1.
Downloading and installing CMS
2.
Configuring CMS
3.
Configuring the Domain
4.
Monitoring CMS
Dowloading and Installing CMS
Downloading
Vexira CMS (Central Management Solution) is available via the downloads page at
http://www.centralcommand.com/Downloads.aspx
Click on download, save it to your computer, and run it. It will start the installation wizard.
Beginning the Installation
The first few screens will let you know what's going on, and show you the license agreement. Read these over and click 'Next'.
Install Location
It will ask where to install to.
The default is usually fine here, unless you wish to put it in a different location.
Install Mode
After this, it will ask for the install mode, native or mixed.
The mode CMS runs in depends on if you have Win98/ME machines on your network. If your network is strictly 2k/XP workstations, choose 'Native' mode. If you are going to be administering 98/ME machines, choose 'Mixed'. You will then need to install the Remote Access Client on each 98/ME machines, so that CMS is able to communicate with them. If you are not running a Windows domain or do not wish to use CMS then you will need to use install scripts. For Windows networks you can find the KB at
http://support.vexira.com/KB/a35/installing-via-a-preconfigured-script.aspx For Novell Netware environments you can find the KB at
http://support.vexira.com/KB/a12/installing-via-a-preconfigured-script-novell.aspx
Alerts
Then give it the address of the administrator. If you don't want it to send email to the admin, set this to 'Disabled'.
Group Options
The first options tells CMS to poll the network for machines and add them to the database automatically. We usually want this. This does not mean it will automatically install to machines, just that it detects them.
The second option tells CMS to add machines to the default group, which will automatically install to them. Groups are how you can have different networks with different installation/configuration options. Any machine listed in a group will automatically get Vexira pushed out to it. If this is the first time using CMS, we usually don't want it to automatically push out to the entire network immediately, so leave this second option unchecked.
Products to Manage
Here you choose which products you would like CMS to manage. You will almost always want 'Virus Database', 'Professional 2005' and 'Central Management Solution 2005'. If you don't have any Vexira for Windows Server products you can uncheck this. Also, if you don't have any 98/ME machines, you can uncheck the 'Remote Admin Client'.
Updates
CMS can keep the products up to date. This is usually recommended.
Check this box to have CMS do updates and click 'Next'.
Choose the source to have CMS update from. The default of HTTP is usually fine. Some like FTP better for transferring files, or if you're behind a web proxy, FTP may be easier.
Registration
Enter your registration info here. You should have received this via email.
Access Control
We need to tell what user CMS should run as. This will be what it runs as on this machine, and also what it logs in as on remote machines in order to install. This is usually the main Administrator account, but could be a separate user, as long as it has administrator rights on the domain. It needs to show the domain name, like below.
Finishing
Click 'Next' and let it know if you want a shortcut on the desktop created (usually a good idea), then let it finish.
Configuring CMS
Starting the Install Copier
First thing to do is get the install copier running. This is the task that goes out to our update server and downloads everything so CMS has it for the clients. The first time it runs it has a lot to download and can take a while, so we want to get it started. This is located in CMS under Central Management Server --> Install Copier --> Tasks. Right-click on 'Initialization/Update of Managed Products' and click start.
It will run in the background, so you won't see it do anything after starting it. If 'Start' is greyed out, it's probably already running, which is fine also.
License Manager
The license manager is what controls what license gets put on the clients. We need to tell it which license to use. Go under Central Management Server -> License manager. Right-click on License manager and click 'Add'.
Put in the same license you entered during installation. After clicking 'OK' it should show your license on the right, along with the number of clients you're registered for. You'll notice there is a 'Free licenses' section. As CMS starts installing to clients this number will decrease, letting you know how many licenses you have left.
Install Template
To set up clients for installation we need to setup an installation template. Go under Central Management Server -> ServerName -> Groups -> Default group. First, under the Default Group's Install Template, pick the packages to install. Usually this is Vexira Antivirus Professional, which will automatically select Virus Database as well. You can then expand the list of components under Vexira Professional. Un-check the option for Content Filter. You can also safely remove the Office, Outlook filters and still be 100% protected by the Guard. When finished choosing the components, click OK.
Installing on the clients
The last step is to tell CMS what machines to install to. To start installing on a machine, just select computers from the Network section and drag them into the group you have setup and they should start installing from there.
Any machine listed in a Group will automatically get installed by CMS.
Configuring the Domain
There are some group policies we need to set within the domain. Specifically, we need to allow the CMS user to log on as a service.
Log on as a service
On the Primary Domain Controller, go to Administrative Tools --> Active Directory Users and Computers.
Right-click on the name of the domain and go to properties. On the window that comes up, go to the Group Policy tab at the top and Edit the Default Domain Policy. Navigate to Computer Configuration --> Windows Settings --> Security Settings --> Local Policies --> User Rights Assignment. Double-click on 'Log on as a service' on the right.
Check the box for 'Define these policy settings then go to 'Add user or group'. You want to add the same user you set CMS to use, which should be in the syntax DOMAIN\Administrator. Then click ok and close out.
CMS will need a firewall exception made so it can communicate with Windows XP clients. If on a Windows 2003 server you can enable this exception for the whole domain. Navigate to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Network -> Network Connections -> Windows Firewall -> Domain Profile. Double click on 'Windows Firewall: Allow file and printer sharing exception'. Click the option for 'Enabled' then click ok.
If on a Windows 2003 server, go to Start -> Run and type in 'gpupdate'. This will try to force out the new group policy to the clients. If you're on a Windows 2000 server, the clients will need rebooted to pick up the new policy.
Monitor ing CMS
Here are some tricks to making sure the clients are keeping up to date, and to track down problems if not.
Checking client status
To check that the clients are up to date, go to the Group where they are listed (Default Group, etc). The status column should show either blank or the messages 'The Gathered Data is not complete/Machine is under judgement'. These two messages just mean that CMS is checking the client out to see if it needs anything. It will say this a lot because it's always cycling through checking machines. As long as the status doesn't say 'Error', that's a good sign.
There is a column 'Virus Database'. Scroll down this column and make sure the dates are withing the past day or so. Some will be blank or show an old date if the machine is offline and/or hasn't been on for a while.
To tell if a machine is online, just look at the color of the computer icon next to the machine name. If it's blue it's online, black is offline. Also, the little red 'V' in the corner of the icon signifies that Vexira is installed. It won't show this on machines that are offline.
What to do if there is an error
If you see 'error' messages in the status column, take a look at the log. This is under Common -> Log on the left. This will give more detail on what CMS is doing exactly, and show the specific errors. Errors will show up as red log entires and should give you an error number. Double-click on one of these entries to get some more info. We have a list of common CMS errors and how to correct them here:
http://support.vexira.com/KB/c10/client-installation-help.aspx
Further help
If you have any other questions or run into any other problems, take a look at our CMS knowledgebase here:
http://support.vexira.com/KB/c8/central-management-solution.aspx
You can also contact support directly, contact info is available on our website:
http://support.vexira.com