KACE Systems Management Appliance 14.1 Common Documents - KACE Service Desk Administrator Guide

See Install the KACE Agent on a device or multiple devices.

Edit the provisioning schedule on the schedule's Provisioning Schedule Detail page, and click Save.

Duplicate schedules:

You can delete provisioning schedules when you want to remove schedules from the appliance.

In the Advanced section, click Duplicate to display the Provisioning Schedules page with the new schedule listed as Copy of Schedule Name.

Delete provisioning schedules

When provisioning schedules are deleted, results associated with those schedules are also deleted. Devices provisioned using the schedules, however, are not removed from inventory.

Go to the Provisioning Schedules list:

On the left navigation bar, click Settings, then click Provisioning.

On the Provisioning Panel, click Schedules.

Select the check box next to one or more schedules.

Select Choose Action > Delete, then click Yes to confirm.

View provisioning results

You can view the results of actions performed by provisioning schedules.

Go to the Provisioning Schedules list:

On the left navigation bar, click Settings, then click Provisioning.

On the Provisioning Panel, click Schedules.

Click a link in the Running, Pending, Succeeded, or Failed column.

The Provisioning Results page appears with the following information:

Item	Description
Status	The status of the Agent connection to the appliance: : An Agent-managed device is connected to the appliance. : An Agent-managed device is not connected to the appliance.
Schedule Name	The name of the provisioning schedule.
IP Address	The IP address of the target device.
Hostname	The hostname of the target device. Click the Remote Connection button to open a Remote Desktop Connection to the target device (Microsoft Edge only):
Result	The status of the most recent provisioning attempt.
Action	I indicates a successful installation. U indicates a successful uninstallation.
Error	The failure error, such as TCP ports not accessible.
Last Run	The last time the schedule ran.

To view additional information about a target device, click its IP Address.

The KACE Agent Provisioning page appears.

This page displays the results of the most recent provisioning run and includes information such as the IP address, port configuration, and the logs of each provisioning step.

To view inventory information, click the [computer inventory] link next to the MAC address.

NOTE: The [computer inventory] link appears only if the provisioning process can match the MAC address of the target device with the current inventory data. See Managing MIA devices.

View provisioning results

Managing provisioning schedules

View, run, edit, or duplicate provisioning schedules

Delete provisioning schedules

View provisioning results

View, run, edit, or duplicate provisioning schedules

You can view provisioning schedule status and other details on the Provisioning Schedules page. From this page you can also run and edit provisioning schedules as needed.

Go to the Provisioning Schedules list:

On the left navigation bar, click Settings, then click Provisioning.

On the Provisioning Panel, click Schedules.

The list displays the following columns:

Option	Description
Name	The name of the provisioning schedule (links to the Provisioning Schedule Detail page).
Targeted	The total number of target devices in the configuration (links to the Provisioning Results page).
Running	The total number of target devices on which provisioning is running (links to the Provisioning Results page).
Pending	The total number of target devices on which provisioning has not yet started (links to the Provisioning Results page).
Succeeded	The total number of target devices on which provisioning has succeeded (links to the Provisioning Results page).
Failed	The total number of target devices on which provisioning has failed (links to the Provisioning Results page).
Success Rate	The total number of target devices on which provisioning has succeeded as a percentage.
IP Range	The IP address range of the target device.
Schedule	The specified provisioning schedule. For example: Everyn minutes, Every n hours, or Never.
Enabled	Whether the configuration is enabled or disabled. A check mark indicates that the provisioning schedule is enabled.

Run provisioning schedules:

Select the check boxes for the schedules that you want to run.

Select Choose Action > Run Now.

Edit schedules:

See Install the KACE Agent on a device or multiple devices.

Edit the provisioning schedule on the schedule's Provisioning Schedule Detail page, and click Save.

Duplicate schedules:

You can delete provisioning schedules when you want to remove schedules from the appliance.

In the Advanced section, click Duplicate to display the Provisioning Schedules page with the new schedule listed as Copy of Schedule Name.

Delete provisioning schedules

When provisioning schedules are deleted, results associated with those schedules are also deleted. Devices provisioned using the schedules, however, are not removed from inventory.

Go to the Provisioning Schedules list:

On the left navigation bar, click Settings, then click Provisioning.

On the Provisioning Panel, click Schedules.

Select the check box next to one or more schedules.

Select Choose Action > Delete, then click Yes to confirm.

View provisioning results

You can view the results of actions performed by provisioning schedules.

Go to the Provisioning Schedules list:

On the left navigation bar, click Settings, then click Provisioning.

On the Provisioning Panel, click Schedules.

Click a link in the Running, Pending, Succeeded, or Failed column.

The Provisioning Results page appears with the following information:

Item	Description
Status	The status of the Agent connection to the appliance: : An Agent-managed device is connected to the appliance. : An Agent-managed device is not connected to the appliance.
Schedule Name	The name of the provisioning schedule.
IP Address	The IP address of the target device.
Hostname	The hostname of the target device. Click the Remote Connection button to open a Remote Desktop Connection to the target device (Microsoft Edge only):
Result	The status of the most recent provisioning attempt.
Action	I indicates a successful installation. U indicates a successful uninstallation.
Error	The failure error, such as TCP ports not accessible.
Last Run	The last time the schedule ran.

To view additional information about a target device, click its IP Address.

The KACE Agent Provisioning page appears.

This page displays the results of the most recent provisioning run and includes information such as the IP address, port configuration, and the logs of each provisioning step.

To view inventory information, click the [computer inventory] link next to the MAC address.

NOTE: The [computer inventory] link appears only if the provisioning process can match the MAC address of the target device with the current inventory data. See Managing MIA devices.

Managing Agent communications

Configure Agent communication and log settings

View Agent task status

View the Agent Command Queue

Delete messages from the Agent command queue

Communications between the appliance and Agents installed on managed devices include inventory reports, alerts, patches, scripts, and crash logs. You can configure and view communications that are queued, or pending.

Configure Agent communication and log settings

Agents installed on managed devices periodically check in to the appliance to report inventory, update scripts, and perform other tasks.

You can configure the Agent settings, including the interval at which the Agents check in, messages displayed to users, and log retention time, as described in this section. If you have multiple organizations, you configure Agent settings for each organization separately.

Do one of the following:

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If the Organization component is enabled on your appliance, log in to the appliance System Administration Console, https://appliance_hostname/system, or select System in the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page next to the login information. Then click Organizations. To display the organization’s information, click the organization’s name.

On the Organization Detail page that appears, locate the Communication and Agent Settings section.

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If the Organization component is not enabled on your appliance, log in to the appliance Administrator Console, https://appliance_hostname/admin. Then select Settings > Provisioning., and click Communication Settings on the Provisioning panel.

The Communication Settings page appears.

Specify the following settings in Agent tab:

NOTE: To reduce the load on the appliance, limit the number of Agent connections to 500 per hour. The number of connections that appears next to the inventory, scripting, and metering intervals, applies to the current organization only. If the Organization component is enabled on your appliance, the total number of Agent connections for all organizations should not exceed 500 per hour.

Option	Suggested Setting	Notes
Enable Agent Logging	Enabled	Whether the appliance stores scripting results provided by Agents installed on managed devices. Agent logs can consume as much as 1GB of disk space in the database. If disk space is not an issue, enable Agent Logging to keep all log information for Agent-managed devices. These logs can be useful during troubleshooting. To save disk space, and enable faster Agent communication, disable Agent Logging.
Agent Debug Trace	Enabled	If selected, this option allows you to record the Agent's debug trace. This information allows administrators to monitor the Agent's performance, and to diagnose common problems.
Agent Inventory	12 hours	The frequency at which Agents on managed devices report inventory. This information is displayed in the Inventory section.
Agentless Inventory	1 Day	The frequency at which Agentless devices report inventory. This information is displayed in the Inventory section.
Catalog Inventory	24 hours	The frequency at which managed devices report inventory to the Software Catalog page.
Metering	4 hours	The frequency at which managed devices report metering information to the appliance. Requires metering to be enabled on devices and applications.
Scripting Update	4 hours	The frequency at which Agents on managed devices request updated copies of scripts that are enabled on managed devices. This interval does not affect how often scripts run.
Max Download Speed	As required	The maximum download speed, as required. Choose from the available options.
Konea Connection Timeout	80 seconds	Configurable konea tunnel timeout check for bootup MI.
Enable Wait for Bootup Tasks	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from executing bootup tasks.
Enable Wait for Login Tasks	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from executing login tasks.

In the Agent Settings tab in theAgent Status Icon Settings section, specify the following settings:

Agent Status Icon On Device

Suggested Setting

Notes

If selected, this option allows you to display the agent status on managed devices.

Enable Agent Snooze on Device

If selected, this option allows you to suspend the agent's activity on managed devices using the system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac OS).

NOTE: Some critical background tasks are still allowed to run, including inventory, replication tasks, and urgent alerts.

Agent Snooze Max Count (per day)

1 snooze

The maximum number of times you can snooze the agent each day on managed devices.

Agent Status Icon Shortcuts

As required

Use this section to display links in the KACE Agent menu on agent-managed devices. You can specify up to ten links. Standard Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) links are supported, such as https, ssh, and ftp URLs. To add a link:

Click

In the Display Name column, type the text that you want to display in the menu. For example, My FTP link.

In the URL column, type the fully qualified URL address. For example, https://www.quest.com/. The URL supports the following replacement variables:

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$(KACE_AGENT_VERSION)

For complete information about these and other replacement variables, see Token replacement variables.

You can use the column headings to sort the list. In the KACE Agent menu, the links appear in the order they are listed on this page.

NOTE: Any changes that you make in this section take effect only after the KACE Agent on the managed device reconnects to the appliance, either by restarting each individual agent, or the appliance.

In the Notify tab, specify the message to use for Agent communications:

Option	Suggested Setting	Notes
Agent Splash Page Message	Default text: KACE Service Desk is verifying your PC Configuration and managing software updates. Please Wait...	The message that appears to users when Agents are performing tasks, such as running scripts, on their devices.
Agent Splash Bitmap	As required	The path to an existing .bmp file that you want to use as the splash logo.
Disable Bootup Splash	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from displaying the boot-up splash logo.
Disable Login Splash	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from displaying the login splash logo.

In the Agentless Settings tab, specify communications settings for Agentless devices:

Option	Description
SSH Timeout	The time, in seconds, after which the connection is closed if there is no activity.
SNMP Timeout	The time, in seconds, after which the connection is closed if there is no activity.
Retry Attempts	The number of times the connection is attempted.
WinRM Timeout	The time, in seconds, after which the connection is closed if there is no activity.
VMware Timeout	The amount of time in seconds to wait for a connection to the VMware vSphere API service running on a VMware host.

If the Organization component is not enabled on your appliance, specify Agent Tasks settings.

NOTE: If the Organization component is enabled on your appliance, these Agent Tasks settings are located on the appliance System Administration Console General Settings page.

Last Task Throughput Update

This value indicates the date and time when the appliance task throughput was last updated.

Current Load Average

The value in this field depicts the load on an appliance at any given time. For the appliance to run normally, the value in this field must be between 0.0 and 10.0.

Task Throughput

The value that controls how scheduled tasks, such as inventory collection, scripting, and patching updates, are balanced by the appliance.

NOTE: This value can be increased only if the value in the Current Load Average is not more than 10.0 and the Last Task Throughput Update time is more than 15 minutes.

In the Duplicate Machine Detection Settings (Advanced) section, configure the following options to prevent duplicate device records

When the appliance receives inventory from a device without an existing inventory record (which is determined by the use of a new/unknown KUID), it scans the device's properties that you select in this section to determine whether this is a new device or an existing one. If it determines that the device belongs to an existing inventory record, it merges the new device record with the existing one.

Required to match an existing machine record

Select one or more of the following check boxes to indicate which device properties you want the appliance to use to identify potentially duplicated devices.

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Machine Name

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BIOS Serial Number

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Manufacturer

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Operating System Family

MAC Addresses

Specify the number of MAC addresses that are associated with the machine record that you to match with the existing device records.

Click Save.

The changes take effect when Agents check in to the appliance.

If you have multiple organizations, repeat the preceding steps for each organization.

View Agent task status

You can view the status of tasks that are currently running, or that are scheduled to run, on Agent-managed devices.

Go to the appliance Control Panel:

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If the Organization component is not enabled on the appliance, log in to the appliance Administrator Console, https://appliance_hostname/admin, then select Settings > Control Panel.

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If the Organization component is enabled on the appliance, log in to the appliance System Administration Console, https://appliance_hostname/system, or select System in the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page, then select Settings > Control Panel.

On the left navigation bar, click Support to display the Support page.

In the Troubleshooting Tools section, click Display Agent task status to display the Agent Tasks page.

By default, In Progress tasks are listed. To view other tasks, select different filtering options in the View By drop-down list, which appears above the list on the right. Task information includes:

Column	Description
Device Name	The name of the device that is the target of the task.
Type	The type of task. Depending on appliance configuration, task types include alerts, inventory, kbot, krash upload, and scripting updates.
Started	The start time of the task.
Completed	The completion time of the task.
Next Run	The next scheduled run time for the task.
Run Time	How long it took to run the task.
Timeout	The time limit for completing the task.
Priority	The importance or rank of the task.

The options displayed depend on type of tasks available on your appliance. Typical options include:

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Ready to Run (connected): Tasks that are connected through the messaging protocol and about to run.

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Ready to Run: Tasks that are queued to run when an messaging protocol connection is established.

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Longer than 10 minutes: Tasks that have been waiting longer than 10 minutes for a protocol connection.

To view details about a device, click its name in the Device Name column.

The Device Detail page appears.

View the Agent Command Queue

The Agent Command Queue list shows messages, such as pop-ups and alerts, that have been queued for distribution from the appliance to Agent-managed devices.

Go to the appliance Control Panel:

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If the Organization component is not enabled on the appliance, log in to the appliance Administrator Console, https://appliance_hostname/admin, then select Settings > Control Panel.

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On the left navigation bar, click Support to display the Support page.

In the Troubleshooting Tools section, click View Agent command queue to display the Agent Command Queue page.

Pending messages appear in this queue only during continuous connection between the Agent and the appliance.

NOTE: Pending alerts appear on the Agent Command Queue page even if there is no connection between the Agent and the appliance.

The Agent Command Queue page contains the following fields:

Option	Description
Device Name	The name of the device. Click a name to view device details.
Type [Plug-in, Source]	The type of message, such as Run Process.
Command	The content and information contained in the message.
Expiration	The date and time when the message expires, also called Keep Alive time. Messages are deleted from the queue automatically when they expire.
Status	The status of the message, such as Completed or Received.

Delete messages from the Agent command queue

You can delete messages that are no longer needed from the Agent command queue.

Go to the appliance Control Panel:

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If the Organization component is not enabled on the appliance, log in to the appliance Administrator Console, https://appliance_hostname/admin, then select Settings > Control Panel.

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On the left navigation bar, click Support to display the Support page.

In the Troubleshooting Tools section, click View Agent command queue to display the Agent Command Queue page.

Select the check box next to one or more messages.

Select Choose Action > Delete, then click Yes to confirm.

Configure Agent communication and log settings

Managing Agent communications

Configure Agent communication and log settings

View Agent task status

View the Agent Command Queue

Delete messages from the Agent command queue

Configure Agent communication and log settings

Agents installed on managed devices periodically check in to the appliance to report inventory, update scripts, and perform other tasks.

Do one of the following:

◦

On the Organization Detail page that appears, locate the Communication and Agent Settings section.

◦

The Communication Settings page appears.

Specify the following settings in Agent tab:

Option	Suggested Setting	Notes
Enable Agent Logging	Enabled	Whether the appliance stores scripting results provided by Agents installed on managed devices. Agent logs can consume as much as 1GB of disk space in the database. If disk space is not an issue, enable Agent Logging to keep all log information for Agent-managed devices. These logs can be useful during troubleshooting. To save disk space, and enable faster Agent communication, disable Agent Logging.
Agent Debug Trace	Enabled	If selected, this option allows you to record the Agent's debug trace. This information allows administrators to monitor the Agent's performance, and to diagnose common problems.
Agent Inventory	12 hours	The frequency at which Agents on managed devices report inventory. This information is displayed in the Inventory section.
Agentless Inventory	1 Day	The frequency at which Agentless devices report inventory. This information is displayed in the Inventory section.
Catalog Inventory	24 hours	The frequency at which managed devices report inventory to the Software Catalog page.
Metering	4 hours	The frequency at which managed devices report metering information to the appliance. Requires metering to be enabled on devices and applications.
Scripting Update	4 hours	The frequency at which Agents on managed devices request updated copies of scripts that are enabled on managed devices. This interval does not affect how often scripts run.
Max Download Speed	As required	The maximum download speed, as required. Choose from the available options.
Konea Connection Timeout	80 seconds	Configurable konea tunnel timeout check for bootup MI.
Enable Wait for Bootup Tasks	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from executing bootup tasks.
Enable Wait for Login Tasks	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from executing login tasks.

In the Agent Settings tab in theAgent Status Icon Settings section, specify the following settings:

Agent Status Icon On Device

Suggested Setting

Notes

If selected, this option allows you to display the agent status on managed devices.

Enable Agent Snooze on Device

If selected, this option allows you to suspend the agent's activity on managed devices using the system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac OS).

NOTE: Some critical background tasks are still allowed to run, including inventory, replication tasks, and urgent alerts.

Agent Snooze Max Count (per day)

1 snooze

The maximum number of times you can snooze the agent each day on managed devices.

Agent Status Icon Shortcuts

As required

Click

In the Display Name column, type the text that you want to display in the menu. For example, My FTP link.

In the URL column, type the fully qualified URL address. For example, https://www.quest.com/. The URL supports the following replacement variables:

◦

◦

◦

◦

◦

◦

◦

◦

◦

◦

$(KACE_AGENT_VERSION)

For complete information about these and other replacement variables, see Token replacement variables.

You can use the column headings to sort the list. In the KACE Agent menu, the links appear in the order they are listed on this page.

NOTE: Any changes that you make in this section take effect only after the KACE Agent on the managed device reconnects to the appliance, either by restarting each individual agent, or the appliance.

In the Notify tab, specify the message to use for Agent communications:

Option	Suggested Setting	Notes
Agent Splash Page Message	Default text: KACE Service Desk is verifying your PC Configuration and managing software updates. Please Wait...	The message that appears to users when Agents are performing tasks, such as running scripts, on their devices.
Agent Splash Bitmap	As required	The path to an existing .bmp file that you want to use as the splash logo.
Disable Bootup Splash	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from displaying the boot-up splash logo.
Disable Login Splash	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from displaying the login splash logo.

In the Agentless Settings tab, specify communications settings for Agentless devices:

Option	Description
SSH Timeout	The time, in seconds, after which the connection is closed if there is no activity.
SNMP Timeout	The time, in seconds, after which the connection is closed if there is no activity.
Retry Attempts	The number of times the connection is attempted.
WinRM Timeout	The time, in seconds, after which the connection is closed if there is no activity.
VMware Timeout	The amount of time in seconds to wait for a connection to the VMware vSphere API service running on a VMware host.

If the Organization component is not enabled on your appliance, specify Agent Tasks settings.

NOTE: If the Organization component is enabled on your appliance, these Agent Tasks settings are located on the appliance System Administration Console General Settings page.

Last Task Throughput Update

This value indicates the date and time when the appliance task throughput was last updated.

Current Load Average

The value in this field depicts the load on an appliance at any given time. For the appliance to run normally, the value in this field must be between 0.0 and 10.0.

Task Throughput

The value that controls how scheduled tasks, such as inventory collection, scripting, and patching updates, are balanced by the appliance.

NOTE: This value can be increased only if the value in the Current Load Average is not more than 10.0 and the Last Task Throughput Update time is more than 15 minutes.

In the Duplicate Machine Detection Settings (Advanced) section, configure the following options to prevent duplicate device records