KACE Systems Management Appliance 9.1 Common Documents

Log in to the KACE SMA System Administration Console, http://KACE_SMA_hostname/system, or select System from the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page.

On the left navigation bar, click Organizations.

Display the Organization Detail page by doing one of the following:

▪

Click the name of an organization.

▪

Select Choose Action > New.

If you are adding an organization, provide the following information, then click Save.

Option

Description

Name

Enter a name for the organization. You can modify the name later if required. If the fast switching option is enabled, this name appears in the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page. See Enable fast switching for organizations and linked appliances.

Description

A description of the organization. You can modify the description later if necessary.

Role

The user role you want to assign to the organization. You can modify this selection later if required.

NOTE: To create a role, go to Organizations > Roles.

Client Drop Size

A file-size filter for the organization's Client Drop location.

The Client Drop location is a storage area (Samba share) for the organization on the KACE SMA. This storage area is used to upload large files, such as application installers and appliance backup files, to the appliance. Uploading files to the Client Drop location is an alternative to uploading files through the Administrator Console using the default HTTP mechanism, which can result in browser timeouts for large files.

The Client Drop Size filter determines whether files uploaded to the organization's Client Drop location are displayed on the Upload and Associate Client Drop File list on the Software Detail page. For example, if the Client Drop Size filter is set to 1 GB, the Upload and Associate Client Drop File list shows files that are 1 GB in size or larger. Files that are less than 1 GB in size are not displayed on the list.

Application files are moved from the organization's Client Drop location to the appropriate area when the file is selected on the Software Detail page and saved.

Appliance backup files that are placed in the Client Drop location are automatically identified as appliance backup files, and they become available for selection on the Backup Settings page within five minutes.

If you have multiple organizations, each organization has its own Client Drop location and Client Drop Size filter setting. See Copy files to the KACE SMA Client Drop location.

Add, edit, or view the following information:

Option

Description

Name

Modify the name of the organization as needed. If the fast switching option is enabled, this name appears in the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page. See Enable fast switching for organizations and linked appliances.

Locale

The language to use for the organization’s Administrator Console and User Console.

Description

A description of the organization. You can modify the description later if necessary.

Database Name

(Read-only) Displays the name of the database the organization is using.

Report User

(Read-only) The username used to generate reports. The report username provides access to the database (for additional reporting tools), but does not give write access to anyone.

Report User Password

The report user password. This password is used only by the reporting system and MySQL.

Role

The user role you want to assign to the organization. You can modify this selection later if required.

NOTE: To create a role, go to Organizations > Roles.

Client Drop Size

A file-size filter for the organization's Client Drop location.

Application files are moved from the organization's Client Drop location to the appropriate area when the file is selected on the Software Detail page and saved.

If you have multiple organizations, each organization has its own Client Drop location and Client Drop Size filter setting. See Copy files to the KACE SMA Client Drop location.

Filters

The filters you want to use to assign new devices to the organization when devices check in to the appliance. To select multiple filters, use Ctrl-click or Command-click.

Devices

(Read-only) Displays the number of devices assigned to the organization.

In the Communication Settings section, specify the following settings:

NOTE: To reduce the load on the KACE SMA, limit the number of Agent connections to 500 per hour. The number of connections that appears next to the inventory, scripting, and metering intervals, applies to the current organization only. If the Organization component is enabled on your appliance, the total number of Agent connections for all organizations should not exceed 500 per hour.

Option	Suggested Setting	Notes
Agent Logging	Enabled	Whether the KACE SMA stores scripting results provided by Agents installed on managed devices. Agent logs can consume as much as 1GB of disk space in the database. If disk space is not an issue, enable Agent Logging to keep all log information for Agent-managed devices. These logs can be useful during troubleshooting. To save disk space, and enable faster Agent communication, disable Agent Logging.
Agent Inventory	12 hours	The frequency at which Agents on managed devices report inventory. This information is displayed in the Inventory section.
Agentless Inventory	1 Day	The frequency at which Agentless devices report inventory. This information is displayed in the Inventory section.
Catalog Inventory	24 hours	The frequency at which managed devices report inventory to the Software Catalog page.
Metering	4 hours	The frequency at which managed devices report metering information to the KACE SMA. Requires metering to be enabled on devices and applications.
Scripting Update	4 hours	The frequency at which Agents on managed devices request updated copies of scripts that are enabled on managed devices. This interval does not affect how often scripts run.
Disable Wait for Bootup Tasks	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from executing bootup tasks.
Disable Wait for Login Tasks	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from executing login tasks.

In the Notify section, specify the message to use for Agent communications:

Option	Suggested Setting	Notes
Agent Splash Bitmap	As required	The path to an existing .bmp file that you want to use as the splash logo.
Disable Bootup Splash	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from displaying the bootup splash logo.
Disable Login Splash	Disabled	If selected, this option stops the agent from displaying the login splash logo.
Agent Splash Page Message	Default text: KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is verifying your PC Configuration and managing software updates. Please Wait...	The message that appears to users when Agents are performing tasks, such as running scripts, on their devices.

In the Schedule section, specify the Communication Window for Agent-managed devices:

00:00 to 00:00 (+1 day)

The period of time during which Agents on managed devices are allowed to connect with the KACE SMA. For example, to allow Agents to connect between the hours of 01:00 and 06:00 only, select 01:00 from the first drop-down list, and 06:00 from the second drop-down list.

You can set the communications window to avoid times when your devices are busiest.

In the Agentless section, specify communications settings for Agentless devices:

Option	Description
SSH Timeout	The time, in seconds, after which the connection is closed if there is no activity.
SNMP Timeout	The time, in seconds, after which the connection is closed if there is no activity.
Maximum Attempts	The number of times the connection is attempted.
WinRM Timeout	The time, in seconds, after which the connection is closed if there is no activity.
VMware Timeout	The amount of time in seconds to wait for a connection to the VMware vSphere API service running on a VMware host.

Click Save.

The organization is added. If fast switching is enabled, and the default admin account passwords for the System and for your organizations are the same, you can switch between organizations and the System using the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page. To see new organizations in the list, you need to log out of the Administrator Console and then log back in. In addition, if the option to require organization selection at login is enabled at the System level, the organization is available in the drop-down list on the Administrator Console login page, http://KACE SMA_hostname/admin, where KACE SMA_hostname is the hostname of your appliance.

NOTE: For new organizations, the password for the default admin account is the same as the password for the default admin account at the System level. This is assigned automatically. To change the admin account password, edit the admin user account.

NOTE: However, be aware that organizations with different admin account passwords are not available for fast switching using the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page.

For more information about System-level settings, see Configure appliance General Settings with the Organization component enabled.

Configure Two-Factor Authentication for organizations

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) provides stronger security for users logging into the appliance by adding an extra step to the login process. It relies on the Google Authenticator app to generate verification codes. The app generates a new six-digit code at regular intervals. When enabled, end users will be prompted for the current verification code each time they log in.

To download the Google Authenticator app, visit one of the following sites, as applicable:

•

Android devices: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.authenticator2

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iOS devices: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/google-authenticator/id388497605?mt=8

You can enable or disable 2FA access to the Administrator Console and User Console for one or more organizations using the System Administration Console, as described below. Alternatively, you can enable 2FA access to the Administrator Console and User Console for all users in an organization using the Two-Factor Authentication page in the Administrator Console For more information, see Enable Two-Factor Authentication for all users.

Go to the Organizations list page:

Log in to the KACE SMA System Administration Console, http://KACE_SMA_hostname/system, or select System from the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page.

On the left navigation bar, click Organizations.

On the Organization list page that appears, select one or more organizations for which you want to configure 2FA.

To enable 2FA for all users in the selected organizations in the Administrator Console, click Choose Action > Two-Factor Authentication > Admin Portal > Required for all Users.

To disable 2FA for all users in the selected organizations in the Administrator Console, click Choose Action > Two-Factor Authentication > Admin Portal > Not Required.

To enable 2FA for all users in the selected organizations in the User Console, click Choose Action > Two-Factor Authentication > User Portal > Required for all Users.

To disable 2FA for all users in the selected organizations in the User Console, click Choose Action > Two-Factor Authentication > User Portal > Not Required.

Delete organizations

You can delete organizations as needed. However, if you have a single organization on your appliance, you cannot delete that organization until you add another one. The appliance must always have at least one organization available.

Go to the Organization Detail page:

Log in to the KACE SMA System Administration Console, http://KACE_SMA_hostname/system, or select System from the drop-down list in the top-right corner of the page.

On the left navigation bar, click Organizations.

Click the name of an organization.

Select Choose Action > Delete, then click Yes to confirm.

The organization, including information in the organization database, is removed from the appliance.