ALTIRIS HELPDESK SOLUTION 6.0 SP2 PRODUCT GUIDE

Transcription

1 ALTIRIS HELPDESK SOLUTION 6.0 SP2 PRODUCT GUIDE

2 Notice Copyright Altiris Inc. All rights reserved. Product Version: 6.0 Document Date: January 31, 2005 Bootworks U.S. Patent No. 5,764,593. RapiDeploy U.S. Patent No. 6,144,992. Recovery Solution U.S. Patent No. 5,778,395, 5,907,672, , , , , , , , GB , B , Other patents pending. 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 Altiris, the Altiris logo, BootWorks, Inventory Solution, LabExpert, PC Transplant, RapiDeploy, and RapidInstall are registered trademarks of Altiris, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. Carbon Copy is a registered trademark licensed to Altiris, Inc. in the United States and a trademark of Altiris, Inc. in other countries. Altiris express, Altiris Protect, Application Management Solution, Application Metering Solution, Asset Control Solution, Asset Management Suite, Client Management Suite, Compliance Toolkit, Connector Solution, Conflict Analysis Solution, Contract Management Solution, Deployment Server, Deployment Solution, Energy Saver Toolkit, Education Management Suite, Helpdesk Solution Software, Lab Management Suite, Migration Toolkit, Mobile Client for SMS, Monitor Solution, Notification Server, Patch Management Solution, Problem Management Suite, Recovery Solution, Server Management Suite, Site Monitor Solution, Software Delivery Solution, TCO Management Solution, UNIX Client for SMS, Web Administrator for SMS, Web Reports, and other product names are trademarks of Altiris, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. HP and Compaq are registered trademarks of the Hewlett-Packard Corporation. Dell is a registered trademark of Dell Inc. Macintosh is a registered trademark of the Apple Computer Corporation. Palm OS is a registered trademark of Palm Computing, Inc. BlackBerry is a service mark and a trademark of Research In Motion Limited Corporation. RIM is a service mark and trademark of Research In Motion (RIM) All other brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 2

3 Contents Altiris Product Helpdesk Guide Solution 6.0 SP2 Notice Getting Started Chapter 1: Introduction to Altiris Helpdesk Solution Chapter 2: Installing and Configuring Helpdesk Chapter 3: Security Role Management Chapter 4: Helpdesk Business Rules Helpdesk Help Chapter 5: Menu Quick Reference Guide Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Incident Settings Worker Report New Incident Find Incidents Queries Bulletins Last Query Results Edit Multiple Incidents Retrieve Queued Incident Delete Incidents Chapter 7: The Quick Incidents Menu Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Admin Report Categories Validation Rules Incident Rules Routing Rules Notify Rules Tasks Templates Inboxes Inbox Filters Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 3

4 Contents Resource Types Lookups Import Admin Data Export Admin Data Chapter 9: The Contacts Menu Chapter 10: The Assets Menu Chapter 11: The Worker Menu Chapter 12: The Recents Menu Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu Advanced Helpdesk Reference Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base Chapter 15: Customization Chapter 16: Advanced Query Settings Chapter 17: Advanced Template Macros Chapter 18: Data Macros Index Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 4

5 Getting Started This section will introduce you to the Altiris Helpdesk Solution and an overview of its features, including installation and security configuration requirements. Quick Links Introduction to Altiris Helpdesk Solution 6.0 on page 6 Installing and Configuring Helpdesk on page 13 Security Role Management on page 21 Helpdesk Business Rules on page 24 Introduction and overview of the Helpdesk Solution. Review Alert Manager vs. Helpdesk Solution feature list. Install Notification Server and the Helpdesk Solution. Roles dictate privileges to features that are available in the Notification Server and other Altiris suites and solutions, including Helpdesk. Helpdesk Business Rules are simple to configure, yet powerful to use. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 5

6 Chapter 1: Introduction to Altiris Helpdesk Solution 6.0 Altiris Helpdesk Solution provides incident management tools to enhance, expand, and enforce the workflow and resolution of IT helpdesk issues. Helpdesk provides easy-to-use, integrated business rules to route incidents based on features such as, providing an essential foundation of ITIL components to help your organization move from reactive fire-fighting to managing the complexity and demands of IT infrastructure. It allows you to ensure infrastructure availability and raise service levels while reducing costs. Designed for quick implementation, it enables you to realize immediate benefits. Helpdesk Solution is built on the Altiris Notification Server architecture and is fully integrated with other Altiris components such as asset management, remote control, and Web-based administration tools. With the release of Altiris Notification Server 6.0, the Helpdesk file structure is different than previous versions.while these changes were made to improve Notification Server, it also affected the way Alert Manager and Helpdesk Solution are added to the server. Because this release of Helpdesk Solution is complementary to the new Notification Server product, we will detail some of the new features in this section. When you install Altiris Notification Server 6.0 or later, the installation process will automatically activate Alert Manager. However, if you install a license for Helpdesk Solution, the features of Alert Manager and all features of Helpdesk Solution are enabled. Throughout this document, all feature references will be made to those available in the Helpdesk Solution. The user interface displays Helpdesk, even if you have not installed a Helpdesk Solution license; however, the features displayed on the menu fly-out depend on which product you are using. See Alert Manager vs. Helpdesk Solution on page 10 for a complete list of menu features available and the differences between the two products. The menu features are also contingent on the security set by administrators and managers, so regardless of the product you are using, all features may not be displayed. See Helpdesk Security on page 8 for more details. This Incident Management system is a powerful tool to manage any organization and can track any IT resource, create contacts, report and manage incidents that have been submitted to a Helpdesk department. Some of the features new with this release are outlined below. IMPORTANT: Notification Server install will create a Helpdesk database called AeXNS_Helpdesk that is used by Alert Manager. Helpdesk Solution can be configured to use the existing database or create another. If Alert Manager has been used, you will want to use the AeXNS_Helpdesk database to maintain existing data. If you are upgrading from a previous version of Helpdesk Solution, then Helpdesk Solution 6.0 will upgrade your existing database if you prefer. Knowledge Base Feature The Knowledge Base is the most requested feature from our Altiris Helpdesk customers. Recognizing the value of our customer input, we now offer the Knowledge Base as a new feature with this release. The Knowledge Base is a convenient, fully integrated way to capture and preserve information to be used for future reference. Helpdesk workers can search the Knowledge Base to quickly find known errors and other documented processes, which significantly reduces the time required to resolve incidents. See The Knowledge Base Menu on page 105 for more details. Some of the features available with the Knowledge Base are listed below. Create an article directly from an incident Publish existing documents in HTML, Word, and Acrobat file formats Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 6

7 Chapter 1: Introduction to Altiris Helpdesk Solution 6.0 Organize content into hierarchical libraries and scopes for more targeted searching Search the Knowledge Base from the My Helpdesk console Set expiration dates for each article so that outdated articles can be easily archived Review each article submitted before publishing it to a library or scope Set security to restrict the searching and displaying of articles by group Users can rate the usefulness of articles after they have been retrieved Articles are tracked by the number of times they are retrieved Articles can be searched by keyword or natural language Registration of Tasks Registration of tasks is an integration feature that enables Helpdesk users to leverage functionality from Web Administrator for Windows and other Altiris Solutions. The feature allows other solutions (consumers) to register contextual URLs associated with incidents. When an incident is being viewed, Helpdesk will provide links that invoke the registered URLs, and help workers run processes that can resolve incidents that meet the tasks defined criteria. See Tasks on page 78 for more details. Inbound Support This feature lets you monitor a POP3 mailbox for new messages, and automatically map the content of the messages to the fields of new and existing incidents. To help monitor incoming , you can set inbox filters to help control spam and auto-reply messages. You can also receive messages that correspond to existing incidents. See Inboxes on page 84 and Inbox Filters on page 87 for more details. Enhanced Bulletin Board In previous versions of Helpdesk, bulletins could be broadcast throughout an organization to inform workers and other users of system wide problems, server maintenance schedules, or any other information that could potentially generate a lot of calls to the Helpdesk department. Administrators, managers, and workers now have the ability to create a bulletin from an incident, and then link all incidents reporting the same problem to the bulletin. This lets you track all calls reporting the same problem, managing it as one incident, while keeping all other workers and users informed. When the problem is resolved, and the incident turned bulletin is closed, all incidents linked to the bulletin are closed as well. See Bulletins on page 49 for more details. Quick Incidents This feature lets administrators define templates for incidents that are most frequently reported, which saves workers from having to manually fill out each field of an incident over and over again. For example, workers that field calls from users that request password resets will enter the same property values in the fields of an incident, every time. Using this feature reduces the amount of time a worker spends on a call because quick templates have most of the information already entered. See The Quick Incidents Menu on page 56 for more details. Incident Rules Routing rules affect the Assigned field of an incident, where as Incident Rules affect many more fields of new or modified incidents. Administrators and managers can create incident rules, which are automatically evaluated by the Helpdesk system and will change the field values of incidents it they match the incident rule s criteria. The rules are easy to configure and do not require any scripting. See Incident Rules on page 67 for more details. Satisfaction Survey This feature lets you automatically send a satisfaction survey to any person whose incident has been resolved. After the user submits the completed survey, it can be tracked by a report that provides the overall survey responses. This is a reliable tool for managers to gauge the effectiveness of any support organization, which can ultimately lead to establishing new processes to improve user support. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 7

8 Chapter 1: Introduction to Altiris Helpdesk Solution 6.0 Improved Summary Pages The Admin and Worker Report pages have been enhanced to display a more complete summary of incidents entered into the system. Incidents are displayed by item count and time periods and are more easily understood. On the Worker Report page, you can access both shared and personal incident queries, so that workers can browse through incident data based on any criteria. On the Admin Report page, a rollup of important incident status values for all active workers is now available. See Admin Report on page 60 and Worker Report on page 33 for more details. Edit Multiple Incidents Capability This feature lets you change selected field values for multiple incidents all at the same time. For example, if a worker is out on vacation or is no longer with the organization, managers and administrators now have the ability to reassign their incidents to another worker. This ensures that all incidents are assigned and routed to an appropriate worker or queue. See Edit Multiple Incidents on page 52 for more details. Quick Links Helpdesk Security on page 8 Accessing Helpdesk on page 9 Alert Manager vs. Helpdesk Solution on page 10 Helpdesk Security Notification Server 6.0 installs with five out-of-box groups that are added to the Windows NT Local Groups, they are as follows: Altiris Administrator Altiris Supervisor Altiris Level 2 Worker Altiris Level 1 Worker Altiris Guest These groups are called Roles and control the access to features available in the Notification Server, and other Altiris suites and solutions. All workers must have a valid NT User ID so that they can be added to one or more of these roles. Helpdesk Solution uses a person s NT ID to determine the groups or roles that they belong to, and what features are available in the user interface. The privileges for the predefined roles are described below. Role - Group name added to the NT Local Users and Groups. Global Privileges - Rights to features that do not have multiple instances, such as; Licensing, Tabs, and more. Role Permissions - Using NT Authentication, users and groups can be assigned a predefined set of privileges and permissions. There are five out-of-the box groups (roles) that are automatically added to the NT Local Users and Groups. The following role permissions can be granted: Read (R): Read permission. Allows users to view objects. Write (W): Write permission. Allows user to create items, such as; folders, policies, tasks, and more. Executable (E): Execute permission. Allows user to execute SQL queries for reporting, apply tasks to target collections, and more. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 8

9 Chapter 1: Introduction to Altiris Helpdesk Solution 6.0 Scope Permissions - Tasks that can apply actions to a selected collection. Role Global Privileges Role Permissions Scope Permissions Altiris Administrator - Control over all things. Altiris Supervisor - Control over most things, including collection, configuration, and report management. Altiris Level 2 Worker - Control over most things outside of collection, configuration, and report management. Altiris Level 1 Worker - Control over non-critical devices and nondestructive activities. Altiris Guest - Access to incidents and reporting features Accessing Helpdesk All. All. All regions or security scopes. R - Solution Center tab R - Configuration tab RWE - Tasks tab RWE - Collections tab RWE - Reports tab RE - Getting Started tab RWE - Incidents tab R - Solution Center tab R - Configuration tab RWE - Tasks tab RE - Collections tab RE - Reports tab RE - Getting Started tab RWE - Incident tab RWE - Tasks RWE - Reports RWE - Collections RWE - Altiris Agent settings RWE - Alert Manager RWE - Collections R - Altiris Agent settings RWE - Alert Management; Certain Tasks; Software Distribution; Remote Control; Capture Inventory RE - Tasks tab RE - Reports RE - Collections tab RE - Reports tab RE - Getting Started tab RWE - Incident tab RE - Collections; Windows Clients, Windows Notebooks RE - Tasks; Nondestructive, Inventory, Application Metering, Baseline, Backup/ Restore R - Altiris Agent Settings RW - Alert Management; Tasks; Non-destructive, Inventory Regional or other access scope based. Regional or other access scope based. Regional or other access scope based. RE - Report tab RE - All reports Not applicable You can access Helpdesk through Notification Server s Altiris Console, or you can use the following URL name>/aexhd/. If you use the URL address, Helpdesk uses your NT ID and associated roles to route you to an appropriate console.you may also open a specific console (if you have the required privileges) by providing the URL address as described below. Helpdesk Worker Console: This is used by workers assigned to the Helpdesk department. The features (on the user interface) are enabled according their user authorization and Helpdesk privileges. You can access the Worker console by entering the URL address, name>/ aexhd/worker. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 9

10 Chapter 1: Introduction to Altiris Helpdesk Solution 6.0 My Helpdesk Console: This is for users with an NT ID in an intranet environment and are not Helpdesk workers. This console lets you set up contact information, create incidents, and view bulletins. You can access the My Helpdesk console by entering the URL address, name>/aexhd/winuser. Incident Request - NT User: This is for users with an NT ID in an intranet environment and are not Helpdesk workers. This console has fewer features available than My Helpdesk Console. You can access the Incident Request - NT User console by entering the URL address, winuser/ntuser.aspx. Incident Request - User: This console is for users who want to make requests or report problems but do not have an NT ID. The users and their incidents are tracked by . You can access the Incident Request - User console by entering the URL address, name>/aexhd/user. Incident Request - Guest: This console is for anonymous access to the Helpdesk system from the public internet. Users can report incidents and read bulletins, but only if the bulletins are set for Guest users to view. You can access the Incident Request - Guest console by entering the URL address, name>/aexhd/guest. Alert Manager vs. Helpdesk Solution The Altiris Notification Server 6.0 installation package includes an event management system called Alert Manager, which is automatically installed and activated during the Notification Server installation. Alert Manager receives events that are generated from other Altiris suites and solutions, and creates incidents that are assigned to the appropriate personnel to be resolved. The Helpdesk Solution is a complete Incident Management system where users can create, update, report, and manage all incidents. There are many advantages in upgrading to the Helpdesk Solution. The additional features give you greater flexibility with increased managing power to enhance the effectiveness of any IT organization. The Features List below illustrates the differences between Alert Manager and the Helpdesk Solution. The Menu column shows the menu feature as it appears on the menu fly-out, and the Tasks column lists the commands available for the menu feature. If a menu feature is not displayed on the menu fly-out, then you have not been granted the appropriate privileges by the Systems or Helpdesk administrator. To gain access to any feature not displayed on the menu after you log in to the Helpdesk system, see the Systems or Helpdesk administrator. Features List Menu Tasks Alert Manager Helpdesk The Incidents Menu Worker Report New Incident Find Incidents Edit Multiple Incidents Retrieve Queued Incident Delete Incidents Queries List Queries New Query Delete Query Last Query Results Bulletins List Bulletins New Bulletin Delete Bulletins Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 10

11 Chapter 1: Introduction to Altiris Helpdesk Solution 6.0 Features List Menu Tasks Alert Manager Helpdesk The Quick Incidents List Quick Incidents Menu New Quick Incident Delete Quick Incidents Admin Report View Status Categories List Categories Edit Categories Tasks List Tasks New Task Delete Tasks Validation Rules List Validation Rules New Validation Rule Delete Validation Rules Routing Rules List Routing Rules New Routing Rule Delete Routing Rules Incident Rules List Incident Rules New Incident Rule Delete Incident Rules Notify Rules List Notify Rules New Notify Rule Delete Notify Rules Templates List Templates New Template Inboxes Inbox Filters List Inbox Filter New Inbox Filter Delete Inbox Filters The Contacts Menu Contacts Home Find Contacts New Contact Delete Contacts The Assets Menu Contacts Home Find Assets New Asset Delete Assets The Worker Menu List Workers New Worker List Queues New Queue Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 11

12 Chapter 1: Introduction to Altiris Helpdesk Solution 6.0 Features List Menu Tasks Alert Manager Helpdesk The Recents Menu Incidents Contacts Assets The Knowledge Base Menu Search Articles Publish Existing Document Review Article Search Article Properties Libraries Archive Articles Delete Articles Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 12

13 Chapter 2: Installing and Configuring Helpdesk Altiris Helpdesk Solution is a plug-in component of the Altiris Notification Server, an infrastructure that provides security, reporting, policy definition and other services for Altiris solutions. The Notification Server infrastructure also includes the Altiris Console, a user interface with features to manage all resources remotely from a remote web browser. As a plug-in web solution, Helpdesk Solution joins with other Altiris IT management solutions such as: Inventory, Deployment, Application Metering, and Software Delivery solutions. These combined solutions and systems provide comprehensive remote, automated administration of desktops, notebooks, servers, handhelds, network computer devices, and provides integrated incident management from the HelpDesk Solution. Install Helpdesk Information To install Helpdesk, you first install the Notification Server, and enable the Helpdesk solution. It is a simple process that can be automated in many different ways depending on your environment and individual requirements. This document details the basic tasks required to set up Notification Server and the Helpdesk Solution. Important: The Notification Server install creates a Helpdesk database called AeXNS_Helpdesk that is used by Alert Manager. Helpdesk Solution can be configured to use the existing database or create another. If Alert Manager has been used, you will want to use the AeXNS_Helpdesk database to maintain existing data. If you are upgrading from a previous version of Helpdesk Solution, then Helpdesk 6.0 will upgrade your existing database if you prefer. For general set up information of Altiris products, see the Altiris 6.0 Getting Started Guide. For indepth planning concepts and rollout instructions for large or distributed environments, see the Installation section in the Altiris Notification Server Help. Quick Links Setup and Installation on page 13 Licensing on page 17 Create a Worker Account on page 18 Localization on page 18 Uninstalling Helpdesk on page 20 Setup and Installation Helpdesk Solution 6.0 installs to the Notification Server 6.0 infrastructure with new task-based user interface features, updated security, localized language support, easy-to-use wizards, and integrated IT solutions. In fact, the whole Notification Server infrastructure has been updated, including the Helpdesk Solution and its complementary suite of IT solutions. New users will enjoy the ease-of-use and intuitive features for getting up and started. Previous users updating to the new Altiris Console will see significant updates and a new task-based user interface with increased response. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 13

14 Chapter 2: Installing and Configuring Helpdesk These major updates will require the installation of Microsoft.NET services, updated MDAC connectivity, increased database requirements, and other design considerations when moving to a production environment. See Altiris Notification Server for complete information. Setup, installation, and configuration of this product will vary depending on what Altiris products you have installed. Choose one of the following options: If you are a new customer: You must review System Requirements to ensure you have met all software and hardware requirements. Then, you will download and install Altiris Notification Server followed by Installing Helpdesk Solution from the Altiris Console. Note: If you are evaluating Helpdesk Solution, accept the default settings and install in a test environment with the prescribed server and client computers. If Notification Server 6.0 is already installed: Go to Installing Helpdesk Solution from the Altiris Console to install Helpdesk Solution from the Solution Center. If you are upgrading to Notification Server 6.0 and Helpdesk Solution from previous versions: Because Notification Server 6.0 and Helpdesk Solution 6.0 include major feature upgrades, in many cases you must perform basic update tasks such as: increase allotted disk space for the database, and complete additional design optimization tasks before proceeding. Go to Upgrading from Previous Versions of Helpdesk Solution 6.0 for detailed instructions. If you are upgrading to a new release of Helpdesk Solution 6.0: If you already have Helpdesk Solution 6.0 installed and want to check if there is a new release, go to Upgrading New Releases of Helpdesk Solution 6.0 on page 17 for details. System Requirements The following information shows the system requirements for installing Altiris Notification Server and Helpdesk Solution on the server and setting up the Altiris Agent on all managed client computer devices. Hardware Requirements for Notification Server Operating System Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server with SP2 or later. Processor Pentium III 800 MHz or faster RAM 512 MB 1 GB recommended for increased speed and large environments Hard Drive 20 GB (recommended) 105 MB for Notification Server and components (disk space) 1 GB for SQL Server database File system NTFS partition The following are system requirements for the client computer running the Altiris Agent. Altiris Agent Requirements for the Managed Computer Operating System Disk space on client RAM Browser Windows 95 or later 5 MB disk space for Altiris Agent, plus space to install required software. 64 MB Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or later Worker Console Requirements Worker Console / End User Console Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later, Netscape Navigator 3.0 or later, Opera 4.0 or later. Note: Helpdesk Solution can operate from any web browser; however, Altiris recommends using Internet Explorer 6.0 or later. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 14

15 Chapter 2: Installing and Configuring Helpdesk Altiris Notification Server Before you begin the setup and installation process, review the System Requirements on page 14 to ensure you have all hardware and software components necessary to proceed. Follow the instructions to download, install, and configure the settings for the Altiris Notification Server. See the Altiris Notification Server Help. Go to Installing Helpdesk Solution from the Altiris Console on page 15 when you have finished installing Notification Server. Installing Helpdesk Solution from the Altiris Console After successfully installing Notification Server, you can download Helpdesk Solution through the Altiris Console. To download and install Helpdesk Solution 1 Click Start > Programs > Altiris > Altiris Console. 2 Click the Getting Started tab. 3 Click the Install Altiris Solutions from the Solution Center link. By default, the Solution Center page opens with the Available Solutions tab view. Click the appropriate Solutions, Suites, or Segments (large suites) button. You can also sort the solutions categorized by the operating system (OS). 4 Click Altiris Helpdesk Solution from the solutions list. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 15

16 Chapter 2: Installing and Configuring Helpdesk 5 Click the Start button on this page to begin downloading and installing the product. 6 From the Altiris Console, click the Configuration tab on the Altiris Console. 7 Click the Currently Installed tab on the Solution Center page. This table will display a list of the solutions installed on the Notification Server. If the Helpdesk Solution is not listed, try refreshing the web browser s page, or reinstall the product. 8 Go to Installing Licenses on page 17. Upgrading from Previous Versions of Helpdesk Solution 6.0 Helpdesk Solution 6.0 installs to Notification Server 6.0, a major update of the Altiris infrastructure. Upgrading to Notification Server 6.0 allows you to further optimize the design of your system, clean up old files and database data, and expand the database to handle the added features included with Notification Server 6.0 and Helpdesk Solution 6.0. Before you begin to upgrade your system, be sure to backup the database currently used by Notification Server. This ensures that inventory data, status information, custom reports, collections, and policies in the system can be migrated to Notification Server 6.0. After you uninstall previous versions of Notification Server and any Altiris solutions from the Windows operating system, including previous versions of Helpdesk Solution, you can begin upgrading software. Steps required for Notification Server 6.0 and Helpdesk Solution 6.0 upgrade Note: The Helpdesk database gets upgraded automatically through this upgrade process. After you upgrade to Helpdesk Solution 6.0, you will still have your Helpdesk information (including incident information) from your previous version of Helpdesk. If you want to create a new Helpdesk Database after you upgrade, you can do this on the Incident Settings page (see Incident Settings on page 31). 1 Back up the Notification Server database. If the database version you are backing up is previous to the Notification Server 5.5 SP3 database, you must upgrade to that version first, and then perform a database backup. 2 Open Add/Remove Programs from the Control Panel of the Windows operating system. Remove Altiris Notification Server Remove Altiris Helpdesk Solution, if it was not removed during the Altiris Notification Server uninstall. Remove Inventory Solution and any other Altiris solutions that have been installed, if they were not removed during the Altiris Notification Server uninstall. 3 Clean up all MSIs and other files from previous installations. 4 Run InstallHelper to identify any missing software required for Notification Solution 6.0. See the Altiris Notification Server Help for more information. 5 Install Notification Server 6.0. See the Altiris Notification Server Help for more information. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 16

17 Chapter 2: Installing and Configuring Helpdesk Licensing Note: As part of the Notification Server 6.0 installation, you are required to specify a database name where all Notification Server data will be stored. You can enter the database name previously backed up, which will upgrade all data to be compatible with Notification Server 6.0, or you can define new SQL Server settings and database name. 6 Install Helpdesk Solution 6.0. See Installing Helpdesk Solution from the Altiris Console on page 15. Upgrading New Releases of Helpdesk Solution 6.0 Upgrading Helpdesk Solution can be done by doing an upgrade check in the Solution Center. This will install over the top of the existing software. Downloading the latest AeXHD.exe and running it manually will upgrade Helpdesk Solution also. If you use Add/Remove Programs to remove the previous version of Helpdesk, any customization to the web site you made may be lost and have to reconstituted. Upgrading an interim development database is not supported, and requires the creation of a new database. An interim development database is defined as any database created by a non-released version of Helpdesk Solution. Interim builds during beta testing should be removed using the Add/Remove Programs in the operating system. Subsequent builds can then be installed once the previous build has been removed. Any time Notification Server is being updated to a newer version along with Helpdesk Solution, Notification Server should be upgraded before upgrading Helpdesk Solution. IMPORTANT: Beta releases are always required to be installed on test servers and kept separate from released production installations of Helpdesk Solution. Starting with Altiris Helpdesk Solution 6.0, Altiris has changed the Helpdesk Solution licensing model from node based to a concurrent user licensing model. This means that Altiris licenses can be purchased based on a factor of 1 concurrent license for every 100 nodes in the Helpdesk Database. However, you may request a license with a higher node limit, if necessary. To upgrade to Helpdesk Solution 6.0 or renew Annual Upgrade Protection, you will need to obtain a new license from Altiris Customer Support. A concurrent user is considered to be anyone who uses the Helpdesk Solution system except employee self-help users (My Helpdesk Console users). Level 1 and Level 2 workers, Supervisors, Administrators, and so forth are all required to have a concurrent license slot available when they log in. Employee self-help users are able to open incidents on their own behalf and check the status of these incidents, as well as search the Knowledge Base, without a license. When a user requiring a license logs into the system, Helpdesk allows the user to search for and view incidents without running a license check. The moment the user attempts to edit an incident or create a new incident, Helpdesk asks the Notification Server for the number of concurrent sessions allowed by the license. If the number of open sessions is less than the number allowed by the license, the user will be allowed to save the record. If not, the user will be denied the ability to save changes with an appropriate screen message, and will be returned to the Edit Incident screen with all modifications intact. There is also a time-out feature that automatically frees the concurrent license slot after 30 minutes of inactivity. The license slot will be taken again when the user updates or creates an incident record. Installing Licenses Altiris Helpdesk Solution comes with a 30 day evaluation license agreement. You must register the product though the Altiris web site, and then a product key will be sent to you via . You must install the new product key through the Altiris Console to continue using Helpdesk Solution. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 17

18 Chapter 2: Installing and Configuring Helpdesk To install licenses 1 From the Altiris Console, click the Configuration tab. 2 In the tree view, click Licensing. 3 In the content pane, click the Install License tab. 4 Click Path to license folder. Click Browse to navigate where the license product key information is located, and then click Install License. <OR> 5 Click Paste content to Licenses below (default option). Copy and paste the license product key information into the text field, and then click Install License. Create a Worker Account After installing Helpdesk and applying the Helpdesk license, you will be required to set up an administrator to implement role-based security. The worker name you add must be in the Altiris Administrators group through Security Role Management on the Altiris Console (which uses the Windows NT file system). By default, the administrator has the appropriate privileges to complete the Helpdesk setup and installation steps. See Security Role Management on page 21 for more information. Localization To create a Worker account 1 From the Altiris Console, click the Incidents tab. 2 Enter a name in the Worker name field. This is the user name that is used by the administrator to log on to the Helpdesk system. By default, the user name you are logged on to the Notification Server with is the name that appears on the Create worker account page. 3 Enter the worker property values in the fields on the page. 4 Click OK. Helpdesk Solution supports localized versions of French, German, Portuguese and Spanish. Assuming the browser is installed and properly configured, Helpdesk Solution will automatically display its content in the preferred language configured by the browser. All text in the user interface will be localized to the above specified languages; however, database values in the drop-down lists, Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 18

19 Chapter 2: Installing and Configuring Helpdesk incident titles and comments will not. Information from other components, such as error messages from SQL Server, is displayed in the configured language of the server or will be in English, depending on how other components were installed. Note: You must change the locale setting of the computer to view the language in Internet Explorer 6.0 or later. Configure Regional Option 1 Click Start>Settings>Control Panel>Regional Options. 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 Solution works from any web browser, it works best with Internet Explorer 6.0 or later 2 Select one of the supported languages from the drop-down list. English Spanish French German Portuguese (Brazilian) Japanese Simplified Chinese 3 Click Apply, then OK. 4 The changes will take affect when you refresh or launch the web browser. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 19

20 Chapter 2: Installing and Configuring Helpdesk Uninstalling Helpdesk To ensure that Helpdesk Solution uninstalls from the Notification Server cleanly and successfully, perform a stop and restart of IIS prior to removing the product. Caution: Restarting IIS will cause current users to lose their work. You can uninstall the Altiris Helpdesk Solution by selecting Add/Remove Programs from the Control Panel of the Windows operating system. Files that have been added to the Helpdesk Solution custom directories will not be deleted by Uninstall; however, files installed by the Setup program that you modified will be deleted. Uninstall does not delete or modify data or tables in SQL Server databases, or delete Helpdesk Solution registry settings and license data from the Notification Server. If you reinstall Helpdesk Solution, the previously configured SQL Server and database will be selected unless you define new settings. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 20

21 Chapter 3: Security Role Management When you install Notification Server 6.0, five new groups are be added to the Local Users and Groups for NT authentication. These groups are provided so you can control the attributes of the solution available to users based on privileges set by the Altiris System Administrator. These groups are considered Roles, which dictate privileges to features available in the Notification Server and other Altiris suites and solutions. You can add as many Roles as you want to fit the needs of your organization. All users must have a valid NT User ID and be assigned to a Role in order to use Helpdesk Solution. Helpdesk Solution determines a person s NT ID and the Role in which they are assigned in order to determine what features are available in the user interface. The privileges for each role are described in Roles and Privileges on page 21. For more information on Security Role Management, see the Altiris Notification Server Help. To change the Role Management settings 1 From the Altiris Console, click the Configuration tab. 2 Click Server Settings > Notification Server Settings > Security Role Management. 3 In the right pane, click on one of the management Roles. 4 Click the scroll arrow in the lower pane and select or clear the Global Privileges. 5 Click Apply. Roles and Privileges There are five default Roles added to the NT Local Groups when Notification Server gets installed. These Roles have been designed to give you the security you need in a typical helpdesk environment. For example, only the Altiris Administrators have permission to delete incidents. This prevents users from accidentally deleting incidents. This also prevents users from intentionally deleting incidents that might reflect negatively on them. The following table describes the Roles as they are designed for specific types of users. You can edit these Roles or add Roles to fit your needs. Altiris Guests: Altiris Guests by default do not have access to the Incidents tab or the Worker Console (that is accessed in the Incidents tab view). Those who belong to this group can still use the MyHelpdesk, NTUser, and user (authenticated by address) consoles. Altiris Guests have access to the Reports tab. You can then grant guests permissions to run specific reports or view saved reports. Altiris Level 1 Workers: Level 1 Workers have the rights to create incidents, edit incidents, create bulletins, and search and view Knowledge Base articles. Users assigned to this role are full Helpdesk workers and are able to work in the worker console. Level 1 workers are the front-line Helpdesk workers. They answer the call when the end-user calls the support number. Altiris Level 2 Workers: Level 2 Workers have all the same rights as a Level 1 Worker and also can edit Knowledge Base articles. Users assigned to this role are full Helpdesk workers and work in the worker console. Level 2 workers are specialists to whom an incident is escalated when the Level 1 worker s expertise has been exceeded. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 21

22 Chapter 3: Security Role Management Altiris Supervisors: Users assigned to this role have all of the Level 2 Worker rights and also the rights to administer the Knowledge Base. Altiris Administrators: Users assigned to this role have all rights to administer Helpdesk. Role Management Default Settings Role Name Global Privileges Altiris Administrator Incident Privileges Administer Incidents Create Bulletins Edit Incidents Edit Multiple Incidents Manage Workers View Incidents Altiris Management Privileges Create Agent Settings Create Collections Create Reports Create Notification Policies Create Shortcuts Altiris System Privileges Change Security Import XML Take Ownership View Security Edit SQL Directly Helpdesk Privileges Change Security Import XML Take Ownership View Security Edit SQL Directly Altiris Console Privileges View Incidents Tab View Resources Tab View Configuration Tab View Reports Tab View Tasks Tab View Getting Started Tab Altiris Guests Incident Privileges None available Altiris Management Privileges None available Altiris System Privileges None available Helpdesk Privileges None available Altiris Console Privileges View Reports Tab Altiris Level 1 Workers Incident Privileges Create Bulletins Edit Incidents View Incidents Altiris Management Privileges None available Altiris System Privileges None available Helpdesk Privileges Create Incidents Create Knowledge Base Articles Altiris Console Privileges View Incidents Tab View Resources Tab View Configuration Tab View Reports Tab View Tasks Tab View Getting Started Tab Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 22

23 Chapter 3: Security Role Management Role Management Default Settings Role Name Altiris Level 2 Workers Global Privileges Incident Privileges Create Bulletins Edit Incidents View Incidents Altiris Management Privileges Create Agent Settings Create Collections Create Reports Create Notification Policies Create Shortcuts Altiris System Privileges None available Helpdesk Privileges Create Incidents Create Knowledge Base Articles Altiris Console Privileges View Incidents Tab View Resources Tab View Configuration Tab View Reports Tab View Tasks Tab View Getting Started Tab Altiris Supervisors Incident Privileges Create Bulletins Edit Incidents Manage Workers View Incidents Altiris Management Privileges Create Agent Settings Create Collections Create Reports Create Notification Policies Create Shortcuts Altiris System Privileges View Security Helpdesk Privileges Create Incidents Create Knowledge Base Articles Altiris Console Privileges View Incidents Tab View Resources Tab View Configuration Tab View Reports Tab View Tasks Tab View Getting Started Tab Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 23

24 Chapter 4: Helpdesk Business Rules Helpdesk Solution provides powerful routing and notification tools. These tools can automatically route incidents through your Helpdesk system and notify anyone at any step, giving you a way to enforce your corporate policies, business rules, and any service level agreements you have. These tools are: Validation Rules, Routing Rules, Incident Rules, Notify Rules, and Automated Actions. These tools are very flexible and easy to use. Rules can be created at any time and are active as soon as they are created. Any time the Save button is clicked on an incident page, all active Rules which apply to that incident get run in the following order: Validation Rules Incident Rules Routing Rules Notify Rules Validation Rules are run first to ensure that all data that is required from the user is in place when the rest of the Rules run. The Rules (Validation, Incident, Routing, and Notify Rules) get applied to an incident immediately after the Save button on that incident is clicked. Automated Actions are associated with Notification Policies, which are time based. Notification Policies run on a set schedule. Validation Rules - Validation Rules allow you to define a new set of rules to ensure that modifications to an incident meet certain criteria before they can be saved. For more information, see Validation Rules on page 64. Routing Rules - Routes incidents to an individual or a queue and lets you set the status of each Assigned field. Routing Rules lets you get the incident to the right worker. For more information, see Routing Rules on page 71. Incident Rules - These go a step beyond Routing Rules and let you affect any field in the incident. This gives you control over creating a workflow process. For more information, see Incident Rules on page 67. Notify Rules - Notifies workers or groups via of an incident based on criteria that you set. For more information, see Notify Rules on page 74. Automated Actions - Specifies the action to take when a Notification Policy is run. Each Notification Policy can have multiple Automated Actions. Automated Actions let you send e- mail, launch applications, and launch reports. For more information on Notification Policies and Automated Actions, see the Altiris Notification Server Help. You can set up notification through the use of Notify rules or Notification Policies. Notify rules send immediately after the incident is saved. Notification Policies send on a set schedule. Using Rules and Automated Actions This section gives you some scenarios for using routing and notification tools in your Helpdesk system. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 24

25 Chapter 4: Helpdesk Business Rules Scenario 1 - Using Routing Rules to enforce your Service Level Agreements Suppose a telephone call comes in from someone who is wants some software installed. The worker assigns the incident to the category of Add/Install software and gives it a Medium priority. Suppose a Routing Rule has been put in place to automatically route all incidents of this category type to a Desktop Software queue. When the worker saves the incident, it then automatically gets placed in the Desktop Software queue. Suppose you have a Service Level Agreement to respond to all incidents within 24 hours. You can set up an Automated Action in a Notification Policy to notify someone if that incident has not been responded to in 24 hours. Or you can set up an Automated Action to assign that incident to another worker. This helps you enforce your Service Level Agreement by sending out an or updating the priority or status or routing the incident to another person. Now suppose this incident gets escalated by getting sent to another worker because it has not been responded to in the set amount of time. This worker then changes the status on the incident and saves the incident. Suppose you have an Incident Rule that sets the value of the Category field every time the status of an incident changes. This incident will then be placed in a different queue (perhaps an escalation queue) when the incident is saved. Scenario 2 - Using Incident Rules to enforce your Service Level Agreements Suppose you have a Service Level Agreement to fix network printer problems as soon as possible. You can create an Incident Rule to change all incidents that are logged against an asset that is a network printer to the ASAP priority. To create an Incident Rule to change incidents with Asset type of Network Printer to the ASAP priority 1 From the Incidents tab of the Altiris Console, select Admin > Incident Rules > New Incident Rule. 2 Enter the name of the Rule ( All Network Printers to ASAP for example). 3 Enter a comment to describe the Rule in more detail. 4 In the Set these properties section, select Priority from the drop-down list, and then click the Add button. 5 Select the specific Priority to automatically assign (ASAP for example) and then click OK. Note: You can enter as many properties as you want. 6 In the When section, select Asset type from the drop-down list, and then click the Add button. 7 Select the When the value of Asset type check-box, and then select is equal to and Network Printer from the drop-down lists. 8 Click the OK button. 9 Select the Active and/or Terminal check-boxes depending on your needs. 10 Click OK to save this Incident Rule. 11 When an Incident Rule is created, the status is automatically set to Active. To view an Incident Rule 1 From the Incidents tab of the Altiris Console, select Admin > Incident Rules > List Incident Rules. 2 From here, you can view, edit, delete, or create Incident Rules. Now when incidents are created for network devices with the Asset type of Network Printer, the priority of those incidents automatically get changed to ASAP when they are saved. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 25

26 Chapter 4: Helpdesk Business Rules Scenario 3 - Using Notify Rules to notify customers when an incident resolves Notify Rules allow you to notify people at any stage of the incident process, all according to your needs. You can create a Notify Rule that runs only when the status of an incident changes from Open to Resolved. You can use this Notify Rule to notify a customer that the incident has been resolved and asks them to verify. Scenario 4 - Using categorization to process a new employee Helpdesk Solution can help you set up a process for new employees. When a new employee comes in, a request is made to create a new employee incident. When a new employee incident comes through, there should be an approval request. So, when a new employee incident comes in, the category of Authorize Approve is selected. When this happens, an gets sent to the person responsible of approval (for example, a manager). That person replies to the and the incident gets assigned a new category (such as Service Request) and gets placed in the appropriate queue. The owner of the incident then monitors it. Then a whole new set of Rules can come into play based on the new category. You can also set up Tasks to show up on an incident based on certain criteria. For example, a new employee incident might have the following Tasks show up: Get approval Show me the assets that are in stock Go get a computer from receiving Install the default image (with a link to Deployment Solution) Install additional software (with links to that software) Scenario 5 - Using Automated Actions to escalate the priority Notification Policies are time-based, running automatically on the schedule you want. Each Notification Policy can have one or more Automated Actions, which perform a separate task when the policy runs. Suppose you want to escalate the priority of all incidents of High priority to ASAP every 2 days. Helpdesk Solution comes with several built-in Notification Policies. One of these is called Escalate Incident Priority: High to ASAP. This policy, when enabled and on a business schedule (every hour during business hours), changes the priority on all incidents of High priority to ASAP. These incidents are then re-assigned based on applicable Routing Rules. For example, this might let you forward these incidents to a different group that handles incidents with ASAP priority. This Notification Policy can be changed to fit your needs. For example, you can change the schedule on this Notification Policy from hourly during business hours to every 2 days. Now, this policy runs on a 2 day schedule. If you want to keep this policy, but also have a slightly different policy, you can clone it and change the clone. Suppose you clone this policy and change its schedule to run every 2 days. Now, suppose you want to send an informing the helpdesk supervisor which incidents had their priority changed. In this policy, you would create a new Report Automated Action that runs a report and set it up to send an containing the report. Now, when the Notification Policy runs, incident priorities are changed from High to ASAP and a report is generated and ed. You can also create Notification Policies from scratch if you desire. For more information on Notification Policies and Automated Actions, see the Altiris Notification Server Help. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 26

27 Chapter 4: Helpdesk Business Rules Complex Conditions for Helpdesk Business Rules Helpdesk Business Rules are governed by conditions that you set up. When the condition or conditions of a Rule occur, Helpdesk runs the Rule. These conditions can be simple or complex. Simple conditions are usually non-nested condition groups which use data from the Helpdesk Database. Complex conditions are usually nested condition groups or are advanced conditions which use data from the Notification Database. When you create Rules or Tasks, you specify conditions for when the Rule is run or the Task is available. Helpdesk gives you the ability to nest condition groups. The available condition groups are: When ALL of these are TRUE When ANY of these are TRUE When ANY of these are FALSE When ALL of these are FALSE The default is When ALL of these are TRUE. Condition groups can be nested inside each other. You can add as many conditions as you want to a group and add or nest as many condition groups as you want. To nest a condition group, click inside a condition group, then click the Add a When <end> group icon. A new condition group will be added. The FALSE conditions let you provide exceptions to your Rules. For example, suppose you have the following Routing Rule: When ALL of these are TRUE When ALL of these are TRUE Category is the same as Article Review <end> When ANY of these is FALSE Status is equal to Hold <end> <end> This lets you route an incident in the Article Review queue except when it has a status of Hold. Advanced Conditions Helpdesk stores only a subset of asset information from the Notification Database. The drop-down list used for selecting conditions in a Rule or Task lists this subset of information. Helpdesk provides a way to use any data from the Notification Database by selecting Advanced condition in the dropdown list. You can select the Advanced condition at the bottom of the condition drop-down list (listed as <Advanced condition>). When you select <Advanced condition> and click the Add button, you can enter any condition that you want by using the AEXQUERY macro. Notification Server data from any Notification Server field can be retrieved using the AEXQUERY macro. The AEXQUERY macro specifies a SQL query to run against the Notification Database. Because this data is intended to replace a single value in the invoking text stream, this query must return a single scalar value of any length. Failure to do so means that the macro fails to resolve. In order to relate Helpdesk asset data to the correct Notification Server data, the SQL query within the AEXQUERY macro can contain WORKITEM macros to select values from the Notification Database based on asset name, NS ID, and so forth. The AEXQUERY macro lets you query directly into the Notification Database using SQL. For example, you can create a query that looks for the asset of a resource that is associated with an incident and gathers inventory detail. You can also create a condition for when the asset is Server and the Operating System is Windows 2003 SP2. When you use the AEXQUERY macro, if the select statement has any embedded simple macros, it will insert that value from the incident directly into the query. You don't have to hard code the query. It will be based on dynamic information from the incident record when the Rule is evaluated. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 27

28 Helpdesk Help This section identifies the major features of the Helpdesk consoles. Each of the major menus accessible from the Helpdesk console are listed below. Quick Links Menu Quick Reference Guide on page 29 See the Helpdesk menu structure and the commands available for each specific features. The Incidents Menu on page 31 An incident is a reported issue or request for service, with general or specific information about the nature of the issue. Workers or queues responding to incidents can add processes or step procedure to the incident itself, or publish a Knowledge Base article to help others know how to resolve the incident being reported. The Quick Incidents Menu on page 56 The Quick Incidents commands are used to manage quick incidents, which are used by workers to create new incidents for commonly reported problems or requests. The Admin Menu on page 60 This menu is reserved for administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, to use some of the most powerful administrative features of the Helpdesk Solution. The Contacts Menu on page 92 Contacts are users who request help, or managers acting as the contact point for another user for the associated problem or request. Each user should be defined in the database as a contact. Workers are also contacts and their information is stored in the database as well. Contacts are associated with incidents. The Assets Menu on page 95 Assets can be any resource that you want to track through the Helpdesk database, such as; computers, printers, monitors, network hubs, and more. The Worker Menu on page 99 The Worker menu is displayed if you have the appropriate privileges to perform tasks such as, setting up new workers, changing hourly rates, assigning worker to queues, and managing queues in the Helpdesk system. The Recents Menu on page 104 The Recents menu provides a convenient way for you to find the most recent incidents, contacts, and assets you have accessed. The recents menu is divided into three sections; Incidents, Contacts, and Assets. The Knowledge Base Menu on page 105 The Knowledge Base is a convenient, fully integrated way to capture and preserve information to be used for future reference. Helpdesk workers can search the Knowledge Base to find resolutions to incidents they are working on, reducing the time needed to restore service and makes each worker more productive. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 28

29 Chapter 5: Menu Quick Reference Guide The Menu Quick Reference Guide lists the Helpdesk menu structure and the commands available for each feature. The menu quick reference guide has links to take you directly to specific topics, which will provide greater detail to help you become more familiar with the Helpdesk Solution. When you log on to the Helpdesk system, the features displayed in the menu fly-outs are conditional, based on the privileges you have been granted by the administrators. For example, if you do not have privileges to administer the Knowledge Base, you will not find the command displayed on the Helpdesk menu. Menu Quick Reference Guide Menu Tasks The Incidents Menu New Incident Find Incidents Queries List Queries New Query Delete Queries Bulletins List Bulletins New Bulletin Delete Bulletins Last Query Results Edit Multiple Incidents Retrieve Queued Incident Delete Incidents The Quick Incidents Menu List Quick Incidents New Quick Incident Delete Quick Incidents Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 29

30 Chapter 5: Menu Quick Reference Guide Menu Quick Reference Guide Menu The Admin Menu Admin Report Categories List Categories Edit Categories Tasks List Tasks New Task Delete Tasks Routing Rules List Routing Rules New Routing Rule Delete Routing Rules Incident Rules List Incident Rules New Incident Rule Delete Incident Rules Notify Rules List Notify Rules New Notify Rule Delete Notify Rules Templates List Templates New Template Inboxes List Inboxes New Inbox Delete Inboxes Inbox Filters List Inbox Filters New Inbox Filter Delete Inbox Filters The Contacts Menu Contact Home Find Contacts New Contact Delete Contacts The Assets Menu Asset Home Find Assets New Asset Delete Assets The Worker Menu List Workers New Worker List Queues New Queue The Recents Menu Incidents Contacts Assets The Knowledge Base Menu Tasks Configure the Knowledge Base Search Articles Publish Existing Document Review Article Search Article Properties Libraries Archive Articles Delete Articles Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 30

31 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Incident Settings An incident is a reported issue or request for service, with general or specific information about the nature of the issue. Workers or queues responding to incidents can add processes or step procedure to the incident itself, or publish a Knowledge Base article to help others know how to resolve the incident being reported. Workers assigned to the Helpdesk department will create a new incident for each issue or request reported by other users. Incidents are assigned to either a worker or a queue when they are created. Routing rules, set by administrators and managers with the appropriate privileges, can also be applied to incidents, which helps direct them to an appropriate person or queue for resolution. You can use the Find Incidents command to search for incidents already entered in the Helpdesk system, or you can use the Queries command to retrieve data based on specific values. Both of these method are similar, because you have the option of saving the search criteria used in the find incidents command as a new query. Incidents can become bulletins, which lets workers link to other incidents to the bulletin as a means of tracking system wide problems. A bulletin that informs workers about a major problem can help distribute information to a broad audience, while the incidents linked to the bulletin are managed as one call. When the problem is resolved and the incident that became the bulletin can be closed, all the incidents linked to the bulletin are automatically closed. Incidents can have a contact or an asset associated with them, send s, attach files, and link to other incidents. All these features and more, are available through the Incident fly-out menu. Helpdesk Solution gives you the ability to manage your IT infrastructure by tracking and routing each request in the most efficient manner possible. Quick Links Incident Settings on page 31 Worker Report on page 33 New Incident on page 35 Find Incidents on page 43 Queries on page 46 Bulletins on page 49 Last Query Results on page 52 Edit Multiple Incidents on page 52 Retrieve Queued Incident on page 54 Delete Incidents on page 54 This command is used to configure the incidents database, which is where the Helpdesk incidents are stored. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 31

32 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Incident Settings The incidents database gets created when Alert Manager is installed (at the installation of Notification Server) and is used by Helpdesk Solution. The Incident Settings page gives you the ability to create a new database. However, if you create a new database, the data in your old database will not transfer over and you will need to configure your Helpdesk Knowledge Base again. If you create a new database, your old database will be preserved so you can use it again in the future. Keep in mind that data will only be added to the selected database on the Incident Settings page. The advantage of keeping incidents stored in a separate database instead of combining data in the Notification Database, is that you can perform search commands much faster. To configure Incidents 1 From the Altiris Console, click the Configuration tab. 2 Click Notification Server Settings > Incident Settings. 3 Enter a property value in the Database field if you do not want to keep the default name. 4 Select the check box if you want to use a specific SQL login. a b c Enter a property value in the User name field. Enter a property value in the Password field. Click Test Connection to make sure you can connect to the database. 5 Select Synchronize resource and incident data with Notification Server, if desired. For more information, see Importing Assets and Contacts from Notification Server on page Select Read from active inboxes, if desired and enter the Inbox processing interval (in seconds). 7 Select Process deletions and multiple incident edits, if desired and enter the Incident processing interval (in seconds). 8 Click Apply. Importing Assets and Contacts from Notification Server Alert Manager automatically imports Notification Server resources into its own database for use as Assets. Initially, Alert Manager imports Computer resources only. Use the Resource Types command under the Admin menu on the Incidents tab to choose the types of resources to be imported. This process is also called autoupdating because it happens automatically. This process occurs in the background on a schedule you can set on the Incident Settings page. You can disable all automatic integration with Notification Server by clearing the Synchronize resource and incident data with Notification Server check-box. The Synchronize Interval can be any integer number of seconds greater than or equal to 60. The autoupdate process is efficient but it can take several seconds of CPU time to run on very large databases. Do not set the interval too small. The default for a new installation is 3600 seconds (one hour). Most of the data imported into Alert Manager changes very slowly, if ever; a more aggressive schedule is usually not required. If you want to force an autoupdate, run the Resource Types command, choose Edit and then OK without changing the list. That will cause the autoupdate process to start in the background. The autoupdate process executes the queries found in the /AexHD/templates/nssource.xml file. This file has more detailed information about how the queries work. The queries are carefully designed to only return resources that are new or whose data differs from the data stored in the Alert Manager tables. Alert Manager considers two Notification Server resources to be identical if they share the same asset name and resource type. The asset name is constructed by Alert Manager from various data fields if the raw name field is blank. The first resource found by Alert Manager will be imported - duplicates are then ignored. Computer resources are a special case. If the vresource.ismanaged field Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 32

33 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Worker Report Worker Report is set, then those resources take precedence and Alert Manager will import it. Also, if an asset created by a worker using the New Asset command matches the imported data, then that asset will be updated to become an imported asset. Assets that are autoupdated from Notification Server are not directly editable inside Alert Manager/ Helpdesk, even if they were originally created by a worker. You can link out to the Resource Manager to edit the underlying resource data which will then be autoupdated into Alert Manager the next time the autoupdate runs. User resources are a special case. User resources that meet certain criteria will be added as Contacts in the Alert Manager database. User resources cannot be added as Assets. User resources must have a non-empty row (UserId, Domain) in the Inv_Global_Windows_Users table or a non-blank field in the vuser view to be considered for importing. If some User resources have identical (UserId, Domain) rows or identical addresses, then only one of them will be imported and the others will be ignored. Unlike assets, workers can always edit contact information but changes made to the imported data fields, such as contact_ , will revert back to what the Notification Server User resource has as the correct value of that field when the next import occurs. Changes to fields that are not autoupdated, such as contact_comment, are preserved. The autoupdate process detects when Notification Server resources previously autoupdated into Alert Manager have been deleted from the Notification Database. It then marks those assets and contacts as not autoupdated, allowing workers to freely edit them again. The autoupdate process reports its activities in the Notification Server logfile. When assets or contacts are created or modified, a message is written there. If no changes are made, then no messages are written unless the LogBackgroundActivity value in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Altiris\eXpress\Helpdesk Package registry key is set to true without the quotes. In that case, a message will be output each time the autoupdate process runs. Troubleshooting If you have problems with synchronization, set the LogBackgroundActivity registry value as shown above. Then set the Synchronize Interval to a small number (such as 120) so you can see results quickly. Do this using the Incident Settings page. Do not try to set the other registry values directly. Because of.net, the actual times between autoupdates may be up to 60 seconds more than the interval you specify. Note: Using the Incident Settings page resets Alert Manager. Workers using the user interface may lose work. Because Notification Server accepts data from a variety of mechanisms, it is sometimes possible to get bad resource data into the database. Duplicates and incomplete information are the most common problems. Troubleshooting these kinds of problems involves looking at the Notification Database at the raw SQL level using tools like SQL Query Analyzer. It helps to have a basic familiarity with the Notification Server data tables and views. You can run the autoupdate queries manually in SQL Query Analyzer or other SQL server tool. Simply copy them out of the nssource.xml file and run them against the Notification Database. The nssource.xml file contains a detailed description of how the queries work. If one of the queries return rows even after autoupdate has run many times, then Alert Manager is rejecting those rows because they would create illegal duplicates in the Alert Manager database or because they are otherwise incomplete. This may represent a Helpdesk problem, especially if the logs report an autoupdate processing error. If they fail to return resources you believe should be being picked up, you need to look at those resources closely to see if they actually exist in the Notification Database and are not marked as deleted. Also, check the Alert Manager managed_object or contact table to see if there might be an asset or contact that has status i for inactive that might be a duplicate of what you are trying to find. This is the default page displayed when a Helpdesk specialist logs into the Helpdesk system. By default, the Report period value is Past 30 days, and the Query value is set to Incidents I recently viewed. The incidents listed on the page, can be sorted in ascending order by clicking on one of the Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 33

34 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Worker Report title columns. For example, if you want to display all the incidents by order of their category, you can click the Category column and the incidents will display in ascending order according to the category field. You can also select any other column in the table, which will sort the incidents according to the column name. On the right side of the page, there are two titles called, Incidents assigned to me and Incidents owned by me, with a list of status topics below them. There will be an item count next to each status topic if there are any incidents for you to view. At the bottom of the page, you will see the Bulletins section. This is where you will find system broadcast messages, created by administrators, managers, and other workers, that inform workers and guest users about system wide problems. For example, if the network has an outage, a bulletin message can provide information to let others know that it has been reported, and the Network department is working to restore connectivity. Bulletins can also inform workers of server maintenance schedules, or any other kind of information that may be helpful to workers as they take support calls. See Bulletins on page 49 for further details. To view the Worker report 1 Click the drop-down arrow and select the number of days for the Report period from the list, and then click Go. 2 The default Query is set for Incidents I recently viewed. If you want to change this setting, click the drop-down arrow and select a Query from the list. The query list contains all shared and personal non-prompted queries (input from the worker is not required). This lets workers retrieve incidents without having to go to the Queries fly-out menu. 3 Click on any item count (highlighted in blue) at the top of page. A new page will display the query results with a list of incidents. 4 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page. 5 Click the View or Edit button. 6 Click the Table button to change the view of the incident table. A new page is displayed where you can add or delete columns from the table. Any changes you make will affect all incident table views in the console. 7 At the bottom of the page is the Bulletins section. Choose of the following. Click the View button to review the content of a bulletin. Click the Edit button to change the content of a bulletin Click the Notify me when this bulletin clears button to create a linked incident that will notify you when the primary incident changes to the appropriate status. Link Incident to a Bulletin If a number of calls from users report the same type of problem, you can track and manage the issue through the use of this feature. Each problem reported to the Helpdesk should have its own incident opened for tracking and managing purposes. When a system-wide problem occurs, users will call to report the same issue to the Helpdesk center. Workers can create a new incident for each call received, and then link the incident to the bulletin reporting the status of the issue. After the problem is resolved and the bulletin is closed, any incidents linked to the bulletin will automatically be closed as well. To link an Incident to a Bulletin 1 Click Incidents > New Incident. 2 Enter the property values in the fields on the page. 3 Click Save. 4 Click Incidents > Worker Report. 5 Click on the incident you want to link (newly created) in the Incidents I recently viewed list. 6 Click the New button next to the bulletin that you want the new incident to be linked. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 34

35 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu New Incident New Incident Calls that are reported to the Helpdesk organization must be monitored and tracked to ensure problem resolution. For each call that is reported to the Helpdesk, a new incident is created by a Helpdesk Specialist, although administrators and managers can create new incidents also. The new incident s toolbar consists of the following buttons, Save, Save and Create a New Incident, Cancel, Contacts, Assets, , Link Incident, Attachments, and Bulletins. These options give you the flexibility to associate contacts or assets with an incident, add notifications or file attachments, link to another incident, and create a bulletin from the incident s content. After you save an incident, the View Incident page is displayed, where you can review its contents, edit, publish the incident to the Knowledge Base, or search the Knowledge Base for an article. To create a new Incident 1 Click Incidents > New Incident. 2 Enter the incident property values in the fields on the page. 3 Click Save. Quick Links View Incident on page 35 Edit Incident on page 36 Publish Incident to Knowledge Base on page 36 Incident Search Knowledge Base on page 37 View Contact Properties on page 37 Find a Contact on page 37 Select a Contact on page 38 View Asset Properties on page 38 Find an Asset on page 39 Select an Asset on page 39 Messages on page 40 Link Incidents on page 40 File Attachments on page 41 Incident to Bulletin on page 42 View Incident Viewing an incident lets you review all the property values you entered for an incident. This is also a necessary step if you want to edit values, or publish the contents to the Knowledge Base. After an incident is created, this page displays so that Helpdesk workers can issue an incident number to users who call in to report issues. To view an Incident 1 After you save an incident, the view page automatically displays. Choose one of the options. Click the Edit button to change the property values of the incident. Click the Publish button to create a Knowledge Base article from the incident. Click the Search Knowledge Base button to find an article in the Knowledge Base. Click the View Bulletin button to review the bulletin associated with the incident. Click the Details button to toggle between displaying or hiding the incident s History. <OR> Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 35

36 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu New Incident 2 Below Common Tasks of the Helpdesk menu, enter the incident number you want to view in the Incident field, and click the View button. Choose one of the options. Click the Edit button to change the property values of the incident. Click the Publish button to create a Knowledge Base article from the incident. Click the Search Knowledge Base button to find an article in the Knowledge Base. Click the View Bulletin button to review the bulletin associated with the incident. Click the Details button to toggle between displaying or hiding the incident s History. Edit Incident After you save an incident, the View Incident page displays the property values you entered for the incident. From this page, you can choose to edit, publish the incident to the Knowledge Base, or search the Knowledge Base. You can also enter an incident number to edit below the Common Tasks of the Helpdesk menu, which will automatically display the Edit Incident page without having to go through the View Incident page. To edit an Incident 1 From the View Incident page, click the Edit button. a b <OR> Re-enter the property values of the incident in the fields on the page. Click Save. 2 Below Common Tasks of the Helpdesk menu, enter the incident number you want to edit in the Incident field, and click the Edit button. a b Re-enter the property values of the incident in the fields on the page. Click Save. Publish Incident to Knowledge Base This command lets you create an article in the Knowledge Base from the content of an incident. You can choose from Problem/Cause/Solution, or the Question/Answer format types. The format type determines the content required for the article. The article you submit must be reviewed by an administrator or manager before it can be published for other users. See The Knowledge Base Menu on page 105 for further details. To publish an Incident to the Knowledge Base 1 From the View Incident page, click the Publish button. 2 By default, the incident property values will display at the top of the Publish Article page. Edit the Title, Author, and Keywords fields as needed. 3 Click the drop-down arrow and select an Expires date. 4 Click the drop-down arrow and select the article s Format. 5 Depending on the format you selected, there will be either 2 or 3 blank fields displayed. Enter the content according to the description next to each field. Note: The Comments from the incident are displayed at the bottom of the page for easy reference. You can also copy and paste the comments into the fields of the Knowledge Base form. 6 Click OK. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 36

37 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu New Incident Incident Search Knowledge Base After you save an incident, the View Incident page displays the property values you entered for the incident. You can click the Search Knowledge Base button, which will display the Search Articles page. This is helpful if you are looking for articles to resolve the incident, or you want to create an article from an incident, but want to find out if a similar article already exists. See The Knowledge Base Menu on page 105 for further details. View Contact Properties If you want to associate a contact with an incident, you must search for a contact already entered in the Helpdesk system, or enter a new contact. If the Contact field value is set to --[none]--, or the result count option --[select (2 found)]--, and you select the View contact properties button, the Contact page is displayed for you to add a new contact. If there are other incidents associated with the contact you are viewing, they will be displayed at the bottom of the page. To view Contact properties 1 Click Incidents > New Incident. 2 Enter a search criteria in the Field field, 3 Click Find. 4 Click the Contact drop-down arrow and select a contact from the list. If the contact you want is not listed, or you want to change a selected contact s properties, continue to the next step. 5 Click the View contact properties button. 6 Enter the property values in the fields on the page. 7 Click Save. Find a Contact This command will search the Helpdesk system for active contacts based on a search criteria, and then let you associate a contact with an incident. Enter a search string into the Find field, and then click the Find button. Helpdesk will search in several different contact fields including name and phone number. The text pattern can be any valid expression supported by Transact SQL LIKE, such as %, _, [], [^]. For example, to search for all contacts named John, you could specify the pattern John%. The search pattern will only be used to find active contacts, and the results will show all contacts that have John in the name field. Additionally, this command will prefix and suffix the pattern entered in the Find field, with a % if a % symbol is not detected in the pattern. This will result in a slower search performance because a table scan is performed. If one or more contacts match the specified pattern, then the contact dropdown list will be populated. If you click the Find button without entering any search criteria, all active contacts entered in the Helpdesk system will be displayed. The contact selected from the drop-down list, will be the contact that is associated with the incident when it is saved. If --[none]-- is selected, then no contact will be associated with the incident. If a contact and asset are specified when an incident is saved, then a contact-asset association will automatically be made. This association will be used for the auto-association feature. Auto-Associating an Incident s Asset Using the Contact When a contact is selected, the system will determine if there are any assets associated with the contact. This is done only if an asset has not been selected from the Asset drop-down list, which is populated with any assets associated with the contact. The first contact displayed in the drop-down list, is arbitrarily selected. Auto-association is attempted if a contact is selected from the Contact drop-down list on the New Incident page, or in any operation that results in a contact being selected from the Select a Contact page, such as; New contact, Recent contact, or Find contact. Note: Auto-association only occurs when you create a new incident. This feature is not available from the View or Edit Incident pages. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 37

38 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu New Incident To Find a Contact 1 Click Incidents > New incident. 2 Enter a partial name or phone number into the Find field. 3 Click Find. 4 Click the Contact drop-down arrow and select a contact from the search results. 5 Click Save. Select a Contact This command lets you keep or remove the current contact, create a new contact, or associate the incident with a different contact all from the same page. From this page you can view if there is a contact associated with an asset, review recent contacts, or find a contact already entered in the Helpdesk system. To select a Contact 1 Click Incidents > New Incident. 2 Click the Select a contact button. 3 Click one of the following options: Keep current contact: Do not change the contact associated with the incident. Remove current contact: The selected contact will no longer be associated with the incident. New Contact: The Contact page displays. Enter the property values in the fields on the page. Contact associated with the current asset: The drop-down list displays the contacts that have been previously associated with the current asset. Recent contact: The drop-down list displays recent contacts. Find contact: To find a contact, enter as many values in the fields as you want for a search criteria, and then click Find. The search results will populate the drop-down list below the Find button; select a contact from the list. 4 Click OK. 5 Click the Properties button to view, edit, or create a new contact. View Asset Properties If you want to associate an asset with an incident, you must search for an asset already entered in the Helpdesk system, or enter a new asset. If the Asset field value is set to --[none]--, or the result count option --[select (2 found)]--, and you select the View asset properties button, the Asset page is displayed for you to add a new asset. If there are other incidents associated with the asset you are viewing, they will be displayed at the bottom of the page. To view Asset properties 1 Click Incidents > New Incident. 2 Enter a search criteria in the Field field, 3 Click Find. 4 Click the Asset drop-down arrow and select an asset from the list. If the asset you want is not listed, or you want to change a selected asset s properties, continue to the next step. 5 Click the View asset properties button. 6 Enter the property values in the fields on the page. 7 Click Save. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 38

39 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu New Incident Find an Asset This command will search the Helpdesk system for active assets, based on a search criteria, and then let you associate an asset with an incident. Enter a search string into the Find field, and then click the Find button. Helpdesk will search in several different asset fields. The text pattern can be any valid expression supported by Transact SQL LIKE, such as %, _, [], [^]. For example, to search for all assets named HP, you could specify the pattern HP%. The search pattern will only be used to find active assets, and the results will show all assets that have HP in the name field. Additionally, this command will prefix and suffix the pattern entered in the Find field, with a % if a % symbol is not detected in the pattern. This will result in a slower search performance because a table scan is performed. If one or more assets match the specified pattern, then the assets drop-down list will be populated. If you click the Find button without entering any search criteria, all active assets entered in the Helpdesk system will be displayed. The asset selected from the drop-down list, will be the asset that is associated with the incident when it is saved. If --[none]-- is selected, then no asset will be associated with the incident. If an asset and contact are specified when an incident is saved, then a asset-contact association will automatically be made. This association will be used for the auto-association feature. Auto-Associating an Incident s Contact Using the Asset When an asset is selected, the system will determine if there are any contacts associated with the asset. This is done only if a contact has not been selected from the Contact drop-down list, which is populated with any contacts associated with the asset. The first asset displayed in the drop-down list, is arbitrarily selected. Auto-association is attempted if an asset is selected from the Asset drop-down list on the New Incident page, or in any operation that results in an asset being selected from the Select an Asset page, such as; New asset, Recent asset, or Find asset. Note: Auto-association only occurs when you create a new incident. This feature is not available from the View or Edit Incident pages. To find an Asset 1 Click Incidents > New Incident. 2 Enter a partial name or manufacturer into the Find field. 3 Click Find. 4 Click the Asset drop-down arrow and select an asset from the search results. 5 Click Save. Select an Asset This command lets you keep or remove the current asset, create a new asset, or associate the incident with a different asset all from the same page. From this page, you can view if there is an asset associated with a contact, review recent assets, or find an asset already entered in the Helpdesk system. To select an Asset 1 Click Incidents > New Incident. 2 Click the Select an asset button. 3 Click one of the following options: Keep current asset: Do not change the asset associated with the incident. Remove current asset: The selected asset will no longer be associated with the incident. New asset: The Asset page displays. Enter the property values in the fields on the page. Asset associated with the current contact: The drop-down list displays the assets that have been associated with the current contact. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 39

40 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu New Incident Recent asset: The drop-down list displays recent assets. Find asset: To find an asset, enter as many values in the fields as you want for a search criteria, and then click Find. The search results will populate the drop-down list below the Find button; select an asset from the list. 4 Click OK. 5 Click the Properties button to view, edit, or create a new asset. Messages You can send messages to any worker, queue, or contact that has a valid address. The s you send will be recorded in the history of the incident for future reference. s are delivered to the recipients specified when you save an incident; however, this feature should not be confused with that is generated from Notify Rules associated with incidents. See Notify Rules on page 74 for more details. To send messages 1 Click Incidents > New Incident. 2 Click the button. 3 Select the To, Cc, or Bcc check boxes to send notification to the Current contact. 4 Select the To, Cc, or Bcc check boxes for each recipient available in the list. 5 Below These addresses, are the To, Cc, and Bcc fields. Enter an address for additional recipients, using the SMTP format. For example, [email protected];[email protected]. Use a semicolon to separate each address you enter. 6 Select one or more attachments to send with the . Any file you wish to attach must first be uploaded. Click Upload new attachments to upload a file. From the Upload new attachments screen, you can upload a file or attach a URL. 7 Click the drop-down arrow and select an template from the list. 8 Enter additional comments in the Message field. 9 Click Done. Note: The message is formatted and inserted into the template you selected, and then sent to each recipient you specified. The recipient list and message are recorded in the Comment field of the incident along with the worker's explicitly typed comments. Link Incidents If you have two incidents tracking the same problem or request, or they are somehow related, you can combine the two incidents into one trackable incident by linking one incident to another. While the link command lets you only link to one other incident, it is possible for multiple incidents to be linked to a the same incident. Linking multiple incidents is like a parent-child relationship, you can have one parent incident and many children incidents. This makes incident tracking and managing easier and more efficient for both the workers reporting incidents, and the queues that respond to incidents. If an incident was previously linked at the time you are trying to link to another incident, the first link will be overwritten by the second link. To clarify this command in more detail, be sure to read through the scenario below. Scenario 1 Worker Susan creates incident #2 requesting to move a PC. Incident #4 is referring to moving the same PC. Susan links incident #2 to incident #4. 2 Worker John creates incident #5 requesting that computer equipment needs moving in the same office as incident #4. John links incident #5 to incident #4. 3 Worker Bob creates incident #6 requesting that a printer needs to move from one office to another, the same office move as stated in incident #4. Bob links incident #6 to incident #4. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 40

41 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu New Incident 4 Worker Susan reopens incident #2 to make edits. Incident #3 is another PC move for the same office as stated in incident #2. Susan links incident #2 to incident #3. 5 The current incident is linked to the most recently selected incident, after the worker clicks OK. To Link an Incident 1 Click Incidents > New Incident. 2 Click the Link button. 3 Click one of the following link options. Keep current: The default setting is Not currently linked. Remove current link: Do not link to another incident. Link to a recently viewed incident: Click the drop-down arrow and select an incident from the recent list. Find incident: Enter a search string, and then click Find. Click the drop-down arrow and select an incident from the search results. Item number: Enter the incident number you want to link to. 4 Click OK. File Attachments This command lets you attach files or URL addresses to incidents. Workers or queues retrieving incidents can use the files, or be directed to URL addresses, to help debug and resolve the problems being reported. There is no limitation on file format types; however, IIS does limit the size of files that can be attached. Files that are too large in size, will be rejected and an error message will be displayed. If needed, see the IIS administrator to increase the file size limit of attachments. To attach files to an Incident 1 Click Incidents > New Incident. 2 Click the Attachment button. 3 Choose one of the following options. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 41

42 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu New Incident Click Browse to navigate to the file location. After you select a file to upload, the file path will appear in the Upload file field. If you know the file s location, you can enter a path directly without using the Browse button. Enter a valid HTTP address in the Attach URL field. 4 Enter a property value in the Description field. Note: If you enter a property value in the Description field, the text will display in the Attachments field. If you leave the Description field blank, the file name or URL you attached will be displayed instead. 5 Click Attach. The file(s) you selected will be uploaded to the server, and depending on the file size, the length of time to complete the upload may vary. 6 Repeat Step 3-5 to attach additional files or URLs. 7 If the files or URLs you attached are not correct, select one of the attachments listed in the Attachments field, and then click Remove. 8 Click Done. Incident to Bulletin Bulletins are messages that keep Helpdesk workers and other users accessing My Helpdesk (optional) updated on system related problems, server maintenance schedules, or any other information that will help workers respond to calls being reported or prevent users from raising incidents for known issues. Bulletins are displayed at the bottom of the Worker Report page, which is the default page for workers using the Helpdesk system, and are also displayed on the My Helpdesk Console page. There are two ways to create a bulletin, through the New Incident command, or by using the Bulletins command. If you want to let users to link incidents to a bulletin, you must create an incident or open an existing incident first, and then make it a bulletin by clicking the Bulletin button on the Edit or New Incident pages. Using the Bulletins command from the fly-out menu lets you create a bulletin message for other workers to view, but you cannot link incidents to the bulletin itself. If you make an incident a bulletin, when you save the incident, the View Incident page will display a bulletins View button at the bottom of the page. When a user calls in to the Helpdesk department reporting a problem that has already been made into a bulletin, the worker will create a new incident to track the call, and then create a new linked bulletin. There is no limit to the number of incidents that can be linked to a bulletin. After the incident gets resolved, the owner of the bulletin will open the incident (that was made into a bulletin) and set the status to Closed. The bulletin becomes inactive and is no longer displayed to users, and all incidents linked to the bulletin are automatically closed. To make an Incident a Bulletin 1 Click Incidents > New Incident. 2 Enter the property values in the fields on the page. 3 Click the Bulletin button. 4 Select the Make this incident a bulletin check box. 5 Enter a property value in the Bulletin title field. 6 Enter a message in the Bulletin description field. 7 Select the status check boxes. This determines if the bulletin is visible in the Worker or My Helpdesk consoles. 8 Select the Visible to guests check box if guest users will be able to view the bulletin. 9 Select the Guests can link check box if guest users can link incidents to this bulletin. 10 Click OK. 11 Click Save. Note: The new incident must be saved before the bulletin is displayed to other users. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 42

43 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Find Incidents Find Incidents This page lets you search the Helpdesk system to find incidents based on either simple, advanced, or expert search options. Workers can use this command to find incidents previously entered, as a means to help resolve other open incidents. You can make the search criteria you entered to find incidents, into a query that can be used by other workers. The Find Incidents page has the following behaviors 1 If the user changes from a simpler tab to a more advanced tab, the settings from the simpler tab are used to pre-populate the settings of the more advanced tab (for example Simple>Advanced uses the query-by-example Simple fields to create the boolean equivalent in the Advanced query builder, while Simple>Expert and Advanced>Expert renders the previous page's actual SQL statement). This serves the dual purpose of demonstrating how the query model works as well as training workers how to create more complex query criteria. Going back the other way is not supported and the UI is reset (the page will pop up a message box warning the user that the current criteria will be lost). 2 The last page the user was on is stored in their CurrentWorker tags so they always come back to the Find page they last used. Simple This page lets you search for incidents already entered in the Helpdesk system. The property values of the fields you enter as a search criteria can be saved as a new query. This is helpful when the search you are running is done on a regular basis. You can choose whether or not you want to make the query you create visible for other workers to use. The Pattern field (available when you click the More choices link) is used to match on the Category field and the Scope drop-down list helps you select an appropriate pattern for a given category. You can also type in your own search pattern if you want. The Comment/Title field sets up an OR clause to search in both the current title and historical comment. Note: The Simple page in Helpdesk Solution 6.0 SP2 is a combination of the Simple and Advanced pages in Helpdesk Solution 6.0 SP1 and earlier. To simple search for an Incident 1 Click Incidents > Find Incidents. 2 Enter the search criteria in the fields on the page. 3 The default method to match the Title and Comment fields is, Match All words. To change the search method, click the drop-down arrow and select one of the other options. 4 Click the drop-down arrow and select a value for the Category, Status, and Assigned fields. Click the More choices link to view more fields to search from. You do not have to enter values in all available fields. 5 Click Find. If the search yields any incidents, they will be displayed on the same page. 6 Click Reset to clear the fields and start another search. 7 Click the Table button to change the view of the table. A new page is displayed where you can add or delete columns from the Find Incident table. 8 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click Edit button to modify the incident. 9 Click the Save query button to save the property values of the fields you entered for the search criteria as a new query. After the New Query page displays, do the following. a Enter a property value in the Name field. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 43

44 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Find Incidents b c d The Based on value is used for when you want to create a new query from an existing query and should not be used from the Find Incidents page. Go to the next step. Select the Share this query with all workers check box if you want other workers to be able to use this query. Click Save. Advanced The Advanced page is a query builder, based on the Helpdesk rule editors. It uses the rule field selector and field edit sub pages to allow you to build a complex boolean expression. In the Advanced page, the rule structure is transformed into a SQL statement. In addition to the criterion editors we now support, lookups offer is one of and is not one of editors that manage a list of possible lookup values and target comparison values. To advance search for an Incident 1 Click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. A blank search group is provided. a To add an item to a group, select <none specified> or an item inside the group, click the dropdown arrow and select from the list of fields, and then click Add. A new page will display additional options for the field you selected. Select the criteria for that field, and click OK to add the item to the group. b To change the group condition, select the group (for example, When ALL of these are TRUE) and click the Edit icon. A new page will display available options for this group condition. Select the one you want and click OK. c To add a group inside of a group, select an item inside of a group and click the When...<end> group icon. 2 Review the criteria you created in the display box. You can add more criteria, edit, move up, move down, or delete a criterion. Highlight a criterion to change, and then click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. 3 Click Find. If the search yields any incidents, they will be displayed on the same page. 4 Click Reset to clear the fields and start another search. 5 Click the Table button to change the view of the table. A new page is displayed where you can add or delete columns from the Find Incident table. 6 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click Edit button to modify the incident. 7 Click the Save query button to save the property values of the fields you entered for the search criteria as a new query. After the New Query page displays, do the following. a b c d Enter a property value in the Name field. The Based on value is used for when you want to create a new query from an existing query and should not be used from the Find Incidents page. Go to the next step. Select the Share this query with all workers check box if you want other workers to be able to use this query. Click Save. Expert The Expert page is a multiline edit box allowing you to type the where clause in raw SQL. This is for workers with an expert knowledge of SQL. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 44

45 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Find Incidents To expert search for an Incident 1 Create a SQL expression in the Expression box. 2 Click Find. If the search yields any incidents, they will be displayed on the same page. 3 Click Reset to clear the fields and start another search. 4 Click the Table button to change the view of the table. A new page is displayed where you can add or delete columns from the Find Incident table. 5 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click Edit button to modify the incident. 6 Click the Save query button to save the property values of the fields you entered for the search criteria as a new query. After the New Query page displays, do the following. a b c d Enter a property value in the Name field. The Based on value is used for when you want to create a new query from an existing query and should not be used from the Find Incidents page. Go to the next step. Select the Share this query with all workers check box if you want other workers to be able to use this query. Click Save. Search in Comment or Title Field You can search within the comment field of an incident. Unlike searching in other fields, which search only the current state of the incident, searching Comments works against the current state of the incident as well as historical incident data. This is very beneficial as workers search incidents for solutions to similar problems. Full-text searching using FREETEXT and CONTAINS (Transact SQL) syntax is supported, but may require configuration of the database itself. Full-text searching provides very powerful searching within the Title and Comment fields. If MS SQL 7 or 2000 has not been configured for full-text searching, searches can still be done using Transact SQL wildcard character searches (see Wildcard Searches below). These searches are more limited than full-text and can be less efficient than full-text searching, especially as your database grows larger. Full-text (FREETEXT and CONTAINS) Searches Note: Full-text searching is only supported with MS SQL 7/2000, not MSDE. During initial configuration, full-text search configuration is attempted. In order to do this, the Full- Text Search service, MSSearch, must be installed using an advanced options available during the MS SQL installation. Additionally, this service can be activated post install. If successful, a full-text index is created on the comment column of the workitem table, and a new catalog, HD_workitem_comment, is created to store the full-text index. When full-text searches have been correctly configured, a message is displayed beneath the comment field that indicates that FREETEXT and CONTAINS syntax may be used. Additionally, the message contains the date and time that the index in the catalog HD_workitem_comment was last updated. Comment data modified after this date will not be found using a full-text search until the catalog has been updated (repopulated). If full-text search has not been correctly configured, a warning message, with a yellow background is displayed beneath the comment field that indicates that full-text search is not enabled. When full-text search is not enabled, FREETEXT and CONTAINS syntax may not be used. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 45

46 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Queries Manual Configuration If the Full-Text Search service, MSSearch, is not installed, full-text searches cannot be configured and full-text searches will need to be configured manually. MSDN has a good article on implementing full-text searches at ntp0111.htm. This article includes information on installing the MSSearch service, creating a fulltext index and catalog, populating the full-text catalog, and scheduling catalog updates. Syntax When full-text search service is enabled, it recognizes whether the search being performed is a FREETEXT or CONTAINS search. IMPORTANT: Do not include the FREETEXT or CONTAINS predicate in the search field, this will be done for you. FREETEXT is less precise than CONTAINS and matches values on meaning, not the exact word. The following MSDN article discusses FREETEXT in detail: psdk/sql/ts_fa-fz_2juc.htm. CONTAINS is more precise then FREETEXT and recognizes special syntax such as and, or, and not, FORMSOF, NEAR, etc. The following MSDN article discusses CONTAINS in detail: msdn.microsoft.com/library/psdk/sql/ts_ca-co_2y2h.htm. If full-text searching is enabled, the user can override FREETEXT or CONTAINS searches by checking Disable full-text searching in the Find feature. This lets the user perform wildcard searches as discussed in Wildcard Searches below. Wildcard Searches Wildcard searches are not nearly as powerful as FREETEXT and CONTAIN searches. If full-text searches have been configured, the user is limited to this type of search. Any valid Transact SQL wildcard character can be used (e.g. %, _, [] [^]). The following MSDN article discusses wildcard searches: ts_tsqlcon_6lyk.htm IMPORTANT Do not include the LIKE predicate in the search field, this will be done for you. Queries This command lets workers retrieve incident data by running queries against the Helpdesk database. The Helpdesk Solution ships with a set of standard queries, but you can add new queries by modifying an existing query or creating your own SQL expressions. Queries can also be selected from the drop-down list on the Worker Report page. The query command includes a parameter replacement system so that input can be solicited whenever the query is run. The query command only works against the most recent version of all incidents; however, any valid Tansact-SQL WHERE clause (minus the word WHERE ) can be entered as the expression to be evaluated. Quick Links List Queries on page 46 New Query on page 48 Delete Queries on page 49 List Queries This command displays a list of queries defined in the Helpdesk system. The list is comprised of the standard queries that come with the Helpdesk Solution, as well as new queries created by administrators, managers, or workers who have the appropriate privileges. The Shared value means that other workers can access and run the query. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 46

47 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Queries You can run, view, edit, delete, or duplicate one of the queries listed on the page. You can also go directly to the New Query page to create a query if the queries listed do not retrieve the data you want. To list Queries 1 Click Incidents > Queries > List Queries. 2 Click on one of the queries listed on the page. 3 Click the Run, View, Edit, Delete, New, or Clone button. Quick Links Run Query on page 47 View Query on page 47 Edit Query on page 48 Delete a Single Query on page 48 Clone Query on page 48 Run Query This command lets you run one of the queries selected from the List Queries page, which will retrieve data from the Helpdesk database. The Run Query - Query Name page displays the results in a table list. If you want to change the table columns of the queries listed, click the Table button and add or delete the columns as needed. You can also choose to view or edit any of the incidents listed on the page. To run a Query 1 Click Incidents > Queries > List Queries. 2 Click on one of the queries listed on the page. 3 Click the Run button. 4 The Run Query - Query Title page displays the results. Click the Table button to change the view of the query table. 5 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click the Edit button to modify the incident. View Query This command is used to view the properties of one of the queries you selected from the List Queries page. If you want to execute the query, click the Run button to retrieve the incident data from the Helpdesk database. To view a Query 1 Click Incidents > Queries > List Queries. 2 Click on one of the queries listed on the page. 3 Click the View button. 4 The View Query - Query Title page displays the query s properties. Click the Run button to run the selected query. 5 The Run Query page displays the results. Click the Table button to change the view of the query table. 6 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click the Edit button to modify the incident. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 47

48 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Queries Edit Query This command lets you edit one of the queries you selected from the List Queries page. The Edit Query - Query Title page displays the query s properties in the edit mode. You can change any of the property values listed on the page. To edit a Query 1 Click Incidents > Queries > List Queries. 2 Click on one of the queries listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 The Edit Query - Query Title page displays the query s properties in the edit mode. Re-enter a property value in the Name field. 5 The Based on value is used for when you want to create a new query from an existing query and should not be used from the Edit page. Go to the next step. 6 Edit the Expression as needed. 7 Select the Share this query with all workers check box if other workers can run this query. 8 Click the Run button to execute the query without saving your changes. The Run Query page displays the results, go to Step 11. If you want to save the query before you run it, go to Step Click the Table button to change the view of the table view. 10 Click the Save button to save the changes. The View Query page displays the changes you made. Click the Run button to execute the query. 11 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click the Edit button to modify the incident. Delete a Single Query This command lets you delete a single query, while the Delete Queries command on the fly-out menu can delete multiple queries at once. You will be asked to confirm the query you selected before it is actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete a single Query 1 Click Incidents > Queries > List Queries. 2 Click on one of the queries listed on the page. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Click OK. Clone Query The Clone icon brings up the New Query page pre-populated with the properties of the selected query. This lets you easily create a new query based on the properties of an existing one. New Query If the standard queries that come with the Helpdesk Solution do not retrieve the incident data you want, you can create as many new queries as you need using this command. The Based on field is a drop-down list of all the queries in the system. Select a query from the Based on list, Get the Expression, and then modify the expression as needed. This is the easiest way to create a new query; however, you can create a query based on any valid Tansact-SQL expression. Note: See the Advance Query section of the Reference Guide, (shipped with the Helpdesk Solution) for more information. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 48

49 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Bulletins To create a new Query 1 Click Incidents > Queries > New Query. 2 Enter a property value in the Name field. 3 Click the drop-down arrow and select a Based on value, and then click Get Expression. 4 Edit the Expression as needed. You can also enter an expression directly without using the Based on feature. 5 Select the Share this query with all workers check box if other workers can run this query. 6 Click the Run button to execute the query. The Run Query page displays the results, go to Step 9. 7 Click the Save button to save the changes. The View Query page displays the new query s property values you set. Click the Run button to execute the query. 8 Click the Table button to change the view of the query table. 9 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click the Edit button to modify the incident. Delete Queries This command lets you delete multiple queries from the Helpdesk system all at once. You will be asked to confirm the queries you selected before they are actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete Queries 1 Click Incidents > Queries > Delete Queries. 2 Select the check box next to each individual query that you want deleted from the system. 3 Click Next. 4 The Delete Queries page displays the queries you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the queries. Bulletins This command is for administrators, managers, and workers to communicate system wide information to a global audience. Bulletins can be used to announce known error, high-impact outages, changes in policy, IT maintenance schedules, and any other information needed to help manage the status of IT resources. The bulletin board messages are displayed on the Worker Report and the My Helpdesk pages. There are two ways to create a bulletin, through the Incident to Bulletin command, or by using this command. If you want to let other users link incidents to a bulletin, you must create an incident first, and then make it a bulletin by clicking the Bulletin button on the New Incident page. If you want to broadcast a bulletin message for viewing only (incidents cannot be linked to the bulletin), use this command. The difference it that bulletins created from an incident will let other workers link new incoming incidents to the bulletin. If a bulletin is created using this command, it is intended for viewing only and workers will not be able to link incidents. Using the Bulletins command from the fly-out menu lets you create a bulletin message for other workers to view, but other incidents cannot be linked to the bulletin itself. Quick Links List Bulletins on page 50 Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 49

50 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Bulletins New Bulletin on page 51 Delete Bulletins on page 52 List Bulletins This command displays a list of all the bulletins in the Helpdesk system. The list consists of the bulletin s name, when it was last modified, if it is visible to guest users, and its status, either active or inactive. If the bulletin was created through the Incident to Bulletin command, the Incident column will have a number displayed. To list Bulletins 1 Click Incidents > Bulletins > List Bulletins. 2 Click on one of the bulletins in the list. 3 Click the View, Edit, New, Delete, or Clone button. Quick Links View Bulletin on page 50 Edit Bulletin on page 50 Delete a Single Bulletin on page 51 Clone Bulletin on page 51 View Bulletin This command is used to view the property values of a bulletin that you selected from the List Bulletins page. If you want to change the values of the bulletin, click the Edit button to go to the Edit Bulletin page. To view a Bulletin 1 Click Incidents > Bulletins > List Bulletins. 2 Click on one of the bulletins listed on the page. 3 Click the View button. 4 If the bulletin you selected to view does not have an incident number, do the following. a Click the Edit button. b Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. c Click OK. <OR> 5 If the bulletin you selected to view has an incident number, it was created from an incident. Do the following. a Click the Edit bulletin. The Incident to Bulletin page is displayed. b c d Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. Click OK. Click Save. The incident is saved and the bulletin information is updated. Edit Bulletin This command lets you change the property values of a bulletin that you selected from the List Bulletins page. If the bulletin you selected to edit has an incident number displayed, the Incident to Bulletin page is displayed. If the bulletin you want to change does not have an incident number, the Bulletin page is displayed in the edit mode. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 50

51 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Bulletins To edit a Bulletin 1 Click Incidents > Bulletins > List Bulletins. 2 Click on one of the bulletins listed on the page. 3 If the bulletin you selected does not have an incident number, do the following. a b Click the Edit button. Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. c Click OK. <OR> 4 If the bulletin you selected to view has an incident number, it was created from an incident. Do the following. a Click the Edit bulletin. The Incident to Bulletin page is displayed. b c d Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. Click OK. Click Save. The incident is saved and the bulletin information is updated. Delete a Single Bulletin This command lets you delete a single bulletin, while the Delete Bulletins command on the fly-out menu can delete multiple bulletins at once. You will be asked to confirm the bulletin you selected before it is actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete a single Bulletin 1 Click Incidents > Bulletins > List Bulletins. 2 Click on one of the bulletins listed on the page. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Click OK. Clone Bulletin The Clone icon brings up the New Bulletin page pre-populated with the properties of the selected bulletin. This lets you easily create a new bulletin based on the properties of an existing one. New Bulletin You can create bulletins to communicate the status of IT resources through out your organization. Bulletins are displayed at the bottom of the Worker Report and My Helpdesk pages for workers and other users to view. Users who log into the Helpdesk system as guest, will only be able to view bulletins if you select the appropriate check box on this page. To create a new Bulletin 1 Click Incidents > Bulletins > New Bulletin. 2 Enter a property value for the Title field. 3 Enter a property value for the Message field. 4 Select the Visible to guests check box if you want the bulletin to be displayed to users logged in as guest. 5 Clear the Active check box if you do not want the bulletin to be active. 6 Click OK. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 51

52 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Last Query Results Delete Bulletins Administrators, managers, or workers who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can delete bulletins as needed. After you select the bulletins to be deleted, a confirmation message will be displayed. When you confirm the deletion message, the bulletins are deleted from the Helpdesk system and will no longer be listed on the List Bulletins page. Note: Bulletins displayed from incidents are not available for deletion on this page. To delete Bulletins 1 Click Incidents > Bulletins > Delete Bulletins. 2 Select the check box next to each individual bulletin that you want deleted from the system. 3 Click Next. 4 The Delete Bulletins page displays the bulletins you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the bulletins. Last Query Results This command will recall and display the results from the last query run by the worker currently logged into the Helpdesk system. To view the Last Query Results 1 Click Incidents > Last Query Results. 2 Click Refresh to re-run the query.the Items list will update the results. 3 Click the Table button to change the view of the table. A new page is displayed where you can add or delete columns from the table. 4 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click Edit button to modify the incident. 5 Click the Save query button to save the field property values entered for the last query run as a new query. After the New Query page displays, do the following. a Re-enter a property value in the Name field. b The Based on value is used for when you want to create a new query from an existing query and should not be used from this page. Go to the next step. c Edit the Expression as needed. d Select the Share this query with all workers check box if you want other us use this query. e Click Save. Edit Multiple Incidents Incident management is now easier because you can change properties for multiple incidents, all in one process. For example, employees who leave for vacation, or are no longer affiliated with your organization, may have incidents assigned to them that need immediate attention. Administrators and managers, who have the appropriate privileges, can change many of the field values for incidents, including the assigned to value, which makes managing incidents and worker assignments much easier. You must enter either a simple or advanced search criteria to find the incidents first, and then the Edit Multiple Incidents page lets you enter the field values for all the incidents. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 52

53 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Edit Multiple Incidents Simple The simple search command has a selected number of fields for you to enter a search criteria when finding incidents in the Helpdesk system. After you find the incidents you want to change, the Edit Multiple Incidents page will let you change a number of fields, which will affect all the incidents you found in one process. You must use caution to ensure that the search criteria is specific enough to only find the incidents you want to modify. The ability to edit multiple incidents at once is a powerful feature that can produce unintended results if used with an imprecise query. The property values of the fields you enter as a search criteria can be saved as a new query. This is helpful when the search you are running is done on a regular basis. You can choose whether or not you want to make the query you create visible for other workers to use. To edit Multiple Incidents, Simple 1 Click Incidents > Edit Multiple Incidents. 2 Enter the search criteria in the fields on the page. 3 The default method to match the Title and Comment fields is, Match all words. To change the search method, click the drop-down arrow and select one of the other options. 4 Click the drop-down arrow and select a value for the Category, Scope, Assigned, Owner, Priority, Status, Type and Asset type fields. 5 Click Find. If the search yields any incidents, they will be displayed on the same page. 6 Click Reset to clear the fields and start another search. 7 Click the Table button to change the view of the table. A new page is displayed where you can add or delete columns from the Find Incident table. 8 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click Edit button to modify the incident. 9 Click the Save query button to save the property values of the fields you entered for the search criteria as a new query. After the New Query page displays, do the following. a b c d Enter a property value in the Name field. The Based on value is used for when you want to create a new query from an existing query and should not be used from this page. Go to the next step. Select the Share this query with all workers check box if you want other us use this query. Click Save. 10 Click Next. 11 Select the check box next to each field that you want to change. 12 Enter a property value for each field that you selected to change. 13 Click Finish. Advanced The advanced search command is similar to the simple search, but there are more fields available to enter a search criteria when finding incidents in the Helpdesk system. After you find the incidents you want to change, the Edit Multiple Incidents page will let you change a number of fields, which will affect all the incidents you found in one process. You must use caution to ensure that the search criteria is specific enough to only find the incidents you want to modify. The ability to edit multiple incidents at once is a powerful feature that can produce unintended results if used with an imprecise query. The property values of the fields you enter as a search criteria can be saved as a new query. This is helpful when the search you are running is done on a regular basis. You can choose whether or not you want to make the query you create visible for other workers to use. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 53

54 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Retrieve Queued Incident To edit Multiple Incidents, Advanced 1 Click Incidents > Edit Multiple Incidents. 2 Click the Advanced tab. 3 Enter the search criteria in the fields on the page. 4 The default method to match the Title and Comment fields is, Match All words. To change the search method, click the drop-down arrow and select one of the other options. 5 Click the drop-down arrow and select a value for the Category, Scope, Assigned, Owner, Priority, Status, Type and Asset type fields. 6 Click Find. If the search yields any incidents, they will be displayed on the same page. 7 Click Reset to clear the fields and start another search. 8 Click the Table button to change the table view. 9 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click Edit button to change the incident. 10 Click the Save query button to save the property values of the fields you entered for the search criteria as a new query. After the New Query page displays, do the following. a Enter a property value in the Name field. b The Based on value is used for when you want to create a new query from an existing query and should not be used from this page. Go to the next step. c Select the Share this query with all workers check box if you want other us use this query. d Click Save. 11 Click Next. 12 Select the check box next to each field that you want to change. 13 Enter a property value for each field that you selected to change. 14 Click Finish. Retrieve Queued Incident Delete Incidents This command lets workers retrieve the next available incident from a specified queue. Workers automatically retrieve from their assigned queue, unless their queue assignment is set to prompt. If a worker retrieves from their assigned queue, then the next available incident will be assigned to them and then displayed. Incidents are retrieved from queues based on their priority, and then the create date and time. The highest priority incidents are retrieved first, with older incidents getting preference over newer ones. A worker s queue assignment is set by administrators and managers, who have the appropriate privileges, in the The Worker Menu. To retrieve a Queued Incident 1 Click Incidents > Retrieved Queued Incidents. 2 Click on one of the queues listed on the page. 3 Click the Retrieve button. The next available incident is assigned to you, and then displayed. This command lets you delete multiple incidents from the Helpdesk system. You must enter either a simple or advanced search criteria to find the incidents first, and then confirm the incidents you want deleted from the Helpdesk system. You must use caution to ensure that the search criteria is specific enough to only find the incidents you want to delete. The ability to delete multiple incidents at once is a powerful feature that can produce unintended results if used with an imprecise query. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 54

55 Chapter 6: The Incidents Menu Delete Incidents Simple The simple search command has a selected number of fields for you to enter a search criteria when finding incidents in the Helpdesk system. You must confirm the incidents to be deleted before they are actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete Incidents, Simple 1 Click Incidents > Delete Incidents. 2 Enter the search criteria in the fields on the page. 3 The default method to match the Title and Comment fields is, Match All words. To change the search method, click the drop-down arrow and select one of the other options. 4 Click the drop-down arrow and select a value for the Category, Scope, Assigned, Owner, Priority, Status, Type and Asset type fields. 5 Click Find. If the search yields any incidents, they will be displayed on the same page. 6 Click Reset to clear the fields and start another search. 7 Click the Table button to change the table view. 8 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click Edit button to change the incident. 9 Click Next. 10 Click Finish to delete the incidents listed. Advanced The advanced search command is similar to the simple search, but there are more fields available to enter a search criteria when finding incidents in the Helpdesk system. You must confirm the incidents to be deleted before they are actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete Incidents, Advanced 1 Click Incidents > Delete Incidents. 2 Click the Advanced tab. 3 Enter the search criteria in the fields on the page. 4 The default method to match the Title and Comment fields is, Match All words. To change the search method, click the drop-down arrow and select one of the other options. 5 Click the drop-down arrow and select a value for the Category, Scope, Assigned, Owner, Priority, Status, Type and Asset type fields. 6 Click Find. If the search yields any incidents, they will be displayed on the same page. 7 Click Reset to clear the fields and start another search. 8 Click the Table button to change the table view. 9 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page, and then choose one of the following. Click the View button to review the incident. Click Edit button to change the incident. 10 Click Next. 11 Click Finish to delete the incidents listed. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 55

56 Chapter 7: The Quick Incidents Menu These commands are used to manage quick incidents, which are used by workers to create new incidents for commonly reported problems or requests. Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can choose from a list of fields and set their property values for each quick incident they create. Workers can use the List Quick Incidents command from the flyout menu, to select a quick incident from the list displayed. Selecting an existing Quick Incident will automatically open the new incident screen and populate it with the field values specified in the Quick Incident definition, which will save workers the time to enter these values manually. Quick Links List Quick Incidents on page 56 New Quick Incident on page 58 Delete Quick Incidents on page 59 List Quick Incidents This page displays a list of quick incidents, which have been created to help you expedite commonly reported problems or requests for services. You can view, edit, run the quick incident, delete a single quick incident, or create a new quick incident. To list Quick Incidents 1 Click Quick Incidents > List Quick Incidents. 2 Click on one of the quick incidents listed on the page. 3 Click the View, Edit, Delete, Run, New, or Clone button. Quick Links View Quick Incident on page 56 Edit Quick Incident on page 57 Delete a Single Quick Incident on page 57 Run Quick Incident on page 57 Clone Quick Incident on page 58 View Quick Incident This command lets you view the property values that have been set for the quick incident you selected from the List Quick Incidents page. You can run or edit the quick incident, adding additional fields, or change the property values already set. To view a Quick Incident 1 Click Quick Incidents > List Quick Incidents. 2 Click on one of the quick incidents listed. 3 Click the View button. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 56

57 Chapter 7: The Quick Incidents Menu 4 Review the quick incident information on the page. 5 Choose one of the following. Click the Edit button to change property values. Click the Run button to create a new incident. Edit Quick Incident This command lets you edit the property values that have been set for the quick incident you selected from the List Quick Incidents page. You can refer to New Quick Incident for information on field values. To edit a Quick Incident 1 Click Incidents > Quick Incidents > List Quick Incidents. 2 Click on one of the quick incidents listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Re-enter a property value in the Name field. 5 Re-enter a property value in the Description field. 6 The For new incidents section shows the Edit and Delete buttons. Before you can click one of the buttons, you must first add a field value. a Click the drop-down arrow and select from the list of fields available, and then click Add. A new page will display for you to set the value of the field you selected. b Click OK. c Repeat steps a - b to add additional fields and their set to values. 7 Review the list of fields and values you set. 8 If you want to make changes, click on one of the field values you added, and then choose one of the following. Click the Edit button to change the property values. Click the Delete button to delete the field. 9 Click OK. Delete a Single Quick Incident This command lets you delete a single quick incident, while the Delete Quick Incidents command on the fly-out menu can delete multiple quick incidents. You will be asked to confirm the quick incident you selected before it is actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete a single Quick Incident 1 Click Quick Incidents > List Quick Incidents. 2 Click on one of the quick incidents listed. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Click OK. Run Quick Incident When you run a quick incident, a new incident is created from the field values set in the quick incident. After you run a quick incident, the New Incident page displays for you to add any additional information if needed. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 57

58 Chapter 7: The Quick Incidents Menu To run a Quick Incident 1 Click Quick Incidents > List Quick Incidents. 2 Click on one of the quick incidents listed on the page. 3 Click the Run button. 4 Enter additional property values in the fields on the page. 5 Click Save. Clone Quick Incident The Clone icon brings up the New Quick Incident page pre-populated with the properties of the selected quick incident. This lets you easily create a new quick incident based on the properties of an existing one. New Quick Incident This command lets you create a quick incident, which is used by workers to create new incidents for commonly reported problems or requests. When you create a quick incident, select any of the fields available and set a default value. When a worker runs a quick incident, a new incident is created with the property values set from the quick incident. Field Definitions The Comment, External ID, Priority, Status, Category, Owned by worker, and Type are the same fields used to create a New Incident. Action: This value represents the action performed on an incident each time it is modified. At the bottom of the View Incident page below the History section, you will find the date and time for each comment record. The record format is, MM/DD/YYYY hh:mm:ss Worker - Action. For example, if you set the status of an incident to Resolved, then the header on the history record would look like 1/5/2004 3:15:00 AM JSmith Resolved. You can set this field to be any text value you want. Source: This field is used to specify that another Altiris solution or the incident event handler created the incident instead of Helpdesk solution. You cannot view this field value on the View Incident page, but it is accessible through various rules. For example, you can create a Routing Rule that specifies the route to be QueueA if source = HR Department, and then create a quick incident where the source value is set to HR Department. You can set this field to be any text value you want. Parent incident number: This is the incident number that you want to link the new incident to. You can create a parent incident #2343, and then create a quick incident where this field value is set to #2343. Each new incident created from the quick incident will be linked to the parent incident #2343. This is an easy way to categorize and manage incidents with a child-parent relationship. Parent link type: This is the type of link relationship to create when linking to a parent. You can set this field value to simple, no special relationship, or Inherit status, which indicates the child s status is set to the same value as the parent, when the parent status changes. If you close a parent incident, all child incidents are closed as well. To create a new Quick Incident 1 Click Incidents > Quick Incidents > New Quick Incident. 2 Enter a property value in the Name field. 3 Enter a property value in the Description field. 4 The For new incidents section shows the Edit and Delete buttons. Before you can click one of the buttons, you must first add a field value. a Click the drop-down arrow and select from the list of fields available, and then click Add. A new page will display for you to set the value of the field you selected. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 58

59 Chapter 7: The Quick Incidents Menu b c Click OK. Repeat steps a - b to add additional fields and their set to values. 5 Review the list of fields and values you set. 6 If you want to make changes, click on one of the field values you added, and then choose one of the following. Click the Edit button to change the property values. Click the Delete button to delete the field. 7 Click OK. Delete Quick Incidents This command lets you delete multiple quick incidents from the Helpdesk system. You will be asked to confirm the quick incidents you selected before they are actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete Quick Incidents 1 Click Incidents > Quick Incidents > Delete Quick Incidents. 2 Select the check box next to each individual quick incident that you want deleted from the system. 3 Click Next. 4 The Delete Quick Incidents page displays the quick incidents you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the quick incidents. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 59

60 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Admin Report The Admin Menu is reserved for administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, to use some of the most powerful administrative features of the Helpdesk Solution. This chapter will detail how to define routing rules, notify rules, and incident rules, all of which are automatically evaluated when workers create a new incident or modify an existing one. You can also learn to set up templates, inboxes and filters, tasks, and categories. All of these commands contribute to the reporting and tracking of incidents and the workers ability to route incidents, notify users of incidents created or modified, and monitor inboxes, which can be used as another method for reporting incidents. The Admin Report command is used to manage all the incidents reported to a Helpdesk department, where you can view the number of incidents, based on priority, or you can view the incidents for a particular worker or queue. This snap-shot view is helpful because you can find out at-a-glance, the overall status of the Helpdesk system, and direct attention to those issues that are of a higher priority. Quick Links Admin Report on page 60 Categories on page 61 Validation Rules on page 64 Incident Rules on page 67 Routing Rules on page 71 Notify Rules on page 74 Tasks on page 78 Templates on page 82 Inboxes on page 84 Inbox Filters on page 87 Resource Types on page 90 Lookups on page 90 Import Admin Data on page 91 Export Admin Data on page 91 This is the page where administrators and managers can review statistical data for all workers using the Helpdesk system. By default, the Report period value is Past 30 days, but you can set the report period to different incremental time intervals up to 365 days, or choose All dates. The results of the report period query are displayed in the Incidents by Worker window. The Incidents by Worker window displays a list of all workers and queues entered in the Helpdesk system, and column header with several categories to view incidents as a group. You can select a worker or queue from the list, and then view the incidents that have been assigned to them. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 60

61 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Categories Categories On the right side of the page, below Incidents, you will find a list of status topics. This helps you review quickly the status of all incidents for all workers. An item count (highlighted in blue) is the same as in the Incidents by Worker window. There will be an item count next to each status topic if there are any incidents for you to view. At the bottom of the page, you will see the Bulletins section. This is where you will find system broadcast messages, created by administrators, managers, and other workers, that inform workers and guest users about system wide problems. For example, if the network has an outage, a bulletin message can provide information to let others know that it has been reported, and the Network department is working to restore connectivity. Bulletins can also inform workers of server maintenance schedules, or any other kind of information that may be helpful to workers as they take support calls. See Bulletins on page 49 for more details. To view the Admin Report 1 Click Incidents > Admin. 2 Click the drop-down arrow and select the number of days for the Report period from the list, and then click Go. 3 Click on any item count (highlighted in blue) below Incidents. A new page will display the query search results. 4 Click on one of the incidents listed on the page. 5 Choose from the following options. Click the View button to review the incident. Click the Edit button to change the incident. Click the Table button to change the view of the table. A new page is displayed and you can add or delete columns from the admin report table. Incidents entered into the Helpdesk system must be associated with a category, which keeps similar or like incidents grouped together. The Categories command is only available from the Admin Menu and is accessed by administrators and managers who have been granted the appropriate privileges. While Helpdesk has many out-ofbox categories already, you can list, edit, move, copy, or delete categories to meet the needs of your organization. Categories use a hierarchical structure following a parent-child relationship. Main topic categories can be created with similar or same like topics created as levels below. Example Parent main topic Break-Fix Child topic...copier Child topic...desktop Child subtopic...monitor Child subtopic...keyboard The example shows a category parent main topic called Break-Fix, followed by two additional child topic categories; Copier and Desktop. The Desktop category needed additional subtopics to define all the elements of the desktop; thus, child subtopics were created. You may notice that the categories are represented on the Edit Incident page as multiple drop-down lists, which keeps the lists of categories manageable when there are a few hundred categories, subcategories, subsubcategories, and so on. Quick Links List Categories on page 62 Edit Categories on page 62 Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 61

62 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Categories List Categories This command lets you view a list of all the categories in the Helpdesk system. The hierarchical list shows the name of the category and its status, which can be labeled inactive, blank, or default. If the category status is listed as inactive, other incidents cannot be associated with it, the blank status means the category is active and incidents can be grouped to it, and the default status means that the category will be used for the category setting if the category field of an incident is not specified. To make can changes to the categories listed, you must use the edit command. To list Categories 1 Click Admin > Categories > List Categories. 2 Review the categories listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. Edit Categories The Edit Categories page looks similar to the List Categories page although you will notice the Default category drop-down list. This property value is automatically applied to incidents when the category field has not been defined by workers. While Helpdesk has many out-of-box categories, which will group the majority of incidents submitted to the Helpdesk, you can also create new, edit, move, copy, or delete categories as needed. To edit the Category List 1 Click Admin > Categories > Edit Categories. 2 Click the drop-down list to change the Default category. 3 Click on one of the categories listed on the page. 4 Click the New, Modify, Move, Copy, or Delete buttons. Quick Links New Category on page 62 Modify Category on page 63 Move Category on page 63 Copy Category on page 64 Delete Category on page 64 New Category If you have incidents that need to be grouped together into categories, which are not already defined in the system, you can create as many new categories as needed. The categories you create must follow a hierarchical parent-child relationship structure. See Categories on page 61 for details. To create a new Category 1 Click Admin > Categories > Edit Categories. 2 Click on one of the categories listed on the page. The new category can be inserted above, below, or as a child of this line item. 3 Click the New button. The category you highlighted is displayed at the bottom of the page. For example, if you highlighted the category Network, and then clicked the New button, you will see New Category - Break-Fix\Network at the bottom of the page. This will help you to be sure that you are creating the new category in the hierarchical structure correctly. 4 Enter a property value in the Category field. 5 Click the drop-down arrow and select the Position of the new category. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 62

63 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Categories 6 Clear the Active check box if you do not want the category to be active. 7 Click OK. 8 Repeat Step 2-7 to create additional categories. 9 Click Save. Modify Category This command lets you modify any category in the Helpdesk system; however, you can only change the category s name and status. If you want to change a category s hierarchical placement, use the Move Category command. To modify a Category 1 Click Admin > Categories > Edit Categories. 2 Click on one of the categories listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. The category you highlighted is displayed at the bottom of the page. For example, if you highlighted the category Network, and then clicked the Edit icon, you will see Modify Category - Break-Fix\Network at the bottom of the page. This will help you to be sure that the category you selected is about to be edited. 4 Re-enter a name in the Category field. 5 Clear the Active check box if you do not want the category to be active. 6 Click OK. 7 Repeat Step 2-6 to edit additional categories. 8 Click Save. Move Category You can change the placement of a category by moving it up and down in the hierarchical tree structure of the category list. If you want to move a parent category and it has a child or subchild category topics, they will all move to the new location in the hierarchical tree at the same time. If you select a child or subchild category topic and move it above a parent topic, the child or subchild topic will become a new parent category. The ability to move category topics lets you group categories together in any order you want. To move a Category 1 Click Admin > Categories > Edit Categories. 2 Click on one of the categories listed on the page. 3 Click the Move button. The category you highlighted is displayed at the bottom of the page. For example, if you highlighted the category Network, and then clicked the Move icon, you will see Move Category - Break-Fix\Network at the bottom of the page. This will help you to be sure the category you selected is about to be moved. 4 Click the drop-down arrow and select a Move to place to insert the category you want to move. 5 Click the drop-down arrow and select a Position for the category to be inserted in the category list. 6 Click OK. 7 Repeat Step 2-6 to move additional categories. 8 Click Save. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 63

64 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Validation Rules Copy Category The copy category command lets you copy topics from one location in the category list to another. When you copy a category, its name and status remain the same no matter where it is inserted in the hierarchical tree. If you select a child or subchild category topic and then copy it above a parent topic, the child or subchild topic will become a new parent category. To copy a Category 1 Click Admin > Categories > Edit Categories. 2 Click on one of the categories listed on the page. 3 Click the Copy button. The category you highlighted is displayed at the bottom of the page. For example, if you highlighted the category Copier, and then clicked the Copy icon, you will see Copy Category - Break-Fix\Copier at the bottom of the page. This will help you to be sure that the category you selected is about to be copied. 4 Click the drop-down arrow and select a Copy to destination. 5 Click the drop-down arrow and select a Position for the copied category to be inserted in the category list. 6 Click OK. 7 Repeat Step 2-6 to copy additional categories. 8 Click Save. Delete Category Categories that are no longer needed, can easily be removed from the Helpdesk system. Deleting categories, whether parent or child topics, will not effect incidents that are assigned the category you want to delete. The category that is assigned to an incident remains the same, even if the category is deleted. This is to preserve the integrity and historical content of the incident itself. To delete a category 1 Click Admin > Categories > Edit Categories. 2 Click on a category in the list. 3 Click the Delete button. The category you highlighted is displayed at the bottom of the page. For example, if you highlighted the category , and then clicked the Delete icon, you will see Delete Category - Break-Fix\ at the bottom of the page. This will help you to be sure that the category you selected is about to be deleted. 4 Click the drop-down arrow and select a one of the Delete options. Delete Children: Used to delete the category you selected and all its child topics. Move Children to Grandparent: This is used to delete a parent topic but retain the child topics by moving them to the next parent topic level above the category you are deleting. 5 Click OK. 6 Repeat Step 2-5 to delete additional categories. 7 Click Save. Validation Rules Validation rules allow an administrator to define a new set of rules to ensure that modifications to an incident meet certain criteria before they can be saved. For instance, a rule can be written to require a Close Code be selected whenever an incident's status is being changed to Closed. A validation rule's properties include the same set of criteria available in the other rules plus the text message displayed to the worker when an incident is found to be invalid. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 64

65 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Validation Rules Quick Links List Validation Rules New Validation Rule Delete Validation Rules List Validation Rules This command displays a list of all the validation rules in the Helpdesk system. This page is helpful if you need a quick glance at the status of a validation rule or to examine the evaluation order of the rules. All rules are automatically evaluated when an incident is created or modified, but only if they are Active. If a rule evaluates to true and it is Terminal, then no other rules in the list will be processed. You can view, edit, move up or down, delete, or create new validation rules. To list Validation Rules 1 Click Admin > Validation Rules > List Validation Rules. 2 At the bottom of the page, click the drop-down arrow and select a worker or queue for the The Route to this worker by default value, and then click Set. This is used when none of the validation rules evaluate to true. The Assigned field of the incident will default to this property value. 3 Click on one of the validation rules listed on the page. 4 Click the Edit, Move Rule Up, Move Rule Down, New, Delete, or Clone button. Quick Links View Validation Rule on page 65 Edit Validation Rule on page 65 Change the Order of Validation Rules on page 66 Delete a Single Validation Rule on page 66 Clone Validation Rule on page 66 View Validation Rule This command lets you view the property values that have been set for any validation rule you selected from the List Validation Rules page. You can edit the rule, adding additional criteria to be evaluated, or change the property values already set. To view a Validation Rule 1 Click Admin > Validation Rules > List Validation Rules. 2 Click on one of the validation rules listed on the page. 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the properties on the page, and then click the Edit button to change values. Edit Validation Rule This command lets you edit the property values that have been set for the validation rule you selected from the List Validation Rules page. You can refer to New Validation Rule for information on field values. To edit a Validation Rule 1 Click Admin > Validation Rules > List Validation Rules. 2 Click on one of the validation rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 65

66 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Validation Rules 5 Click OK. Change the Order of Validation Rules This command lets you change the order of the validation rules that are listed on the List Validation Rules page. The rules will be processed in the order they are listed on the page. You can move a rule up or down, one level at a time, from its current position. To move Validation Rules up or down 1 Click Admin > Validation Rules > List Validation Rules. 2 Click on one of the validation rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Move Rule Up or Move Rule Down buttons to position the rules in the order you want them processed. 4 Repeat Step 2-3 as needed until the validation rules are in the order you want them processed. Delete a Single Validation Rule This command lets you delete a single validation rule, while the Delete Validation Rules command on the fly-out menu can delete multiple validation rules at once. You will be asked to confirm the validation rule you selected before it is actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete a single Validation Rule 1 Click Admin > Validation Rules > List Validation Rules. 2 Click on one of the validation rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Click OK. Clone Validation Rule The Clone icon brings up the New Validation Rule page pre-populated with the properties of the selected validation rule. This lets you easily create a new validation rule based on the properties of an existing one. New Validation Rule Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can create as many Validation rules as needed. The Helpdesk system will run the rule in the order it appears in the Validation rules list. The Validation rules are evaluated by the Helpdesk system when incidents are modified, or newly created. To create a new Validation Rule 1 Click Admin > Validation Rules > New Validation Rule. 2 Enter a property value in the Name field. 3 Enter a property value in the Comment field. 4 Click the drop-down arrow and select a worker or queue for the Route to assignment. 5 Clear the Incident is unassigned check box if the validation rule should apply to all incidents; otherwise, the rule will apply to only unassigned incidents. This is useful in situations when you want to redirect incidents from one worker to another. Note: When a worker selects auto (as opposed to an actual worker or queue) at incident assignment time, then the incident is left unassigned to be processed by the validation rules. When a validation rule runs, it will evaluate the Incident is unassigned value first before evaluating the additional criteria listed in the And field below. If the rule is allowed to change a real assignment, workers who explicitly assign an incident, might be surprised or confused when the rule changes the validation assignment they originally made. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 66

67 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Incident Rules Incident Rules To mitigate this issue, the View Incident page displays a list of all rules that were applied to an incident the last time it was modified. Workers can consult this list to determine why the incident did not go where they thought it would. The rules should be effectively named so that it is apparent in this context what actually happened. 6 The And section is to specify the rule s criteria. Click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. You must Add at least one validation rule criterion first (see Step a) before you can you can use the buttons listed above. a b c d e f Click the drop-down arrow and select from the list of fields, and then click Add. A new page will display additional options for the field you selected. Select the When the value of <field> changes check box if you want the criterion to evaluate true when the specified values changes. Select the When the value of <field> check box if you want the criterion to evaluate true based on a specific conditions. Note: Select both check boxes if you want the rule to run when the field both changes AND meets the selected conditions. Click the drop-down arrow and select a condition for the field to be tested. Based on the field and condition you selected, additional drop-down lists or fields may display. Select or add additional values as needed. Click OK. Repeat Step a - e to add additional criterions. 7 Review the criteria you created in the display box. You can add more criteria, edit, move up, move down, or delete a criterion. Highlight a criterion to change, and then click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. 8 Clear the Active check box if you do not want the New validation rule to be active. The validation rule will only be evaluated during incident updates when it is active. 9 Clear the Terminal check box if you do not want to stop processing rules when this rule evaluates to true. If this check box is selected, and this rule evaluates to true, no other rules will be processed. 10 Click OK. Delete Validation Rules Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can delete Validation rules as needed. Deleting a rule takes effect when you confirm its deletion, and it will be removed from the List Validation Rules page. To delete a Validation Rule 1 Click Admin > Validation Rules > Delete Validation Rules. 2 Select the check box next to each individual Validation rule that you want deleted from the system. 3 Click Next. 4 The Delete Validation Rules page displays the rules you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the validation rules. Incident rules are similar to Routing Rules, but where routing rules only affect the Assigned field, incident rules are able to set more fields for new and modified incidents. The rules are automatically evaluated by the Helpdesk system whenever an incident is saved, and will change the properties of those incidents that match the rule s criteria. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 67

68 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Incident Rules For example, an incident rule called Network Down will make sure all network problems are given the highest priority. The rule sets a criterion that determines if the Title field of new or modified incidents contain the words network down. If the rule evaluates to true, then the incident field values will be set according to the fields defined by the incident rule. In this example, the incident priority would change to ASAP, regardless of the original priority set by the worker. Incident rules are a great asset to any Helpdesk environment, because they can ensure that incidents of a particular nature have their properties set automatically. This ensures that incidents will have the property values for selected fields the way administrators and managers want. Quick Links List Incident Rules on page 68 New Incident Rule on page 69 Delete Incident Rules on page 70 List Incident Rules This command displays a list of all the incident rules in the Helpdesk system. This page is helpful if you need a quick glance at the status of an incident rule or to examine the evaluation order of the rules. All rules are automatically evaluated when an incident is created or modified, but only if the rules are Active. If a rule evaluates to true and it is Terminal, then no other rules in the list will be processed. You can view, edit, move the rule up or down, delete, or create new incident rules from this page. To list Incident Rules 1 Click Admin > Incident Rules > List Incident Rules. 2 Click on one of the incident rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit, Move rule up, Move rule down, New, Delete, or Clone button. Quick Links View Incident Rule on page 68 Edit Incident Rule on page 68 Change the Order of Incident Rules on page 69 Delete a Single Incident Rule on page 69 Clone Incident Rule on page 69 View Incident Rule This command lets you view the property values that have been set for any incident rule you selected from the List Incident Rules page. You can edit the rule by adding additional criteria to be evaluated, set additional field values, or change the property values already set. To view an Incident Rule 1 Click Admin > Incident Rules > List Incident Rules. 2 Click on one of the incident rules listed on the page. 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the properties on the page, and then click the Edit button to change values. Edit Incident Rule This command lets you edit the property values that have been set for the incident rule you selected from the List Incident Rules page. You can refer to New Incident Rule for information on field values. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 68

69 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Incident Rules To edit an Incident Rule 1 Click Admin > Incident Rules > List Incident Rules. 2 Click on one of the incident rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. 5 Click OK. Change the Order of Incident Rules This command lets you change the order of the incident rules that are listed on the List Incident Rules page. The rules will be processed in the order they are listed on the page. You can move the rule up or down, one level at a time, from its current position. To move Incident Rules up or down 1 Click Admin > Incident Rules > List Incident Rules. 2 Click on one of the incident rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Move rule up or Move rule down buttons to position the rules in the order you want them processed. 4 Repeat Step 2-3 as needed until the incident rules are in the order you want them processed. Delete a Single Incident Rule This command lets you delete a single incident rule, while the Delete Incident Rules command on the fly-out menu can delete multiple incident rules at once. You will be asked to confirm the incident rule you selected before it is actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete a single Incident Rule 1 Click Admin > Incident Rules > Delete Incident Rules 2 Click on one of the incident rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Click OK. Clone Incident Rule The Clone icon brings up the New Incident Rule page pre-populated with the properties of the selected incident rule. This lets you easily create a new incident rule based on the properties of an existing one. New Incident Rule Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can create as many incident rules as needed. You must select field values that will be used to change the incidents, and then select the field criteria that evaluate the incidents before any changes are made. Incident rules that evaluate to true, will apply the rule s field values to new or modified incidents. The Helpdesk system runs each incident rule in the order it appears on the List Incident Rules page. Note: You should exercise care with incident rules as they can overrule value assignments made by workers, which can lead to confusion. To mitigate this, the View Incident page displays a list of all rules that were applied to an incident and the last time it was modified. Workers may consult this list to determine why the incident properties did not get set the way they expected. The rules should be effectively named so that it is apparent in this context what actually happened. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 69

70 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Incident Rules To create a new Incident Rule 1 Click Admin > Incident Rules > New Incident Rule. 2 Enter a property value in the Name field. 3 Enter a property value in the Comment field. 4 The Set these properties section sets the field values of the rule. Click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. You must Add at least one or two incident fields first, (see Step a) before you can use the buttons listed above. a b c d Click the drop-down arrow and select a field from the list. Click OK. Repeat Step a - b to add additional fields. Review the fields you added in the display box. You can add, edit, move up, move down, or delete the fields. Highlight the field to change, and then click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. 5 The When section specifies the incident rule s criteria. Click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. You must Add at least one criterion first, (see Step a) before you can you can use some of the buttons listed above. a b c d e Click the drop-down arrow and select from the list of fields, and then click Add. A new page will display additional options for the field you selected. Select the When the value of <field> changes check box if you want the criterion to evaluate true when the specified value changes. Select the When the value of <field> check box if you want the criterion to evaluate true based on a specific condition. Note: Select both check boxes if you want the rule to run when the field both changes AND meets the selected condition Click OK. Repeat Step a - d to add additional criterions. f Review the criteria you created in the display box. You can add, edit, move up, move down, or delete a criteria. Highlight a criterion to change, and then click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. 6 Clear the Active check box if you do not want the New incident rule to be active. 7 Clear the Terminal check box if you do not want to stop processing rules when this rule evaluates to true. 8 Click OK. Delete Incident Rules Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can delete incident rules from the Helpdesk system. Deleting a rule takes effect when you confirm its deletion, and it will be removed from the List Incident Rules page. To delete an Incident Rule 1 Click Admin > Incident Rules > Delete Incident Rules. 2 Select the check box next to each individual incident rule that you want deleted from the system. 3 Click Next. 4 The Delete Incident Rules page displays the rules you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the incident rules. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 70

71 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Routing Rules Routing Rules Routing rules allow Helpdesk Solution to assign incidents to workers based on their condition. The typical use case for this is to assign incidents to a particular worker or queue based on its Category, but in fact Routing rules can depend on most fields in the incident. By default, Routing rules only fire when an incident is unassigned (for example, the creating worker selected auto in the Assigned field), so in typical operation the first Routing rule to result in an assignment will also be the last. However, it is possible to create a Routing rule that evaluates its other conditions whether or not an assignment has already been made. Furthermore, all rules are evaluated in order until either none are left or until a terminal rule is found (for example, a rule that explicitly suspends further processing when it evaluates true). This makes it possible to write rules that override assignments made by earlier rules or even those made by the worker. This is useful if you want to override incident assignment and route an item to a different worker or queue when the contact associated with it is a VIP, or if you would like to temporarily divert Worker A's items to Worker B. Routing rules have a special semantic: they are evaluated serially and can be dependent on one another. The flow of evaluation is dependent on the specifics of the rules themselves for the following reasons: 1) routing rules result in a change to incident assignment and can evaluate assignment as one of their conditions; 2) they can optionally evaluate their condition statement whether or not the incident is still unassigned; and 3) they can terminate the rule evaluation process when they evaluate to true and set the assignment. Since effective assignment is the primary goal in any problem resolution process (you want your first responders to be the right responders), Routing rules are an ideal place to fine tune the work management process. External processes may want to define specialized Routing rules (along with custom queues and notify rules) to deal with incidents that they create. Note: Routing rules replace the category routing feature found in earlier versions of the Helpdesk Solution. The initial set of rules is constructed from the category routing data previously managed by Helpdesk. If you are upgrading to this release from a previous version of Helpdesk, the behavior of the routing rules features is the same. Routing rules are much more powerful than the old category routing system. Administrators can make routing decisions based on any field in the incident in combination or in sequence. A special criterion called [Incident is unassigned], indicates that routing only occurs when a worker is not assigned to an incident; however, limiting the use of this criteria can give administrators greater control based on other fields. For example, you can easily create a routing rule called Assign to the Supervisor queue if the contact_vip_flag is true and priority is ASAP, which will make the assignment no matter who the incident is currently assigned to. A subsequent rule could be added that says Assign to worker Susan when current worker is Supervisor and workitem_category contains Documentation. An incident created or modified by a VIP contact, where the subject is documentation, will get routed to Susan regardless of the Assigned to value. Note: If a worker attempts to assign an incident to John, the worker might be confused when Susan is still the assigned worker. To mitigate this, the View Incident page displays a list of all rules that were applied to an incident and the last time it was modified. Workers may consult this list to determine why the incident did not go where they thought it would. The rules should be effectively named so that it is apparent in this context what actually happened. Routing rules coincide with the Assigned field of a new or existing incident. A Routing rule consists of a name, description, criteria, status, a terminal flag, and a worker or queue name. Any time an incident is created new or an existing incident is modified, the Routing rule s criteria are evaluated. If the criteria evaluate to true, the incident will be assigned to the worker or queue defined by the Routing rule. If none of the rules on the List Routing Rules page have criteria that evaluate to true, then the Assigned field of an incident is still unassigned. By setting a default Route to value, you can be sure that all incidents, whether created new or modified, get assigned to a worker or queue. Routing rules are executed in the order they appear on the List Routing Rules page, beginning with the first rule listed. After a rule s criteria is evaluated, the next rule in the list is evaluated, unless the current rule is set to be a terminal rule. The terminal setting tells the system to stop evaluating the rules in the list and assign the incident to the worker or queue defined by the last rule that evaluated true. If the rule is not set to be terminal, the process of evaluating rules continues until a terminal rule is encountered or all rules have been processed. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 71

72 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Routing Rules Quick Links List Routing Rules on page 72 New Routing Rule on page 73 Delete Routing Rules on page 74 List Routing Rules This command displays a list of all the routing rules in the Helpdesk system. This page is helpful if you need a quick glance at the status of a routing rule or to examine the evaluation order of the rules. All rules are automatically evaluated when an incident is created or modified, but only if they are Active. If a rule evaluates to true and it is Terminal, then no other rules in the list will be processed. You can view, edit, move up or down, delete, or create new routing rules. To list Routing Rules 1 Click Admin > Routing Rules > List Routing Rules. 2 At the bottom of the page, click the drop-down arrow and select a worker or queue for the The Route to this worker by default value, and then click Set. This is used when none of the routing rules evaluate to true. The Assigned field of the incident will default to this property value. 3 Click on one of the routing rules listed on the page. 4 Click the Edit, Move Rule Up, Move Rule Down, New, Delete, or Clone button. Quick Links View Routing Rule on page 72 Edit Routing Rule on page 72 Change the Order of Routing Rules on page 73 Delete a Single Routing Rule on page 73 Clone Routing Rule on page 73 View Routing Rule This command lets you view the property values that have been set for any routing rule you selected from the List Routing Rules page. You can edit the rule, adding additional criteria to be evaluated, or change the property values already set. To view a Routing Rule 1 Click Admin > Routing Rules > List Routing Rules. 2 Click on one of the routing rules listed on the page. 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the properties on the page, and then click the Edit button to change values. Edit Routing Rule This command lets you edit the property values that have been set for the routing rule you selected from the List Routing Rules page. You can refer to New Routing Rule for information on field values. To edit a Routing Rule 1 Click Admin > Routing Rules > List Routing Rules. 2 Click on one of the routing rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 72

73 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Routing Rules 5 Click OK. Change the Order of Routing Rules This command lets you change the order of the routing rules that are listed on the List Routing Rules page. The rules will be processed in the order they are listed on the page. You can move a rule up or down, one level at a time, from its current position. To move Routing Rules up or down 1 Click Admin > Routing Rules > List Routing Rules. 2 Click on one of the routing rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Move Rule Up or Move Rule Down buttons to position the rules in the order you want them processed. 4 Repeat Step 2-3 as needed until the routing rules are in the order you want them processed. Delete a Single Routing Rule This command lets you delete a single routing rule, while the Delete Routing Rules command on the fly-out menu can delete multiple routing rules at once. You will be asked to confirm the routing rule you selected before it is actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete a single Routing Rule 1 Click Admin > Routing Rules > List Routing Rules. 2 Click on one of the routing rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Click OK. Clone Routing Rule The Clone icon brings up the New Routing Rule page pre-populated with the properties of the selected routing rule. This lets you easily create a new routing rule based on the properties of an existing one. New Routing Rule Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can create as many Routing rules as needed. The Helpdesk system will run the rule in the order it appears in the Routing rules list. The Routing rules are evaluated by the Helpdesk system when incidents are modified, or newly created. To create a new Routing Rule 1 Click Admin > Routing Rules > New Routing Rule. 2 Enter a property value in the Name field. 3 Enter a property value in the Comment field. 4 Click the drop-down arrow and select a worker or queue for the Route to assignment. 5 Clear the Incident is unassigned check box if the routing rule should apply to all incidents; otherwise, the rule will apply to only unassigned incidents. This is useful in situations when you want to redirect incidents from one worker to another. Note: When a worker selects auto (as opposed to an actual worker or queue) at incident assignment time, then the incident is left unassigned to be processed by the routing rules. When a routing rule runs, it will evaluate the Incident is unassigned value first before evaluating the additional criteria listed in the And field below. If the rule is allowed to change a real assignment, workers who explicitly assign an incident, might be surprised or confused when the rule changes the routing assignment they originally made. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 73

74 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Notify Rules To mitigate this issue, the View Incident page displays a list of all rules that were applied to an incident the last time it was modified. Workers can consult this list to determine why the incident did not go where they thought it would. The rules should be effectively named so that it is apparent in this context what actually happened. 6 The And section is to specify the rule s criteria. Click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. You must Add at least one routing rule criterion first (see Step a) before you can you can use the buttons listed above. a b c d Notify Rules e f Click the drop-down arrow and select from the list of fields, and then click Add. A new page will display additional options for the field you selected. Select the When the value of <field> changes check box if you want the criterion to evaluate true when the specified values changes. Select the When the value of <field> check box if you want the criterion to evaluate true based on a specific conditions. Note: Select both check boxes if you want the rule to run when the field both changes AND meets the selected conditions. Click the drop-down arrow and select a condition for the field to be tested. Based on the field and condition you selected, additional drop-down lists or fields may display. Select or add additional values as needed. Click OK. Repeat Step a - e to add additional criterions. 7 Review the criteria you created in the display box. You can add more criteria, edit, move up, move down, or delete a criterion. Highlight a criterion to change, and then click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. 8 Clear the Active check box if you do not want the New routing rule to be active. The routing rule will only be evaluated during incident updates when it is active. 9 Clear the Terminal check box if you do not want to stop processing rules when this rule evaluates to true. If this check box is selected, and this rule evaluates to true, no other rules will be processed. 10 Click OK. Delete Routing Rules Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can delete Routing rules as needed. Deleting a rule takes effect when you confirm its deletion, and it will be removed from the List Routing Rules page. To delete a Routing Rule 1 Click Admin > Routing Rules > Delete Routing Rules. 2 Select the check box next to each individual Routing rule that you want deleted from the system. 3 Click Next. 4 The Delete Routing Rules page displays the rules you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the routing rules. Notify Rules are notifications used to automatically send and pager messages when incidents are created or modified. Notify rules describe what action to take when incidents are generated, and the conditions that must be met before s are sent. You can also define the e- mail template and the recipients for each Notify rule you create. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 74

75 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Notify Rules Notify rules are not the same as Notification Policies as provided by Altiris Notification Server. Notification Policies are designed for time-based escalations of incidents, while the Notify rules described here will simply send a message as the result of saving an incident, after making a change to its property values. When a Notify rule fires, the is composed from a specified template in the context of the incident being changed and sent to a specified distribution list. External processes can leverage this capability by defining Notify rules (and associated templates) that fire off specifically formatted messages whenever an incident enters a condition of interest. Notify rules let you send specially formatted using an template. You do this by creating an template and then, when creating a Notify rule, selecting the template in the Send drop down list. For more information, see Templates on page 82. The body of templates can be HTML, which allows you to write surveys and more. You can create survey templates that can be selected in the Notify rule. The survey capability lets you a survey and receive specific replies back from workers. Quick Links List Notify Rules on page 75 New Notify Rule on page 76 Delete Notify Rules on page 77 List Notify Rules This command displays a list of all the notify rules in the Helpdesk system. This page is helpful if you need a quick glance at the rules defined in the system to review, their intended action and status. All rules are automatically evaluated when an incident is created or modified, but only if the rules are Active. You can view, edit, delete, or create new notify rules as needed. To list Notify Rules 1 Click Admin > Notify Rules > List Notify Rules. 2 Click on one of the notify rules listed on the page. 3 Click the View, Edit, New, Delete, or Clone button. Quick Links View Notify Rule on page 75 Edit Notify Rule on page 76 Delete a Single Notify Rule on page 76 Clone Notify Rule on page 76 View Notify Rule This command lets you view the property values that have been set for any notify rule you selected from the List Notify Rules page. You can edit the rule, adding additional criteria to be evaluated, or change the property values already set. To view a Notify Rule 1 Click Admin > Notify Rules > List Notify Rules. 2 Click on one of the notify rules listed on the page. 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the properties on the page, and then click the Edit button to change values. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 75

76 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Notify Rules Edit Notify Rule This command lets you edit the property values that have been set for the notify rule you selected from the List Notify Rules page. You can refer to New Notify Rule for information on field values. To edit a Notify Rule 1 Click Admin > Notify Rules > List Notify Rules. 2 Click on one of the notify rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. Delete a Single Notify Rule This command lets you delete a single notify rule, while the Delete Notify Rules command on the fly-out menu can delete multiple notify rules at once. You will be asked to confirm the notify rule you selected before it is actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete a single Notify Rule 1 Click Admin > Notify Rules > List Notify Rules. 2 Click on one of the notify rules listed on the page. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Click OK. Clone Notify Rule The Clone icon brings up the New Notify Rule page pre-populated with the properties of the selected notify rule. This lets you easily create a new notify rule based on the properties of an existing one. New Notify Rule Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can create as many notify rules as needed. The Helpdesk system will automatically run notify rules, and if a rule s criteria evaluate to true, and pager s notifications will be sent to the recipients defined by the rule. Out-of-box notify rules must be selected by workers in the Notify Rules section when an incident is created or edited. Rules can optionally be configured as default rules so that they are initially enabled for evaluation when a new incident is created. Additionally, rules can be locked or hidden by administrators so that workers do not have the option of activating or deactivating them when creating a new incident. To create a new Notify Rule 1 Click Admin > Notify Rules > New Notify Rule. 2 Enter a property value in the Name field. 3 Enter a property value in the Comment field. 4 Click the drop-down arrow and select a Send template. This is optional if a Pager has been selected. 5 Click the drop-down arrow and select a Send pager template. This is optional if a normal template is selected. 6 Select the To, Cc, or Bcc check boxes to send notification to the Current contact. 7 Select the To, Cc, or Bcc check boxes for each recipient available in the list. 8 Below These addresses, are the To, Cc, and Bcc fields. Enter an address for additional recipients, using the SMTP format. For example, [email protected];[email protected]. Use a semicolon to separate each address you enter. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 76

77 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Notify Rules 9 Upload and attach one or more attachments for this notify rule. To upload a file, click the Browse button and then navigate to the file you want to attach. Next, click Attach. Repeat until you have attached all files you want to this notify rule. Note: Attachments can be specified associated with a particular notify rule independent of the e- mail template the rule sends and independent of the incident that fired the rule. This is useful for sending a standard file with all sent by the rule (for example, a disclaimer document with all sent to end users). 10 The Notify section is used to specify the rule s criteria. Click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. You must Add at least one criterion first (see Step a) before you can use some of the buttons listed above. a b c d e f Click the drop-down arrow and select from the list of fields, and then click Add. A new page will display additional options for the field you selected. Select the When the value of <field> changes check box if you want the criterion to evaluate when the specified value changes. Select the When the value of <field> check box if you want the criterion to evaluate true based on a specific condition. Note: Select both check boxes if you want the rule to run when the field both changes AND the meets the selected condition. Click the drop-down arrow and select a condition for the field to be tested. Based on the field and condition you selected, additional drop-down lists or fields may display. Select or add additional values as needed. Click OK. Repeat Step a - e to add additional criterions. 11 Review the criteria you created in the display box. You can add more criteria, edit, move up, move down, or delete a criterion. Highlight a criterion to change, and then click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. 12 Clear the Visible check box if you do not want the notify rule to be viewed by other workers when editing an incident. 13 Select the Locked check box so that other workers cannot turn the rule on or off when editing an incident. 14 Select the Default check box so that the rule is selected by default for new incidents 15 Clear the Active check box if you do not want to evaluate this rule when an incident is updated. 16 Click OK. Delete Notify Rules Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can delete notify rules as needed. Deleting a rule takes effect when you confirm its deletion, and it will be removed from the List Notify Rules page. To delete Notify Rules 1 Click Admin > Notify Rules > Delete Notify Rules. 2 Select the check box next to each individual notify rule that you want deleted from the system. 3 Click Next. 4 The Delete Notify Rules page displays the rules you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the notify rules. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 77

78 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Tasks Tasks Helpdesk provides a way for users to access URL links on the incident page when certain criteria are met. These links can be links to any URL, but are most useful for providing tasks that users may need to perform depending on the incident they have accessed. Therefore, links to pages in the Altiris Console as well as Altiris solutions can link users to tasks that need to be performed before the incident can be closed. Tasks help to increase the efficiency of a worker s ability to resolve incidents, cutting down on problem resolution while setting up repeatable processes for commonly reported problems. The URL can be a URL from the Altiris Console or a URL of the Web service that is exposed by an Altiris product. It can also launch a local file on the user's computer by using the file URL syntax. For example, it can launch the user manager file or an application on the user s computer. Tasks allow you to put the right functionality in front of the user when they need it the most - while they are working on the incident. You can be very specific about the URLs that are shown at any given time to a user. When you view an incident that meets the criteria set by a task, the Tasks section of the incident displays a URL link to perform the task. The URL link provided in the task can be used to pass in parameters from Helpdesk. These can be parameters such as an asset or a string that defines a new incident. These contextual parameters can be resolved in the context of the incident, the incident's associated contact or asset, auxiliary data provided at item creation time, or data available in the Helpdesk or Notification Database. For example, you can have a Task that creates a hardware change request. When the user clicks on this URL, a new incident is created and all appropriate fields (such as Type and Category) are populated from the incident that the Task was in. There are two mechanisms to control whether or not tasks will appear in the Tasks section of incidents: the condition statement that defines whether the task is available to an incident, and the presence or absence of contextual data in the URL. Contextual data required to accomplish a particular task may not be available depending on how the item was created. For example, suppose Client Recovery Solution (CRS) defines a task associated with the Break-Fix categories called Restore last client backup. Incidents created with a Break-Fix category and associated with an asset will offer a link in the Tasks section called Restore last client backup. The URL for this link points to a CRS console passing enough context (such as asset name or NS Guid) for it to identify and initiate restoration on the client associated with the incident. This link is available whenever an incident is displayed with category Break-Fix and an associated asset, no matter how the incident was created. However, if no asset is associated with the incident, the Restore last client backup task link does not appear. Some consumers may want to provide tasks in a particular order so that workers can run the tasks in a specified order. The Rank field is used to set the display order of tasks, which the user can run beginning with the smallest ranking number first. Helpdesk provides several example tasks that you use or change according to your needs. You can also create other tasks. One task that is provided is the Open linked change request task. It has a URL that passes in WORKITEM parameters. When active, it appears in any incident where the Category contains Service Request. Scenario 1 Altiris Web Administrator for Windows Solution defines a task associated with the Break-Fix/ Network category called Scan Ports. Incidents created with a Break-Fix/Network category and associated with an asset, would display a link under Tasks called Scan Ports. When the URL link defined by the task is clicked, a Web Administrator for Windows console is opened and initiates a process to run a TCP/IP port scan on the remote computer. The Scan Ports task link displays when the category is Break-Fix/Network and an asset is associated with the incident, regardless of how the incident was created. If an incident's category is Break-Fix/Network, but there is not an asset associated with the incident, then the Scan Ports task link does not display. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 78

79 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Tasks Scenario 2 Server Monitor Solution registers tasks associated with custom Categories that it also registers in the Helpdesk database. When a particular server problem is encountered for which a specific diagnostic or corrective action is available, Server Monitor would use a Helpdesk web service to raise an incident in Helpdesk, set its category to the appropriate custom value, and add auxiliary data to the incident to be passed into a Server Monitor task page via its URL. Since the auxiliary data is only added to the incident by the Server Monitor Solution itself at incident creation time, it would not be available if a Helpdesk worker created the incident manually and set the category to the same custom value. In this case, the parameters of the URL would fail to resolve and the task would not be displayed in Helpdesk. Scenario 3 A New Employee Service Request available within Helpdesk itself could collect information not typically tracked in the Helpdesk database (for example: Office Number, Computer Package, and so forth). The Service Request would create multiple incidents with tasks tied to appropriate categories for doing the real work associated with creating the employee: creating the employee account in a web interface to Active Directory, invoking a URL in the company purchase order system to create a PO for the employee's workstation, and so forth. The context data for these external processes would be collected by the Service Request template and stored as auxiliary data associated with each incident. When the relevant incidents are displayed, they would offer links to the actual tasks associated with the item. So the Purchase new workstation incident would display a link to the purchase order system that, when clicked, would pass all the necessary employee and charge center information into the Purchase Order system. Field Definitions Name: This is the name of the task displayed on the View Incident page. You can use macros, to display contextual data associated with the incident or from Helpdesk or Notification Server, so that the task name can be descriptive about what the task will do. Consumer Id: The name of other Altiris suites or solutions such as, Client Recovery Solution, Software Delivery for Windows, or external processes that can be invoked with a contextual URL. Tasks with the same Consumer Id are grouped together on the View Incident page. Comment: This property value is a longer description of the task than used by the Name field, and appears in the tooltip of the task link.you can use macros to display contextual data associated with the incident or from Helpdesk or the Notification Server. URL: This is the URL address that launches the web browser and goes to the location where a process or task will be initiated You can use macros to pass contextual data associated with the incident or from Helpdesk or Notification Server. Rank: The author of the task can specify the sub-order of tasks within a particular Consumer ID group. Other Altiris solutions that want to publish several tasks in Helpdesk, can set the rank number to put the tasks in the order users can perform them to resolve a particular problem. The tasks will be displayed in the order of the rank, beginning with the lowest number listed first. Task is available: This section is used to specify the criteria for running this task. The task will only run when the criteria in this section is met. In this section, you can also select whether or not the task is active and if it is visible to guests. Visible to guests: Select this check-box to have the task appear in both worker and guest consoles (such as My Helpdesk). Clear this check-box to have the task appear only in worker consoles. Quick Links List Tasks on page 80 New Task on page 81 Delete Tasks on page 81 Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 79

80 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Tasks List Tasks This command displays a list of all the tasks created or registered in the Helpdesk system. This page is helpful if you need a quick glance at the Status of a task, and the Consumer ID groupings. The tasks are automatically evaluated when an incident is viewed, but only if the task s status is Active. You can view, edit, delete, or create new tasks from this page. To list Tasks 1 Click Admin > Tasks > List Tasks. 2 Click on one of the tasks listed on the page. 3 Click on the View, Edit, Delete, New, or Clone buttons. Quick Links View Tasks on page 80 Edit Tasks on page 80 Delete a Single Task on page 80 Clone Task on page 81 View Tasks This command lets you view the property values that have been set for any task you selected from the List Tasks page. You can edit a task, changing the property values already set, or add additional criterions to be evaluated. To view a Task 1 Click Admin > Tasks > List Tasks. 2 Click on one of the tasks listed on the page. 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the properties on the page, and then click the Edit button to change values. Edit Tasks This command lets you edit the property values that have been set for the task you selected from the List Tasks page. You can refer to New Task for information on field values. To edit a Task 1 Click Admin > Tasks > List Tasks. 2 Click on one of the tasks listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. Delete a Single Task This command lets you delete a single task, while the Delete Tasks command on the fly-out menu can delete multiple tasks at once. You will be asked to confirm the task you selected before it is actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete a single Task 1 Click Admin > Tasks > List Tasks. 2 Click on one of the tasks listed on the page. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Click OK. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 80

81 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Tasks Clone Task The Clone icon brings up the New Task page pre-populated with the properties of the selected task. This lets you easily create a new task based on the properties of an existing one. New Task The Helpdesk system will evaluate the criteria defined by tasks, whenever workers view an incident. For instance, if the task criteria specifies that the Source field of an incident must contain the text Software Delivery Solution, then the task will only appear when new or modified incidents have the source set to be Software Delivery Solution. Those incidents that meet the criteria defined by the tasks, will display the tasks that can be performed under the Tasks section of an incident. You can set the Active flag of tasks to be inactive, which will leave the tasks in the Helpdesk system, but they will not be displayed in the Tasks section of any incidents. To create a new Task 1 Click Admin > Tasks > New Task. 2 Enter a property value in the Name field. 3 Enter a property value in the Consumer ID field. 4 Enter a property value in the Comment field. 5 Enter a valid address in the URL field. 6 Enter a number in the Rank field. 7 The Task is available section is to specify the task s criteria. Click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. You must Add the task s criteria first, (see Step a) before you can use the buttons listed above the criteria. a b c d e f Click the drop-down arrow, select from the list of fields, and then click Add. A new page will display additional options for the field you selected. Select the When the value of <field> changes check box if you want the criterion to evaluate true when the specified value changes. Select the When the value of <field> check box if you want the criterion to evaluate true based on a specified condition. Note: Select both check boxes if you want the task to be available when the field both changes AND meets the selected conditions. Click the drop-down arrow and select a condition for the field to be tested. Based on the field and condition you selected, additional drop-down lists or fields may display. Select or add the additional values as needed. Click OK. Repeat Step a - e to add additional criterions. 8 Review the criteria you created in the display box. You can add more criteria, edit, move up, move down, or delete a criterion. Highlight the criterion to change, and then click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. 9 Clear the Active check box if you do not want to evaluate this task when incidents are created or modified. 10 Select the Visible check box if you want the task to be available to guest users in the My Helpdesk console. 11 Click OK. Delete Tasks Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can delete tasks as needed. Deleting a task takes effect when you confirm its deletion, and it will be removed from the List Tasks page. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 81

82 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Templates To delete Tasks 1 Click Admin > Tasks > Delete Tasks. 2 Select the check box next to each individual task that you want deleted from the system. 3 Click Next. Templates 4 The Delete Tasks page displays the tasks you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the tasks. notifications are used to automatically generate and send and pager messages when a new incident is created, or when an existing incident is modified. Administrators or managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can create templates, which define the format and content of messages sent. The format for templates can be straight text, HTML, and the content of the message can contain contextual data from the current incident using embedded macros. Template Definitions notification: This is used for notification rules that deliver long formatted messages. Pager notification: This is for notification rules that use short text-only messages. action: This is used for incident operations, such as sent explicitly by workers from an incident and logged as part of the comment history of the incident. Quick Links List Templates on page 82 New Template on page 83 List Templates This command lets you view both the out-of-box templates that come with Helpdesk Solution, and any templates created by administrators and managers. You can view, edit, or create new templates as needed. To list the Templates 1 Click Admin > Templates > List Message Templates. 2 Click on one of the templates listed on the page. 3 Choose one of the following options. Click the View button to review the template properties. Click the Edit button to change the template properties. Click the New button to create a new template. Click the Clone button to duplicate an existing template. Quick Links View Template on page 83 Edit Template on page 83 Clone Template on page 83 Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 82

83 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Templates View Template This command lets you view the property values that have been set for any template you selected from the List Templates page. You can edit the template, adding additional information or changing the property values already set. To view a Template 1 Click Admin > Templates > List Templates. 2 Click on one of the templates listed on the page. 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the properties on the page, and then click the Edit button to change values. Edit Template This command lets you edit the property values that have been set for the template you selected from the List Templates page. You can refer to New Template for information on field values. To edit a Template 1 Click Admin > Templates > List Templates. 2 Click on one of the templates listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. 5 Click OK. Clone Template The Clone icon brings up the New Template page pre-populated with the properties of the selected template. This lets you easily create a new template based on the properties of an existing one. New Template Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can create as many templates as needed. If you edit or create a new template, you can use special macros in the Message field to represent data that will be inserted by Helpdesk Solution when it generates an e- mail from the template. See the Advanced Template section of the Reference Guide for macros information. To create a new Template 1 Click Admin > Templates > New Template. 2 Enter a property value in the Name field. 3 Enter a property value in the From field. You can use the organization, a Helpdesk queue, a worker s name, or a macro definition resolving to a name. For example, MODIFIED_BY_WORKER(worker_full_name) would evaluate to the full display name of the worker that modified the incident causing this template to be sent 4 Enter property value in the From address field. The address will be displayed as the originator of the message. The macro language is supported for this property but it must resolve to a valid SMTP address. For example, MODIFIED_BY_WORKER(worker_ ) would resolve to the SMTP name of the worker that modified the incident causing this to be sent, formatted as [email protected]. 5 Enter a property value in the Subject field. The macro language is supported for this property, which lets you insert contextual data from the incident generating this message 6 Click the drop-down arrow and select one of the following options for the notification Type. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 83

84 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Inboxes notification: To be distributed through . Pager notification: Intended for pager notification. action - To send incident notification such as, sent explicitly by workers from an incident and logged as part of the comment history of the incident. 7 Enter a property value in the Comment field disobeying the template. 8 Upload and attach one or more attachments for this template. To upload a file, click the Browse button and then navigate to the file you want to attach. Next, click Attach. Repeat until you have attached all needed files to this template. Note: Attachments defined in a template are independent of the incident from which they are sent. This is useful for sending files with a specific cover message. 9 Enter the content in the Body field. The macro language is supported for this property, which lets you insert contextual data from the incident generating this message. 10 Select the Interpret as HTML check box if you want HTML tags used within the body of the message. applications that support HTML will be able to interpret the tags and display the message in the HTML format. It you elect to use this option, the Body field should be a complete HTML template. 11 Clear the check box if you do not want the template Active. Inactive templates will not be available for selection when adding Notify rules. 12 Click OK. Inboxes This feature lets you monitor a POP3 mailbox for new messages, and automatically map the content of the messages to the fields of new and existing incidents. For example, if you were monitoring a mailbox called, [email protected], the s subject maps to the Title field and the body maps to the Description field as a new incident is created. To help monitor incoming , you can set inbox filters to help control spam and auto-reply messages. See Inbox Filters on page 87 for more details. inboxes can be configured to specify default values for incidents that they create. This feature lets you define inboxes for specialized purposes. For example, you can designate inboxes for handling high priority issues or specific categories of issues, which will automatically set the priority or category for new incidents accordingly. You can also receive a message being sent in relation to an existing incident. The inbox will look for a distinguishing characteristic, (the incident s number in the subject field) in the form #NNN ), when deciding whether to create a new incident or modifying an existing one. This could mean the person replied to a message sent from Helpdesk where the incident s number was in the original subject field, or the person was following specific instructions and included the incident number as reference. If an incident number in the subject field is recognized, the s message will be recorded as an update to the referenced incident. If the incoming does not refer to an existing incident, then a new item is created from the incoming mail using the subject line as the incident title and the message body as the initial comment. Only the pure text version of the message body is used for the comment (HTML formats and embedded images and objects are lost). The From address in the incoming is used to locate or create a contact record to be associated with the incident. The inbound processor can be configured to provide a limited number of defaults (for example, initial Status and Category) for routing purposes. Other initial incident settings (such as Type and Priority) can be specified via a message body data input mechanism. This isn't particularly useful for created by end users unless they do so through an form or other front end. Data specified in the input mechanism takes preference over the defaulted data. If the incoming does refer to an existing item, then the existing item is loaded and the message body added as a new comment. The inbound processor can be configured to optionally reset the Status to a designated value (default is Open). Any other data specified in the message body data input mechanism is applied as well. Whether the refers to an existing incident or not, any attachments in the are uploaded to Helpdesk and added as attachments to the incident. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 84

85 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Inboxes Historical bodies are cut by searching for headers like -----Original Message However, the entire message is first processed to find the first instance of the message body data input mechanism. This allows notify templates to add return data to the initial outgoing notification (preferably preceded by text that says Please don't alter any text following this line ) and then retrieve it when and if the addressee replies. Message body data input mechanism Helpdesk always searches incoming for a data island containing specific name value pairs representing additional data changes to be applied to the incident. If more than one such data island exists, only the first is processed in case historical thread information somehow survives. The data island is implemented with a pseudo XML syntax (actual XML is not used both to prevent unintended markup interpretation when displayed in HTML mail viewers and to prevent stripping by mail servers producing a text-only view of the message). The entire data island is delimited by a beginning {HelpdeskData} marker and an ending {/HelpdeskData} marker. Individual field values are similarly delimited by a {HelpdeskValue} {/HelpdeskValue} pair surrounding a string value representing a field name delimited by an = sign. Everything following the = sign (up to the closing {/HelpdeskValue} marker) is taken as the value for the specified field (leading and trailing whitespace is stripped). Auxiliary incident data is specified in a {HelpdeskAuxValue} {/HelpdeskAuxValue} pair containing a <member>,<name>=<value> construct. The entire data island format looks like the following (whitespace anywhere other than within <value> is ignored, so the markers and field designators can appear on their own lines if desired): {HelpdeskData} {HelpdeskValue}<field_name>=<value>{/HelpdeskValue} {HelpdeskAuxValue}<member>,<name>=<value>{/HelpdeskAuxValue} {/HelpdeskData} where field_name specifies any writable field from the incident view and member and name are application defined strings for identifying externally significant auxiliary data. White space is ignored except for the value replacement, where it is preserved. The inbound feature doesn't require any instance data; therefore there is no data import definition. Quick Links List Inboxes on page 85 New Inbox on page 86 Delete Inboxes on page 87 List Inboxes This command lets you view inboxes that have been created by administrators and managers. You can view, edit, or create new inboxes as needed. To list Inboxes 1 Click Admin > Inboxes > List Inboxes. 2 Click on one of the inboxes listed on the page. 3 Choose one of the following options. Click the View button to review the inbox properties. Click the Edit button to change the inbox properties. Click the New button to create a new inbox. Click the Clone button to duplicate an existing inbox. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 85

86 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Inboxes Quick Links View Inboxes on page 86 Edit Inboxes on page 86 Clone Inboxes on page 86 View Inboxes This command lets you view the property values that have been set for any inbox selected from the List Inboxes page. You can edit the inbox, adding additional information or changing the property values already set. To View an Inbox 1 Click Admin > Inboxes > List Inboxes. 2 Click on one of the inboxes list on the page. 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the properties on the page, and then click the Edit button to change values. Edit Inboxes This command lets you edit the property values that have been set for the inboxes selected from the List Inboxes page. You can refer to New Inbox for information on field values. To edit an Inbox 1 Click Admin > Inboxes > List Inboxes. 2 Click on one of the inboxes listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. 5 Click OK. Clone Inboxes The Clone icon brings up the New Inbox page pre-populated with the properties of the selected inbox. This lets you easily create a new inbox based on the properties of an existing one. New Inbox This command lets you create inboxes to monitor messages and create or update incidents in the Helpdesk system. There is a drop-down list of fields for new and existing incidents, where you define the values that will be set by incoming . To create a new Inbox 1 Click Admin > Inboxes > New Inbox. 2 Enter a property value in the POP3 Server field. 3 Enter a property value in the Account field. 4 Enter the Password for the account. 5 Click the drop-down arrow and select an Authentication Mode from the list. 6 Enter a property value in the Timeout(MS) field if you want to change the default value. 7 Click Test Connection to verify that the address is valid. 8 Click the drop-down arrow and select a Processing Option from the list. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 86

87 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Inbox Filters 9 Select the check box next to each inbox filter that you want applied to the inbox account. 10 Enter a property value in the Send reports to field. 11 Set the field values For new incidents that area created by incoming . Click the drop-down arrow and select an incident field from the list, and then click Add. Click the Edit button to change the field values. Click the Delete button to remove the field. 12 Set the field values For existing incidents that area updated by incoming . Click the dropdown arrow and select an incident field from the list, and then click Add. Click the Edit button to change the field values. Click the Delete button to remove the field. 13 Clear the Active check box if you do not want the new inbox to be active. 14 Click OK. Delete Inboxes Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can delete inboxes. Deleting an inbox takes effect when you confirm its deletion, and it will no longer appear on the List Inboxes page. To delete Inboxes 1 Click Admin > Inboxes > Delete Inboxes. 2 Select the check box next to each individual inbox that you want deleted from the system. 3 Click Next. 4 The Delete Inboxes page displays the quick incidents you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the inboxes. Inbox Filters You can create inbox filters to help you control incoming spam and auto-reply messages received by inboxes defined in the Helpdesk system. See Inboxes on page 84 for more details. Filters let you set a value for the fields, such as To, From, Subject, and Body. When incoming has a value that is the same as the fields defined by the filter, the mail will be rejected. The filters are processed in the order they are listed on the List Inbox Filters page, but only if the filter s status is Active. Quick Links List Inbox Filters on page 87 New Inbox Filter on page 89 Delete Inbox Filters on page 90 List Inbox Filters This command lets you view the property values that have been set for any inbox filter selected from the List Inbox Filters page. You can edit or create a new inbox filter, change the order of the filters in the list, or delete a single filter. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 87

88 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Inbox Filters To list Inbox Filters 1 Click Admin > Inbox Filters > List Inbox Filters. 2 Click on one of the inbox filters listed on the page. 3 Choose one of the following options. Click the New button to create a new inbox filter. Click the View button to review the inbox filter properties. Click the Edit button to change the inbox filter properties. Click the Move rule up button to move the filter up one level. Click the Move rule down button to move the filter down one level. Click the Delete button to delete the inbox filter. Click the Clone button to duplicate an existing inbox filter. Quick Links View Inboxes on page 86 Edit Inbox Filters on page 88 Change the Order of Inbox Filters on page 88 Delete a Single Routing Rule on page 73 Clone Inbox Filter on page 89 View Inbox Filter This command lets you view the property values that have been set for any inbox filter selected from the List Inbox Filters page. You can edit the inbox, adding additional information or changing the property values already set. To view an Inbox 1 Click Admin > Inbox Filters > List Inbox Filters. 2 Click on one of the inbox filters list on the page. 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the properties on the page, and then click the Edit button to change values. Edit Inbox Filters This command lets you edit the property values that have been set for the inboxes selected from the Inbox Filters page. You can refer to New Inbox Filter for information on field values. To edit an Inbox Filter 1 Click Admin > Inbox Filters > List Inbox Filters. 2 Click on one of the inbox filters listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Re-enter the property values of the fields on the page. 5 Click OK. Change the Order of Inbox Filters This command lets you change the order of the inbox filters that are listed on the List Inbox Filters page. The filters will be processed in the order they are listed on the page. You can move the filter up or down, one level at a time, from its current position. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 88

89 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Inbox Filters To move Inbox Filters up or down 1 Click Admin > Inbox Filters > List Inbox Filters. 2 Click on one of the inbox filters listed on the page. 3 Click the Move rule up or Move rule down button to change the order of the list. 4 Repeat Step 2-3 as needed until the inbox filters are in the order you want them processed. Delete a Single Inbox Filter This command lets you delete a single inbox filter, while the Delete Inbox Filters command on the fly-out menu can delete multiple inbox filters at once. You will be asked to confirm the filter you selected before it is actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. To delete a single Inbox Filter 1 Click Admin > Inbox Filters > List Inbox Filters. 2 Click on one of the inbox filters listed on the page. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Click OK. Clone Inbox Filter The Clone icon brings up the New Inbox Filter page pre-populated with the properties of the selected inbox filter. This lets you easily create a new inbox filter based on the properties of an existing one. New Inbox Filter Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can create as many inbox filters as needed. To create a new Inbox Filter 1 Click Admin > Inbox Filters > List Inbox Filters. 2 Enter a property value in the Name field. 3 Enter a description for the filter in the Comment field. 4 The Reject section is used to specify the filter s criteria. Click on the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete buttons. You must Add at least one criterion first (see Step a) before you can you can use some of the buttons listed above. a b c d Click the drop-down arrow and select from the list of fields, and then click Add. A new page will display additional options for the field you selected. Enter a test condition and a value to be tested. The criterion will evaluate true when the field you selected meets this condition. Depending on the field and condition you selected, additional drop-down lists or fields may display for you to enter the criterion value. Click OK. Repeat Step a - c to add additional criterions. 5 Review the criteria you created in the display box. You can add, edit, move up, move down, or delete a criterion. Highlight the criterion to change, and then click the Edit, Add a When...<end> group, Move up, Move down, or Delete button. 6 Click OK. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 89

90 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Resource Types Resource Types Lookups Delete Inbox Filters Administrators and managers, who have been granted the appropriate privileges, can delete inbox filters. Deleting a filter takes effect when you confirm its deletion, and it will no longer appear on the List Inbox Filters page. To delete Inbox Filters 1 Click Admin > Inbox Filters > Delete Inbox Filters. 2 Select the check box next to each individual inbox filter that you want deleted from the system. 3 Click Next. 4 The Delete Inbox Filters page displays the filters you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the inbox filters. Select the resource type from the provided list. These resources can be selected from assets within each incident. If you have Asset Control Solution enabled, you will see additional items integrated as resource types. This page displays the lookups that can be edited. These include standard ones like Status, Priority, and Type, plus custom ones that have been registered with the system. You can choose which to edit. Quick Links Edit Lookups View Lookups Edit Lookups This page lets you edit lookups that are displayed on the incidents page. You can add, delete, or change the lookup values of any field listed. This page lists the current values of the selected lookup (including display value, id, ordinal, and so forth) for the selected lookup. To modify the entries of the selected lookup Note: To preserve the meaning of lookup values that have already been saved in the incident database, you will not be allowed to modify the Id value of an existing entry or to delete entries. To remove an entry from a lookup, make it inactive. 1 Select a lookup. 2 Click the Edit icon. 3 In the Default value list, select the default value for the lookup. 4 To edit a value: a Select a value. b Click the Edit icon. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 90

91 Chapter 8: The Admin Menu Import Admin Data c In the Name field, you can change the name of the value. d Clear the Active check box to make the value unavailable for selection when modifying an incident. e Click OK to save changes. 5 To create a new value. a Click the New icon. b In the Id field, if you want a different Id other than the suggested Id, enter an Id number. c d e Note: You cannot use an Id that already exists. In the Name field, enter the name that you want displayed in the drop-down list of the lookup. Leave Active selected if you want the value to be available when modifying an incident. Click OK to save changes. 6 Click OK to save changes. Note: The ordinal value of the lookup is indicated by its position in the grid. The ordinal values are always written back according to this order when the entire lookup table is saved. View Lookups This page lets you view Lookup information. To view a lookup 1 Select a lookup. 2 Click the View icon. 3 To edit this lookup, select the Edit icon. Import Admin Data This page lets you import Admin data that you have exported. To import a file 1 Browse to the XML file. 2 Click the Import button. Export Admin Data This page lets you export Admin data so that you can import it into another database. To export a file 1 Select the Helpdesk object type. 2 Select one or more objects from the Available for export list. 3 Click Add. 4 Click Next. 5 Click the Export as XML file link. 6 Save the XML file. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 91

92 Chapter 9: The Contacts Menu Contact Home Find Contacts Contacts are users who request help, or managers acting as the contact point for another user for the associated problem or request. Each user should be defined in the database as a contact. Workers are also contacts and their information is stored in the database as well. Contacts are associated with incidents. A user who calls the Helpdesk to report an incident can be assigned as the contact for the incident being created, which makes problem resolution and follow-up easier. As incidents are routed to queues or individual workers for resolution, the point of reference for the originating problem can be contacted if further information is needed. Contacts can also be sent notifications, keeping them updated on the status and estimated time of resolution for incidents. Quick Links Contact Home on page 92 Find Contacts on page 92 New Contact on page 94 Delete Contacts on page 94 This page displays a list of the most recent contacts that you have worked on. After you view, edit, or create a new contact, the Recent Contacts list will update, adding a new line item for the contact. If you do not want to make any changes to the contacts currently listed, go to the bottom of the page and click one of the links to find, create, or delete other contacts in the Helpdesk system. To view Contacts Home 1 Click Contacts > Contacts Home. 2 Click on one of the contacts listed on the page. 3 Click the View, Edit, or Delete a Single Asset button. 4 Choose one of the following quick links at the bottom of the page if you do not want to change any of the assets listed in the recents list. Click the Find one or more contacts link to search the Helpdesk database for contacts. Click the Create a contact link to add a new contact to the Helpdesk database. Click the Delete contacts link to delete multiple contacts from the Helpdesk database. This command lets you search for contacts that have been entered into the Helpdesk system. You can enter as many field values on the page as you want for the search criteria. Contacts matching the values you entered will be displayed in a list at the bottom of the page. If you click the Find button without entering any search criteria, all contacts entered in the Helpdesk system will be displayed. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 92

93 Chapter 9: The Contacts Menu To find a Contact 1 Click Contacts > Find Contacts. 2 Enter the search criteria in the fields on the page to find specific contacts. If you want to find all contacts in the Helpdesk system, do not enter any field values. 3 Click Find. 4 Contacts that match the search criteria are listed below Contacts. Click on one of the contacts in the list. 5 Click the View, Edit, or Delete buttons. View Contact After you search for contacts using the Find Contacts command, you can select any contact from the search results, and view its properties. The Edit button, located in the upper right corner of the View Contact page, will take you to the Edit Contact page if you want to edit property values. If the contact you are viewing is associated with one or more incidents, they will be listed at the bottom of the page. From the list, you can view or edit any incident as needed. To view a Contact 1 Click Contacts > Contacts Home. 2 Click on one of the contacts listed below Recent Contacts. If the contact you want to view is not listed, use the Find Contacts command to search for the contact you want. 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the contact information on the page. 5 Click the Edit button to change property values. 6 If there are any incidents associated with the contact, they will be listed below Incidents, on the bottom half of the page. Click on one of the incidents in the list, and then click the View or Edit button. Edit Contact After you search for contacts using the Find Contacts command, you can select any contact from the search results listed and edit their property values. To edit a Contact 1 Click Contacts > Contacts Home. 2 Click on one of the contacts listed below Recent Contacts. If the contact you want to view is not listed, use the Find Contacts command to search for the contact you want. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Change property values for any field on the page. 5 Click OK. 6 If there are any incidents associated with the contact, they will be listed below Incidents, on the bottom of the page. Click on one of the incidents in the list, and then click the View or Edit button. Delete a Single Contact This command lets you delete a single contact, while the Delete Contacts command on the fly-out menu can delete multiple contacts. When you select a contact to delete, a new page is displayed and you can view the contact you are about to delete. If you confirm the deletion, the contact will be removed from the Helpdesk system. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 93

94 Chapter 9: The Contacts Menu Caution: If you delete a contact that is associated to an incident, the Contact field for the Incident will lose the contact assignment, and a new value of none selected will be set. To delete a single Contact 1 Click Contacts > Contact Home. 2 Click on one of the contacts listed below Recent Contacts. If the contact you want to delete is not listed, use the Find Contacts command to search for the contact you want. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Click OK. New Contact This command is used to add new contacts to the Helpdesk system. A user who requests help from a Helpdesk Specialist is added as a new contact. Helpdesk Specialists that input incidents or respond to incident requests, are also entered into the system as contacts. The NT ID field must be defined in the format, domain\user. For example, a user could enter an ID like, altiris\hdworker. This ID is used by Helpdesk to identify users and workers logging in to one of the secured consoles such as, the Worker Console, or My Helpdesk Console. If the Organization drop-down arrow does not list the organization you want the contact associated with, use the field below to enter the correct value. After you create a new contact, the View page is displayed so you can review the property values set. You can use the Edit button to change property settings for the contact as needed. To create a new Contact 1 Click Contacts > New Contact. 2 Enter the contact property values in the fields on the page. 3 Clear the Active check box if you do not want the contact to be active. 4 Click OK. Delete Contacts You can delete multiple contacts from the Helpdesk system using this command. You must find the contacts you want to delete, and then select each individual contact from the search results listed on the page. You will be asked to confirm the contacts you selected before they are actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. Caution: If you delete a contact that is associated with an incident, the Contact field for the Incident will lose the contact assignment, and a new value of none selected will be set. To delete Contacts 1 Click Contacts > Delete Contacts. 2 To find the contacts you want deleted, enter the search criteria in the fields on the page. If you want to find all contacts in the Helpdesk system, do not enter any field values. 3 Click Find. 4 Contacts that match the search criteria are listed on the page. Select the check box next to each individual contact that you want deleted from the system. 5 Click Next. 6 The Delete Contacts page displays the contacts you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the contacts from the Helpdesk system. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 94

95 Chapter 10: The Assets Menu Asset Home Assets can be any resource that you want to track through the Helpdesk database, such as; computers, printers, monitors, network hubs, and more. Not only can you track IT resources, but you can create asset items for office equipment like phones, copiers, fax machines, or furniture. Assets can be associated with incidents, which helps department managers to analyze the functionality and associated costs based on a specific resource. For example, if a user reports there is a problem printing on a particular network printer, the Helpdesk Specialist can associate the network printer asset with the incident. Department managers can run a report to show the history of the network printer, and how many incidents have been generated because of ongoing problems with the printer. The capability to track incidents to assets provides a basic level of ITIL Problem Management, enabling problem managers to spot trends and replace an asset that has proven trouble-prone. It also allows the tracking of costs associated with an asset, which can be useful in negotiating contracts, and making informed equipment purchase Quick Links Asset Home on page 95 Find Assets on page 96 New Asset on page 97 Delete Assets on page 97 This page displays a list of the most recent assets that you have worked on. After you view, edit, or create a new asset, the Recent Assets list will update, adding a new line item for the asset. If you do not want to make any changes to the assets currently listed, go to the bottom of the page and click one of the links to find, create, or delete other assets in the Helpdesk system. To view Assets Home 1 Click Assets > Assets Home. 2 Click on one of the assets listed on the page. 3 Click the View, Edit, or Delete a Single Asset button. 4 Choose one of the following quick links at the bottom of the page if you do not want to change any of the assets listed in the recents list. Click the Find one or more assets link to search the Helpdesk database for assets. Click the Create an asset link to add a new asset to the Helpdesk database. Click the Delete asset link to delete multiple assets from the Helpdesk database. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 95

96 Chapter 10: The Assets Menu Find Assets This command lets you search for assets that have been entered into the Helpdesk system. You can enter as many field values on the page as you want for the search criteria. Assets matching the values you entered will be displayed in a list at the bottom of the page. If you click the Find button without entering any search criteria, all assets entered in the Helpdesk system will be displayed. By default, computer resources in the Notification Server database will be automatically imported into Helpdesk Solution's asset tables. Helpdesk incidents are now modeled as Resources in the Notification Server database. This allows for better visibility of incidents related to assets and their costs, for Altiris Asset management. To find an Asset 1 Click Assets > Find Assets. 2 Enter the search criteria in the fields on the page to find specific assets. If you want to find all assets in the Helpdesk system, do not enter any field values. 3 Click Find. 4 Assets that match the search criteria are listed below Assets. Click on one of the assets in the list. 5 Click the View, Edit, or Delete buttons. View Asset After you search for assets using the Find Assets command, you can select any asset from the search results, and view its properties. The Edit button will take you to the Edit Asset page if you want to edit property values If the asset you are viewing is associated with one or more incidents, the list of incidents will be displayed at the bottom of the page. You can view or edit assets as needed. To view an Asset 1 Click Assets > Assets Home. 2 Click on one of the assets listed below Recent Assets. If the asset you want to view is not listed, use the Find Assets command to search for the asset you want. 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the asset information on the page. 5 Click the Edit button if you want to change property values. 6 If there are any incidents associated with the asset, they will be listed below Incidents, on the bottom half of the page. Click on one of the incidents in the list, and then click the View or Edit button. Edit Asset After you search for assets using the Find Assets command, you can select any asset from the search results listed and edit their property values. To edit an Asset 1 Click Assets > Assets Home. 2 Click on one of the assets listed below Recent Assets. If the asset you want to view is not listed, use the Find Assets command to search for the asset you want. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Change property values for any field on the page. 5 Click OK. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 96

97 Chapter 10: The Assets Menu New Asset 6 If there are any incidents associated with the asset, they will be listed below Incidents, on the bottom of the page. Click on one of the incidents in the list, and then click the View or Edit button. Delete a Single Asset This command lets you delete a single asset, while the Delete Assets command on the fly-out menu can delete multiple assets. When you select an asset to delete, a new page is displayed so you can view the asset you are about to delete. If you confirm the deletion, the asset will be removed from the Helpdesk system. Caution: If you delete an asset that is associated with an incident, the Asset field for the Incident will lose the asset assignment, and a new value of none selected will be set. To delete a single Asset 1 Click Assets > Assets Home. 2 Click on one of the assets listed below Recent Assets. If the asset you want to delete is not listed, use the Find Assets command to search for the asset you want. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Click OK. Delete Assets This feature is used to add new assets to the Helpdesk system. Assets can be any resource that you want to track within an organization such as, PCs, monitors, software products, printers, fax machines, and more. The External ID field is for organizations who need to identify their assets with a unique ID from an external management system. If the Organization drop-down arrow does not list the organization you want the asset associated with, use the field below to enter the correct value. After you create a new asset, the View page is displayed so you can review the property values set. You can use the Edit button to change property settings for the asset as needed. To create a new Asset 1 Click Assets > New Asset. 2 Enter the asset property values in the fields on the page. 3 Clear the Active check box if you do not want the asset to be active. 4 Click OK. You can delete multiple assets from the Helpdesk system using this command. You must find the assets you want to delete, then select each individual asset from the search results listed on the page. You will be asked to confirm the assets you selected before they are actually deleted from the Helpdesk database. Caution: If you delete an asset that is associated to an incident, the Asset field for the Incident will lose the asset assignment, and a new value of none selected will be set. To delete Assets 1 Click Assets > Delete Assets. 2 To find the assets you want to delete, enter the search criteria in the fields on the page. If you want to find all assets in the Helpdesk system, do not enter any field values. 3 Click Find. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 97

98 Chapter 10: The Assets Menu 4 Assets that match the search criteria are listed on the page. Select the check box next to each individual asset that you want deleted from the system. 5 Click Next. 6 The Delete Assets page displays the assets you have selected to be deleted from the Helpdesk system. Click Back to if you want to make corrections to the list, and then repeat Step Click Finish to delete the assets from the Helpdesk system. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 98

99 Chapter 11: The Worker Menu List Workers The Worker Menu is displayed if you have the appropriate privileges to perform tasks such as, setting up new workers, changing hourly rates, assigning worker to queues, and managing queues in the Helpdesk system. Workers and Worker Queues A Worker is a person who is assigned a level of responsibility by the Helpdesk administrator and responds to incident requests submitted to the Helpdesk. Workers can also create new incident requests from a phone support environment, gather contact information, enter a brief description for the incident being reported, and route the request to an appropriate Queue Administrators can assign hourly rates to workers or to a worker s queue, to track costs associated with incidents. The hourly rate is displayed in clear text, and is visible to anybody with privileges to edit worker properties, so caution should be used. Quick Links List Workers on page 99 New Worker on page 100 List Queues on page 101 New Queue on page 103 This command is used to display all the workers entered into the Helpdesk system. You can select a worker on the page, and then view or edit their properties. You can also create a new worker from this page. Note: Workers cannot be deleted from the database. Workers that are no longer needed can be inactivated. This helps to maintain referential integrity. To make a worker inactive, edit the worker by clicking the Edit icon and then clear the Active check-box. To list Workers 1 Click Workers > List Workers. 2 Click the New button to create a new worker. 3 Click on one of the workers listed on the page. 4 Click the View or Edit button. Quick Links View Worker on page 100 Edit Worker on page 100 Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 99

100 Chapter 11: The Worker Menu New Worker View Worker This command lets you review worker information. You must use the Edit button to actually change worker properties. To view a Worker 1 Click Workers > List Workers. 2 Click on one of the workers listed on the page. 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the worker information on the page. 5 Click the Edit button to change property values. Edit Worker The List Workers page will list all the workers in the Helpdesk system. You can select any worker from the list and go directly to the edit command without viewing its properties. This command makes it convenient if you already know that a worker s property values need to be changed. To edit a Worker 1 Click Workers > List Workers. 2 Click on one of the workers listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Change property values for any field on the page. 5 Click OK. You must create a new worker entry for each worker intending to create Helpdesk incidents. You must know the domain and NT ID for each worker you create, although the field value itself (at the time of entry) is not validated against any Windows authority such as a Domain Controller or Active Directory. When a new worker tries to access a Helpdesk page, their NT identity will be submitted to the server by their browser. If the NT identity submitted does not correspond to a defined worker account, they will be given the opportunity to enroll as a Helpdesk worker. Therefore, it is recommended that Helpdesk Administrators use the Internet Services Manager to secure the Helpdesk entry point, allowing access to only those users that are Helpdesk workers. Workers can be assigned a queue value. The Retrieve queues field uses a drop-down list to display the queues available in the Helpdesk system. The List Queues command displays a list of default queues and any customized queues created by the Helpdesk Administrator. Routing rules can be defined to route incidents to specific queues in the Helpdesk system. If you specify queue values for workers, they can use the Retrieve Queued Incident command to automatically assign the next available incident (based on priority and create time) to themselves. Field Definitions Worker name: The name of the user logging in to the Helpdesk system to create new incidents. This name is the worker's Helpdesk ID and is displayed in various reports for Helpdesk activity, and is displayed in drop-down lists for incident assignments. Hourly rate: Used by reports to estimate the cost of incidents. The rate is displayed only on the Worker Edit page, so caution should be used when assigning users the privilege to create and edit workers. Retrieve queue: This denotes what queue the worker will access when they use the Retrieve Queued Incident command. The default is [prompt], which means the worker will be prompted to select from one of the Helpdesk queues to retrieve incidents from. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 100

101 Chapter 11: The Worker Menu List Queues Full name: Required field. This value is not necessary but is strongly recommended. The address must be unique to the worker and not to a worker queue. This is the address that the Helpdesk system will use to notify workers with Incident Notify Rules. NT ID: Required field; the entry must be in the format Domain\NT ID. When a browser attempts to access a Helpdesk page, it will submit the NT credentials of the current user to the Helpdesk web site. The Helpdesk system looks up the worker by the NT ID, and all subsequent interaction will be in the context of the worker s account. Active: This value determines if a worker is allowed to access the Helpdesk system, pending Windows NT authentication. If a worker is de-activated while they are currently using Helpdesk, it will not take effect until the worker closes their web browser; any access thereafter will be denied. Note: The Active check box is different for a new worker than for a new contact. Workers can still be active contacts but listed as inactive workers. To create a new Worker 1 Click Workers > New Worker. 2 Enter the new worker property values in the fields on the page. 3 Clear the Active check box if you do not want the worker to be active. 4 Click OK. A queue is a holding area where incidents are stored prior to workers retrieving them. When you create an incident, you can choose to set the Assigned field value to either a specific worker or queue. See New Incident on page 35. Administrators and managers can assign an hourly rate to queues (just the same as for workers), which helps to track the cost of incidents assigned to a queue. Altiris recommends all workers be assigned to a queue, so that the cost of labor hours can be reported successfully. Worker Queues Workers can find incidents by performing a search based on a queue, or they can retrieve incidents that are assigned to a queue. Helpdesk provides a set of default queues that correspond to worker types that are commonly found in a production Helpdesk environment.. Default Queues Queue Asset Management Deployment-SW Delivery Human Resources Description This queue is for incidents that report issues with any type of asset. Workers associated with this queue are from the Asset Management department. This is for incidents that report issues or requests for the deployment of software packages, patches, or release updates. The IT department will generally have workers dedicated to maintaining company software. This is for incidents that report any type of human resource issue. Workers associated with this queue are from the Human Resource department. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 101

102 Chapter 11: The Worker Menu Default Queues Queue Level 1 Level 2 Level 2 Desktop Level 2 Network Level 2 Server Operations Professional Services Supervisor Description This queue is for Helpdesk workers who respond to common user incidents such as; password resets, and How to questions. Typically, if a Level 1 Helpdesk worker cannot resolve the reported issue, they will turn the incident over to a Level 2 worker. This queue is for a Helpdesk worker who is technically more advanced than a level 1 worker. The workers associated with this queue provide phone support for more complicated incidents, and can be field or system managers. This is for incidents related to desktop issues or requests. Workers associated with this queue are from the IT department and trained to provide desktop support. This is for incidents related to network issues or requests. Workers associated with this queue are network specialists from the IT department, trained to debug and resolve connectivity problems. This is for incidents related to any type of server issue. Workers associated with this queue are generally system administrators from the IT department; they are trained to resolve server and firewall software or hardware problems. Workers associated with this queue are assigned incidents generated for the Operations department. Workers associated with this queue are assigned incidents generated for the Professional Services department. This queue is reserved for managers, supervisors, or administrators. To list Queues 1 Click Worker > List Queues. 2 Click on one of the queues listed on the page. 3 Click the View, Edit, or New button. Quick Links View Queue on page 102 Edit Queue on page 103 View Queue This command lets you review information about a selected queue You must use the Edit button to actually change queue properties. To view a Queue 1 Click Workers > List Queues. 2 Click on one of the queues listed on the page. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 102

103 Chapter 11: The Worker Menu New Queue 3 Click the View button. 4 Review the queue information on the page. 5 Click the Edit button to change property values. Edit Queue The List Queues page will list all the queues in the Helpdesk system. You can select any queue from the list and go directly to the edit command without viewing its properties. This command makes it convenient if you already know that a queue s property values need to be changed. To edit a Queue 1 Click Workers > List Queues. 2 Click on one of the queues listed on the page. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Change property values for any field on the page. 5 Click OK. If you have a group of workers or an additional department that is not already accounted for in the default queues available, you can create a new queue. After the queue is added to the Helpdesk database, it will appear on the List Queues page. To create a new Queue 1 Click Workers > New Queue. 2 Enter the new queue property values in the fields on the page. 3 Clear the Active check box if you do not want the queue to be active. 4 Click OK. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 103

104 Chapter 12: The Recents Menu This command is a convenient way for you to find the most recent incidents, contacts, and assets you have accessed. The recents menu is divided into three sections; Incidents, Contacts, and Assets. Each section contains the last 10 items of the type that you viewed or edited. As you access incidents, contacts, and assets, the oldest items will eventually migrate off to display only the most recent 10 items. To view Recents 1 Click Recents. 2 Click one of the incidents, contacts, or assets listed on the page. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 104

105 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu This section provides information on how to use the Knowledge Base Menu. See Helpdesk Knowledge Base on page 121 for more information on using Knowledge Base. IMPORTANT: You must Configure the Knowledge Base before this feature can be used. Quick Links Configure the Knowledge Base on page 105 Search Articles on page 106 Publish Article on page 108 Publish Existing Document on page 109 Review Article on page 111 Search Article Properties on page 113 Libraries on page 113 Archive Articles on page 118 Delete Articles on page 119 Configure the Knowledge Base You must configure the Knowledge Base before you can begin using this feature. Configuring the Knowledge Base creates a file folder structure in both the Helpdesk database and the Windows NT file system. After you configure the Knowledge Base file structure, you can use the Helpdesk user interface to create additional libraries and scopes. If the Knowledge Base has not yet been configured, when you go to any one of several Knowledge Base pages that require prior configuration (such as the search page), you will be prompted to configure the Knowledge Base. If you have the appropriate privileges, a link will be displayed where you can go directly to configure the Knowledge Base. To configure the Knowledge Base 1 From the Altiris Console, click the Configuration tab. 2 Click Solutions Settings > Incident Management > Helpdesk > Knowledge Base Settings. 3 In the New default library path field, enter the directory path where Knowledge Base libraries, scopes, and articles will be stored. 4 In the Catalog Directory field, enter the directory path where Knowledge Base index files will be stored. 5 Clear the check box if you do not want to remove other indexing service catalogs from the Notification Server. Note: To increase the performance of the Knowledge Base, Altiris recommends that all other index catalogs be removed from the Notification Server. If existing index catalogs are found on the Notification Server, they will be listed on the bottom half of the page. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 105

106 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu Search Articles 6 Refresh scopes in background lets you control whether or not you want to refresh the scopes right away or in the background. 7 Click Apply to save your configuration. This command lets you search the Knowledge Base to find articles based on either the simple or the advanced search options. Workers can search for articles to help resolve reported incidents, which increases the Helpdesk s efficiency. Note: To index and search Adobe Acrobat documents, an additional component called ifilter is required. To download, see Searches produce a list of articles that contain the word or phrase no matter where they appear in the text. This list gives the rules for formulating queries: Consecutive words are treated as a phrase; they must appear in the same order within a matching document. Queries are case-insensitive, so you can type your query in uppercase or lowercase. You can search for any word except for those in the exception list (for English, this includes a, an, and, as, and other common words), which are ignored during a search. Words in the exception list are treated as placeholders in phrase and proximity queries. For example, if you searched for Word for Windows, the results could give you Word for Windows and Word and Windows, because for is a noise word and appears in the exception list. Punctuation marks such as the period (.), colon (:), semicolon (;), and comma (,) are ignored during a search. To use specially treated characters such as &,, ^, $, (, ), in a query, enclose your query in quotation marks ( ). To search for a word or phrase containing quotation marks, enclose the entire phrase in quotation marks and then double the quotation marks around the word or words you want to surround with quotes. For example, World-Wide Web or Web searches for World-Wide Web or Web. You can insert Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) and the proximity operator (NEAR) to specify additional search information. The wildcard character (*) can match words with a given prefix. The query esc* matches the terms ESC, escape, and so on. Free-text queries can be specified without regard to query syntax. Vector space queries can be specified. Vector queries return pages that match a list of words and phrases. The rank of each page indicates how well the page matched the query. For example, the search light, bulb would produce a list of files with the words light and bulb. Vector queries also help you search for pages that contain weighted prefixes, words, and phrases. For example, the search invent*, light[50], bulb[10], light bulb [400] would produce files that contain words prefixed by invent, the words light, bulb, and the phrase light bulb (the terms are weighted). ActiveX (OLE) and file attribute property value queries can be issued. Query Examples > > 95/12/23 Apple tree apple tree Results Pages larger than one million bytes Pages modified after the date Pages with the phrase apple tree Same as above Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 106

107 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu apple tree Microsoft > microsoft > " #filename ^s = John Smith $contents why is the sky < 100 & #filename > 95/12/23 Results Same as above Pages with the word Microsoft that are larger than one million bytes Pages with the phrase specified (not the same as above) Video files (the # prefix is used because the query contains a regular expression) Pages with the archive attribute bit on Pages with the given author Pages that match the query Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) files less than 100 bytes in size Pages modified after the date Simple This command will search for articles in all the Knowledge Base libraries within the Helpdesk system, and will also search all data fields such as, type, author, and keywords. The search can be performed using one of three options: all words, free-text, and exact phrase. To Simple Search for an article 1 Click Knowledge Base > Search Article. 2 Enter the search criteria in the Content field. 3 The default method to match the content value in articles is All words. To change the content search method, click the drop-down arrow and select Free-text, or Exact phrase. 4 Click Find. If the search yields any articles, they will be displayed at the bottom of the page. The articles listed are presented with Rank, Score, Accesses, and descriptive information. Rank represents the number of times the search terms appear in the document, and not an overall measurement of relevancy. The score is an average of the usefulness of the article as it is rated by other Knowledge Base users. Accesses is the number of times an article has been viewed by users. You can sort the columns according to the criteria mort useful to find the articles you need. 5 To view an article do one of the following: Double-click on one of the articles listed on the page. Select one of the articles listed on the page, and then click the View button. Whichever method you select, the article will be opened in a new window. Microsoft Office and Adobe Reader documents will display with the appropriate viewer, which requires that the corresponding application be installed on the user's computer. 6 You can link the article to an incident by entering its number in the Incident field. If you found the article by doing a search directly from an incident, the incident number will already be entered in the field. Click the Link button establishes the link in the database and a hyperlink to the article will be displayed every time the incident is viewed. 7 Click the Close Article button. 8 When the article closes, a dialog box appears. Click on one of the ranking numbers. When you click one of the buttons, it establishes another score data point in the database.you can close the dialog box without selecting a value; however, rating each article is important to administrators and managers when evaluating the importance and overall usefulness of its content, an helps keep the Knowledge Base content current and useful. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 107

108 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu Advanced Publish Article The advanced search is similar to the simple search, except that entering a search term in a specific field will limit the search results to only those articles that also contain the search term in the specified field. It is also possible to narrow searches to specific libraries and scopes for more precise results and faster searching. You can enter search terms in as many fields as you want, from very broad to very specific when defining the search criteria. To Advance Search for an article 1 Click Knowledge Base > Search Article. 2 Click the Advanced tab. 3 Enter the search criteria in the fields on the page. 4 The default method to match the content value in articles is All words. To change the content search method, click the drop-down arrow and select Free-text, or Exact phrase. 5 Click Find. If the search yields any articles, they will be displayed at the bottom of the page. The articles listed are presented with Rank, Score, Accesses, and descriptive information. Rank represents the number of times the search terms appear in the document, and not an overall measurement of relevancy. The score is an average of the usefulness of the article as it is rated by other Knowledge Base users. Accesses is the number of times an article has been viewed by users. You can sort the columns according to the criteria mort useful to find the articles you need. 6 To view an article do one of the following: Double-click on one of the articles listed on the page. Select one of the articles listed on the page, and then click the View button. Whichever method you select, the article will be opened in a new window. Microsoft Office and Adobe Reader documents will display with the appropriate viewer, which requires that the corresponding application be installed on the user's computer. 7 You can link the article to an incident by entering its number in the Incident field. If you found the article by doing a search directly from an incident, the incident number will already be entered in the field. Click the Link button establishes the link in the database and a hyperlink to the article will be displayed every time the incident is viewed. 8 Click the Close Article button. 9 When the article closes, a dialog box appears. Click on one of the ranking numbers. When you click one of the buttons, it establishes another score data point in the database.you can close the dialog box without selecting a value; however, rating each article is important to administrators and managers when evaluating the importance and overall usefulness of its content, an helps keep the Knowledge Base content current and useful. This command gives you a pre-formatted screen that lets you choose different types of articles to publish. This provides a quick and easy way to publish articles. After an article is created using this command, it can be published directly from an incident. Out of the box, two formats are provided: Problem/Cause/Solution and Question/Answer. These change the overall format of the article you publish. Depending on the format you choose, different fields are searchable. Every article template has Title, Author, Keywords, and Expires fields. The Format fields constitute the body of the article once it gets published. The format does not get stored as part of the Knowledge Base. The Title, Author, Keywords, and Expires fields get stored as part of the Knowledge Base. The Title, Author, Keywords, and Expires fields are called meta-data and get stored in addition to the actual content of the article. The meta-data is stored in SQL Server along with a pointer to the actual file in the file system. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 108

109 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu For more information on publishing articles, see Publish an Article from an Incident on page 123. Field Definitions Title: The description name for the article being published. This field is searchable when finding articles about a particular subject. Author: The name of the person who wrote the article, and is considered the content expert. The author can also be the person other users will contact if they have questions about the article. Keywords: The words used to describe the content of the article. This field is searchable when finding articles about a particular subject. Keywords can be separated with a space, comma or semi-colon; however, the Helpdesk system will always ignore commas and semi-colons and convert them into spaces. Whatever method Helpdesk workers choose, we recommend a consistent method for ease of use. Expires: The expiration date is used by the Knowledge Base to know how long to make this article available to others. The expiration date can be used to locate old articles that should be archived or otherwise removed from the Knowledge Base. Format: The format of the article. There are two formats provided: Problem/Cause/Solution and Question/Answer. Note: Each of fields under the Format field provide icons which allow you to change the format of the text, insert hyperlinks, and import images. For the images, we recommend you use either GIF or JPEG files because they display natively in a Web browser. Problem: The problem for which the article provides a solution. Cause: The cause of the problem. Solution: The solution to the problem. Question: The question that the article answers. Answer: The answer to the question. To publish an article using a Template 1 Click Knowledge Base > Publish Article. 2 Enter a name for the article in the Title field. 3 Enter the name of the person responsible for the article s content in the Author field. 4 Enter the words used to search for the article in the Keywords field. Keywords should be used judiciously and include words that users would commonly use to search for information that the document contains. Keywords should not be repeated such as: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power Point. 5 Click the drop-down arrow, and then select a date for when the article Expires. The default value is 1 year. 6 Select the format of the article from the Format drop-down menu. 7 Enter the desired information for the article based on the format you chose. 8 Click OK. Publish Existing Document This command is useful when you have a Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader, or an HTML file that you want published to the Knowledge Base. This option lets you navigate to any directory location, either locally or via the network, and select a file source to upload. When you upload a file, it is forwarded to the Review Article queue, where the knowledge manager will review its contents, and then publish it to the active Knowledge Base. Prior to committing the document to the active Knowledge Base, the reviewer will be given the opportunity to add key words or other descriptive text to describe the document and make it easier to target during searches. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 109

110 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu For more information on publishing to the Knowledge Base, see Helpdesk Knowledge Base on page 121. Publish Articles in Mass Quantities Publishing large quantities of documents requires that the publisher has read and write access to the appropriate scope directories, in the Libraries directory of the Knowledge Base, on the Helpdesk server. NT file system permissions govern the accessibility and search ability of all Knowledge Base content, and for the given user as well. Any documents added to the Knowledge Base through this method are presumed to have already been reviewed by the Knowledge Base administrator, and will not be available through the Review Article command of the Helpdesk user interface. If you are adding large quantities of documents to a specific scope folder, it is possible to create subscopes beneath the parent scope, which lets you separate articles by subjects or topics. The libraries, scopes, and subscopes establish a parent-child relationship after a refresh is performed. If you delete a directory, it will be removed from the Knowledge Base and automatically adjust the scopes. After publishing articles, the library or scope must be refreshed to re-index the new articles so they can become searchable. See Libraries and Refresh Scope for more details. Publishing articles through the mass quantities feature lets you easily migrate existing Knowledge Base articles from another database to the Altiris Helpdesk Knowledge Base. Field Definitions Upload File: The article source must be a Microsoft Word document, an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), or an HTML file. Title: The description name for the article being published. This field is searchable when finding articles about a particular subject. Keywords: The words used to describe the content of the article. This field is searchable when finding articles about a particular subject. Keywords can be separated with a space, comma or semi-colon; however, the Helpdesk system will always ignore commas and semi-colons and convert them into spaces. Whatever method Helpdesk workers choose, we recommend a consistent method for ease of use. Author: The name of the person who wrote the article, and is considered the content expert. The author can also be the person other users will contact if they have questions about the article. Source: This is where the originating article source came from. For example, if you are using Helpdesk Solution, the source would be Altiris Helpdesk. Type: Any string value used to categorize Knowledge Base articles. By default, Helpdesk uses HTML as the type for articles created from incidents. Expires: The expiration date is used by the Knowledge Base to know how long to make this article available to others. The expiration date can be used to locate old articles that should be archived or otherwise removed from the Knowledge Base. To publish an existing document 1 Click Knowledge Base > Publish Existing Document. 2 Enter a directory path or click Browse to select a file to Upload. 3 Enter a name for the article in the Title field. 4 Enter the words used to search for the article in the Keywords field. Keywords should be used judiciously and include words that users would commonly use to search for information that the document contains. Keywords should not be repeated such as: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power Point. 5 Enter the name of the person responsible for the article s content in the Author field. 6 Enter the name of the solution or the originating source for the article in the Source field. It is the role of the knowledge manager to ensure that the this field entry is consistent and accurate. 7 Enter the article s file format type in the Type field. It is the role of the knowledge manager to ensure that the this field entry is consistent and accurate. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 110

111 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu Review Article 8 Click the drop-down arrow, and then select a date for when the article Expires. The default value is 1 year. 9 Click OK. Helpdesk Knowledge Base managers who have been granted the appropriate privileges, will be allowed to review, edit, and publish articles to the Knowledge Base libraries. Articles submitted by Helpdesk workers from an incident through the Publish Existing Document menu fly-out automatically go to the Review directory. From this directory, articles can be edited and published to the active Knowledge Base for general access. If articles are added in mass quantity to the Knowledge Base libraries through the NT file system, they will not be available for review. See Publish Existing Document on page 109 for further details. To review an article 1 Click Knowledge Base > Review Article. 2 Enter the subject content of the article in the Find field. If you do not enter any value in this field, all the articles in the Review library will be displayed on the page. Click the Find button. 3 Click on one of the articles listed on the page. 4 Click one of the Publish, Delete, View, or Edit buttons. Note: Altiris recommends you view the article before publishing it. If the article s properties need to be changed, use the Edit Article command. Publish Article After you have viewed or edited articles submitted to the Knowledge Base, you must use this command to publish them for others to access. This command is for publishing individual articles through the Helpdesk user interface. If you want to publish articles in mass quantities, see Publish Existing Document on page 109 for further details. To publish an article 1 Click Knowledge Base > Review Article. 2 Click one of the buttons to return all articles for review, or to find articles by searching for a specific term. 3 If you want to search for articles with a search criterion, enter the subject content of the article in the Find field. 4 Click the Find button. 5 Click on one of the articles listed on the page. 6 Click the Publish button. 7 Click the drop-down arrow and select a library or scope where the article will be stored. If you have not created new libraries or scopes, the only option will be the Public library. 8 Click OK. Delete Article This command lets you delete individual articles submitted to the Knowledge Base before they are published to libraries or scopes. The delete article command can be helpful, especially when an article with the same content is created by two different workers. Administrators and managers can review and edit both articles, until all the content is contained in one article. Deleting articles during the review process eliminates redundancy and filters out articles that may no longer be valid, before they actually get published. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 111

112 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu To delete an article 1 Click Knowledge Base > Review Article. 2 Click one of the buttons to return all articles for review or to find articles by searching for a specific term. 3 If you want to search for articles with a search criterion, enter the subject content of the article in the Find field. 4 Click the Find button. 5 Click on one of the articles listed on the page. 6 Click the Delete button. View Article This command lets you review Knowledge Base articles before they are published. The top of the page displays the article s title, article #, keywords, source, and average user rating. You can link an incident to the article by entering a value in the Link to Incident field. This provides a quick way to establish a resolution for the incident, as well as a hyperlink to the article when the incident is viewed. The Link to Incident field can also be used to denote that the article was derived from as incident. To view an article 1 Click Knowledge Base > Review Article. 2 Click one of the buttons to return all articles for review or to find articles by searching for a specific term. 3 If you want to search for articles with a search criterion, enter the subject content of the article in the Find field. 4 Click on one of the articles listed on the page. 5 Click the View button. 6 Enter an incident number in the Link to Incident field. You can leave this field blank if you do not want to link the article to an incident. Click the Link to Incident button. 7 Click Close Article. 8 When the Rate this Article dialog appears, click a rating from the scale on the page. If you do not want to rate the article, close the dialog box. Edit Article This command lets you change the references to the article, such as the title, keywords, subject, and author. You can edit an HTML article, only if it has been generated from a Helpdesk incident. To edit an article 1 Click Knowledge Base > Review Article. 2 Click one of the buttons to return all articles for review or to find articles by searching for a specific term. 3 If you want to search for articles with a search criterion, enter the subject content of the article in the Find field. 4 Click on one of the articles listed on the page. 5 Click the Edit button. 6 Re-enter the values in the fields on the page. 7 Click OK. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 112

113 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu Search Article Properties Libraries This command lets you find articles in libraries and scopes based on the article s properties, or metatags. You must enter search criteria to find all the articles, and then from the search results displayed, you can either view or edit individual articles. The search article properties command is useful when you want to find articles based on a date, as well as the title, keyword, author, source and type fields. To search article properties 1 Click Knowledge Base > Search Article Properties. 2 Enter a value in the Title, Keyword, Author, Source, and Type fields. If you do not enter any values, the search will find all articles in the selected libraries and scopes based on the other selections on this page. 3 Select the Entered check box, to find articles base on when the article was initially entered in the Knowledge Base. Select before or after, then click the drop-down arrow and select a date from the pop-up calendar. 4 Select the Last accessed check box, to find articles base on when the article was last accessed by users. Select before or after, then click the drop-down arrow and select a date from the pop-up calendar. 5 Select the Expires check box, to find articles base on the expire date of an article s properties. Select before or after, then click the drop-down arrow and select a date from the pop-up calendar. 6 Click the drop-down arrow and select an Accesses criteria, and then enter a value in the next field. 7 Click the drop-down arrow and select a Score criterion, and then enter a value in the next field. 8 Select the Scopes that you want to search for articles. 9 Clear the Search in children of checked scopes check box if you do not want to search the selected libraries scopes. 10 Click Find. If the search yields any articles, they will be listed at the bottom of page. 11 From the list of articles displayed, click the View or Edit buttons. The Libraries page lets you view, create, edit, and manage your libraries. See Using Libraries on page 122 for information on how to use libraries. While this page lets you manage the libraries for the Knowledge Base, you must use the View Library to access scope information. You can also set permissions on libraries and scope by changing the security setting for their folders (of the same name) through the Windows NT file system. This will help control the users who access libraries, scopes, and article information. The Knowledge Base search engine will compare the NT user and group information of the person performing the search, and return a list containing only those articles which are accessible with their NT credentials on the file system. To list Libraries 1 Click Admin > Knowledge Base > Libraries. 2 Click on one of the libraries in the list, and then choose one of the following. Click the Edit button to change the library status value from Active to Inactive. Click the Refresh button to re-index the articles in the library. Click the New button to create a new library. Click the View button to review the library properties. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 113

114 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu Click the Delete button to delete the library. Quick Links New Library on page 114 View Library on page 114 Edit Library on page 117 Delete Library on page 117 Refresh Library on page 118 New Library Library names created for the Knowledge Base cannot contain any special characters or trailing spaces. Because the library names in the Knowledge Base create folders of the same name in the Windows file system, Windows naming conventions must apply. For example, Internal Knowledge would be an acceptable library name, but not the name, Internal;Knowledge. To create a new Library 1 Click Admin > Knowledge Base > Libraries. 2 Click the New button. 3 Enter the name for the new library in the Name field. 4 Enter a description of what the library will be used for in the Description field. 5 Click the drop-down arrow and select the Status of the library. Active indicates it is available to users for searching, retrieving, and publishing articles. Inactive indicates the library is currently unavailable to all users. 6 Enter a directory path for the new library in the Path field. Leaving the path field blank will create the new library in the directory path that was defined when the Knowledge Base was configured. 7 Click OK. View Library You can review the library properties using this command. This command also gives you the option to edit or refresh the library. The only properties of a library that you can edit are its description and status. If the library name or path is not what you want, use the Delete Library command to remove it from the Helpdesk system and then create a new library with the correct values you want. To see the child scopes associated with the library, click on the root scope link. For example, on the Public library page, click on the Public Articles root scope. Important: You must use the View Library command to access scope information such as: view a scope, create a new scope, edit a scope, or delete a scope. To view a Library 1 Click Admin > Knowledge Base > Libraries. 2 Click on one of the libraries in the list. 3 Click the View button. 4 The library you selected to view displays its property settings at the top of the page. If there are any scopes, they will be displayed below the library. You can edit or refresh the library properties, or you can view a scope, which displays another page where you can create a new scope, edit scope properties, or delete a scope. Click the Edit button to change the library properties. Click the Refresh button to re-index articles in the library. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 114

115 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu Click the View button to access scope properties. Note: If the View Library page does not list any scopes, you must still click the View button to access the scope commands. Quick Links Edit Scope on page 115 Refresh Scope on page 115 New Scope on page 116 View Scope on page 116 Delete Scope on page 117 Edit Scope You can change any scope s status property from Active to Inactive, which affects whether or not users can access the articles within a scope. If the scope name or directory path need to be changed, it is best to use the Delete Scope command first, and then re-create the scope with the property values you want. To edit a Scope 1 Click Admin > Knowledge Base > Libraries. 2 Click on one of the libraries in the list. 3 Click the View button. 4 The library you selected to view displays its property settings at the top of the page. If there are any scopes, they will be displayed below the library. When a new library is created, the Articles root scope will automatically be called <library name Articles>. Click the View button for the scope you want to change. 5 At the top of the View Scope page, there is a Scopes drop-down arrow, which displays the libraries and scopes in their hierarchical order. Select a scope from the drop-down list, and then click the Edit button. 6 Click the drop-down arrow and select the Status property of either Active to Inactive. 7 Click OK. Refresh Scope When you refresh a scope, you are initiating the re-indexing of all its articles, which can take some time depending on how many articles need to be re-indexed. This command is useful when you have have added new articles, and users are not able to access them. Refreshing the scope will update the index catalog so that articles can become searchable. Note: It is recommended for performance reasons that you refresh only those scopes in which an article has been published, modified, or deleted since the last refresh was performed. To refresh a Scope 1 Click Admin > Knowledge Base > Libraries. 2 Click on one of the libraries in the list. 3 Click the View button. 4 The library you selected to view displays its property settings at the top of the page. If there are any scopes, they will be displayed below the library. When a new library is created, the Articles root scope will automatically be called <library name Articles>. Click the View button for the scope you want to change. 5 At the top of the View Scope page, there is a Scopes drop-down arrow, which displays the libraries and scopes in their hierarchical order. Select a scope from the drop-down list, and then click the Refresh button. 6 Enter the property values in the fields on the page. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 115

116 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu 7 Click Finish. New Scope Libraries are the parent level folders within the Knowledge Base, and scopes are the subfolders at the child level. Scopes let you keep the Knowledge Base articles organized, by dividing broad subject material in libraries into more specific library topics. You can create as many scopes for one library as needed. This ability lets you manage the Knowledge Base, organizing article subjects into scope topics. Ultimately, the users benefit because they can select the library or scope they want to search for articles, which will cut down on search time to find the articles they need in resolving incidents. To create a new Scope 1 Click Admin > Knowledge Base > Libraries. 2 Click on one of the libraries in the list. 3 Click the View button. 4 The library you selected to view displays its property settings at the top of the page. If there are any scopes, they will be displayed below the library. When a new library is created, the Articles root scope will automatically be called <library name Articles>. Click the View button of the scope you want to change; this is where you will add a new child scope. 5 At the top of the View Scope page, there is a Scopes drop-down arrow, which displays the libraries and scopes in their hierarchical order. Select a scope from the drop-down list, and then click the New button. 6 Enter the description for the scope in the Name field. 7 Click the drop-down arrow and select either Active or Inactive. This determines if users will be able to access articles within the scope. 8 Click OK. View Scope This command lets you review scope properties, the scope name, directory path of the scope, and scope status. From this page, you can also choose to edit, refresh, create a new scope, or delete a scope from the Knowledge Base hierarchical library structure. When you publish an article to the Knowledge Base, the actual article is moved to the directory location of the appropriate scope. To view a Scope 1 Click Admin > Knowledge Base > Libraries. 2 Click on one of the libraries in the list. 3 Click the View button. 4 The library you selected to view displays its property settings at the top of the page. If there are any scopes, they will be displayed below the library. When a new library is created, the Articles root scope will automatically be called <library name Articles>. Click the View button for the scope you want to change. 5 At the top of the View Scope page, there is a Scopes drop-down arrow, which displays the libraries and scopes in their hierarchical order. Select a scope from the drop-down list, and then choose one of the following. Click the Edit button to change the scope s status property from Active to Inactive. Click the Refresh button to re-index the articles in the scope. Click the New button to create a new child scope. Click the View button to review the scope properties. Click the Delete button to delete the scope. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 116

117 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu Delete Scope If you want to change the directory where a scope resides, you must delete it first, and then create a New Scope with the directory path. Deleting scopes from the Knowledge Base that are no longer valid helps decrease the time it takes for users to search for articles. To delete a Scope 1 Click Admin > Knowledge Base > Libraries. 2 Click on one of the libraries in the list. 3 Click the View button. 4 The library you selected to view displays its property settings at the top of the page. If there are any scopes, they will be displayed below the library. When a new library is created, the Articles root scope will automatically be called <library name Articles>. Click the View button for the scope you want to change. 5 At the top of the View Scope page, there is a Scopes drop-down arrow, which displays the libraries and scopes in their hierarchical order. Select a scope from the drop-down list, and then click the Delete button. 6 Click OK. Edit Library The only library properties that can be changed with the edit command are the Description and Status fields. If the library name or directory path needs changing, it is best to use the Delete Library command first, and then re-create the library with the property values you want. To edit a Library 1 Click Admin > Knowledge Base > Libraries. 2 Click on one of the libraries in the list. 3 Click the Edit button. 4 Re-enter a description for the library (what type of articles will be stored there) in the Description field. 5 Click the drop-down arrow and select the Status of the library. Active indicates it is available to users for searching, retrieving, and publishing articles. Inactive indicates the library is currently unavailable to all users. 6 Click OK. Delete Library If you want to change the directory path where a library resides, you must delete it first, and then create a New Library in the directory you want. Deleting libraries from the Knowledge Base that are no longer valid helps decrease the time it takes for users to search for articles. To delete a Library 1 Click Admin > Knowledge Base > Libraries. 2 Click on one of the libraries in the list. 3 Click the Delete button. 4 Select the check box if you want to Remove the library structure and all the article files from the hard disk. 5 Click OK. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 117

118 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu Archive Articles Refresh Library When you refresh a library, you are initiating the re-indexing of all its articles, which can take some time, depending on how many articles need to be re-indexed. This command is useful when you have have added new articles, and users are not able to access them. Refreshing a library will update the index catalog so that articles can become searchable. Note: To index and search Adobe Acrobat documents, an additional component called ifilter is required. To download, go to To refresh a Library 1 From the Altiris Console, click the Incident tab. 2 Click Admin > Knowledge Base > Libraries. 3 Click on one of the libraries in the list. 4 Click the Refresh button. 5 Click Finish. Knowledge Base articles that have invalid or outdated content, or have expired the date that lets other users gain access to the article, can be moved to the archive library. You must enter search criteria to find all the articles you want to archive, and then select each individual article to archive from the search results displayed. Archiving is a way to clear out older articles from libraries and scopes, which will improve performance for workers trying to find articles. To archive articles 1 Click Knowledge Base > Archive Articles. This screen allows you to find the articles you want to archive by entering applicable search criteria. 2 Enter a value in the Title, Keyword, Author, Source, and Type fields. If you do not enter any values, the search will find all articles in the selected libraries and scopes based on the other selections on this page. 3 Select the Entered check box, to find articles base on when the article was initially entered in the Knowledge Base. Select before or after, then click the drop-down arrow and select a date from the pop-up calendar. 4 Select the Last accessed check box, to find articles base on when the article was last accessed by users. Select before or after, then click the drop-down arrow and select a date from the pop-up calendar. 5 Select the Expires check box, to find articles base on the expire date of an article s properties. Select before or after, then click the drop-down arrow and select a date from the pop-up calendar. 6 Click the drop-down arrow and select an Accesses criteria, and then enter a value in the next field. 7 Click the drop-down arrow and select a Score criterion, and then enter a value in the next field. 8 Select the Scopes that you want to search for articles. 9 Clear the Search in children of checked scopes check box if you do not want to search the selected libraries scopes. 10 Click Find. If the search yields any articles, they will be listed at the bottom of page. 11 From the list of articles displayed, select each article that you want to archive, and then click Next. 12 When the articles you selected to archive are displayed, click Finish to confirm. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 118

119 Chapter 13: The Knowledge Base Menu Delete Articles Note: To physically view the articles you have archived, go to the Libraries > Scope > Archives folder. Articles that you do not want to leave in Knowledge Base libraries and scopes can be permanently deleted from the Helpdesk system by using this command. You must enter search criteria to find all the articles you want to delete, and then select each individual article to delete from the search results displayed. Deleting articles is a way to clear out older or unused articles from libraries and scopes, which will reduce search times for workers trying to find articles. To delete articles 1 Click Knowledge Base > Delete Articles. This screen allows you to find the articles you want to delete by entering applicable search criteria. 2 Enter a value in the Title, Keyword, Author, Source, and Type fields. If you do not enter any values, the search will find all articles in the selected libraries and scopes based on the other selections on this page. 3 Select the Entered check box, to find articles base on when the article was initially entered in the Knowledge Base. Select before or after, then click the drop-down arrow and select a date from the pop-up calendar. 4 Select the Last accessed check box, to find articles base on when the article was last accessed by users. Select before or after, then click the drop-down arrow and select a date from the pop-up calendar. 5 Select the Expires check box, to find articles base on the expire date of an article s properties. Select before or after, then click the drop-down arrow and select a date from the pop-up calendar. 6 Click the drop-down arrow and select an Accesses criteria, and then enter a value in the next field. 7 Click the drop-down arrow and select a Score criterion, and then enter a value in the next field. 8 Select the Scopes that you want to search for articles. 9 Clear the Search in children of checked scopes check box if you do not want to search the selected libraries scopes. 10 Click Find. If the search yields any articles, they will be listed at the bottom of page. 11 From the list of articles displayed, select each article that you want to delete, and then click Next. 12 When the articles you selected to delete are displayed, click Finish to confirm. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 119

120 Advanced Helpdesk Reference This section will help you understand the advanced capabilities of the Helpdesk Solution. The information provided will give you the ability to customize the Helpdesk system and make this product flexible and more powerful. Quick Links Helpdesk Knowledge Base on page 121 Customization on page 132 Advanced Query Settings on page 150 Advanced Template Macros on page 155 Data Macros on page 158 Description of the Helpdesk Knowledge Base. Description of features that can be customized in Helpdesk Solution. Description of fields, parameters, and settings. Description of advanced macros. Description of data macros. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 120

121 Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base The Knowledge Base is a convenient, fully integrated way to capture and preserve information to be used for future reference. Helpdesk workers can search the Knowledge Base to find resolutions to incidents they are working on, which can reduce the time needed to restore service and makes each worker more productive. The Knowledge Base provides many features, some them are as follows: Author knowledge directly from an incident Publish existing articles in HTML, Word and Acrobat file formats; all of which can be fully searchable Organize content into hierarchical libraries (called scopes) for more targeted searching Search the Knowledge Base from the My Helpdesk console Set expiration dates for each article so that outdated articles can be easily archived Review process for each article submitted Security to restrict searching and display content by group Users can rate how useful an article was in resolving their problems Helpdesk workers can search or author content for the Knowledge Base through one of three methods, they are as follows. Publish an article directly from an incident Upload and publish a single document individually Publish multiple documents at once through the NT file system The first two methods use the Altiris edit and review process to publish the articles, while the third method does not go through any Altiris review process for publishing. Helpdesk workers can review an article through one of two methods. They are as follows: Open the incident associated with the article Access the article in the article review area (see Reviewing an Article by Viewing it in the Review Article Area on page 126) The Altiris system administrator grants privileges to Helpdesk administrators and managers, giving them access to manage the Knowledge Base libraries, scopes, and articles. The Knowledge Base uses a combination of Microsoft Indexing Service and SQL Server for information storage and retrieval. The Indexing Service is used to store and index the raw text of the articles. SQL Server is used to store the meta-data elements. Publicly available information shows that the Microsoft Indexing Service has been successfully used to catalog and search libraries consisting of over 1 million documents with good results by a number of companies. Note: Everything that you can do in Helpdesk Solution regarding the Knowledge Base can also be done in the Web services layer. For example, publishing content and searching for articles. For information about creating a completely customized portal, contact Altiris Professional Services. Knowledge Base Search Priority Each article has meta-data fields as well as the body of the article. What you put in the meta-data fields (Title, Keywords, Author, Source, Type, and Expires) of an article takes priority in the Knowledge Base search results over anything that is in the body of the article. If the specified search terms appear in the meta-data, that article is going to appear at the top of the list. When the rest of the body is searched by the Indexing Service using the specified search terms, the Indexing Service evaluates the size of the article as well as the number of times the search terms appear in that article. Helpdesk Solution Reference 121

122 Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base Using Libraries For a very large article, if the search terms only appear a couple of times, the article gets an overall, relatively low ranking. If it is a relatively small article and the search terms appear a number of times, it is going to get a higher ranking because it is assumed to be more relevant overall. Quick Links Using Libraries on page 122 Using the File System on page 123 Publish an Article from an Incident on page 123 Publish a Single Document Individually on page 126 Publish Multiple Documents on page 127 Moving a Helpdesk/Knowledge Base System to a New Server on page 128 Libraries are the top level of the organizational hierarchy of the Knowledge Base. Each library corresponds with a folder of the same name on the server s file system under the Libraries folder specified in the Knowledge Base configuration (Program Files\Altiris\Knowledge Base\Libraries by default). Each library folder contains the following folders: Archives - Contains articles that have been archived. ArchivesProxy - Contains internal files that have meta-data and pointers to the files in the Archives folder. Articles - Contains scope folders and content, along with some additional directories used by the system for various purposes. This folder is the physical location of the scopes associated with the library and the articles associated with those scopes. ArticlesProxy - Contains internal files that have meta-data and pointers to the files in the Articles folder. Revisions - Contains articles that have been submitted for a revision. RevisionsProxy - Contains internal files that have meta-data and pointers to the files in the Revisions folder. The initial configuration of the Knowledge Base creates two default libraries called, Public and Review. The Review library is used only by the Knowledge Base and is not viewable from the user interface. The Public library, by default, stores documents for a global audience to access. The articles submitted to the Knowledge Base by Helpdesk workers are automatically stored in the Review library. Administrators and managers can review articles where they can make edits, or add key words to search the article s content. After the articles have been reviewed, the publishing process moves the articles from the Review to the Public library, or another library or scope as specified by the administrator or manager. You can create as many libraries as you need. For example, you can create an Internal library for use exclusively inside your organization or an HR library for use exclusively by your Human Resources department and have them be completely secure. This provides you with the flexibility to fit the needs of your organization. The library structure provides a good way to organize and secure content. To help keep the Knowledge Base more organized, you can divide article content into hierarchical libraries and scopes for more targeted searching. Each Library has a root scope. Each root scope can contain one or more scopes (also called sub-scopes). Scopes provides you with the ability to perform granular searches. When articles are placed in the library, they are actually stored in library s scopes. For example, you could create a new library named DesktopSupport with two scopes named AppSupport and DriverInfo. Both of these scopes would contain articles with the same subject material as the scope s name indicates. Users can select the library or scope they want to search so that articles in the Knowledge Base can be retrieved more quickly. Helpdesk Solution Reference 122

123 Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base You are not required to organize your Knowledge Base into libraries and scopes, but it is much easier for you to secure your data if you do. The Indexing Service, which is used to store and index raw text of articles, uses NT file system permissions for displaying articles to users. For example, suppose you have two libraries and each library contains 10 scopes. Some of these scopes need to be available to Helpdesk workers. Some of them need to be available to everybody. And some need to be available to end-users. These scopes can be secured by a directory in the NT file system because libraries and scopes are analogous to directories in the NT file system. When you secure a directory, the Indexing Service will not return any result from that directory unless the requester or the requester s group has NT file system permissions to view that directory. The Knowledge Base moves articles automatically as they proceed through the revision process. When you submit an article to the Knowledge Base, it is placed in the Revisions folder first. After it gets published, it goes in the Articles folder. Articles that are taken out of the Knowledge Base and archived are placed in the Archive directory. Using the File System The only time you need to access the file system while using the Knowledge Base is to publish a group of articles, to create a whole new file structure, or to govern the permissions of your Knowledge Base. For example, you can create new libraries in the file system without using the interface. Suppose you want to place all of your articles in one library for security reasons, but you still want to segregate your content. You can do that by using the meta-data fields: Title, Keywords, Author, Source, and Type. You can create drop-down lists on these fields to limit what users search for. Now, your content is all in one library, but articles are still easy to search for. There are different strategies you can use to set up your Knowledge Base through the file system. However, using the default libraries and scope structure provided by Helpdesk Solution gives you increased security benefits. Publish an Article from an Incident One of the ways you can publish an article to the Knowledge Base is to create a pre-formatted article and publish it from an incident. When you want to publish an article this way, go to the Publish Article page. For more information on using the Publish Article page, see Publish Article. First, you need to fill in the Title, Author, and Keywords fields. Next, select an appropriate Expires date (the default is for the article to expire in one year). Next, select the appropriate format for your article. Out of the box, two formats are provided: Problem/Cause/Solution and Question/Answer. Select the one that best fits the type of article you want to create. The following takes you through the process of publishing and reviewing an article by using an incident. Suppose you want to create a simple article in question and answer format. To start, you would open the Publish Article page and enter the applicable information in the Title, Author, and Keywords fields. Keep the default for the Expires date. Next, select the Question/Answer format. In the Question/Answer Format, enter a question and an answer in the appropriate fields, and then click the OK button to send this article to be published. The Helpdesk system automatically creates an incident to keep track of the article. This incident gets assigned to the Article Review queue to track the progress of this article. Note: When the article is first created, it is physically sent to the Review library in the Articles directory. When this article is sent for any revisions, it is moved to the Revisions folder. Because this article is being followed by an incident, it allows you to follow regular SLA guidelines for escalation, to have different routing rules, and to create Notification Policies that act on it to make sure it is published. For example, if someone forgets to review it, then they can get reminded through a Notification Policy. Helpdesk Solution Reference 123

124 Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base This incident now shows up on your Worker Report page as an open incident. You can also create a special queue for All Knowledge Base Articles so you can track them as a group. This incident has the Category of Article Review and gets assigned to the Article Review queue. Let's now take on the role of the person responsible for reviewing this article. For example, someone who is a member of the Article Review queue. When this incident is opened, you will see a Task associated with it. This Task is a link that is found under the Tasks section and starts with Review Knowledge Base Article. When you click this link, you are given three options: you can click the Publish button to publish this article to the Knowledge Base, you can request changes by clicking the Request Changes button, or you can close this window by clicking the Close button. Suppose you have reviewed this article and feel that changes need to be made. When you click the Request Changes button, the Review Article window opens. From here, you can type in a comment and change the Assigned, Priority, and Status fields for the incident. When you have entered the information you want, click the OK button. The incident will now be assigned back (by default) to the creator of the article. If you made any changes to the Assigned, Priority, and Status fields, the incident will reflect those changes. The creator of the article can now open the incident and see the requested changes. A Task is added to this incident which lets the creator of the article modify the article. When this Task link is clicked, the Edit Article window opens. This contains the current article information and lets you make any changes that are needed. When the OK button is clicked, the incident that this article is attached to gets placed back in the Article Review queue. Now, the article reviewer can open the incident and click on the Task to review the article again. This process can be repeated until the article is ready to be published. When the article is ready to be published, the article reviewer clicks on the Task and clicks the Publish button. It is a best practice for most organizations to have one person responsible for publishing articles. For larger organizations, you might want to have a small group of people responsible for publishing articles. This helps you maintain the same look and feel throughout your organization s documents. When you click the Publish button, the Review Article screen appears, letting you select the scope of the article and status of the incident. The Incident Status field on this window lets you close the incident when the article is published. Click OK to publish the article to the Knowledge Base. Helpdesk Solution Reference 124

125 Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base The following is the flow of the article review process: When you deem an incident to have a reusable solution, it is possible to publish a Knowledge Base article directly from the incident. The process for doing so is as follows: 1 While in the view mode of the incident, click the Publish new article icon. 2 The Publish Article screen appears with the following fields: a Title: Populated from the title of incident (edit as necessary). b Author: Populated from the assignee of the incident. c Keywords: Populated from the category of the incident (edit as necessary). d Expires: Set out 1 year from today (edit as necessary). e Format - Choose the appropriate format: Helpdesk Solution Reference 125

126 Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base Problem / Cause / Solution - Fill in the information. Question / Answer - Fill in the information. 3 Click OK to submit the article for review. Reviewing an Article by Viewing it in the Review Article Area There are two methods for reviewing an article: open the incident associated with the article and access the article in the Article Review menu. The first method was discussed in Publish an Article from an Incident. Another way to review an article is to view the article in the Review Article menu (see Review Article on page 111). To do this, click on Knowledge Base > Review Article. The Review Article menu contains all articles that have an incident open that is tracking that article through the review process. This area lets you view all articles, both those that need to be reviewed and those that have changes pending. In this area, click on the article that you want to review or change. Note: By default, only the reviewer is given the option of requesting changes and only the originator can make those changes. If an article is in the Changes Pending mode and you make the changes and click OK, it is sent to the Review mode. Publish a Single Document Individually This process is used when an existing document (Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, and so forth) needs to be published to the Knowledge Base. Publishing an existing document can only be performed by a user that has the Helpdesk privilege Administer Knowledge Base. The process for publishing an existing document is as follows: 1 From the Incidents menu, select Knowledge Base > Publish Existing Document. 2 Enter the requested information on the Publish Existing Document screen. a Upload File: Select the file to upload by browsing to the file. b Title: Enter the title of the document. c Keywords: Enter the appropriate keywords for the document. d e f g Author: Enter the author of the document. Source: Enter the source of the document. Type: Enter the type of knowledge or other appropriate information. Expires: Set out 1 year from today (edit as necessary). 3 Click OK to submit the article for review. When you click OK, an incident is automatically created to track the article. It can then be reviewed and published the same way as was described in Publish an Article from an Incident on page 123. Note: When you click the Task in the incident to review the article, you are given the option of saving the document to a location of your choice. This lets you make changes to the document as needed and upload it at a later time. The Title, Keywords, Author, Source, Type, and Expires fields are meta-data and are stored in SQL Server along with the file. After this file is submitted to the Knowledge Base, the Indexing Service allows users to scan the document for actual content. Helpdesk Solution Reference 126

127 Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base After creating the article, it is submitted for review to the Article Review queue and follows the following flow: Publish Multiple Documents You can publish multiple documents to the Knowledge Base without the use of the review process. To perform this type of import of documents, copy the documents into the Articles folder under the appropriate scope folder. For example, Program Files\Knowledge Base\Libraries\Desktop Support\Articles. After you move the files into the Articles folder, it is necessary to refresh the scope in the Altiris Console for the new files to be recognized. Refreshing scopes can only be performed by a user that has the Helpdesk privilege Administer Knowledge Base. To refresh a scope 1 From the Incidents menu, select Knowledge Base > Libraries. 2 Select the library to be refreshed and click the Refresh button. Helpdesk Solution Reference 127

128 Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base 3 From the Refresh Scope screen, you can enter the meta-data that applies to all files that do not already contain meta-data. Note: You do not need to enter any meta-data information at this time. You can enter it later to the individual files or to the group. 4 Select the File Processing option that is appropriate. In this case, Discover new files only. To update the meta-data regardless of whether it exists or not, select Discover new files and update existing files. 5 Click OK to refresh the scope. The library refresh begins. The articles in the library are now indexed and are published in the Knowledge Base. Moving a Helpdesk/Knowledge Base System to a New Server Once you have a healthy Helpdesk/Knowledge Base solution system running, you may need to move it to another server, such as while upgrading hardware, or because of a hardware failure. Moving a Helpdesk only solution is straightforward and is included in the process detailed below. Moving a Helpdesk solution that includes an active Knowledge Base application is more complicated. The reasons for the additional complexity are: you have a SQL database to move you have at least twelve (12) virtual directories to configure you have an Indexing Service catalog to rebuild you have a lot of files to manage The SQL database, which is the same database as Helpdesk's, has tables that track the location of the Knowledge Base articles. The Knowledge Base has proxy files associated with each article that track meta-data, including article location, of every article in the Knowledge Base. Each Knowledge Base library has six virtual directories associated with it that are assigned physical directories on the source server. Finally there are several Microsoft KB articles stating that Indexing Service catalogs cannot be moved from one server to another. So you have a fair amount of bookkeeping to do to successfully move your system to a new server, but by following the steps below you can do it. Prepare for the Move To prepare for the move, you should back up everything on your source server. To back up your source server 1 The Helpdesk database. This is typically named Altiris_Incidents and contains all of the Helpdesk and Knowledge Base data. 2 The Helpdesk upload directory. This is typically named C:\Program Files\Altiris\Helpdesk\AeXHD\upload. These are the file attachments of the Helpdesk incidents. 3 The Knowledge Base articles. The default location is C:\Program Files\Altiris\Knowledge Base\Libraries. There is a subdirectory for each library in the system plus an empty directory, AeXKB, that can be ignored. Each library directory has six subdirectories: Archives, ArchivesProxy, Articles, ArticlesProxy, Revisions, RevisionsProxy. The directories with Proxy concatenated to them hold the article proxy files that contain the article meta-data. Prepare your Destination Server To prepare your destination server 1 Install the latest Notification Server/Helpdesk Solution on your destination server. Configure the Knowledge Base the usual way as if you were starting a fresh system. Set the library default path to the location you want to use now, which may or may not be the same location as on your Helpdesk Solution Reference 128

129 Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base source server. Set the index server path to a location that is not used by IIS and with plenty of room to grow. 2 Install any additional Indexing Service filters that your system requires, such as the PDF filter. These can be found, if available, on the respective manufactures web sites, such as for the PDF filter. 3 Through the interface, create any additional libraries you have on your source server. If you want to use a different name on your destination server, now is the time to set it. Do NOT add scopes to these libraries to match your source system, we'll handle that later. 4 Your Knowledge Base libraries should look exactly like what you want your final system to look like, less, of course, the scopes and articles. Note: You can only move an entire library from the source to the destination. This process does not support the splitting or combining of libraries. It should only be one-to-one moving. 5 Confirm that six (6) virtual directories exist in the AeXKB web for each library you created. Remember there is a required Review library also. 6 Copy the Formats.xml file, located by default in C:\Program Files\Altiris\Helpdesk\AeXHD\bin, from the source server to the destination server, if you are using the same version. If you are upgrading, edit the file on the destination server with any modifications you made before. Note: If you have not made any changes to this file, then you may skip this step. Copy the Data Files To copy the data files 1 Copy the article files from each of the libraries to the destination server. Copy the three article directories (Archives, Articles and Revisions) from each library on the source server to the appropriate library on the destination server. Do NOT copy the proxy directories. Just leave the existing (empty) ones alone. Remember, if you are using a new library name, the destination directory will be the new name. 2 Copy the incident attachment files from the Helpdesk Web bin directory of the source to the bin directory of the destination. Copy the database To copy the database 1 Delete the destination Helpdesk database, Altiris_Incidents, from the SQL Server. 2 Use SQL Enterprise Manager to copy the database from the source server to the destination server. You may need to stop IIS on the source server to close all the database connections so the copy can proceed. Remember to enable full text indexing on the destination database. Modify the destination database Run SQL statements to update the article, scope and library tables. To modify the destination database 1 Update the library directory and name with the following SQL statements, use SQL Query Analyzer, replace [DESCRIPTION] with your data. Preserve the case of all fields. UPDATE kb_library SET library_path = N'[DESTINATION LIBRARY PHYSICAL DIRECTORY]' WHERE library_path = N'[SOURCE LIBRARY PHYSICAL DIRECTORY]' UPDATE kb_library SET library_name = N'[DESTINATION LIBRARY NAME]' WHERE library_path = N'[SOURCE LIBRARY NAME]' For Example UPDATE kb_library SET library_path = N'C:\Knowledge Base\Libraries\MyNewLibraryName' Helpdesk Solution Reference 129

130 Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base WHERE library_path = N'C:\Program Files\Altiris\Knowledge Base\Libraries\MyOldLibraryName' UPDATE kb_library SET library_name = N'MyNewLibraryName' WHERE library_path = N'MyOldLibraryName' 2 Update the scope directory and scope root names with the following SQL statements. UPDATE kb_scope SET scope_directory = REPLACE(scope_directory, N'[SOURCE LIBRARY PHYSICAL DIRECTORY]', N'[DESTINATION LIBRARY PHYSICAL DIRECTORY]') WHERE scope_directory LIKE N'[SOURCE LIBRARY PHYSICAL DIRECTORY]%' UPDATE kb_scope SET scope_name = REPLACE(scope_name, N'[SOURCE LIBRARY PHYSICAL NAME]', N'[DESTINATION LIBRARY NAME]') WHERE scope_name LIKE N'[SOURCE LIBRARY PHYSICAL NAME]%' For Example UPDATE kb_scope SET scope_directory = REPLACE(scope_directory, N'C:\Program Files\Altiris\Knowledge Base\Libraries\MyOldLibraryName', N'C:\Knowledge Base\Libraries\MyNewLibraryName') WHERE scope_directory LIKE N' C:\Program Files\Altiris\Knowledge Base\Libraries\MyOldLibraryName%' /* notice the '%' stays */ UPDATE kb_scope SET scope_name = REPLACE(scope_name, N'MyNewLibraryName', N'MyOldLibraryName') WHERE scope_name LIKE N'MyOldLibraryName%' /* notice the '%' stays */ 3 Update the article directory and filename fields: UPDATE kb_article SET article_fqfn = REPLACE(article_fqfn, N'[SOURCE LIBRARY PHYSICAL DIRECTORY]', N'[DESTINATION LIBRARY PHYSICAL DIRECTORY]') WHERE article_fqfn like N'[SOURCE LIBRARY PHYSICAL DIRECTORY]%' UPDATE kb_article SET article_directory = REPLACE(article_directory, N'[SOURCE LIBRARY PHYSICAL DIRECTORY]', N'[DESTINATION LIBRARY PHYSICAL DIRECTORY]') WHERE article_directory LIKE N'[SOURCE LIBRARY PHYSICAL DIRECTORY]%' For Example UPDATE kb_article SET article_fqfn = REPLACE(article_fqfn, N'C:\Program Files\Altiris\Knowledge Base\Libraries\MyOldLibraryName', N'C:\Knowledge Base\Libraries\MyNewLibraryName') WHERE article_fqfn like N' C:\Program Files\Altiris\Knowledge Base\Libraries\MyOldLibraryName%' /* notice the '%' stays */ UPDATE kb_article SET article_directory = REPLACE(article_directory, N'C:\Program Files\Altiris\Knowledge Base\Libraries\MyOldLibraryName', N'C:\Knowledge Base\Libraries\MyNewLibraryName') WHERE article_directory LIKE N'C:\Program Files\Altiris\Knowledge Base\Libraries\MyOldLibraryName%' /* notice the '%' stays */ 4 Update the Helpdesk attachments table UPDATE workitem_attachment SET url = REPLACE(url, N'[SOURCE HOST NAME]', N'[DESTINATION HOST NAME]') For Example UPDATE workitem_attachment Helpdesk Solution Reference 130

131 Chapter 14: Helpdesk Knowledge Base SET url = REPLACE(url, N'[ N'[ Refresh the Libraries Refresh the libraries to discover the scopes (directories copied from the source computer), create the article proxy files. To refresh the libraries 1 Browse to the Knowledge Base configuration page and select the Delete Catalog checkbox on the first page. Click Apply to confirm the Knowledge Base configuration. Notice the Finalize page is displayed when this is completed. Now click the Finish button to confirm the required libraries are present and a refresh is performed on each one. 2 This process may take quite a while if there are a large number of articles. You can monitor it by browsing to the Incidents tab of the Altiris Console and choosing the Libraries command from the Knowledge Base flyout menu. The Scopes to Refresh column shows the number of scopes remaining to be processed. Helpdesk Solution Reference 131

132 Chapter 15: Customization This section provides features to assist in customizing the Helpdesk consoles and other features. Quick Links Customize the Helpdesk Consoles on page 132 Create Custom URL to Access Helpdesk Consoles on page 135 Support for Pocket PC (PPC) on page 135 Customization Use Cases on page 136 Database on page 147 Customize the Helpdesk Consoles Helpdesk uses a number of custom elements in entry point web.config files to define the behavior of the Helpdesk consoles that are supplied through default.aspx pages inside the entry point. There is one exception: Helpdesk administrators may want to control how workers and users self-enroll into Helpdesk. To Configure how Workers and Users Self-Enroll into Helpdesk <configuration> <appweaver.net> <consoles> <console> <command/> </console> </consoles> </appweaver.net> <helpdesk.net> <console.configuration/> <credential/> </helpdesk.net> </configuration> The <appweaver.net> element and its children define what consoles are available in that entry point and what commands are available in those consoles. The <helpdesk.net> element has two children elements named, <console.configuration> and <credential>. These elements have attributes that are described below: <console.configuration> This element contains four attributes that determine the permissions for who is allowed to configure the Helpdesk database, workers or admin personnel. allowdatabaseconfig Legal values are yes or no. The value yes means that workers who use this entry point will be able to attempt to configure the Helpdesk database by running a Helpdesk configuration command defined in the console. This command will be run whenever Helpdesk determines it is not correctly configured; usually Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 132

133 Chapter 15: Customization when the application starts after an installation or upgrade. By default, only the Admin entry point and console has this value set to yes. It is dangerous and unhelpful to allow non-admins access to this command. The value no means that database configuration is not possible through this console. Helpdesk will display an error instead of displaying the Helpdesk configuration page. The value yes means that the databaseconfigcmd attribute must be present. The value no means the error display command must be named in the denycmd attribute. databaseconfigcmd The value of this attribute must match the value of an id attribute of a <command> element defined in same web.config file. It should always refer to the ConfigureHelpdesk templated command. This attribute is only necessary when allowdatabaseconfig is set to yes. denycmd The value of this attribute must match the value of an id attribute of a <command> element defined in same web.config file. Typically this command should refer to the Deny module. It is required when allow DatabaseConfig is set to no. sessiontimeout The value of this attribute must be an integer greater than 0: 20 for example. This attribute is useful for consoles that do not have a keepalive mechanism to keep their IIS sessions alive: the user and winuser consoles use this attribute by default. The default session timeout is configured in the main web.config file and is initially set to 4 minutes. <credential> This element defines how workers and users are authenticated by Helpdesk after being authenticated or not by IIS and NTLM security. There is one required attribute: workermode, and several other attributes that may or may not be required depending on the value of workermode. The five entry points/web.config files that ship with Helpdesk demonstrate all useful combinations of attributes. workermode= worker winuser guest user worker This mode requires users of the consoles defined in this entry point to be enrolled as workers in Helpdesk. The NT ID provided by the browser is used to identify the worker. Workers typically have access to the full functionality of Helpdesk except for administrative functions. Other required attributes: allowselfenrollment, selfenrollmentcmd, denycmd. winuser This mode requires users of the consoles defined in this entry point to be defined as contacts in Helpdesk. An NT ID provided by the browser through IIS Integrated Windows Authentication is required to identify the contact. Consoles defined using this mode usually have only limited Helpdesk abilities: to create new incidents and to review and updates incidents previously created by them. This mode is appropriate for end-users in an intranet environment where Integrated Window Authentication is available. Workers can use consoles with this credential also because workers are contacts with valid NT IDs. However, they will not be able to access full worker functionality. Other required attributes: allowselfenrollment, selfenrollmentcmd, denycmd. guest This mode is for completely anonymous access to Helpdesk to create new incidents, for example, at a public walk-up kiosk. No authentication takes place and no contact information is created about the end-user using the console. Any information collected by commands in a guest mode console is typically inserted into the incident comment field to be interpreted by a worker. There are no other required attributes. user Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 133

134 Chapter 15: Customization This mode allows the console to execute a login command to collect an address and password to identify the end-user as a contact in the Helpdesk database before permitting access to the console. If a contact can be found and the optional password matches, the user is shown the console and can perform operations similar to those available in a winuser-mode console: create new incidents with the end-user as the associated contact, review incidents previously created, etc. To speed up access to Helpdesk, administrators can set the saveuserlogincookie attribute to yes to allow Helpdesk to place a cookie on the client browser that serves as a valid user mode credential. Then that user on that machine is not show the login command again after the first successful login. user mode has five other required attributes: userlogincmd, saveuserlogincookie, allowselfenrollment, selfenrollmentcmd, denycmd. allowselfenrollment= yes no yes means that Helpdesk will permit the user to add their contact and/or worker information to the Helpdesk database and then grant them access to the console. Helpdesk executes the command named in the selfenrollmentcmd command. no means that users who cannot provide a valid credential: either an address and password ( user mode) or NT ID ( worker or winuser mode) will be denied access to Helpdesk. Helpdesk will execute the command named in the denycmd attribute. Note: This is the only attribute that most Helpdesk administrators should ever directly change in the installed Helpdesk entry points. By default the Worker console does not allow self-enrollment. Some administrators may want to edit the worker\web.config file using Notepad or other text editor to change the allowselfenrollment from no to yes and save the file. This will cause Helpdesk to restart and apply the new setting. Administrators should be sure to limit access to the Admin and Worker consoles using NTLM and NT groups before enabling worker self-enrollment. After most the workers have been created, administrators should turn self-enrollment off again. On the other hand, the User console allows self-enrollment by default. This permits end-users to create their own, possibly erroneous, contact records. Administrators can turn off self-enrollment by editing the User\web.config file, setting allowselfenrollment from yes to no. Then no end-users will be granted access to Helpdesk until their contacts are imported from an NS source or created manually. Note that the default password is the empty string, i.e., no password at all. Passwords used by Helpdesk here are not and should not be NT or Active Directory passwords. They are stored as clear text in the database. Workers can view and edit these passwords in the Worker console. selfenrollmentcmd= The value of this attribute must match the value of an id attribute of a <command> element defined in same web.config file. denycmd= The value of this attribute must match the value of an id attribute of a <command> element defined in same web.config file. userlogincmd= The value of this attribute must match the value of an id attribute of a <command> element defined in same web.config file. This attribute is valid only when workermode= user. See the User\web.config file for a sample. saveuserlogincookie = yes no This attribute is valid only when workermode= user. See the User\web.config file for a sample. yes means the address entered by the worker is stored in a cookie in the user s computer. The cookie contains an integer. If the cookie is present then the login command is not executed and the Helpdesk console is displayed. The same user will not be prompted for login credentials again until the cookie expires after one year. Users cannot decide whether to accept the cookie or not. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 134

135 Chapter 15: Customization no means Helpdesk will not write the user credential cookie. Users will see the login command every time they start a new Helpdesk session. Note: Helpdesk requires that cookies be enabled at all times but does not write permanent cookies except for this one. This is a change from previous versions of Helpdesk, which managed several cookies. Create Custom URL to Access Helpdesk Consoles You can give workers a custom URL so they can load a console more quickly. To create a custom URL 1 Make sure that the DNS server is set up on the server that Helpdesk Solution is on. The server that Helpdesk Solution is on must have a static IP address. 2 Add an alias (custom URL) into the DNS server and point it to the same URL as the server that Helpdesk Solution is on. 3 Put a redirection script in your default.asp page. For example: <html> <head> <title></title> <meta http-equiv= refresh content= 0; url= user/default.aspx </head> </html> substituting servername and webname with the appropriate values. 4 Now you can type the alias name to access the Helpdesk Solution console. Example Suppose you work for a company named acme and have a server called brutus. The URL to access this server is brutus.acme.com. This server has an IP address of When you type in brutus.acme.com, the request goes to the DNS server, and the server sees that the URL should point to Suppose you want to add the alias helpdesk.acme.com. You would add helpdesk.acme.com into the DNS server and point it to the same URL as brutus.acme.com. Now, when you type either helpdesk.acme.com or brutus.acme.com, the DNS server sees that both requests go to Next, you add a redirection script in the default.aspx page that points to the Helpdesk Solution console you want to access. Now, when you type in helpdesk as the URL, the DNS sends the request to the computer with the IP of , which is the server brutus, then brutus delivers the default page and the page redirects to the Helpdesk Solution console. Note: Internally, to access either brutus.acme.com, or helpdesk.acme.com, you only need to type in brutus, or helpdesk respectively. Also, the alias you choose must not be ambiguous, it cannot exist as an alias or as a computer on the network already. Support for Pocket PC (PPC) Administrators and workers can access the worker console from any Windows CE device. Handheld support is included with your product and does not require any additional cost or configurations. Handheld support adds even greater flexibility for managing your product by extending functionality beyond the desktop. You can access the Worker Console using the worker URL. The Worker Console features that are not supported include file upload. Some fields in lists throughout the Worker Console have been scaled down for better viewing on the lower resolution Pocket PC.Requirements Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 135

136 Chapter 15: Customization Windows CE version 3 Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher Resolution: Standard Pocket PC dimensions of 240 x 320 Note: While the Worker Console is fully supported with the exceptions noted above, the Administrator Console is not currently supported on the Pocket PC platform. The Administrative Console will load on a Pocket PC device. However, the screen is not properly formatted for the reduced screen resolution size of most handhelds. Administrative features can be executed on a handheld device by directly accessing the URLs for those features. Pocket PC Navigation There is a dropdown for recent incidents at the top of the Worker Console. Select an incident number and click the View Work Item icon to the left of the dropdown to view the report for the item. To view the report for an item not displayed in the dropdown, the standard toolbar has been included so that the worker can enter an incident number in the Edit field and click the View Work Item icon to the left of the Edit field on the toolbar. Work item actions are not displayed as a horizontal list for the Pocket PC, but have been added to the command dropdown. Select an action and click the green arrow icon to the left of the dropdown to perform the action. The action will be performed on the incident that is selected in the recent incident dropdown that appears to the left. This dropdown is shared by commands that are available on the Work items tab. Work item commands are available by clicking the home icon at the top of the console. All commands for the work item command group will populate the command dropdown (this is a shared dropdown). Execute a command by selecting it from the dropdown and clicking the green arrow icon. Customization Use Cases The following are use case for customizing specific features. Quick Links How to Add a Scalar Field on page 136 How to Add a Lookup Field on page 139 How to Centralize all of your Custom Strings for Ease of Management and Localization on page 143 How to Create your Own Custom Console on page 145 How to Add a Scalar Field This customization covers adding a scalar field, a field that is not a reference to a value in another table, to incidents. You will be adding a new field to incidents called application. Upon successful completion of the solution you will be able to type in the name of an application when creating or editing an incident. This new field will be displayed on the incident view and edit pages. Prerequisites You need to be able to add a column, create an index, modify views, and run stored procedures using SQL Server Enterprise Manager and Query Analyzer. You need a familiarity with AppWeaver file aliasing. You need a familiarity with XML. You need to understand HTML tables. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 136

137 Chapter 15: Customization Solution The first few sections of this solution describe changes that must be made to the Helpdesk database. The remaining sections discuss how to expose the new application field in the Helpdesk UI, which includes modification to Helpdesk templates. Each section must be completed successfully before the procedure in the next section is attempted to ensure a successful modification. Add application column to the workitem table Using SQL Server Query Analyzer run the following script against your Helpdesk database. ALTER TABLE workitem ADD application nvarchar(128) NOT NULL DEFAULT (N'') GO To confirm the field was created successfully run the following script against your Helpdesk database. SELECT application FROM workitem WHERE id = 0 GO You should see the following in the results window. application application is the new field you just added. If you do not see this output in the results window an error has occurred. Check the spelling of the field in the Alter table statement and the Select statement. IMPORTANT: Notice that for variable length character data the unicode nvarchar data type is used. ALL character data in Helpdesk must be nchar or nvarchar. Please see Transaction-SQL Reference for a description of nchar and nvarchar data types and their implications. IMPORTANT: NULL values are not permitted or supported for Helpdesk columns. Notice the NOT NULL clause of the ALTER TABLE statement above. IMPORTANT: all Helpdesk columns must contain a default value. All nchar and nvarchar defaults are prefixed with N as set forth in Transaction-SQL Reference when dealing with unicode data (e.g. N 0, N, N My Default ). Alternatively you could have modified the table directly using the Design table feature of SQL Server Enterprise Manager. Update the view_def Table with information about the new column (database modification) The view_def table is very important to the installation/upgrade process of Helpdesk. This table must be updated so that the changes that you make will be preserved during the installation/upgrade process. Using SQL Server Query Analyzer run the following script against your Helpdesk database. EXEC sp_addviewdef N'workitem_only_view', N'workitem.application AS workitem_application', N'' GO This script will add a row to the view_def table. Notice that the second argument specified for stored procedure sp_addviewdef is an alias specification. By following the conventions that have been established in Helpdesk you will ensure that databinding will be much easier. If you view data in the view_def table the conventions are self-explanatory. Run the following script to verify the field was added to the view. SELECT * FROM view_def WHERE column_sql = N'workitem.application AS workitem_application' GO You should get one row returned with table_name = workitem_only_view and column_sql = workitem.application AS workitem_application Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 137

138 Chapter 15: Customization Alternatively, you could have modified the view_def table directly using SQL Server Enterprise Manager. Drop and recreate the workitem_only_view (database modification) Using SQL Server Query Analyzer run the following script against your Helpdesk database. EXEC sp_createhddview 'workitem_only_view', 'workitem' GO EXEC sp_createhddview 'workitem_detail_view', 'workitem_only_view' GO if exists (select * from sysobjects where id = object_id(n'[dbo].[workitem_current_view]') and OBJECTPROPERTY(id, N'IsView') = 1) drop view [dbo].[workitem_current_view] GO CREATE VIEW dbo.workitem_current_view AS SELECT workitem_detail_view.* FROM workitem_detail_view WHERE (workitem_is_last = N'1') GO Run the following script to verify the field is present in the view. SELECT workitem_application FROM workitem_only_view WHERE workitem_id = 0 GO You should see the workitem_application field with no rows returned. Stored procedure sp_createhddview will drop the view for you before recreating it. The first parameter is the name of the view and the second parameter is the name of the table associated with the view. Create a new entry point for your custom console (XML and script modification) Create a new entry point by simply copying the worker directory to a new sibling directory called custom_worker. Now open Internet Service Manager and set the directory permissions to be the same as those on the worker directory. Select the custom_worker virtual directory from the AeXHD web and view its properties. Select the Directory Security tab and press Edit in the Anonymous access and authentication control group. For this console typically only the Integrated Windows Authentication checkbox is checked. Press OK. Change the console id in the web.config file. Locate the <console id= conworker line and change it to id= concustomworker. See the XML snippet below. <?xml version= 1.0 encoding= utf-8?> <configuration> <appweaver.net> <consoles> <console id= concustomworker defaultcommand= homeworker Change the ID in the Default.aspx file. Look for the Me.ID = conworker line in the OnInit subroutine near the top of the file and change it to concustomworker. There can be multiple <console>s in the web.config and this is how to wire the correct one to our HelpdeskConsole web form. See the script file snippet below. Public Overrides Sub OnInit(ByVal e As EventArgs) Me.ID = concustomworker MyBase.OnInit(e) End Sub Copy templates into the custom directory and modify them to enable editing and display of the application field (template modification) Create a new directory on the web root, as a sibling of custom_worker and templates, and name it custom. Copy WorkItemEdit.ascx and WorkItemView.ascx from the templates directory into custom. Now edit WorkItemEdit.ascx to enable application to be edited through the interface. Locate a line beginning with <aw:layout id= lopanels. Paste the following line immediately before it. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 138

139 Chapter 15: Customization <aw:textbox id= tbapplication runat= server Width= 300px ItemDataField= workitem_application ColSpan= 4 Label= Application: ></ aw:textbox> This line defines an AppWeaver TextBox control to contain the application value. The control has an id of tbapplication and can be any unique string (conventionally we prefix the id of aw:textbox controls with tb ). The control is databound to the data source WorkItem (case sensitive name defined above in the MultiPage ItemDataSourceName attribute) and data field workitem_application (the attribute ItemDataField of our TextBox). workitem_application is the new view field created in the previous section. The control has a label called Application: to identify the text box on the page. The ItemDataSourceName could have been directly specified on our TextBox, but AppWeaver databinding will search up the control hierarchy if it is not specified. Now modify the WorkItemView.ascx file in a similar way. Paste the following AppWeaver Label control on the line after the lblcreated label control. <aw:label id= lblapplication runat= server ItemDataField= workitem_application label= Application: ></aw:label> You can experiment with the location and label of the textbox and label controls on the pages. Modify the custom web.config file to map the new templates Edit the web.config file in the custom_worker directory to map the custom template files. Paste the following after the closing consoles tag </consoles> and before the closing appweaver.net tag </ appweaver.net>. <files path= ~/custom/ > <file id= WorkItemEdit file= WorkItemEdit.ascx /> <file id= WorkItemView file= WorkItemView.ascx /> </files> The path attribute sets the default path to look for files enumerated in the file tags and is set to the custom directory off of the web root. The <file> elements are aliases for files in various directories in the web. If you view the web.config in the root directory of the web you ll notice that the same <file> elements exist, with the exception that the parent <files> names a different path (i.e. ~/ templates/ instead of ~/custom/ ). What we have accomplished in this step is overriding the files that the aliases WorkItemEdit and WorkItemView point to. Debug and Test your Customizations View the customizations by entering into the address bar of your browser. Edit an incident, look for the application field and enter an application name and save. Confirm the View has your application name. How to Add a Lookup Field This customization covers adding a new lookup id, which is a field that is a reference to a value in another table, to incidents. Upon successful completion of the solution, Helpdesk workers will be able to select an Application from a dropdown when creating or editing an incident, and the Application will be displayed on the incident report. Implementing Application as a lookup table rather than a scalar field offers several advantages. First, it will prevent redundant applications from being entered into the database (e.g. Microsoft Word, MS Word, MS Office Word, etc.). Second, searching for incidents by Application could be simplified. For example, you could provide an Application dropdown on the Find command. Finally, you get all the benefits offered by Helpdesk s implementation of lookup tables: ability to chose a default, activate or inactive a value, and weight the values. Prerequisites You need to be able to add a column, create an index, modify views, and run stored procedures using SQL Server Enterprise Manager and Query Analyzer. You need a familiarity with AppWeaver file aliasing. You need a familiarity with XML. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 139

140 Chapter 15: Customization You need to understand HTML tables. Solution The first few sections of this solution describe changes that must be made to the Helpdesk database. The remaining sections discuss how to expose the new application field in the Helpdesk UI, which includes modification to Helpdesk templates. Each section must be completed successfully before the procedure in the next section is attempted to ensure a successful modification. Add a new workitem_application_lookup table and populate it with an initial set of values Using SQL Server Query Analyzer run the following script against your Helpdesk database. if not exists (select * from sysobjects where id = object_id(n'[dbo].[workitem_application _lookup]') and OBJECTPROPERTY(id, N'IsUserTable') = 1) begin CREATE TABLE [dbo].[workitem_application_lookup] ( [id] [int] NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, [status] [nchar] (1) NOT NULL DEFAULT (N'a'), [value] [nvarchar] (255) NOT NULL DEFAULT (N''), [ordinal] [int] NOT NULL DEFAULT (0), [is_default] [nchar] (1) NOT NULL DEFAULT (N'0') ) ON [PRIMARY] end GO IMPORTANT: For variable length character data, you must use unicode nvarchar data type. ALL character data in Helpdesk must be nchar or nvarchar. See Transaction-SQL Reference for a description of nchar and nvarchar data types and their implications. IMPORTANT: NULL values are not permitted or supported for Helpdesk columns. Notice the NOT NULL clause in the CREATE TABLE script above. IMPORTANT: All Helpdesk columns must contain a default value. All nchar and nvarchar defaults are prefixed with N as set forth in Transaction-SQL Reference when dealing with unicode data (e.g. N 0, N, N My Default ). Using SQL Server Query Analyzer run the following script against your Helpdesk database. This will populate the lookup table with some Applications. insert into workitem_application_lookup (id,status,value,ordinal,is_default) values(100,'a','other',1,'1') insert into workitem_application_lookup (id,status,value,ordinal,is_default) values(200,'a','altiris express Web Administrator',2,'0') insert into workitem_application_lookup (id,status,value,ordinal,is_default) values(300,'a','altiris express Helpdesk',3,'0') insert into workitem_application_lookup (id,status,value,ordinal,is_default) values(400,'a','aliris express Notification Server',4,'0') insert into workitem_application_lookup (id,status,value,ordinal,is_default) values(500,'a','microsoft Office',5,'0') insert into workitem_application_lookup (id,status,value,ordinal,is_default) values(600,'a','microsoft System Management Server',6,'0') GO Alternatively you could have created the table directly using the New table feature of SQL Server Enterprise Manager. The script above adheres to the conventions that have been established for Helpdesk lookup tables. If you use the New table feature you should do the same. To verify your new lookup table was created and populated successfully run the following script. select * from workitem_application_lookup GO You should see the following results: 100 a Other a Altiris express Web Administrator 2 0 Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 140

141 Chapter 15: Customization 300 a Altiris express Helpdesk a Altiris express Notification Server a Microsoft Office a Microsoft System Management Server 6 0 Add application_lookup_id column to the workitem table Using SQL Server Query Analyzer run the following script against your Helpdesk database. int set nocount on = object_id(n'[dbo].[workitem]') if not exists( select * from syscolumns where name='application_lookup_id' and id=@id) begin ALTER TABLE workitem ADD application_lookup_id int NOT NULL CONSTRAINT [DF_workitem_application_lookup_id] DEFAULT (0) WITH VALUES CREATE INDEX [IX_workitem_application_lookup_id] ON [dbo].[workitem]([application_lookup_id]) ON [PRIMARY] end GO Typical consideration should be placed on whether or not to index the column. You would remove the CREATE INDEX statement in the script above if you chose not to index the column. Update the view_def table with information about the new lookup (database modification) The view_def table is very important to the installation/upgrade process of Helpdesk. This table must be updated so that the changes you make will be preserved during the installation/upgrade process. Using SQL Server Query Analyzer run the following script against your Helpdesk database. exec sp_addviewdef N'workitem_only_view', N'workitem.application_lookup_id AS workitem_application_lookup_id', N'' GO exec sp_addviewdef N'workitem_detail_view', N'wal.value AS workitem_application_lookup_value', N'LEFT OUTER JOIN workitem_application_lookup wal ON workitem_application_lookup_id = wal.id' GO exec sp_addviewdef N'workitem_detail_view', N'wal.ordinal AS workitem_application_lookup_ordinal', N'' GO This script will add rows to the view_def table. Notice that the second argument specified for stored procedure sp_addviewdef is an alias specification. By following established conventions, you will ensure that databinding will be much easier. If you read in detail data in the view_def table, the conventions are self-explanatory. Alternatively you could have modified the view_def table directly using SQL Server Enterprise Manager. Drop and recreate the workitem_only_view, workitem_detail_view and workitem_current_views (database modification) There are three different views that will need to be dropped and recreated so that data for the new application lookup will be included in the view. exec sp_createhddview 'workitem_only_view', 'workitem' GO exec sp_createhddview 'workitem_detail_view', 'workitem_only_view' GO if exists (select * from sysobjects where id = object_id(n'[dbo].[workitem_current_view]') and OBJECTPROPERTY(id, N'IsView') = 1) drop view [dbo].[workitem_current_view] GO CREATE VIEW dbo.workitem_current_view AS Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 141

142 Chapter 15: Customization SELECT workitem_detail_view.* FROM workitem_detail_view WHERE (workitem_is_last = N'1') GO IMPORTANT: The order in which the views are created is significant because of dependencies that exist. Stored procedure sp_createhddview will drop the view for you. The first parameter is the name of the view and the second parameter is the name of the table associated with the view. Insert a query that will retrieve data from the application lookup table into the query table (database modification) You need to create a new query that will be used to retrieve Application lookup values. Using SQL Server Query Analyzer run the following script against your Helpdesk database. insert into query (name, expression, cache_results) values (N'ApplicationList', N'SELECT * FROM workitem_application_lookup where lower(status)=n''a'' order by ordinal', N'1') GO Note the name that you gave the query, ApplicationList, because it will be used later when you modify the template. Create a new entry point for your custom console (XML and script modification) Create a new entry point by simply copying the worker directory to a new sibling directory called custom_worker. Now open Internet Service Manager and set the directory permissions to be the same as those on the worker directory. Select the custom_worker virtual directory from the AeXHD web and view its properties. Select the Directory Security tab and press Edit in the Anonymous access and authentication control group. For this console typically only the Integrated Windows Authentication checkbox is checked. Press OK. Change the console id in the web.config file. Locate the <console id= conworker line and change it to id= concustomworker. See the XML snippet below. <?xml version= 1.0 encoding= utf-8?> <configuration> <appweaver.net> <consoles> <console id= concustomworker defaultcommand= homeworker Change the ID in the Default.aspx file. Look for the Me.ID = conworker line in the OnInit subroutine near the top of the file and change it to concustomworker. See the script file snippet below. Public Overrides Sub OnInit(ByVal e As EventArgs) Me.ID = concustomworker MyBase.OnInit(e) End Sub Modify the custom web.config File to Map the New Templates Edit the web.config file in the custom_worker directory to map the custom template files. Paste the following after the closing consoles tag </consoles> and before the closing appweaver.net tag </ appweaver.net>. <files path= ~/custom/ > <file id= WorkItemEdit file= WorkItemEdit.ascx /> <file id= WorkItemView file= WorkItemView.ascx /> </files> The path attribute sets the default path to look for files enumerated in the file tags and is set to the custom directory off of the web root. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 142

143 Chapter 15: Customization Copy templates into the custom directory and modify them to enable editing and display of the application field (template modification) Create a new directory on the web root, as a sibling of custom_worker and templates, and name it custom. Copy WorkItemEdit.ascx and WorkItemView.ascx from the templates directory into custom. Add label control to the Workitem view page by modifying the WorkItemView.ascx file. Paste the following AppWeaver Label control on the line after the lblcreated label control and before the pnlnotifyrules panel control. <aw:label id= lblcreated </aw:label> <aw:label id= lblapplication runat= server colspan= 4 ItemDataField= workitem_application_lookup_value label= Application: ></ aw:label> <aw:panel id= pnlnotifyrules </aw:panel > Notice the ItemDataField is the new field added to the workitem_detail_view in the section above. The control has a label on the page of Application:. The strings for your customizations can be hardcoded like this or a string id can be used and a string resource file can be used. The string resource file can be localized if desired. Now edit WorkItemEdit.ascx to enable the user to select the application to be associated with the incident. Near the top of the file is a subroutine called LoadDataSources. This is run once when the template is loaded. The data sources are all defined here. Find the set of lines that initialize the various data stores. They all begin with DataStore( SomeObject ). Add the following line to the end of the list to load the application lookup list into the data store. DataStore( Applications ) = New ListDataSet( ApplicationList ) Notice we specify the query we added above to query the lookup table for all the applications available. Now add a dropdown list of applications to the incident edit page by adding an AppWeaver DropDownList control to the edit page. Again, add this just after the Created label and before the pnlnotifyrules panel control. <aw:dropdownlist id= ddlapplication runat= server ItemDataField= workitem_application_lookup_id Label= Application: DataTextField= value DataValueField= id DataSourceName= Applications currentvalue= True ></aw:dropdownlist> The ItemDataField attribute specifies which field will be updated by changes made in this control by the user. The DataTextField sets the field to display in the control. In our example value which is the text of the application lookup. The DataValueField specifies what you get from the control. In our example the id is returned. The DataSourceName attribute specifies the data source to use for this control. We use the Applications data source we added to the LoadDataSources subroutine. Our new dropdown list uses the Applications data source and displays the data in the value field and puts the id of the value selected by the user into the workitem_application_lookup_id field of the WorkItem data store. Note this was specified by the ItemDataSourceName= WorkItem attribute of the AppWeaver MultPage control aw:multipage at the top of the page. You can experiment with the location and label of the textbox and label controls on the pages. Debug and Test your Customizations View the customizations by entering into the address bar of your browser. Edit an incident, look for the application field and enter an application name and save. Confirm the View has your application name. How to Centralize all of your Custom Strings for Ease of Management and Localization In the previous two sections you may have noticed that we used hard coded strings for our control labels. This is fine for simple customizations with only one or two controls but what if there are numerous controls in several files or you need to localize your strings to support several languages? Then this section will be of interest to you. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 143

144 Chapter 15: Customization Prerequisites You need a familiarity with XML. You need to understand HTML tables. Solution This solution takes you through creating an XML file to contain all your strings. It then explains how to refer to the strings in your templates. Finally you learn how to localize your strings. Creating a strings resource file A strings resource file is an XML file that can be created with any text editor. It must have the format below: <strings> <string id= csidstring1 >Custom String 1</string> <string id= csidstring2 >Custom String 2</string>... </strings> The root node is strings and can contain any number of string nodes. Each string node must have a unique id attribute. The text of the string is the inner text contained between the > delimiting the string node attributes and the < at the start of the closing string tag. The string id needs to be in quotes ( ) and must be unique within this file. It can be any combination of characters and numbers. I recommend devising a naming standard and sticking with it. The example above uses csid representing custom string id then the string name. Now create a string file for the application lookup field customization performed in the previous section. The view and edit page used a label attribute of label= Application:. For demonstration purposes lets use Application: for the view page and Software Application: for the edit page. Our strings file should look like this: <strings> <string id= csidlblapplication >Application:</string> <string id= csidlblsoftwareapplication >Software Application:</string> </strings> Copy and paste this into Notepad (or any text editor) and save as CustomStrings.xml in the custom directory previously created (custom off the root of the AeXHD). This is the same location as your custom template files. Now confirm the syntax of your file by opening it with Microsoft Internet Explorer. It should display your string resources correctly. If not it may show an error like tags do not match etc. and refer to the line and position of the offending character. Examine your file carefully and fix the error and repeat until the file can be opened without any errors. Modifying the web.config to search for the custom strings Now modify the ResouceLibs section of the web.config file to reference your string resource file. Locate the web.config file in your custom directory (e.g. C:\Program Files\Altiris\eXpress\Notification Server\Helpdesk\AeXHD\Custom). Open the file with Notepad and add a ResourceLibs section. The resoucelibs section should look similar to the following: <resourcelibs> <resourcelib file= CustomStrings.xml path= ~/Custom/ /> </resourcelibs> The ~ tells AppWeaver to look in the web root for the directory. Adding String IDs in Place of Strings in Templates Now add the string ids to the control label in the customized templates. Open the WorkItemView.ascx file and find the lblapplication control. Replace the text in the label attribute with csidlblapplication, see example below: <aw:label id= lblapplication colspan= 4 runat= server ItemDataField= workitem_application_lookup_value Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 144

145 Chapter 15: Customization label= csidlblapplication > </aw:label> Similarly, replace the label text in the WorkItemEdit.ascx file with the string id we defined above, csidlblsoftwareapplication. <aw:dropdownlist id= ddlapplication runat= server ItemDataField= workitem_application_lookup_id Label= csidlblsoftwareapplication DataTextField= value DataValueField= id DataSourceName= Applications currentvalue= True ></aw:dropdownlist> Save both files and test. You should see your strings appear in the incident view and edit pages. The view page should look exactly the same. That is Application: displayed for the control label. The edit page will have Software Application: for the label. Localizing Strings in your custom File You can localize your custom strings so the application will present the correct language based on the user s browser settings. To localize: create a subdirectory under the custom directory for each language that you wish to support. Name them using the 2 or 4 letter culture codes. The culture names follow the RFC 1766 standard in the format <languagecode2>-<country/regioncode2>, where <languagecode2> is a lowercase two-letter code derived from ISO and <country/ regioncode2> is an uppercase two-letter code derived from ISO For example, U.S. English is en-us. For a complete list see the CultureInfo class at Copy the localized CustomStrings.xml files into each directory. Restart IIS, and your ready to go. Debug and Test your Customizations Note the system tries to find the best language fit possible, so if you have a Swiss German localized file CustomStrings.xml it should be in the de-ch directory. A Germany German CustomStrings.xml file should be in the de subdirectory. If the browser settings are set to Swiss German the de-ch subdirectory will be searched first for a match for the string id, then the de subdirectory then the custom directory then the Helpdesk and AppWeaver resources. In this way string ids not found in the country or regioncode file will next be searched for in the languagecode file and if not found there searched for in the (default) CustomStrings.xml file in the custom directory and finally in the (localized) Helpdesk resource files. Note Helpdesk uses en-us as its default language. You may want to keep your default custom strings file in US English so there will be no confusion in the browser setting. This technique is the same one that.net uses and is nice because of the built in fall back capabilities inherent in the system. How to Create your Own Custom Console The previous examples demonstrated how to add fields to Helpdesk objects within the context of the consoles shipped with Helpdesk. You may have an application that requires a completely new console. That is, a different organization of the existing Helpdesk commands than those shipped. The customization approach will be the same as before. Start with an existing console and modify it by removing (and possibly adding) commands you want your users to have available in your new console. Prerequisites You need a familiarity with AppWeaver file aliasing. You need a familiarity with XML. You need to understand HTML tables. Solution This customization takes the existing Worker console and deletes some of the commands to create an incident focused console for workers who deal only with incidents (no Asset or Contact management although they can be created through the New and Edit incident commands). This same approach can be extended to adding commands by copying commands from other consoles (e.g. Admin) to make them available in your custom console. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 145

146 Chapter 15: Customization Create a new entry point for your custom console (XML and script modification) Create a new entry point by simply copying the worker directory to a new sibling directory called custom_worker (or some other appropriate name if you have already used custom_worker). Now open Internet Service Manager and set the directory permissions to be the same as those on the worker directory. Select the custom_worker virtual directory from the AeXHD web and view its properties. Select the Directory Security tab and press Edit in the Anonymous access and authentication control group. For this console typically only the Integrated Windows Authentication checkbox is checked. Press OK. Change the console id in the web.config file. Locate the <console id= conworker line and change it to id= concustomworker. See the XML snippet below. <?xml version= 1.0 encoding= utf-8?> <configuration> <appweaver.net> <consoles> <console id= concustomworker defaultcommand= homeworker Change the ID in the Default.aspx file. Look for the Me.ID = conworker line in the OnInit subroutine near the top of the file and change it to concustomworker. See the script file snippet below. Public Overrides Sub OnInit(ByVal e As EventArgs) Me.ID = concustomworker MyBase.OnInit(e) End Sub Modify the web.config file to contain only required commands (XML modification) Remove all the commands that don t deal directly with managing incidents, such as Asset, Contact and Query management. Cut out the Commands from homecontact to deleteassets in the web.config file. The Console section of the web.config file should now look like the following: <command id= notimplemented moduleid= NotImplemented name= sidnotimplemented /> <command id= homeworker moduleid= TemplateModule name= sidhomeworker description= sidhomeworkerdesc > <commandparam name= template value= WorkerReport /> </command> <command id= logoff moduleid= TemplateModule name= sidlogoff description= sidlogoffdesc > <commandparam name= template value= Logoff /> <commandparam name= awpres value= Banner /> </command> <command id= dashboard moduleid= TemplateModule name= siddashboard description= siddashboarddesc > <commandparam name= template value= Dashboard /> </command> <command id= runtemplate moduleid= TemplateModule name= sidruntemplate description= sidruntemplatedesc /> <command id= newitem moduleid= TemplateModule name= sidnewitem description= sidnewitemdesc modal= yes > <commandparam name= template value= WorkItemEdit /> <commandparam name= action value= new /> </command> <command id= viewitem moduleid= TemplateModule name= sidviewitem description= sidviewitemdesc > <commandparam name= template value= WorkItemView /> </command> <command id= edititem moduleid= TemplateModule name= sidedititem description= sidedititemdesc modal= yes > <commandparam name= template value= WorkItemEdit /> </command> <command id= finditems moduleid= TemplateModule name= sidfinditems description= sidfinditemsdesc > <commandparam name= template value= WorkItemFind /> </command> <command id= deleteitems moduleid= TemplateModule name= siddeleteitems description= siddeleteitemsdesc modal= yes > <commandparam name= template value= WorkItemDelete /> </command> <command id= retrieveitem moduleid= TemplateModule name= sidretrieveitem description= sidretrieveitemsdesc > <commandparam name= template value= WorkItemRetrieve /> </command> <command id= workerselfenroll moduleid= TemplateModule name= sidworkerselfenroll description= sidworkerselfenrolldesc > Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 146

147 Chapter 15: Customization <commandparam name= template value= WorkerSelfEnroll /> <commandparam name= awpres value= Banner /> </command> <command id= denyconfig moduleid= Deny name= siddeny description= siddenydesc > <commandparam name= msg value= erradminmustfirstconfiguredatabase /> <commandparam name= awpres value= Banner /> </command> <command id= deny moduleid= Deny name= siddeny description= siddenydesc > <commandparam name= awpres value= Banner /> </command> <command id= recents moduleid= TemplateModule name= sidrecents description= sidrecentsdesc > <commandparam name= template value= Recents /> </command> Database Debug and Test your Customizations Now test your console by entering the URL to your console e.g. custom_worker. If you have errors confirm the web.config file is syntactically correct by opening with Internet Explorer. If you want to customize the pages you need to create copies of the Helpdesk templates and place them in a custom directory and reference them in the main Helpdesk web.config file like we did in the previous customizations. The following sections contain a list of the tables, views and stored procedures used in Helpdesk. Tables hdinstallreport schema_version view_def license audit_log bulletin workitem_category_routing workitem_category_tree contact contact_mo_join custom_processor _message lookup_tree managed_object managed_object_ns_unique_id managed_object_sms_unique_id managed_object_source managed_object_source_definition mo_source_join mo_workitem_history organization query tag tag_collection template_alias url_alias server_url_alias worker worker_hourly_rate worker_query workitem workitem_attachment workitem_next_number wu_custom_instance workitem_wuci_join managed_object_type_lookup workitem_priority_lookup workitem_status_lookup workitem_category_lookup workitem_type_lookup workitem_link_type_looku p standard_lookups default_tag Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 147

148 Chapter 15: Customization Views asset_only_view asset_view bulletin_only_view bulletin_view contact_only_view contact_view managed_object_only_view managed_object_view mo_source_join_view organization_only_view organization_view tco_view worker_only_view worker_query_only_view worker_query_view worker_view workers_in_workitem_view workitem_current_view workitem_detail_view workitem_only_view workitem_wuci_join_view wu_custom_instance_view Stored Procedures sp_getschemaversion sp_checkschemaversion sp_updateschemaversion sp_createdtable sp_report sp_addurlalias sp_addserverurlalias sp_addviewdef sp_newtagcollectionid sp_createhddview sp_addupdatequery sp_addaudit sp_addcontactassetassociation sp_addtag sp_addattachment sp_addupdatemanagedobjectsour sp_addworkerhourlyrate sp_addworkitemwuci ce sp_deleteallworkitemwucis sp_deletebulletin sp_deletesingletag sp_deletetags sp_deletesource sp_deleteworkerquery sp_deletewuci sp_deleteallworkitemcatego rytree sp_deleteallworkitemcategoryrou ting sp_getcontact sp_getdefaultattachment sp_getdefaultbulletin sp_getdefaultorganization sp_getdefaultcontact sp_getdefault message sp_getdefaultmanagedobject sp_getdefaultworker sp_getdefaultroutingworkerid sp_getautoroutingworkerid sp_getdefaultworkerquery sp_getdefaultworkitem sp_getdefaultwuci sp_get message sp_getguestworker sp_getmanagedobject sp_getmanagedobjectsource sp_getmosautoupdatelist sp_getmosourcejoinlist sp_getquerybyname sp_gettags sp_geturlalias sp_getserverurlalias sp_getworker sp_getworker addrs sp_getworkitemprevious sp_getworkitemwucilist sp_getworkitemhistorylist sp_newbulletin sp_newcontact sp_new message sp_newmanagedobject sp_neworganization sp_newworker sp_newworkerquery sp_newworkitem sp_newworkitemcategorytree sp_newworkitemcategoryro sp_newwuci uting sp_resolveurls sp_resolveserverurls sp_updatebulletin sp_updatecontact sp_update message sp_updatemanagedobject sp_updatemoslastautoupdate sp_updateorganization sp_updateworker Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 148

149 Chapter 15: Customization sp_updateworkerquery sp_updateworkitem sp_updatewuci sp_updateworkitemnoincrement sp_importsmsresource sp_importnsresource sp_importnscontact sp_workerreportdata sp_adminreportdata sp_workitemstatuscount sp_workitemprioritycount sp_workitemstatuscountbyworker id sp_workitemprioritycountbywor sp_workerconsoledata sp_workitemlinkedby kerid sp_deleteworkitembynumber sp_getdeleteworkitemcount sp_deleteassetsbyidlist sp_deletecontactsbyidlist sp_deleteallworkitemsbyque sp_deletenonlinkedworkitemsbyq ry uery sp_getdefaultinvisiblewuciids sp_insertdefaulttag sp_inserttag sp_updatesingletag sp_gettagvalue sp_verifyworkercontacttags sp_getrecentitems sp_getasset sp_getbulletin sp_getcontactbyid sp_getcontactbyntid sp_getcurrentworker sp_getcurrentworkerbyname sp_getcurrentworkerbyntid sp_getdefaultbulletin2 sp_getdefaultorganization2 sp_getdefaultcontact2 sp_getdefaultworkitemandwucis sp_getdefaultquery sp_getdefaultwuci2 sp_getorganization sp_getwuci sp_getguestworkerbycontact sp_getguestworkerbycontactntid id sp_getguestworkerby addre sp_getworkerbyname sp_getworkerbyntid ss sp_getworkitem sp_newcontact2 sp_updatecontact2 sp_getdefaultasset sp_newasset sp_updateasset sp_newbulletin2 sp_getstandardlookups sp_getworkerquery2 sp_getdefaultworkerquery2 sp_newworkerquery2 sp_updateworkerquery2 sp_retrievenextworkitemfromqu sp_countrealworkers sp_checkorganization eue sp_setdefaultworkitemcategory sp_addupdatesource sp_updateworkitemcomment sp_importsmsresource2 sp_importnsresource2 sp_updateworkitemwuciids sp_new message2 sp_update message2 sp_newworker2 sp_updateworker2 Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 149

150 Chapter 16: Advanced Query Settings Helpdesk Solution has a parameter replacement system so that user input can be solicited whenever a query is run. The query replacement system only works against the most recent version of all incidents. Helpdesk workers cannot query against incident history directly, unless they type in valid Transact-SQL sub-select statements, which query against a table named workitem_detail_view. To modify a query 1 Click Incidents > Queries > New query. 2 Select an existing query from the Based on drop-down list. Note: It is easier to modify the expression of an existing query. 3 Click Get Expression. 4 Edit the parameters of the query expression. 5 Click Run. 6 To save the query expression, enter a property value in the Name field. 7 Click Save. 8 The new query you created will display on the List Query page, and in the Based on drop-down list on the New Query page. Quick Links Query Parameter Replacement on page 150 Query Data Types on page 152 Query Parameter Replacement There are a number of special parameters that the query system recognizes. When a query is run, the parameters are resolved and the results are returned. With the exception of $current_worker_id$, all queries containing parameters present an intermediate page where the worker can provide input. $current_worker_id$ This parameter automatically resolves to the NT ID credentials of the worker logged in to the Helpdesk system. The resolved parameter will not be quoted. Query: [My open incidents] Expression: workitem_assigned_to_worker_id = $current_worker_id$ and workitem_status_lookup_id = 300 To find all incidents created by the current worker, enter the following text in the Expression field on the New Query page. workitem_created_by_worker_id = $current_worker_id$ - incidents that the current worker created: Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 150

151 Chapter 16: Advanced Query Settings $prompt_number( <prompt> )$ The parameter $prompt_number( <Prompt> )$ produces an edit control labeled with <prompt> on an intermediate page where the worker can provide numeric data. The resolved parameter will not be quoted. Example for $prompt_number( <prompt> )$: workitem_number >= $prompt_number( Enter work item number lower boundary )$ $prompt_string( <prompt> )$ The parameter $prompt_string( <Prompt> )$ produces an edit control labeled with <prompt> on an intermediate page where the worker can provide string data. The resolved parameter will be quoted. Example for $prompt_string( <prompt> )$: assigned_to_worker_name >= $prompt_string( Enter a worker name )$ $prompt_lookup( <prompt>, <lookup query name> )$ The parameter $prompt_lookup( <prompt>, <lookup query name> )$ produces a drop-down on an intermediate page where the worker can select a value from the drop-down. The resolved parameter will be the ID of the selected value and will not be quoted. The second parameter must be the name of an existing lookup query. Lookups are customizable. As long as a query is created for the lookup, and the lookup table follows the format of existing lookup tables the lookup prompt parameter will produce a drop-down. Example for $prompt_lookup( <prompt>, <lookup query name> )$: workitem_status_lookup_id=$prompt_lookup( Select work item status:, StatusList )$ The following lookup queries are available: PriorityList StatusList TypeList $prompt_datetime( <prompt> )$ The parameter $prompt_datetime( <Prompt> )$ will produce a datetime control labeled with <prompt> on an intermediate page where the worker can provide datetime data. The control will be initialized with the current date and time. The resolved parameter will be quoted. Example for $prompt_datetime( <prompt> )$: Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 151

152 Chapter 16: Advanced Query Settings workitem_modified_on > $prompt_datetime( Work items modified after: )$ $prompt_date( <prompt> )$ The parameter $prompt_date( <Prompt> )$ will produce a datetime control labeled with <prompt> on an intermediate page where the worker can provide date data. The control will be initialized with the current date. This parameter is particularly useful when querying against workitem_start_on and workitem_due_on fields because only the date portion of those fields are stored in the db. The resolved parameter will be quoted. Example for $prompt_date( <prompt> )$: workitem_start_on >= $prompt_date( Work items that will start on or after: )$ Query Data Types There are three basic data types used in query expressions: uint, string, and datetime. Queries that use the string or datetime data type must have quotes around their arguments. It is important to notify workers of these data type conditions so that quotes can be added or omitted in query expressions appropriately. String Examples workitem_external_reference like SMS% (wild card character for partial string matching) assigned_to_worker_name = 'mdavis' Datetime Examples workitem_modified_on > '12/11/00 10:10:00 AM' workitem_modified_on > '12/11/00 10:05:00' (interpreted as 24 hour clock) workitem_modified_on > '12/08/00 15:00:00'(interpreted as 24 hour clock) workitem_modified_on > '12/11/00' (interpreted as midnight between 10th and 11th) workitem_modified_on > 'Dec 09, :00:00 AM' workitem_modified_on > ' ' Uint Examples workitem_number > 150 workitem_minutes_spent > 3 workitem_status_lookup_id = 100 Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 152

153 Chapter 16: Advanced Query Settings Data Field Description The table below displays a list of field names, their corresponding data type, and acceptable values or additional comments, when applicable. Data Fields Field Name Type Acceptable Values or Comments workitem_link_parent_number uint workitem_number uint workitem_is_last string 1, 0 workitem_has_attachments string 1, 0 workitem_version uint workitem_external_reference string workitem_priority_lookup_id uint workitem_status_lookup_id uint workitem_category_lookup_id uint workitem_type_lookup_id uint workitem_link_type_lookup_id uint workitem_assigned_to_worker_id uint workitem_created_on datetime workitem_created_by_worker_id uint workitem_start_on datetime Only date part is in db; e.g. 11/10/03 workitem_due_on datetime Only date part is in db; e.g. 11/10/03 workitem_modified_on datetime workitem_modified_by_worker_id uint workitem_minutes_spent uint workitem_action string Create, open, assign, attach, link, edit, associate contact, associate object, resolve (values that are provided; however, this field can be customized). workitem_title string workitem_managed_object_id uint workitem_contact_id uint workitem_tag_collection_id uint workitem_is_scheduled string 1, 0 assigned_to_worker_name string assigned_to_worker_status string a, i, v (a = active, i = inactive, v = virtual. Inactive workers can be inactive virtual workgroups or inactive real workers.) assigned_to_worker_ string assigned_to_worker_phone string assigned_to_worker_cell_phone string assigned_to_worker_pager string assigned_to_worker_location string created_by_worker_name string Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 153

154 Chapter 16: Advanced Query Settings Data Fields Field Name Type Acceptable Values or Comments created_by_worker_status string a, i, v (a = active, i = inactive, v = virtual. Inactive workers can be inactive virtual workgroups or inactive real workers.) created_by_worker_ string created_by_worker_phone string created_by_worker_cell_phone string created_by_worker_pager string created_by_worker_location string modified_by_worker_name string modified_by_worker_status a, i, v (a = active, i = inactive, v = virtual. Inactive workers can be inactive virtual workgroups or inactive real workers.) modified_by_worker_ string modified_by_worker_phone string modified_by_worker_cell_phone string modified_by_worker_pager string modified_by_worker_location string workitem_priority_lookup_value string workitem_priority_lookup_ordinal uint workitem_status_lookup_value string workitem_status_lookup_ordinal uint workitem_category_lookup_value string workitem_category_lookup_ordinal uint workitem_type_lookup_value string workitem_type_lookup_ordinal uint workitem_link_type_lookup_value string workitem_link_type_lookup_ordinal uint contact_name string contact_ string contact_phone string contact_organization_name string managed_object_name string managed_object_type_lookup_id uint managed_object_type_lookup_value string managed_object_type_lookup_ordinal uint workitem_comment string Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 154

155 Chapter 17: Advanced Template Macros Simple Macros When you are adding or editing an template, you can use special macros in the message for the From, Subject and Body fields to represent data that will be inserted by Helpdesk Solution when it generates using the template. There are three different classes of macros, they are: simple, complex, and mail. Simple macros resolve into a single value or incident data. WORKITEM(<workitem_field>) CONTACT(<contact_field>) MANAGEDOBJECT(<managed_object_fi eld>) ASSIGNED_TO_WORKER(<worker_fiel d>) MODIFIED_BY_WORKER(<worker_fiel d>) <workitem_field> is the name of a field in the current incident (the one that was just updated). The value of that field replaces the macro. For Example: WORKITEM(workitem_number) will be replaced with the incident s number. The list of valid fields corresponds to the columns in the workitem_current_view view. <contact_field> is the name of a field in the record of the contact that is associated with the current incident. Note: All contact information is available using the WORKITEM() macro. < managed_object_field > is the name of a field in the record of the asset that is associated with the current incident. All asset information is available using the WORKITEM() macro. <worker_field > is the name of a field in the record of the worker that is associated with the current incident as the assigned to worker. Most assigned to worker information is available using the WORKITEM() macro Use ASSIGNED_TO_WORKER () to see information such as ASSIGNED_TO_WORKER (worker_organization_name) that is not available through the WORKITEM() macro. <worker_field > is the name of a field in the record of the worker that is associated with the current incident as the modified by worker. Most modified by worker information is available using the WORKITEM() macro. Use MODIFIED_BY_WORKER () to see information such as MODIFIED_BY_WORKER (worker_organization_name) that is not available through the WORKITEM() macro. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 155

156 Chapter 17: Advanced Template Macros Complex Macros Complex macros define a format that can include a mix of text, HTML and Helpdesk Solution data fields that will be evaluated and replace the macro. HISTORY_LIST[[<format>]] WORKITEM_LINK[[<format> ]] <format> is a mix of text (including HTML tags), and arguments of the form $$<workitem_field>$$. The <workitem_fields> are identical to those used in the WORKITEM() macro. This macro will produce one row of data formatted according to the <format> for each history record for the current incident. If the current incident has been updated 5 times, then 5 rows will be output into the message. Each row has the $$<workitem_field>$$arguments replaced with the data from that particular incident update. Rows are produced in reverse chronological order (latest update first) so the data in the first row output using this macro will match the data in the WORKITEM() macro. For Example: <TABLE>HISTORY_LIST[[<TD>$$workitem_version$$< /TD><TD>$$workitem_modified_on$$</ TD><TD>$$workitem_modified_by_worker_name$$</ TD>]]</TABLE> will produce a simple HTML table that shows who has modified the incident and when, with the last update being the first row. <format> is a mix of text (including HTML tags), and arguments in the form $$<workitem_field>$$. The <workitem_fields> are identical to those used in the WORKITEM() macro. This macro will produce an HTML <A> tag with the HREF parameter set to the incident report command for the current incident. The text of the <A> tag is the evaluated <format>. For Example: WORKITEM_LINK[[$$workitem_title$$- $$workitem_number$$]] will produce (for incident #1 title is First incident ): <A HREF= ep/standard/ commproc.asp?command=viewitem&workitem=1 >First incident - 1</A> The URL that is produced points to the standard incident report in Helpdesk Solution. If a person who reads this mail and clicks on the link is not a known Helpdesk Solution worker, then the normal challenge occurs. This macro is intended for messages that are sent to Helpdesk Solution workers in response to an incident being updated. Mail Macros Mail macros are a class of macros that do formatted replacement but create <A HREF=mailto:specificworker- -address>format</A> links. They allow you to provide your readers with an easy way to contact the workers associated with the current incident via and pager . The <format> argument for mail macros can be any string of text or HTML and can include $$<workitem_field>$$arguments. ASSIGNED_TO_ _LINK[[<format>]] MODIFIED_BY_ _LINK[[<format>]] MODIFIED_BY_PAGER_ _LINK[[<format>]] CREATED_BY_ _LINK[[<format>]] Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 156

157 Chapter 17: Advanced Template Macros CREATED_BY_PAGER_ _LINK[[<format>]] For Example: <BR>Click ASSIGNED_TO_ _LINK[[here]] to send to the assigned worker</br><br> MODIFIED_BY_ _LINK[[$$modified_by_worker_name$$]]</BR>). Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 157

158 Chapter 18: Data Macros Simple Macros There are several situations when you may want to access data from within Helpdesk itself or from other sources that Helpdesk has access to. In templates (used for notification and incident e- mail) and in task definitions you will frequently want to report or pass along specific instance data associated with the current incident. Helpdesk supports a number of data macros for this purpose. These macros all operate within the context of a specific incident. There are several forms of data macros: Simple, Complex, and List. Each type takes input parameters and returns a string result. The difference is that the Complex macro has a single template input parameter that can include Simple macros. Complex macros often return a more complex result (for example, a hyperlink or other markup elements). List macros iterate across a table of values and return multiple copies of the input template resolved in the context of each row in the table. Note: Complex macros also accept an abbreviated form of the WORKITEM(field_name) macro: $$field_name$$. List macros also accept $$field_name$$ macros, but the specified field refers to the table being iterated, not necessarily incident fields. WORKITEM(field_name) - This macro returns the value of the given field in the incident. If the named field does not exist in the incident, then macro processing fails and an empty string is returned. PREVIOUSITEM(field_name) - This macro returns the previous value of the given field in the incident, which is the value of the field before the last time the incident was updated. This is useful for reporting the value a field had in the last version of the incident. If the named field does not exist in the incident, then macro processing fails and an empty string is returned. PARENTITEM(field_name) - This macro returns the value of the given field from the current incident's parent ( linked to ) item, if any. If the current incident has no parent, or if the named field does not exist in the parent incident, then macro processing fails and an empty string is returned. WORKITEM_AUXDATA(member, name) - This macro is used for accessing data contained in the auxdata field of the incident. That field's value is further sub-structured as member groups of name/value pairs. This macro returns the value paired with the given name in the indicated member group. If the named member does not exist or the named value cannot be found in the member group, then macro processing fails and an empty string is returned. WORKITEM_AUXDATA(member, name, xpath) - This macro is also for accessing data contained in the auxdata field of the incident. The name/value pair is retrieved as documented above, but the value is assumed to be a valid XML string. The xpath argument is an XPath expression used to select a node from the XML string stored in the member/name/value tuple. The macro returns the XMLDom Text value of the selected node (for example, the value of an attribute or the text of an element). If the named attribute does not exist or no node matches the given XPath, then macro processing fails and an empty string is returned. URLALIAS(string_id) - This macro first looks up the string_id argument in the Helpdesk string resources to find the URL string. If no string resource having that identifier is found, then string_id is taken to be the URL string. If the URL string begins with a tilde '~' character, then it gets dropped and replaced with the absolute path to the Helpdesk web application. This is useful for returning HREF and SRC parameters for use in template markup. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 158

159 Chapter 18: Data Macros Complex Macros List Macros AEXQUERY[[sql_select_statement]] - This macro causes the given SQL to be executed against the Notification Database. If the select statement has any embedded simple macros, then they will be expanded before execution. This allows the query to relate data in the Helpdesk data to data in Notification Server. This macro returns the value in the single column of the single row in the query result. If more than one column or row results, or if the SQL execution generates an error, then macro processing fails. HDQUERY[[sql_select_statement]] - This macro is the same as AEXQUERY except that the SQL is executed against the Helpdesk database. WORKITEM_LINK[[template]] - This macro returns a hyperlink reference to the current incident. The template argument is processed for any embedded macros of the form $$field_name$$ and the result becomes the display text of the hyperlink. ASSIGNED_TO_ _LINK[[template]] - This macro returns a hyperlink reference that resolves to the address given by the incident field assigned_to_worker_ . The template argument is processed for any embedded macros of the form $$field_name$$ and the result becomes the display text of the hyperlink. ASSIGNED_TO_PAGER_ _LINK[[template]] - Same as above, but for the assigned_to_worker_pager_ field. MODIFIED_BY_ _LINK[[template]] - Same as above, but for the modified_by_worker_ field. MODIFIED_BY_PAGER_ _LINK[[template]] - Same as above, but for the modified_by_worker_pager_ field. CREATED_BY_ _LINK[[template]] - Same as above, but for the created_by_worker_ field. CREATED_BY_PAGER_ _LINK[[template]] - Same as above, but for the created_by_worker_pager_ field. $$field_name$$ - Same as the Simple WORKITEM(field_name) macro, but only interpreted when appearing inside the template argument of Complex macros. $$AUXDATA: member, name$$ - Same as the Simple WORKITEM_AUXDATA(member, name) macro, but only interpreted when appearing inside the template argument of Complex macros. $$AUXDATA: member, name, xpath$$ - Same as the Simple WORKITEM_AUXDATA(member, name, xpath) macro, but only interpreted when appearing inside the template argument of Complex macros. HISTORY_LIST[[template]] - This macro produces a multi-line result, one line for each entry in the history of the incident. Each line is a repeat of the template string except that any embedded macros of the form $$field_name$$, $$AUXDATA: member, name$$, and $$AUXDATA: member, name, xpath$$ are first resolved in the context of the corresponding historical set of field values. This is an important subtlety from the same shorthand notation as used in the Complex macros because in that case the macros always operate in the context of the current incident data rather than the historical values. ATTACHMENT_LIST[[template]] - This macro produces a multi-line result, one line for each entry in the attachment list of the incident. Each line is a repeat of the template string except that any embedded macros of the form $$attachment_field_name$$ are first resolved in the context of the corresponding row of field values in the attachment sub table. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 159

160 Chapter 18: Data Macros Map Macros Date Macros TASK_LIST[[template]] - This macro produces a multi-line result, one line for each entry in the resolved task list of the incident. Each line is a repeat of the template string except that any embedded macros of the form $$resolved_task_field_name$$ are first resolved in the context of the corresponding row of field values in the task sub table. Only tasks whose conditions and successful macro expansion indicate they should be displayed are processed. LINKEDBY_LIST[[template]] - This macro produces a multi-line result, one line for each entry in the linked by list of the incident. Each line is a repeat of the template string except that any embedded macros of the form $$field_name$$ are first resolved in the context of the corresponding row of field values in the linked by sub table. NUMBER_MAP(number,value1[[template1]]value2[[template2]] ) - This macro expands to template1 if number equals value1, to template2 if number equals value2, etc. If valuen is omitted, it will be treated as if it was equal to number, and templaten would be used for the macro expansion. Normally an omitted value is used at the end of the list for a catch-all, or default, template. STRING_MAP(text, value1 [[template1]] value2 [[template2]] ) - This macro expands to template1 if text equals value1, to template2 if text equals value2, and so forth. If valuen is omitted, it will be treated as if it was equal to text, and templaten would be used for the macro expansion. Normally an omitted value is used at the end of the list for a catch-all, or default, template. CURRENT_DATETIME() - This macro returns the current date and time. TIMESPAN(datetime, years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds) - This macro adds the supplied number of years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds to the given datetime. The numbers can be negative. FORMAT_DATETIME(datetime, output_format, input_format) - This macro interprets the datetime argument using the input_format and recomposes the same datetime but formatted using the given output_format. The Microsoft.NET library methods DateTime.ParseExact() and DateTime.ToString() are used to interpret and recompose respectively, so refer to their documentation for the syntax of the format arguments. Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 160

161 Index A Accessing Helpdesk 9 Admin Menu admin report 60 categories 61 categories, copy 64 categories, delete 64 categories, edit 62 categories, list 62 categories, modify 63 categories, move 63 categories, new 62 inbox filter, new 89 inbox filters 87 inbox filters, delete 90 inbox filters, delete single 89 inbox filters, edit 88 inbox filters, list 87 inbox filters, order of 88 inbox filters, view 88 inboxes 84 inboxes, delete inboxes 87 inboxes, edit inbox 86 inboxes, list inboxes 85 inboxes, new inbox 86 inboxes, view inboxes 86 template, edit 83 template, new 83 template, view 83 templates 82 templates, definitions 82 templates, list 82 incident rule, delete single 69 incident rules, delete 70 incident rules, edit 68 incident rules, list 68 incident rules, new 69 incident rules, order of 69 incident rules, view 68 notify rule, delete 77 notify rule, delete single 76 notify rule, edit 76 notify rule, new 76 notify rule, view 75 notify rules 74 notify rules, list 75 routing rule, delete single 73 routing rule, edit 72 routing rule, new 73 routing rule, view 72 routing rules 71 routing rules, delete 74 routing rules, list 72 routing rules, order of 73 tasks 78 tasks, delete 81 tasks, delete single 80 tasks, edit 80 tasks, list 80 tasks, new 81 tasks, scenario 78 tasks, view 80 validation rule, edit 65 validation rule, new 66 validation rule, view 65 validation rules, delete 67 validation rules, list 65 Admin Rules incident rules 67 advanced macros 158 Advanced Queries data field description 153 query data types 152 query parameter replacement 150 advanced query settings 150 Alert Manager vs. Helpdesk compare table 10 archive knowledge base articles 118 assets importing 32 Assets Menu asset home 95 delete a single asset 97 delete assets 97 edit asset 96 find assets 96 new asset 97 view asset 96 B Bulletins bulletins 49 delete single bulletin 51 edit bulletin 50 list bulletins 50 view bulletin 50 C Categories categories 61 copy category 64 delete category 64 edit categories 62 list categories 62 modify category 63 move category 63 new category 62 configure knowledge base 105 contacts importing 32 Contacts Menu contact home 92 delete a single contact 93 delete contacts 94 edit contact 93 find contacts 92 new contact 94 view contact 93 copy category 64 copyright 2 Create Custom URL to Access Helpdesk Consoles 135 creation date of document 2 Customization 132 Customization use cases 136 Customize the Helpdesk Consoles 132 D data macros 158 database, incident settings 31 Delete assets 97 category 64 contacts 94 inbox filters 90 inboxes 87 incident rules 70 incidents 54 incidents, advanced 55 incidents, simple 55 knowledge base article 111 knowledge base articles 119 knowledge base library 117 knowledge base scope 117 notify rules 77 quick incidents 59 routing rules 74 single asset 97 single contact 93 single inbox filter 89 single incident rule 69 single notify rule 76 single quick incident 57 single routing rule 73 single tasks 80 tasks 81 validation rules 67 document print date 2 download notification server 15 Edit asset 96 E Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 161

162 Index categories 62 contact 93 inbox 86 inbox filters 88 template 83 incident 36 incident rules 68 knowledge base article 112 knowledge base library 117 knowledge base scope 115 notify rule 76 queue 103 quick incident 57 routing rule 72 tasks 80 validation rule 65 worker 100 edit lookups 90 edit multiple incidents 52 edit multiple incidents, advanced 53 edit multiple incidents, simple 53 attachments 40, 77, 84 Inbox Filters view inbox filters 88 Inbox Filters delete inbox filters 90 delete single inbox filter 89 edit inbox filters 88 inbox filters 87 list inbox filters 87 new inbox filter 89 order of inbox filters 88 Inboxes delete inboxes 87 edit inbox 86 inboxes 84 list inboxes 85 new inbox 86 view inboxes 86 messages, incidents 40 Templates edit template 83 template definitions 82 templates 82 list templates 82 new template 83 template macros 155 template macros, complex 156 template macros, mail 156 template macros, simple 155 view template 83 F file attachments, incidents 41 Find assets 96 contacts 92 incidents 43 incidents, advanced 44 incidents, simple 43 find a contact, incident 37 find an asset, incident 39 Getting Started 5 G H helpdesk moving to a new server 128 Helpdesk Security 8 Helpdesk Solution, introduction 6 Helpdesk vs. Alert Manager compare table 10 How to add a scalar field 136 I importing assets and contacts 32 Incident Rules delete incident rules 70 delete single incident rule 69 edit incident rules 68 incident rules 67 list incident rules 68 new incident rule 69 order of incident rules 69 view incident rules 68 incident settings, database 31 incident to bulletin 42 Incidents Menu bulletins 49 bulletins, delete single bulletin 51 bulletins, edit bulletin 50 bulletins, list bulletins 50 bulletins, view bulletin 50 delete incidents 54 delete incidents, advanced 55 delete incidents, simple 55 edit incident 36 edit multiple incidents 52 edit multiple incidents, advanced 53 edit multiple incidents, simple 53 messages 40 file attachments 41 find a contact 37 find an asset 39 find incidents 43 find incidents, advanced 44 find incidents, search comment or title 45 find incidents, simple 43 incident to bulletin 42 last query results 52 link incident to a bulletin 34 link incidents 40 new incident 35 publish incident to knowledge base 36 queries 46 queries, delete queries 49 queries, delete single query 48 queries, edit query 48 queries, new query 48 queries, run query 47 queries, view query 47 retrieve queued incident 54 search knowledge base 37 select a contact 38 select an asset 39 view asset properties 38 view contact properties 37 view incident 35 worker report 33 installing licenses 17 installing software delivery solution 15 introduction 6 K Knowledge Base archive articles 118 configure knowledge base 105 delete article 111 delete articles 119 delete library 117 delete scope 117 edit article 112 edit library 117 edit scope 115 list libraries 113 new library 114 new scope 116 publish article 111 publish existing document 109 refresh library 118 refresh scope 115 review article 111 search article properties 113 search articles 106 search articles, advanced 108 search articles, simple 107 view article 112 view library 114 view scope 116 knowledge base moving to a new server 128 L last query results 52 legal notice 2 licensing 17 link incident to a bulletin 34 link incidents 40 List categories 62 inbox filters 87 inboxes 85 templates 82 incident rules 68 knowledge base libraries 113 notify rules 75 queues 101 quick incidents 56 routing rules 72 tasks 80 validation rules 65 workers 99 lookup editing 90 M macros advanced 158 Menu the admin menu 60 the assets menu 95 the contacts menu 92 the incidents menu 31 the knowledge base menu 105 the quick incidents menu 56 the quick reference guide 29 the recents menu 104 the worker menu 99 modify category 63 move category 63 N New asset 97 category 62 contact 94 inbox 86 inbox filter 89 template 83 incident 35 incident rules 69 Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 162

163 Index knowledge base library 114 knowledge base scope 116 notify rule 76 queue 103 quick incident 58 routing rule 73 task 81 validation rule 66 worker 100 notice 2 Notify Rules delete notify rules 77 delete single notify rule 76 edit notify rule 76 list notify rules 75 new notify rule 76 notify rules 74 view notify rule 75 P patent 2 product version 2 publish existing knowledge base document 109 publish incident to knowledge base 36 publish knowledge base article 111 Q Queries delete queries 49 delete single query 48 edit query 48 list queries 46 new query 48 queries 46 run query 47 view query 47 Queries, Advanced data field description 153 query data types 152 query parameter replacement 150 Queues default queues 101 edit queue 103 list queues 101 new queue 103 view queue 102 Quick Incidents delete quick incidents 59 delete single quick incident 57 edit quick incident 57 list quick incidents 56 new quick incident 58 run quick incident 57 view quick incident 56 quick reference guide 29 R refresh knowledge base library 118 refresh knowledge base scope 115 resource types 90 retrieve queued incident 54 review knowledge base article 111 Routing Rules delete routing rules 74 delete single routing rule 73 edit routing rule 72 list routing rules 72 new routing rule 73 order of routing rules 73 routing rules 71 view routing rule 72 run quick incident 57 S search comment or title, find incidents 45 search knowledge base article properties 113 search knowledge base articles 106 search knowledge base articles, advanced 108 search knowledge base articles, simple 107 search knowledge base, incidents 37 select a contact, incident 38 select an asset, incident 39 Support for Pocket PC (PPC) 135 synchronize resource and incident data 32 T Task scenario 78 Tasks delete single task 80 delete tasks 81 edit task 80 list tasks 80 new task 81 tasks 78 view tasks 80 The Admin Menu 60 The Assets Menu 95 The Contacts Menu 92 The Incidents Menu 31 The Knowledge Base Menu 105 The Quick Incidents Menu 56 The Recents Menu 104 The Worker Menu 99 trademark 2 V Validation Rules delete validation rules 67 edit validation rule 65 list validation rules 65 new validation rule 66 view validation rule 65 version 2 View asset 96 contact 93 inbox filters 88 inboxes 86 template 83 incident 35 incident rules 68 knowledge base article 112 knowledge base scope 116 notify rule 75 queue 102 quick incident 56 routing rule 72 tasks 80 validation rule 65 worker 100 view asset properties, incident 38 view contact properties, incident 37 view knowledge base library 114 W Worker Menu default queues 101 edit queue 103 edit worker 100 list queues 101 list workers 99 new queue 103 new worker 100 view queue 102 view worker 100 worker report 33 workers delete 99 Altiris Helpdesk Solution Product Guide 163