Archive for May, 2008

Auto-configuration of Provision Networks Clients

One common question to our Technical Support Engineers is how do I auto-configure clients that are not logging on via Web-IT (the Provision Networks Secure Web Portal). Stephen Yorke from our Technical Support Department was kind enough to share the following documentation with us:
The CONFIG.XML file used by Provision Networks allows one to AUTO-configure the Provision Networks Virtual Access client. There are a couple of things one will need to know prior to configuring this file.

1. There is a TEMPLATE file located in \Program Files\Provision Networks\Provision-IT on your Connection Broker Server as well as in \Inetpub\wwwroot\Provision\Web-IT on your Web-IT Server . Another blog post discusses all the different settings that are available in CONFIG.XML

2. If you want AUTO-configuration to work, you will need to do one of two things:

The Easy Way
Create a DNS Entry (A Record or CNAME) assigned the name PROVISION which is actually a Web Server located on your network and place the configured CONFIG.XML file in the root of the Web Server

  • IIS: \Inetpub\wwwroot
  • Apache: edit the 000-default file and look for DocumentRoot ( found in /etc/apache2 )

A Little Trickier
Create a login script or push out a Registry Setting to your client computers. The registry setting is:

HKLM\Software\Provision Networks\Provision-IT Client
Value: AutoConnectURL
Type: REG_SZ
Data: http://www.domain.com

You might have multiple CONFIG.XML files if you have multiple farms. No problem, just use the following registry key (you will require Client version 5.9.227.118 or above for this):

HKLM\Software\Provision Networks\Provision-IT Client
Value: AutoConnectURL
Type: REG_MULTI_SZ
Data: (One Per Line)
http://www.domain1.com/config.xml
http://www.domain1.com/provconf/myconfig.xml
https://ssl.domain.com/config.xml

3. Install the Provision Networks Virtual Access Client

4. Launch the client and it will Auto-Magically configure itself!

Virtual Desktop (VDI) Proof of Concept Considerations

Any successful IT Project follows some sort of methodology. One part of the project methodology should include an investigation phase, where one takes an inventory of the current environment, and brainstorms for anything that may be required or could cause the project to fail. This is also important so valuable time is not wasted performing preparation tasks that could have been accomplished before the consultant/vendor is on site.

VDI deployments typically start with a small POC (Proof of Concept) where one or more connection brokers are put thru the paces to see if they meet the business and technical requirements, and to verify that the product functions as advertised.

Before one starts the POC, there are a lot of things to consider, i.e. Virtual Infrastructure, SAN, Clients, Connection Broker, Network Infrastructure, Peripheral Support, Security Requirements, Licensing, Current Desktop Management Tools….

To ease in this collection of data I’ve created a spreadsheet that attempts to capture the important details. The point of doing this is to make sure the consultant, vendor and customer are aware of the customer’s current environment, requirements and planned deployment size.

vdi_pre-engagement_inventory

P.S. Sheet one of the Excel Workbook is broken down into categories comprised of several related items, where each item is answered by a picklist or manual entry. Sheet two contains the definitions of all of the picklists.

TCP/IP Ports Used In The Virtual Access Suite

The Virtual Access Suite is a product that contains many different sub products that all communicate with one another. This article discusses all the ports used in the Virtual Access Suite and how they are used. I guess it goes without saying that these ports should be open for smooth sailing. The image below shows what components can exist in a VAS infrastructure and how they interact.

Read the rest of this post »

Provision Networks Roadshow in Europe

Want to see the Virtual Access Suite (VAS) 5.10 in action? Curious about the Quest Provision Networks Division in general? Then there’s good news (even better news if you live in Belgium, Finland or Sweden)!

On May 20,21 and 22 the Quest Provision Networks division together with one of their distributors, CDG Europe, will be hosting events in Belgium, Finland and Sweden. During these events, amongst other things, a preview of VAS 5.10 will be shown and the Provision Networks division CEO, Paul Ghostine, will discuss the future of the Provision Networks division products. This event is free and open to anyone that want to attend but registration is required. For this registration, the agenda and other information refer to the following:

We hope to see you there!

Check out the Provision Networks Division event calendar for more events.

Finally, The Provision Networks Blog!

Welcome to the official blog of Quest’s Provision Networks Division! We are extremely excited to start sharing all kinds of content with you. We will keep on developing our community platform further but this blog marks the start. We will discuss best practices, provide you with sneak previews to show you all the cool technology (too much to mention) we are working on and lots of other cool stuff. As a matter of fact, we are open to any content suggestions that you might have. What would you like to see?

Just as important, this blog is about you. About you? Yes! We want to hear what you have to say about our products so we can keep improving the quality of our products and services. We are very keen to maintain an interactive dialog with our community. This is why we allow for anonymous comments on this Quest blog for example. While on the subject of interaction, did you know that we have a support forum operated by celebrities such as Rick Mack, Jeff Pitsch, Patrick Rouse and many more where you can post all your questions?
In case you did not, here’s the location: https://www2.provisionnetworks.com/forums/Default.aspx

So keep an eye on this blog in the future! Our RSS feed (http://blogs.inside.quest.com/provision/feed) makes it particularly easy to do this. Exciting times lie ahead!