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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

About the Asset Management Dashboard widgets

About the Asset Management Dashboard widgets

Asset Management Dashboard widgets provide overviews of managed assets for the organization or appliance, as selected.

This section describes the widgets available on the Asset Management Dashboard. If the Organization component is enabled on your appliance, widgets show the information for the selected organization at the Admin level and for the appliance at the System level.

This dashboard provides a high-level overview of your asset usage. Use it to quickly review the state of your assets and look for any indicators that can improve your asset configuration. For example, you can focus on how your software licenses are used and identify which software titles need to have their license renewed.

Widget

Description

Assets By Type

This widget shows a donut chart, where each section of the chart indicates the percentage of your assets by their asset type, such as device, software, location, license, and others. Hovering over each section of the chart displays the percentage of the assets of the selected type.

Assets By Status

This widget shows a donut chart, where each section of the chart indicates the percentage of your assets by their status, such as Active, Disposed, Missing, or other. Hovering over each section of the chart displays the percentage of the assets in the selected status.

Cost ($) of Unused Licenses By Product

This widget shows a bar chart, where each bar represents the cost of unused licenses for each product. You can use this information to reassign or cancel unused licenses, and to redirect your resource where they are most needed.

License Compliance

If you have created License assets for software, this widget shows the number of Agent-managed devices that have a particular licensed software installed, and the number of licenses available. If the Organization component is enabled on your appliance, the widget shows the information for the selected organization.

License assets can be created for applications listed on the Software page and the Software Catalog page, and the license mode for applications must be Unit License or Enterprise for license information to appear on this widget. Applications with other license modes, such as Shareware, Freeware, or Not Specified, are not displayed on this widget.

This widget is for information only, and the KACE SMA does not enforce license compliance. For example, the appliance does not prevent software from being installed on Agent-managed devices if a license is expired or otherwise out of compliance.

The following colors indicate threshold levels:

•
Red: Usage is at or above the critical threshold setting.
•
Orange: Usage is at or above the warning threshold setting but below the critical threshold setting.
•
Green: Usage is below the warning threshold setting.

To change the threshold levels, see Configure appliance General Settings without the Organization component.

For information about managing License assets, see Managing inventory.

Software Titles

This widget displays the software titles defined in the Software Catalog, with the highest number of installations on managed devices. If the Organization component is enabled on your appliance, the widget shows the information for the selected organization.

Software Publishers

This widget displays the publishers defined in the Software Catalog, with the highest number of software titles installed on managed devices. If the Organization component is enabled on your appliance, the widget shows the information for the selected organization.

Assets by Location

This widget shows a donut chart, where each section of the chart indicates the percentage of your assets by their location. Hovering over each section of the chart displays the percentage of the assets in the selected location.

Software Installed But Not Used in 60 Days

This widget shows a bar chart, where each bar represents a software title and the corresponding number of instances of that product that have not been in use in the last 60 days. You can use this information to further investigate whether these titles are needed, to reassign or uninstall unused software, and to redirect your resource where they are most needed.

Expiring Software License Maintenance

This widget shows a vertical bar chart, where each bar represents the number of software licenses that are about expire in the given time period.

Expired Software License Maintenance

This widget shows a donut chart representing the ration of expired and current licenses. Hovering over each section of the chart displays the percentage of the software licenses that are either expired or current, as selected.

Expiring Contracts

This widget shows a vertical bar chart, where each bar represents the number of contracts that are about expire in the given time period.

Expired Contracts

This widget shows a donut chart representing the ration of expired and current contracts. Hovering over each section of the chart displays the percentage of the contracts that are either expired or current, as selected.

Software License Configuration

If you set up License assets for software, and specify the license type, such as site, subscription, or unit, that information is displayed in this widget. If the Organization component is enabled on your appliance, the widget shows the information for the selected organization.

Customize the Asset Management Dashboard

Customize the Asset Management Dashboard

You can customize the Asset Management Dashboard to show or hide widgets as needed.

1.
Go to the Asset Management Dashboard.
a.
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.
b.
On the left navigation bar, click Asset Management.
2.
Mouse over the widget, then use any of the following buttons:
◦
: Refresh the information in the widget.
◦
: Display information about the widget.
◦
: Hide the widget.
◦
: Resize the widget.
◦
: Drag the widget to a different position on the page.
3.
Click the Customize button in the top-right corner of the page to view available widgets.
4.
To show a widget that is currently hidden, click Install.

About managing assets

About managing assets

How asset information differs from inventory information
Identifying the assets to track
View assets and search for asset information
Add barcodes to assets
Change device owners
View and configure asset lifecycle settings

Assets are the entities that contain information about the devices, software, licenses, and other items you want to manage. Assets are based on Asset Types, which are templates used to create assets.

How asset information differs from inventory information

How asset information differs from inventory information

Asset and inventory information differ in the ways that the information is collected and managed.

The following table compares asset information and inventory information:

Item

Asset Component

Inventory Component

Where information appears

In the Assets section.

In the Inventory section.

The type of information managed

Asset information includes details about devices, software, licenses, physical assets, logical assets, and the relationships between them.

Inventory information includes details about devices and the software, processes, startup programs, and services on managed devices. The Software Catalog provides additional information about applications that are categorized as Discovered or Not Discovered.

How the information is managed

Asset information is static and changes only when you import data or change it manually. Device assets are exceptions to this rule, because Device assets are updated whenever managed devices report inventory. For License assets, however, the number of installations or seats is updated when managed devices report data to the appliance. Asset history is stored on the appliance and displayed in the Administrator Console; it remains with the asset until the asset is deleted.

Inventory information is automatically generated and overwritten each time managed devices report data to the appliance.

How licenses are tracked

The Asset Management component enables you to manage software License Compliance as well as physical and logical assets.

On the Software page, inventory information includes the number of Software assets, but it does not show the number of licenses.

On the Software Catalog page, license information is displayed if License assets are associated with applications.

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