Feature Request

[#1]

Does anyone else think it'd be a good idea for Casper to have a checkbox to
reset the printing system? I'm working on a script to do the same thing, but
it'd be great to have the option of removing ALL the client's printers
before pushing out a new set. It'd be great if it did the same thing as when
you do the "reset printing system" from the Print Setup Util.

Reseting seems like the best way to avoid duplicate/dead printers on the
client systems.

Anyone else think that's a good idea?
-- David Norris
Systems Administrator
Crispin Porter + Bogusky
dnorris at cpbgroup.com

[ernstcs]

In a conversation with one of the JAMF folks I also expressed interest in the ability to have all printers removed and a better way to manage them. So, I would agree that it would be a good idea.

[tlarkin]

Would it be possible to get a progress bar and some sort of interactive
menu for the user to interact with for installs and reboots? I have
several packages running that require a reboot. I would love it if the
user could choose when to reboot and install software. So they would
get a menu saying, "Hit OK to reboot and install software package X"

Then show a progress bar. I have over 5000 laptops in my network and
users are constantly putting their laptop to sleep or never rebooting or
logging in and out.

Thomas Larkin
TIS Department
KCKPS USD500
tlarki at kckps.org
cell: 913-449-7589
office: 913-627-0351

[ernstcs]

I have had similar need/want for this in terms of "Self Service" for end-user installs of software. I want to be really careful with options. There are some things I want to force to happen, or give the user a reasonable threshold of time to do it before I force it on them. It would be similar to options in SMS on the Windows side.

5000 laptops...I feel so tiny.

Craig

[Nicometo]

Yes, a self service type option for users would be quite nice...

tim

[#6]

Some sort of warning or indication would be great for the laptops. More
and more of our machines are wireless and moving around, on/off the
network, so pushing larger packages is tricker. I suppose Caching and then
waiting to install after cached might help, but harder to keep track of.

Nathaniel Lindley

++++++++++
Learning Systems Specialist
Educational Technology
Saint Paul Public Schools
Saint Paul, Minnesota
nathaniel.lindley at spps.org
phone: 651-603-4929

[#7]

My only comment is that laptops seem to be the new trend and all of our
recent purchases have all been laptops. Also, having a progress bar any
where that you wonder what is going on will be huge.

Cyrus

[#8]

Progress on remote installation would be nice, especially when they are wireless clients, which we don't always know ahead of time.

Nathaniel Lindley

chris.stuart at jwt.com

[#9]

I agree as well, it can be especially frustrating when deploying huge programs like Adobe and FCS. It would also be nice if in the Casper application, if it gave a progress bar when installing software on each machine instead of just "Installing Adobe CS3". Maybe it would reflect overall progress if it had multiple installs to do. Just a thought.

Thanks,
Chris Stuart
Mac Systems Administrator
JWT - Chicago
p. 312.951.4000 x4553
c. 312.375.5092

[tlarkin]

Here is my conundrum... We have a very large wireless laptop user base,
over 5,000 clients. We found an error in an application that ws part of
the master image. We needed to push out different preferences for it. Well, since most users never reboot or log in/out of their laptop its
harder to get it out to everyone. Also, when they put it to sleep, it
stops the process as far as I can tell. I don't try pushing out CS3
over wifi, I have a switch on a dedicated VLAN users can come plug in
their laptop and get it pushed out over the LAN.

A progress bar to indicate that the software install was complete would
be nice, then they would know that they can put their laptop to sleep,
and also the option to install after next reboot, now, or later if they
are using the laptop. Also, a message saying installation complete
would be nice too.

Thanks,

Thomas Larkin
TIS Department
KCKPS USD500
tlarki at kckps.org
cell: 913-449-7589
office: 913-627-0351

[#11]

I don't know if this would work for you but it is possible to force a logout
after X min of inactivity. That would fix part of your problem, for the
near term at least.

[#12]

What I've been doing to fill in the progress bar gap is to execute a script
after the installation has completed informing the user that the task at
hand has completed. A progress bar will still be much better than the script
since user won't know that some task are being performed on their Mac.

Not sure if this is applicable to your situation or not. It seems to cover
your need to let the user know the task has completed but it would be nice
to have a progress bar reminding users that something is going on. Also it
would be nice to have this feature built in rather than creating it
manually.

Cyrus

[John_Wetter]

I'll throw my voice in for the self-service option also. With this I wonder if there would also be a way to tell a trial version vs. a 'real' version. I suppose that would depend on finding some file from the vendor. In this way we could hand out a 30 day demo, then 'upgrade' them to the full version if they use it and request it.

Also, with licensing, it would be nice to be able to break up the licensed software by either Building or network segment. While we're trying to get away from this, a good deal of our software was purchased only for specific sites, or on the order of 40 at this site, 5 at that site, and 300 at yet another site. While having the total counts is nice, having more granularity would be even better!

So, I guess that's two requests.

Thanks,
John

--
John Wetter
Technology Support Administrator
Technology & Information Services
Hopkins Public Schools
952-988-5373
john_wetter at hopkins.k12.mn.us

[#14]

I am very new to Casper, so this may be a feature that is already present and I just haven't found it yet. Or, it may be a feature that is already in the works.

It would be nice to have the ability to pull actual warranty information directly from Apple using the serial numbers of the machines. I know that the Self Service portal for Apple (Global Service Exchange or GSX) has an API that you can script/program into, and I know that there are companies looking at using the AppleCare information site for this. Managed Planet, which creates plug ins for LANDesk, has one that they were/are working on.

So, if we can get warranty/purchased date information from Apple in the inventory reports, that would be swell!

Thanks!

-
Steve Wood
Director Information Technology
swood at integerdallas.com

The Integer Group | 1999 Bryan St. | Ste. 1700 | Dallas, TX 75201
iPhone. 940.312.2475 | fx. 214.758.6902 | desk. 214.758.6813

[milesleacy]

Great idea!! I'll second that.

The once concern I have is, what happens when a computer is out of warranty?
I haven't had GSX access in a couple of years, so I don't know if GSX
reports the expiration date of expired warranties, but
apple.com/support/oss/ just reports 'no longer covered', not the expiration
date. I suppose where no data is available, the tool would simply not write
anything to the database. This is certainly not a show stopper, and if a
system like this is in play, you could safely assume that, after an update,
any computer without an expiration date in the JSS is no longer covered for
service.

-- Miles Leacy
Senior Macintosh Technician
Polo Ralph Lauren
212-318-7603
miles.leacy at poloralphlauren.com

[tlarkin]

GSX should display all warranty information and repair history. However, getting access to that end is probably not going to happen. However, Apple already has a web front end to check warranty out, here:

https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do

I am not sure if you interface casper with it or not, but just a thought....

Thomas Larkin
TIS Department
KCKPS USD500
tlarki at kckps.org
cell: 913-449-7589
office: 913-627-0351

[#17]

I'm lazy, just like all good Sys Admins are. I don't want to have to copy and paste 100 computer serial #s into GSX or the AppleCare front end on their site. I want a button to push, or an automatic inventory feature, that grabs that info for me.

As for machines that are out of warranty, or ones that show no data, that's fine because you can treat them as the exception, not the norm. Honestly the data I am looking for is not just the warranty, but the purchased date (estimated purch. date in GSX). That information can help me when I'm doing my forecasting for budgeting reasons. Or when I'm working on my trickle down reports for machines.

Thanks!

-
Steve Wood
Director Information Technology
swood at integerdallas.com

The Integer Group | 1999 Bryan St. | Ste. 1700 | Dallas, TX 75201
iPhone. 940.312.2475 | fx. 214.758.6902 | desk. 214.758.6813

[#18]

I agree with what has been said to date. This would be a very helpful feature. From my point of view having data on machines that are out of warranty would still be of value as it would be a great reminder to either update their warranty cover or to arrange for purchase of new equipment. Can someone from jamf comment on whether this is technically feasible?

Cheers,

Wylie

[#19]

Wouldn't it be cool if we could just enter our GSX username/pw account information into the JSS somewhere and it would interface/download the data by MAC address or SN or something from Apple. What about computers that have new logic boards and the serial number reports as 55 or 0. maybe MAC address would be the best identifier. We've tried to get the data from Apple before, even in just a flat file to import. no luck.

Nathaniel Lindley

++++++++++
Learning Systems Specialist
Educational Technology
Saint Paul Public Schools
Saint Paul, Minnesota
nathaniel.lindley at spps.org
phone: 651-603-4929

[#20]

If a logic board is replaced, and the tech did not run the board serialize utility to put the new s/n and MAC address in, you're out of luck. Again, this is an exception, not a norm. How many machines do you have in your inventory that have had LB replacements? I'm sure you could keep a spreadsheet somewhere with that info in it.

I've gotten warranty info from Apple before, thru my direct sales rep, but it took him a few weeks to get it. I basically sent him a list of serial numbers, and he sent back a list with MFG date, which was perfect for what I needed.

Thanks!

-
Steve Wood
Director Information Technology
swood at integerdallas.com

The Integer Group | 1999 Bryan St. | Ste. 1700 | Dallas, TX 75201
iPhone. 940.312.2475 | fx. 214.758.6902 | desk. 214.758.6813

[#21]

Hi,

I have setup configurations with some smart configs. It would be really helpful if you could colour code either the base configs or the smart ones so you could see which package came from which set.

Best wishes

Michael

[ernstcs]

You must be talking in the Casper Admin app and not the web interface. I can agree with this. It would be helpful when you are looking at an individual smart config. If for some reason I had two of the same package in there for some dumb reason, one from the master and one in the smart config under it, then I could easily tell which to pull out. Better yet for that stupid situation have some intelligence in the app to tell me I'm doing that, not allow it, or just correct it and remove the smart config instance when the Master has that package added.

I know that I've already requested for the web interface of Casper Admin to have two different views when I work with a config; a condensed version that only shows the packages currently assigned to it (instead of the monster list of them all), and then a full view so I can add more packages. At least the web interface you can somewhat distinguish what's inherited with a grayed out check box. Colors would be even more obvious (unless you are somewhat color blind).

Craig

[#23]

On the back of this, I would love for JAMF to fix the priority sorting in Casper Admin so that when I change the priority of a package the list automatically resorts rather than having to go click the header twice each time. We spend a great deal of time viewing the configs sorted by priority and it's a real pain to have to keep resorting it...

Cheers
Dan

[#24]

Hi,

It would be really handy if I could do a smart group filtered against package receipts. It would be the easiest way to tell what packages were installed. I will be rolling out font upgrades with Casper and I can see the receipts for those packages, but can't do a smart group against them.

Best wishes

Michael

[Nicometo]

I would like to second this feature request, only modify it a little...

There are two applications we use that do not show up under the installed
applications. There is an InDesign plug-in called Q2ID3 that is a licensed
plug-in, however it only shows up in package receipts.

The other is Default Folder X. This is another licensed application,
however since it really is a PreferencePane, it only shows up under package
receipts.

So, when an update to either of these applications come out, it would be
nice to have a smart group created based on either of the package receipts
to then create a policy to install the update.

Thanks...

tim

[talkingmoose]

On 6/17/08 11:11 AM, "Clare Bartlet" <cpb10 at cam.ac.uk> wrote: On 17 Jun 2008, at 16:54, Ernst, Craig S. wrote: Hi Clare, I think this is one of the most appropriate places to post feature ideas so people do get a chance to expand on it and refine it.

That's exactly why I post my requests here.

we have around 200 Macs that are configured using Casper. These Macs are in around 25 different, and often remote, locations. The imaging of these Macs is carried out by different people at each of these sites. We have rebuilt the JSS from scratch this time around. Once we have asked the sites to image their Macs I would like to be able to look at each configuration and see all the Macs that have picked up that config. I can't see how else to do this

This should work for you but not after the fact:

Building on Enrique's suggestion...

Use Composer to create a package that is named for your configuration. It
can contain nothing.

Add that package to your configuration so that it gets "installed" or at
least the JSS will store a receipt that it was installed.

In the JSS, view Logs --> Packages installed by the Casper Suite. Click the
"Computers With" button.

Hope this helps!

--

bill

William M. Smith, Technical Analyst
MCS IT
Merrill Communications, LLC
(651) 632-1492

[ernstcs]

Since it's not built into the JSS aside from what's inside the database...make a script in the configs, maybe postflight, that logs to something like a website with the machine name and config name.

Or the other package option that just came through. Many ways to do it...

Craig

[#28]

I don't know if there is a better email address to send a Casper feature request to, but if I post it here then maybe others can say if they'd also be interested....

I would find it really useful if Casper Admin could do a reverse lookup on the JSS and list all the Macs that it knows about with a particular configuration - at the moment it's really tedious to get at this info.

Any chance for this feature??

Clare

--------------------------------------------
Clare Bartlet mailto:cpb10 at cam.ac.uk
Macintosh Support phone: +44 1223 334723
University of Cambridge Computing Service
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH

[ernstcs]

Hi Clare,

I think this is one of the most appropriate places to post feature ideas so people do get a chance to expand on it and refine it. You can email the support team directly if you'd like to as well, if you need that address let me know...didn't want to post it. You can get more information here:

http://www.jamfsoftware.com/support/

In regards to your request I thinks its possible since it's querying autorun data, assuming you stored image time information in the JSS. The Casper Imaging Logs don't have any configuration chosen information in them, but I wish they did actually (feature request). Regardles, I'm wondering why you want to do this? If you explain what it is you need to do or why you want to do it "we" can help maybe give you a better solution or it would make more sense to JAMF to look at including it in a future release.

Craig Ernst
Systems Management & Configuration
----------------------------------
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Learning & Technology Services
105 Garfield Ave
Eau Claire, WI 54701
Phone: (715) 836-3639
Fax: (715) 836-6001
----------------------------------
ernstcs at uwec.edu

[#30]

we have around 200 Macs that are configured using Casper. These Macs On 17 Jun 2008, at 16:54, Ernst, Craig S. wrote:
are in around 25 different, and often remote, locations. The imaging of these Macs is carried out by different people at each of these sites. We have rebuilt the JSS from scratch this time around. Once we have asked the sites to image their Macs I would like to be able to look at each configuration and see all the Macs that have picked up that config. I can't see how else to do this

Any ideas would be appreciated
Clare

--------------------------------------------
Clare Bartlet mailto:cpb10 at cam.ac.uk
Macintosh Support phone: +44 1223 334723
University of Cambridge Computing Service
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH

[ernstcs]

I don't have an answer for this aside from querying against the MySQL database in MySQL Query Browser or command line. Sorry =(

Craig

[tlarkin]

You could create a smart group and dump all your inventory in it that
has a certain software version or what not, and then everyone not in the
group isn't running the same software configuration. Unless you are
actually talking about hardware configurations.

Thomas Larkin
TIS Department
KCKPS USD500
tlarki at kckps.org
cell: 913-449-7589
office: 913-627-0351

[#33]

Ho about Logs
Packages Installed By Casper/Policy
Packages that have been installed using Casper or a Policy
-- ricky

[ernstcs]

Don,

I think your misunderstanding the problem. I do use AD, that's all I use
here. I use it for scoping policies all the time.

In AD we have things broken down very well to specific areas and different
user admin accounts for LABS vs OFFICES for the sake of separation, and so I
don't accidentally break an office machine when trying to do something in a
lab. I have to use the different accounts on the Windows side, one for each
specific area. Technically I have to do the same thing on the Mac side, but
for some reason I just HAPPEN to know the built-in admin account for all the
Macs. =)

I DO use these groups in my AD bindings to separate out who has admin rights
on boxes in the different areas. The housing admins group only gets added to
the bindings for housing machines at image time, the education labs the
same, etc.

What we're specifically talking about here is when you grant a user or group
rights to use the Control and Observe aspects of Casper Remote via
CasperVNC.

Under Settings -> Accounts -> Edit Account (for any user or group) ->
Privileges Tab.

Under VNC Privileges if I give that user or group rights to work without a
prompt they can do that on ANY box in my entire management system regardless
of how I scope out administrative rights locally on the box. I can't say
they only get to use control without a prompt on LAB boxes.

It's partially a trust issue and privacy issue, but I have to trust people
to not abuse it. Fortunately the JSS logs this information. However, I also
like to try and make sure we don't have to get put into bad situations if
someone does break that trust. Protect people from themselves.

Not sure if that helped clarify or not...

Craig E

[ernstcs]

So I promise this will be my last injection to this thread for today...I hope.

This whole bit about being more granular should apply to every aspect of privileges within the JSS itself quite honestly. I understand that doing this creates a huge level of complexity programmatically for the development team, but that’s not my problem. =)

I should be allowed to create containers (groups) of machines to assign distinct users/groups JSS privileges on. I would like to think I could use my pre-existing smart groups to populate these containers. Here is the process:

You would create your container In that new container you would select the systems you want in it either with individual machines or groups (much like scoping policies) In that container you would add the users/groups you want to set privileges for For each user/group you select the particular permissions

Then the last piece for the cherry on top is creating pre-defined sets of permissions that I can custom name so that I can re-use them over and over again instead of checking 5 million boxes. If that were to happen then the last bullet could read:

* For each user/group you select the particular permissions or assign a pre-defined custom permissions set

Wow...that would be AWESOME!

The creating pre-defined sets of permissions bit can really stand on its own as a separate feature request now in the existing format, but expands nicely into this model, too. In fact, I think I may have asked for that as a feature a long while back.

Have a nice evening.

Craig E

[Kedgar]

Just some suggestions... these may have been requested already, or there may be a way to do these that I'm unaware of.

ARD:
I rarely use ARD since implementing Casper Suite, however as an alternative it may be nice once in a while. I'd like to suggest the ability to export a formatted computer list from Casper inventory that would be able to be imported into ARD.

VNC Improvements:
Support of multiple displays
Ability to run as a daemon so as not to disconnect when logging in/out
would it be possible to use the built-in screen sharing as the vnc client?

Thanks!

[#37]

I endorse all of these improvements. This functionality would be great!

Regards,

[#38]

Ok, so since we're on the subject of Feature Requests, I figured I'd throw this out there and see if I get any bites.

It would be nice to be able to add/remove a computer to a static group via a policy or a script (and maybe there already is, and I'm just overlooking the script options).

What I would be able to use it for now, is to determine battery status. I check battery life via a script, to see if the full charge capacity is under a certain mA, and then install a dummy package is it is. I then report on that, and replace the batteries as needed based on this info.

It would be nice if at this point, I could put that computer into a static group and have a policy uninstall the dummy packages and remove it from the bad battery group, and then remove it from the static group. This way, if that computer ever has battery problems again, I could have all of the policies set to ongoing, and they would run again, whereas if I set them to once per computer, if they ever had any issues nothing would occur.

Thanks,
Robert

[tlarkin]

I have some specific scripts that output desired info into
/var/log/battery.log for our own internal use. I can share them if you
want to take a peek at them.

[ernstcs]

I stopped using ARD years ago since using Casper Suite for remote work. The point below is my biggest issue.

I understand why it happens and ARD just handles this more elegantly. I would just be content if the reconnect button actually just worked so I can quickly get back onto a box without bouncing around between Casper Remote windows.

Perhaps there would be advantages to using the built-in screen sharing capabilities, but I’m not certain if that would require purchasing any rights by JAMF. The the VNC client is free (or so I think) and ultimately it gets what you need done in a secure fashion.

Craig E