Computers Window

Concept

The computers window can display every computer which has connected to the KeyServer. Computers are an important asset to track for obvious reasons. They allow us to know not only how many copies of a program are installed on the entire network, but also WHERE they are installed. Likewise, they allow us to define license policies based not only on concurrent use, but also on WHICH computer is trying to use a license.

Right Side

The main part of the computers window is the right hand side. It contains a list of the currently filtered subset of all computers known to the KeyServer. By default, all computers which are set to Dedicated or Leased are displayed.

• The Computer column shows the name of each computer, as defined by the computer itself. As such, more than one computer may have the same name. However, KeyServer uses additional characteristics to distinguish between two different machines with the same name. To display the unique computer identifier in this column instead of the name, right-click a column header and select “Customize Columns...”, then drag “Computer ID” from the list on the right to the list on the left. See Computer ID Order for more on this topic.


• The Division column shows which division each computer belongs to. The column is blank if the computer is Uncategorized. A pink "filter" icon is drawn if the computer has had the login type and division set by the configured discovery rules. If there is no pink "filter" icon, an Administrator has explicitly placed the computer in a division, or has changed the Login type for the computer.


• The Version column displays an icon indicating the platform of the computer (Windows or Mac) along with the KeyAccess Client version number.


• The Last User column shows the logon name of the user account that has most recently connected to the KeyServer from this computer. If the computer is connected to the KeyServer with an active session, there will also be a "current user" icon, which indicates that the session will be currently listed in KeyConfigure's Users Window.


• The Last Session column shows whether a computer is allowed to login to the KeyServer, and the date and time at which the computer was last logged in to the KeyServer. The icon corresponding to the Login type for this computer is also displayed to the left of the date.


• The Last Audit column shows the date and time at which an audit was last performed on the computer. When viewing the audit information for the computer, it will be accurate as of this time but incremental changes in installed software since then will only be reported to KeyServer at the time of the next audit. The Audit icon is also shown, if the computer is configured to update audits automatically. If a computer has a last audit date, but no audit icon, either the computer was once set to audit, or an administrator manually requested on audit from that computer.

More information is available from the Computer Details Window brought up by double clicking any particular computer. Note: hardware details for each client computer are always reported by client versions 6.0.2.8 or better, but older client versions will not report this information for computers that have never been audited.

Left Side

The left side of the computers window allows the computers which are displayed in the Right Side to be filtered. This will be very useful for large sites that need to focus on just a subset of computers.

Login type / Divisions Assigned to Newly Discovered Computers

When a new computer is discovered, it may be checked against a series of filters in order to determine what login type it should use, and what division it should be put in. This is so that the admin will not have to decide what to do with every single computer. The filters are tested in order, and the first time the computer matches a filter, the actions associated with the filter are applied. Note that if a rule sets a division but not an Login type, the Login type will get set to the type associated with the default, Discovered rule. The computer does remain unacknowledged, as indicated by a pink “filter” icon in the Division column. If the rules are changed, they can be reapplied to all such unacknowledged computers, in order to easily recategorize them. If an admin manually sets a login type or a division on a computer, the computer becomes acknowledged, and henceforth will not be recategorized by rules. By default, computers only have the Discovered rule. You may find it useful to set up rules which filter by location range in order to set login type or division.

Default Action

If the newly discovered computer does not match any of the filters in the ruleset, there is always a final rule which will match all newly discovered computers. This rule will assign the computer to the Uncategorized division, and will give it a “default login type”, which can be configured to be either Dedicated or Leased. Additionally, it will set the computer to either audit or not.

Acknowledging Computers

Newly discovered computers will remain unacknowledged (with a pink filter icon in the Division column) until they are acknowledged by an Administrator. There are two ways to acknowledge a computer. The simplest is to right-click the computer and select “Acknowledge”. This will not change the login type for the computer, or the division which the computer is in - it will merely change the computer from unacknowledged to acknowledged. The computer will also be acknowledged if you change the login type for the computer, or move it to a different division. Since you are making an explicit decision about what login type to use for the computer, or how to categorize the computer, this implies acknowledgement.

Organizing / Filtering the Computers List

The Display column on the left of the Computers window is used to restrict the computer list on the right to a selected subset. When first opened, the default selection lists all Computers which have a KeyServer seat (are set to Dedicated or Leased). Clicking on the double-check icon that appears between the Display pane and the Computer list pane will bring the list view back to this default state.

• The Login section at the top separates computers by Login type. Dedicated clients hold a KeyServer license and can always log in. Leased clients currently hold a KeyServer license, but it will be revoked if they stop connecting to the KeyServer for long enough. Dormant clients have had their KeyServer license revoked due to inactivity. If they try to login again, they will be able to as long as there is a KeyServer license available. Excluded clients are not allowed to login to the KeyServer. You can drag items from the computers list into one category or the other. Toggle the check marks in front of each category in order to control which items are displayed.


• The Divisions section lists all Divisions. By default, there is a single Uncategorized division. You can create other divisions, and either add computers to them manually, or configure discovery rules to place computers in these divisions based on ip address, name, etc. To manually categorize computer items, select one or more in the Computers list on the right and then drag into the appropriate Division. If a Division icon shows a pink screen, then there is some discovery rule which places computers in that division. If it has a blue screen, then no discovery rule places computers in that division.


• The Filters section shows any user defined filters. Click in front of a filter – a check mark will appear to indicate that the list of Computers displayed on the right has been restricted to only show those that satisfy the filter selection criteria. First all filters with a rule associated with them are displayed. They have a pink icon, and additional icons will appear to the right of the filter name indicating whether those rules set a logon action and/or division. Following the horizontal line are filters with a black icon, which are only used to filter the computers window.

If check marks appear in more than one of the left side selection panes, any displayed item must simultaneously satisfy the display criteria within all such panes. Clicking the double check-mark icon in the upper right will toggle between showing all computers that are allowed to login, and showing the most recently filtered set of computers.

Context Menu Actions

Right-clicking on a computer in the computers window will allow you to configure or show audit information, depending on how the computer is currently configured. It will additionally show any reports that can be run for just this computer.

Right-clicking anywhere in the filters section allows you to create a new filter (New Filter...)
Right-clicking on a filter allows you to edit the filter (Edit Filter...) or show computers which satisfy the filter in a separate window (Show in Window).

Drag and Drop Actions

Computers in the computers window can be Dragged and Dropped to the following locations, among others:

• Into any Login type on the left hand side of the window (Dedicated, Leased, Dormant, or Excluded). This will set the login policy for the computer.
• Into any Division in the Divisions section on the left. Each computer is a member of exactly one division.
• Onto any node-lock license in the Licenses Window. This will add the computer to the Computer List for the License.
• Into any “Computer Node List for xxx” window.
• Onto any group in the Groups Window. This will add the computer to the Nodes list for the group.
• Into the Nodes list of any Group Details window.

Related Topics