Inventory, Event, and Logging Databases

In order to keep track of the logging events generated by the workstation agents, other ZENworks server agents, SNMP events, and hardware and software inventories for your workstations, you need to install at least one database into your tree. This database holds all of the events, inventory, and reporting information. You can then generate reports against that database to display information about your workstations in the tree.

You can have a server collect inventory information and then forward it to a local database on that server, or another in the area. You can also have that information rolled up into another enterprise-level database. This allows you the capability to have a local site database that just contains local information and then have that information also included in an enterprise-level database that might contain information from many site databases.

When you installed the database on the server at installation time, a ZfD Database object was created in the same container where the server is located. This Database object represents the database that resides on that server. The object enables you to administer the server where the database is located and the passwords that are used by the agents to gain entry into the database. This object is also used in the Service Location Policy Package that tells the workstation and server agents what database to use for storing their event and logging information.

To get the databases up and functioning for events and logging, you need to do the following:

1. Install the Sybase database onto a server. This places a blank database on the server and puts in the MGMTDBS.NCF file on NetWare to get it started.

2. Create a Service Location Policy Package and activate the database policy. You need to create the package and turn on the database policy that also needs to have a reference to the Database object in the database page.

3. Associate the Service Location Policy Package with a container. This enables agents of users or desktops in that container to locate the database.

4. Application objects that you want to track have a page where you can specify which events you want logged in the database. See additional information in Chapter 5, "Creating Application Packages Using snAppShot."

Additional administration needs to be accomplished in order to get workstation inventory data into the database. See Chapter 13, "Using ZENworks Workstation Inventory," for additional information.