The following sections will help you to deploy Workstation Inventory:
IMPORTANT: The recommendations discussed in the scenarios are generic. Based on the topology of your enterprise, further refinements might become necessary.
In the example scenario, the network consists of a single site and up to 5000 inventoried workstations. The Inventory server components and the database are located on a Standalone Server, and the inventoried workstations send scans to the Standalone server.
This scenario is illustrated in the following figure.
The following sections contain detailed information to help you deploy Workstation Inventory in a single site:
Before installing the Inventory Agent on your workstation, you must deploy the Inventory servers to receive workstation scans. For more information about the deployment options for Inventory Agent, see Deploying the Inventory Agent.
During the Workstation Inventory installation, configure the Inventory Standalone Configuration settings. For detailed information, see "Desktop Management Server Installation Procedure" in the Novell ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Installation Guide.
For detail information on the effects of Workstation Inventory installation, see Understanding the Effects of Workstation Inventory Installation.
After installing ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management, the Inventory service is automatically started.
You must manually download the latest version of the dictionary from TID 10093255 in the Novell Support Knowledgebase and update the software dictionary.
NOTE: The dictionary is updated and published once in every three months in this TID.
The inventory scanning cycle is as follows:
The following illustrations depict the inventory scanning cycle in the Standalone Server with Novell Client installed.
In this example scenario, the network consists of a single site with more than 5000 workstations. The inventory configuration consists of two or more Standalone Servers, each server receiving scans from up to 5,000 inventoried workstations. All the Standalone Servers store the inventory data to a single database.
The following sections contain detailed information to help you deploy Workstation Inventory in a single site:
Before installing the Inventory Agent on your workstation, you must deploy the Inventory servers to receive inventory scans. For more information about the deployment options for Inventory Agent, see Deploying the Inventory Agent.
During the Workstation Inventory installation, configure the Inventory Standalone Configuration settings. For detail information on installing Workstation Inventory, see Novell ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Installation Guide.
For detail information on the effects of Workstation Inventory installation, see Understanding the Effects of Workstation Inventory Installation.
After installing ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management, the Inventory service is automatically started.
You can update the Software Dictionary in any one of the following ways:
NOTE: The dictionary is updated and published once in every three months in this TID.
The inventory scanning cycle is as follows:
If Novell ClientTM is not installed on the inventoried workstation, the Scanner accesses the eDirectory through the ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Middle Tier Server.
If Novell Client is not installed on the inventoried workstation, the Scanner sends the inventory information of each inventoried workstation to the Inventory server through the ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Middle Tier Server.
If the Novell Client is not installed on the inventoried workstation, the Scanner accesses the eDirectory through the ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Middle Tier Server.
The following illustrations depict the inventory scanning cycle in the Standalone Server, both with and without the Novell Client installed.
The following sections contain detailed information to help you deploy Workstation Inventory in multiple or enterprise sites:
In an enterprise or multiple site, complete the following tasks, in order, to design the inventory tree:
Describe the entire network of your enterprise.
The following figure illustrates the network organization of a enterprise with servers in different locations.
This illustration depicts four sites (Site A, Site, B, Site C, and Site D) connected to a central site. It depicts the physical links between the sites and the type of links in terms of bandwidth.
The Root Server in the inventory tree is the highest-level server. Necessarily, an Inventory database is attached to the Root Server.
The inventory information available from the Inventory database of the Root Server will consist of all information from lower-level sites on the network and from the Root Server site.
Factors that you must consider include:
In addition to the database at the Root Server, you can maintain database servers at different sites.
You might want to maintain additional databases if there are sites or subtrees that are managed for inventory at different locations, and these sites are connected to the network over a slow link.
You should also determine if there are specific reasons to have a separate database for a single site or a set of sites. There might be some organizational needs for your enterprise to have the database server on different sites, even if there is no product deployment need to have any other database.
NOTE: For a majority of enterprises, there could be no need to have any other database besides the enterprise-wide single database.
Identify the routes for inventory information for all Inventory servers to the nearest database.
To devise a route plan:
In ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management, you choose the role for each Inventory server. For more information, see Understanding the Inventory Server Roles.
The number of inventoried workstations attached to an Inventory server also determines the load. The following table lists the disk space requirements for the server:
In the table, n1 is the number of inventoried workstations attached to the server.
s is the size of the scan data files. This file size varies depending on the data collected. Calculate 400 KB scan data from each inventoried workstation to calculate the load.
dbg is the storage space of the inventory information in the database.
n2 is the number of inventoried workstations rolled up to the Inventory server.
z is the size of the compressed scan data file per inventoried workstation. The average compression ratio is 80-90% of the STR file size.
{ } denotes the disk space of the database server, depending on whether the database is on the same Inventory server or if it is connected to the Inventory server. If the database is on the same Inventory server, calculate the total disk space including the database space for the Inventory server. For example, if the Leaf Server with Database has the Inventory database on the same server, calculate the requirements for storage of inventory information, including the database disk space.
Ensure that the inventory tree you design follows these guidelines:
After you design the inventory tree, you should develop an implementation plan to cover the phased deployment plan for the network. Use the top-down deployment of the Workstation Inventory installation. Always begin the installation at the topmost level server (Root Server) and proceed with the next lower-level servers.
After your implementation plan is finalized, start the actual deployment according to the plan.
Follow these steps:
If you have already configured the servers for inventory setup, and you need to add another database server, follow these instructions:
Run the installation program to install the Inventory database on the server.
The installation program installs the Sybase database. If you are maintaining the database in Oracle*, make sure that the Oracle database exists. For more information, see Setting Up the Sybase Inventory Database. If you are maintaining the database in MS SQL, make sure that the MS SQL database exists. For more information, see Setting Up the MS SQL Server 2000 Inventory Database
Shut down the Inventory services. For more information, see Starting and Stopping the Inventory Service.
Based on the database you select, make sure that you configure the database. For more information, see Configuring the Database Location Policy.
If you want to attach a new database to an existing Inventory server, which does not have a database attached, you must change the role of the Inventory server in its Inventory Service object (Inventory Service_server_name). For example, if you attach an Inventory database to an existing Leaf Server, you must change the server role from Leaf Server to Leaf Server with Database in the Inventory Service object of the Leaf Server.
If you want to attach an Inventory database to a freshly installed Inventory server, you must choose an appropriate server role for the Inventory server.
To change the role of an Inventory server:
In ConsoleOne, right-click the Inventory Service object, click Properties, then click the Inventory Service Object Properties tab.
Follow the actions that you need to change the role. For more information, see Changing the Role of the Inventory Server.
Make sure that you enforce Full Scan for the Inventory Service object.
Bring up the Inventory service. For more information, see Starting and Stopping the Inventory Service.
This section covers these scenarios:
In this scenario, the network consists of many remote sites connected to a Central Site over WAN. Each remote site has a Leaf Server that collects inventory information from workstations located in the same site, and rolls up the inventory information to the Root Server located at the central site. The remote sites are administered from the Central Site because the Leaf Servers do have Inventory database attached to it.
HINT: To locally administer the remote sites, you must have Inventory database attached to Leaf Servers and change the role of the Inventory server to Leaf Server with Database. For more information on how to change the role of an Inventory server, see Changing the Role of the Inventory Server.
This scenario is illustrated in the following figure.
In this scenario, the network consists of four remote sites (A, B, C, and D), and a Central Site. Sites A and B are connected to Site C over slow links and are not directly connected to the Central Site. Site C is connected to the Central Site over a fast WAN link. Site D is directly connected to the Central Site over a fast link. Sites A, B and C are administered at Site C.
This scenario is illustrated in the following figure.
To administer the enterprise from the Central Site, and also administer Sites A and B from Site C, do the following:
In this configuration, you can deploy any of the previous scenarios. The highest-level Inventory server of one eDirectory tree rolls up the inventory information to an Inventory server located on the other eDirectory tree.
The following illustration depicts a sample scenario where you can deploy this inventory configuration.
There are two organizations: A and B. Each organization has its own eDirectory tree and inventory tree. Organization A has two Leaf Servers and a Root Server in its inventory tree. Organization B also has two Leaf Servers and a Root Server in its inventory tree. A decision is taken to merge both the organizations and both the inventory trees but to retain the eDirectory trees. After the merger, the role of the Root Server on the eDirectory tree T2 is changed to Intermediate Server with Database and the inventory information is rolled up from the Intermediate Server to the Root Server residing on the eDirectory tree T1.
In this configuration, you can merge the inventory trees and the eDirectory trees. After you merge the eDirectory trees, you must manually change the eDirectory tree name and (optionally) the Inventory Service DN in the inventory_server_installation_drive or volume\zenworks\inv\server\wminv\properties\config.properties file before starting the Inventory service. For more information on merging the eDirectory trees, see the Novell eDirectory documentation Web site.
To merge the inventory trees, you must change the role of the Root Server of one inventory tree to roll up to an Inventory server in the other inventory tree.
To change the eDirectory tree name and the DN of an Inventory server, edit the following entries of the config.properties file:
NDSTree=Target_eDirectory_tree_name
InventoryServiceDN=New_DN_of_the_Inventory_server
There are two sites; Site A and Site B connected through a WAN link. The Inventory server of Site A rolls up to an Inventory server in Site B. All communication from Site A to Site B flows through the firewall at Site B.
The following illustration depicts a sample scenario where you can deploy this inventory configuration:
To enable the roll-up:
You must allow requests to the proxy server on this port at the firewall. You can configure the XML proxy to listen to standard ports allowed by your firewall.
The XML proxy does not support any commercial Web server. You must ensure that the port number assigned to the XML proxy is not used by any other service on the same server.
You must also configure the Roll-Up policy with the XML proxy server's address and port number.
Before installing the Inventory Agent on you workstation, you must deploy the Inventory servers to receive workstation scans. For more information about the deployment options for Inventory Agent, see Deploying the Inventory Agent.
For detail information on installing Workstation Inventory, see Novell ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Installation Guide.
For detail information on the effects of Workstation Inventory installation, see Understanding the Effects of Workstation Inventory Installation.
The following table lists the actions that you should follow to setup the server for Workstation Inventory.
After installing ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management, the Inventory service is automatically started only if you have configured the Inventory Standalone Configuration settings during the installation.
To manually start the Inventory service, see Starting and Stopping the Inventory Service.
You can update the Software Dictionary in any one of the following ways:
NOTE: The dictionary is updated and published once in every three months in this TID.
If the inventory deployment rolls up inventory information across servers, the process of scanning is as follows:
If Novell Client is not installed on the inventoried workstation, the Scanner accesses the eDirectory through the ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Middle Tier Server.
If the Novell Client is not installed on the inventoried workstation, the Scanner sends the inventory information of each inventoried workstation to the Inventory server through the ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Middle Tier Server.
If the Novell Client is not installed on the inventoried workstation, the Scanner accesses the eDirectory through the ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Middle Tier Server.
NOTE: The next-level Inventory server can be located on the same eDirectory tree or on a different eDirectory tree or across firewalls.
On the Intermediate Server, the Receiver copies the file in the enterprise push directory. On the Intermediate Server with Database, or the Intermediate Server with Database and Inventoried Workstations, the Receiver copies the file in \entpushdir and copies the file in the Database Directory.
On the Root Server, or the Root Server with Inventoried Workstations, the Receiver copies the file in \dbdir only.
The following illustrations depict the inventory scanning cycle in the Roll-Up scenario, both with and without the Novell Client installed.
Before installing the Inventory Agent on your workstations, you must deploy the Inventory servers to receive workstation scans.
IMPORTANT: Before deploying Inventory Agent, we recommend that you customize your software scan rules to create a base-line configuration. For more information, see Customizing the Hardware Inventory Information To Be Scanned.
You can deploy the Inventory Agent in the following scenarios:
In this scenario, the inventoried workstations and the Inventory server are in the same LAN environment.
The Inventory Agent directly sends the scans to the Inventory server.
Consider a scenario where there are two sites, A and B, that are connected via a WAN link. All communication from Site B to Site A goes through the firewall at Site A. Site B has five workstations with Inventory Agent installed, and they do not have the Novell Client installed. The five workstations must be inventoried and the scan must be sent directly to the Inventory server at Site A. You must install the Middle Tier Server at Site A. For more information, see "Installing the ZENworks Middle Tier Server"in the Novell ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Installation GuideNovell ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management Installation Guide. Site B must be connected to Site A through a fast WAN link. This should have sufficient bandwidth to handle traffic generated by the workstations when accessing policies in the eDirectory and sending scans to the Inventory server.
The following illustration depicts a sample scenario where you can deploy this inventory configuration
In this scenario, the Inventory Agent is installed on workstations that periodically connected to the network.
The inventoried workstations are connected periodically to the network. The workstation policies are refreshed when the inventoried workstation connects to the network. If the scan schedule expires, the Inventory Agent will defer scanning the inventoried workstation until the workstation is connected to the network.
We recommend that you set your scan schedule to match when the inventoried workstation connects to the network.
For more information, see Scanning for Workstations That Are Periodically Connected to the Network.
In this scenario, the Inventory Agent is installed on workstations that are never connected to the network. For more information, see Collecting Inventory for Workstations That Are Not Connected to the Network.
On the Inventory servers, the Workstation Inventory installation program does the following:
The section provides information on:
For more information about the various Inventory services, see Understanding the Inventory Service Manager.
Before you start the Inventory service, make sure that the Inventory database are up and running. The Inventory database will be automatically started after the installation.
To start an Inventory services on the NetWare Inventory server, enter startinv at the server console prompt.
To start an Inventory service, enter startser inventory_service_name at the server console prompt. For more information about different Inventory services, see List of Services.
After starting the Inventory service, make sure that the Inventory services are up and running. To list all services, enter listser * at the server console prompt. To list an Inventory service, enter listser inventory_service_name at the server console prompt.
If the services are not up and running, check the Server Status log. For more information on the Server Status log, see Viewing the Status of Inventory Components on a Server.
To stop an Inventory service, enter stopser Inventory_service_name at the server console prompt.
To stop all the Inventory services, enter stopser * at the server console prompt.
Before you start the Inventory service, make sure that the Inventory database are up and running. The Inventory database will be automatically started after the installation.
To start the Inventory services on the Windows 2000/2003 Inventory server:
In the Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools.
Double-click Services.
Select Novell Inventory Service, then click Start.
To start an Inventory service from the console prompt:
Go to the installation_directory\inv\server\wminv\bin directory.
At the prompt, enter startser inventory_service_name.
After starting the Inventory service, make sure that the Inventory services are up and running. To list all services, enter listser "*" at the server console prompt. To list an Inventory service from the console prompt:
Go to the installation_directory\inv\server\wminv\bin directory.
At the prompt, enter listser inventory_service_name.
If the services are not up and running, check the Server Status log. For more information on the Server Status log, see Viewing the Status of Inventory Components on a Server.
To stop the Inventory services on a Windows 2000/2003 Inventory server:
In the Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools.
Double-click Services.
Select Novell Inventory Service, then click Stop.
To stop an Inventory service on a Windows Inventory server from the console prompt:
When you install ZENworks 6.5 Desktop Management, by default, the role of the Inventory server is that of a Standalone. By configuring the Inventory Service object, you can assign specific roles to the Inventory server based on your inventory deployment.
For example, if the deployment plan identifies three servers, such as a Root Server, an Intermediate Server with Database, and a Leaf Server for inventory deployment, you install Workstation Inventory on these servers, and choose the role for the server. Later, if you want to make changes in the inventory deployment, such as attaching the inventoried workstations to the existing Root Server, you need to change the role of the Inventory Service object from Root Server to Root Server with Inventoried Workstations. Additionally, depending on the new role, there are some policies you need to configure.
To change the role for any Inventory server:
Plan the change of roles carefully because the changes will impact the existing inventory deployment. Also, consider the disk space requirements and ensure that you have the required configurations for Inventory.
In ConsoleOne, right-click the Inventory Service object (Inventory Service_server_name), click Properties, then click the Inventory Service Object Properties tab.
Choose the new role of the Inventory Service object, then click Apply.
Bring down the services running on the changed server, follow the actions that you need to change the role, and then bring up the server.
To stop all Inventory Services:
stopser *
java -killZenWSInv
To restart all Inventory Services:
The following sections contain information to help you change the role of the Inventory Service object:
To change the role of the Root Server to a different role, follow the actions specified in the following table:
To change the role of the Root Server to ... | Tasks: |
---|---|
Root Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks after changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server with Database |
Perform the following task:
|
Intermediate Server with Database and Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks after changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Leaf Server, Leaf Server with Database, or Standalone Server |
Workstation Inventory does not allow you to change the Root Server to these servers because these changes affect the complete inventory system. If you want to assign these roles, you must uninstall Workstation Inventory, and then reinstall the Workstation Inventory component. |
Follow the actions specified in the following table:
To Change the Role of the Root Server with Inventoried Workstations to ... | Tasks: |
---|---|
Root Server |
Perform the following task before changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server with Database |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server with Database and Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks after changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following task before changing the role:
|
Leaf Server, Leaf Server with Database, or Standalone server |
Workstation Inventory does not allow you to change the Root Server to these servers because these changes affect the complete inventory system. If you want to assign these roles, you must uninstall Workstation Inventory, and then reinstall the Workstation Inventory component. |
Follow the actions specified in the following table:
To Change the Role of the Intermediate Server to ... | Tasks: |
---|---|
Root Server |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Root Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server with Database |
Perform the following tasks after changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server with Database and Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks after changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following task after changing the role:
|
Leaf Server, Leaf Server with Database, or Standalone server |
Workstation Inventory does not allow you to change the Intermediate Server to these servers because these changes affect the complete inventory system. If you want to assign these roles, you must uninstall Workstation Inventory, and then reinstall the Workstation Inventory component. |
Follow the actions specified in the following table:
To Change the Role of the Intermediate Server with Database to ... | Tasks: |
---|---|
Root Server |
Perform the following task before changing the role:
|
Root Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server |
Perform the following task before changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server with Database and Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following task after changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Leaf Server, Leaf Server with Database, or Standalone server |
Workstation Inventory does not allow you to change the Intermediate Server to these servers because these changes affect the complete inventory system. If you want to assign these roles, you must uninstall Workstation Inventory, and then reinstall the Workstation Inventory component. |
Follow the actions specified in the following table:
Follow the actions specified in the following table:
To Change the Role of the Intermediate Server with Inventoried Workstations to ... | Tasks: |
---|---|
Root Server |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Root Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server |
Perform the following task before changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server with Database |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server with Database and Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following task after changing the role:
|
Leaf Server, Leaf Server with Database, or Standalone Server |
Workstation Inventory does not allow you to change the Intermediate Server to these servers because these changes affect the complete inventory system. If you want to assign these roles, you must uninstall Workstation Inventory, and reinstall the Workstation Inventory component. |
Follow the actions specified in the following table:
To Change the Role of the Leaf Server to ... | Tasks: |
---|---|
Root Server |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Root Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server with Database |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server with Database and Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following task after changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server with Inventoried Workstations |
This change of role does not require any specific policy modifications. |
Leaf Server with Database |
Perform the following task after changing the role:
|
Standalone Server |
Perform the following task:
|
Follow the actions specified in the following table:
To Change the Role of the Leaf Server with Database to ... | Tasks: |
---|---|
Root Server |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Root Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server with Database |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server with Database and Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks after changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following task before changing the role:
|
Leaf Server |
Perform the following task before changing the role:
|
Standalone Server |
Perform the following task before changing the role:
|
Follow the actions specified in the following table:
To Change the Role of the Standalone Server to ... | Tasks: |
---|---|
Root Server |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Root Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks after changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server with Database |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Intermediate Server with Database and Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks after changing the role:
|
Intermediate Server with Inventoried Workstations |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Leaf Server |
Perform the following tasks:
|
Leaf Server with Database |
Perform the following task after changing the role:
|