Novell Upgrades ZENworks Linux Management Software

cfelde writes "eWeek reports that Novell launched a major new release of its ZENworks Linux Management software at CeBIT on Friday, with the aim of bringing management of Linux desktops and servers on par with that of Windows desktops and servers. ZENworks 7 Linux Management adds remote control, imaging, hardware and software inventory, a Web console, and ZENworks' automated policy management to make it a full life-cycle management suite."

Comments

Addresses Critics Wells

[bigtallmofo]

New features listed in ZENWorks 7 will really help to shutter the FUD in regard to Linux's TCO.

Now CIOs will have an even more robust product to be able to tell their MS reps to stop chanting "TCO" as a reason to stick with/switch to Windows.

wtf?

[Apreche]

with the aim of bringing management of Linux desktops and servers on par with that of Windows desktops and servers

Um, how about a tool that does the reverse? Something that turns the windows registry and software configurations into a bunch of sensible and human readable text files all in a single directory with sane permissions.

Although the imaging is nice. I know way too many imaging programs which do not correctly support certain bootloaders in the mbr.

Critical need

[The Second Horseman]

Actually, deploying and managing hundreds or thousands of workstations in a policy-driven fashion is critical in a large buisiness network. It's the policy-driven part that's important -- it can really cut down on the number of people you have running around changing workstation configs. The non-corporate elements around here tend to discount these sort of things, but if you're short-staffed and faced with 1,500 workstations, managment and deployment are huge issues. And up until recently, those tools for Linux werent there. They're not really there for MacOS. If you want to beat Windows, you have to not only match what the OS does for managment, you have to have 3rd-party tools as good as the ones available for Windows. And a lot of those 3rd party tools are quite good.

Screenshots....

[leonmergen]

... here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Re:No it does not!

[morcego]

Cost of a Linux support person compared to a Winblow -> HIGH

Rightly so, considering that a Linux support/admninstrator can handle, in average, 3 times more users/machines.

Re:What?

[FreeLinux]

The most important question is: what does it really mean for Linux users, administrators and developers?

They are not referring to making Linux like Windows. They are referring to making the management of Linux, through ZenWorks, like the management of Windows, through ZenWorks. This is an important feature for ZenWorks and its users and is a feature that Novell has been missing for some time, despite their previous claims of ZenWorks Linux support.

ZenWorks is a fantastic tool and is extremely powerful. It performs functions such as hardware and software inventory, application installation and removal, remote control, system policy management and more. But, ZenWorks primary area of support has been Windows systems. Novell claimed that it supported Linux and PDA's but, this support was very limited. Now, with ZenWorks 7, the supported features for Linux approach the level of the Windows features that have always been there.

First off, you need to understand what ZenWorks can do. ZenWorks is a system for controlling and managing workstations and servers network-wide from a single location, using policies that are stored in eDirectory, Novell's directory service. With ZenWorks, an administrator can control settings like Windows Policies and KDE kiosk configuration. With ZenWorks an administrator can install and remove applications, patches and configurations remotely from a single location. With ZenWorks, an administrator can install new operating systems or reinstall broken operating systems remotely, from a single location.

Some of these things you can do with Linux already and some of them you can't. Or at least, you can't do them easily. This new ZenWorks is supposed to make it brain dead easy to do these things for 10 systems or 10,000 systems. The key concepts are ease and volume/automation. Sure, you could write a script to ssh into your systems and install some software or what-have-you but, it will be different every time and too often requires some form of manual intervetion. Most importantly, nothing about the script will be useable on Windows workstations. You'll have to use different scripts and scripting languages for those systems so, the overhead is relatively high.

Here are a couple of scenarios. Suppose your working the helpdesk and a user calls to say that their PC isn't working. You open up the management console and quickly locate the PC in question from amongst the thousands in your firm. With two clicks you are connected to the PC and remotely controlling it. Regardless of whether the PC is Windows or Linux, the procedure is the same.

Now you see that the PC isn't actually broken, as the user reported but, it is simply missing an application because the user had moved in from another department and had not yet been configured to use that application. A couple of clicks associates the user with the application and the application is automatically installed and made available to the user. Again, Windows or Linux, the procedure is the same in ZenWorks.

Now, let's suppose that during the install of the application, the user unplugged the PC. I don't know why they did it, they just did it. They're a user, OK? Anyway, for what ever reason the disk is corrupted and the OS is hosed. You instruct the user to restart the machine and choose the appropriate option from the boot menu. The PC is reimaged with a fresh copy of the OS and the appropriate applications are reinstalled. In ten minutes the user is up and running with no user or admninistrator intervention. Again, Windows or Linux, the procedure is the same from within ZenWorks.

Now, let's assume a different scenario. This time, let's assume that your boss has decided that the company will now use the latest Windows 200X on all workstations. This is a massive upgrade that requires not only the installation of a new OS but also the installation or upgrade of numerous applications that were being used before but no longer work under the new Windows version. Even if you use RIS or Ghost

Re:to late, to little

[ezs]

Sure - if the customer is tying all of their management into Microsoft SMS 2003. The SMS/Vintela story is good if you have Windows guys looking to have some simple Linux management. Contrast this to the ZENworks story that says - "We don't mind what you have". ZENworks will run in a pure NetWare, pure Windows or a pure Linux environment. Most often it runs in a broadly heterogeneous world. You choose who manages what and what to install on and where to administer from.

Re:Absolutely

[morcego]

That is true sometimes, of course. But that was not the point I was trying to make.

I was comparing people with comparable skills. Just a question of productivity due to system resources, and the fact that you will have, in the long run, lower suport calls with a unix network.

Most people tend to forget a basic fact about Unix versus Windows. Their learning curves are the inverse of each other.

To learn basic skills, Windows is (usually) easier. But the more you want to advance your knowledge, the harder it gets.

Unix is the oposite. Harder to learn the basics, and keeps getting easier and easier to advance your knowledge.