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KACE Systems Management Appliance 14.0 Common Documents - KACE Service Desk Administrator Guide

About the KACE Service Desk 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 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 Configuring Content Security Policy
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 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 Manage quarantined file attachments
Using reports and scheduling notifications Monitoring devices
Getting started with 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

Exporting scripts

Exporting scripts

If you have multiple organizations or appliances, you can export scripts and transfer them among organizations and appliances as needed.

See About importing and exporting resources.

Using Task Chains

Using Task Chains

Add and edit Task Chains

Task Chains allow you to create a sequence of tasks to run in a specific order.

You can add one or more Patch Schedules, Scripts, File Synchronization items, and Wake-On LAN Requests to a Task Chain. Use Task Chains, for example, when you need to deploy managed installations and then run scripts on target devices. The order of tasks in a Task Chain can be easily changed, as required.

* 
NOTE: You cannot add individual Managed Installations to a Task Chain.

Each Task Chain runs against a configured set of devices, as defined in the Task Chain.

If a target device in a Task Chain is offline, you can configure the Task Chain to run when the device becomes connected. When a target device is referenced in multiple Task Chains, only one Task Chain runs against the device at a time.

The following concepts apply to device selections in a Task Chain:

•
Devices selected in a Task Chain override those set for patching schedules and scripts when they run as part of a Task Chain.
•
Devices selected in a Task Chain do not affect any Managed Installation (MI) or File Synchronization (FS) items associated with those devices. Any Inventory, MI, and FS tasks are queued for each device in the Task Chain, and any MI and FS that are configured to run on each machine are deployed.
•
Wake-on-LAN (WoL) schedules run once per Task Chain, when the first device in the Task Chain encounters the WoL Task. The WoL Task runs against the devices selected in the Task Chain.
* 
NOTE: A WoL Task should always be scheduled as a first Task in a Task Chain. This causes WoL packets to be pushed to all devices at once and the devices will wait for this task, since it is the first Task. When a WoL task is not the first task in the Task Chain, WoL packets are pushed to all devices at once regardless of the current state of the task running in the task chain.

Add and edit Task Chains

Add and edit Task Chains

A Task Chain is a collection of tasks that can run in a specific order. Use the Task Chain Detail page to add and edit Task Chains.

1.
Go to the Task Chains list 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 Task Chains.
2.
Do one of the following:
◦
Select Choose Action > New.
◦
Click the name of a task chain.
3.
In the Configure tab, specify the following options:

Option

Description

Enabled

Select this check box to allow this task chain to run.

Name

The name of the task chain.

Description

A brief description of the task chain.

4.
Still in the Configure tab, specify the devices on which you want the Task Chain to run.
◦
To choose devices that belong to labels, in the Configure section, under Labels, click Manage Associated Labels. In the Select Labels dialog box that appears, select one or more labels associated with the devices that you want to select. Close the dialog box.
◦
To choose devices by operating system, click Manage Operating Systems. In the Operating Systems dialog box that appears, select the OS versions in the navigation tree, as applicable.

You have an option to select OS versions by their family, product, architecture, release ID, or build version. You can choose a specific build version, or a parent node, as needed. Selecting a parent node in the tree automatically selects the associated child nodes. This behavior allows you to select any future OS versions, as devices are added or upgraded in your managed environment. For example, to select all build current and future versions associated with the Windows 10 x64 architecture, under All > Windows > Windows 10, select x64.

5.
In the Schedule tab, specify the schedule settings:

Option

Description

None

Run in combination with an event rather than on a specific date or at a specific time.

Every n hours

Run at a specified interval.

Every day/specific day at HH:MM

Run daily at a specified time, or run on a designated day of the week at a specified time.

Run on the nth of every month/specific month at HH:MM

Run on the same day every month, or a specific month, at the specified time.

Run on the nth weekday of every month/specific month at HH:MM

Run on the specific weekday of every month, or a specific month, at the specified time.

Custom

Run according to a custom schedule.

Use standard 5-field cron format (extended cron format is not supported):

* * * * *
| | | | +────────day of week (0-6)(Sun=0)
| | | +────────month (1-12)
| | +────────day of month (1-31)
| +────────hour (0-23)
+────────minute (0-59)

Use the following when specifying values:

•
Spaces ( ): Separate each field with a space.
•
Asterisks (*): Include the entire range of values in a field with an asterisk. For example, an asterisk in the hour field indicates every hour.
•
Commas (,): Separate multiple values in a field with a comma. For example, 0,6 in the day of the week field indicates Sunday and Saturday.
•
Hyphens (-): Indicate a range of values in a field with a hyphen. For example, 1-5 in the day of the week field is equivalent to 1,2,3,4,5, which indicates Monday through Friday.
•
Slashes (/): Specify the intervals at which to repeat an action with a slash. For example, */3 in the hour field is equivalent to 0,3,6,9,12,15,18,21. The asterisk (*) specifies every hour, but /3 restricts this to hours divisible by 3.

Examples:

•
15 * * * * Run 15 minutes after every hour every day
•
0 22 * * * Run at 22:00 every day
•
0 0 1 1,6 * Run at 00:00 on January 1 and June 1
•
30 8,12 * * 1-5 Run weekdays at 08:30 and 12:30
•
0 2 */2 * * Run every other day at 02:00

View Task Schedule

Click to view the task schedule. The Task Schedule dialog box displays a list of scheduled tasks. Click a task to review the task details. For more information, see View task schedules.

6.
In the Tasks tab, add one or more Tasks.
a.
Click New Task to add a Task.
b.
In the New Task area that appears, click Task Type and select from the available types, as required.
Some task types:
▪
Have an Abort on Failure option. Selecting this option causes the task chain to stop executing on a given machine if it fails on that machine.
▪
Allow you to select a specific user-defined task, such as Wake-On-LAN, Scripts, and Patch Schedules.
▪
Run all applicable Tasks on the machine, such as the Managed Installation (MI) and File Synchronization (FS) tasks.
Also, certain task types, allow you to select a specific user-defined task. Other task types, such as the Managed Installation (MI) and File Synchronization (FS) tasks run all applicable MI or FS tasks on the machine.
The selected Task appears in the Tasks tab.
7.
To reorder the Tasks in the Task Chain, in the top-right corner of the task area, click , and drag and drop the Task into a desired place in the sequence.
8.
To delete a Task from the Task Chain, in the bottom-right corner of the task area, click .
9.
Click Save. The Task Status displays the list of tasks.
10.
To run a task chain, select it on the Task Chains list page, and click Choose Action > Run.

Patching devices and maintaining security

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
Manage quarantined file attachments

The appliance enables you to patch managed devices to improve software functionality and protect devices and networks from vulnerabilities.

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