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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

Identify parameters that are supported by installer files

Identify parameters that are supported by installer files

You can display the parameters that are supported by installer files from the Windows command line.

1.
Open an command prompt.
2.
Go to the directory that contains the target installer.
For example: c:\...\adobe.exe
3.
Type filename /?
For example: adobe.exe /?
If that package supports parameters, they are displayed. For example: /quiet, /norestart.
4.
Use the parameter definitions identified to update your package definition.

For more information, see the application vendor’s documentation.

Create Managed Installations for Windows devices

Create Managed Installations for Windows devices

You can create Managed Installations to deploy software to Agent-managed Windows devices.

When you create Managed Installations for the Windows platform, you can specify whether you want to display messages to users before and after the installation. You can also indicate whether to deploy the package when the user is logged in or not and limit deployment to a specific label.

For specific details on creating a Managed Installation for an MSI, EXE, or a ZIP file, see Examples of common deployments on Windows.

To distribute applications to managed devices, you must attach the digital assets, which are the files required for installation, to applications. In addition, you must select the supported operating systems for applications. See Attach digital assets to applications and select supported operating systems.

1.
Go to the Managed Installation 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 Distribution, then click Managed Installations.
c.
Select Choose Action > New.
2.
In the Configure section, provide the following information:

Option

Description

Name

A name that identifies the Managed Installation. This name appears on the Managed Installations page.

Execution

The package deployment setting. Options include:

•
Disabled: Do not deploy the package.
•
Anytime: Deploy the package at the next opportunity, such as the next time the KACE Agent reports inventory information to the appliance.
•
At bootup: Deploy the package the next time the device starts up.
* 
NOTE: If a device has an Active Directory or Group Policy Object setting that displays a message that the user must acknowledge before logging on, packages are not deployed and scripts do not run until the message is acknowledged.
•
After login: Deploy the package after the user logs in but before the desktop loads.
•
While user logged in: Deploy the package while the user is logged on.
•
While user logged off: Deploy the package only when the device is running and the user is logged off.

Inventory

Indicate if you want to deploy the software title from Cataloged Software or all Software by selecting one of these options.

•
To search for a specific title, begin typing in the Software or Cataloged Software field.
* 
NOTE: Reclaiming unused software licenses only. The name of the software that you want to uninstall appears in this field by default. For more information, see Reclaim unused software licenses.
•
If you want to display only the software that has one or more associated files, select Only Display Software With an Associated File.

Associated File

A Software and Cataloged Software title can have one or more files attached to them, as needed. Indicate if you want to select a specific file associated with the selected software title.

•
Choose associated file: Select this option if you want to associate a file. You can select a file in the list. If you know the file name, start typing it in the box, and select it from the available entries in the list.
•
Do not associate file: Select this option if you do not want to associate a file.

Alternate Location

Specify a location from which files can be downloaded for a specific Managed Installation.

Path: Enter the location where the KACE Agent can retrieve digital installation files.

Checksum: Enter an alternate checksum (MD5) that matches the MD5 checksum on the remote file share. If no checksum is entered, the digital asset on the file share must match the digital asset associated with the deployment package on the appliance. Also, the target path must include the complete filename (for example, \\fileserver_one\software\adobe.exe). You can create the checksum using any tool, including KDeploy.exe, which is installed with the KACE Agent.

To create the checksum using KDeploy.exe:

1.
On a device with the KACE Agent installed, open a command prompt or terminal window.
2.
Go to the Quest KACE installation directory. For example:

Windows 32-bit devices: C:\Program Files\Quest\KACE

Windows 64-bit devices: C:\Program Files (x86)\Quest\KACE

Mac OS X devices: /Library/Application Support/Quest/KACE/bin

3.
Enter the following command: KDeploy -hash=filename

Where filename is the UNC path to the file. If the path contains spaces, enclose the entire path in double quotation marks.

4.
Press Ctrl C or Command C to copy the MD5 checksum. You can then paste it into other files, such as Notepad.

Credential: The details of the service account required to connect to the device and run commands. Select existing credentials from the drop-down list, or select Add new credential to add credentials not already listed. See Add and edit User/Password credentials.

* 
NOTE: If the target device is part of a replication label, the appliance does not fetch applications from the alternate download location. You can edit an existing label or create a label to specify the alternate location globally. Because that label cannot be specific to any Managed Installation, you cannot specify an alternate checksum that matches the checksum on the remote file share.

See Distributing packages from alternate download locations and Replication Shares and Add or edit manual labels.

Default Installation

Use the default commands during installation.

Additional Parameters: Specify the installation behavior as follows:

•
The maximum field length is 256 characters. If a path exceeds this limit, use the command line to point to a BAT file that contains the path and the command.
•
If a file path includes spaces, enclose the complete path in double quotation marks. For example: "\\kace_share\demo files\share these files\setup.bat"

Override Default Installation

Specify the full command-line parameters. See the MSI Command Line documentation for available runtime options.

•
Uninstall: Uninstall the application from the command line.
•
Run Command Only (do not download file): Run the command line only.
•
Don’t Prepend msiexec.exe: Prevent the appliance from adding msiexec.exe to the beginning of the file.

Delete Downloaded Files

Delete the files when the deployment is complete.

ITNinja

Deployment tips from ITNinja. These tips are available only if you share usage data. See Configure data sharing preferences.

3.
Specify deployment settings:

Option

Description

All Devices

Deploy to all devices. Clear the check box to limit the deployment to specific labels or devices.

Labels

Limit deployment to devices that belong to specified labels. To select labels, click Edit, drag labels to the Limit Deployment to window, then click Save.

If you select a label that has a Replication Share or an alternate download location, the appliance copies digital assets from that Replication Share or alternate download location instead of downloading them directly from the appliance.

* 
NOTE: The appliance uses a Replication Share before it uses the KACE Alt Location.

Devices

Limit deployment to specific devices. In the drop-down list, select the devices to which you want to deploy the application. To filter the list, type a few characters in the Devices field. The number next to the field indicates the number of devices available.

* 
NOTE: Reclaiming unused software licenses only. Any devices from which you want to remove the applicable software are listed. You can edit the list of devices, as needed. To remove the software from all devices, simply select , as described above. For more information, see Reclaim unused software licenses.
4.
Specify the user notification settings:

Option

Description

Alert user before run

Display a message on managed devices before installation. When you select this option, the following fields appear:

•
Message: The message that appears on managed devices before installation begins. It starts with snooze options that allow the user to run the managed install at a later time.
•
Timeout: The length of time, in minutes, during which the message appears.
•
Action: The action that takes place at the end of the Initial Message Timeout period. Options include Install later or Install now. Select Install now to install the application immediately, or select Install later to postpone the installation until a user responds. Install later is useful when you want to notify users of an installation or reboot before it occurs.

Initial Message

Display a message on managed devices before installation. When you select this option, the following fields appear:

•
Message: The message that appears on managed devices before installation begins.
•
Timeout: The length of time, in minutes, during which the message appears.
•
Action: The action that takes place at the end of the Initial Message Timeout period. Options include Install later or Install now. Select Install now to install the application immediately, or select Install later to postpone the installation until a user responds. Install later is useful when you want to notify users of an installation or reboot before it occurs.

Completion Message

Display a message on managed devices after the installation is complete. When you select this option, the following fields appear:

•
Message: The message that appears on managed devices when the installation is complete.
•
Timeout: The length of time, in minutes, during which the message appears.
5.
Select Schedule options:

Option

Description

Deployment Window

Start

End

The time, in 24-hour clock format, for package deployment to start and end. The Deployment Window time affects all Action options. Also, the run intervals defined in the appliance Settings interact with or override the deployment window of specific packages.

Order

The order in which to install or uninstall applications. The lowest value is deployed first. If an install action and an uninstall action both have the same order value, the uninstall action is performed first.

* 
NOTE: Managed Installations are always deployed in order, regardless of whether their specified software packages come from the Software Catalog or the Software list. Managed Installations with a lower deploy order always prevent other Managed Installations from running until they are successfully installed or exceed the specified retry times.

Maximum Attempts

The maximum number of attempts, between 0 and 99, to indicate the number of times the appliance tries to install the package. If you specify 0, the appliance attempts to install the package indefinitely.

6.
Click Save.

Examples of common deployments on Windows

Examples of common deployments on Windows

Standard MSI example
Standard EXE example

The most common Managed Installation package deployments are MSI, EXE, and ZIP files.

Standard MSI example

Using MSI files is an easy, self-contained way to deploy software to Windows devices. If your MSI file requires no special transformation or customization, the deployment is straightforward.

MSI files require a /i switch when using other switches with an install.

The appliance parameter line does not require the filename or msiexec syntax. Only the /* input is required:

/qn /I (Correct)

msiexec /I /qn (Incorrect)

* 
NOTE: To use parameters with MSI files, all your target devices must have the same version of Windows Installer (available from Microsoft). Some switches might not be active on older versions. The most up-to-date version of Windows Installer can be distributed to devices from the appliance.
* 
TIP: If you are using Windows Installer 3.0 or higher, you can identify the supported parameters by selecting the Run program available from the Start menu. Enter msiexec in the pop-up window. A window that shows the supported parameters list appears.
Standard EXE example

EXE files are similar to MSI files with one exception.

EXE files differ from MSI files as follows: /I is not required in the Run Parameters line when using an EXE file.

When using an executable file, it is often helpful to identify switch parameters for a quiet or silent installation. To switch parameters, specify /? in the Run Parameters field.

Standard MSI example

Examples of common deployments on Windows

Standard MSI example
Standard EXE example

The most common Managed Installation package deployments are MSI, EXE, and ZIP files.

Standard MSI example

Using MSI files is an easy, self-contained way to deploy software to Windows devices. If your MSI file requires no special transformation or customization, the deployment is straightforward.

MSI files require a /i switch when using other switches with an install.

The appliance parameter line does not require the filename or msiexec syntax. Only the /* input is required:

/qn /I (Correct)

msiexec /I /qn (Incorrect)

* 
NOTE: To use parameters with MSI files, all your target devices must have the same version of Windows Installer (available from Microsoft). Some switches might not be active on older versions. The most up-to-date version of Windows Installer can be distributed to devices from the appliance.
* 
TIP: If you are using Windows Installer 3.0 or higher, you can identify the supported parameters by selecting the Run program available from the Start menu. Enter msiexec in the pop-up window. A window that shows the supported parameters list appears.
Standard EXE example

EXE files are similar to MSI files with one exception.

EXE files differ from MSI files as follows: /I is not required in the Run Parameters line when using an EXE file.

When using an executable file, it is often helpful to identify switch parameters for a quiet or silent installation. To switch parameters, specify /? in the Run Parameters field.

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