Searching for IE/browsers
I've looked around through the forums and although it was helpful to find the info on the thread Internet Explorer 9 not in Software Inventory in regards to IE9 being searchable via Windows Update #... I'm at a loss at finding a surefire way to get a nice neat snapshot of all our browsers on all our machines.
Basically I'm tasked with:
"What machines have what browsers?"
Seems simple enough, and would assume with KACE simpler still and yet I'm unable to find a simple way to query for all computers running any version of IE8, or better yet all browsers running on all machines separated by version. Firefox, Safari and Opera numbers seem to be correct but in searching IE the numbers are lacking to what we knowingly use in production (IE8 is our standard on our image we push).
Another possible issue to mention is my machine has Google Chrome, which is listed in my "All Programs" in Win7, and yet will not show under my Software Inventory for my machine; it does show for other machines in KACE. Is there an issue with how KACE pulls the installed software list or how some installed programs may be only installed per-user and could be why KACE does not see it where it pulls from the registry?
Is there a search technique or script I may have to run to pull this info easily on a regular basis? I understand that in Windows 7 the Internet Explorer browser is seen as "Windows feature" rather than a program, regardless of what version installed, but I would assume that there would be a simpler way to go about this, at least the way I'm doing is taxing and time consuming.
I apologize if this topic has been covered or if there is reading material I've missed, I'd gladly take a look. Just was wondering if like the above linked post there was a quick "got-ya" for tricking the search to finding it rather than relying on naming conventions.
Thanks!
Basically I'm tasked with:
"What machines have what browsers?"
Seems simple enough, and would assume with KACE simpler still and yet I'm unable to find a simple way to query for all computers running any version of IE8, or better yet all browsers running on all machines separated by version. Firefox, Safari and Opera numbers seem to be correct but in searching IE the numbers are lacking to what we knowingly use in production (IE8 is our standard on our image we push).
Another possible issue to mention is my machine has Google Chrome, which is listed in my "All Programs" in Win7, and yet will not show under my Software Inventory for my machine; it does show for other machines in KACE. Is there an issue with how KACE pulls the installed software list or how some installed programs may be only installed per-user and could be why KACE does not see it where it pulls from the registry?
Is there a search technique or script I may have to run to pull this info easily on a regular basis? I understand that in Windows 7 the Internet Explorer browser is seen as "Windows feature" rather than a program, regardless of what version installed, but I would assume that there would be a simpler way to go about this, at least the way I'm doing is taxing and time consuming.
I apologize if this topic has been covered or if there is reading material I've missed, I'd gladly take a look. Just was wondering if like the above linked post there was a quick "got-ya" for tricking the search to finding it rather than relying on naming conventions.
Thanks!
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Posted by:
scottlutz
12 years ago
In order to detect an install of IE9, I used the following custom inventory rule:
FileExists(C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\ie9props.propdesc)
That will at least record and version of IE9, without having to modify the rule everytime IE gets patched.
HTH
FileExists(C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\ie9props.propdesc)
That will at least record and version of IE9, without having to modify the rule everytime IE gets patched.
HTH
Posted by:
RichB
12 years ago
Google Chrome installs per user unless you use the enterprise version available here: http://www.google.com/chrome/eula.html?msi=true I got that from the AppDeploy notes about Google Chrome (http://itninja.com/link/google-chrome-for-windows---terms-and-conditions-agreement). It can also be seen here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/business/browser/. Instead of being version 16 it shows up in Installed Programs as "Google Chrome (64.228.75)."
Posted by:
IBAdmin
12 years ago
Thanks for the reply Scott. I'll be sure to make that label change for IE9. However, as a part of the original question... how do I search for IE8 when it only shows in the Software Inventory for XP machines and not Win7. Also, why does Google Chrome not show an install for some machines and it does for others, even if it shows in the "Programs" list on the local machine (also Win7 only)?
Posted by:
IBAdmin
12 years ago
Okay great, thanks Rich. I guess what I'm getting at now after seeing your post is there a way to view installed programs if they are per-user in Win7 via KACE or by default does it only pull from the HKLM for the "Installed Programs" list?
Posted by:
RichB
12 years ago
By default it only lists what you see in Programs and Features control panel.
Posted by:
IBAdmin
12 years ago
At least in regards for IEv8 and Windows 7 is it only safe to say that since its now considered a "Windows Feature" and removed from the Programs list that I cannot get a snapshot of the version, only installed updates?
Edit: To add to what you said above, if that was the case then for my current user which lists Google Chrome in my Program and Features, why would that not show if that's the case?
Edit: To add to what you said above, if that was the case then for my current user which lists Google Chrome in my Program and Features, why would that not show if that's the case?
Posted by:
IBAdmin
12 years ago
Can I run a PowerShell script like the below to gather this info for any current users with software installed via their account?
Get-ChildItem hkcu:\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall\ | ForEach-Object {Get-ItemProperty $_.pspath}
Get-ChildItem hkcu:\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall\ | ForEach-Object {Get-ItemProperty $_.pspath}
Posted by:
scottlutz
12 years ago
You can create a script to run as the current logged in user, and write the output of the command to a file. You can then use the existence of this file to determine if Chrome is installed, regardless of the current user.
Posted by:
snissen
12 years ago
I'm using our K1000 now to collect information about Web browsers on Macs and PCs. And I found that IE was not the only problem: Firefox 7 was installed on one Windows machine, and six weeks later it auto-updated to version 8, and six weeks later to version 9, etc. But the entry in Control Panel->Programs continued to report the original Firefox 7 install, and not the newer versions.
So what I did for both IE and Firefox is create custom inventory fields IEVersion and FirefoxVersion to pick up the file version from the .exe program files. With those fields, I can do very nice selections and reports on exact browsers versions.
As we begin to examine Chrome, I may have to create a ChromeVersion field as well.
BTW, I'm also picking up information on which Web browser is the default. This is a little tricky under Windows, and is not working at all on Macs. Sande
So what I did for both IE and Firefox is create custom inventory fields IEVersion and FirefoxVersion to pick up the file version from the .exe program files. With those fields, I can do very nice selections and reports on exact browsers versions.
As we begin to examine Chrome, I may have to create a ChromeVersion field as well.
BTW, I'm also picking up information on which Web browser is the default. This is a little tricky under Windows, and is not working at all on Macs. Sande
Posted by:
cblake
12 years ago
For IE I do a custom inventory rule to return the version that's on there: RegistryValueReturn(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer, Version, NUMBER)
That gives me a numeric return and I'm in business. Then I can use labels to target those machines for upgrade/downgrade using MI or Scripting.
That gives me a numeric return and I'm in business. Then I can use labels to target those machines for upgrade/downgrade using MI or Scripting.
Comments:
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I had a custom inventory rule in place as well, and it was working before we upgraded to 5.4 two weeks ago. Now it apparently still works, but it returns a different value (a string) than it did before. However, even if I create a new label that looks for just the numeral "6" in that string (for IE6), no results come back from that label of any machine that has the new agent.
So while the custom inventory rule apparently works, my smart labels suddenly won't using that rule. I'm not sure what happened. - KFox 11 years ago-
You may be encountering a known issue for Custom Inventory in 5.4.70402; a patch is expected in the next couple of months that addresses this I believe. - cblake 11 years ago
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Chris,
You're correct. I was using the same rule you were.
I opened a ticket with KACE and eventually received this reply:
I...was able to reproduce the issue in my lab and found it is bug # AGENT-3510 , the issue is when using a custom inventory rule for "NUMBER" it returns as a "string" when the query is looking for a number , so your information gets retrieved but the smart label still expects the number value hence the smart label stops working .
This is a fixed in 5.4 ap1 which we will be out sometime this spring (no
eta)
The work around is to change your custom inventory rule to use TEXT and then either create a new smart label or edit your existing smart label
To edit your existing smart label look for
MACHINE_CUSTOM_INVENTORY.NUM_FIELD_VALUE and change the "NUM" to STR
Its show now look like this .
MACHINE_CUSTOM_INVENTORY.STR_FIELD_VALUE - KFox 11 years ago
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We have a KKE session discussing the new 5.4 SP1/AP1 release Feb 20, 2013. Go to www.kace.com/kke to register for that. The release is expected a few days after the KKE. - cblake 11 years ago
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