Registration Overview - Novell ZENWORKS LINUX MANAGEMENT 7.2 IR2 - ADMINISTRATION GUIDE 09-25-2008 Administration Manual

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Registration Overview

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Novell ZENworks Linux Management provides simplified, hands-off management of devices
(servers and workstations). Before you can configure application settings through the use of
policies, install packages using bundles or catalogs, use preboot services to image devices, collect
hardware and software inventory, remotely manage devices, and report on events, you need to install
the ZENworks Linux Management Agent on devices and register them against a ZENworks Server.
The ZENworks Management Zone is the top level of the ZENworks management hierarchy. The
Management Zone provides an autonomous administrative unit of ZENworks Servers and managed
devices (workstations and servers). You use the ZENworks Control Center (the Web-based
administrative tool) to manage devices. The ZENworks Servers and managed devices work together
to apply the management tasks.
Any device that you want to manage must be registered in the Management Zone. Registering the
device adds the device to the ZENworks Object Store and allows you to manage it through the
ZENworks Control Center.
For Novell ZENworks to manage a device, you must install the ZENworks Agent software on the
device. During installation of the ZENworks Agent software, the device is automatically registered
as long as you (or whoever is installing the software) supplies the DNS name or IP address of a
ZENworks Server in your Management Zone. You can also register devices at a later time. For more
information, see Chapter 11, "Registering Devices," on page 99.
You can also create registration keys or registration rules to register devices in the Management
Zone.
Using registration keys lets you define the keys that are used to register devices in the Management
Zone. A registration key specifies a set of assignments that are applied to devices that register using
that key. The key must be applied during installation of the ZENworks Agent on a device, either
manually or by using a script. For more information, see Section 12.1, "Managing Registration
Keys," on page 102
If you do not want to use registration keys, you can create registration rules to determine a device's
assignments when it registers without using a key. The major difference between using the default
registration rules versus using a registration key is that the default registration rules use a filter to
determine which set of device assignments to apply, but a key corresponds directly to a specific set
of assignments to apply. For more information, see Section 12.2, "Managing Registration Rules," on
page 107.
NOTE: You can register devices against only one ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Server.
However, you can register devices against one ZENworks 7.2 Server and multiple ZENworks 6.6.x
Linux Management Servers. Registering devices against multiple Servers is useful, for example,
during the transitional period while you deploy ZENworks 7.2.
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