HP Rapid Deployment Pack version 3.70

Changes in this version
Deployment support for new ProLiant hardware platforms - ProLiant BL680c G5, ProLiant DL580 G5
Windows deployment support for HP Integrity BL860c with QLogic HBA for SAN deployments
Deployment support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 for Intel Itanium (IA64)
Deployment support for new operating system updates such as SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 1 for (x86, AMD and Intel EMT64T (x86-64), and Intel Itanium (IA64)) platforms.
Includes Altiris Deployment Solution 6.8 Service Pack 2

What are the SWDAgent and Task Synch Agent for?

You do not need any of the agents that come with SWD Solution in order to deploy SWD Packages, as this is taken care of by the NSAgent's SWD DLL file.

The SWDAgent is used by the Portal. The Task Synch Agent is used for Sequential SWD Tasks.

SWD Solution also comes with an Application Inventory Agent, but I would not bother using it as you already have Inventory Solution deployed and this agent is more than likely going to b e phased out with the advent of SWD 7.

Notification Server 6.0 SP3 R6

Installation and ConfigurationRollup 6 (R6) for Notification Server 6.0 is a rollup of fixes to the core product since the release of Service Pack 3. It includes R1 (KB22690), R2 (KB23784), R3 (KB25133), R4 (KB27859), and R5 (KB31946).

This update contains some minor changes

For more info please read the Release Notes here

What is disabled when turning off verbose events for Software Delivery Tasks and Packages?

Question

What is disabled when unchecking the checkboxes for verbose logging on tasks and events? The events are found under the Advanced tab of the Package or Task respectively, as shown:
[_] Enable verbose reporting of task status events
[_] Enable verbose reporting of package status events

Answer

Package Status Events - When disabling the verbose events under a Package, it disables all Package delivery events (package downloaded, etc) for that package. In other words no events are sent to the Evt_AeX_SWD_Package data-class table.
Task Status Events - When disabling the verbose events under a Task, it disables all Status events for that task. In other words no events are sent to the Evt_AeX_SWD_Status data-class table.

NOTE: An Execution event will still be sent on the execution status of that task. One NSE will be sent to the NS that will insert a row into the Evt_AeX_SWD_Execution table.

Patch Management licenses exceeded

What queries can I use to determine how many licenses are in use by managed and unmanaged computers in Patch Management?

Answer
This will give a grid listing of different resource states and their count of Patch Licenses:

SELECT (CASE IsManaged WHEN 1 THEN 'Managed' ELSE 'Unmanaged' END) as State, Status, count(*) FROM LicenseInUse liu
LEFT OUTER JOIN vFixedAssetResourceStatus ars ON liu.ResourceGuid = ars.Guid
WHERE ProductGuid = 'B1338338-5575-4A27-9808-23BEC40D79FA'
GROUP BY Status, IsManaged

This will give a count of all Patch licenses consumed by unmanaged resources:

SELECT count(*) as 'Number of stale licenses' FROM LicenseInUse liu
LEFT OUTER JOIN vComputerResource cr on liu.ResourceGuid = cr.Guid
AND IsManaged = 1
WHERE ProductGuid = 'B1338338-5575-4A27-9808-23BEC40D79FA'
AND cr.Guid IS NULL

Find licenses most recently issued:

select i.Name, i2.Name, ir.Guid, ir.IsManaged, ir.Deleted, liu.ModifiedDate, liu.CreatedDate from LicenseInUse liu
left join ItemResource ir on liu.ResourceGuid = ir.Guid
join Item i on ir.Guid = i.Guid
join Item i2 on ir.ResourceTypeGuid = i2.Guid where liu.ProductGuid = 'B1338338-5575-4A27-9808-23BEC40D79FA'
order by liu.ModifiedDate desc

Find Deleted Resources still holding a license:

select count(*) 'Deleted resources with a license'
from LicenseInUse liu
join ItemResource ir on liu.ResourceGuid = ir.Guid where liu.ProductGuid = 'B1338338-5575-4A27-9808-23BEC40D79FA'
and ir.Deleted = 1

Unmanaged (Retired) Resources still holding a license:

select count(*) 'Unmanaged resources with a license'
from LicenseInUse liu
join ItemResource ir on liu.ResourceGuid = ir.Guid where liu.ProductGuid = 'B1338338-5575-4A27-9808-23BEC40D79FA'
and ir.IsManaged = 0

Error "AeXCustInv encountered a problem and needed to close" on Windows 2003 Servers

The following pop-up application error is being sporadically displayed on Windows* 2003 Servers:
AeXCustInv encountered a problem and needed to close.

Resolution
Currently, there is no resolution to the root cause.

Option 1: Completely disable custom inventory in your environment
One workaround is to configure the Inventory Solution tasks so that AeXCustInv.exe will not execute. The only data class that is populated by this custom inventory is AeX OS Quick Fix Engineering. The only reports using the AeX OS Quick Fix Engineering data class are legacy reports.
AeXCustInv.exe can be disabled by editing three files in the \Program Files\Altiris\Notification Server\NSCap\Bin\Win32\X86\Inventory Solution folder.
AeXInvSolnAdm1.ini
AeXInvSolnAdm2.ini
AeXInvSolnUsr1.ini
In each of these three files, comment out the AeXCustInv.exe line by adding "#" to the beginning of the line. =Example:
#aexcustinv.exe /in .\AeXCustInvStd.cit /out AeXCustInvStd.nsi
If a custom ini file has been created that calls AeXCustInv.exe, ensure that these lines are also commented out.

Option 2: Assist with identifying the cause of this error
Update:We have tentative confirmation that build 6.1.1075.42 resolves this issue. If you have tried or would like to try this build, please inform Symantec Technical Support of the outcome. Your assistance and feedback is much appreciated.
If you are experiencing this error and wish to assist by collecting data, follow the instructions in the "Custom Inventory Runtime Error Logging Instructions.doc" file located at ftp://ftp2.altiris.com/files/dougj/custinv_log_build_6.1.1075.42/

Option 3: Continue running Inventory Solution for Windows as configured and ignore the errors
At this time, we are not aware of any adverse effects of this error on any systems. It appears to be just an annoyance. If you notice any adverse effects, notify Altiris Support Services. We would appreciate being apprised of any adverse effects.

Desktop Virtualization: No Easy Answer

By Charles Babcock InformationWeek September 1, 2007 12:00 AM (From the September 3, 2007 issue)

Smartronix, an IT consultant to the government, has implemented virtualization in its data center, using VMware's ESX Server to achieve a 5-1 reduction in its server population. When it wanted to virtualize its desktops, though, it turned to a 2-year-old venture-capital-funded startup named Kidaro.
Smartronix CTO Robert Groat says his firm does a lot of work with the U.S. Marine Corps, and security was a top priority in virtualizing 50 remote users. "I didn't want to open up our corporate systems to home PCs," he says. "I wanted to reduce the surface area of our exposure."
The way he did it was to implement Kidaro Managed Workspace, which sits on top of the virtual machines generated by VMware's ESX server and applies a set of IT-defined policies and resources to them. The visual displays of the VMs are piped over the network to the users; the data and applications remain on the central server.
Kidaro also offers Smartronix the option of putting a user's workspace on a USB device in the form of Kidaro-To-Go. A mobile memory device might seem the epitome of a loose cannon when it comes to security, but the virtual machine included on it is encrypted and password protected and incorporates a locked-in VPN for accessing the corporate server. That means no user-access information floating around on a mobile worker's laptop. Managed Workspace runs in VMware's Player 2.0 on the user machine.
BRAWNY BIG BROTHERS
Groat's experience is likely to become more common as IT administrators recover from their dizzying gains in server consolidation and lowered power consumption and start applying virtualization to clients. When they do so, they'll come upon mostly unknown startups--the likes of Pano Logic, Thinstall, XDS--that are joining their brawny big brothers, VMware and Citrix Systems(CTXS), in bringing virtual machines to the desktop.
Problem is, there's no one good way to do it.
Kidaro offers end-user management and security advantages but doesn't guarantee overnight scalability to 10,000 users, the way Citrix's user application virtualization product, Presentation Server, does.
Pano Logic invites its customers to leave PC hardware behind altogether and adopt its 3.5-inch square chrome box. The Pano offers the advantage of relaying the user interface from a central server to a desktop display with minimal hardware expense, but you won't necessarily find a shiny Pano box in every hotel room.
XDS offers the hardest-to-explain option, which consists of authenticating end users on a remote server at an XDS data center, then equipping their desktops with virtual machines from a server inside the user's data center. The approach offers advantages in security and provisioning large numbers of users. But the company's explanation has left many scratching their heads on how to adopt it.
A larger potential player is Symantec, which acquired Altiris and its Software Virtualization Solution desktop virtualization system in April. Altiris brings strengths in identifying incompatibilities between applications and Windows Vista or other operating systems. It can package an application into a virtual machine with its dependent dynamic link libraries so that it runs on Vista without revision.
And don't forget Microsoft(MSFT), the 800-pound gorilla that's yet to make a peep. With its acquisition of Softricity last year, Microsoft gained the ability to virtualize applications; it already had the capability to virtualize the operating system with its Virtual Server. It's unlikely to remain silent for long once it sees newcomers stealing users out of its desktop domain. But for now, it has its hands full getting its server-side Viridian virtualization technology ready for Windows Longhorn Server after Longhorn's launch next year.