Managing Linux Computers
Administrators can use Desktop Central to manage computers running Linux
operating system. This document will explain you on the following:
Supported Linux OS
Desktop Central currently supports the following
Linux versions:
- Ubuntu 10.04 and later versions
- RedHat Enterprise Linux 6 and later versions
- CentOS 6 and later versions
- Fedora 19 and later versions
- Mandriva 2010 and later versions
- Debian 7 and later versions
- Linux Mint 13 and later versions
- Open SuSe 11 and later versions
- Suse Enterprise Linux 11 and later versions
Configuring Linux Agent
Settings
Desktop Central has different agents for
managing windows, Mac and Linux computers. Mac and Linux agents will not
be created by default. You can create Linux agents by configuring
the settings in the scope of management. This will help you automatically
create Linux agents for the local office and the remote offices. To Configure
the Linux agent settings follow the steps mentioned below.
- Click the Admin
tab to invoke the Admin
page.
- Click the Agent Settings
link available under SoM Settings.
- Select Linux Agent Settings
tab
- Select the domain or the workgroup to group Linux computers
(this is virtual grouping and will not impact on its functions).
Agents that are pushed remotely from SoM --> Add Computers
will be shown under the respective Domain/Workgroup from which
they are added.
 |
The credentials added will be used for automatic installation of agents across local
office computers irrespective of their domain. While adding credentials, it is recommended that the
user account falls under active directory else the credentials
can be added under workgroup type. |
- Click Save Changes
to create Linux agents.
Linux agents can be download from the SoM page, by choosing the
appropriate agent, such as LAN agent or WAN agent for specific
Remote offices.
Installing Desktop Central Agents
Linux agents can be installed manually in
the computers that need to be managed. Agents should be downloaded
on the Linux computer manually before initiating the installation process. For invoking the installation in client computers, SSH port (default port 22) should be open in the computers where the agent needs to be installed.
SSH port is used only for agent installation purposes and not for agent-server communication. Follow the steps mentioned below.
- Go to the terminal as a root user. If you do not login as a
root user, open the terminal and use sudo command to perform each
operation mentioned below and enter password whenever prompted.
This provides you the root privilege.
- Navigate to the location, where the agent is downloaded and
Unzip the DCLinuxAgent.zip by using the command "unzip
-e DCLinuxAgent.zip".
- Verify if, "DesktopCentral_LinuxAgent.bin"
& "serverinfo.json" are located in the same path
- Execute the Command, "chmod
+x DesktopCentral_LinuxAgent.bin"
as a root user. This prepares the executable for installation.
- Run the Installer
using "./DesktopCentral_LinuxAgent.bin".
Agent will be installed by default in "/usr/local/desktopcentralagent"
directory.
- If you wanted
to change the installation location of the agent, use this command
"./DesktopCentral_LinuxAgent.bin -d
<new_location>"
.
You can see that the Desktop Central agent
is successfully installed on the Linux computer. You need to install the
agents manually on the computers, which needs to be managed using Desktop
Central. Once the agent installation is completed, the computer will be
scanned automatically and the following details will be updated to the
Desktop Central server:
- System Details : All
details about the computer, like Users, Groups and Services. This
does not include details on the network shares mapped to the computer.
- Hardware Details
: All hardware details of the computer like, BIOS, Disk Drives,
Physical Memory, Processors, Network Adapters etc. This does not
include details on Printers and Ports.
- Software Details :
All details on the software that is installed on the managed computer,
with the version of the application and installation date etc.
Installing
Desktop Central Agent Remotely
 |
If you wanted to install agents for computers within the LAN,
then you can choose the computers and invoke agent installation
from the Desktop Central web console Admin
tab --> SoM -->Select computers and invoke agent installation.
If you wanted to install agents to computers which belongs to
a different remote office, then you will have to use SSH port (default port 22) |
When you want to push Desktop Central
agents to remote office computers, you can install them using
SSH (default port 22), provided the port should be open. Follow the steps mentioned below to install Desktop Central agent
using SSH (default port 22):
- Login to a Linux computer
- Download the appropriate agent, based on the remote office
- Copy the downloaded Desktop Central agent to the remote computer
on which the agent needs to be installed
- Go to terminal as root user
- Navigate to the location where the agent is being copied/downloaded
- Type "scp DCLinuxAgent.zip
username@hostname:<Path_To_Storage_Directory_If_Needed>"
to copy the agent to the target computer, enter
password if prompted
where username refers
to the root user name of the target computer
hostname refers to
the local host name of the target computer
If no path is specified, then the agent will be copied to "/home/username" in
the target computer
- Install the agent by following the steps mentioned below:
- Go to the terminal and Type "ssh
rootusername@hostname" to login to
the target computer
- Login as a root user. If you do not login
as rootuser, open the terminal and use sudo command to perform
each operation mentioned below and enter password whenever
prompted. This provides you the root privilege.
- Navigate to the location, where the agent is downloaded/copied,
if the downloaded agent is a remote office agent, then extract
<Remote_Office_Name>.zip
and navigate to Unzip the DCLinuxAgent.zip by
using the command "unzip -e DCLinuxAgent.zip".
- Verify if, "DesktopCentral_LinuxAgent.bin"
& "serverinfo.json" are located in the same path
- Execute the Command, "chmod
+x DesktopCentral_LinuxAgent.bin"
as a root user. This prepares the executable for installation.
- Run the Installer
using "./DesktopCentral_LinuxAgent.bin". Ensure
that the Property File "severinfo.json" exists in the Same
Directory as "DesktopCentral_LinuxAgent.bin". Agent
will be installed by default in "/usr/local/desktopcentralagent" directory.
- If you wanted to change
the installation location of the agent, use this command "./DesktopCentral_LinuxAgent.bin -d <new_location>" .
You have successfully installed the Desktop
Central agent on a remote computer using SSH.
Uninstalling Desktop Central
Agents
If you do not want to manage a computer,
you can follow the steps mentioned below to uninstall the Desktop Central
agent. Once Desktop Central agent is uninstalled, all the details related
to the computer will be removed from Desktop Central server. If you wanted
to manage this computer again, then you will have to re-install Desktop
Central agent in it. However the previous details related to the computer
will not be available. To uninstall the agents from the computers, follow
the steps mentioned below:
- Go to the terminal as a root user. If you do not login
as root user, open the terminal and use sudo command to perform
each operation mentioned below and enter password whenever
prompted. This provides you the root privilege.
- Navigate to the location, where the agent is installed,
(default
Location : /usr/local/desktopcentralagent) execute
this command to "chmod
+x RemoveDCAgent.sh"
to initiate the uninstaller. You need to have root privilege
to uninstall the agent. If you do not remember the installation
location, you can locate it here, Agent
Installed Directory : "/etc/desktopcentralagent/dcagentsettings.json"
- Execute this command
"./RemoveDCAgent.sh"
to uninstall the agent.
You can see that the Desktop Central agent has been uninstalled
successfully from the computer.
Supported Features:
Desktop Central currently supports the following
features for Linux computers.
Features supported in the Inventory Module
- Managing
Software License
- Managing
Software Categories
- Hardware
& Software Inventory Reports
- Alerting
by email for every Hardware & Software Changes.
Features supported in the Patch Module
- Automate patch deployment to Linux OS and thirdy party applications
- Patch compliance audits and reports
Features supported in the Software Deployment Module
- Supports installing/uninstalling of DEB based applications
- Customize and schedule software deployment during non business hours
Feature supported in the Configurations Module
- Execution of custom scripts
Features supported in Remote Control
- Remotely access computers on LAN and WAN using Active X and HTML5 Viewer
- Prompts user confirmation before providing access to a remote desktop
- Multi-monitor support with easy switching options
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