Automation

The best way to install the Altiris AClient as part of the base imaging task, is to have the Deployment Server copy the most recent version of the AClient to the local drive, followed by a call from the Windows XP Cmdlines.txt file to run the installation.

This is a small script to change the Notification Server an Agent is pointing to remotely. It's a very basic script. There is not any error checking nor arguments that can be passed.

We've been challenged to automate the shutdown of multiple labs of computers. My first thought was to use the Power Control in DS with a reoccurring job. The only problem here is that if the computer is already off, the DS job will turn on the computer to then shut it off, which for me does not make much sense. My second thought was to use Windows initiate the shutdown command through remote script execution of a batch file. One of the important keys to know is the switches for the shutdown command:

So the debate went through our office about what is the best pre-image environment... WinPE, BartPE, Linux or DOS. Consequently, we tried to do a complete analysis of many of the factors and determine what is really the fastest route to take. In the end, it all comes down to how quick we can get our imaging done and move on to other projects.

In setting up a number of training and lab environments, along with advising others on production deployments, a collection of thoughts and tools have come to mind relating to the optimal client environment for provisioning Intel® vPro™ using Altiris Client Management Suite.

Do you ever look at your Recovery Solution job queue and wonder "I wonder how far along that Integrity Check/SSM job is?" Well I did, and was very frustrated since there wasn't a good way I had found to monitor the progress. Well, by using the following Stored Procedure, you too can find out about the progress of the job.

We desired for tickets that are completed by workers to be set to the Resolved status and then if the contact did not respond within 24 hours the ticket will automatically go to Closed status. Here is a simple way to do it that may be useful to Helpdesk beginners.

Those executives and directors have worked hard their whole life to reach the upper echelons of management. Isn't it only fair we reward them with the promptest of Helpdesk service? Most certainly it is!

We implemented Altiris Helpdesk in the last month or so. Besides using Altiris' versatile Helpdesk tool to automate and streamline as many processes as possible, one of my tasks was to setup a Change Management "module". I realize that a Change Management process is going to differ in many ways from place to place, but I hope this will help out someone looking to accomplish some of the same things I needed to.