easyvista technical white paper ezv 2013

EasyVista 2013 Technical White Paper

Last update : May 24th, 2013

24/05/2013 EasyVista 2013 Technical White Paper

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Summary

A. Description ........................................................................................ 6

A.1. Objectives .......................................................................................................... 6

A.2. Prerequisites ..................................................................................................... 6

B. EasyVista Architecture ..................................................................... 6

B.1. Three Tier Architecture ..................................................................................... 6 B.1.1. Objectives ..................................................................................................................................... 6 B.1.2. A gradual way of scaling ............................................................................................................... 6 B.1.3. Licensed users vs Concurrent users ............................................................................................. 6 B.1.4. Scale-up vs Scale-out of the servers ............................................................................................ 7

B.2. How the components are distributed in the architecture ? ........................... 8 B.2.1. Mono server Architecture .............................................................................................................. 8 B.2.2. Multi Server Architecture ............................................................................................................... 9

B.3. 24*7 availability ................................................................................................. 9

B.4. Security of the data transferred on the network ............................................ 9

C. Hardware and system prerequisites ............................................... 9

C.1. System prerequisites ...................................................................................... 10

C.1.1. WEB tiers .................................................................................................................................... 10 C.1.2. APPLICATION tiers .................................................................................................................... 15 C.1.3. DATABASE tiers ......................................................................................................................... 16 C.1.4. WEB browser .............................................................................................................................. 16

C.2. Windows servers ............................................................................................ 17

C.3. Disk space needed .......................................................................................... 18

C.4. EasyVista : sizing for less than 10 users ...................................................... 18 C.4.1. SQL Server 2008 Express or SQL Server 2008 Standard? ....................................................... 19

C.5. EasyVista: sizing for more than 10 users ..................................................... 19

C.6. Special considerations in architecture sizing .............................................. 21 C.6.1. More than 1 000 PCs inventoried each day: .............................................................................. 21 C.6.2. Many Self Service users: ............................................................................................................ 22 C.6.3. Documents uploaded by users on Service Desk: ....................................................................... 22 C.6.4. Dedicated database or not? ........................................................................................................ 22 C.6.5. How to secure the http traffic: ..................................................................................................... 22 C.6.6. SSO, LDAP, etc: ......................................................................................................................... 22 C.6.7. Easyvista on virtualized platforms: ............................................................................................. 23


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C.7. Test platform, development platform etc ...................................................... 23 C.7.1. Would you like to test response times and workload increase with these platforms? .......... 23 C.7.2. Would you like to validate on these platforms the whole integration context and needs (LDAP,

SSO)? ........................................................................................................................... 23

D. Integration with your database servers ........................................ 23

D.1. SQL Server ...................................................................................................... 24

E. EasyVista and access controls ...................................................... 24

E.1. Access control manage by EasyVista ........................................................... 25

E.2. Access control by EasyVista and LDAP ....................................................... 26

F. User rights once connected to EasyVista ..................................... 27

F.1. Domains ........................................................................................................... 27

F.2. Profiles ............................................................................................................. 29

F.3. Users ................................................................................................................ 30

F.4. Limit the data based on geographical criteria .............................................. 31

F.5. Limit the data by department criteria ............................................................. 32

F.6. Limit the data both by geographical and department criteria ..................... 33

F.7. Data are based on trees to define your organization ................................... 34

G. EasyVista inventory process ......................................................... 34

G.1. Automatic discovery or by login script ......................................................... 34 G.1.1. Pros and cons of each method ................................................................................................... 34

G.2. Discovery Manager ......................................................................................... 36

G.3. Inventory process can be automatic ............................................................. 37

G.4. Server Inventory Method ................................................................................ 37

G.5. Notebook Inventory Method .......................................................................... 37

G.6. How data is collected ..................................................................................... 38

G.6.1. Collection points ......................................................................................................................... 38 G.6.2. How many collection points do you need? ................................................................................. 38 G.6.3. How is the data sent? ................................................................................................................. 39

G.7. Discovery of Windows assets ....................................................................... 40

G.8. Discovery of non Windows assets ................................................................ 41 G.8.1. SNMP Inventory .......................................................................................................................... 41 G.8.2. Linux Inventory ........................................................................................................................... 42 G.8.3. Usage Inventory .......................................................................................................................... 42

G.9. Software detection .......................................................................................... 43


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G.9.1. Description .................................................................................................................................. 43 G.9.2. Other software like information detected ................................................................................ 44 G.9.3. Installed software as listed in the Control Panel ......................................................................... 44 G.9.4. Automatic update of the software catalog .................................................................................. 44 G.9.5. Manual update of the software catalog....................................................................................... 44 G.9.6. Serial number detection .............................................................................................................. 45

G.10. Antivirus detection ....................................................................................... 45 G.10.1. Antivirus detected ..................................................................................................................... 45 G.10.2. More information detected about Antivirus ............................................................................... 45

G.11. Movement history ......................................................................................... 46

G.12. Unique identification of an asset ................................................................. 47 G.12.1. Presentation .............................................................................................................................. 47 G.12.2. Workstations used by several people ....................................................................................... 47 G.12.3. Life cycle of an asset ................................................................................................................ 47 G.12.4. Masterization of machines ........................................................................................................ 48 G.12.5. Consolidation of inventory machines with existing information in the database ...................... 48

H. Integration of external data ............................................................ 48

H.1. Goals ................................................................................................................ 48

H.2. How does it work? .......................................................................................... 49

I. Linking EasyVista with external data .............................................. 49

I.1. Active Directory ................................................................................................ 49 I.1.1. Importing Active Directory data .................................................................................................... 49 I.1.2. Authentication done by Active Directory....................................................................................... 49

I.2. EasyVista and SSO ........................................................................................... 50

I.3. Integration with Microsoft Exchange .............................................................. 50 I.3.1. Exchange prerequisites ................................................................................................................ 51

I.4. Integration with your CTI system .................................................................... 51

I.4.1. Displaying the file ......................................................................................................................... 51 I.4.2. Recorded message ...................................................................................................................... 51

I.5. Barcode readers ............................................................................................... 51

I.6. Web Services .................................................................................................... 52

I.6.1. EasyVista as a service provider ................................................................................................... 52 I.6.2. EasyVista as client of an external web service ............................................................................ 52

J. Technical Support Agent ................................................................ 52

J.1. Objectives ........................................................................................................ 52

J.2. How does it work? ........................................................................................... 53

K. Annex 1 : Windows Inventory ........................................................ 53


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K.1. Technical References ..................................................................................... 53

K.2. Software and OS configuration ..................................................................... 57

L. Annex 2 : Linux UNIX Inventory ..................................................... 59

L.1. Technical References ...................................................................................... 59

L.2. Software References ....................................................................................... 60


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A. Description

A.1. Objectives The goal of this document is to help you to understand how the EasyVista platform will be integrated

into your environment.

A.2. Prerequisites This document is for information purposes only.

Each project will have its own unique specifications that will need to be analysed during the pre-sales

process and pre-installation preparation.

B. EasyVista Architecture

B.1. Three Tier Architecture

B.1.1. Objectives

EasyVista is based on a three tier architecture, meaning that the interface layer (WEB), the application

layer and the database layer can be installed on different machines and sized depending on the

project.

According to the number of concurrent users and the security policy of your company, you must define

how the EasyVista platform will be structured.

B.1.2. A gradual way of scaling

The EasyVista architecture is not static and can be modified later according to your changing needs.

If the number of concurrent users increases, if your security rules change, or if there are several

phases in your project, you can modify the architecture even after the installation.

Thats why you can start with a first level of architecture and decide later to upgrade to another one.

Each tier can be sized separately by adding servers.

B.1.3. Licensed users vs Concurrent users

In this document, we propose two different architectures mainly based on the number of concurrent

users. Basically, concurrent users are up to the maximum number of users defined by your EasyVista

license.

Even if there are N users in the license, it doesnt mean that they are concurrent: N users can be

connected, but at any one moment concurrent users are those who request an action at the same

time.

Thats why you can choose to use a simplified architecture if you calculate that the average number of

simultaneous transactions is less than the number of licensed users.


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B.1.4. Scale-up vs Scale-out of the servers

When you have the choice between adding more capacity on a server or adding new servers, the first

solution is often the best if the current machines can support an upgrade.

The same applies if you have the choice between two single processor servers and a dual processor

or two dual processors and a quad processor. You should consider:

Less servers to install and manage

Less Operating System (OS) licenses

Less rack space

We do not apply these rules to the database layer, because it can only support scale-up according to

the current feature of SQL Server.


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B.2. How the components are distributed in the architecture ?

B.2.1. Mono server Architecture

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EASYVISTA SERVER

Mono server architecture

APACHE + PHP

EASYVISTA Application

SQL SERVER

ACTIVE

DIRECTORY

Corporatemail server


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B.2.2. Multi Server Architecture

B.3. 24*7 availability Maximum availability can be reached by using clusters for the database and the web site.

With regards to the application layer, our recommendation is to add application servers.

Your system and database teams should manage the cluster mode installation and maintenance. Our

teams are not trained to do this sort of work.

A Load Balancer can also be placed in front of the web server. The load balancer must be session

persistent.

B.4. Security of the data transferred on the network You can add an SSL certificate on the Apache server to secure the data exchanged between the web

server and the clients.

C. Hardware and system prerequisites


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C.1. System prerequisites

C.1.1. WEB tiers

Component Value

OS All operating systems supporting Apache and PHP

Apache Apache 2.2.10, 2.0.55 and more recent supporting PHP 5.4

Apache 1.x is not supported.

(We strongly advise that you use the most recent version of

Apache 2.4.x for security and performance)

You should avoid having IIS and Apache installed on the same

server, even if the listening ports are different.

If you compile Apache yourself you must include the SOCKET

module. You must send our team the parameters you used to

compile Apache.

Following parameters must be set in HTTPD.CONF:

Modules :

LoadModule actions_module modules/mod_actions.so

LoadModule alias_module modules/mod_alias.so

LoadModule asis_module modules/mod_asis.so

LoadModule auth_basic_module modules/mod_auth_basic.so

LoadModule authn_default_module modules/mod_authn_default.so

LoadModule authn_file_module modules/mod_authn_file.so

LoadModule authz_default_module modules/mod_authz_default.so

LoadModule authz_groupfile_module

modules/mod_authz_groupfile.so

LoadModule authz_host_module modules/mod_authz_host.so

LoadModule authz_user_module modules/mod_authz_user.so

LoadModule autoindex_module modules/mod_autoindex.so

LoadModule cgi_module modules/mod_cgi.so

LoadModule deflate_module modules/mod_deflate.so

LoadModule dir_module modules/mod_dir.so

LoadModule env_module modules/mod_env.so

LoadModule expires_module modules/mod_expires.so

LoadModule headers_module modules/mod_headers.so

LoadModule include_module modules/mod_include.so

LoadModule isapi_module modules/mod_isapi.so

LoadModule log_config_module modules/mod_log_config.so

LoadModule mime_module modules/mod_mime.so

LoadModule negotiation_module modules/mod_negotiation.so

LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so

LoadModule proxy_connect_module modules/mod_proxy_connect.so

LoadModule proxy_http_module modules/mod_proxy_http.so

LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so

LoadModule setenvif_module modules/mod_setenvif.so

Directory Easyvista

Options Indexes FollowSymLinks

AllowOverride All

Order allow,deny

Allow from all


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Security

ServerSignature Off

Do not allow that folders could be browsed

EnableSendFile On

Performance

LogLevel warn

HostnameLookups Off

LogFormat %a %l %u %t \%r\ %>s %b common

DirectoryIndex index.php

Server-Status + ExtendedStatus -> Desactivate if not necessary

Activate Keep-Alive with a short timeout like 4s

Scalability

MaxClients -> Depends of your configuration

MaxRequestPerChild -> 0 for Windows, 100 000 for Linux

MinSpareServers, MaxSpareServers -> Depends of your configuration

ThreadPerChild = 50 -> For Windows only

Activating compression on Apache 2.2 : Module mod_deflate .

Add the following in httpd.conf

AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain

AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html

AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml

AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css

AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain

AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml

AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml

AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml

AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript

AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-

javascript

Activating compression on Apache 2.4 : mod_deflate

Add the following in httpd.conf

FilterDeclare gzipDeflate CONTENT_SET

FilterProvider gzipDeflate deflate "%{Content_Type} =~

/text|css/"


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FilterProvider gzipDeflate deflate "%{Content_Type} =~ /css/"

FilterProvider gzipDeflate deflate "%{Content_Type} =~ /\.js/"

FilterProvider gzipDeflate deflate "%{Content_Type} =~ /text/"

FilterProvider gzipDeflate deflate "%{Content_Type} =~ /plain/"

FilterProvider gzipDeflate deflate "%{Content_Type} =~

/javascript/"

FilterProvider gzipDeflate deflate "%{Content_Type} =~ /xml/"

FilterProvider gzipDeflate deflate "%{Content_Type} =~ /flash/"

FilterChain gzipDeflate

SetEnvIfNoCase Request_URI \wizard_stream.php no-gzip dont-

vary

SetEnvIfNoCase Request_URI export_csv.php no-gzip dont-vary

The URL must allow a direct access to EasyVista without using a

subfolder (i.e. easyvista.mycompany.com and not

www.mycompany.com/easyvista)

PHP PHP 4.x is no longer supported

PHP 5.2 is no longer supported

PHP 5.4.9 to 5.4.x series (more recent versions are not

supported)

Following PHP modules must be available:

Curl iconv Json so sockets Xcache libXML zlib

If you compile PHP yourself you must include the socket, GD,

XML and Apache modules and the following directives :

'./configure' '--prefix=/usr/local/apache2.4.2/php-5.4.11' '-

-with-curl' '--with-iconv' '--enable-sockets' '--with-

apxs2=/usr/local/apache2.4.2/bin/apxs' '--enable-json' --

enable-module=so --

sysconfdir=/usr/local/apache2.4.2/php-5.4.11 '--disable-

mbstring' '--disable-pdo' '--disable-pdo_sqlite' '--disable-

phar' '--without-sqlite3' '--disable-tokenizer' '--without-

pcre' '--with-openssl' '--with-zlib'

Configure PHP.INI:


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zend.ze1_compatibility_mode = On

zend.enable_gc = On

short_open_tag = Off

y2k_compliance = On

allow_call_time_pass_reference = Off

memory_limit = 192M

display_errors =off

log_errors = On

log_errors_max_len = 1024

track_errors = on

error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE

error_log = ( paramtrer)

register_globals = Off

register_long_arrays = Off

precision = 14

auto_globals_jit = On

post_max_size = 96M

include_path = ".;" (version Windows)

extension_dir = " modifier en fonction de rpertoire de php5 Windows

only"

upload_max_filesize = 30M ( paramtrer 30M selon Yves)

session.save_handler = files

session.save_path = "/repertoire_temporaire_session_php/"

session.auto_start = Off/0


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session.cookie_lifetime = Off/0

session.gc_maxlifetime = 18000

session.gc_divisor = 1000

session.gc_probability = 1

session.cache_expire = 180

session.bug_compat_warn = 1

session.use_trans_sid = 0

session.use_cookies = 0

session.hash_function = 0

session.hash_bits_per_character = 5

session.name = PHPSESSID

session.serialize_handler = php

session.bug_compat_42 = On

session.cache_limiter = nocache

Expose_php = off

variables_order=GPCS

request_order = "GP"

default_socket_timeout = 60

magic_quotes_gpc = Off

safe_mode = Off

max_execution_time = 300

max_input_time = 300

file_uploads = On

upload_max_filesize = 30M

max_file_uploads = 20

default_charset = "UTF-8"

If you install a package of a Linux distribution, note that the IENT

extension must not be included in this package (if included, web


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services wont work).

PHP hardened is not supported (old release not maintained since

2006 and that integrates natively the PHP SOAP module that is

not EasyVista compliant).

If your Linux distribution only proposes PHP Hardened, yu can

use more recent packages from :

http://www.php.net/downloads.php

REDHAT/ CENTOS : http://iuscommunity.org/packages/

DEBIAN : http://www.dotdeb.org/

Others The customer can integrate a reverse proxy of its choice between

the final users and the EasyVista website.

Customers technical teams are in charge of the choice, the

installation and the configuration of such a reverse proxy.

The configuration of the reverse proxy must guarantee a

transparent usage for the final users, as if there was no reverse

proxy (and especially guarantee the transfer of the EasyVista

parameters either by GET and POST, a correct management oh

http headers, cache and resource compression, upload and

download, etc.).

Installation, configuration and maintenance of the reverse proxy

are not included in the EasyVista installation nor in the technical

support.

C.1.2. APPLICATION tiers

Component Value

OS The application server works with Windows 2003 Server,

Windows 2008 Server and Windows 2008 Server R2, Windows

2012. 32 and 64 bits versions are supported.

.NET framework 3.0 mini must be installed on the application

server.

PROCESSOR The application tier works only with x86 processors

DATABASE client Connection to the database are done by the database client :

SQL Server client

ANTIVIRUS Local antivirus must not scan the LOG folder of EasyVista to


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avoid performance issues.

C.1.3. DATABASE tiers

Component Value

OS SQL Server: WINDOWS 2003 SERVER and WINDOWS 2008

SERVER

SQL Server SQL Server 2008 SP1 and next SPs, SQL Server 2008 R2 (we

highly recommend that you use SQL SERVER 2008 R2), SQL

SERVER 2012

SQL SERVER 2005 is no longer supported due to UNICODE

features of EasyVista 2012

SQL Server tools available (Database manager, configuration

tools, BCP, Alias configuration, )

Sort order: CASE INSENSITIVE ACCENT SENSITIVE / SQL Latin

1 general

Authentication by SQL Server and not system based

Automatic growing of tempdb or at least 1GB

SQL Server 2000 is no longer supported

Database configured with READ_COMITTED_SNAPSHOT

To enable EasyVista FullText Search, the FullText Search feature

of SQL Server must be available and enabled.

C.1.4. WEB browser

Component Value

Version INTERNET EXPLORER 6 is no longer supported

INTERNET EXPLORER 7 is supported for SELF SERVICE users.

We strongly advise to use Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10 (with last service

packs). For Internet Explorer, specific distributions (two letters at the end

of the version number) are not supported.

For Internet Explorer 8, the minimal security pack to apply is April 2012.

Chrome and Firefox are supported in the versions available when

EasyVista is released. Update frequency of Firefox and Chrome are

such that we cannot guarantee to be fully compliant with versions that

we cannot test when EasyVista is released. However, we do our best to

be compliant in the very next fixes of EasyVista.


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Configuration JavaScript allowed

Automatically refresh the pages

Local cache for temporary files must be large enough (>10MB)

If you use SSL, check that the cache for secure pages is allowed.

For Internet Explorer >= 7 :

Security option / Downloads must allow AUTOMATIC PROMPTING FOR FILE DOWNLOADS.

Pop-ups must be allowed

For Firefox, Pop-ups must be allowed for the EasyVista web site.

Antivirus On the customer PC, the local antivirus should not systematically check

each .JS (JavaScript) file to avoid performance problem during the

display of the page.

Others EasyVista doesnt require APPLET or ActiveX on the client browser

Flash plug-in 9 or more recent. This is only needed for designing

Workflows

C.2. Windows servers Windows servers must use the latest service pack available.

The socket parameters of the windows machines must have been updated according to Microsoft

document accessible here: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-US/library/aa560610.aspx (this

configuration concerns only the servers and not the client PCs).

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

MaxUserPort -> 60000


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TcpTimedWaitDelay -> 30

C.3. Disk space needed This table shows the space needed for SQL Server based on volume needs.

Group Information SQL Server

Administrative

database

The size of these databases doesnt vary during usage

EVO_ADMIN, EVO_BACKOFFICE,

EVO_REFERENCE, EVO_PROC

80 MB

Config database The size of these databases doesnt vary during usage 100 MB

Data Database Example based on the demo database :

Assets.......................................... 38400

Employees ................................... 8750

Orders ......................................... 500

Requests ..................................... 24200

600 MB

EasyVista is installed by default:

1 administration database group

1 demo account (config and data Database)

1 production account (config and data Database)

1 test account (config and data Database)

C.4. EasyVista : sizing for less than 10 users

Users connected LAN

5 Mono server XEON double core, 4GB RAM, Windows 2008 32 or 64-bit, 2HD RAID 1 (70GB) and 3 HD RAID 5 (70GB)

Or

Virtual machine with 2vCPU, 4GB RAM, 40GB HD

10 Mono server 2x XEON Processor, 8GB RAM, Windows 2003/2008 64-bit, 2HD RAID 1

(70GB) and 3 HD RAID 5 (146GB)

Or


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Virtual machine with 4vCPU, 4GB RAM, 40GB HD

C.4.1. SQL Server 2008 Express or SQL Server 2008 Standard?

SQL Server 2008 Express can be used for up to 5 connected users. For more users we recommend

SQL Server 2008 Standard.

SQL Server 2005 Express is a free, but limited version of SQL Server. Check this link to learn more

about the differences: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/features/compare-features.mspx

C.5. EasyVista: sizing for more than 10 users

Note:

These architectures are defined to give you an idea of what the platform will look like. These

platforms must be adapted according to your own business and number of users.

An EasyVista platform can always be upgraded at a later stage, but please keep in mind the

implications to your business and support of your users of shutting down a production system. Its

better to define the platform as well as possible at the beginning of the project.

This advice is really important for physical architectures, which our experience says, are not often

upgraded on the average five years that last such a project (5 years is today the maximum guarantee

that can be subscribed for most of the servers). The architecture should not only cover todays needs

but also the changes that could occur during the lifetime project, both on the customer usage (more

departments, etc) and EasyVista upgrades (one major version per year).

Virtual architectures, excluded the database server, can be upgraded as needed, based on the

resources really used, and with very little stops in the product availability. Thats why our prerequisites

are less important for virtual architecture than for physical ones:

Virtualized platform administrators prefer to size the resources based on the real usage while the project is growing, instead of reserving too much resources at the beginning. Thats how they can guarantee an optimal usage of the physical resources of the virtual server among all the virtual machines

Using more than 4 vCPUs on a virtual machine should be considered with precaution because that such configuration can create contention on physical CPUS (vmware CPU Ready indicator).


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Connected

users Physical architecture Virtual architecture

20 Dedicated web server, XEON DOUBLE CORE, 4GB RAM, LINUX, 2HD RAID 1

(70GB)

For the application and data server :

Case 1: Dedicated SQL Server on the

application server

Xeon Quad core, 4GB RAM, Windows

2008 32 or 64 bits, 2HD RAID 1 (70GB)

Case 2: Non dedicated server

The EasyVista server will only run the

application layer :

Xeon Double core, 2GB RAM, Windows

2008 32 or 64 bits, 2HD RAID 1 (70GB)

The SQL Server Instance must have

2GB of memory allocated and two

CPUs (or one CPU double core). The

instance must be dedicated to

EasyVista.

Dedicated web server, 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM,

LINUX, 1 HD (20GB but could me more

depending of the forecast about uploaded

files)

For the application and data server :

Case 1: Dedicated SQL Server on the

application server

2 to 4 vCPUs, 4GB RAM, Windows 2008

32 or 64 bits, HD 40GB

Case 2: Non dedicated server

The EasyVista server will only run the

application layer :

1 to 2vCPUs, 2GB RAM, Windows 2008

32 or 64 bits, HD 40GB

The SQL Server Instance must have 2GB of

memory allocated and two CPUs (or one

CPU double core). The instance must be

dedicated to EasyVista.

50 Architecture based on three different servers:

WEB server:

XEON QUAD CORE 4GB RAM 2 HD RAID

1 (70GB) , Linux.

Application server:

XEON QUAD CORE 4GB RAM 2 HD RAID

1 (70 GB), Windows 2008 32 or 64 bits.

Architecture based on three different servers:

WEB server:

2 to 4 vCPUS, 4GB to 6 GB RAM, HD 40GB,

Linux.

(more virtual servers can be added if

necessary)

Application server:

2 to 4 vCPUS, 4GB RAM, HD 40GB, Windows


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Database server:

SQL Server instance must have 4GB of

RAM allocated and 4 CPUs (or one QUAD

CORE). The instance must be dedicated to

EasyVista.

2008 32 or 64 bits.

(more virtual servers can be added if

necessary)

Database server (physical):

SQL Server instance must have 4GB to 8GB of

RAM allocated and four to six physical cores.

The instance must be dedicated to EasyVista.

100 Architecture based on three different servers:

WEB server:

BI XEON QUAD CORE 8GB RAM, 2 HD

RAID 1 (70GB), Linux.

Depending of what the final users are doing

and of the forecast charge, it could be

necessary to double the web server when

you have more than 100 users.

Application server:

BI XEON QUAD CORE 8GB RAM 2 HD

RAID 1, Windows 2008 32 or 64 bits.

Depending of what the final users are doing

and of the forecast charge, it could be

necessary to double the Application server

when you have more than 100 users.

Database server:

SQL Server instance must have 8GB of

RAM allocated and six to height cores. The

instance must be dedicated to EasyVista.

Bigger

architecture

s

The architecture will be defined with your teams and our experts.

C.6. Special considerations in architecture sizing

C.6.1. More than 1 000 PCs inventoried each day:


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Discovery data integration (Discovery, Usage, SNMP, Citrix) can be very resource intensive. A

single PC needs 10 seconds to be integrated in the EasyVista database because of all the rules

applied during the integration process (merges, movement history, etc). Huge imports can potentially

slow down the performance for end users.

In this case, it is necessary to either import data outside of working hours (e.g. night shift), or use a

dedicated back office server to import data: MONO XEON DUAL CORE, 4GB RAM, 2 HD 70GB RAID

1, Windows 2003).

C.6.2. Many Self Service users:

If the number of Self Service users is important, you should consider having a second line of servers

dedicated to them.

In this case, standard users will access EasyVista with one URL, and Self Service users with another

one. You can then guarantee the performance will always be the same for your standard users

(Service Desk, etc) even when many Self Service users are connected.

C.6.3. Documents uploaded by users on Service Desk:

The web server must have adequate disk space to accommodate the uploading of documents by

users. Documents such as licences, contracts, email attachments and screenshots will all be stored

on the web server and over the course of time could become huge.

You can configure EasyVista to store these documents outside of the web server, in a more secure

area (i.e. File Server).

C.6.4. Dedicated database or not?

We always recommend a dedicated database for EasyVista.

With SQL Server, EasyVista needs to use a specific sort order that could potentially conflict with the

one already in use.

C.6.5. How to secure the http traffic:

Its not mandatory to secure the http traffic, but you should consider using an SSL certificate to avoid

readable information being sent on your network.

For larger environments (more than 200 users on the same web server) we would recommend

installing a dedicated SSL encryption card on the web server.

C.6.6. SSO, LDAP, etc:

EasyVista integration in your security environment has no impact on the size of the architecture.

However, you must validate with your LDAP administrators that EasyVista will have no consequence

on their servers. EasyVista generates two LDAP queries for each new user login to EasyVista.


23

C.6.7. Easyvista on virtualized platforms:

You can use virtualized platforms to host EasyVista but you have to follow the rules:

Workstation platforms must not be used

There must be enough resources on the platform hosting the virtualization OS (network, memory, CPU, etc)

Resources dedicated to EasyVista virtual machines must be compliant with the technical white paper, as if it was a physical platform

The physical architecture hosting the virtualization platform must be designed and configured for performance (lot of memory, high speed disks and SANS, high speed network with Jumboframes, etc)

You can either use HYPER-V or VMware ESX / VSPHERE (or following).

Warning: EasyVista performance on virtualized platform is tightly linked to the performance of the

physical infrastructure hosting the virtualization OS.

C.7. Test platform, development platform etc

The right platform architecture and size is based upon the answers to the following questions

C.7.1. Would you like to test response times and workload increase with these platforms?

If the answer is YES, then these platforms must be identical to the production platform. Keep in mind

that this will cost the same price as the production platform, for a platform that will not be used very

often.

If the answer is NO, then these platforms will only be used to test new versions, develop specific

interfaces, etc. You can use smaller architectures, and even virtual server environments.

C.7.2. Would you like to validate on these platforms the whole integration context and needs (LDAP, SSO)?

If the answer is YES, then these platforms should be the same as the production database in terms of

OS, and location in the network.

If the answer is NO, then these platforms will only be used to test new versions, develop specific

interfaces, etc. You can use smaller architectures, and even virtual server environments.

D. Integration with your database servers


24

D.1. SQL Server

E. EasyVista and access controls

9

SQL SERVER : Database architecture

AD

MIN

IST

RA

TIV

E P

art

EVO_REFERENCE

EVO_BACKOFFICE

EZV_ADMIN

DA

TA

Part

CONFIG DATA

For each company 50xxx (or 40000 for the demo)

Account

Database

EVO_ADMIN


25

E.1. Access control manage by EasyVista


26

E.2. Access control by EasyVista and LDAP


27

F. User rights once connected to EasyVista

F.1. Domains Domains are designed to limit the quantity of data that a specific user can see.

A domain is a permanent filter based on several criteria and applied on all the queries where these

criteria apply.

1329

EASYVISTA authentication and LDAP

1

6

LDAP

Directory

1 Bind with an account allowed to browse the tree

2 Search in the subtree allowed for this account?

Based onthe attribute defined in EASYVISTA

(Uid or SAMaccountName

Subtree

allowed for

EASYVISTA

account

User+

Properties

3 Get the DN of the user

4 Bind with the DN (3) and the password

5 If binding is Ok, then authenticaion is done


28

5

Domain ALL THE COMPANY

Domains

Domain 1

Domain = Limit the data the user can see

Domain 2

Domain 3

Localisation

criteria

(Discovery+AM)

Department

criteria

(AM)

Asset type

criteria

(AM)


29

F.2. Profiles Profiles limit the actions that a specific user can do (Add, Update, Delete), the administration level they

have to manage filters and reports, the screens they access, etc.

6

ProfilesProfile = Limit what the user can do

Module

(Help-Desk,

Discovery,)

Theme

(Discovery,

Administration,

)

Menu

Menu

Add, Update, Delete

Theme

Screens accessible

Wizard available

Rights

Filters

Reports


30

F.3. Users A user is defined by:

A login and password

One or more domains that limit the data he will see

One profile to define the authorised actions on the above data

7

UsersUser = Account allowed to access Easyvista

Limit the data it can see

Limit what it can do

Domain 1

Domain N

Profile


31

F.4. Limit the data based on geographical criteria The first way to define domains is to use geographical criteria.

8

Limit data geographically

Site 1

Site 2

Dept 3

Dept 2.1

Dept 2.1

Dept 1

Site 3

Dept 3

Dept 2.1

Region manager,

All sites and all department

Site 3 Manager,

all departments


32

F.5. Limit the data by department criteria

9

Limit data by department

Site 1

Site 2

Dept 3

Dept 2.2

Dept 2.2

Dept 1

Site 3

Dept 3

Dept 2.1

Department 1 manager



Departement 2.2 manager


33

F.6. Limit the data both by geographical and department criteria

10

Limit by department and localization

Site 1

Site 2

Dept 3

Dept 2.2

Dept 2.2

Dept 1

Site 3

Dept 3

Dept 2.1

Department 2.2 manager of site 2

Department 2.2 manager of site 1


34

F.7. Data are based on trees to define your organization

G. EasyVista inventory process

G.1. Automatic discovery or by login script Inventory can be done:

With Discovery Manager, an automatic inventory tool that will discover assets connected to the local network and inventory the ones that can be reached

With the company login script

With a local agent installed on the asset

Each method has its own advantages. You should use each one depending of the result you are

expecting.

G.1.1. Pros and cons of each method

Method Analyze

11

Data structure in trees

Site 1

Site 2

Dept 3

Dept 2.2

Dept 2.2

Dept 1

Site 3

Dept 3

Dept 2.1

All

the sites

Site 3

R1

S1 S2

All

the departments

Dept 1 Dept 3

Dept 2

2.1 2.2


35

Discovery Manager Pros:

User friendly interface to configure the collection point and run an

automatic discovery

Quick discovery of the connected and reachable assets

Cons:

Only the up and running assets at the very moment of the discovery

process can be found

Well designed for:

First discovery process to collect data

Scheduled inventory for SNMP assets

Login Script Pros:

Each machine connected to the network will be inventoried each time a

user connects

The inventory will be completed one PC after the other, each that a user

connects

Cons:

The login script must be changed (1 or two lines to add)

Users must connect to have the PC inventoried

Well designed for:

Regular inventory of the assets

Local installation Pros:

Useful for PC that never use the login script

Cons:

A local agent must be installed, either manually or automatically with a

deployment tool if you have one

Well designed for:

Inventory of servers, notebooks, etc


36

G.2. Discovery Manager Discovery Manager is the tool that will be used to both configure the collection points, and do

automatic discovery. Please refer to the Discovery Manager user guide for more information.

Inventory based on WMI:

WMI must be configured and accessible on the remote assets

An administrator account will be used to access the assets remotely

Administrative Disk Shares (C$,) must be available for the configured account, on the remote PCs, and the PC running Discovery Manager

A shared folder (collection point) must be accessible from each asset, using the administrator account

Possibility to run a process remotely to the distant PC (enough memory, etc)

The asset name is found by using the Windows APIs

Inventory based on SNMP:

SNMP must be configured and accessible on the remote assets

A community must be specified if the asset is community protected (SNMP V1/V2)

SNMP V3 security is not supported for the moment

Inventory based on SSH:

SSH must be configured and accessible on the remote assets

SFTP must be available on the asset to transfer the scripting agent and retrieve the result files

An administrator account must be defined to access to the asset

PasswordAuthentication must be set to yes in etc/ssh/sshd_config

If you use a root account, check that PermitRootLogin is set to yes in etc/ssh/sshd_config


37

G.3. Inventory process can be automatic You can execute EVAGENT.EXE manually on PCs. However, it is recommended to configure this

process in order to have an automatic inventory during the logon process by adding a line to run

EVAGENT.EXE in your login script.

This is the best way to guarantee a frequent and up-to-date inventory, without having to install an

agent on all the PCs in your company.

G.4. Server Inventory Method Servers do not use login scripts, and are not restarted often enough to guarantee a frequent inventory.

You can install a service on the Windows servers you want to inventory. This service will do the

inventory on regular intervals.

Workstations that are never rebooted or seldom logged on to can be considered as servers and use

the service mode.

G.5. Notebook Inventory Method You can use the EasyVista REMOTE feature to install a local collection point on each notebook. This

collection point is independent and will inventory the notebook on a regular basis and will keep on

trying to send the data by FTP or SMTP until it is possible to connect to the EasyVista server.


38

G.6. How data is collected

G.6.1. Collection points

A collection point is a shared folder, accessible by a group of users. The folder contains the files

needed by EasyVista DISCOVERY and is located in this directory.

To inventory a PC, you just need to run EVAGENT.EXE from within this folder.

Result files are then encrypted and stored in a sub folder of the collection point folder and are then

sent to the EasyVista platform on a regular basis via a scheduled task.

G.6.2. How many collection points do you need?

It simply depends on how your network is defined:

If you just have one local network, you should consider having just one collection point

If you have a more complex network with several sites, you should define one collection point for each site. Even if they are physically connected, and if users can access a shared folder on the corporate LAN, our advice is to create one collection point per site instead of a single central one, in order to avoid heavy traffic on the WAN network and to automatically define the location of collected PCs.

For each collection point created, you can define an automatic default location (and/or department)

which will be automatically attached to each newly discovered PC. Consequently, the PCs will be

available to view for all users belonging to this domain based on these geographical criteria.

50

Collection

Point

Inventory overview

Send DATA

Login ScriptEnterprise equipment

Service

Serveur

WindowsService

Nomad

equipmentRemote

Others inventories :

SNMP,

USAGE,

CITRIX


39

G.6.3. How is the data sent?

Collected data must be sent to the main EasyVista platform and imported into the database.

Data must be sent regularly: our advice is once a day.

You can send data using three different options:

SMTP / SMTPS: data are sent to an e-mail account dedicated to EasyVista (e.g. [email protected]). The main platform will access this mailbox to get the collected files. Once imported, e-mails are automatically deleted from the mailbox: you dont need to delete them manually.

FTP / FTPS / SFTP : data are sent using an ftp web site accessible to the collect points. Once imported you dont need to delete them manually, files are automatically deleted from the FTP site.

SHARED FOLDER: If you have just one collection point on a single site architecture, you can use a shared folder to send data because most of the time, the server hosting the collect point and EasyVista server will be the same: in this case, thats the simplest way to send data.

HTTP / HTTPS

Depending on your network architecture and security rules, you can choose to use SMTP or FTP, or

both.

You can schedule to send data:

With a Windows scheduled task

Using a specific EasyVista service to install on one of your servers

51

About Collection Points

How many collection points (shared folders)?

Who are the administrators?

Which physical connections exist between the sites?

Which data transmission support for each collection point?

Regroup several physical sites under the same collection point name?

How are remote collections points installed?

NECE

SSAR

Y

Collection Point 1 SI Department 1 SI Department 2

FTP

POP3

FOLDER Collection Point 4


40

G.7. Discovery of Windows assets

Windows inventory agent runs on the following OS:

More recent versions of Windows

Windows 7

Windows 2008

Windows 2003

Windows Vista

Windows XP

Windows 2000

Windows 98

Windows 95

Windows NT4

See Annex 1 for more details on the information collected by the agent.


41

G.8. Discovery of non Windows assets

G.8.1. SNMP Inventory

The SNMP inventory module automatically collects information from the assets using the SNMP

protocol.

You can define as many IP subnets and communities as needed.

You can extend the EasyVista Management Information Base (MIB) extract rules with specific rules for

your SNMP assets.

Discovery Manager can be used to:

Display information directly collected from the SNMP assets

Add specific information from one kind of asset to have this information collected during the next inventory

Integrate new constructor MIB to improve the display of the information collected during inventory

4

Collect

Point

SNMP INVENTORY

Send

LAN

INTERNET

LAN

INTERNET

Network Printers Servers / Workstations

SNMP Layer : MIB Database

Others

Easyvista SNMP


42

G.8.2. Linux Inventory

Linux inventory is based on scripts that collect local information.

It is possible to improve the information collected by updating specific scripts (one for hardware

characteristics detection, and one for software). This feature is useful to adapt the detection of

specific Linux distributions or versions that the standard script does not fully cover.

Scripts can be:

Copied locally and executed once or scheduled

Remotely executed with Discovery Manager

Prerequisites:

Linux Shell version 2.4 or higher

Solaris v10 or higher (can work on previous versions depending of their configuration)

AIX 6 or higher (can work on previous versions depending of their configuration)

HP-UX 11i v3 or higher (can work on previous versions depending of their configuration)

Read only access to /DEV/MEM to retrieve BIOS information

G.8.3. Usage Inventory

A local agent is installed, either automatically by login script, or with a deployment tool if you have one.

This agent will collect the information about processes in memory and send them once a day to the

collection point.

Following data will be collected:


43

Information about software usage:

Field Description

DATE Date of the capture

COMPUTER_NAME Computer name of the PC captured

PC_EUID EasyVista unique identifier of the PC (EUID)

PATH Path of the exe in memory

EXE_NAME Executable file name in memory

VERSION Version of the exe in memory

PUBLISHER Publisher of the exe in memory

LANGUAGE Language of the exe in memory

NB_RUN Number of time the software has been launched during the period

FOUND_IN_MEMORY Duration of the software in memory (in seconds)

AGENT_VERSION Version of the usage agent that captured the data

Information about hardware usage:

Field Description

DATE Date of the capture

COMPUTER_NAME Computer name of the PC captured

PC_EUID EasyVista unique identifier of the PC (EUID)

TYPE_MEMORY MEMORY_Usage for the total memory used lines VIRTUAL_MEMORY_Usage for the total of the virtual memory used lines

TYPE_HARDWARE HARDWARE_Usage for the hardware usage lines If the TYPE_MEMORY column is MEMORY_Usage or VIRTUAL_MEMORY_Usage, this column represents the minimum of memory used by the PC during the capture.

VALUE_1 If the TYPE_MEMORY column is MEMORY_Usage or VIRTUAL_MEMORY_Usage, this column represents the maximum of memory used by the PC during the capture.

VALUE_2 If the TYPE_MEMORY column is MEMORY_Usage or VIRTUAL_MEMORY_Usage, this column represents the average of memory used by the PC during the capture.

NB_START For the HARDWARE_Usage lines only, represents the number of time the PC has been started during the day of the capture

RUNNING_TIME For the HARDWARE_Usage lines only, represents the time the PC has been used during the day of the capture (in seconds)

AGENT_VERSION Version of the usage agent that captured the data

G.9. Software detection

G.9.1. Description

Software installed on each inventoried machine is collected and checked against the EasyVista

software catalog during the integration of inventory data in the EasyVista database.

Following characteristics are collected:

Software name

Software editor

Short version or marketing version if it exists (e.g. Excel 2007)


44

Long version

Installation folder

By default, software is detected based on the presence of shortcuts or information in the registry. This

method guarantees an optimal detection, in terms of speed and quality. Analyzing the whole local

hard disks would take too much time, and use too many resources.

If needed, if specific software were not automatically detected, it is possible to configure specific

searches based on part of file names or folder names.

G.9.2. Other software like information detected

Following products are also added as software during the inventory:

Operating system

Office suite if available

G.9.3. Installed software as listed in the Control Panel

Installed software as listed in the Control Panel are collected and stored directly as components for

each asset inventoried.

They are not used as software detected during the inventory process, because we consider that the

information is not as good as the one collected directly with the method described previously:

Some software installed is missing (the ones installed without Windows installation process)

Some software already unisntalled are still present if the uninstallation process failed

Editor names and software names are not unified and not easily analyzed

Most of the time, no software version number

G.9.4. Automatic update of the software catalog

Our backoffice team improve the software catalog continuously, based on the information collected on

our platforms.

This catalog is available:

For new EasyVista installations

For update, included in the maintenance contract: you just have to install EasyVista Network on your EasyVista platform

G.9.5. Manual update of the software catalog

Inventoried software that are not automatically linked to an entry in the software catalog will be added

in an unknown software database.

They are mainly rarely discovered software or specific software of your company.

Using EasyVista, you can display the list of the unknown software discovered and improve the

recognition database by adding them in the list of software to discover.


45

G.9.6. Serial number detection

Software serial numbers are discovered automatically from the registry for the one stored by software

editors.

You can also add specific registry path to retrieve local serial number that are not automatically

discovered.

G.10. Antivirus detection

G.10.1. Antivirus detected

Software are tagged as Antivirus in the software catalog and grouped as Antivirus in the interface.

G.10.2. More information detected about Antivirus

Depending of the Antivirus product and the information published by the editor, here are the

complementary information EasyVista can collect:

Antivirus Information

VirusScan Version

Date of virus base

Version of virus base

Kaspersky Version

Date of virus base

ETrust Version

Date of virus base

Panda Version

Date of virus base

FProt Version

Date of virus base

Norton AntiVirus Version

Date of virus base



46

Viguard Version

NOD32 Version

Date of virus base

BitDefender Version

Date of virus base


G.11. Movement history During inventory data integration, the following changes in the machine configuration will be stored as

movement history.

Remark: specific historization can be done, either by configuration, or by specific development for

more sophisticated needs.

Data Event

Technical

characteristic

Changes in one of the following values :

BIOS

RAM Size

Login Name

OS Language

OS Serial Number

Default Printer

User Time zone

OS Registered user

OS Registered company

Comment

User language

Screen Resolution

Domain name

Computer name

Connected Device Add or remove a connected device

Network card Changes on a network card

Component

Component added

Component deleted

Software Software installed

Software uninstalled


47

Changes on a major version

Changes on a minor version

G.12. Unique identification of an asset

G.12.1. Presentation

Each inventoried asset will be tagged uniquely during its first inventory. This unique tag identifies an

asset among all the other assets of the database. Its called EasyVista tattoo or EUID.

Its necessary to create a unique identifier, because theres no natural identifier on an asset:

COMPUTER NAME: can change and may be duplicate on complex company networks

IP ADDRESS / MAC ADDRESS: can change during life cycle of the computer

UUID: many duplicates exist because constructor do not guarantee that this field supposed to be unique, is really uniquely filled for each machine

SERIAL NUMBER: many duplicates, event for the same constructor, and often not correctly defined (To be filled, 12345, etc)

ASSET TAG: based on a human action, and not surely unique on a complex estate

G.12.2. Workstations used by several people

During the first inventory, EasyVista unique identifier is generated and stored on shared places of the

machine:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\EasyVista

C:\

%temp%

On highly secured PCs where users are not allowed to write information in these places, it is

recommended to do a first inventory using an administrator account. This inventory will generate the

EasyVista tattoo at the right place and users will be granted to access to it in read only.

G.12.3. Life cycle of an asset

If an asset is re-formatted, it will lose its local EasyVista tattoo. The next inventory will create a new

tattoo for this asset.

During the integration of the collected data for this asset, the integration process will try to merge the

old and the new tatoo to avoid creating duplicates in the database.

To do that, it will compare the following information of both collected data:

1. Asset Tag 2. Computer Name / Maker / Model / Serial Number / UUID


48

G.12.4. Masterization of machines

A PC that will be used as a master for duplication on other machines must not contain an EasyVista

tattoo. Otherwise, this tattoo will be duplicated on several machines, and these machines will be

considered as a single one.

G.12.5. Consolidation of inventory machines with existing information in the database

If some machines already exist in the database (integration of an old database for example), the

integration process of inventoried data will try to consolidated the inventoried data and the existing

data.

To do that, the integration process will compare machines in the existing database to the one

inventoried, based on the following fields:

1. Asset Tag 2. Serial Number 3. Computer Name

If no existing machine is found, a new asset is created in the database.

H. Integration of external data

H.1. Goals EasyVista uses a powerful layer to import data from different sources and reconciles them before

integration in EasyVista.

The integration module in EasyVista is very simple.

The pre-process system uses the speed and power of the SQL language to prepare the data (convert,

delete, merge).

Three steps:

1. From the different sources of data you have, copy the data in temporary tables, on your EasyVista data server. The pre-import process can work on data coming from LDAP servers, SQL Server, Oracle, and any ADO/ODBC connector.

2. Once imported, the data can now be selected, converted, purged into a single result table ready to integrate to EasyVista. Example :

LDAP data separates FIRST NAMES and LAST NAMES: you can use the pre-import process to merge them, and use a template to have the name in capitals for example.

LDAP data is often full of unwanted information (test accounts, distribution accounts). You can use the pre-import process to delete the data you do not need to avoid importing them into EasyVista

3. Integrate the data into EasyVista using the Integration tools


49

The whole process can be scheduled for regular integrations.

EasyVista will allow you to define an automatic process regardless of data complexity, quality, variety

and sources you need to integrate.

H.2. How does it work?

I. Linking EasyVista with external data

I.1. Active Directory

I.1.1. Importing Active Directory data

Your company directory can be imported into EasyVista, either as a one-off or regularly.

I.1.2. Authentication done by Active Directory

It is possible to configure EasyVista to validate the login and password given by users via Active

Directory. In this case, users still type in their login and password through the EasyVista login page,

but the validation is provided via the Active Directory database and not via the EasyVista database.

10

Pre import

Data source ORACLE or SQL SERVER

Easyvista

database

Model

Table

Table

LDAP directory

Table

Table

Local copy if necessary

1

Data post process

2

Table ready for importing

Table

Table

Table

SQL Queries

Table

Table

Extract

Executing queries on Local tables:

Delete , Insert, merge,

3


50

Specific access to your Active Directory is required to check what information can be used to map

users between Active Directory and EasyVista.

I.2. EasyVista and SSO

EasyVista can be integrated in your SSO system. Information regarding the already connected users

must be available either in a cookie, a session variable or a parameter in the HTTP header or URL.

Other specific identification methods are available. Please describe your system and we will see how

we can integrate your SSO system with EasyVista.

| Copyright Staff&Line | 5

Concepts

1 Identification 2 - Authentication 3 - Habilitation

1 Identification 3 - Habilitation

Done by the corporate Security System

Done by EasyVista Security Service

EasyVista with SSO

2 - Authentication

EasyVista without SSO

I.3. Integration with Microsoft Exchange

EasyVista can be linked to Microsoft Exchange:

Automatically create new meetings in Exchange calendars for actions defined in EasyVista for consultants


51

Automatically update the meetings in Exchange when a change is done in EasyVista.

I.3.1. Exchange prerequisites

MAPI layer must be installed on the EXCHANGE SERVER and accessible.

OUTLOOK client must be installed on the EasyVista application server in the same version than the

EXCHANGE SERVER. We require that OUTLOOK be installed to guarantee that tests can be done in

the same environment than the EasyVista application server with all the MAPI component correctly

installed.

The calendar of each consultant defined in EasyVista must be shared and accessible to the MAPI

account defined on the application servers.

EasyVista is compliant with EXCHANGE 2003, 2007 and 2010.

I.4. Integration with your CTI system

EasyVista can be integrated with your CTI system to automatically display the requestor file as if the

Service Desk user had used the EasyVista interface to find it.

I.4.1. Displaying the file

The CTI agent of your system (not included with EasyVista) must be able to call an EasyVista web

page with special parameters identifying the calling user.

Here is the syntax:

http:[ web server address]/indexSSO.php?url_account=[EasyVista account]&url_login=[hotliner

login]&url_password=[hotliner password]&do_quickcall=1&url_requestor=[calling user identifiantt]

I.4.2. Recorded message

An incident can also be created by sending a message to a dedicated mailbox. The content of the

audio message must be associated as an attachment to the e-mail.

I.5. Barcode readers

The following barcode formats can be used when connecting barcode readers to EasyVista :

UPCA

UPCE0


52

MSI

EAN8

EAN13

CODABAR

CODE39

I2OF5

CODE128

I.6. Web Services

I.6.1. EasyVista as a service provider

EasyVista web services are published with RPC ENCODED.

I.6.2. EasyVista as client of an external web service

EasyVista can call des web services with protocols:

RPC / ENCODED

RPC / LITERAL

DOCUMENT / LITERAL

J. Technical Support Agent

J.1. Objectives The goal is to automatically create new requests in EasyVista based on e-mail sent by users to a

dedicated mailbox. The mailbox will be scanned using the POP3 or IMAP4 protocols.

The text and subject of the e-mail are used to define the new requests. Attachments are saved and

linked to the new request in the attached documents screen.


53

J.2. How does it work?

K. Annex 1 : Windows Inventory

K.1. Technical References Information listed in the next table is collected only if they are available. Quality of information

collected can change, especially for older versions of Windows (NT4, Windows 95, Windows 98).

Characteristic Fields

Inventory Inventory Agent version

Inventory date

Path of the collection point

Collection point name

Machine Manufacturer

Model

17

Technical Support Agent : Principles

POP3 Server

Account 1

Account N

SMO Server

New request

Request number (RFC_NUMBER)

Creation date (SUBMIT_DATE)

Requestor (REQUESTOR_ID)Subject (SD_CATALOG_ID)

Status (STATUS_ID)

Origin (REQUEST_ORIGIN_ID)Localisation (LOCATION_ID)

Details (COMMENT)

Directory www/resources/..

Document 1 Document 2


54

Serial Number

UUID

Identification Computer name

Asset tag (if available)

EasyVista unique Identifier

BIOS Date

Name

Version

Memory DOS Memory

Extended

Total

For each memory bank:

Speed

Memory type (DIMM, etc)

Size or NOT INSTALLED

Logical disks For each logical disk :

Logical letter of the disk

Total size

Available size

Type (Fixed drive, network drive,etc)

Partition type (NTFS, FAT, etc)

Path to the network resource

Physical disks For each physical disk :

Disk number

Name

Serial number

Type (IDE, etc)

Number of partitions

For each physical disk that is smart compliant:

Disk vendor

Serial number

Firmware

Smart Disk information available (current value, threshold value, reference)

Network IP address


55

Network adapter

DHCP Active Yes / No

DHCP Server

Subnet Mask

Default Gateway

WinsPrimary

WinsSecondary

DNS Servers

Mac Address

Network cards For each network card installed on the machine:

Name

Speed

HALF DUPLEX or FULL DUPLEX

Printers For each printer linked to the machine:

Printer number

Local or network resource linked to this printer

Port

Printer name

Full printer name

Network server providing the resource

Monitor (if available) Name

Vertical frequency

Horizontal frequency

Model description

Serial number

Vendor ID

Model ID

Manufacture date

Peripherals tree For each device listed in the device list of the machine:

Device number

Name

Internet Default browser


56

Default mail

Internet Explorer Default page

Proxy enable Yes/No

Security level

Cookies status

Active script authorization

Java Parameters

Instant messenger ICQ Yes / No

MSN Messenger Yes / No

Yahoo Messenger Yes / No

Screen saver Active Yes / No

Is secure Yes / No

Timeout value

Screen saver name

Boot Default boot partition

For each partition configured on the machine:

Reference

Partition name

USB Devices Number of USB ports available

For each USB device connected :

Port number

Product name

Manufacturer

Vendor ID

Product ID

Main board Manufacturer

Product name

Serial number

CPU Frequency

Vendor string


57

Vendor

TFMS

Brand ID

Number of processors

Number of used, active and free sockets on mother board

K.2. Software and OS configuration

Characteristic Fields

Software detected

on the machine

NETWORK or LOCAL software

Exe name

Path to exe name

Software editor

Name

Long version

Short version

Language

Path to shortcut

Windows Windows version

Product ID

System root folder

Registered organization

Registered owner

Temp folder

Workgroup or Domain

Comment

Screen resolution

Default printer

User ID


58

Time zone

Country

System language

User language

Auto logon Yes / No

Windows update configuration

Windows firewall configuration

License numbers Product name

License number

Lotus notes Version

Outlook Server used

Connection string

LDAP / AD Server used

Connection string

Antivirus For each antivirus detected (see list of detected antivirus in this document):

Antivirus name

Virus def

Software executed

at windows startup

For each software configured to run at windows startup:

Exe name and path

Software name

Services For each service configured and active on the machine:

Exe name and path

Service name

Hotfix For each hotfix applied on the machine :

Kbase reference of the hotfix

Name of the hotfix

Installed software For each software listed in the installed software list of the control panel:

Installed software number

Name as listed in the control panel

IDs and serial

numbers

Office product ID (if available)

Windows log For each windows log (application, system, security, etc), list the last ten

errors:

Windows log name (application, system, security, etc)

Error code


59

Date and time

Error label

Environment

variables

For each variable defined on the machine:

Variable name

Value

ODBC Drivers For each ODBC Driver installed on the machine:

Driver name

Version

For each USER ODBC DSN configured on the machine:

Name

Driver

Recycler For each recycler defined on the machine :

Size

Folder used

DMI Present Yes / No

Process in memory For each process in memory:

Process ID

EXE and path to exe

Editor

Name

Version

Language

TCP/UDP ports open TCP or UPD

Port number

IP of the connected machine

Profiles List of the profiles defined on the machine (each corresponding to a

different user that has been logged on the machine)

Administrator

accounts

List of the accounts granted with the local administrator level.

L. Annex 2 : Linux UNIX Inventory

L.1. Technical References

Linux Solaris HP-UX AIX

Computer

name

Yes Yes Yes Yes


60

Serial number Yes if available in the BIOS

No Depends of the

machine

Yes

Vendor No HP IBM

Model Machine Type Yes Yes

BIOS name

and version

No No No

Main board

manufacturer

No HP IBM

Main board

serial number

No No No

UUID N/A N/A

Mac address Yes Yes No Yes

IP Address Yes Yes Yes Yes

DNS server No Name Yes Yes

Subnet mask Yes Yes Yes Yes

CPU

Frequency

Yes Yes Yes Yes

CPU Vendor Yes No Yes Yes

CPU Name Yes Yes Yes Yes

CPU Count Yes No Yes Yes

Monitor Model Depends of the monitor

No No No

Monitor serial

number

No No No

Monitor

Vendor

No No No

Memory Total Yes Yes Yes Yes

Membanks Yes Yes No No

Logical

partitions

Name, Physical

storage, size, free

space, type

Name, Physical

storage, size, free

space

Name, Physical

storage, size, free

space

Name, Physical

storage, size, free

space

User ID Name Name Name Name

L.2. Software References

Linux Solaris HP-UX AIX

Installed

software

Based on RPMs or

packages installed

Based on packages

installed

Based on packages

installed

Based on packages

installed

OS Information Vendor, version Vendor, version Vendor, version Vendor, version


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