PC-Duo Enterprise Client v2.0 ============================= Release Notes ------------- SB 24-Jan-03 Copyright (c) 2003, Vector Networks Limited. All Rights Reserved Contents ======== 1 Introduction 2 New Features in this Release 3 Compatibility with Existing LANutil32 Installations 4 Problems Corrected 5 Known Problems, Restrictions and Notes 6 Request for Feedback 7 Vector Networks Web Site 1 Introduction =============== This document accompanies PC-Duo Enterprise Client v2.0. It contains notes on platform support, known problems, etc, and should be read in conjunction with the Console documentation and README that accompany this release. Note: We recommend that you install the Enterprise Host software before installing the Clients. The Console's New Site Wizard allows you to create a pre-configured Client kit that then allows easier Client installation and rollout. Please see the User Manual for more details. Automatic Client Installation: Please refer to the User Manual for information on automatic deployment of the Client software. 2 New Features in This Release =============================== This release adds support for Hardware Inventory capture of accurate device information on the following device types: PCI SCSI ISA IDE PCMCIA USB FireWire (IEEE 1394) Infra-Red There are also many improvements in the area of hard disk and mapped device identification (including DFS drives), modem recognition, COM ports etc. PC manufacturer, model and serial number information is now uploaded to the Host with all the other Inventory data, allowing the Host software to present these items through proper database fields, which makes these items much easier to use. 3 Compatibility with Existing LANutil32 Installations ====================================================== PC-Duo Enterprise is compatible with existing LANutil32 v5.x Host and Client installations. Please refer to the Upgrade Guide for details (the Upgrade Guide is included in the Console kit). The Upgrade Guide includes instructions for users migrating from LANutil32 to PC-Duo Enterprise. 4 Problems Corrected ===================== Client support for changed Offline Area paths has been improved such that changes to path credentials, for instance, no longer cause allocation of a new Offline Id. There are various other improvements to Offline Mode settings changes, under the installer and in cooperation with the Console's Configure Cients Operation. Passwords containing "/" characters could previously trigger a checksum error during Software Distributions and cause authentication failures elsewhere. This has been fixed. Hardware Inventory data capture could fail to pick up very long environment variable definitions such as can occur occasionally with PATH settings. There have been several improvements to the Offline Client directory snapshot handling (DIR_x.DAT files). Corrupted files could often cause the Console to crash and the Client failed to delete files that were not fully saved due to lack of disk space on the Offline Area server. This area has been improved significantly but note that we have seen some snapshot files that have exactly 2KB of binary garbage data before the start of the genuine snapshot data. We are researching the cause for this. There were sometimes problems with username capture in previous releases. The correct logged-on username is now collected. Please note that we no longer rely on this being captured through the User Prompting facility, and the new "LutInfo.Ref" question file does not include this as a hidden question any more. This is because it is more reliable when the logged-on username is captured by the main Hardware Inventory capture process rather than when the user is prompted (which invariably only happens quite rarely). Support has been added for identifying memory greater than 2GB. There were problems with Software Distribution/LANdeploy and Windows XP Clients. One issue involves a Windows XP requirement that LANdeploy must be run in a domain environment (otherwise Windows XP refuses connection to the ADMIN$ share). Another issue relates to the Client not having access to the files required to perform the Distribution Job (usually reporting an error 3 in the ClDist32.txt debug file). This has been corrected. This release corrects an occasional problem with making network connections on Windows XP in the Software Distribution Client (concerning Windows XP "remembered connections"). This release also corrects CPU recognition errors concerning newer processor types and speeds. The DMI data capture process was unable to gather data from some PC vendor systems (e.g. Toshiba laptops). This has been corrected. The Software Distribution Agent now checks the main Client .INI file for debugging being enabled. This makes it integrate with the updated Configure Clients Operation on the Host. 5 Problems Outstanding and Miscellaneous Notes =============================================== Beware that we have seen occasional 'dangling connections' from the Client (where network connections to the Offline Area have remained after Client processing is finished and further connections are made over subsequent hours/days). We are researching this problem. Installing the Client into the Program Files tree on Windows XP can cause subsequent file access problems. The installer defaults to installing into a different directory in these situations for this reason. 6 Request for Feedback ======================= We are very interested to hear your comments on the appearance and usability of this software, and your suggestions on relative priorities for new features. Please send your comments to: Vector Networks Ltd., 4 Mercury Park, Amber Close, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B77 4RP U.K. Tel: +44 (0)1827 67333 Fax: +44 (0)1827 67068 support@vector-networks.co.uk sales@vector-networks.co.uk support@vector-networks.com sales@vector-networks.com 7 Vector Networks Web Site =========================== Visit our World Wide Web site for new product, software update, and release information. Point your Web browser at the following URL: http://www.vector-networks.com