The administrator can create server and agent tasks using the web admin console by creating a new task object under the “Tasks & Policies section->Tasks>”. To create a task, simply give it a name, select its task type, fill out the specific fields the type of tasks requires and then choose its trigger type and save the object. There are two types of tasks Server Tasks and Agent Tasks.
Agent Side Tasks
The following tasks can be created to be performed on the agent.
- Execute Script – This task pushes out a predefined script out to each associated agent to be executes as the specified user using the specified script engine. You can either upload a pre-exiting script or use the editor to create your own simple script. Be sure and specify the script file extension the agent will use to save its temporary file the specified script engine will use to execute the script.
- Gather Inventory – This task simply tells each associated agent to re-gather its full inventory and send its inventory to the server. Keep in mind partial inventory gets collected every time the agent restarts. Inventory is used for dynamic groups and reporting.
- Install Application – This task causes each agent to install the selected application when the task runs. The application should be associated to the user or computer so it won’t get automatically uninstalled later.
- Launch Process – This task causes the specified process to launch on each agent as either the system or the logged in user or as all logged in users.
- Ping – This is a simple task used primarily for simple troubleshooting. This task simply asks the agent to tell the server it received and processed the task.
- Reboot – This tells the agent to reboot itself depending on the Type (Reboot, Shutdown, Hibernate, Standby)
- Run Report – Tells the server to run and save the specified report with the specified parameters (if the report requires parameters).
- Send Message to Console – Sends a simple message to each agents desktop.
- Terminate Process – Causes the agent service to find any matching processes that match the specified process name and to terminate the process. The administrator can specify a warning message the end user will see just before the process is terminated.
- Uninstall Application – This task causes each agent to uninstall the specified OpDesk managed application. This task does not uninstall unmanaged applications. Use the Launch Process task to perform uninstalls of unmanaged applications.
In addition to creating a formal Task object the administrator can also send a simple task to the agent by finding the computer object under the Groups & Identities section. The administrator then hovers over the computer to see the context menu that lists the following simple tasks:
- Reboot – This tells the agent to reboot itself immediately
- Refresh Inventory – This task tells the agent to re-run its inventory report and sent the inventory to the server through its collection point.
Sever Side Tasks
The following tasks can be created to be performed on the server.
- Deploy Agent – This tasks instructs the server service to attempt to locate and install the agent to each IP address specified in the Deployment Targets tab. The deployment tab shows both Active Directory computer objects and ranges of IP addresses. The IP addresses should be limited in size do to the time it takes to attempt each IP address in the specified range. Obviously the ending IP address should be greater than the Starting address. You can see the task progress on the Agent Activity tab. This task requires the credentials of a domain user that has administrative rights to the agent. You can either fill out the network user name and password for each task or fill it in globally under the “Platform->Settings” page. This task also requires a valid distribution point and collection point to allow the agent to communicate with the server.
- Remove Agent – Tells the server service to locate and remove the agent from the computer using the domain user specified under the “Platform->Settings” page.
Task Triggers
All tasks can be either launched manually (once the task is saved) or on a schedule. The schedule can be set to a specific date and time or set to run recurrently. The recursive schedule options include Minutely, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly. You can specify how many times you want the task to run or you can specify an expiration date. You can also specify if you want the task to run at a UTC time or local time. UTC time is useful if you want all agents in different time zone to run at the same time.
