Discovery Glossary

Agents

The VSA manages machines by installing a software client called an agent on a managed machine. The agent is a system service that does not require the user to be logged on for the agent to function and does not require a reboot for the agent to be installed. The agent is configurable and can be totally invisible to the user. The sole purpose of the agent is to carry out the tasks requested by the VSA user. Once installed:

  • An agent icon—for example the agent icon—displays in the system tray of the managed machine. Agent icons can be custom images or removed altogether.
  • Each installed agent is assigned a unique VSA machine ID / group ID / organization ID. Machine IDs can be created automatically at agent install time or individually prior to agent installation.
  • Each installed agent uses up one of the available agent licenses purchased by the service provider.
  • Agents are typically installed using packages created using Agent > Deploy Agents inside the VSA.
  • Multiple agents can be installed on the same machine, each pointing to a different server.
  • A check-in icon displays next to each machine ID in the VSA, displaying the overall status of the managed machine. For example, the Word 50% / HTML 50% check-in icon indicates an agent is online and the user is currently logged on.
  • Clicking a check-in icon displays a single machine interface for the managed machine called Live Connect. Live Connect provides instant access to comprehensive data and tools you need to work on that one machine.
  • Hovering the cursor over a check-in icon displays an agent Quick View window immediately. You can view agent properties, quick launch selected agent procedures, or launch Live Connect from the agent Quick View window.

Contact

A domain contact contains contact information similar to information defined for a user, but a contact has no domain logon privileges.

Distinguished Name

A distinguished name provides the same information as a canonical name, formatted as a series of attributes, sequenced in reverse order from the canonical name. CN = Common name or container. OU = Organization unit. DC = Domain component.

Duplicate Exists

If an agent already exists on a managed machine in a different machine group, then Discovery creates an "empty" machine ID template account—identified with a Word 50% / HTML 50% check-in icon—and no agent ever checks in. The new machine ID template account displays a machine.ID / group ID / organization ID based on the computer's canonical name in the Active Directory domain. You can merge these duplicate accounts. The existing, active agent account adopts the name of the new machine ID template account, then the new machine ID template account is deleted. No data is lost by the merge and the machine ID account now matches its location in the domain hierarchy.

Feature Set

A feature set provides advanced, specialized functionality that is typically hidden in the basic module. The basic module must be installed and the feature licensed separately to display feature set options.

Included / Excluded domain Folders and Items

Once a probe is installed, Discovery is configured by setting selected domain folders and items to included or excluded. Discovery policies provide IT automation—such as installing agents or creating users—only for included folders and items. Discovery only harvests detailed information for included folders and items, minimizing the amount of data required to maintain synchronization with the domain.

Incremental Synchronization

  • Clicking Apply Changes after modifying policies on any Policies tab performs an "on demand" incremental synchronization. Activation performs a recurring incremental synchronization.

Machine Group

Machines are always defined by machine group and machine groups are always defined by organization. You can define multi-level hierarchies of machine groups by identifying a parent machine group for a machine group. You can also move a machine group and all of its associated machines to a different parent machine group within the same organization.

Machine ID / Group ID / Organization ID

Each agent installed on a managed machine is assigned a unique machine ID / group ID / organization ID. All machine IDs belong to a machine group ID and optionally a subgroup ID. All machine group IDs belong to an organization ID. An organization typically represents a single customer account. If an organization is small, it may have only one machine group containing all the machine IDs in that organization. A larger organization may have many machine groups and subgroups, usually organized by location or network. For example, the full identifier for an agent installed on a managed machine could be defined as jsmith.sales.chicago.acme. In this case sales is a subgroup ID within the chicago group ID within the organization ID called acme. In some places in the VSA, this hierarchy is displayed in reverse order. Each organization ID has a single default machine group ID called root. Group IDs and subgroup IDs are created using the System > Orgs/Group/Depts/Staff > Manage > Machine Groups page.

Machine ID Template

A machine ID template is a machine ID record without an agent. Since an agent never checks into a machine ID template account, it is not counted against your total license count. You can create as many machine ID templates as you want without additional cost. When an agent install package is created, the package's settings are typically copied from a selected machine ID template. Machine ID templates are usually created and configured for certain types of machine. Machine type examples include desktops, Autocad, QuickBooks, small business servers, Exchange servers, SQL Servers, etc. A corresponding install package can be created based on each machine ID template you define.

  • Create machine ID templates using Agent > Create.
  • Import a machine ID template using Agent > Import/Export.
  • Base an agent install package on a machine ID template using Agent > Manage Packages.
  • Copy selected settings from machine ID templates to existing machine ID accounts using Agent > Copy Settings.
  • Identify the total number of machine ID template accounts in your VSA using System > Statistics.
  • Configure settings for the machine ID template using the standard VSA functions, just as you would a machine ID account with an agent.
  • Separate machine ID templates are recommended for Windows, Apple and Linux machines. Alternatively you can create a package that selects the appropriate OS automatically and copy settings from a template that includes an agent procedure that uses OS specific steps.

Machine IDs vs. Agents

When discussing agents it is helpful to distinguish between the machine ID / group ID / organization ID and the agent. The machine ID / group ID / organization ID is the account name for a managed machine in the VSA database. The agent is the client software installed on the managed machine. A one-to-one relationship exists between the agent on a managed machine and its account name on the VSA. Tasks assigned to a machine ID by VSA users direct the agent's actions on the managed machine.

Machine Roles

The Machine Roles page creates and deletes machine roles. The user access window displays when a machine user double-clicks the agent icon in the system tray of their managed machine.

Within the Machine Roles page you can select:

  • Members - Assign or remove machines for a machine role.
  • Access Rights - Select the access rights for a machine role. Access rights determine the functions a machine user can access.
  • Role Types - Assign or remove role types for a machine role. Currently there is only one machine role type provided and no access rights are restricted.

Managed Machine

A monitored machine with an installed agent and active machine ID / group ID account on the Kaseya Server. Each managed machine uses up one agent license.

Org

The VSA supports three different kinds of business relationships:

  • Organizations - Supports machine groups and manages machines using agents.
  • Customers - Supports the billing of customers using Service Billing.
  • Vendors - Supports the procurement of materials using Service Billing.

The Org table is a support table shared by organizations, customers and vendors. Each record in the Org table is identified by a unique orgID. The Org table contains basic information you'd generally need to maintain about any kind of business relationship: mailing address, primary phone number, duns number, yearly revenue, etc. Because the Org table is shared, you can easily convert:

  • A customer into an organization or vendor.
  • A vendor into an organization or customer.
  • An organization into a customer or vendor.

NOTE  myOrg is the organization of the service provider using the VSA.

OU/Container

An organizational unit (OU) is a container object within Active Directory. An OU/container is used to organize users, groups, computers, and other organizational units. An organizational unit cannot contain objects from other domains. A container is a "built-in" organizational unit.

Portal Access (Classic)

IMPORTANT  Portal Access in R95 only works using Live Connect (Classic). Even if the Use new Live Connect when clicking the Live Connect button in Quickview option is set to Yes in System > Default Settings, Live Connect (Classic) will still be used when logging into the VSA using Portal Access credentials.

Portal Access (Classic) is a Live Connect (Classic) session initiated by the machine user. The machine user displays the Portal Access page by clicking the agent icon on the system tray of a managed machine. Portal Access contains machine user options such as changing the user's contact information, creating or tracking trouble tickets, chatting with VSA users or remote controlling their own machine from another machine. Portal Access logons are defined using Agent > Portal Access. The function list the user sees during a Portal Access session is determined by the System > Machine Roles page. You can customize Portal Access sessions using the System > Customize > Live Connect page.

Probe Agent

Discovery communicates with an Active Directory domain using a probe agent. The probe uses the industry standard LDAP protocol to safely and securely communicate with the domain. Each probe agent must be a member of the domain it monitors. Probe deployment installs the extra functionality an agent requires to act as a probe.

Use Directory Default - Computer

Administrators can automatically map the VSA machine groups used to organize domain computers inside the VSA using the OU hierarchy that already exists in Active Directory. This occurs when a OU policy or a computer policy selects the Use Directory Default value. When this occurs, the domain machine is assigned to the machine group that matches its current OU location. If an Active Directory administrator renames the OU or moves the computer to a different OU location, the machine group is changed in the VSA to match it. Tracking moves fully requires policies be set in both the source and target OUs. Parent machine groups are created as necessary, to match the OU hierarchy. Alternatively, a computer can be assigned a policy that assigns it to a fixed machine group.

Use Directory Default - Users

  • Administrators can automatically map the departments used to organize staff records inside the VSA using the OU hierarchy that already exists in Active Directory. This occurs when a Group or User policy selects the Use Directory Default value. When this occurs, a staff record created by policy is assigned to the department that matches its current OU location. If an Active Directory administrator renames the OU or moves the user to a different OU location, the staff record is changed in the VSA to match it. Tracking moves fully requires policies be set in both the source and target OUs. Parent departments are created as necessary, to match the OU hierarchy. Alternatively, a staff record can be assigned a policy that assigns it to a fixed department.