How to configure the Preferred Server (Target) for Content Replication

Applies to LANDesk Management Suite 9 SP2 and greater

Ivanti EPM Content Replication allows you to manage Preferred servers and replicating and copying files from sources to Preferred servers. The Preferred server configuration allows the configuration of IP address ranges, credentials, assigned sources, and the assigned replicator. The various settings and configurations are outlined below.

Configuration

• Server name: This is the name of the preferred server. It should be a name that can be resolved via DNS. It can be a hostname or an FQDN. This can be an IP address, but the IP address should only be used if there is no way to use the preferred server name or FQDN.
• Description: Can be used for further information or a description of the preferred server.
• Read-only credentials: These credentials are used by all client machines when trying to connect to this preferred server. This should be a read-only account. It is recommended that this be a domain service account with the password set to never expire.
• Test credentials: Clicking this will allow you to test the UNC and HTTP read access to the preferred server. This essentially tests if the clients will be able to connect to the preferred server. This test has no bearing or effect on Content Replication

IP address ranges

• These are the IP address ranges that this preferred server will serve. Any machines with an IP address in these ranges will be provided this preferred server and the credentials in order to connect and attempt to download the files. These can be any number or combination of IP addresses.
• Ivanti EPM will not validate or verify any IP address ranges configured here. That means if the range is configured as 192.168.1.1 to 192.169.1.255, Ivanti EPMwill send this preferred server information to a machine with an IP address of 192.168.1.25 and a machine at 192.168.127.240 and a machine at 192.169.1.224
• If you do not want this Preferred Server to be distributed to clients, configure an invalid IP address range such as 1.1.1.1 to 1.1.1.2. This will allow machines that know they need files from this server (such as HII or when it is the original package source) to get credentials to access the shares, but the server will not be handed out to clients to be used as a Preferred Server.

Selected Replicator

• Only one Replicator can be assigned to each Preferred server.
• A Replicator can be any Windows-based managed node.
• The selection window will only display 500 devices so a search is recommended.
• The column set cannot be modified and includes: Device Name, Type, OS Name, IP address, Primary Owner, LDAP location, and Settings applied.
• The Settings applied column will indicate if the machine has replicator settings already present on the device for Content Replication. It can be Yes, indicating the current settings are applied, No (out of date) indicating that there are replicator settings on the device but they need to be updated, or No (not reported) usually indicating the device has no replicator settings configured.
• Double click a machine, or press "Select" to designate the currently selected machine as the Replicator.
• The current replicator will appear in the bottom pane.
• For more information on Replicator, settings see: Ivanti EPM Content Replication - Replicator Configuration

Sources

• The pane allows the selection of which Sources will be replicated to the Preferred server.
• The top pane shows available Sources that are NOT assigned to the Preferred server.
• The lower pane shows the Sources that are currently configured to be replicated to the Preferred server.
• The Preferred server MUST have a share EXACTLY matching the share name of the source. For example, if the Source path is \\CoreServer\ldlogon\patch, then the Preferred server must have a share named ldlogon.
• Folders and subfolders inside the share will be automatically created during any replication job as needed. For example, if the source is \\CoreServer\ldlogon\patch and the Preferred server just has \\PreferredServer\ldlogon, the replication job will create the patch folder.
• For more information on configuration of Sources see: Ivanti EPM Content Replication - Source Configuration

Write Credentials

• Username: This is the user that will be used by the replicator to WRITE files to the Preferred server. The user should be in the form domain\username. This username will not be delivered to any client devices other than the replicator. It is recommended that the user be a domain user or service account with the password set to never expire
• Password: The password for the above user.
• Test credentials...: This will open a tool that will test the write credentials to ensure that all needed shares can be written to.

Test Credentials

• This tool is used to test the write credentials and verify that all needed shares can be written on the Preferred server.
• The available options are determined by which sources have been assigned to the Preferred server. If no sources are assigned, the test will not be available.
• Columns:
  • Share: This is the share that will be written on the preferred server. The share name comes from the Source
  • Path: This is the path that will be written in the share
  • Derived from: This shows the information about the source that is used to determine the share name and path
  • Status: This shows the test result. Success or failure messages will be updated in this column as the test is completed.
• Check the box for any shares that are to be tested and click Test
• The Status column will indicate the results of the test. Any failures will return a message to help with troubleshooting.

For more information on Content Replication and Preferred servers see:

Using Ivanti EPM Content Replication