KACE Desktop Authority 11.3 - Reporting Guide

Where do I begin?

There are numerous settings and configurations in Desktop Authority. These settings can be divided into two groups, 1) settings that are available to configure the inner workings of the Manager and backend services and 2) configurations that an administrator creates to provide desktop configuration, management and security for computers in the organization.

The following sections of the Getting Started manual are devoted to creating the settings that will help configure, manage and secure the computers in your organization.

• Configure required services — There are several services that are used by the Manager and must be configured for the system to operate correctly. These services include the Desktop Authority Administrative Service and the Update Service.
• User/Computer Management — All configurations that will be used to configure your organizations computers fall into either User or Computer Management. Here we will define what the difference is and how you should determine which one to use.
• Profile objects and profile elements — In this section we will discuss the basics of creating profiles (a container for common configurations) and the actual elements contained within them.
• Validation Logic — Desktop Authority’s patented Validation Logic is used to establish which desktops and/or users will receive a particular configuration. In this section we will discuss how to use Validation Logic to provide granular control to the defined profiles and profile elements.
• Data Collection and Reporting — Here you will learn about the settings that must be configured in order to run the pre-defined and custom reports. Reports include just about all of the necessary data you need to know to manage your organizations computers.
• Are you on the right track? Validate your configurations — In this section we show you how turn on Desktop Authority Trace Files to verify configurations are applied correctly to the right set of computers/users. This technique is also used to troubleshoot configurations that are not working correctly.
• Client Provisioning — Client provisioning is used to deploy necessary files to client computers. These files are necessary to support the DA Administrative Client service, Desktop Agent and the Computer Management service. This section will detail how the client provisioning process works.
• Assigning the Logon Script — The logon script is the key to deploying user based settings. The KACE® Desktop Authoritylogon script must be assigned to any Active Directory user who is to receive configurations from Desktop Authority. This section will discuss how to assign the logon script.
• Saving and replicating configurations — The act of replication is how the Desktop Authority configurations are deployed to the computers within the organization. The settings are made available to users who log in to the network and computers that are part of the organization. Here we discuss how the replication process works.

The configurations that support the administration of the Desktop Authority Manager and its back end services are discussed in full detail in the Administrators Guide and the online help.