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If you've been reading carefully and experimenting with Remote Tools as we go along, you should already be aware of the most frequent problem areas. Let's recap the main "gotchas."

Configuring the Client as an SMS Client

Remember that in SMS 2.0, unlike earlier versions of SMS, the SMS client is not required to collect any kind of inventory to the SMS site database. Nevertheless, the client does have to be discovered and installed as an SMS client.

Using NetBIOS Names for Session Communication

All of the remote tasks you can perform have been enhanced or rewritten in SMS 2.0. However, one fact remains the same as in earlier versions of SMS: Remote Tools sessions are still NetBIOS-based. This means that SMS will require a NetBIOS name resolution server such as WINS or DNS to successfully initiate the session.

Remote Control Protocol

The SMS Administrator Console computer and the client computer must share a common protocol. Although the SMS administrator's Windows NT workstation will attempt to use any one of the first eight LANA bound protocols to establish the Remote Tools session, by default the client listens and establishes the session only on the primary protocol or the LANA 0 protocol. This default can be changed directly on the client through its registry or by using the Microsoft BackOffice 4.5 Resource Kit utility RCCliopt.exe, as described in the section "Remote Control Settings (RCCliopt.exe)" earlier in this chapter.

Multiple-Site Considerations

Recall that when a client belongs to more than one SMS site, the Remote Tools Client Agent settings are determined by the Hardware Munger and Security Munger. For example, if user permission is required by at least one SMS site, the client agent will require user permission regardless of the settings of the other SMS sites.

Reconfiguring the Client Agent

Normally, if you make a change to any client agent setting, that change is propagated to the client at its next maintenance cycle. This is true for most Remote Tools settings. However, changes to settings made on the Advanced tab in the Remote Tools Client Agent Properties window after the client agent has been installed on the client will propagate only to new clients.

To update existing clients, you need to either uninstall and then reinstall Remote Tools from all the clients, run the Repair Installation procedure through the Systems Management applet in Control Panel on each client, or create an SMS package to force an update of the client agent settings. The SMS package program should contain the command line %WIN%\MS\SMS\Clicomp\Remctrl\Rchwcfg.exe with the command option Install. (%WIN% is an environmental variable that returns the system root on the client.)

Service Pack 1 Issues

SMS 2.0 Service Pack 1 has resolved several difficulties related to Remote Tools sessions, but nevertheless several entries in the Microsoft Systems Management Server Version 2.0 Service Pack 1 Release Notes are worth mentioning. For example, the Remote Tools Client Agent will not install correctly on clients currently running Intel's LAN Desk product or Novell's ZEN Works. You must uninstall these applications before you install the client agent. In general, although not explicitly stated in the Release Notes, SMS Remote Tools does not like to compete with any other remote control product.

Because you should be running SMS 2.0 with Service Pack 1 applied, which gives you access to the Release Notes, there's no point in repeating that information here. Many of the other "gotchas" described in the Release Notes involve the use of incompatible video cards, accelerators, or drivers. If you experience a failed or problematic Remote Tools session, the basic workaround involves disabling the video driver or setting acceleration to None and then retrying the Remote Tools session.

TIP
Read the Microsoft Systems Management Server Version 2.0 Service Pack 1 Release Notes!



Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 Administrator's Companion
Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0 Administrators Companion (IT-Administrators Companion)
ISBN: 0735608342
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 1999
Pages: 167

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