qnap it management station powered by mandriva...
TRANSCRIPT
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
V1.0 1
QNAP IT Management Station
powered by Mandriva Pulse
User guide
April 2014
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
V1.0 2
QNAP IT Management Station powered by Mandriva Pulse
About Mandriva
Mandriva SA is a French open source software editor providing innovative and easy-to-use enterprise and server
solutions. Founded in 1998, the company is head quartered in Paris with development centers in Curitiba, Brazil
and in Metz, France. Dedicated to making open source technologies accessible to enterprises, the company offers
products and solutions targeting enterprises, government organizations and the education sector. Mandriva
products are available online in multiple languages and sold through direct and indirect channels in many countries
around the world. More information is at http://www.mandriva.com
QNAP Turbo NAS with Mandriva Pulse Solution
The joint solution QNAP / Mandriva allows a combination of good software and a good hardware.
QNAP Systems, Inc., as its brand promise "Quality Network Appliance Provider", aims to deliver comprehensive
offerings of cutting edge network attached storage (NAS) featured with ease-of-use, robust operation, large
storage capacity, and trustworthy reliability. QNAP integrates technologies and designs to bring forth quality
products that effectively improve business efficiency on file sharing, virtualization applications, storage
management and surveillance in the business environments.
Audience
This document is intended to help understand the IT Management Station from a technical point of view (requires
some IT knowledge), and its benefits from a user point of view. It includes an installation description and a starter
guide. A test environment is used in this document to illustrate some of the possibilities of the IT Management
Station.
Disclaimer Disclaimer: As with all Best Practices, not every recommendation can – or should – be applied. Best Practices are
general guidelines, not hard, fast rules that must be followed. As such, you should carefully review each item to
determine if it makes sense in your environment. If implementing one (or more) of these Best Practices seems
sensible, great; if it doesn't, simply ignore it. In other words, it's up to you to decide if you should apply these in
your environment.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Contents 1. IT Management Station (Mandriva Pulse) overview............................................................................... 4
1.1. What does it do? .................................................................................................................... 4
1.2. Benefits ................................................................................................................................ 4
2. Installation.................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1. Solution Architecture ............................................................................................................... 5
2.2. Pre-requirements ................................................................................................................... 5
2.3. Pre/Post installation Requirements ............................................................................................. 5
2.4. Installation ............................................................................................................................ 6
2.4.1. Verify the pre-requirements .................................................................................................. 6
2.5. Configuration ....................................................................................................................... 12
2.5.1. Open Pulse interface .......................................................................................................... 12
3. Starting to use IT Management Station (Pulse) .................................................................................. 24
3.1. Pulse User Manual ................................................................................................................ 24
3.2. Add the first computer ........................................................................................................... 25
3.3. Check the computer inventory ................................................................................................ 27
3.4. Configure file backup and restore ............................................................................................ 28
3.5. Restore files from the backup ................................................................................................. 30
3.6. Create a complete image over the network ............................................................................... 31
3.7. Restore an image from the network ......................................................................................... 34
3.8. Deploy a software to all computers .......................................................................................... 35
3.9. Manage Windows Updates ...................................................................................................... 36
3.10. More features and options available ......................................................................................... 38
3.11. Tutorial Videos ..................................................................................................................... 38
4. Good to know .............................................................................................................................. 39
4.1. Change MySQL Password ....................................................................................................... 39
4.2. How to activate LDAP Server .................................................................................................. 43
4.3. Licensing............................................................................................................................. 44
4.4. Technical Support ................................................................................................................. 44
4.5. Additional links..................................................................................................................... 44
5. References .................................................................................................................................. 45
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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1. IT Management Station (Mandriva Pulse) overview
1.1. What does it do?
IT Management Station (powered by Mandriva Pulse) is designed to simplify daily tasks and IT asset management
for businesses of all sizes. Administrators can benefit from the IT Manager Station to centralize their management
of multi-OS and multi-site IT assets. Pulse extends the Turbo NAS business applications by supporting the following
key features:
With the IT Management Station, the Turbo NAS extends its business applications by supporting the following key
features:
• Web interface: Supervise large scale sites through a single web interface console
• Comprehensive inventory: Perform hardware and software inventory checks
• Software deployment: Deploy new software and security updates on all your IT assets
• Imaging: Create and deploy hard disk images of your computer directly from the network (using PXE)
• Remote control: Perform remote management & support
• Backup and restore: Supports full backup & daily incremental backup to protect an organization’s IT
assets
• Patch Management: Centralized software updates and control of your endpoint security
• License Management: Optimize your software assets usage
• Reporting: Generate IT asset reports
• Pull Mode: Increase the compliance of your roaming devices
• Software convergence: Automated software deployments
1.2. Benefits
The main features of Pulse are grouped according to four dimensions: flexibility, industrialization of IT,
management/supervision and security.
Flexibility: Pulse is an application that perfectly fits the needs of users and their existing IT computer systems and
allows managing heterogeneous systems and multi-platform with variable time range. Pulse is its ability to adapt to
user activity, by using dynamic groups which provide intelligent management, customized network booting for
managed IT systems and ACL for each feature.
Industrialization of IT: Pulse allows process automation for deployment and homogenization of all IT assets with
management packs, wizard, imaging. Automated processes reduce time and effort.
Management & Surveillance: Pulse allows constant monitoring with dashboard, log activities and system history.
Remote actions and tasks are easily done to administrate or provide remote access for technicians to help users.
Security: Pulse provides tools to ensure the safety of machines connected to the network by using secured
connections, encryption and recovery tasks. ACL and LDAP support offers a granularity of access control. Backups
can be done through imaging and incremental backup function.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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2. Installation
2.1. Solution Architecture
Pulse, hosted on QNAP Turbo NAS, will be the center of your managed environment, and will be able manage,
monitor, back up all of your IT assets:
Figure 1
2.2. Pre-requirements
Some requirements are necessary to install and use IT Management Station (Pulse):
- The Turbo NAS must be connected to the Internet: the installer will download additional packages for
installation
- Optware App Installed from the App Center
- DNS Server available on the network
Supported hardware
- QNAP Turbo NAS, Business Series with firmware QTS 4.1 (and later versions)
- Turbo NAS Series: TS-x80, TS-x79, TS-x79U-SAS, SS-x79U-SAS, TS-x70, TS-x69.
- For other Turbo NAS models1, please refer to the solution page at: http://www.qnap.com/i/station/en/it-
management.php
Additional shared folders will be created during the installation of Pulse for: computers, imaging, isos, masters,
packages, postinst, pulse.
2.3. Pre/Post installation Requirements
The following requirements can be done after the installation from the App Center. The configuration wizard will
guide you through the setup of those functions:
- A DHCP server is required for PXE boot (imaging and mastering feature)
o To use the Turbo NAS DHCP Server :
Fixed IP on the Turbo NAS (on Ethernet 1 ) : to enable DHCP server on the Turbo NAS
DHCP Server enabled on Turbo NAS (on Ethernet 1 ): allows PXE boot and provides
network backup, imaging and diskless environments from management
o To use an external existing DHCP server the setup wizard will guide you for its configuration.
- An LDAP Server installed and configured (It can be the one on the Turbo NAS, or an external LDAP Server)
- MySQL Server installed and configured
- TFTP Server installed and configured
- NFS Server installed and configured
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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2.4. Installation
2.4.1. Verify the pre-requirements
Login to QTS
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Verify the Turbo NAS has a fixed IP
The Turbo NAS requires a fixed IP. In this tutorial we are using a class C (192.168.168.0/24) as example only.
The DNS server and default gateway must be setup correctly.
Δ The Turbo NAS Fixed IP must be in a different range than the DHCP server range to avoid an IP conflict.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Verify the DHCP Server is enabled on the Turbo NAS (Optional)
If you plan to use the Turbo NAS DHCP Server, please make sure it is configured as below. Do not enable the
Turbo NAS DHCP Server if you already have one in your network environment.
If you plan to use an external DHCP Server, you can skip this setting.
The configuration wizard will guide you later to configure your DHCP Server.
- You can enable DHCP server on the Turbo NAS. The Turbo NAS will provide IP addresses to all the
computers being managed by Pulse.
- Choose the DHCP range according to your network configuration.
- WINS server is optional.
- DNS Suffix must be the domain you will use for LDAP domain.
- The TFTP Server IP address is the IP address of the Turbo NAS.
- Boot file must be “pxe_boot”
Δ The DHCP server is a requirement and allows PXE boot. This provides network booting, backup and imaging over
the network, and diskless environment for management,
Δ The DHCP range chosen must be used only for DHCP. Fixed IP addresses must be outside this range. In this
example, we respect this requirement:
- the Turbo NAS IP is 192.168.168.168
- the DNS server IP is 192.168.168.254
- The gateway IP is 192.168.168.254
- The DHCP range is 192.168.168.100 to 192.168.168.150
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Install Optware App
The installation Optware is mandatory. You must install this App from the App Center before installing IT
Management Station.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Install IT Management Station from the App Center
The installation may appear to pause at 45% for 10-45 minutes, depending on your location and network traffic.
During this phase, additional installation data is downloaded.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Finish the installation
Once the installation is completed, IT Management Station, Mandriva Pulse, will be available from the App Center,
the desktop and the main menu.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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2.5. Configuration
2.5.1. Open Pulse interface
You can open the Pulse Administration page from the desktop icon, the main menu or the App Center.
The first step is the configuration verification. The wizard will verify all of the necessary components and their
settings. If some settings are incorrect, a warning will appear. The “question mark” icon will display a picture of the
correct settings that need to be changed. (See the following page).
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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By clicking the “question mark” icon, the screenshot with correct settings will be displayed.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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If you wish to use an external DHCP Server or LDAP Server, you can click on the warning message at the bottom of
the configuration page to display a guide:
- How to configure the external DHCP Server
- How to configure the external LDAP Server
For an external DHCP server:
- For a Windows DHCP server, you need to configure the options 66 and 67:
o Option 66, input the Turbo NAS IP Address.
o Option 67, the boot filename is : /bootloader/pxe_boot
- For a Linux dhcp server, edit dhcpd.conf and add those 2 lines in the correct section:
filename "/bootloader/pxe_boot";
next-server ip.du.serveur.pulse;
In any case, please refer to your system’s dhcp server configuration manual.
Δ The DHCP Server configuration can be done after the installation of Pulse is complete. The DHCP Server
configuration is necessary to benefit the PXE boot that allows imaging over the network and OS deployments over
the network.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Follow all of the steps to enable each component.
The only available option is “Recheck the settings” until all conditions are correct.
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All settings for required components are correct
When all settings are completed, it is possible to click “Configure” to configure automatically Pulse itself.
If you use an external DHCP Server or LDAP server, it is also possible to click “Configure” to continue the
configuration process.
Click “Configure” and wait for the configuration to end. This step can take a few minutes.
Δ It is advised to change the default passwords on the Turbo NAS and MySQL Server. The default
passwords are:
- NAS: admin/admin
- MySQL: root/admin
- LDAP: there is no default password. The password is chosen when the LDAP Server is activated.
To change the password on MySQL, please refer to section 4.1 Change MySQL Password on page 39.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Enter passwords for the configuration process
MySQL :
Default MySQL password is:
user : root
password : admin
If you have changed the password, enter the password for the root user that you have set in your MySQL server.
Do not check “reset Pulse database”. This option is used to reset and empty the Pulse database. It is used only in
case of reinstallation without keeping existing data in the Pulse database.
LDAP :
Enter the password for your LDAP Server.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Wait for the configuration to complete.
The configuration can take a few minutes.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Activate Mandriva Pulse
In order to complete the installation, Pulse needs to be activated.
A free Demo License is available for up to 5 managed computers.
You can choose to activate the software offline (not described here) or online as in the following description:
Select “Activate Online”
Select your Language and Country
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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The next step requires you to login with your existing Mandriva account.
If you do not have a Mandriva account, you can register and create one at: http://store.mandriva.com/
(Also accessible via http://www.mandriva.com/en/ then “ServicePlace”)
Once on the ServicePlace, click “Register” and enter the required information.
After you account is created, on the Pulse configuration wizard, you can now login to activate your product:
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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If you did not purchase any license yet, you will be able to select only 5 demo licenses, fully functional. If you have
already purchased additional licenses, you should be able to see them on the list:
Select the license you want to use and click “Activate product”.
Click “Access Pulse Homepage”.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Configuration completed.
Once the configuration is complete, a welcome page will appear.
Click “Pulse Main Interface” to open the Pulse web console.
Agent Pack for Windows: Download the Agent program that needs to be installed on the managed computers.
Pulse Main Interface: The Pulse administration interface.
Pulse User Manual: The user manual.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Main Interface
To login to the Pulse Main Interface, use the username “root” (the root user of your LDAP Server), and the
password is the password of your LDAP Server.
Once the main console is open, the software is ready to be used.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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3. Starting to use IT Management Station (Pulse) This section of the document will describe how to start using Pulse. It will not describe all the functionalities or the
complete detailed steps.
However, it is possible to see how easy it is to use and all the benefits it can bring.
3.1. Pulse User Manual
The first step is to download the user manual, available from the Pulse homepage. It contains all function
description and examples.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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3.2. Add the first computer
Login to the first computer you want to manage.
Open your web browser, login to the Turbo NAS Administration console, and click on “Mandriva Pulse” icon to open
the Pulse homepage: (Or open the homepage directly: http://<Turbo NAS IP>:81/pulse2-homepage )
Click on “Agent Pack for Windows” and install the agent pack.
It will install the necessary agent on the client computer.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Once installed, you can open the Pulse management interface.
After few minutes, you will see the newly added computer in the Computers section.
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3.3. Check the computer inventory
On the computer list, choose the computer you want to check and click on the Inventory icon.
We will see a list of components regarding this computer.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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3.4. Configure file backup and restore
Click the Backup status icon.
As it is the first time you are backing up this computer, you will need to configure it. Click Configure.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Select your backup options:
When finished, click Confirm
You can start the first full backup now if you want to.
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After the first backup is complete, from the Backup Tab, you can see the status, configuration and even search for
files:
3.5. Restore files from the backup
To restore files from the backup, navigate to the Backup menu, select the computer where you want to restore files,
and click on the Browse icon:
You can now browse to select files/folders you want to restore.
To restore, click “Download selected (zip)” to download a zip file, or click “restore to host” to restore the files to the
host.
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3.6. Create a complete image over the network
Verify that the Turbo NAS imaging server is properly registered. If not, in the Imaging menu, click Actions “+” to
register the Turbo NAS imaging server:
Register your computer to the imaging system:
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Boot your computer from the network using PXE boot.
Note: Without registering the computer, it will not be able to perform network backup and the “Create a Backup”
Option will be missing.
Wait for the backup to complete:
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3.7. Restore an image from the network
To restore a complete system image, from the Computers Tab, choose the computer you want to restore, click on
the imaging icon.
All existing image will be listed below:
Click on the “Add image to boot menu”. It will add the
selected image to the boot menu making available the
restore function for this particular image:
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3.8. Deploy a software to all computers
It is possible to deploy software directly from Pulse.
To do so, create a package in Packages tab:
(You can see a detailed tutorial video at http://www.mandriva.com/en/products-services/Pulse/videos/ )
Select the computer on which you want to deploy the package and click the Software Deployment icon:
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Click on the installation button:
The package will then be deployed.
3.9. Manage Windows Updates
Pulse is able to manage Windows updates and have an overview of all necessary updates.
To use this feature, start to deploy the Pulse Secure Agent for Windows Update on the computer on which you
want to manage updates, referring to “3.8 Deploy a software to all computers”.
Once the agent is deployed, it can report the updates needed.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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The status can be seen in the updates menu:
It is possible to force refresh by using the quick action “Pulse Update Manager” in the software deployment menu:
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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3.10. More features and options available
Mandriva Pulse offers many more functions for better IT asset management and deployment. Please visit
http://www.mandriva.com/en/products-services/Pulse/ for more information about Pulse.
3.11. Tutorial Videos
Tutorial Videos for Pulse can be viewed from:
http://www.mandriva.com/en/products-services/Pulse/videos/
They describe and demonstrate key functions:
- Backup and Restore
- Agent installation
- Client registration
- How to create a master image
- Software package creation
- Desktop installation from a windows 7 sysprep image
- Creation of a Windows 7 sysprep image
- How to take control of a machine remotely using VNC
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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4. Good to know
4.1. Change MySQL Password
In order to easily change the password, it is possible to install an additional App from the App Center: phpMyAdmin.
This App allows administrating MySQL databases.
- Enable the Web Server in QTS. phpMyAdmin requires the web-server to display the administration console.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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- Install phpMyAdmin into QTS from the App Center
Once the App is installed, open phpMyAdmin from the desktop, from the main menu or from the App Center.
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- Login to phpMyAdmin using your current database login/password.
o The default login/password in QTS is : root/admin
-
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- Click once on “Change Password” to change the password:
-
The MySQL database now has a new password.
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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4.2. How to activate LDAP Server
Login to the Turbo NAS administration interface with user admin, navigate to Control Panel > Applications > LDAP
Server.
Enable LDAP Server and enter your full domain name, and your password, then click “Apply”.
The LDAP Server is now running.
Δ You can choose your LDAP domain freely. However, it should be a resolvable domain by your DNS server.
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4.3. Licensing
IT Management Station powered by Mandriva Pulse is provided with 5 free licenses2.
Additional licenses3 are available to purchase from the dashboard.
4.4. Technical Support
Technical support regarding Pulse functionalities is provided by Mandriva.
Contact information can be found on the IT Management Station dashboard, under “Subscription info”.
Depending on your license mode, you will have the corresponding support contact information.
Technical support regarding the Turbo NAS is provided by QNAP at: http://www.qnap.com/support
4.5. Additional links
Other direct access:
Pulse homepage: http://nas:81/pulse2-homepage
Pulse administration page: http://nas:81/mmc
© 2014 QNAP Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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5. References
QNAP Mandriva Solution:
http://www.qnap.com/i/station/en/it-management.php
QNAP Technical Support:
http://www.qnap.com/support
Mandriva Official Website:
http://www.mandriva.com/en/
Mandriva Pulse Overview:
http://www.mandriva.com/en/products-services/Pulse/
Video Tutorials:
http://www.mandriva.com/en/products-services/Pulse/videos/
Mandriva Technical Support
Available from the IT Management Station dashboard.
Mandriva Service Place Account
http://store.mandriva.com/my/account/
Mandriva Service Place
http://store.mandriva.com/
1 Supported Models are subject to change without prior notice. 2 Free Licenses are subject to change without prior notice. 3 License and pricing is provided by Mandriva SA.