iDesktop Quick Start Guide

Introduction

iDesktop is a web-based desktop management software. It can help IT administrators more effectively manage and monitor desktops, servers, software applications and other devices.

Installation

Download and run iDesktop installer. Supported platforms include Windows XP, Vista, Seven, and Windows Server 2003/2008. By default, iDesktop server runs on port 9010, but you can change it to another port during installation.

After installation, you can bring up your web browser and go to http://localhost:9010 to access iDesktop.

Deploy Agents

iDesktop agent needs to be installed on desktops. Agents can connect to the server via secure SSL connection.

Ways to install agent:

Download agent installer (agent_installer.exe) from the iDesktop server, and then install it on each desktop.
Or use GPO to deploy agents. Detailed steps.
- Download agent_installer.msi from the iDesktop server ( URL: http://server:port/desktop/agent_installer.msi )
- Create a batch file (e.g. install.bat) with the following commands in it:
```
        IF EXIST c:\idesktop_agent\conf\agent.properties goto :end
         echo installing...
         msiexec.exe /i "%1" CUSTOMER.ID="0"  SERVER="192.168.1.100" PORT="9010" 
        :end
                
```
- Open Group Policy Management Console from the Administrative Tools folder (or gpmc.msc from RUN).
- Expand the domain tree, locate the domain name. Right-click the domain name and select Create and Link a GPO Here.
- Specify a descriptive name for the GPO.
- Select the Scope tab.
- Click the Add button in the "Security Filtering" to specify the computers.
- Click the "Object Types "button in the "Select User, Computer, or Group" dialog and select Computers object type.
- Specify the computer names and click "Check Names" to add the required computers.
- Right-click the new GPO and select Edit.
- In the Group Policy Object Editor window, expand User Configuration > Windows Settings > Scripts.
- Double-click Logon in the right-hand pane.
- In the Logon Properties window, click Show Files, and drag and drop the previously created install.bat into it.
- Back in the Logon Properties window, click Add.
- In the Add a Script window, click Browse and you will see the newly added logon script (install.bat). Whatever you do, DO NOT manually browse for the file, it should be in front of your eyes. If it's not there, check the previous steps for a mistake. Click Ok.
- Specify the script parameter, which is the location of the agent_installer.msi, e.g. \\fileserver\installer\agent_install.msi
- Close the Group Policy Object Editor window.
- Close the GPMC window.

Main User Interface

Dashboard Tab

Displays summary in portlet format. You can add/remove/move portlets, or drag and drop portlets to different locations.

Agents Tab

Displays the status of agents. For each agent, by clicking its small icons, you can do

File Management
Manages files/directories on desktop, including upload/download/delete/create/move/rename files or directories.
Remote Desktop Support
IT administrator can view and control the remote desktop.
Scan Inventory
Tells the agent to scan its hardware and software inventory.
Alert Settings
Changes the alert settings of the agent.
Chat
Chats instantly with the agent. It will tell the agent to open a chat window so that IT administrator can interact with the person being assisted.
Execute Commands
Like a shell, executes commands on the agent side and checks the results.
Take Screenshot
Takes a screenshot. You can also execute a command, screenshot will be updated automatically after the command is finished.

Alerts Tab

Displays alerts and changes settings.

Menu Items:

Alerts
Displays received alerts.
Default Alert Settings
The default settings will be applied to all agents deployed after the settings have taken effect.
Tasks
Creates tasks to change alert settings of selected agents.

Inventory Tab

Shows hardware and software inventory information.

Menu Items:

Devices
Lists devices discovered by agents.
Hardware
Displays discovered hardware components.
Software
Displays software installed on agents. You can also check license compliance details of the commercial software. After you enter number of purchased licenses, expiry date, then you can generate reports on license compliance.
Patch
Displays all the Windows patches installed on agents.
Scan
Creates new tasks to tell agents to scan inventory data.

Software Deployment Tab

For installing/uninstalling software packages.

Menu Items:

Tasks
Creates tasks of installing/uninstalling software on agents.
Installers can be MSI or EXE files.
For EXE packages, you need to specify arguments for unattended silent installation. You can refer to this page for more information.
Software Repository
Adds new installers to repository.
Parameters, options can be specified for each installer. You can add scripts to be executed before or after installation/uninstallation.
Script Repository
Adds new scripts to repository. Scripts can be used before or after installation/uninstallation.

Access Control Tab

For restricting certain functions on end-user desktops.

Menu Items:

Software Restrictions
You can configure to allow or disallow software on remote desktops.
Registry Restrictions
Configures whether to allow or disallow end user to edit registry settings.
USB Restrictions
Configures whether to allow or disallow all USB or just USB storage devices.
CD-ROM Restrictions
Configures whether to allow or disallow CD-ROM.
Floppy Restrictions
Configures whether to allow or disallow floppy drive.

Task Tab

For executing configuration tasks on end-user desktops.

Menu Items:

Configuration Tasks
Lists all the tasks and their status info.
You can use the "Add" button to create new tasks. Predefined tasks include firewall, power management, service, hard drive management, scripts, etc.

Pre-defined Tasks:
You can create the following pre-defined tasks, which will be performed immediately or at a later time on selected desktops.
- Firewall
  - Turns on or off Windows built-in firewall for selected desktops.
  - Allow or block certain ports.
- Check hard drive
  Check or fix hard drive using the Windows built-in chkdsk.exe command.
- Clean up hard drive
  Clean up disk using the Windows built-in Cleanmgr.exe command.
- Hard drive defragment
  Use the built-in defrag.exe to defragment disk drives on selected desktops.
- Executables
  Administrator can deploy executable files on remote desktop.
  Executable files include scripts, exe and other executable commands.
- Power management
  Configure desktops power saving schemes
  - Turns off monitor after certain amount of time.
  - Turns off hard disk after certain amount of time.
  - System standby after certain amount of time.
- Registry settings
  Allow administrator to add, modify, or delete registry values on the desktops of users.
- Environment variables
  Environment variables are a set of dynamic named values that can affect the way running processes will behave on a computer.
  The function allows you to set system or user environment variables on the desktops.
- IE
  Allow administrator to set home page and proxy server on the desktops.
- Windows Services
  Allow administrator to change the settings of Windows services, such as starting/stopping a service.
- Path
  Allow administrator to add system or user path. New path is inserted into the beginning of the existing paths.
Remote Shutdown
Shutdown remote desktops.
Wake on LAN
Wakes up remote desktops if Wake-on-LAN feature have been enabled on computer's BIOS.

Ticket Tab

Helps administrators keep track of issues. A ticket can be associated with one or more devices.

There are two types of tickets: request and problem. A request can be a simple question or an incident, which is any unplanned negative impact on a service. A Problem is the underlying or root cause of one or more requests. A problem can be linked to one or more requests. If a problem is closed, all its linked requests are closed as well.

A ticket has four states:

Open
Technician is working on it.
Pending
Technician is waiting for the requester to respond.
Resolved
The ticket has been resolved.
Closed
The ticket reaches its final state, and all its fields are read only.

Only users with admin role can close a ticket.

If a ticket's state is Resolved, and the requester has not responded within a certain period of time, the ticket is closed automatically by system.

If a ticket is in a closed state then all its fields are read only. Only users with admin role can reopen the ticket.

Admin Tab

It is for changing settings of iDesktop.

User Management

There are three types of users:

Administrator: has all the privileges.

Technician: can't add/remove other users; can't modify SMTP server settings; can't change session timeout value; can't close tickets ...

End User: only can view his/her own tickets. End user added by technician or administrator does not require email validation.

Email Settings

Configures SMTP server for sending out notification emails.

Recreate Agent

Recreates agent installer because the server parameters such as IP and port have been changed.

Agent Settings

Agent settings will be applied to all agents when they connect to the server.

Be careful with changing the IP, port or proxy info of the server. If any of the parameters are not correct, then agents will lose connection to the server and their settings have to be fixed manually.