altiris eXpress Altris eXpress Helpdesk Solution 5.6... User manual

Altiris eXpress™
Helpdesk Solution 5.6 SP1
User Guide

Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 2
Notice
Copyright © 2000-2003 Altiris Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Version: 5.6 P1
Document Date: March 12, 2003
Bootworks U. . Patent No. 5,764,593.
RapiDeploy U. . Patent No. 6,144,992.
Due to the inherently complex nature of computer software, Altiris does not warrant that the Altiris
software is error-free, will operate without interruption, is compatible with all equipment and
software configurations, or will otherwise meet your needs.
The content of this documentation is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change
without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Altiris. Altiris Inc. assumes no
responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this documentation. For
the latest documentation, visit our Web site at www.altiris.com.
Altiris, the Altiris logo, BootWorks, Inventory olution, LabExpert, PC Transplant, RapiDeploy,
and RapidInstall are registered trademarks of Altiris, Inc. in the United tates.
Carbon Copy is a registered trademark licensed to Altiris, Inc. in the United tates and a trademark
of Altiris, Inc. in other countries.
Altiris eXpress, Altiris Vision, Application Mgmt olution, Application Metering olution, Asset
Control olution, Asset Mgmt uite, Client Mgmt uite, Compliance Toolkit,
Conflict Analysis olution, Contract Mgmt olution, Deployment erver, Deployment olution,
Education Mgmt uite, Helpdesk, Helpdesk olution, HP Client Manager oftware, Lab Mgmt
uite, Migration Toolkit, Mobile Client for M , My IT Forum, Notification erver, Problem Mgmt
uite, erver Mgmt uite, erver Monitor olution, ite Monitor olution, W Delivery olution,
TCO Mgmt olution, Unix Client for M , Unix Inventory olution, Unix W Deliver olution,
Web Admin for M , Web Reports and other product names are trademarks of Altiris, Inc. in the
United tates and other countries.
Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United tates and/or other countries.
HP is a registered trademark of the Hewlett-Packard Corporation.
Compaq is a registered trademark of the Hewlett-Packard Corporation.
All other brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 3
Contents
Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Chapter 1: Introducing Helpdesk Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Features and enefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up eXpress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Step 1 - Notification Server Computer Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Step 2 – Install Helpdesk Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Step 3 – The Altiris eXpress .NET Configuration Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Step 4 – The Configure Helpdesk Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 3: Helpdesk Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Helpdesk Solution Consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Workers and Worker Queues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Work Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Integration with Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Chapter 4: Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Helpdesk Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Localization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Chapter 5: Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Web Administration Console Interface Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Console Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Entry Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Chapter 6: User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Altiris eXpress Helpdesk Consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Helpdesk Worker Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
New Work Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Add New Work Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Additional Work Item Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Attachments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Contents
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 4
Link Work Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
E-mail Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
View Contact Properties - New Work Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Find Contact - New Work Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Select Contact - New Work Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
View Asset Properties - New Work Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Find Asset - New Work Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Select Asset - New Work Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Find Work Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Search in Comment or Title Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Using Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
List Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
New Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Modify New Query Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Query Data Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Query Parameter Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Delete Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Last Query Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Retrieve Queued Item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
New Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
New Asset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Recents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
My Helpdesk Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Work Item Request - NT User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Work Item Request - User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Work Item Request - Guest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Create Custom URL to Access Helpdesk Consoles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Support for Pocket PC (PPC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Chapter 7: Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Helpdesk Admin Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
The Admin Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Edit Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Add New Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Modify Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Move Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Copy Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Delete Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Routing Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
List Routing Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Process Order of Routing Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Edit Routing Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
New Routing Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Delete Routing Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Notify Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
New Notify Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Edit Notify Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Contents
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 5
Delete Notify Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
E-mail Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
New Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Edit E-mail Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
E-mail Template Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
ulletins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Add New ulletin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Delete ulletin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
View Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
New NS Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
New SMS Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Edit Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Import from Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Configure Helpdesk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Delete Work Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Delete Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Delete Assets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
New Worker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Edit Worker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
List Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
New Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Notification Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Service Level Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Chapter 8: Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 6
Preface
Before using this documentation, we recommend that you review the document conventions (see
“Document Conventions” on page 6).
Detailed information about Altiris products is included in each product’s documentation. The
product’s documentation is installed when the product is installed. To access Altiris product
documentation from the Web, go to our documentation Web page at www.altiris.com/support/
documentation.
If you have questions that are not answered in the documentation, we recommend that you use one
of our support options (see “ upport” on page 7).
If you have feedback about this documentation, please send an e-mail message to our documentation
group at [email protected].
Document Conventions
The following table describes the conventions used in this document.
Document Conventions
What you see Meaning
Altiris eXpress
Notification Server
User Guide
References to other documents are italicized.
Note Most references to Altiris documents are hypertext links to those
documents. For these links to work, the target document file must be in the
same location as the source document.
If viewing PDF documentation from our product CD or where the
documents were installed on your hard drive, the links will work.
If viewing a PDF document from our web site, the links to other Altiris
documents will not work. (The documents are stored in different folders).
If you download PDF documents from our web site and place them in the
same folder, the document references will link to the other PDF document
provided the target PDF document is in the folder.
Interface Element Name Buttons, menu items, tabs, and field names are displayed in bold text.
File > Save A series of mouse selections are represented in this format. The above
example means click on the File command on the menu bar, and then click
on the Save command.
server name/altiris/
documents
A value in a path that depends on the user’s system is in italics. In this
example, server name needs to be replaced by the name of the user’s
server.
set variable = 123 ample code is in Courier font.
www.altiris.com Links to web pages are in blue text.

Preface
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 7
Support
Altiris is committed to providing world-class technical support and professional services to its
customers. Included with every product purchase is complimentary Electronic upport. For
customers who want a higher level of support, Altiris offers many fee-based services ranging from
Priority upport, which includes priority telephone and priority e-mail support, to on-site
consultation.
Before Contacting Support
We recommend that you do the following before contacting upport:
•Download and install the latest version of the product and product updates from our web site
(www.altiris.com).
•Read the product Release Notes. The Release Notes contain important information on the current
release including limitations and application specific workarounds. Many customer questions are
answered in the Release Notes.
•Review the information in the Altiris support forums (go to www.altiris.com and click on
Support and then Forums). If you cannot find the answer to your question in the forums, you can
post your own question. The forums are monitored by our upport engineers, who will help you
with your questions.
Support Contact Information
Altiris is a global organization with operational centers in the following geographies:
•Americas in Lindon, Utah covering North and outh America
•Asia Pacific in ydney, Australia
•Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) in Landau, Germany
Contact information for each of these operational centers is available at www.altiris.com/contact.
When contacting upport, please include the following information in the e-mail or have it ready
when calling:
•Your name, e-mail address, and phone number
•Product name and product version
•pecific details about the problem, including specific system messages, error codes, and logs
•Details about your system, including the operating system, applied services packs, hardware
configuration, network details, and other applications running on the system.
Training
To ensure that you are using Altiris products in the most effective way, Altiris offers in-depth,
instructor-led, hands-on courses. These courses will help you quickly learn the optimum methods
for installing, configuring, and managing your network using Altiris’ award-winning products. For
information about Altiris training, go to the following web sites:
•http://www.altiris.com/services/training/
•http://www.altiris-europe.com/services.htm

Preface
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 8

Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 9
Chapter 1:
Introducing Helpdesk Solution
Altiris eXpress™ Helpdesk olution gives you a low-cost, highly-integrated help desk management
system to automate the process of assigning, reporting, and resolving IT system management issues.
Helpdesk olution reduces system downtime across the organization, reduces incoming help calls
and problem response time, and notifies administration personnel through desktop consoles or
handheld devices. Incident tracking, reporting and integration make Helpdesk olution a flexible
tool to meet the ever-expanding, ever-changing demands placed on your IT department.
Helpdesk olution is an easy-to-use, web-based solution designed to improve efficiency and reduce
costs for your IT organization by reacting quickly to critical problems, allowing you to
•Manage assets and inventories, migrate computers, and deploy software
•Respond appropriately to service-level agreements ( LAs)
•Generate web-based reports to identify worker performance, schedules, histories, TCO and other
business-critical information
•Access e-mail alerts or help desk issues remotely from desktops or handhelds
•Maximize worker efficiency by scheduling work items, allowing end-users to create their own
work items, and linking similar or duplicate help desk issues.
In many cases, Helpdesk olution eliminates the need to deploy IT personnel to each desktop, saving
support costs and speeding problem resolution. And Helpdesk olution allows you to easily design
and install a system specific to your needs.
A Complete, Integrated System
Helpdesk olution integrates natively with Microsoft M and other Altiris products using
Notification Policies that link reports, the Helpdesk Console, and Alert Manager.
Integrate with Microsoft SMS
Helpdesk olution integrates natively with Microsoft ystems Management erver ( M ). When
combined with Altiris Web Admin for M , workers can access and extend native M features,
using features to gather and report the inventory of hardware and software resources, install software
packages, remotely control all types of computers, and integrate additional tools and Altiris eXpress
olutions.

Chapter 1: Introducing Helpdesk Solution
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 10
Helpdesk olution integrates tightly with Microsoft M by reflecting work orders from Helpdesk
olution into the M database and permitting M administrators to view problems and/or planned
work from their console. A thumbnail of the M inventory is recorded with the work item in the
Helpdesk olution database.
Helpdesk Solution - Satellite Architecture
The Helpdesk olution supports satellite installations. A satellite Helpdesk, is installed and
configured by running AeXHD.exe locally on a satellite machine, which does not have N
installed, but otherwise meets all Helpdesk prerequisites. Point the configuration to the Notification
erver where the master Helpdesk olution is hosted. The Configure Helpdesk command requests
the name of the master Helpdesk server that was previously installed and configured.
atellites can be used to off-load Helpdesk UI activity from the master Helpdesk. ince the master
Helpdesk is running on the same server as Notification erver, it competes for resources with
inventory management, software distribution, and other functions. A satellite Helpdesk can provide
better response times and scaling, all other things being equal.
Scenario
Here is a Helpdesk satellite scenario. The primary Notification erver and master Helpdesk server
resides in Albuquerque, with satellites in Milpitas, Atlanta, and another in Austin for end users only.
The master and satellites in Milpitas and Atlanta provide web access to the Helpdesk database for
both workers and end users. Austin is a satellite for end users only - this is accomplished by
modifying the NTF permissions on the Austin entry points to prevent the use of the worker
consoles.
In this scenario, the following is true:
•atellites are on a separate domain than the primary Helpdesk and Notification erver
instance, MTP server and the QL database, this is not a requirement.
•Persistent VPN connection is used to connect the satellite servers to the master server. (Other
schemes, such as port-specific firewall management can also work but may require more
custom configuration). The satellites must be able to open QLOLEDB connections to the
QL database and submit HTTP requests to the master Helpdesk. They must also be able to
open the MTP port on the machine designated during Notification erver installation as the
MTP server.
•When satellites are in separate, non-trusted domains, Helpdesk must use standard QL
erver logins and passwords accounts, not Windows accounts. This is controlled by the
master Helpdesk, its connection string and other configuration details are passed to the

Chapter 1: Introducing Helpdesk Solution
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 11
satellites every 4 minutes. Windows accounts (trusted connections) can be used if the
Helpdesk identity, VPN, and domains are correctly configured.
•Attachments are stored on the satellites where they were uploaded.
Customize with Ease
Helpdesk olution is 100% web-based to meet the needs of any organization. Helpdesk olution
provides the ability to extend the database or simply change the look and feel of the interface with
the use of any text editor. Helpdesk olution also comes with a selection of sample consoles that
allow users to create their own work items. By allowing end-users to create their own work items,
administrators can reduce the amount of time their workers spend on the phone and increase their
time solving issues.
Helpdesk olution improves service levels and reduces IT costs across your organization, allowing
you to:
•Notify your IT department of business-critical events
•Allow workers to remotely manage their own Helpdesk tickets from any browser or CE device
•Use a self-help console to reduce the number of incoming calls to the help desk
•Report business critical information via the web
•Quickly install and configure Helpdesk olution into any business environment.
•Customize the user interface for take advantage of different features and provide a custom look
and feel.
Features and enefits
eXpress provides many features and benefits. The following lists describes some of these features:
Features
1Web-based.
•Allows organizations to easily share and access data
2Resource explorer drill-down.
•Link from Helpdesk allows workers to access summary and detailed hardware and software
inventory configuration
3Helpdesk’s self-help center (My Helpdesk).
4Web reports.
Benefits
1Allows each I and IT organization to effectively communicate by managing all tasks in single
web console.
2View complete hardware and software inventory of the problem asset directly from the Helpdesk
console.
3Increase service levels by being proactive, notifying users of work item status and allowing them
to submit work items and track status 24 x 7.
4Maximize critical data by understanding work item trends and which assets and users require the
most Helpdesk resource.

Chapter 1: Introducing Helpdesk Solution
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 12
System Requirements
The following is a list of minimum requirements for the Helpdesk olution.
Server
•Altiris eXpress Notification erver 5.5 P2 or later
•A CD-ROM drive with Microsoft 2000 erver/Advanced erver and P2 or later
•Hard drive formatted with NTF file system
•Microsoft II 5.0 (II 5.0 requires webs to be hosted on NTF )
•Microsoft QL erver 2000 is recommended, QL 7.0 (approved), M DE is not recommended
•Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or greater is recommended; all others browsers are supported
•Pentium III 933 MHz or higher
•512 MB RAM (1 GB is recommended)
Worker Console
•Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later, Netscape Navigator 3.0 or later, Opera 4.0 or later
End User Console
•Although Helpdesk olution works from any web browser, it works best with Internet Explorer
6.0 (or later)

Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 13
Chapter 2:
Installing and Setting Up eXpress
The Installation and Setup topic list, includes the following:
•tep 1 - Notification erver Computer Requirements (page 14)
•Install Prerequisite oftware to Notification erver (page 15)
•Install Notification erver (page 18)
•tep 2 – Install Helpdesk olution (page 19)
•atellite Helpdesk (page 19)
•tep 3 – The Altiris eXpress .NET Configuration Wizard (page 19)
•tep 4 – The Configure Helpdesk Command (page 20)
Installation Preview
The Helpdesk olution setup process consists of the following tasks:
•Create a Helpdesk user on the Windows server running Notification erver
•Create Helpdesk user queues
•Configure Helpdesk
•Create Helpdesk accounts.
Using eXpress is easy. Most of the work required to set up and use this solution has already been
taken care of through predefined collections, policies, and reports. The following list outlines the
steps needed to get up and running.
•Altiris eXpress.NET Configuration Wizard.
•Configure the Helpdesk database
Software Requirements
The following must be installed before installing eXpress:
•Notification erver version 5.5 (or above)
For more information on installing Notification erver, see the Altiris eXpress Notification Server
User GuideAltiris eXpress Notification Server User Guide.

Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up eXpress
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 14
Step 1 - Notification Server Computer
Requirements
The computer you are going to install Notification erver on must meet or exceed the following
criteria.
Hardware
The following are minimum requirements. To scale to support thousands of clients, faster processors
and more memory are highly recommended on the server.
•Processor: Pentium Pro 200 MHz or faster
•RAM: 512 MB (1 GB is recommended)
•File System: 2 GB NTF system partition
•Disk space: 30 MB for QL database (4 GB recommended)
•CD-ROM: Required
Software
Note The Install Helper will help determine if the computer has the necessary prerequisite software
installed, and when possible it will help you download and install the needed software. For more
information, see “Install Prerequisite oftware to Notification erver” on page 15.
Operating System (one of the following)
•Windows 2000 erver (recommended)
•Windows Advanced erver
•with Windows Internet Information ervices (II ) installed with FTP configured.
SQL Data ase (one of the following)
•Microsoft QL erver 2000 (recommended)
•Microsoft QL erver 7
Important If you do not have a QL erver database installed, the Software Prerequisites Wizard
will give you the option to download and install M DE. The M DE database may be used for
evaluation purposes, but is not recommended for a live production environment.
Microsoft Windows Internet Information Services (IIS)
•Microsoft II 5.0 (requires Webs to be hosted on NTF ) -- This component is not installed
by default with Windows 2000 or later
Microsoft Windows Internet Information Services FTP Services
•The FTP component is installed by default with Windows 2000 or later
We Browser
•Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later

Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up eXpress
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 15
Install Prerequisite Software to Notification Server
1tart the Altiris eXpress Notification erver Install Helper (AeXN InstallHelper.exe), read the
information on the screen, and click Next.
2When the Computer Prerequisites screen appears:
•If you do not want to install Notification erver on the computer, click No, and then Next.
•If you want to install Notification erver on the computer, click Yes, and then Next.
The oftware Prerequisites Wizard checks the computer to make sure it has the needed
prerequisite software installed (such as Windows 2000/XP Internet Information ervices
(II ), and QL 7 or 2000, or M DE).
•If the required software is installed, click Finish. Go to “Install Notification erver” on
page 18.
•If the required software is NOT installed, the Wizard goes to the next step.
3If the computer requires additional software to run Notification erver, a screen similar to the
following appears:
Note In this example, Windows 2000/XP Internet Information ervices (also known as II ) and
a QL database were not on the computer.
Review the information and click Next.
4If the Download and Install Microsoft Database Engine screen appears, do the following:

Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up eXpress
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 16
aIf you want to install the M DE version of QL (not recommended for Helpdesk olution)
on the computer, click Yes and Next.
Note If you have a QL erver database that you want to use for the Notification erver
database, click No and Next then go to see if additional required software that can be
automatically downloaded is needed, download the software using a process similar to the
process specified in tep 4.
bWhen the File Download dialog box appears:
When using Internet Explorer 6 (with the current Microsoft updates), click Open.
Important If using Internet Explorer 6 without the current Microsoft updates, click Save, and
then enter a folder to save the file in. When the download is completed, click Open.
When using Internet Explorer 5, click Run this program from its current location and click OK.
cWhen asked if you want to install unixdbsetup.exe, click Yes.
dWhen the WinZip Self-Extractor dialog box opens, click Unzip.
eWhen the WinZip Self-Extractor confirmation dialog that the file is unzipped appears, click OK.
fWhen the command box appears, wait for the M DE installation to complete. This
installation may take a few minutes.
gWhen the M DE installation is completed, press any key to close the command box.
h When the Download and Installation screen appears. Click Next.
5If additional required software that can be automatically downloaded is needed, download the
software using a process similar to the process specified in tep 4.
6When all of the required prerequisite software is loaded, a screen similar to the following
appears. Go to“Install Notification erver” on page 18.

Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up eXpress
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 17
7If all of the components that can be downloaded have been downloaded but additional software
needs to be installed, a screen similar to the following appears listing the additional software that
needs to be installed.
Note which software needs to be installed and then click Finish.
Important You need to install the software that could not be automatically loaded and then run
the oftware Prerequisites Wizard again.
8If necessary, install Windows 2000/XP Internet ervices as follows:
aOn the Windows toolbar, click Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.
bIn the left pane, click Add/Remove Windows Components.
cCheck the Internet Information Services (IIS) check box.
dClick Details.
eCheck the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Server and World Wide Web Server subcomponents check
boxes.
fClick OK.
gClick Next.
hFollow the instructions on the screen to complete the Windows Components Wizard.
When all the required prerequisite software is installed, and if needed, restart the oftware
Prerequisites Wizard again. ee tep 1.

Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up eXpress
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 18
10 When all of the prerequisite software is installed and the following screen appears. Read the
information on the screen and click Finish.
The Install Helper will start the Notification erver installation.
Install Notification Server
1When you complete the Software Prerequisites Wizard, and then click Finish.
2When the AeXNSInstallHelper dialog appears, read the information on the screen and click OK.
The Notification erver Installation will begin.
3After the Altiris documentation page appears, the File Download dialog box is displayed, do one
of the following:
•Click Open to execute the file.
•Click Save, and then browse to a folder to save the file. When the file is finished saving, click
Open.
4The AeXNS_5.5.msi file will download, the Windows Installer will start, and the Altiris
eXpress Notification Server 5.5 – Install Wizard will start. Read the information on the screen, and
then click Next.
5On the License Agreement screen, read the License Agreement, click I accept the terms of the
license agreement, and click Next.
6On the Customer Information screen, enter applicable information, and then click Next.
7On the Setup Type screen, click Complete, and then click Next.
8On the Ready to Install the Program screen, click Install.
The Installing Altiris eXpress Notification erver 5.5 screen appears and the software is
installed.
When the Install Shield Wizard Completed screen appears, click Finish.
The Notification erver Installation is completed. The Notification erver etup Wizard starts the
Altiris eXpress Notification erver Configuration.
Tip If you know the groups that you will want to categorize your Helpdesk users into, you can create
the Windows NT Groups for the Helpdesk users now. For more information on creating Windows
NT Groups for Helpdesk, see “Create NT Groups for Helpdesk Users on a Windows erver” on
page 26.

Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up eXpress
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 19
Step 2 – Install Helpdesk Solution
When you install eXpress, eXpress collections, packages, reports, and policies are loaded onto the
Notification erver.
1Log in to the Windows erver running Notification erver using the Helpdesk user.
If the Windows erver configuration screen appears, click Close.
2tart the Web Administration Console by clicking Start > Programs > Altiris > Altiris eXpress >
Notification Server > Web Administration Console.
3Click the Configuration tab.
4In the left pane, click Solution Center.
5elect the location of the olution Center you want to install from.
•To install from the Altiris CD, insert the CD in to the CD-ROM drive, then select Search the
CD drive on the Notification Server for the Solution Center.
•To install from the Internet, select Use the Solution Center on the Altiris Web site.
•To install from another location, select Specify another location and enter the URL in the
Solution Center box.
6Click Apply.
7Click the Solutions Center tab and wait a moment for the screen to refresh.
8If you are using the Altiris CD for the olution Center or a location other then the Altiris Web
site, the Browse For Folder dialog box appears. Browse to the CD or the directory where the
olution Center is located and click OK.
Click Helpdesk and Problem Resolution.
10 Click Helpdesk Solution.
11 Click Start.
The download and installation process ( etup) starts.
Beside the Helpdesk olution files, the.NET Framework ( ervice Pack 2) and MDAC 2.7
components may have to be installed. This will happen automatically. You may have to reboot the
system after the installation has completed.
Satellite Helpdesk
A satellite Helpdesk, is installed and configured locally on a satellite computer, which does not have
N installed, but otherwise meets all Helpdesk prerequisites. For details, see “Helpdesk olution -
atellite Architecture” on page 10.
To Install a Satellite Helpdesk
1Copy the AeXHD.exe file to a computer, not running Notification erver.
2Run the AeXHD.exe file, and then follow the instructions of the Helpdesk Wizard.
Step 3 – The Altiris eXpress .NET Configuration
Wizard
When etup is finished, the Altiris eXpress .NET Configuration Wizard is launched
automatically. You can also run the wizard at any time from the tart Menu shortcut. To run the
.NET Wizard manually, do the following.
1 Start Menu > Programs > Altiris > Altiris eXpress > Helpdesk Solutions > Helpdesk ASP.NET Config.
2ee “Altiris eXpress.NET Configuration Wizard” on page 29 for detailed instructions on how to
run this wizard.

Chapter 2: Installing and Setting Up eXpress
Altiris Helpdesk Solution User Guide 20
Important You will not be able to run Helpdesk successfully until you run and complete this
wizard.
When you do, it will launch Helpdesk and usually present you with the Configure Helpdesk
command. ee “Configure Helpdesk” on page 128 for more detailed instructions.
Step 4 – The Configure Helpdesk Command
When you finish the Configure Helpdesk Command, the Helpdesk olution basic setup is now
complete.
Note When Helpdesk olution is installed configured, and set up, all Notification Policies are
disabled by default. You will want to review and disable any policies not needed, to prevent excess
notifications. For information on policies, see “Notification Policies” on page 140.