5.1 Viewing System Messages

The ZENworks system generates normal (informational), warning, and error messages to help you monitor activities such as the distribution of software and application of policies.

Each ZENworks Server and ZENworks Adaptive Agent creates a log of the activities associated with it. These messages are displayed in ZENworks Control Center in various areas:

  • System Message Log: The system message log, which can be accessed by selecting Dashboard > System Messages, displays messages from all ZENworks Servers and Adaptive Agents within the zone.

  • Device Message Log: A device message log, located on the Summary page for a server or workstation, displays messages generated by the ZENworks Server or the Adaptive Agent. For example, the message log for Workstation1 includes all messages generated by the Adaptive Agent on Workstation1.

  • Content Message Log: A content message log, located on the Summary page for a bundle or policy, displays only the ZENworks Server or Adaptive Agent messages associated with the bundle or policy. For example, the message log for Bundle1 might have messages generated by three different ZENworks Servers and 100 different Adaptive Agents.

5.1.1 Viewing a Summary of Messages

You can view a summary that shows the number of messages generated for the servers, workstations, bundles, and policies in the zone.

  1. In ZENworks Control Center, click the Home tab.

    ZENworks Control Center Home page

    The Message Summary panel displays the status of all servers, workstations, policies, and bundles in the Management Zone. For example, if two servers have unacknowledged critical messages (those messages that you or another administrator have not yet acknowledged), the Status Critical icon column displays the number 2. Or, if you have three bundles with warning messages and five bundles with only normal messages, the Status Warning icon column displays the number 3 and the Status Normal icon column displays the number 5. You can do the following with the summary:

    • Click an object type to display its root folder. For example, click Servers to display the Servers root folder (/Servers).

    • For any object type, click the number in one of its status columns (Status Critical icon Status Warning icon Status Normal icon) to display a listing of all the objects that currently have that status. For example, to see the list of servers that have a normal status, click the number in the Status Normal icon column.

    • For any object type, click the number in the Total column to display all the objects that have critical, warning, or normal messages. For example, click the Total count for Servers to display a list of all servers that have any type of messages.

5.1.2 Acknowledging Messages

A message remains in a message log until you acknowledge it. You can acknowledge individual messages or acknowledge all messages in the message log at one time.

  1. In ZENworks Control Center, click the Devices tab.

  2. Navigate the Servers folder until you locate a ZENworks Server.

  3. Click the server to display its details.

    Device Details page

  4. On the Summary tab, locate the Message Log panel.

    The Message Log panel lists all messages (informational, warning, and error) generated by the ZENworks Server. The following table explains the various ways you can acknowledge and delete messages.

    Task

    Steps

    Additional Details

    Acknowledge a message

    1. Click the message to display the Message Detail Information dialog box.

    2. Click Acknowledge.

    If you do not want to acknowledge the message, click Finished to close the dialog box. This causes the message to remain in the Message Log list.

    Acknowledge all messages

    1. In the Tasks list located in the left navigation pane, click Acknowledge All Messages.

     

    View all acknowledged or unacknowledged messages

    1. Click the Advanced button to display the Edit Message Log page.

    In addition to viewing all acknowledged and unacknowledged messages, you can also view only those messages with a specific status or date, view more details about messages, and acknowledge messages.

    Click the Help button on the Edit Message Log page for specific information about performing tasks on that page.

    Delete a message

    1. Click the message to display the Message Detail Log dialog box.

    2. Click Delete.

    Deleting a message completely removes the message from your ZENworks system.

    You can also use the messages-acknowledge command in the zman utility to acknowledge messages associated with devices, bundles, and policies. For more information, see Message Commands in the ZENworks 11 SP4 Command Line Utilities Reference.

5.1.3 Where to Find More Information

For more information about system messages, see Using Message Logging in the ZENworks 11 SP4 ZENworks Control Center Reference.