Normally you have to use a right-click context menu on a computer resource in a report or a Collection to open a computer's Resource Manager, or if you need to open the Package Manager of a Software Delivery Package you have to browse into the console for it. Also how do you look up missing or hidden items that you can't find in the console? This article covers how you can manipulate the Resource Manager directly from any Resource Manager screen by editing the URL.

Introduction

Often we wish to manipulate or view a resource or item that cannot be located in the Altiris Console, or we simply wish an easy way to switch from one item to another when using the Resource Manager (shown as 'Managing Resource') or the Properties Manager (accessed by right-clicking on a console item and choosing Properties). Since not all items are easily found in the console, it can become difficult to bring up either manager for that item. Sometimes it's simply a guid in an error or a guid within a Task that catches our eye. This document should provide you some tips and manipulating the managers to give you the data you seek.

Resource to Configuration Managers

The Resource Manager has several types, including Computer Resource, Task Configuration, Package Configuration, etc. The URL will differ depending on the type, so it is important to have the right Manager or Configuration screen up to properly redirect to another item of the same type. The following Example demonstrates how to do this for the Resource Manager of a Computer Resource (note this will work for other Asset types that use the same Resource Manager template).

Computer Resource Example

The following steps and illustrations show how this is done for a computer resource. For example the situation could be a computer is sending events that throw errors on the Notification Server. The logs include a Guid for the computer, but no computer name. The Resource Manager on that system will provide details on that computer.

1. Browse to a Collection (ie: Resources > Computer Collections > All Computers).
2. Right-click on any Computer and choose 'Resource Manager'.
   
   

   Click to view.

3. In the URL, take the GUID you've obtained for a computer or other resource and replace the existing Guid as shown:
   
   

   Click to view.

   

   Click to view.

4. Now you have the Resource Manager for the computer sending the events that generated the error.

Task Configuration Example

Both Tasks and Packages are managed items, though of different types. You do need to have the same type to do a redirect. For example a Task Configuration screen cannot be redirected to a Package Configuration window. For example a particular Task is stopping a Package from being deleted, and you don't recognize the name of the Task. To look up the Task Configuration Manager on the Task, use the following method:

1. Browse to any Task (Policy) in the console (ie: Tasks > Software Management > Software Delivery > Windows > Software Delivery Tasks > Hello World -- Sample).
2. Right-click on the Task and choose Open in New Window.
3. In the URL, take the Guid you've obtained for the unknown Task and replace the existing Guid. NOTE! The Guid is contained directly after the ItemGuid= section in the long URL.
4. You will now have the Task details for the task in question.

Properties Manager

Every Item has references and security applied to them. Any item in the console has a properties option in the right-click menu. If you know the Item's Guid, you can pull up the properties page for that item. The properties page offers valuable information as shown here:

Click to view.

General Tab

The following items are of particular interest under the General tab. This provides the basic information about the item pulled directly from the database and converted for easy viewing in the provided grid.

• Guid: Useful for running queries against the Altiris database. The item you right-clicked on and choose Properties for will be represented in the Database as a Guid.
• Product Name: The installer or product that owns the code for this item.
• Folder: This represents the location in the Altiris Console this Item resides. Not all items exist in the console. For example a Software Portal Task does not have a place in the console. Every item belongs to a hierarchy, whether a child member or a starting node.
• Attributes: These are Item attributes for the Item, including: NoDelete, Normal, Hidden, ReadOnly, etc...

Security Tab

The security tab reveals the Scope-based Security interface for this Item. All Scope-based security items relating to this object can be adjusted in this location. This section will not cover the intricacies of Notification Server Scope-based Security, but will explain how the options here are of particular interest when viewing the properties.

Click to view.

The following items are important to note when working with this tab. This tab is contrived via Notification Server security, and not Windows, IIS, or another type. Once example of using this tab with a redirected item is we saw an issue where a worker would create a SWD Package, but only he could see that package in the console. The administrator looked it up using the URL method and could see that only the creator had any rights. For those Packages he needed immediate access to when the creator was not available he used this method to add the Altiris Administrators role with full control. You can also take ownership using the 'Owner' tab if no rights are afforded.

• Inheritance comes from the parent item, and you can see what the parent item is by viewing the Folder: item from the General tab. You can also query the ItemReference table by placing the Guid from the General tab in a query, as shown here:
  

  SELECT * FROM ItemReference WHERE ChildItemGuid = '<Guid>'
  
  

  Looking at the results, you can find the Guid of the Parent Item under the ParentItemGuid column.

• Owner tab allows a user to take ownership of an item. If permission problems are keeping an Admin from properly manipulating the item, taking ownership usually provided the needed rights.

Item Properties Example

In the Software Portal, a certain Package has 2 Programs available, one that installs Adobe Reader and one that uninstalls it. A certain group of users can only see the uninstall program when they log into the Portal. The Software Portal tab for the Package shows the groups as having rights to the Programs. To pull up the security item for the specific Program, the Resource Manager can be used in this method:

1. Export the Package and look through the XML to find the ItemGuid of the Program.
2. Browse to the Package in question.
3. Right-click and choose Properties.
4. In the URL change the ItemGuid= section to the Guid of the Program in question.
5. You can now change the security to allow the specific group access to the Program in the Software Portal.

Hidden Items

Some common Items require these methods for looking at properties, Resource Manager, Package and Task Managers. For example Software Delivery creates a number of hidden items that are automatically managed. The Software Portal creates the following items when software is requested:

• Hidden Software Delivery Tasks that are sent to the computer that the user requested the software from
• Single-computer Collections for the target of the Hidden Software Delivery Tasks
• Hidden Sequential Software Delivery Tasks that are the framework for sequential tasks
• Hidden sub-tasks from Sequential Software Delivery Tasks that represent each line item within the sequential task

Other items also created by Software Delivery are:

• Application Inventory Collections
• Temporary Packages used during a session of the Software Delivery Wizard

Unknown Guid

A great first step for any error in the Log Viewer that references an unknown or unrecognized Guid is to use the Property Manager redirection technique. The Log Viewer does try to convert a Guid into a [Name], however that isn't always helpful to understand what, exactly, the object is. Use the Property Manager to see general attributes about the Item, and from which Solution it came from. No matter what the Guid, some information will be available in the Properties Manager, even if that item does not have the ability to be represented in the Altiris Console.

Conclusion

This trick comes in handy when troubleshooting issues from the log where the GUID may not be recognizable by the Log Viewer and thus you have nothing to go on as to what the Guid is. SQL can be used, but without SQL experience and Altiris database schema understanding this method is an easy way to obtain lots of information on it. Hidden Packages and Tasks can be directly edited by simply knowing the Guid. It is recommended to use the copy and paste method when transferring Guids into the URL as the URL can be removed easily by hitting either the Enter (where an error will redirect the URL if the Guid is bad) or by hitting the Esc key.