Deskcenter Management Suite 11.0 - 07 I 21 - www.it-administrator.de - IT-Administrator Juli 2021
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
07 I 21 Deskcenter Management Suite 11.0 www.it-administrator.de
Deskcenter Management Suite 11.0
Broadly
based Quelle:
gearstd
–123RF
by Dr. Christian Knermann
With its modular structured Deskcenter Management Suite, the
German manufacturer of the same name has started to
implement comprehensive client and IT service management.
For software deployment and patch management, the focus is
particularly on Windows endpoints. IT administrator decided to
take a look at how this versatile suite fares.
nder the heading of unified The service desk licenses Deskcenter The software management area is a
U management (UEM), the for each support employee based on focus of the suite and therefore of
Leipzig-based provider Deskcenter the concurrent use principle. our test, too. Here however,
is compiling its portfolio for Deskcenter offers all licenses either Deskcenter is restricted to
comprehensive IT operations as a one-time purchase, plus annual Windows endpoints. Management
management. Deskcenter costs for support and maintenance, Suite handles the initial rollout of the
conforms to the IT Information or through leasing. For leasing, operating system and drivers,
Library (ITIL), and thus to the support and maintenance as well as packaging and deployment of
internationally recognized de facto the DNA software catalog are applications, as well as patch
standard in the IT service included. management. The suite also
management domain. In its requires the proprietary SDI Agents
maximum configuration, Windows, macOS and Linux on the clients. Deskcenter handles
Management Suite therefore Inventory Windows updates autonomously,
covers all ITIL core areas. The suite In terms of inventory and asset i.e. without requiring Microsoft
has a modular structure, and the management, Deskcenter is Windows Server Update Services
system’s core forms the inventory. proving to be highly flexible and (WSUS). However, the suite can
In this case, the manufacturer has ensures agentless recording of also integrate with an already
decided on the one hand on Window clients and the software existing WSUS installation on
managed assets, thus end devices, installed on them. This works as demand. In terms of the backend,
which blend into software long as the clients communicate via Deskcenter also relies on Windows.
deployment and patch Windows Management As a basis, the servers use a
management, and on the other Instrumentation (WMI). Windows server with Microsoft
hand on unmanaged assets. Deskcenter officially supports SQL Server and IIS, and they
Deployment of operating systems, Windows versions from Vista and synchronize user as well as
of software and of patches is Server 2008 onward. Furthermore, computer accounts with an Active
available as individual building since the earliest version of Directory.
blocks, licensed per managed asset. Management Suite, the
The same applies to license manufacturer has also integrated Scalability and multitenancy
management as well as the Apple macOS via Mac Inventory as The suite’s architecture is scalable
application metering, AppCloud well as various Linux distributions and can map both organizationally
and DNA software catalog by means of a component called and geographically larger
functions, which we will come back Script Inventory. Both detect data organizations (Image 1). At least one
to soon. about the hardware and the Data Service instance forms the core
software locally on the client and of the system.
send it to the Deskcenter server for
2 Extract from IT Administrator Julyfurther
2021 processing. www.it-administrator.de
Deskcenter Management Suite 11.0 Te s t s
If multi-tenancy is required, and However, anyone wishing to
Deskcenter
therefore organizationally attempt installation should not be
Management Suite 11.0
independent units want to manage discouraged by this wealth of
their IT operations partially or fully information. Both demonstrate that Product
independently, then they can each the manufacturer has painstakingly Software for client and IT service
management, oriented towards ITIL.
use a separate Data Service documented all aspects of this
Manufacturer
subordinate to a central instance. In complex product suite.
Deskcenter AG
such a structure, sub-tenants are https://www.deskcenter.com/
playing their cards close to their Furthermore, the manufacturer management-suite/
chests, but the Master Data Service supports the first setup with regard
Price
maintains an overview and can, for to a proof of concept (POC), so in Prices vary depending on the modules
example, centrally manage licenses our case too. A complete setup right selected, the licence model (purchase or
or make pre-packaged applications through to the first feeling of success rental) and the number of clients. clients,
with the initial deployment of the prices vary. For example, for 500
available to all tenants.
administered clients the purchase of a
However, if this only involves software on the clients is achieved in "perpetual licence" for the basic licence
managing a distributed half a working day. SQL Server and costs 13.40 euros, operating system
infrastructure, additional Data IIS served as a basis. We had already distribution 5.50 euros, software
Services are not required. The Data prepared our domain controller, and distribution 9.80 euros, patch
management 4.50 euros, licence
Service controls one or more also another server, which should
management 7.10 euros, application
instances of the Worker Service, provide all Deskcenter services and management 4.00 euros, DNA software
which is responsible for the scanning the database. For productive catalogue 4.90 euros and the AppCloud
and inventory of clients and the operation, the manufacturer 4.90 euros. All prices are per client;
recommends at least the standard annual maintenance accounts for 20
deployment of software and
percent of the basic price. Alternatively,
updates. In this case, Deskcenter is edition of the database server and
we recommend using the rental model,
addressing the trend for distributed from 350 clients upwards on which includes maintenance and the
work. Provided that there is an separate machines: one for the DNA software catalogue. Scale prices
installation of the Worker Service in database and another for the for a larger number of clients are
available from the manufacturer on
the DMZ and the SDI Agents on the Deskcenter services. On our very
request.
clients, new software packages and small scale, a VM together with the
updates, also those from outside the free Microsoft SQL Server 2019
System requirements
corporate network and without Express edition sufficed. Per
Server: Microsoft Windows Server 2012
VPN, can find their way to the Deskcenter guidelines, we had or newer, Microsoft SQL Server 2012 or
endpoints. installed the database server and the newer, Microsoft Internet Information
web server (IIS) role with all Server (IIS) incl. .NET Framework 3.5/4.x
Ready for operation within a required role services and features. and ASP.NET functions.
In addition, we configured Windows Clients: SDI Agent for Microsoft
few hours
Windows Vista as well as Server 2008 or
As part of the test, we installed firewalls on all systems per the
newer; Invento-ry for Apple macOS 10.7
Deskcenter Management Suite in Deskcenter specification. In this or newer as well as for various Linux
our own infrastructure with a case, too, we could refer back to the distributions (Ubuntu 18.04/20.04 LTS,
domain controller and a server for manufacturer’s comprehensive CentOS 7/8, RHEL 7/8, Debian 9/10,
information. The required port Fedora 31-33, openSUSE 15, SLES 12
the Deskcenter Services, both in
SP2/15).
Windows Server 2019, and clients scope relates, on the one hand, to the
in Windows 10 20H2. Furthermore, SQL server, to which only
the manufacturer granted us Deskcenter Data Service and
access to its test environment so Management Studio (but not the
that we could gain an overview of clients) require access, and, on the Clients with SDI Agent installed
the functions also in a larger other hand, to Deskcenter services. typically access the Data Service via
environment. TCP port 81, but they only require
We configured the firewalls of the this as a fall-back option, in case the
The PDF guide for setup and initial clients centrally by means of a group responsible Worker Service is not
configuration comprises 76 pages, policy, for which all ports and available. The latter uses
and the comprehensive user protocols from the file and printer configurable TCP ports from 7000
manual is 942 pages long. sharing, remote services upwards for the TLS-encrypted
management and Windows communication with the agents. In
Management Instrumentation this way, the clients transmit their
(WMI) groups are only required in inventory data to the Worker
the case of an agentless inventory. Service and receive software jobs.
Extract from IT Administrator July 2021 3
Te s t s Deskcenter Management Suite 11.0
The installation files and patches
themselves call up the clients from
the points referred to in
Management Suite as software
shares. In the simplest case, a
software share is an SMB share that
can naturally only be reasonably
used in the internal corporate
network. Alternatively, the agent
obtains software from software
Quelle: Deskcenter AG
shares also, which are accessible via
FTP(S), HTTP(S) or WebDAV.
Data Service, Management
Studio and Webfrontend
Thus equipped, we could begin to Image 1: Deskcenter Data Service and Worker Service map organizationally and
install the Deskcenter infrastructure, geographically distributed environments.
starting with the Data Service. In the
process, the setup routine requested In Studio, a wizard guided us Optional time frames with daily,
a license file, which Deskcenter had through the total of 16 dialog steps weekly or monthly intervals give the
provided for 100 clients and for all for the initial configuration—a time plans a framework, thereby
aspects of the software deployment. comprehensive list of working restricting execution to defined time
This also included Application points, some with additional sub- frames.
Metering and AppCloud functions. points—at the end of which,
The former helps with cost Management Suite was Comprehensive online
optimization and also determines if immediately ready for use. After the Software catalogue
and for how long distributed welcome window, we specified a
The optional DNA catalog is an online
applications are used. This happens default user for remote access on
database that helps Management
aggregated in terms of data the client. Inventory and software
Suite identify, on the software installed
protection; the system only records deployment also use the context of
on the clients for the inventory, license
the usage duration within the last 90 this account, which requires at least
management and also patch
days without an exact time and local admin rights on the clients. In
management. Per details supplied by
anonymizes usernames if desired. the next step, we created an initial
Deskcenter, the database recognizes
AppCloud is an online service with Worker Service, to which we
1.5 million fingerprints of individual
which Deskcenter makes ready assigned all inventory tasks via IP
packages available for numerous files belonging to 400,000 products
scan and AD Sync as far as the
applications (more on this later). from 16,000 manufacturers. To
endpoint for SDI Agents. Depending
activate this option, we had to assign
on the size of an infrastructure and
Then we installed Deskcenter one of the previously created time
logic or geographic segmentation,
Management Studio, which is the plans and opted for update
Deskcenter alternatively allows the
central management interface of compilation of the catalog once per
tasks to be distributed on multiple
Deskcenter Management Suite, day.The following dialog step
Worker Services on different
followed by the optional prompted us to create one or more
servers.Next, we defined two time
Deskcenter.Web. This ASP.NET inventory groups. At least one such
plans for hourly and daily execution
web application forms the basis for group must exist, since Management
by way of an example, with
the Servicedesk system including Suite automatically assigns all
Deskcenter proving to be extremely
Knowledge Base and for the self- recorded systems to a group. How
flexible in this respect. The system
service for the installation of can there be multiple groups? The
can execute tasks on a one-time
applications. The web application inventory group determines which
basis, or according to minutely, method is used for the inventory,
setup also took care of the REST-
hourly, daily, weekly or monthly either the agentless recording by
API inventory.
intervals. It can be set to use either means of Worker Service and WMI
universal time or the clients’ local
Wizard- guided initial or the SDI Agent. In both cases,
time. Each individual task, such as deviating from the global default
configuration
synchronization with the Microsoft user, we were also allowed to enter
Now we were able to log in to Update Catalog, download of the login information of a different
Management Studio using the initial updates, or also patch scans of clients account.
admin account that we had created and servers, runs on demand
during installation. according to its own time plan.
4 Extract from IT Administrator July 2021 www.it-administrator.de
Deskcenter Management Suite 11.0 Te s t s
This would be practical in terms of This is useful for large As an additional source, Deskcenter
considering clients that do not infrastructures, so that clients only uses a Microsoft DHCP server to
belong to the AD domain. Also connect to Worker Services in their determine assigned IP addresses.
worth mentioning is the “Create vicinity. Finally, we were allowed to store
monitors as asset” option. With this, SMTP configurations, so that
the inventory on the client records We continued with the software Management Suite can also send
additionally connected external share, where we configured our information via email.
monitors on demand in asset previously created SMB scope. At
management. The file scan this point, we could also specify an Well-structured complexity
establishes the directories where alternative connection via FTP(S),
Deskcenter should search for HTTP(S) or WebDAV. A third type This completed the basic
installed software and permits of group, known as software groups, configuration, and we were able to
inclusions and exclusions. assigns the software share to the focus on the well-structured
clients. Management Studio, which divides
In the course of the inventory, the complex scope of function into
Deskcenter can execute any further Numerous inventory methods logically traceable and, after a brief
actions as script in the system or familiarization, controllable areas.
user context on the clients. We had The next points of the initial The main navigation is arranged
to specify a script such as Visual configuration serve to record, as horizontally at the lower edge of
Basic, C#, PowerShell or batch code. completely as possible, the the image, which leaves space at
surrounding IT infrastructure for the upper edge for one icon bar per
Management Suite uses separate Management Suite. An IP scan specific area. We were able to
groups for clients with installed SDI searches by time plan in defined subsequently change any decisions
Agents. For example, one of these subnetworks to inventory that had previously been made in
groups determines whether the local endpoints. In addition, the system the wizard in the “Configurations”
agent loads the optional user synchronizes user and computer area. Here, we were also allowed to
module, and therefore informs the accounts with an Active Directory, create SNMP groups, including
end user about upcoming on demand also only with a specific version community, in order to
installations, or runs completely OU. Furthermore, Deskcenter also inventory SNMP-able endpoints
hidden in the background. reads hosts such as VMs from such as printers and IP telephones.
Furthermore, the group assigns one virtualization infrastructures and is
or more Worker Service instances to compatible with VMware ESX/
the agents. vCenter, Microsoft Hyper-V and
Xen-compatible solutions.
Image 2: “AppCloud” supplies ready compilations for numerous applications.
www.it-administrator.de Extract from IT Administrator July 2021 5Te s t s Deskcenter Management Suite 11.0
In the “Infrastructure” area,
Management Suite had a pleasant
surprise in store with its wealth of
information about our environment
that Deskcenter had detected
automatically. The system had now
imported all our users and computers
existing in the AD, VMs existing on
virtual hosts, in Hyper-V and in the
Xen descendant, XCP-NG, and found
network printers not represented in
the AD by means of IP scan. All
objects were therefore also usable in
the Organization and Asset
Management area. In doing so, we
were allowed to configure which
attributes from the AD correspond to
which ones in the Deskcenter
database. On demand, Deskcenter
can either synchronize in one
direction only or bidirectionally so
that information, for instance about a
user’s department or location, only
has to be maintained in one place.
Since we had already filled out these
fields in the AD, our organization was
quickly displayed in Deskcenter.
Image 3: The graphical editor also helps with the installation of complex applications Deskcenter had used WMI to
including connection to license management and the helpdesk. determine which software was
installed on our clients. We only had
This involves a single installation to enter the number of available
This is the verdict of IT administrator
routine, thus an EXE or MSI file, licenses in the license management
Inventory 8 such as an installation command area.
for unsupervised installation. If
Application recognition 7 there is no installer with New installation per mas
corresponding parameters Even the complete new installation of
Software packages from the cloud 8 available, then Deskcenter offers a client is by no means difficult. For
the option of purchasing a license the installation, Deskcenter uses the
Editor for execution plans for Package Studios, which common PXE method and also
8
supports the creation of an installs a PXE Service on the Worker
Service. The clients find it by the usual
OS deployment 7 installation package. One or more
route, via DHCP Option or IP Helper.
of these packages form a
If neither is possible, then an ISO boot
compilation, which integrates the image will help.
32- and 64-bit variants of an
This product is suitable application, for instance. In turn, Ready-made packages from
software bundles tie up multiple
ideal for medium-sized and large AppCloud
compilations to larger units. We
companies that want to establish After we had equipped out clients with
comprehensive client and IT service were able to understand how the SDI Agents, we could finally focus on
management in their Windows everything works in practice by the installation of applications in the
infrastructure. looking at examples in the “Software management” area. Here too,
conditionally for companies that “AppCloud products” catalog Deskcenter Management Suite proved to
primarily operate macOS or Linux clients. (Image 2). be aimed at the requirements of larger
environments. The smallest unit is a
not for organisations that do not operate a software package.
Windows infrastructure and Active
Directory.
6 Extract from IT Administrator July 2021 www.it-administrator.deDeskcenter Management Suite 11.0 Te s t s
There, we found numerous ready The editor also builds a bridge to the Conclusion
packages for software. For each item in other areas of Management Suite. In Very similar to software management, we
this catalog, we were able to create a this way, license actions check were able to create OSD configurations in
compilation in our system, select the whether a license is free beforehand the “OS Deployment” area. Such a
desired software share and also define and assign these automatically configuration consists of the setup of the
whether the software should go only to following successful installation. If an desired Windows version, one input for
installation fails, then the execution partitioning and one answer file for the
the test group or be transferred
plan will also create a ticket for the unsupervised installation. It is worth
immediately into production as a
helpdesk on demand (Image 3). mentioning here that the answer file did
release. Once we had used the software not have to be painstakingly written by
rule groups to assign clients and hand. Deskcenter assisted us by providing
compilations to each other, we saw Conversely, the web frontend of the a generator, offering us input fields and
firsthand how Deskcenter successfully helpdesk offers end users a self-service dropdown boxes for all Windows setup
generated corresponding software jobs function that they can use to order settings, and it automatically generated a
and deployed the software on our target software for installation. This requires suitable answer file from this. Optionally,
computer. them being entered as the main user of we were also allowed to tie up drivers to
the target system in Asset driver packages and integrate into the
Installation per graphical Management. However, software jobs process, execute scripts as part of the
that do not run fully automatically, for installation and also install the SDI Agents
execution plan and other software.
instance because the software is
chargeable, must currently be Describing in full all aspects of Deskcenter
In the case of more complex applications, authorized by an IT employee. Management Suite’s functionality would
we were able to edit compilation and edit far exceed the scope of this article;
According to the manufacturer, an
as we saw fit. One particular strength of however, this suite maps all the relevant
upcoming version should finally offer
Deskcenter is the execution plan, which areas of ITIL-oriented IT operations.
approval processes for superiors. Hardly any assets were missing from the
controls the progress of an installation in
the form of a graphical editor. The ready- comprehensive inventory with its
Regarding patches, Deskcenter uses numerous methods—IP scan, DHCP,
made compilation of the popular source
Microsoft’s Windows Update Catalog SNMP, WMI, inventory—which makes
code editor Visual Studio Code then
and downloads the patches required Deskcenter an optimal basis for any
queries the architecture of the client additional modules. The building blocks
by the endpoints. Patch groups, which
before installing either the 32- or 64-bit for deployment of operating systems,
define the installation time and also
setup matching this. We were able to whether users are allowed to move the applications and patches are convincing,
upgrade such an execution plan almost installation, determine the type and yet they only address Windows clients.
arbitrarily, first checking disk space or manner of deployments. Furthermore, The tools referred to here are extremely
RAM hardware of the target computer, practical—particularly the graphical
we were able to define a test period in
before or after registry key installation, as editor for the execution plans and the
days that is linked to the software
well as reading and also writing to folders AppCloud—and they simplify the
groups in the “Configurations” area. If
and files. deployment of applications for admins.
the test is active there for a software
(dr)
group, all clients in this group will
receive the updates immediately. All
remaining groups will only receive the
updates after the test period has
expired.
www.it-administrator.de Extract from IT Administrator July 2021 7You can also read
