Not sure exactly where this would fit in with ZENworks but since I have the most problems with Bundles I will place this here.
Here are a few observations I have with the ZCM and our laptop(One-to-One) school environment. Not sure if other school sysadmins have solved some of this or if I am looking at the process incorrectly.
1. With the laptops in students hands during the day and the bulk of our deployment also going home with the student it is difficult to deploy software using ZPM or bundles with any accuracy.
We have roughly 40 minutes where the student may have the laptop running (max) before they shut the lid and move to the next class. I have found that the bundles are not fully deployed before they get interrupted by the class switch. Since the students move between classes the laptops are left in bags even at night. I had wanted to get a way to have the laptops placed on shelves powered and ready to be turned on at night to deploy patches or software they want but was shot down by the administrators due to no space for that type of deployment and the requirement that the laptops at the 9-12 area be able to go home with the student.
2. Keeping the end users in "user' groups instead of "administrators" groups limits my ability to push out login scripts to help fix those ZAA's that fail and stop talking to the server. I had expected this to be a small problem but have found that I have a significant number of clients that fall under this issue. I have yet to see or find a good solution to solve this issue.
3. Something Novell could do to help small school systems like the one I work for is to have some sort of SR purchase that would allow use to get support on majors issues without killing our budgets. We can't afford to get a batch of SR's available due to the price and number provided for the price. I know support cost money but it would be nice to have something we could afford to get into.
4. I was able to purchase the online/on demand training program. I Have run through several of the modules and for the most part they are good training sessions. It would be nice to have something in the way of a guideline or map for those courses to assist in taking the correct course for each product to get updated. It would also be nice to have more updated content as well as cover items that you can't find in the documentation.
ie. - I have never found a way to resolve the ZCC icon on a device where the red circle with the line through it shows up. I understand the red x shows some basic error logging and that can be confusing in itself but the other icon never goes away. I have seen reference to the possibility of this indicating a failed PRU deployment but no indication on how to resolve this. Only thing I have found to solve it is to unregister and reregister the device or to wait a month or two which may resolve it. The bulk of my deployment shows this icon which is concerning. Can the PRU not be redeployed or verified on the end device?
Just my 2cents worth. Would be interested in other schools sysadmins observations as well as how other deployments deal with the highly mobile devices and keeping them updated.
Richard
Here are a few observations I have with the ZCM and our laptop(One-to-One) school environment. Not sure if other school sysadmins have solved some of this or if I am looking at the process incorrectly.
1. With the laptops in students hands during the day and the bulk of our deployment also going home with the student it is difficult to deploy software using ZPM or bundles with any accuracy.
We have roughly 40 minutes where the student may have the laptop running (max) before they shut the lid and move to the next class. I have found that the bundles are not fully deployed before they get interrupted by the class switch. Since the students move between classes the laptops are left in bags even at night. I had wanted to get a way to have the laptops placed on shelves powered and ready to be turned on at night to deploy patches or software they want but was shot down by the administrators due to no space for that type of deployment and the requirement that the laptops at the 9-12 area be able to go home with the student.
2. Keeping the end users in "user' groups instead of "administrators" groups limits my ability to push out login scripts to help fix those ZAA's that fail and stop talking to the server. I had expected this to be a small problem but have found that I have a significant number of clients that fall under this issue. I have yet to see or find a good solution to solve this issue.
3. Something Novell could do to help small school systems like the one I work for is to have some sort of SR purchase that would allow use to get support on majors issues without killing our budgets. We can't afford to get a batch of SR's available due to the price and number provided for the price. I know support cost money but it would be nice to have something we could afford to get into.
4. I was able to purchase the online/on demand training program. I Have run through several of the modules and for the most part they are good training sessions. It would be nice to have something in the way of a guideline or map for those courses to assist in taking the correct course for each product to get updated. It would also be nice to have more updated content as well as cover items that you can't find in the documentation.
ie. - I have never found a way to resolve the ZCC icon on a device where the red circle with the line through it shows up. I understand the red x shows some basic error logging and that can be confusing in itself but the other icon never goes away. I have seen reference to the possibility of this indicating a failed PRU deployment but no indication on how to resolve this. Only thing I have found to solve it is to unregister and reregister the device or to wait a month or two which may resolve it. The bulk of my deployment shows this icon which is concerning. Can the PRU not be redeployed or verified on the end device?
Just my 2cents worth. Would be interested in other schools sysadmins observations as well as how other deployments deal with the highly mobile devices and keeping them updated.
Richard