Remote Management and Troubleshooting

Systems Management Server provides the Help Desk and Diagnostics features which offer the ability to directly control and monitor remote clients running MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, and Windows 95.

Help Desk

The Help Desk utilities provide direct access to a client, allowing you to troubleshoot and support individual remote computers, with obvious cost savings to the organization.

Using the Windows NT Server and Windows NT Workstation management tools from a Systems Management Server administration console, an administrator or technician can take control of a remote computer running Windows or MS-DOS to perform management or troubleshooting tasks. From one central location, across either a LAN or WAN, the administrator or technician can:

When the Help Desk option is run, Systems Management Server verifies that the client computer is running and attached to the network. Help Desk attempts connection using various protocols installed on the server until the server successfully connects to the client computer. The Help Desk feature works across X.25, ISDN, and standard asynchronous phone lines, and any normal routed network.

Users can control the degree of remote access they want by setting the following options:

Notice that the use of these help desk utilities requires the knowledge and permission of the remote user. Remote file transfer and remote execution of commands must be enabled for the client to participate in software distribution through Systems Management Server.

Diagnostics

The Diagnostics utilities allow you to view the current hardware and software configuration of a workstation. The following table shows diagnostic utilities for Windows 95 clients.

Item

Description

CMOS Info

Displays the CMOS memory data, which is used during startup to configure the client computer

Device Drivers

Provides information about the device drivers

DOS memory

Lists the programs currently loaded in conventional memory

GDI Heap

Lists and describes the characteristics of memory objects in the local memory storage for the graphical device interface

Global Heap

Lists the addresses of memory objects in the remote client's global memory storage, along with various characteristics associated with each object

Interrupt vectors

Lists the MS-DOS interrupt vector table

Ping Test

Sends packets between the administrative console and the client; verifies the accuracy of transmission

ROM Info

Provides detailed information about all installed read-only memory chips

Window Classes

Provides information about Windows classes used in programs

Windows Memory

Provides information about memory and available memory resources

Windows Module

Provides information about active code modules

Windows Tasks

Provides information about programs listed in the Task List


These tools provide the ideal solution for help desk operators, allowing them to resolve many user problems from a central location.