Novell Service Desk 6.5

September 09, 2011

1.0 Overview

This Readme file provides information about Novell Service Desk 6.5.

You can choose to import data from a ZENworks 10.x or ZENworks 11 database into Novell Service Desk. For more information see “CMDB Import” in the Administrator Guide.

For instructions on downloading and installing Novell Service Desk 6.5, see “Installing the Service Desk” in the Novell Service Desk 6.5 Installation Guide.

For instructions on upgrading to Novell Service Desk 6.5, see the Novell Service Desk 6.5 Installation Guide.

For all other Novell Service Desk documentation, see the Novell Service Desk 6.5 documentation Web site .

2.0 Changes from the Previous Version

The following changes have been made:

2.1 Novell Service Desk Integrated with ZENworks 11 SP1

The Novell Service Desk user interface has been now integrated with Novell ZENworks 11 SP1. You can use the Bundle Management feature in the Novell Service Desk user interface to assign bundles to devices or users. The Bundle Management feature is helpful in situations when an incident requires a configuration change such as software installation.

2.2 Built-in Report Writer

The new report builder lets you design your own reports, which eliminates the need for third-party report writers. You can design your own reports and save them in the reports menu. You can also edit the reports.

2.3 OpenID Authentication

OpenID authentication enables customers or Novell Service Desk users to seamlessly log in by using their existing Google, Yahoo, or Novell ZENworks Configuration Management accounts. The login process is significantly simplified because you can choose to use any OpenID provider.

2.4 Improved Localization

Customers and users can now navigate through the service desk interface in a language of their choice. You can communicate with the customers by using both SMS and e-mail in a language of their choice.

2.5 Modified Look and Feel

A built-in CSS editor now allows administrators to control the look and feel of the application. You can configure the CSS property and restyle the application as necessary. The changes are applied in real time, which allows you to immediately view the results. You can also choose to revert to the default look and feel. The changes are automatically preserved across upgrades.

2.6 Streamlined Team and User Management

In this release, team and user management have been streamlined across all ITIL processes. Supervisors can now define job function templates based on the job descriptions and allocate them to Novell Service Desk users, which allows instant assignment to all relevant teams as well as escalations for the job function they are performing.

2.7 CMDB Support

Support for CMDB Federation has been enhanced by adding tools to enable automatic association of Configuration Item snapshots with existing items. This feature eliminates the manual work required to associate the various federation sources with a particular Configuration Item by using the data association to identify snapshots that relate to the same configuration item.

3.0 Known Issues

3.1 Changing the root password for the Novell Service Desk appliance displays the password on the screen

If you use the Appliance Main Menu to change the root password for the Novell Service Desk appliance, the password characters are displayed on the screen.

Workaround: None.

3.2 Service Desk Web Services crashes on a device

If the Novell Service Desk 6.5 server is running on a device for a considerable period of time, the Service Desk Web Service might crash on the device. This might happen when the memory allocated for Java is not sufficient.

Workaround: Perform the following steps to increment the memory allocation for Java:

On a Windows device

  1. Open the catalina.bat file in a editor.

  2. Change -Xmx512M to -Xmx1024M or higher.

  3. Restart the Service Desk Web Service.

On a Linux Device

  1. Open the catalina.sh file in an editor.

  2. Change -Xmx512M to -Xmx1024M or higher.

  3. Restart the Service Desk Web Service.