Setting Up Workstation Inventory

Follow this sequence to set up Workstation Inventory:

1. Ensure that the necessary prerequisites are met.

   • Ensure that you have installed the JVM. See Obtaining and Installing the JVM for Your NetWare Server for more information.
   • Ensure that you have installed ConsoleOne. See Obtaining and Installing ConsoleOne.
   • Use top-down deployment for Inventory installation. Always begin the installation at the topmost level server and proceed with the next lower-level servers. For example, in an inventory setup with a Root Server and a Leaf Server, complete the inventory installation at the Root Server, and then run the installation for the Leaf Server.

2. Run the installation program.

3. Choose the following options to install the Inventory components on the server:

   • Select the Custom Install option.
   • Select the Workstation Inventory and Sybase components.
   • Select the Files, Schema Extensions, and NDS Objects options.

   If you are installing ZfD 3.2 on an existing ZfD3/SP1 server, you must select the Files, Schema Extensions, and NDS Objects options.

4. Select the NDS tree where you want to install ZfD.

   The installation program detects if ZfD 3 already exists. If ZfD 3 exists, the installation program prompts you to choose either Upgrade or Full Install. If you are installing on an existing ZfD setup, see Installing Workstation Inventory in an Existing ZfD 3 Setup in Workstation Inventory in Deployment.

5. Select the server from the displayed list of servers to which you have logged in to while installing.

   On the server, the installation program will create an Inventory Service object with the following name servername_ZenInvservice in NDS for each server. This object contains the inventory settings.

6. (Optional) Select the database server from the displayed list of servers connected to the tree you have logged in to.

   The Sybase database (MGMTDB.DB) and related database files will be installed on the server you specify. To install the Inventory database on the different servers, run ZfD installation for each database server.

   During the database installation, if you are prompted that a newer version of the Inventory database files exist, choose to overwrite the existing database.

   1. Specify the volume on the database server.

      If a database already exists, and you specify a different volume during the installation, the existing database will not be overwritten.

      Because the database file can grow large, place the database on a volume other than SYS:.

7. Choose a role for each selected server.

   For information about each server role, see Implementing the Inventory Server Roles in Workstation Inventory in Deployment.

   The installation program copies all Inventory components on each server, irrespective of the server role.

8. Specify the location of the Scan Directory (SCANDIR) on the server.

   The location of SCANDIR that contains the scan data files is specified_scandir_volume\ZENWORKS\SCANDIR on the specified server. These files grow with each scan cycle and depend on the number of scanned workstations, choose a directory on a volume other than SYS:. If you place files other than the STR files in this directory, the inventory components will delete these files.

9. Assign unique site information for each database.

   This information identifies the database so that you can query an individual database, report information, and view inventory information for the database.

   In the following illustration, each Inventory database has been given unique identification. The database at the Root Server has site ID 101 and site name AusInvDB, the database at the Intermediate Server has site ID 102 and site name Brisbane, and the database at the Leaf Server has site ID 103 and site name Sydney. To obtain inventory information, you can query the database with the name Sydney, or you can view the collective information from the AusInvDB Root Server.

   
   

   The site ID must be between 0 to 255. Also, the site name should not contain any underscore characters ( _ ). ZfD does not verify whether the site information is unique.

   To understand the changes that the inventory installation makes, see Understanding the Effects of Workstation Inventory Installation in Administration.

   On NetWare servers, after installing the Inventory components on the server, the server need not be rebooted.

10. Install the Inventory files on the workstations.

    1. Ensure that the workstations meet the requirements specified in Specific Hardware and Software Requirements for Workstation Inventory.

    2. (Optional) On an existing ZfD setup, ensure that Inventory scanning is not scheduled on the workstation. The Workstation Manager in the System tray should display No for Inventory - Currently Running tab.

    3. Run the Novell Client installation program on the workstation. Novell Client will install the inventory files. See Obtaining and Installing the Novell Client.

       If the required Novell Client already exists, the preferred method for installing the inventory files is to add the Inventory Application object to the Application Launcher and associate the Application object with the managed workstation. The Inventory Application object is created in NDS during installation. Use ConsoleOne to configure the Inventory Application object. The Inventory Application object on Windows 95/98 is ZFD3INV95. On Windows NT/2000, the Inventory Application object is ZFD3INVNT. You can use NAL to execute the Application object.

       When you configure the policies, ensure that you schedule the Inventory task for the workstation.

11. Load the database on the server.

    • On a NetWare server, enter mgmtdbs at the server console. The MGMTDBS.NCF file in the SYS:\SYSTEM directory loads the Inventory database (MGMTDB.DB) maintained in Sybase.
    • On a Windows NT/2000 server, the installation program creates the database server as a service: Adaptive Service Anywhere - ZENworks for Desktops 3. At server startup, this service is automatically loaded.

12. To set up the workstations for scanning, the workstations must be registered in NDS and be imported as NDS Workstation objects. See Setting Up Automatic Workstation Import for more information.

13. Configure the policies for the servers. For more information, see Configuring the Policies on the Servers.

    NOTE:  Do not rename any ZfD NDS objects such as the Inventory Service object or the Database object, and other policy objects that ZfD generates. ZfD will not function properly if you rename any ZfD objects.

    There may be optional tasks that you need to do to implement Workstation Inventory. See Other Things You Can Do for more information.

Configuring the Policies on the Servers

Based on the role of the Inventory server, configure the inventory settings. Consider the following sample scenarios:

• Configuring Inventory in a Standalone Scenario
• Configuring Inventory in a Roll-Up Scenario

NOTE:  For information about configuring policies based on the servers, see Configuring Servers for Workstation Inventory in Workstation Inventory in Deployment.

Configuring Inventory in a Standalone Scenario

In a standalone server scenario, there is a single server that acts as the Inventory server and also the database server. There is no requirement for roll-up of inventory data.

During the installation, you selected to install Workstation Inventory and Sybase components. You also assigned the role for the server as Standalone Server, and assigned a unique site ID and site name to the database.

To configure the inventory settings for the Standalone Server:

1. Complete the steps in Configuring the Database Location Policy.

2. Complete the steps in Configuring the Workstation Inventory Policy.

3. Start Inventory Services. On the NetWare server, enter startinv. ZfD updates for Inventory will be effective only if you start the Inventory services on the servers.

Configuring Inventory in a Roll-Up Scenario

In this setup, one server acts as the Root Server with Database, and the other server is a Leaf Server. The Leaf Server configuration does not require a database.

During the installation for the Root Server, you selected to install Workstation Inventory and Sybase components. You also assigned the role for the server as Root Server, and assigned a unique site ID and site name to the database.

To configure the inventory settings for the Root Server:

1. Complete the steps in Configuring the Database Location Policy.

2. Start Inventory Services. On the NetWare server, enter startinv. ZfD updates for Inventory will be effective only if you start the Inventory services on the servers.

During the installation for the Leaf Server, you selected to install Workstation Inventory. You also assigned the role for the server as Leaf Server.

To configure the inventory settings for the Leaf Server:

1. Specify the details of the next-level server in the Roll-Up policy contained in the Server package. Complete the steps in Configuring the Roll-Up Policy.

2. Complete the steps in Configuring the Workstation Inventory Policy.

3. Start Inventory Services. On the NetWare server, enter startinv. ZfD updates for Inventory will be effective only if you start the Inventory services on the servers.

Configuring the Database Location Policy

To enable the Database Location policy in the Service Location package and associate the database object with the Inventory Service object of the server:

1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Policy Packages container > click New > Policy Package > Service Location Package > ZENworks Database > Next.

2. Type the name for the Service Location Package > click Next > click Finish.

   This procedure creates the Service Location package.

3. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Service Location Package > click Properties > click Policies.

4. Check the check box under the Enabled column for the ZENworks Database policy.

5. Click Properties.

6. Browse to the DN of the ZENworks Database object > click OK twice.

7. Click the Associations tab > Add.

8. Browse to select the container under which the Inventory Service object is present > click OK twice.

Configuring the Roll-Up Policy

To configure the Roll-Up policy:

1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Policy Packages container > click New > Policy Package > Server Package > zeninvRollUpPolicy > Next.

2. Type the name for the Server Package > Next > Finish.

3. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Server Package > click Properties > Policies.

4. Select any of these: General, NetWare, or WinNT-2000.

5. Check the check box under the Enabled column for the zeninvRollup policy.

6. Click Properties.

7. Browse to select the DN of the Inventory Service object > click OK.

8. Click the Associations tab > Add.

9. Browse for the server that you want to associate the Roll-Up policy to > click OK twice.

10. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Server Package > click Properties > Policies.

11. Select any of these: General, NetWare, or WinNT-2000.

12. Click the Roll-Up policy row > Properties > Roll-Up policy tab > Roll-Up Schedule.

13. Specify the roll-up time > click OK.

    This will schedule the roll-up time.

    When scheduling the roll-up of data in the Inventory policies, we recommend that the roll-up frequency should be at least one day. If the roll-up of scan data is scheduled too frequently (for example less than one hour), there may be some performance degradation of the Inventory server.

Configuring the Workstation Inventory Policy

To configure the Workstation Inventory policy package:

1. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Policy Packages container > click New > Policy Package > Workstation Package > Workstation Inventory > Next.

2. Type the name for the Workstation Package > click Next > Finish.

3. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Workstation Package > click Properties > Policies > click Win95-98 or WinNT-2000 tab.

4. Check the Workstation Inventory policy > click OK.

5. Click the Associations tab > Add.

6. Browse to select the container object under which the workstations are registered > click OK twice.

7. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Workstation Package > click Properties > Policies > Win95-98 or WinNT-2000 tab.

8. Click Workstation Inventory row > Properties > Workstation Inventory Policy tab.

9. Browse to select the DN of the Inventory Service object.

   This setting specifies that the scanner will send the workstation scan data to this Inventory server.

10. Check the Enable the software scan option to enable software scanning of workstations > click OK.

11. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Workstation Package > click Properties > Policies > Win95-98 or WinNT-2000 tab.

12. Click Workstation Inventory policy row > click Properties > click the Policy Schedule tab.

13. Modify the schedule > click OK twice.

14. In ConsoleOne, right-click the Inventory Service object (servername_ZenInvService) > click Properties > click the Inventory Service Object Properties tab.

15. Check Enable Scan of Workstations > click OK.

    This setting ensures that scanning is enabled for the workstations associated with the selected Inventory server.