1 Introduction
What is HP Device Manager?
HP Device Manager (HPDM) is a server-based application that provides powerful centralized administration capabilities for thin client devices running HP software. Features of HPDM include the following:
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Centralized management tool
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Thin client administration handled through tasks
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Supports all HP thin client operating systems
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Secure communication channels with data encryption
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Support for WAN environment
What is HP Device Manager?
1
Overview
HPDM is structured as a Console–Server–Gateway system.
Figure 1-1 HPDM overview
NOTE: The deployment of the HPDM system is very flexible. See the deployment white paper at ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/hpdm/Documentation/WhitePapers/ for more details.
2 Chapter 1 Introduction
HPDM Console
The HPDM Console is the user interface of HPDM and can be installed on any number of machines.
Several HPDM Consoles can interact with an HPDM Server.
The HPDM Console allows system administrators to do the following:
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View details for each controlled device
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Organize device trees
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Create and maintain remote job definitions
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Monitor tasks sent out to devices
HPDM Server
The HPDM Server controls HPDM Agents through the HPDM Gateway.
Tasks, stored as task templates on the HPDM Server, can be sent to each HPDM Agent through each HPDM Agent’s respective HPDM Gateway to perform commands as required.
IMPORTANT: There must be only one HPDM Server in the system.
HPDM Gateway
The HPDM Gateway serves as the link between HPDM Agents and the HPDM Server. The HPDM
Agents register with the HPDM Gateway when they are started.
Multiple HPDM Gateways may be required for specific network architecture or load balancing, but it is not mandatory. In many cases, installing an HPDM Gateway to manage thousands of devices in different subnets is also an appropriate deployment strategy. In a simple single network environment, the HPDM Gateway and HPDM Server can be hosted on the same computer.
TIP: The machine installed with the HPDM Gateway also normally contains the PXE server installed by HPDM.
HPDM Agent
The HPDM Agent is a software component installed on devices so that HPDM can interact with them.
HPDM Agents are embedded into the operating system to enable HPDM to manage devices out-ofthe-box (HPDM Agents on older devices may need to be upgraded).
HPDM Agents receive task commands from an HPDM Gateway, execute the commands and report back to the HPDM Gateway with the results.
Overview 3
Repositories
Repositories are where task payload files are stored. HPDM Agents download files from or upload files to repositories according to tasks from the HPDM Server. These files can include but are not limited to the following:
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Device images
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Imaging tools
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HPDM Gateway and HPDM Agent files
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Software components (add-ons)
The components of the repository system are as follows:
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Master Repository—Holds all payload files. There can only be one Master Repository in the system.
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Child Repository—Holds all or some payload files. There can be multiple Child Repositories.
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Master Repository Controller—Manages the payload files in the Master Repository and synchronizes the files with the Child Repositories as requested by the HPDM Server. The
Master Repository Controller must be installed on the same computer as the Master Repository.
Repositories are standard file servers and support the following protocols:
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FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
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FTPS (FTP Secure)
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SFTP (Secure FTP)
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SMB (Server Message Block)
TIP: The SMB protocol is a network file-sharing protocol. Its implementation in Windows is known as Shared Folder, and in Linux it is known as Samba. The Common Internet File System
(CIFS) protocol is a dialect of SMB.
A repository can use either one or two protocols as follows:
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If using only one protocol, it can be any of the four protocols listed above.
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If using two protocols, one of them must be SMB. SMB is needed for non-cached imaging in
Windows Embedded Standard (WES). For the second protocol, one of the other three (FTP/
FTPS/SFTP) is recommended for HP ThinPro and HP Smart Zero Core imaging because SMB is not well-supported for those operating systems. All other tasks can use any of the protocols.
TIP: If two protocols are configured for a repository, FTP/FTPS/SFTP will be tried first, unless it’s a non-cached WES imaging task.
4 Chapter 1 Introduction
Terms and definitions
Table 1-1 Terms and definitions
Term Definition
Device
Package
PXE
Rule
Task
Task template
Template sequence
Write filter
A device refers to a device managed by HPDM, such as a thin client.
A package is comprised of a description file and a folder that contains payload files. The package name is identical to the folder name, which can be any legal string.
The name of the description file follows the convention PackageName-
ChecksumString.desc. The checksum is computed from all payload files in alphabetical sequence of filename or folder name with depth-first traversal.
PXE (Preboot eXecution Environment) is a network protocol used to start up computers using a network interface that is independent of data storage devices or installed operating systems.
HPDM utilizes PXE to execute device image extraction and distribution. PXE is an optional imaging mechanism best used for remote system recovery.
A rule enables you to automate the execution of tasks. Each rule has three parts:
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Filter—Defines which devices the rule applies to
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Trigger—Defines when the rule is executed
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Template—Defines what operation should be performed on the devices
A task is the scheduled action that execute task templates to a device or group of devices. A task is comprised of a template, an execution schedule, and a list of target devices.
A task template (or template) is an XML files that define the configuration changes or software updates that administrators want the devices to perform. HPDM provides a variety of built-in task templates for managing devices.
Task templates can be imported or exported by using tools in the HPDM Console. New task templates can be downloaded from the HP FTP site and then imported into your HPDM Server.
A template sequence (or sequence) is a special kind of task template that enables you to connect several templates together and send them out for execution in one task.
A write filter provides the ability to write-protect a run-time image. By redirecting all write requests to either a separate disk partition or RAM, a write filter allows the run-time image to maintain the appearance of a writable run-time image. Additionally, a write filter provides the ability to deploy a run-time image onto read-only media, such as a CD-ROM.
Finding the latest updates
To find the latest documentation and software updates:
▲
Go to ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/hpdm .
—or—
Go to http://www.hp.com/support and search for HP Device Manager (documentation only).
Terms and definitions 5
