Regular Expression Rule Reference

Regular Expression Rule Reference

The syntax of a regular expression rule varies slightly from the other File rules. The fullpath argument is a string that matches the absolute path to the file location, but does not include name of the file. The filename is specified as a separate argument using a regular expression.

The following table provides a list of rules that allow you to use regular expressions.

Defining rule arguments

Defining rule arguments

You can define arguments in Custom Inventory rules to find paths, files, registry keys, registry entries, version information, environment variables, and other attributes.

For rule syntax and usage, see the tables in Checking for conditions (conditional rules), Getting values from a device (Custom Inventory Field), and Matching filenames to regular expressions.

Finding a path or file

path and fullpath are strings that specify the absolute path to a directory or file on the device. For example:

The KACE Agent locates the directory or file and performs the specific test.

Finding a registry key and entry

registryPath is a string that specifies the absolute path in the registry to a registry key. For example:

Specifying a version

version is an integer (type is TEXT) that the KACE Agent compares to the version of the item being tested on the device.

For example, the FileVersionGreaterThan test returns ‘true’ if the value you specify is higher than the version number of the file or folder and otherwise returns ‘false’.

To test a range, join a Less Than and Greater Than rule as follows:

Specifying environment or user variables

var is a string that matches the actual name of the environment variable on the device.

For example, to test that the Program Files directory variable is correctly set:

Specifying a file attribute

attribute is a system property, a file or folder property, or a KACE Agent-assigned property on the device. The appliance provides operating system-dependent argument types.

Using Windows file attributes

You can use the FileInfoGreaterThan, FileInfoLessThan, and FileInfoEquals functions to test a file property on Windows in the following syntax:

The following table shows the attributes supported by Windows:

Testing for Linux and Mac file attributes

On Linux and Mac devices you can use the following arguments to test file attributes:

Specifying the datatype

type identifies the type of data you are testing or returning.

The KACE Agent supports the following types:

Specifying values to test

value typically follows type except in a rule where the datatype is known, such as in a version rule. The value you specify must match the type. See Specifying the datatype.

Specifying the name of a registry entry (Windows only)

valueName is a string that matches the name of the registry entry you want to test. Used only in registry tests for Windows devices.

Specifying a PLIST key (Mac only)

entry is either NUMBER, TEXT, or DATE and matches a key in a PLIST file on a Mac OS X device. If the wanted key is contained in an array/dictionary within the PLIST file, it can be referenced by specifying the name/integer for the array/dictionary, using a delineating colon, and then the name/integer of the key (dictionary:key) in the entry argument.

Argument examples:

Using a regular expression

regex is a regular expressions that matches a filename in a Conditional or Value Return rule. See Matching filenames to regular expressions for more details.

Defining commands

The shell command functions allow you to specify the command you want to run on the device. The guidelines for writing rule arguments do not apply to commands. However, white space after the opening parenthesis, and immediately before the closing parenthesis, is stripped from the command.

Test Custom Inventory rules

Test Custom Inventory rules

To test Custom Inventory rules you can run a custom inventory command on a KACE Agent-managed device. This ability enables you to debug Custom Inventory rules without running the entire inventory process.

The Agent contacts the appliance and runs the Custom Inventory. Queries and return values are displayed.

Deploying packages to managed devices

Deploying packages to managed devices

You can deploy packages to managed devices to install software remotely using the appliance.