Friday 16 January 2009

How can I force my clients (AClient) to check in to the Altiris Deployment Solution server (or refresh its connection)?

Article ID: 34227

Problem/Symptoms

AClients may show as active in the Deployment Server console but are unresponsive. They may also show as inactive and need to "wake up" to reconnect to the Deployment Server console.

Resolution

Support has created an AClient Tool or AClient Refresh Tool that sends a modified Wake on LAN packet to AClients connected to the Deployment Server to have them check back in. Some customers have found this more useful than the built-in method, but it should be noted that this is not a supported product at Symantec. This is offered as-is and is a very rough tool.  It is attached to this KB.

Instructions
  1. Download the tool https://kb.altiris.com/utility/getfile.asp?rid=2557&aid=34227
  2. The best place to save and run it is on the actual Deployment Server. These instructions will assume as much.
  3. Launch the tool on the Deployment Solution server by double-clicking the executable. No installation is necessary.
  4. Select Load From Database at the top.
    1. The page this loads is to select from the Deployment Solution eXpress database those computers you wish to "wake up".
    2. There are several options that will not be discussed in this article. However, some options include selecting only those computers in an IP Range (via the IP address), and computers that match certain criteria like the Computer Name, if you happen to know one or two computers specifically you want to contact.
  5. Select Use ODBC and then click Connect at the right. When you see your systems populate the viewing area, it has completed.
  6. Select Use Table. Type in a name in the File Name field, and click Save. This saves your selected records out to CSV for later.
  7. Close the Load Database window.
  8. Select File > Load from the top-left of the main product window. Open the CSV file created in step 5.
    1. An additional option is to select the IP Address at the top-left of the main window while performing this step. If you have issues with DSN or WINS, you may find this beneficial.
  9. Click Send Wake on LAN. In the lower window, you will see the process as well as whether or not it succeeds for each client. For those that fail, you may need to do remediation such as determining why it is not turned on or otherwise unable to connect to Deployment Solution.

Grtz,

Gert

ps. Feel free to leave a comment if you find this information helpfull and don't forget to click on an AD ;-) , THX once more

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