KACE Product Support

In Asset management I need to setup Departments with divisions.  Is that possible to do and if so how?  ie. I may have a Public Works department with five or six divisions under that department.  In another case I may have an HR department without any divisions. In a third case I may have the Fire department with two divisions.

You can setup a filter to automatically apply the label to a machine in inventory, but if you want to link a Location Asset to a Computer Asset, you'll have to do so manually OR you can write a SQL rule to do the association for you based on labels. However, you can only do this if you've got the Help Desk module.

Oh ok. I was hoping for it to be able to link them automatically. Oh well. Maybe in the future. Not anything too important. I am still trying to get a feel for everthing in the KBox. It is hard to find time to actually be able to dive into it like I would like to.

It can link them automatically - but you've got to write a rule to do it.

We do have the Help Desk but as you know, my SQL knowledge is non-existent. Maybe I will try to see what I can do by looking through some rules. I really need to learn some of it! I have a snow day tomorrow so I may try to read up on some of it.

You can create the labels by location name i.e. NYC and apply IP based filter to it. let me know if further clarificaiton required

ORIGINAL: afzal

You can create the labels by location name i.e. NYC and apply IP based filter to it. let me know if further clarificaiton required


I was actually trying to apply those filters to asset fields in the asset section of the KBox. I already have the lables and filters created for the locations.

I guess, you have created locations in Asset module, and have created location field in the computers asset to associate the computer to the location. There is no easy way to do it automatically, only insert query in helpdesk rules can perform this task but it is not recommended. Best option is to do it manually :)

Thats what airwolf suggested as well. Yeah, I already have all that setup as well. I was just looking to see if you could actually have KBox link to the filter without writing a rule.

There is no easy way to do it automatically, only insert query in helpdesk rules can perform this task but it is not recommended.

On the contrary, this is precisely what KACE support would recommend doing.

Another way would be to create a report with the computer's name and labels and then use Excel to reduce the labels to the key location label that you want and then import them into the Location field for the computer asset.

While that would work, MacDude, it's not entirely automated. The benefit of creating a custom SQL rule is 100% automation. With a data import, your asset fields would only be as accurate as the last import date/time.

True, but Assets by nature is much more static than the Inventory.

In my mind this is akin to Filter Labels based on IP Address vs. LDAP labels based on where the machine lives.

That is, a machine that is assigned to an office in New York could have an LDAP label that reflects it's home office, but a dynamic label that reflects that it's current IP Address is on a subnet in Sheboygan. The *asset* belongs to New York, but it's currently traveling and is in Sheboygan.

Both types of labels are useful, but one is static and the other dynamic. I'd venture to say that the Asset field for location is more likely to be static rather then dynamic.


ORIGINAL: airwolf
While that would work, MacDude, it's not entirely automated. The benefit of creating a custom SQL rule is 100% automation. With a data import, your asset fields would only be as accurate as the last import date/time.

Assets aren't static by nature in my environment. We need up to the minute accuracy for license compliance, so all of our asset types have many rules that dynamically update fields based on data elsewhere in the database. This, of course, has taken quite a bit of time to setup. However, we've got dynamic reporting and we never have to perform manual imports.

ORIGINAL: airwolf

It can link them automatically - but you've got to write a rule to do it.


Hey airwolf, I'm trying to accomplish the same thing (automatically link a computer asset to a location asset) - would you share the sql code you developed to accomplish this? It would save me a lot of time [;)]

Thanks!

ORIGINAL: gpritchard

Hey airwolf, I'm trying to accomplish the same thing (automatically link a computer asset to a location asset) - would you share the sql code you developed to accomplish this? It would save me a lot of time [;)]

Thanks!


First, create filter labels for all of your locations to automatically add them based on whatever criteria you use to determine location (i.e. IP subnet). Once you've got your location labels setup, you need to write a rule that will automatically choose locations for the machine assets (which will be assigned to a filter label for their respective locations). I can't give you precise code for your environment, because asset tables are different for every organization.

I have to have things automated too. Ive created filter labels for all my IP subnets, but where in Kace do you write the SQL rule that will automatically choose locations for the machine assets.