Enabling Remote Tools for an SMS Site

After you have installed the SMS primary site and all SMS services are running correctly, follow these steps to enable the Remote Tools component on the primary site server so that it can be installed on the client.

  To enable Remote Tools

1. In the SMS Administrator console, navigate to:

Systems Management Server   Site Database (site code - site name)      Site Hierarchy         site code - site name            Site Settings               Client Agents

2. In the details pane, right-click Remote Tools Client Agent and then click Properties.
3. In the Remote Tools Client Agent Properties dialog box, click the General tab, and then select the Enable Remote Tools on clients check box.

Configuring Site-Wide Settings

Administrator feedback on SMS 1.2 Remote Control shows that there are two schools of thought on how pervasive the Remote Control feature should be. Some administrators want Remote Control to be used with client permission only. Other administrators prefer unlimited Remote Control of all clients. SMS 2.0 provides the tools to implement either approach. These tools are enabled through the Remote Tools Client Agent Properties dialog box.

Although completing the procedure in the previous section is sufficient to set up Remote Control on the client, you should also review and configure settings as needed in all five tabs of the Remote Tools Client Agent Properties dialog box. These tabs are:

• General
• Security
• Policy
• Notification
• Advanced

Each of these tabs provides features to customize the level of security and specific protocol-based settings for all Remote Tools clients within the boundaries of the SMS site.

General tab

Use this tab to:

• Enable Remote Tools for all clients within the site.
• Enable Lock-down mode, which prevents client users from changing settings on their computers.

Security tab

Use this tab to:

• Choose the users and user groups that are to be included in the Permitted Viewers list.

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Tip   For best performance, remove all unnecessary language-specific administrator names from the Permitted Viewers list. Doing so will reduce the number of permitted viewers that are passed to and from the client with each secure Remote Tools transaction.

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• Although the Permitted Viewers list appears as if it only accepts user groups, you can also add explicit user names to this list. It is more efficient to manage this list through user groups, but the ability to specify a user name is available to those who need it.

Policy tab

Use this tab to:

• Select the level of Remote Control (which functions are available) on clients.
• Specify whether client users must grant permission for each remote function to be performed on their computer.

Notification tab

Use this tab to:

• Specify whether to display a visual indicator to notify users when Remote Control is active on their computers. This visual indicator pertains to Remote Control only, not to other remote functions.
• Select the type of visual indicator (taskbar or high-security) to be displayed.
• Specify whether to display the visual indicator to notify users whenever the Remote Tools Client Agent is running, even when Remote Control is not active on their computers. You can enable sounds as well.

Advanced tab

Use this tab to:

• Select the compression level of remote screen captures (low, high, or automatically selected, based on the speed of the client’s CPU). Run Length Encoding (RLE) compression is the recommended option in most circumstances. See “Use RLE Compression” in the “Performance Improvement Tips” section of this chapter.
• Select the default listening protocol for all clients within the SMS site (TCP/IP, IPX, or NetBIOS). The UDP protocol is an additional option described under “Using the UDP Protocol” in this chapter.
• Enable Windows NT screen acceleration and select which video chip identifiers will be accelerated. See “Use Windows NT Screen Acceleration” in the “Performance Improvement Tips” section of this chapter.