Managing Symantec Ghost Console client computers

The Symantec Ghost Console stores a record for every client computer that it detects. A client computer is detected by the Symantec Ghost Console once the Console client software is installed and set up to connect to that particular Symantec Ghost Console. If there are two or more Symantec Ghost Consoles on the network, each detects its own client computers and ignores the others.

The new client computer automatically appears in the Machine Groups Default folder and in the Network folder, under the subnet on which the client was detected.

The default computer name is a combination of the computer name and its default user name. When DOS is the only operating system installed on the client computer, the computer appears with a name matching the adapter address of the computer.

The software version and status of each client computer is represented pictorially.

A yellow screen
The client computer has the current software version installed.
An exclamation mark in the screen
The client computer does not have the current software version installed.

A solid cable
The client computer is online.
No cable
The client computer is offline or unavailable.
A question mark to the right of the cable
The client heartbeat has been set to zero, so the client computer status is unknown.

You can organize the Symantec Ghost Console client computers into groups. This lets you maximize efficiency by running a task on all the computers in a group at the same time.

Setting up computer groups

You can set up the Symantec Ghost Console client computers to suit your requirements. There are three levels at which you can set client computer properties:

Global defaults
These are set in the Symantec Ghost Console, and apply automatically to all clients, unless overridden by network or individual client property settings.
These include properties such as client heartbeat interval, data throughput limits, and virtual partition DOS type.
Setting default client and data transfer properties
Network defaults
These are set for each subnet, and apply automatically to all client computers on the subnet, unless overridden by individual client property settings or at the task level.
These include properties such as client heartbeat interval, and data throughput limits.
Setting properties for a subnet
Individual client properties
These are set for each Console client computer.
These include client configuration parameters, virtual partition settings, backup regimes, and inventory settings.
Setting Symantec Ghost Console client computer properties