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KACE Systems Management Appliance 9.1 Common Documents - Administrator Guide

About the KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) 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 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 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 Provisioning the KACE SMA Agent Manually deploying the KACE SMA 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
About patch management Subscribing to and downloading patches Creating and managing patch schedules Managing patch inventory Managing Dell devices and updates Maintaining device and appliance security
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 KACE SMA
Appendixes Glossary About us Legal notices

Identify device issues

Identify device issues

Use the Device Issues list to see if any of your managed devices have issues connecting to the agent, or other issues.

The appliance relies on the KACE SMA Agent to collect information from agent-managed devices in your organization. If a device encounters issues connecting to the agent, or other issues related to their environment, this prevents the appliance from obtaining inventory information for that device.

The Device Issues list page identifies any agent-managed devices whose information does not appear in the inventory due to any of the following issues:

•
WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) corruption.
•
Desktop heap exhaustion.
* 
TIP: In most cases, this problem can be cleared by simply restarting the device.
•
Failure to write to amp.conf.

For more information about these issues, visit https://support.quest.com/kace-systems-management-appliance/kb.

1.
Log in to the KACE SMA Administrator Console, http://KACE_SMA_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.
2.
In the Troubleshooting Tools section, click Device Issues to display the Device Issues page.
3.
Review the list of faulty devices on the Device Issues, and take any steps to resolve these issues, as required.

Enable a tether to Quest Support

Enable a tether to Quest Support

Tethering the KACE SMA to Quest Support enables Quest representatives to access your appliance for troubleshooting.

The tether uses a key pair that consists of a public key and a private key. The public key is provided by Quest Support and used to encrypt the tether key. The private key resides on your KACE SMA and is used to decrypt the tether key.

In addition, you can create an admin-level user account that Quest Support can use to log in to the Administrator Console for troubleshooting. Using this dedicated account is helpful for tracking the actions performed by Quest Support. This account can be used with or without the tether.

Contact Quest Support and do the following:

•
Tell the representative that you want to enable a tether to your KACE SMA for troubleshooting.
•
Provide the representative with the serial number of your KACE SMA. To view the serial number, click About in the lower left of the Administrator Console.
•
Obtain the public tether key for your appliance.
1.
Go to the appliance Control Panel:
◦
If the Organization component is not enabled on the appliance, log in to the KACE SMA Administrator Console, http://KACE_SMA_hostname/admin, then click Settings.
◦
If the Organization component is enabled on the appliance, log in to the KACE SMA System Administration Console, http://KACE_SMA_hostname/system, or select System in the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page, then click Settings.
2.
Optional: If you believe that the private key previously generated for tethering has been compromised, you can regenerate it:
* 
NOTE: Whenever you generate the private key, you must obtain a new public key from Quest Support.
a.
Click Security Settings on the appliance Control Panel to display the Security Settings page.
b.
In the Appliance Encryption Key section, click Generate Key.
3.
Enable the tether and enter the public key you obtained from Quest Support:
a.
On the left navigation bar, click Support to display the Support page.
b.
In the Troubleshooting Tools section, click Enter a Tether Key to display the Diagnostic Utilities page.
c.
In the Quest Support Tether section, select Enable Tether.
d.
In the Key field, enter the public tether key. To obtain the public tether key, contact Quest Support at https://support.quest.com/contact-support.
4.
Optional: Enable the Quest Support User account:
a.
In the Quest Support Tether section of the Diagnostic Utilities page, select Enable Quest Support User.
b.
Specify the password you want Quest Support to use to log in to the KACE SMA, then provide this password to Quest Support. The password is not delivered to Quest automatically.
c.
Optional: Select Allow Quest to set password to enable Quest Support to create a password for the user account. This makes it possible for a Quest representative to create a password they can use to log in to the appliance This option is not available if you are using the encryption method available prior to KACE SMA version 6.2.
5.
Click Save.

Troubleshooting appliance issues

Troubleshooting appliance issues

View appliance logs
Download appliance activity logs
Viewing the daily run output

The KACE SMA server logs can help you and Quest Support detect and resolve errors.

The logs contain the last seven days of activity, and they are copied and compressed every day. Compressed logs are deleted when they are seven days old.

Log maintenance checks are performed daily, and no additional administrative log maintenance procedures are required.

View appliance logs

View appliance logs

You can view KACE SMA logs in the Administrator Console. Appliance logs provide information related to KACE SMA processes and errors the system encounters.

If the appliance is configured to share detailed usage data with Quest KACE, KACE SMA and Agent exceptions or errors are reported to Quest every day. See:

•
Configure appliance General Settings with the Organization component enabled
•
Configure appliance General Settings without the Organization component
1.
Go to the appliance Control Panel:
◦
If the Organization component is not enabled on the appliance, log in to the KACE SMA Administrator Console, http://KACE_SMA_hostname/admin, then click Settings.
◦
If the Organization component is enabled on the appliance, log in to the KACE SMA System Administration Console, http://KACE_SMA_hostname/system, or select System in the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page, then click Settings.
2.
On the left navigation bar, click Logs to display the Logs page.
3.
Select a log in the Log drop-down list.

Log Type

Log Name

Description

Hardware

Disk Status

The status of the physical appliance disk array (not available for virtual appliances).

Server

KACE SMA Log

The errors generated on the appliance.

Access

The HTTP server's access information.

Server Errors

Errors or server warnings related to appliance server processes.

Stats

The number of connections the appliance is processing over time.

Updates

Details of appliance patches or upgrades applied to the appliance.

Reporting Log

Details of reports that have been run.

Reporting Errors

Errors related to reports that have been run.

System Performance

System performance information, including webserver, disk, and Agent connection statistics. To ensure that Apache graphs in this log are updated, enable webserver diagnostics. See Configure security settings for the appliance.

Konductor Log

Konductor-related logs. Konductor is an internal KACE SMA component that regulates communications between the appliance and managed devices to keep the system running smoothly. The number of tasks Konductor is running appears on the Tasks in Progress widget. In addition, task throughput information appears on the appliance General Settings page (on appliances with the Organization component enabled) or on the Communication Settings page (on appliances without the Organization component enabled). See:

•
Configure appliance General Settings with the Organization component enabled
•
Configure Agent communication and log settings

Patch Download Log

Information about patches that have been downloaded to the appliance.

Opcode Cache

Opcode cache log information (not available for virtual appliances).

Backup Log

Details of daily and monthly KACE SMA backups.

Agentless Log

Information related to Agentless device connections to the KACE SMA.

Monitoring Log

Information related to monitored servers and their connections to the KACE SMA.

Software Inventory

Information related to KACE SMA Software Catalog inventory processing.

Software Inventory Errors

Processing errors related to KACE SMA Software Catalog inventory processing.

User Authentication Log

Information related to user authentication. Each entry in the log includes the following information:

•
The name of the user account that attempts to log in.
•
The IP address of the device from which the login attempt originated.
•
The console to which the user attempts to log in: userui (User Console), systemui (System Administration Console), adminui (Administrator Console), or a Linked Appliance.
•
The name of the organization the user is authenticated against.
•
The type of authentication used: Local Authentication, Single Sign On, systemui Local Authentication, or LDAP.
•
The result of the login attempt: success or failed.

For example:

[2018-04-26 07:27:06 -0700] AUTH [info] admin - 10.1.243.172 - adminui - Default - systemui Local Authentication - success

Mail

Service Desk Incoming Mail Log

Information related to problems encountered by the Exim Server (Mail Transfer agent) while processing email for Service Desk queues. For example, invalid email addresses and Service Desk licensing issues.

Service Desk Incoming Mail Error Log

PHP errors encountered when inbound email messages are processed.

Service Desk Outgoing Mail Log

Errors encountered by the Mail Daemon while sending outgoing email messages. For example, invalid email addresses.

Service Desk Outgoing Mail Error Log

PHP errors encountered when outgoing email notifications are processed.

Device

Client Errors

KACE SMA Agent exception logs.

AMP Server

Server-related AMP (Agent Messaging Protocol) errors.

AMP Queue

Queue-related AMP errors.

If the Organization component is enabled on your system, you can change the number of days logs are retained. This setting appears in the Log Retention section of the appliance General Settings. See Configure appliance General Settings with the Organization component enabled.

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