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How OSQL can help you manage jobs across large numbers of Altiris Deployment Servers
[ by Patrick Hoyt, Contributor, myITforum.com ]
One of the ways that you can keep a consistent set of jobs synchronized across many different Altiris Deployment Servers is to leverage OSQL along with the AClient and the AxImport utility.
Why would you need to do this?
Well, perhaps you work for a company that has numerous geographically distributed offices -- each containing an Altiris Deployment Server. Perhaps you or your team has developed a new set of "known good" Deployment Server jobs in a lab environment -- and now you need a consistent way to replace your old jobs across a large number of geographically distributed Deployment Servers.
Maintaining a uniform set of jobs across numerous Deployment Servers can be a significant challenge, but there is a fairly simple way that you can do it.
Below is a synopsis of this process: Installing the AClient (step 1) on each of your Deployment Servers can be accomplished via the Remote Agent Installer, which is probably "old hat" to most readers. Similarly, your Deployment Server jobs can be exported (step 2) by simply right clicking on them -- or their parent folder in more complex cases -- and selecting "Export."
OSQL is used in step 3. Here is an example of the script that you would need to run on your distributed Deployment Servers:
osql -U sa -P SApassword -d eXpress -Q "delete from event folder where folder_id = (select folder_id from event folder where [name] = '_Custom')"
In plain English, this says "Using the 'sa' account, with a password of 'SApassword' on the 'eXpress' database, delete the '_Custom' folder."
This actually deletes the contents of the "_Custom" folder as well, which allows you to start with a clean slate on each of your Deployment Servers (with respect to the "_Custom" folder). In normal real-world operations, if you didn't delete that folder first, you would end up with extraneous jobs that could complicate future troubleshooting on your individual Deployment Servers.
The next thing you need to do is copy your *.BIN file (step 4) that you previously exported which contains your new "_Custom" folder, and then import it (step 5) into each of the distributed Deployment Servers.
An example of the command line syntax that you can use in Deployment Server scripted job is:
"D:\LocalPath\AxImport.exe" D:\LocalPath\My_BIN_File.bin /lu %NODEFULL%\SomeLocalAccount /lp Password /o /r /y
Again, in plain English, this means "Import my BIN file using SomeLocalAccount (that exists on each Deployment Server) and has the password of 'Password' and don't prompt me for anything." The %NODEFULL% simply means "whatever machine I'm running on right now." In practice, the /o and /r are supposed to overwrite and delete content respectively, however I have observed that they don't reliably work in practice -- hence the need to use OSQL, which is a more thorough method.
I hope you have found this method to be helpful in your environment. If so, feel free to drop me a line at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and let me know.
This article first appeared in myITforum, the premier online destination for IT professionals responsible for managing their corporations' Microsoft Windows systems. The centerpiece of myITforum.com is a collection of member forums where IT professionals actively exchange technical tips, share their expertise, and download utilities that help them better manage their Windows environments, specifically Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS). It is part of the TechTarget network of Web
sites. To register for the site and sign up for the myITforum daily newsletter, click here
Patrick Hoyt's experience includes working in corporate IT as an SMS administrator, as well as serving as a lead consultant in many deployments of SMS 1.2, 2.0, 2003 and Altiris technologies. He also served overseas as a Cryptologic Technician while in the United States Marine Corps. He currently resides in Minneapolis.
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