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Computers
This page allows for basic viewing and organizing of your Computers into Divisions. Each Computer object is a record created by the client talking to the server which then references the hardware, software, and manual data associated with that machine. Computer records can be created manually for offline or pre-staged equipment. Division is the hardware specific term for Folder when it comes to Computers and Devices. You can also create Sections, which are containers of divisions that are an Access control mechanism.
Divisions are very important when it comes to Maps as they are the foundation for that functionality. They are also very useful for reporting, both in reports that group results by Division, and as a way to limit computer based report results to those systems in a given Division. Click the + next to Divisions to make a new one, and right click on an existing Division to edit or delete it or make a nested division. Applying a color to a Division applies the color to all computers it contains. Selecting a Division filters the main pane to show only the computers it contains, along with any computers in nested divisions. Note that if there is a Scope applied (top navigation) it filters this entire page so only that Division will be shown in the sidebar. Typically you want to clear that scope when working with all computers/divisions.
Division structure can be completely manual, or totally automated by way of something like Active Directory. The Computers can self organize and self create the needed divisions to match their structure in OUs in AD. This was an option during the initial setup covered previously, and can be turned on in Settings -> Clients as desired. The system does not clone and import the entire AD structure, it is created as needed on demand only when clients check in.
Working with Computers
To move Computers into Divisions or Login states, simply drag and drop.
You can select multiple computers by using Shift+click for a range or control (Win)/command (Mac) click for non contiguous items. Be careful to click on the icon or line of the computer NOT on the name of the computer. Once you have multiple records selected you can drag and drop to move them.
You can perform bulk actions from the upper right drop down menu ⁞ ▾ or by right clicking one or more selected Computers. Quick Edit is very useful for making a bulk change of one or more fields. Request Audit asks the selected computer(s) to submit a new audit ASAP instead of waiting for the default cycle. Anchor means that the computer(s) will not move based upon Rules or AD mapping, they will stay in the current assigned division. You can also run various Scripts and Reports from the the sub menus.
Other buttons in the upper right ribbon include the + to add a manual computer record, the Details ◫ dialogue to choose column display and order and Grouping display, and a refresh button.
Clicking the name of a computer (hyperlink) will take you to the Details page for that computer.
Computer Details
The Computer Details are broken out into sub navigation items you can navigate between as shown below. Each section is a grouping of similar data points about the computer record. It is worth noting that not all data collected on hardware can be seen in the details screen. KeyAccess collects over 80 possible data points from a computer, most of which are directly viewable in the Details of the computer record, as a column on the Computers page, or in a Computers Report. These include things like the video card, network card, and much more.
Some fields like MAC, Serial, and Memory have a More button next to them. This will expand a list of other interfaces, identifiers, and individual ram chips. Some fields that can not be edited in this view can be altered using Quick Edit on the main Computers page, but note that may mean they will be "fixed" by data from the KeyAccess client at next checkin. For a full list of panes see the main Computers page.
Clicking on the name of the Last User in the Information screen will take you to the User Details. There you can see and edit some basic user information if desired. Note this is not in any way related to user authentication or the control of those accounts, it is simply a record of the user name associated with the usage of the Computer and Software.
To Edit any of the editable fields, click the Edit button at the bottom of the side navigation, or the pencil in the upper right. To save your changes, click Save or the pencil again. To discard changes, click the Revert button or arrow next to the pencil. Note there are advanced capabilities where some of these fields (like Department and Owner) can be auto populated by registry/plist values from the clients. In such a case, any manual edits will be overwritten by the next audit unless you Lock the fields using that option on the Asset pane. The Custom fields can be managed under Settings - Columns.
Lifecycle Management
There are a few fields that are directly related to lifecycle of the asset (Categorization and Asset panes) if you wish to use these features. Note there is also an ability to import computer records from CSV to "pre-stage" them before KeyAccess ever checks in from that machine. We have other articles on that process, but this is why there are Lifecycle Stage options for Ordered and Acquired. The default stage when a client connects and a record is created is Deployed. Changing this to Maintenance has the impact that it will be grayed out on Maps. Any other status will hide the computer from the Map entirely. Otherwise, these statuses are for your internal use as you see fit. You can show this column and sort by or group by it on the Computer page, and use it in Hardware reports.
The Login setting on the Categorization pane has some important functionality discussed further under Licensing. By default this is Dedicated and in most cases should remain as such until a machine is retired. At that point change it to Dormant. This means the record will not be taking up a seat of your TDX ITAM Server license, and the computer will not appear in software Audit reports as it's no longer in inventory. However, it will appear in Usage reports for historic data, and you can reference the hardware record as needed, including linking to a Purchase record. Computers automatically move from Dormant to Leased if they check in to the server. This can service as a flag that something was not properly retired as expected. Excluded computers are prevented from connecting and therefore can not get a lease or access policies, but as with Dormant the usage data is retained and reported on (while audit is ignored). Generally speaking, moving computers to Dormant or Excluded is preferable to deleting them so you retain the links to the data.
Click here for more consideration on Login types.
Because a Leased computer will automatically time out to Dormant after 30 days max of inactivity, some wonder about running computers in Leased instead of Dedicated. This decision comes down to a few important considerations about your workflows and lifecycle management. Most sites use the default of Dedicated, but you are welcome to change this.
- If you have a lab of computers that are offline for the summer, they will drop into Dormant. This means you have deployed systems that are not showing in your Audit reports and not using seats for a few months. This can mislead your interpretation of your license needs. It can also mean that your Audits to ensure everything is up to date for fall are not including things that later come online and are outdated.
- If you run in a default Dedicated state, then any physical computer that shows up in Leased (thin clients are a special case) is a red flag. If you run all systems Leased, you have no red flag for a computer that came back from the scrap pile.
- If you run everything Leased and they auto time out to Dormant, this can seem convenient for not having to manually retire computers to Dormant when they are scrapped. However, what about a computer that goes missing? If the assumption is everything Dormant went there for a good reason, you lose site of an AWOL computer. conversely, if you have a scheduled report that filters on Dedicated systems with no Login or Audit for more than 60 days, you can know on a weekly basis if something is missing.
- Defaulting to a Dedicated state means you must be attentive to your lifecycle inventory management to ensure you don't run out of seats. This is still true of Leased, but a little less so due to the self managing concurrency nature of that state.
The Confirmed fields on the Asset pane can be useful for internal auditing procedures. If you have staff able to edit computer records and they are verifying computers, changing status as part of a workflow, etc, they can click Confirm when they are complete. This stamps the record with their login ID and the date and time of the confirmation, which allows checking to see who last confirmed a machine if something is found to not be compliant.
The History pane automatically tracks changes to assets. This includes not just manual details in the Asset pane like Owner and Department, but also configuration information like RAM size. Importantly for the manual fields, the account making the change is recorded along with the change details.
Basic Purchase information can be entered here, or the record can be linked to a full Purchase record (AllSight only as LabSight does not have the Purchases module). This link will take you to the full Purchase record with all the associated details.
Other Features
Various Reports are available from the top right menu icon.
The Map Availability option is relevant to using the Remote features on Maps. For example, selecting Physical Only will hide the Connect link on a Floorplan for that computer even when Remote access is enabled in the Floorplan settings. It also can be used to prioritize which computers are offered for remote connections when using the Connect to Any button in the map list. Remote Only will be used first, followed by Physical and Remote.
The Auto Logout option indicates that if there is a disconnected remote session, KeyAccess will log it off after 3 minutes. Note this only applies to RDP and (in most cases) VNC. This helps address the issue of users closing an RDP connection without logging off of the OS on the remote machine.
Devices
The Device page allows you to manage your inventory of active and offline equipment. This is very similar to Computers, but with much less data and no active agent. Printers can be actively queried by IPP or you can use our Papercut integration. Any Display or Storage device the KeyAccess agent can discover with a Serial Number will be automatically added to the inventory. Locally attached USB Printers will also be discovered and inventoried. Devices can be created manually with the + in the upper right, or by bulk import from CSV (Import option under the drop down menu in the ribbon).
By creating a printer and putting it in a Division, you can place it on a Floorplan just like a Computer. This allows for even more robust Maps. If you specify an IP for the printer and use the IPP service, we will query the device and update the status every 5 minutes by default. Printer icons will change color if being queried for status. Green means it is ok, yellow in a warning state, and red in an error state.
The displayed columns and optional attribute grouping can be customized using the Columns button in the upper right ribbon. Click a device Name to go to its details page, which like computers has a number of sub items with a rich array of details.
Information
This pane has the general overview and classification of the device.
- Device Name is the common name you use for the device, and for printers is what will show on maps.
- Address is the IP of the device if applicable. This is useful for Printers when combined with IPP.
- Manufacturer, Model and Serial will be pulled from printers automatically by IPP if possible, and for Displays and Storage discovered by KeyAccess, or can be added manually for any device
- Device Category is used to set the main category of the device, and will determine what additional fields are displayed on the lower half of this screen.
- Device Type will show different options depending on the Category.
- You can define custom Types in Settings - Columns. This is useful for Other where you can add anything you want like vehicles or furniture. Some examples of fields that are dependent are Resolution for Cameras, Dimensions for Displays, and Brightness for Projectors.
Printers have a few fields of special note:
- Status will be set automatically by Papercut or IPP if used, otherwise it can be set manually. This will affect the icon color as mentioned above.
- Enabled can be used much like Maintenance for Computers, it will show the printer as "off" on Maps
- Page Cost is useful if you do chargeback and will show on Maps when the Printer is clicked
- Rating, PPM, Wait, and Ink Level are optional details we try to pull by IPP
Categorization
This pane has a few items for organizing the device. Division should be familiar from Computers. A device will follow a Computer it is linked to unless it is Anchored. For Printers, the Division allows for Map placement, and any maps the device has been placed on will be listed at the bottom of the page.
Description is arbitrary information as needed, but in the case of Printers this is shown when you click on the device on a map. Tags are a more advanced meta tagging subject.
Service
The Service pane is where you select to use IPP to enable automatic updates for the device. If the printer is automatically created using the Papercut integration this will be set to Papercut and the ID and URL will be populated. You can manually populate the Service URL if you are using IPP to enable a hyperlink to the web interface of the device for administrators to use from maps.
Asset
Here you can manage the Lifecycle Stage as with Computers. You can also populate a variety of fields with information about the device. All of these are optional but can be very useful in tracking the device in the organization.
The On Loan fields are intended for loaner devices. The To field has a search function that will list matches from the Users database, which is populated with users who have accessed a Computer with our agent. The Until field can be leveraged with a Dashboard Widget to show upcoming returns that are due, as well as in Reports.
The Confirmed fields are populated when an admin user clicks the Confirm button. These set the date and time as well as the user to indicate who last modified the record.
Purchase
These fields can be used to track purchase and warranty information among other details. You can link to a Purchase record which then provides for a large number of details related to the purchase of the device.
Custom
You can define up to 10 Custom Fields to use as needed with Device records.
Notes
Additional details about the device can be added to the fields in these panes. The Confirm function works the same as with Computers, to stamp a user and date when the device was verified by manual audit.