prevent tickets in the queue from being archived, select Never. Archived tickets can be restored to the queue if necessary. See Restore archived tickets.

Delete archived tickets older than

The age of tickets to be permanently removed from the archive. For example, if you select 6 months, archived tickets are deleted from the archive when six months have passed since the tickets were opened. To prevent tickets in the queue from being deleted from the archive, select Never. Deleted tickets cannot be restored to the queue.

7.
In the Ticket Defaults section, select the default values for new tickets. For example:
Category: Software
Status: New
Impact: 1 person cannot work
Priority: Medium
8.
In the Email on Events section, select the categories of users who will receive email when the specified events occur. Each column represents a type of Service Desk user (role) and each row represents a ticket event. See Configure email triggers.
9.
Optional: Configure Service Level Agreement Settings. Here you can enable Service Level Agreement (SLA) settings based on the ticket priority. When enabled, the due date of the ticket automatically takes into account the resolution time, business hours, and holidays. See Configuring Service Level Agreements.
10.
In the Ticket Rules section, enable the rules to apply to tickets in the queue. You can use any of the pre-defined rules or customize your own. See Using Ticket Rules for more information about how to use and customize ticket rules.
11.
Click Save.
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