2.6.7 Auto maintenance of devices
This subsection describes auto maintenance that automatically deletes information about devices suggested for deletion based on the specified detection conditions for duplicate devices and idle devices. Here, duplicate devices are devices that have the same IP address, host name, MAC address, or BIOS serial number, and idle devices are devices that have not been used for a long time. If auto maintenance of devices is enabled, the presence of duplicate or idle devices is checked every day according to the specified conditions. All devices that match the conditions are listed as devices suggested for deletion (considered to be devices that do not require management), and are automatically deleted based on the schedule for automatic maintenance of devices when the scheduled date and time for automatic deletion is reached. This allows the system to automatically delete device information that is no longer required when new devices are added when, for example, devices are replaced, OSs are re-installed, or devices are discarded.
As an example of replacing devices by using the same IP address or host name before and after the replacement, the following describes the procedure for deleting device information that is no longer required during device maintenance.
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On the management server, an administrator specifies detection conditions for duplicate devices.
Specify an IP address or host name for the duplication condition, and then enable the automatic deletion setting.
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To manually delete device information that is no longer required, disable the automatic deletion setting.
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A computer user replaces devices without uninstalling the agent.
Specify the same IP address or host name as was used before replacement, and then install the agent.
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In response to a notification from the agent, the management server registers the new devices after replacement.
At this time, if there are no more available licenses, the devices are placed in the discovered status.
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The old devices used before replacement are deleted by automatic deletion of duplicate devices.
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If the automatic deletion setting is disabled, the administrator refers to the notification of the presence of devices suggested for deletion (displayed in the Topic panel of the Home module) to check duplicate devices, and then deletes unnecessary old devices. Alternatively, if the devices need not be deleted, the administrator registers them as devices not subject to maintenance (devices for which maintenance is suppressed).
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If there are available licenses when the notification from the agent is received, the devices in the discovered status change to the managed status.
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To check the devices that have been deleted automatically, see the publishing log file JDNSTRCx.log (where x is a numeral from 1 through 9) for events or configuration changes output to the management server.
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Offline management devices are not subject to device maintenance.
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In a multi-server configuration, devices managed by management relay servers under the primary management server are not subject to device maintenance on the primary management server. However, these devices are subject to device maintenance on each management relay server (the device maintenance setting is required on each management relay server). If a device managed by a management relay server is deleted because of device maintenance, the management relay server notifies a higher management server that the device has been deleted. Note that information about the devices deleted during device maintenance is output to JDNSTRCx.log (where x is a numeral from 1 through 9) on each management server.
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When devices are deleted, system configuration information is also deleted in conjunction with deletion of the device information (at this time, the devices are also deleted from the host group and ID group). However, if devices are first deleted from the system configuration information, device information is not deleted automatically. In this case, you must delete the device information manually.
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A list of devices suggested for deletion appears in the lower part of the Device Maintenance Settings and Detection Results view that opens from Inventory of the Settings module.
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When deleting devices, you can dispose of hardware resources in conjunction with the deletion of device information.
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If automatic deletion of both duplicate devices and idle devices is enabled, duplicate devices are deleted before idle devices.
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To assign software licenses to devices that are added because of replacement of devices or re-installation of the OS, use Move Software Licenses.
Note on deleting device information for the first time because of device maintenance
Use the following procedure:
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Disable automatic deletion of duplicate devices and idle devices to prevent device information from being deleted automatically by mistake, contrary to the expectation of the administrator.
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In the Device Maintenance Settings and Detection Results view that opens from Inventory of the Settings module, click the Start Detection button to manually detect devices suggested for deletion. Then, determine whether to exclude the devices as targets of maintenance or delete them.
Defining duplicate devices
By specifying the duplication conditions (the items below) and the number of days since the last connection, you can define duplicate devices that can be suggested for deletion. The devices that match the specified duplication condition are determined to be duplicate devices. Then, the devices whose last alive confirmation date and time is not the most recent and that have not connected to the management server for a period longer than the specified number of days are determined to be duplicate devices suggested for deletion. If multiple duplication conditions are specified, they are applied as AND conditions. Devices for which the following items are not specified (or for which an invalid value is specified) are not handled as duplicate devices.
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IP address
If the device has multiple IP addresses, the representative IP address used for connection with the management server is the search target.
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Host name
You can select whether host names are case sensitive.
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MAC address
If the device has multiple MAC addresses, the representative MAC address used for connection with the management server is the search target.
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BIOS serial number
If a MAC address and a BIOS serial number are specified as duplication conditions, AND conditions are assumed. Therefore, a device without a BIOS serial number specified cannot be determined to be a duplicate device.
Specifying the idle device definition
Devices that have not been connected to the management server for the specified number of days since the last connection are determined to be idle devices suggested for deletion.
Detection conditions for devices suggested for deletion
The following tables show whether detection conditions can be selected (are applicable) for device types, management modes, and management statuses.
|
Device type |
Duplicate Devices |
Idle Devices |
|---|---|---|
|
Agent for Windows or Mac |
Y |
Y |
|
Agent for UNIX |
Y |
Y |
|
Agentless device |
Y |
Y |
|
Smart device |
Y |
Y |
|
Device for which the network monitor is enabled or being enabled |
N |
N |
|
Relay system |
N |
N |
|
Management relay server |
N |
N |
|
API-controlled devices |
Y |
Y |
Legend: Y: Can be selected (applicable). N: Cannot be selected (not applicable).
|
Management mode |
Duplicate Devices |
Idle Devices |
|---|---|---|
|
Online management |
Y (fixed) |
Y (fixed) |
|
Offline management |
N |
N |
Legend: Y: Can be selected (applicable). N: Cannot be selected (not applicable).
|
Management status |
Duplicate Devices |
Idle Devices |
|---|---|---|
|
Managed device |
Y (fixed) |
Y (fixed) |
|
Discovered device |
Y (fixed) |
Y (fixed) |
|
Excluded device |
N |
N |
Legend: Y: Can be selected (applicable). N: Cannot be selected (not applicable).
The following table shows examples of conditions specified for detecting duplicate devices.
|
Maintenance trigger |
Duplication conditions |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Agent installed |
Agentless |
Smart device |
API |
||
|
Windows or Mac OS |
UNIX |
||||
|
Replacement of devices |
IP address |
IP address and host name |
IP address |
Host name #1 |
IP address and host name |
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HDD failure, re-creation of a host identifier, or replacement of the OS |
BIOS serial number or MAC address |
MAC address |
IP address |
-- |
BIOS serial number, MAC address, and IP address |
|
Re-registration of a smart device (JP1/ITDM2 - SDM#2) |
-- |
-- |
-- |
Host name #3 |
-- |
Legend: --: Not supported
#1: In the case of MobileIron. Note, however, that this cannot be used for Wi-Fi terminals.
#2: JP1/ITDM2 - SDM: JP1/IT Desktop Management 2 - Smart Device Manager
#3: Cannot be used for Wi-Fi terminals.
Specifying devices not subject to maintenance (devices for which maintenance is suppressed)
Devices that do not access the management server for a long time because of, for example, a long-term business trip or a cluster environment can be explicitly specified as devices not subject to maintenance. The registered devices not subject to maintenance are handled as follows:
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Even if the devices meet the specified detection condition, they are not counted as devices suggested for deletion.
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The devices are not deleted by automatic deletion of devices suggested for deletion.
Specifying automatic deletion of devices suggested for deletion
You can specify that devices suggested for deletion are to be automatically deleted. At this time, you can also specify the period until deletion. During this period, the administrator can check and specify which devices are not subject to maintenance (devices for which maintenance is suppressed). You can specify automatic deletion for the duplicate device definition and the idle device definition individually.
If automatic deletion is enabled, the processing is as follows:
- Duplicate Devices
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Among duplicate devices suggested for deletion, the devices that have not connected to the management server for longer than the specified period (Period Until Automatic Deletion plus Time Since Last Connected in the duplicate device definition) are deleted automatically.
- Idle Devices
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Among idle devices suggested for deletion, the devices that have not connected to the management server for longer than the specified period (Period Until Automatic Deletion plus Time Since Last Connected in the idle device definition) are deleted automatically.
Schedule of auto maintenance of devices
The scheduled auto maintenance of devices (for both duplicate devices and idle devices) is performed according to the value specified in the DeviceAutoMaintenanceTime property of the configuration file (jdn_manager_config.conf). For details about the DeviceAutoMaintenanceTime property, see the description of the procedure for using configuration files to configure processing in the JP1/IT Desktop Management 2 Configuration Guide.
Relationship between device maintenance and system configuration information maintenance
If devices are deleted during device maintenance, the system configuration information corresponding to the deleted devices is also deleted automatically. The devices are also deleted from the host group and ID group. In this case, information about the deleted computers is output to JDNSTRCx.log (where x is a numeral from 1 through 9), rather than to the log file CLTDELn.LOG (where n is a numeral from 1 through 4).
Note that the system configuration information corresponding to a deleted device is automatically deleted when you delete the device by one of the following operations or by some other operation:
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In List of Devices Suggested for Deletion displayed in the Device Maintenance Settings and Detection Results view (under Inventory) of the Settings module, select the target devices, and then click Remove Device Inventory in the Action menu.
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In Managed Nodes displayed in the Managed Nodes view (under Discovery) of the Settings module, select the target devices, and then click Remove in the Action menu.
Deletion of the system configuration information corresponding to the device deletion is applied to the agents managed by the local server. The relay systems are not deleted automatically. When you delete the relay systems from the list of devices, also delete the relay systems from the system configuration information using the Remote Install Manager.
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Even if the host deleted from the system configuration information remains as a destination in a job definition, the destination is not deleted.
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The following describes the recovery procedure when the following message text is output to the MAIN.LOG file on the agent machine.
- Message text output to MAIN.LOG
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System configuration information could not be registered correctly because internal file information was invalid. Maintenance information = maintenance-information
The message text above indicates that the addition, update, or deletion of system configuration information could not be notified normally. Use the following recovery procedure to register the system configuration information again:
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Delete the following file:
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JP1/IT Desktop Management 2 installation directory\CLIENT\SYSENT\SYSINFBK
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Restart the agent computer.
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In the system configuration attribute tab, confirm that the update date and time have been updated.
Note that if the addition, update, or deletion of system configuration information could not be notified normally, unnecessary host information might remain. In this case, delete the host information from the system configuration.