Using Profiles

Profile Management

A Profile is a collection of elements that define a set of configurations and default profile settings, including log file definitions, default descriptions, default Validation Logic settings, alerts and custom scripts. Profiles are applied to a particular category of users or computers based on the validation logic defined in the profile settings.

A profile may contain other profiles (children). This allows for greater flexibility and further granularity for its contained configuration elements.

User Profiles are evaluated and applied to the current user's working environment during the logon and/or logoff process or Refresh intervals. Computer Profiles are evaluated and applied to a computer during the Startup and/or Shutdown process, Refresh intervals or based on a defined Scheduled. Only profiles that pass the Validation Logic test will be executed at the specified time on the clients and/or computers.

Using profiles enables greater manageability and control over client configurations. Using profiles also offers the reward of faster logon script processing. Since profiles tend to break down a large number of configurations into smaller groups of configurations, not all settings are processed or validated at logon time. If a profile is deemed to be invalid for the client, all elements in the profile are bypassed thus saving the processing time it would have normally taken to validate each of the elements separately.

The Manager displays profiles in the Profiles branch of the Navigation tree. There are separate tabs for User Profiles and Computer Profiles. Click / on a profile to expand or contract the objects and categories contained within the profile.

Figure 57: Overview of the parts on the navigation pane tree

Within each part of the Profile tree, if there are elements within it (Profile, Category, Object) the number of total elements will be displayed within parentheses. Passing the cursor on top of the profile, category or object will display a tooltip with more information about the number of active and inactive elements within the section.

Profile actions

Profiles can be maintained by selecting an action from the Actions drop box. Click Add to create a new Profile. Prior to selecting an action, select either the Computer or User tab and then select either the Profile root or a specific profile to modify.

Figure 58: Select an action from the Actions list

Add

Select Add to create a new profile. The newly added profile will be added to the point in the tree that is highlighted. Select the Profiles root to add a new parent profile. Select an existing profile before the Add to make a new child profile.

Every newly created Parent or Child profile is automatically assigned a Profile Admin Role by default. The Profile Admin role by default has full access to Add, Change and Delete elements in all Profile objects as well as the ability to add, change and delete profiles.

Rename

Select Rename to modify the currently selected profile's name.

Delete

Select Delete to remove the currently selected profile. If the profile to be deleted contains any children, the child profiles will also be removed. Upon deletion, a confirmation dialog is presented, if selected in Preferences > Confirmations.

Select Delete, Export and delete or Cancel to continue the delete procedure. The Export and delete option will save the profile to a file in a user selected location. The profile could be imported at a later time using the Import action on the Profile Actions menu.

Cut/Copy/Paste

Profiles may be managed by using the standard Windows Cut/Copy/Paste actions to maneuver them into child profiles or parent profiles. Drag and Drop actions may also be used for this purpose.

Import

Profiles can be imported for the use of restoring a previously exported profile, or for importing it into another Desktop Authority Manager.

Export

Profiles can be exported for the use of a backup, or for importing it into another Desktop Authority Manager. The Export option copies the selected profile's configurations (profile.slc, profile.sld and profile.slp) to a selected location.

Hide/Show Unused

This option will Show or Hide unused profile elements. This action affects all profiles (parent and children).

Move up/Move down

Profiles will be evaluated on a client in the order they appear in the Navigation tree. This order can be modified by using the Move Up and Move Down buttons. To move a profile, you must first select it, by clicking on it. Once it is selected (it will be highlighted), press the Move Up or Move Down button based on which way you want to move the profile.

History

The Desktop Authority Manager keeps track of actions taken during the current session with Desktop Authority.

Figure 59: Example History window

Click History to see the actions that have taken place. Click Undo to go back to a specific action or Redo to repeat and action that was previously Undone.

Operations may be undone by any user, regardless of who originally executed the action, as long as the user has the permission to perform the specific operation. If the user attempts to undo an action to which he does not have permission to, the undo operation will stop at the point where the permission does not exist.

Note: History cannot undo the deletion of a profile. Please confirm the deletion of the profile before performing the action.

Refresh

Update the Profile tree display.