LANDesk Management Suite Integration with Service Desk
Introduction
The purpose of this article is to cover configuring LANDesk® Service Desk with LDMS (LANDesk Management Suite) integration. The steps below will allow an analyst to access imported devices from within Service Desk and perform LANDesk Management Suite functions such as remote control, inventory, deploy software etc...
Patching and Configuring Web Server
All of the Touchpaper.Framework.Web frameworks will need to have the appropriate patch applied if applicable. The IIS application pool will need to be setup to allow 32 bit applications if using a version of LDMS earlier than LDMS 9.0 SP2.
See below for which patch to apply and for additional configuration of the frameworks, go to the following community article:
LDMS Integration Patch Instruction Article:
LDSD 7.4 with LDMS 9.0 SP2 – No Patch Required
LDSD 7.3.2 with LDMS 9.0 SP2 – Apply Patch 5014v732
LDSD 7.3.2 with LDMS 9.0 and 9.0 SP1 – Apply Patch 4684v732
LDSD 7.3.1 with LDMS 9.0 and 9.0 SP1 – Apply Patch 4684v731
Installing the LDMS Remote Console
The LANDesk Remote console will need to be installed on every analyst machine and on the Service Desk server that has the Data Import service installed (Usually the Application Server). Steps for installing the LANDesk Remote Console:
1.Download the LANDesk Management Suite installation files for LDMS 9.0 to the Service Desk application server.
2.Double click on Autorun.exe
3.Choose the Remote Console Installation option and click Continue.
4.Click Continue on the installation requirements page.
5.Select Run Setup.
6.Click Next on the setup wizard and select Install.
7.When installation finishes a reboot is required.
Apply the console LDMS SP2 patch to both the server and each analyst machine that has the LDMS Console installed:
Deploying the remote console to analyst’s machines silently:
Creating Data Connections to connect to the LDMS Database.
The following steps walks you through setting up a new Data Connection for the LDMS Import.
Creating the data connection
1.Log into the console with a user that has Administrative privileges.
2.Go to Administration | Data Connections.
3.Expand LDMS and modify the existing LDMS Connection if not already used or create new.
Provider = SQLOLEDB
Server = SERVERNAME\INSTANCE (This is the SQL server and instance were LDMS database is located)
Database = DATABASE NAME
User ID = User With DBO access to this database
Password = Enter Password
Note: If this is an Oracle DB, then change the "Is LANDesk on Oracle Database" to True.
4.Click the Save button and highlight this connection and click Test Connection.
Video:
Creating the Connection Type
1.Right click on the newly created LDMS data connection and select "New Connection Type"
2.Name the connection type and then click the on the Available attributes button to the right.
3.This shows the available attributes from the LDMS Database to be added to the import.
4.Move all desired attributes from LANDesk "Available Attributes" to the right pane "Selected Attributes".
5.Click OK when finished.
Note: Before creating the import mapping, attributes for each item added will first need to be created in Service Desk Object Designer. See the section "Creating LANDesk attributes in Service Desk" for creating these attributes.
Video:
Creating a Service Desk Query based on the LDMS Data Connection
Its a good idea to create a new Service Desk query to show what devices are going to be imported. This is also a good troubleshooting test to make sure that you are able to connect to the LDMS database from Service Desk.
1.Log into the console as an Administrator.
2.Go to Designers | Query and Report Designer and click the New Query Action.
3.Name the query LDMS Devices and select the LDMS Connection name under Module.
4.Select the Connection Type name "Computers" under Business object and select created for "everyone" then OK.
5.Add Device Name, Display Name, OS Name etc... to the query and sort by Device name.
6.Click Finish and then Save.
Video:
Note: Additional step is required for LDSD 7.4 with LDMS 9.0 SP2
When running this query, you may see the error: "Failed due to the following error: 80040154 Class not registered"
See the following article for a solution for this:
The query will now run without this error.
Creating LANDesk attributes in Service Desk
The LANDesk attributes added in the Data Connection will now need a place to be mapped to. The following steps will walk you through creating the attributes for the Data Import Mapping.
1.Log into the console as an Administrator.
2.Go to Designers | Object Designer and expand Modules | Configuration Management.
3.Double click on Configuration Item. (For this example, I will only set up attributes for the Device Name, Device ID and Operating System)
4.Right click on the Configuration Item and select New Attribute.
5.Name this attribute "Operating System" with a string value of 100 (This limits this field to 100 characters. Use -1 for no limit)
6.Leave the other values as default.
7.Create a new attribute if it hasn't already been created for Device ID.
8.Name this attribute "ID" with a string value of 100 (This limits this field to 100 characters. Use -1 for no limit)
9.Leave the other values as default.
10.Add any additional attributes that will be used with the appropriate name if they don't already exist here.
11.Device Name will be mapped to Title and that already exists.
In this example, I will do the following mapping from LDMS on the left and Service Desk attributes on the right.
Computer.Device Name -> Title
Computer.ID -> ID
Computer.OS.Name -> Operating System
Note: Attributes names may be different; I chose to map Computer.ID to ID in Service Desk to be consistent on the name. This attribute will be used when setting up the connection type later in this article.
Video:
For additional information on setting up attributes in Object Designer, please see the LDSDDesigner.pdf.
Steps for adding attributes to the Asset window
1.Go to Designers | Window Manager.
2.Expand Modules | Configuration Management
3.Assuming these devices will be mapped as Workstations, expand workstation and open the default window for this.
4.Drag the newly created attributes to this window to the desired location.
5.Save Window.
If the import will be set up for workstations, laptops, servers and printers, then the additional windows will need to have these attributes added as well.
Video:
For additional information on creating or setting up windows in Window Manager, please see the LDSDDesigner.pdf.
Create Import Mapping for LANDesk
This section will cover creating the import mapping from LDMS Devices to Service Desk attributes.
Creating the data import mapping for LDMS
1.Log into the console with a user that has Administrative privileges.
2.Go to Administration | Data Import.
3.Right click on LDMS Import and select New Import Mapping.
4.Name the mapping appropriately. Workstations for this example.
5.For the source select LDMS Connection under the Module and Computers for the Business Object. (This is the name of the data connection created in the previous steps and the data connection type name)
6.For the Target, select Configuration Management for the Module and Workstation for the Business Object.
7.Left click drag Computer.Device Name from the source and drop it on Title on the Target. (This two attributes are now linked to go together).
8.Do the same for Computer.ID -> ID and Computer.OS.Name -> Operating System.
9.In the Target pane, scroll to the top of the list and right click on Workstation and select "Set Target Key Attribute".
10.Title is the mandatory field for this import so choose Title from the drop down menu and click OK.
11.Under Log File Path, set a path to log the import. For this example, set this to C:\LDMSDataImportWorkstations.log
12.To ensure that only workstations get imported with this import click on the drop down to create a filter and then New.
13.Add the Computer.OS.Name to the selected Attributes in this filter.
14.For the criteria add the following: Computer.OS.Name Does Not Contains (Server) AND Computer.Battery.Device Name Is NULL
15.Test filter to ensure only workstations appear.
16.Save Filter and then Save the import.
17.Click the Test Import button then import assuming devices show up in the list to import.
Video:
Running the Import
The is section covers running the import and setting this up to run on a schedule.
Setting up scheduled import.
1.Log into the console with a user that has Administrative privileges.
2.Go to Administration | Data Import.
3.Expand Schedule Imports and double click on LDMS Import.
4.Set the import task time to start the import 01:00 is 1:00 AM.
5.Set the Recurrence pattern. For this example, set this to Every 1 Day. This will run every day at 1:00 AM
6.Save the settings and go to Windows Services.
7.Make sure that the Touchpaper Data Import Engine service is started and set to Automatic for the Startup Type.
Running the import manually
1.Log into the console with a user that has Administrative privileges.
2.Go to Administration | Data Import.
3.Expand Schedule Imports | LDMS Import
4.Select the Import to run. For this example, click on Workstations.
5.In the action pane, click Import Data Mapped. (This will manually start the import)
Viewing the import log
A successful import will look something like this:
1/4/2011 6:54:46 PM : Import Started
1/4/2011 6:54:46 PM : Source count = 8
1/4/2011 6:54:46 PM : ProcessMappings: Record = 0
1/4/2011 6:54:49 PM : ProcessMappings: Record = 8
1/4/2011 6:54:49 PM : Import Ended
1/4/2011 6:54:49 PM : This import took 00:00:03
Troubleshooting Problems with Scheduled data Import
See the followng articles for Possible solutions:
If none of this helps then contact LANDesk Support.
Create Desktop Manager Connection
The LANDesk Desktop Manager connection is needed to communicate with LDMS. This is different from creating a connection using Data Connections, which was created to import information from the LDMS data source. The following steps will walk you through setting up the connection and also defining the default path for the LDMS Console.
Steps for setting the default LDMS Installation folder:
1.Log into the console with a user that has Administrative privileges.
2.Go to Administration | Desktop Manager
3.Double click on LDMS
This is where the default path for the LDMS Remote console is set.
For LDSD 7.4 there are two installation paths for you to set the default path for a 32 bit and a 64 bit system.
Example:
LDMS Installation Folder: C:\Program Files\LANDesk\ManagementSuite\
LDMS Alternate Installation Folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\LANDesk\ManagementSuite\
For LDSD 7.3.2 and previous versions there is only one installation path. Please note that all remote consoles will need to be installed to the same path for LDMS integration to work as you are limited to one installation path.
Example:
LDMS Installation Folder: C:\Program Files\LANDesk\ManagementSuite\
Steps for setting up a new Data Connection:
1.Log into the console with a user that has Administrative privileges.
2.Go to Administration | Desktop Manager
3.Right click on LDMS and select New Connection.
4.Name the Connection. For this example, use the name LANDesk.
5.Enter in the information to connect to LANDesk.
Core Server Name = Name of the LDMS Core Server (You can usually leave this blank)
Provider = SQLOLEDB
Server (Data Source) = SERVERNAME\INSTANCE (This is the SQL server and instance were LDMS database is located)
Database = DATABASE NAME
User ID = User with DBO access to this database
Password = Enter Password
Note: If this is an Oracle DB, then change the "Is LANDesk on Oracle Database" to True.
Management Gateway = Fill this in with the name of the LDMS Gateway if analysts will need to connect to machines outside your network through the gateway.
LANDesk MBSDK Service URL = http://servername/MBSDKService/MsgSDK.asmx
User Name = The user name used to access the MBSDK web service.
Domain = The domain name of the web service user.
Password = The password used to access the MBSDK web service.
Server Date/Time Format – the date/time format on the LDMS server.
6.Click the Test Connection and the Test Web Service Connection in the actions pane to make sure they both connect successfully.
7.When done, click the Save button in the upper left hand corner.
Video:
Setting Unique Identifier for the Data Connection
Before you can use your desktop management functions, you must first set up how Service Desk identifies the specific remote object that you want to manage on the connection that you have set up. You do this by selecting the business object from which you will use Desktop Integration, then specifying the attribute that contains the unique identifier for the remote objects that you want to manage. Service Desk will use this unique identifier to search for a match on your LDMS system. If a match is made, you can then connect to that remote object.
Steps for specifying the unique identifier for your remote objects
1.Right click on the new connection called LANDesk and select "New Business Object"
2.Traverse the business object tree to the Service Desk object that the devices were imported. This article walks through creating imports for Workstations so the path would be Business Objects | Configuration management | Configuration Item | Workstation
3.In the right pane, select the LDMS ID value called "ID" and click OK.
Note: This will need to be done for each data import that are imported to different objects such as Laptops, Servers, Printers etc.
4.Click the Save button in the upper left hand corner.
Modify Window to allow right click LDMS Options on selected CI
Steps for setting the incident window to allow right click LANDesk Menu
1.Log into the console with a user that has Administrative privileges.
2.Go to Designers | Window Manager
3.Expand Modules | Incident Management | Incident
4.Double click on the default Incident window. (Assuming this is the Analyst window)
5.Add the following attributes to the window if not already added. ConfigurationItemType ConfigurationItem
6.Click on ConfigurationItem and select the properties page.
7.Set Show Plugin Menu = True
8.Click on the ConfigurationItem Label and set Show Hyperlink = True.
9.Save the window.
Steps for setting the Workstation window to allow right click LANDesk Menu
1.Log into the console with a user that has Administrative privileges.
2.Go to Designers | Window Manager
3.Expand Modules | Configuration management | Workstation
4.Double click on the default Workstation window
5.Click on the properties page
6.Set Show Plugin Menu = True
7.Save the window.
Steps for testing the LANDesk Menu on the Incident window.
1.Click on New Incident
2.Drop down Asset type (ConfigurationItemType) and select Workstation
3.Select an LDMS device under the Asset (ConfigurationItem) dropdown
4.Right click on this device and expand LANDesk and choose Remote Control or Inventory.
5.Now click on the Asset (ConfigurationItem) Hyperlink.
6.When the Workstation asset window comes up you should be able to right click on the window and have the same right click LANDesk options.
Adjusting privileges for LDMS functions
This section covers giving the analyst role to the appropriate privileges to perform LANDesk Management Suite functions.
Steps for adjusting privileges for the analyst role.
1.Log into the console with a user that has Administrative privileges.
2.Go to Administration | Administration | User Management
3.Expand Roles | Analyst
4.Right click on the Analyst role and select privileges
5.Expand Configuration Components | Configuration
6.Double click on Desktop Management
7.Give Execute rights to LANDesk
8.Expand Desktop Management and double click on LANDesk
9.Give Execute rights for each of the LANDesk functions you would like analysts to perform.
10.Perform an IISReset on the Application and Web Server for the rights to take affect.
Video Demonstration of the LDMS Plugin Menu
LDMS Demonstration video of each of the LANDesk Management Suite Functions.
LDMS Plugin Menu Demonstration Video For The Console:
LDMS Plugin Menu Demonstration Video For WebDesk:
Adding LDMS Web Console Shortcut to Service Desk
Steps for adding a LDMS Web Console shortcut to Service Desk:
1.Log into the console with a user that has Administrative privileges.
2.Right click on the shortcut bar and select Add Component.
3.Select the component called "Web Page".
4.Enter in the title "LDMS Web Console.
5.Change the "Launch as new window" = True
6.Enter in the LDMS Web console URL in the Web site address. Example: http://CORESERVER/Remote
7.Click OK
8.Select the newly created LDMS Web Console shortcut. The web console opens up in a new window.
Direct lookup from External Data Sources
Direct lookup from external data sources If you would like an attribute added to the incident window that is a direct lookup to the LDMS Database to pull a list of devices, then follow the steps below.
Steps to add fields from the LDMS data connection onto the Incident window.
1.Log into the console with a user that has Administrative privileges.
2.Go to Designers | Object Designer
3.Expand LDMS Connection (This is the Data Connection created in a previous section)
4.Double click on Computers (Or the name you assigned this connection)
5.Drag Computers object to the Incident Management and drop on the Incident object.
6.Click Save.
7.Go to Designers | Window Manager
8.Expand Modules | Incident Management | Incident
9.Double click on the default incident window.
10.Drag the attribute called computers over to the incident window.
11.Save window. For addtional information on this please see the LDSDDesigner.pdf guide.