Computer ID Types

Overview

This dialog lets you configure how KeyServer assigns a unique ID to each computer. Before reading any further, note that you will most likely not want to change anything in this dialog! Also, if you are going to change the Computer ID Order, you should do so before clients begin to connect to the server. Changing the order after the computers window has been populated will cause duplicate entries for each machine which has already connected. When a computer starts to use a different ID, this usually have the effect of “orphaning” an entry in the computers window. That is, the old computer ID will probably never be used again. If you know that this is the case, you can manually delete the old entry for the computer from the computers window.

By default, computers will normally be identified by their ethernet hardware address. This can be seen in the computer details windows as the "computer id" (with the letter "N" as a prefix). When a device is accessing the K2 server as a "thin client", it is identified by the "session name". For a Windows or Macintosh computer connecting to a thin client server, the session name is just the "Computer Name" of the thin client (with the letter "W" as a prefix when displayed in the computer details window).

Note: the Computers window normally defaults to display the Computer name in the first column, but with a right-click in the white space of the window you can change the display to show the Computer ID. This is just a display change in the Computers window and has no effect on what value is actually being used to define the Computer ID.

Details

KeyAccess attempts to get each piece of information listed in the Try these types in order: box, and the first one it successfully gets will be used as the computer ID (preceded by a letter code which tells which piece of information it is. e.g. a MAC Address produces a computer ID which starts with an “N”, followed by the MAC address).

It is important that a computer is assigned a reliable, unique ID for two reasons:

• If two computers are given the same ID, they will look like a single computer in the KeyConfigure interface, so for example, program usage which is actually occurring on two different computers will get mixed together, and appear to all be happening on a single machine.
• If one computer does not reliably use the same ID, you will get two entries in the Computers window for the same computer. Most likely, they will have the same name, and all the same hardware information, as well as the same list of audited programs. However, besides not letting you see a complete picture of usage on the one computer, this could mean that the single computer is using up two node-locks for a single license.

The default types order is designed to provide reliable, unique IDs, and should do so in almost all networks. Therefore, we strongly urge that you do not change anything in this dialog box. The only change you might consider before starting to use your 6.1 KeyServer, is making the Computer Serial Number be the first type, if you are very sure that your site has only computers with entirely unique computer serial numbers. However, if you are considering making this or any other change to the computer ID order, you should contact Sassafras Technical Support first.

There is one situation where the default settings may cause a computer to choose one ID initially, and then change to a new ID, never to change back. This will happen if computers change their MAC address. Most likely this would happen on a portable, as a result of using docks, or changing PCMCIA cards. If the MAC address does change, this is the behavior you will see:

• Initially, the computer will use a MAC address for its ID.
• Once the computer has a new MAC address, KeyAccess will notice this, and it will decide to stop using the MAC address as its ID (since it is likely to switch back and forth between the old and new MAC addresses any number of times).
• Henceforth, that computer will never use a MAC address as its ID.
• If you notice a duplicate item in the computers window, and you are sure that it is the same computer appearing with two different IDs, you may want to manually delete the older entry.
• If you notice a double entry, but are not sure you should delete it, call Technical Support for help.

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