SMS Remote Tools are designed so that the administrator can give
users complete control over who has access to their client computer
and when access is possible. Or, SMS Remote Tools allow the
administrator to dictate client computer settings and disable
reconfiguration by the local user.
Remote Tools settings are grouped into two areas: policy
settings and hardware dependent settings. These settings are
effective on a site-wide basis.
NOTE
Windows NT Diagnostics are not controlled by the Remote Tools
policy settings.
There are six requirements for monitoring and controlling a
client computer using the Remote Tools program:
The computer resource must be installed as an SMS client
computer.
Only client computers install and run the client agents. If a
computer resource is not discovered, the user at the computer
resource can run the SMSMAN.EXE program from a logon server to be
discovered and assigned as a client computer in the site. Remember,
you must configure resource boundaries and a client installation
method in order for this process to work. See chapters 2 and 3 for more
details.
The Remote Tools Client Agent advanced settings must be
configured.
Before this client agent is installed on client computers, the
setting under the Advanced tab must be checked and adjusted
if necessary. If the administrator enables this client agent and
then adjusts the settings on the Advanced tab, the changes
will not be applied to installed Remote Control Client Agents.
Figure 6-7 shows the location of the Advanced tab in the SMS
Administrator console. The settings under this tab will be
discussed later in this lesson.
Figure 6-7.Navigating to the Advanced tab of the
Remote Tools Client Agent.
The client agent must be enabled.
The administrator enables this client agent from the
General tab in the properties of this client agent. Find
your way to the properties of the Remote Tools Client Agent by
following steps 1 to 3 shown in Figure 6-7. Figure 6-8 shows the
General tab.
The other setting under the General tab will be discussed
later in this lesson.
Figure 6-8.How to enable the Remote Tools Client
Agent.
The Remote Tools Client Agent must be installed and
started.
Windows 16-bit, Windows 95/98, and Windows NT/2000 operating
systems install different Remote Tools Client Agents to support
remote functions. These agents are specifically designed to
accommodate the various operating systems' characteristics.
The level of remote access must be configured.
Either the administrator or the user sets the access options for
remote functions. Appropriate permissions should be granted to the
viewer. This is set differently for the supported client operating
systems.
The computer running the Remote Tools program and the
client computer running the Remote Tools Client Agent must use a
common protocol.
Both computers must use the same transport protocol (NetBEUI,
TCP/IP, or IPX). Remote sessions are supported over NetBIOS for all
protocols or Windows Sockets for TCP/IP and IPX.
SMS remotely monitors and controls client computers that are
connected to the network locally or on a wide area network. It also
performs remote functions when a viewer connects to the client
computer's local LAN using RAS.
The administrator accesses five tabs in the properties of the
Remote Tools Client Agent to configure the agent's behavior.
The General Tab
Settings under this tab allow you to enable Remote Tools. Remote
Tools are enabled by default during an Express setup and disabled
by default during a Custom setup. This tab also offers the option
of requiring client computers to use these settings, rather than
allowing users to reconfigure them. This option is not selected by
default.
IMPORTANT
Make sure you configure settings on the Advanced tab before
installing the Remote Tools Client Agent.
The Security Tab
Settings under this tab allow you to specify which users or user
groups can perform remote functions on Windows NT/2000 client
computers. This is known as the "permitted viewers" list.
The Policy Tab
Settings under this tab allow you to specify the initial level
of remote access—full, limited, or none. Full allows all remote
functions and diagnostics to be run. Limited allows you to select
individual functions to be run. For example, you can permit remote
control but not reboot. None means that the Remote Tools Client
Agent can be installed but no feature will be enabled. This is
useful if you wish to configure the client computer, but plan to
enable remote functions at a later time.
From this tab you also specify whether permission is required
from the client computer before a remote function is initiated. If
the Remote Tools Client Agent is configured to ask for permission,
a user at the client computer sees a message box asking for access.
If you must control unattended client computers in a site, do not
configure the client agent to request permission.
The Notification Tab
Settings under this tab allow you to specify audible or visual
access indicators on the client computer when you attempt to use
any utilities in the Remote Tools program. A sound driver
must be configured on the client computer for audible notification
to function. The Windows 16-bit Remote Tools Client Agent does not
support audible notification. Further, the Ping Test utility does
not generate a notification sound nor a message box on the client
computer when it is run.
NOTE
You may change policy and notification settings from the client
computer from the `Clients cannot change Policy or Notification
settings' checkbox located under the General
tab.
The Advanced Tab
Settings under this tab allow you to adjust the performance of
remote functions. Make sure to configure advanced settings before
the Remote Tools Client Agent is installed. See the previous
section, "Steps to Using Remote Tools"
for more information. The following performance settings are
configured from the Advanced tab:
Default compression algorithm
This controls the type of compression used for remote monitor
output during a remote control session.
Selecting the Low (RLE) option configures the Remote Tools
Client Agent to use the older run length encoding compression
algorithm that provides 40 percent compression of remote control
screen data. This is the default setting and should be used for
slower client computers.
Selecting the High (LZ) option configures the Remote Tools
Client Agent to use the Lempel-Ziv compression algorithm that
provides 90 percent compression of remote control screen data. LZ
compression requires greater processing power on the client
computer, so it should only be used if the client computers in the
site run 100-MHz Pentium processors or greater.
Selecting the `Automatically select compression level' option
configures the Remote Control Client Agent to choose the
compression algorithm based on the processor speed on the client
computer.
Default remote access protocol
This setting specifies the first protocol to use between the
computer running the Remote Tools program and the Remote
Control Client Agent. The Remote Tools program will attempt
to connect to the client computer using all enabled protocols, but
it will try the default remote access protocol first. By setting
the default remote access protocol to the most commonly used
default protocol on client computers, a remote session is
established more quickly between the computers.
Accelerated screen transfer on Windows NT
Select this option for better performance on Windows NT/2000
client computers.
Under normal conditions, the Remote Tools Client Agent has to
periodically copy the entire client computer display into memory
and check to see if changes have occurred. It transmits the change
to the viewing computer (the computer running the Remote
Tools program).
An optional display driver, IDISNTKM.DLL, may be used to improve
the performance both at the client computer and at the viewing
computer. This display driver is installed as a "wrapper" around
the client computer's existing display driver.
During normal operations, IDISNTKM receives video requests and
passes them to the normal display driver. During remote control
sessions, Idisntkm keeps track of changes that are made to the
display, then signals the Remote Tools Client Agent
accordingly.
Check the `Install accelerated screen transfer on Windows NT
clients' checkbox to install IDISNTKM.DLL. The list of video
drivers shows those drivers compatible with the IDISNTKM driver.
Add (or remove) video drivers that support (or do not support) the
IDISNTKM driver.
The Remote Tools feature requires that the viewing computer and
the client computer use the same protocol. Because the viewing
computer can start remote sessions using a variety of protocols,
make sure that any protocol that will be run on client computers is
also loaded on the viewing computer. For example, if TCP/IP runs on
some client computers and other client computers only run NETBEUI,
make sure to load both protocols on the viewing computer.
The SMS Administrator Console Searches the First Eight Loaded
Protocols
When the Remote Tools program in the SMS Administrator console
connects to a client computer, it searches through the first eight
loaded protocols to find a common protocol for connecting to the
Remote Tools Client Agent.
If NetBIOS rather than Windows Sockets is used to establish a
remote session, the LANA number for any of the NetBIOS-based
transport protocols can be changed. A RAS connection, for example,
might be at LANA 8. To find client computers over this LANA number,
the administrator would have to modify an existing protocol entry
or add a new one to establish a remote session. A time-out value
can also be set for each protocol, which might be useful in the
event of a slow RAS link.
Remote Control Client Agent Uses the First Loaded
Protocol
The client agent does not search for a protocol, but uses the
first protocol that was loaded. If the client computer has more
than one protocol loaded, you can designate which protocol it will
use to establish a remote session. This is necessary, for example,
if the client computer has NetBEUI and TCP/IP (NetBEUI loaded
first) and the viewing computer has TCP/IP. In this case, the
viewing computer can only use TCP/IP, but the client agent uses
NetBEUI, which will prevent communications from being
established.
To designate TCP/IP as the remote control protocol, the client
computer runs the Remote Control Settings tool (RCCLIOPT.EXE),
located on the SMS 2.0 installation CD-ROM. This tool and other
support tools are discussed in Chapter 14, "Monitoring and Troubleshooting SMS"
Client computers in a WAN environment are supported over TCP/IP
or IPX.
In this exercise, you will configure the site-wide settings for
the Remote Tools component of SMS 2.0. Do not close the SMS
Administrator console after opening it in this exercise, as you
will need it to be open in order to complete the remaining
exercises in this chapter.
Click the Start button, then point to
Programs.
A menu of choices appears.
Point to Systems Management Server, then click SMS
Administrator console.
The SMS Administrator console appears.
In the SMS console tree, select the Site Settings node
and then select the Client Agents node.
The list of client agents appear in the details pane.
In the details pane, select Remote Tools Client Agent.
Then from the Action menu, click Properties.
The Remote Tools Client Agent Properties dialog box
displays general settings for the Remote Control Client Agent.
Notice the message that the advanced tab settings must be
configured before enabling the agent. This does not mean you cannot
select the checkbox, but you should configure the advanced settings
before the client computer installs the remote tools client
agent.
Select 'Enable remote tools on clients,' then select the
'Clients cannot change Policy or Notification settings'
checkbox.
Click the Policy tab.
The Remote Tools Client Agent Properties dialog box
displays policy settings for the Remote Control Client Agent.
Under 'Level of remote access allowed,' verify that 'Full' is
selected.
Under 'Access permission,' verify that `Display a message to
ask for permission' is selected.
Click the Advanced tab.
The Remote Tools Client Agent Properties dialog box
displays advanced settings for the remote tools client agent.
Under 'Default compression for remote control,' verify that
`Automatically select' is listed.
Select 'Install accelerated screen transfer on Windows NT
clients,' then click OK.
The SMS Administrator console appears.
In the following steps, you will verify the Remote Tools Client
Agent configuration has been updated for the site.
View the contents of D:\CAP_S01\CLICOMP.BOX.
Notice the date and time stamp of REMCTRL.CFG. If you don't see
the date and time stamp, from the View menu, choose
Details. When this file is updated to the current date and
time, the site server has replicated the updates to the client
access point (CAP).
View the date and time stamp of CLINTX86.OFR.
When this file is updated to the current date and time, the site
server has replicated the updates to the CAP and the client
computer can install the Remote Tools Client Agent.
NOTE
If you created a password for your Windows NT administrator
account, you will need to use that password.
In the Control Panel, double-click the Remote Control
icon.
The Remote Control Properties dialog box appears. Notice
Administrator settings is listed. Also notice `Full' is
designated as the level of control allowed. In the lower left
corner of the dialog box, Use administrator settings is
listed to indicate these settings are set by the administrator.
Also notice that all settings are unavailable, which means the user
must use the settings configured by the administrator. Changes
cannot be made to these settings because when you configured the
global settings for the Remote Tools Client Agent, you selected the
`Client cannot change Policy or Notification settings'
checkbox.
Click OK.
The Control Panel appears.
Double-click the Services icon, then stop the SMS Remote
Control Agent service.
An Alert dialog box appears asking if you are sure you
want to stop service.
Select Yes.
The procedure performed in steps 8 to 9 stop the client agent in
preparation for Exercise 37.
Close Services, then close the Control Panel.
Log off as ADMINISTRATOR, then log on as USER1
with a password of PASSWORD. Make sure not to shut down
Computer 2, as this will restart the SMS Remote Control Agent
service.
