Scheduled Tasks and Diagnostics Utility

Overview

New to LDMS 9.6 SP1 we have replaced the Scheduled Tasks and Policies utility with a more functional and robust Scheduled Tasks and Diagnostics utility.

Opening the Scheduled Tasks and Diagnostics utility

There are two main ways to access the Scheduled Tasks and Diagnostics that will provide slightly different views.

1. Right click on the device(s) and select "Scheduled Tasks and Diagnostics"
2. Drill into the "Top Failure Codes" chart in Scheduled Tasks. Instead of getting a list of the tasks a particular machine is part of, you will get a list of all machines from all tasks that have returned a specific error code.
   1. In the Management Suite Console go to Tools - Distribution - Scheduled Tasks.
   2. Click on the top node of the Task Tree, above My Tasks.
   3. Locate the chart titled "Top Failure Codes"
   4. Double click on the failure code you would like to investigate.

* Note: The Top Failure Codes chart shown here was moved to be the first chart shown, by default it is actually the 5th chart in the list.

The Scheduled Task and Diagnostics View

Shown Above: Scheduled Tasks and Diagnostics as opened by drilling into the Top Failure Codes chart (method 2 explained above) showing all machines from all tasks that returned a specific error code. You may notice that the same machines appear 3 times, this is because those machines gave the same failure code on three different tasks.

So what am I seeing here?

  In the screenshot above you can see the list of machines that returned the same error code, in this case an error code of "1." Also you notice there are some new icons in the toolbar, and a tool for displaying log files which also highlights information of interest in the log. Lets go into each of these views a bit deeper.

Toolbar

1. Logs - From this drop down menu you call pull up logs into the viewer, in real time, from both the client and the core server. If selecting logs based on a task, it will automatically pull the logs for the task that is highlighted in the machines and tasks list. Also, under client logs there is the option to "Get All and Zip" which zips up ALL client side LANDESK logs, and ask where you would like to save them on your console machine.
2. Export - CSV Export of the machines and task list.
3. Real Time Discovery - Allows user to discover the device in Real Time and verify that it is available on the network and that LANDESK can communicate with it. This uses the same Discovery method as when a task is started to assist in troubleshooting.
4. Inventory - Open the Inventory of whichever machine is highlighted in the list.
5. HTML5 Remote Control - With a single click you can open a HTML5 Remote Control window into whichever machine is selected in the list.
6. Remote Event Viewer* - Displays the selected machine's Event Viewer for simplified troubleshooting.
7. Remote File System* - Opens Windows Explorer to the C$ share of the selected device.
8. Synchronize Policies - Manually kick off a policy sync on the client machine with quick click.
9. Highlighted Text Web Search - Whatever text you have highlighted yourself in the log file displayed below will be automatically entered into a web search to help find more information. This is helpful when investigating return codes from common program like Microsoft Office, or an MSI install that uses standard MSI return codes.
10. Find - Search based on information in the list of machine and tasks.

* = Authenticates based of the user that is signed into the OS of the computer running the Console, and not with the credentials used to log into the console. Local and Domain security policies may not allow remote access.

Machines and Tasks List

• From this list you are able to see the Machine names, and Task IDs and Names along with the final Return Code from the task, along with other identifying information to assist in troubleshooting.
• As mentioned earlier, whichever machine\task is selected in this list will dictate which logs will be shown and what machine is on the receiving end of the action initiated from the toolbar.
• All the actions in the toolbar are available in a right click menu, by right clicking on any machine\task in this list so that you do not have to move the mouse cursor back and forth.

Log Viewer

• The Log Viewer will only show the last 50k of data in the log file. If you need to see more than this it will prompt you and ask if you would like to open the log in an "Editor", which generally would be Notepad.
• The log is automatically parsed and pertinent information highlighted upon opening.
  • Red - Possible failure
  • Orange - Possible warning
  • Blue - Possibly informative
• Search results from the Log Search utility is highlighted in yellow. Once a search term is entered pressing enter repeatedly will automatically cycle through the results.
• Highlighting any information with your cursor and pressing the Web Search button on the toolbar will automatically open a browser and search the web for that highlighted text.

Conclusion

   The Scheduled Tasks and Diagnostics utility is one of the most exciting new features of Software Distribution as it will facilitate the use and troubleshooting of Software Distribution and Patching tasks across the board. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with its features and see how they can most benefit you in your day to day activities.