Notification Server 5.5 Tutorial

®Altiris Notification Server 5.5 Tutorial Notice Copyright © 2001-2003 Altiris Inc. All rights reserved. Product Version: 5.5 Document Date: July 10, 2003 Bootworks U.S. Patent No. 5,764,593. RapiDeploy U.S. Patent No. 6,144,992. Due to the inherently complex nature of computer software, Altiris does not warrant that the Altiris software is error-free, will operate without interruption, is compatible with all equipment and software configurations, or will otherwise meet your needs. The content of this documentation is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Altiris. Altiris Inc. assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this documentation. For the latest documentation, visit our Web site at www.altiris.com. Altiris, the Altiris logo, BootWorks, Inventory Solution, LabExpert, PC Transplant, RapiDeploy, and RapidInstall are registered trademarks of Altiris, Inc. in the United States. Carbon Copy is a registered trademark licensed to Altiris, Inc. in the United States and a trademark of Altiris, Inc. in other countries. Altiris eXpress, Altiris Vision, Application Management Solution, Application Metering Solution, Asset Control Solution, Asset Management Suite, Client Management Suite, Compliance Toolkit, Conflict Analysis Solution, Contract Management Solution, Deployment Server, Deployment Solution, Education Management Suite, Helpdesk, Helpdesk Solution, HP Client Manager Software, Lab Management Suite, Migration Toolkit, Mobile Client for SMS, My IT Forum, Notification Server, Problem Management Suite, Server Management Suite, Server Monitor Solution, Site Monitor Solution, Software Delivery Solution, TCO Management Solution, Unix Client for SMS, Unix Inventory Solution, Unix Software Deliver Solution, Web Admin for SMS, Web Reports and other product names are trademarks of Altiris, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. HP is a registered trademark of the Hewlett-Packard Corporation. Compaq is a registered trademark of the Hewlett-Packard Corporation. Macintosh is a registered trademark of the Apple Computer Corporation. All other brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Notification Server Tutorial User Guide 2 Contents NATu ltiototirfiriscata® l ion Server 5.5 Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Document Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Web Administration Console Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 NS Client Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Notification Server and Solution Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Step1 - Install Notification Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Step 1a - Select a Computer to be Your Notification Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Step 1b - Install Prerequisite Software on Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Step 1c - Install Notification Server on Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Step 2 - Configure Notification Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Step 3 - Install Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Discovering Computers and Installing the NS Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Viewing Inventory and Creating Packages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Viewing Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Notification Server Tutorial User Guide 3 Preface Before using this documentation, we recommend that you review the document conventions (see “Document Conventions” on page 4). Detailed information about Altiris products is included in each product’s documentation. The product’s documentation is installed when the product is installed. To access Altiris product documentation from the Web, go to our documentation Web page at www.altiris.com/support/ dontation. If you have questions that are not answered in the documentation, we recommend that you use one of our support options (see “Support” on page 5). If you have feedback about this documentation, please send an e-mail message to our documentation group at doc@altiris.com. Document Conventions The following table describes the conventions used in this document. Document Conventions What you see Meaning Altiris Notification References to other documents are italicized. Server Product Guide Note Most references to Altiris documents are hypertext links to those documents. For these links to work, the target document file must be in the same location as the source document. If viewing PDF documentation from our product CD or where the documents were installed on your hard drive, the links will work. If viewing a PDF document from our web site, the links to other Altiris documents will not work. (The documents are stored in different folders). If you download PDF documents from our web site and place them in the same folder, the document references will link to the other PDF document provided the target PDF document is in the folder. Interface Element Name Buttons, menu items, tabs, and field names are displayed in bold text. File > Save A series of mouse selections are represented in this format. The above example means click on the File command on the menu bar, and then click on the Save command. server name/altiris/ A value in a path that depends on the user’s system is in italics. In this documents example, server name needs to be replaced by the name of the user’s server. set variable = 123 Sample code is in Courier font. www.altiris.com Links to web pages are in blue text. Notification Server Tutorial User Guide 4 Preface Support Altiris is committed to providing world-class technical support and professional services to its customers. Included with every product purchase is complimentary Electronic Support. For customers who want a higher level of support, Altiris offers many fee-based services ranging from Priority Support, which includes priority telephone and priority e-mail support, to on-site consultation. Before Contacting Support We recommend that you do the following before contacting Support: • Download and install the latest version of the product and product updates from our web site (www.altiris.com). • Read the product Release Notes. The Release Notes contain important information on the current release including limitations and application-specific workarounds. Many customer questions are answered in the Release Notes. • Review the information in the Altiris support forums (go to www.altiris.com and click on Support and then Forums). If you cannot find the answer to your question in the forums, you can post your own question. The forums are monitored by our Support engineers, who will help you with your questions. Support Contact Information Altiris is a global organization with operational centers in the following geographies: • Americas in Lindon, Utah covering North and South America • Asia Pacific in Sydney, Australia • Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) in Landau, Germany Contact information for each of these operational centers is available at www.altiris.com/contact. When contacting Support, please include the following information in the e-mail or have it ready when calling: • Your name, e-mail address, and phone number • Product name and product version • Specific details about the problem, including specific system messages, error codes, and logs • Details about your system, including the operating system, applied services packs, hardware configuration, network details, and other applications running on the system. Training To ensure that you are