Using the Manager Interface

Domain Time II Manager - Panes   [Click for larger size]

The left-hand Pane (Tree) contains a selection tree showing the various machine and report lists; the right-hand Pane (Details) shows detailed information on the item selected in the Tree Pane.
 
 
Tree Pane
The Tree Pane consists of three machine lists, and several additional informational sections:

 Domains and Workgroups
This is a list of known machines on the network, grouped by domain. This list is useful for identifying machines on which to install Domain Time for the first time.
The list is derived primarily by enumeration from Active Directory (if available). You can also supplement this list by enumerating the Windows Networking Browse List. This list will also show any machines running Domain Time discovered by multicast/broadcast. See the Discovery page for details on how machines are enumerated and discovered.

Machines not automatically enumerated or discovered can be manually added to individual domains this list. To manually add a machine, highlight the desired domain in the Tree and right-click to select Add Computer… from the context menu.

You may also add/delete machines from this list using a batch file. See the Batch Add section below.

This list is semi-persistent:

• Machines enumerated from Active Directory or the Browse List are cached and will persist as long as they continue to be enumerated.

• Manually-added machines will persist until manually removed.

• Machines may be removed from the list by right-clicking them and choosing "Remove from cache". However, if the machine is rediscovered/re-enumerated by any discovery method, it will reappear in the list.

• Any machine marked as Audited (if Audit Server is installed) will persist, even if the machine is later removed from Active Directory or it disappears from the Browse list.

• To rediscover/re-enumerate machines in a particular category, highlight the category in the Tree and choose Action -> Refresh from the menu or right-click and choose Refresh from the context menu. To rediscover/re-enumerate all machines, highlight the top-level Domains and Workgroups item and choose Refresh.

Unknown, Uncategorized, and Hidden machines
Machines will show up in this list as unknown (greyed-out) if it cannot be determined that Domain Time is present on the machine (such as if the Domain Time service is not installed, not started, not responding to multicast/broadcast discovery, etc.). If the machine is later determined to be running Domain Time, the details for this machine will be updated and the icon will change to show the running Domain Time machine type.

Manager makes a best-guess at categorizing machines into their proper domain. If the domain cannot be identified, machines will be listed as Uncategorized. A machine can be moved manually to any domain category by highlighting it in the Tree, then double-click to edit the Domain field on its Details Pane.

You may choose to hide machines on the list by right-clicking the computer name in the Tree and choosing Hide Computer from the context menu (or by double-clicking the Hidden editable field on the machine's Details pane).

You can toggle whether to temporarily display all hidden machines by selecting the Show Hidden Computers item on the View menu. Hidden machines displayed this way will be shown with a strikethrough font in the Tree list.

If you want to reset the hidden flag on all systems to the default setting, choose View -> Unhide all Hidden Computers from the menu.


 Domain Time II Machines
This list shows all machines discovered to be up and running Domain Time when the list was last refreshed. This list is useful for showing current variances, statistics, and other Domain Time-specific information.

You cannot manually add machines to this list. The machines that appear in this list are discovered either by multicast or broadcast scans. See the Discovery page for details on how to configure Domain Time II machine discovery.

This list is not persistent. It will be updated each time the program is started (if desired, see the Network Options page) or when the list is manually refreshed. To refresh the list, highlight the Domain Time II Machines category in the Tree and choose Action -> Refresh from the menu or right-click and choose Refresh from the context menu.

If a new Domain Time II machine is found by multicast/broadcast, it will appear in this list and also be added automatically to the Domains and Workgroups list above. If a record already exists for the machine there, it will be updated with current information. Note, although you may mark a machine as Audited on the Details pane for a machine in this list (assuming you have Audit Server installed), the record for the machine will only persist in the Domains and Workgroups list.

It's quite possible to get multiple entries on this list from a single machine, since there may be more than one IP address and more than one Domain Time Component installed on a machine. Each of these may send a reply to the discovery packets, resulting in duplicated entries. You can toggle whether to show all responses or hide the duplicated items by clicking the Show Duplicate DT2 Responses item on the View menu.


 NTP Servers
This list shows all NTP Servers discovered by multicast/broadcast or that were manually-added. This list is useful for displaying the current variance of your NTP Servers, and to select which Servers to audit (if you have Audit Server installed).

Machines newly discovered by multicast/broadcast will be added each time the program is started (if desired, see the Network Options page) or when the list is manually refreshed. To trigger a new discovery scan, highlight the category in the Tree and choose Action -> Refresh from the menu or right-click and choose Refresh from the context menu.

This list is always persistent. No machines will be removed unless you manually delete them.

To manually add single NTP Servers to the list, highlight the NTP Server category in the Tree pane, then right-click to select Add NTP Server… from the context menu. Enter the DNS Name or IP address of the NTP Server on the Add Machine dialog.

Batch Add
Manager also allows you to add/remove machines in a batch from a text file. This is done by entering the following command from the command-line:

dtman import [full path]\filename.txt

The %ERRORLEVEL% result is zero if the file was parsed without errors or warnings. If %ERRORLEVEL% is non-zero, you should examine the Manager logs (Options -> View Log File from the Manager menu, or open \Program Files\Domain Time II\Text Logs\Manager.log with a text editor) to see the errors or warning messages.

The text file format is very simple:

SYNTAX: [add|drop|delete] [dt2|ntp|all] [ipaddress|name]

add all	- sets any existing unaudited machine to audited
add ntp identifier	- adds NTP machine to database and sets it to audited
add dt2 identifier	- adds DT2 machine to database and sets it to audited
drop all	- sets any existing audited machine to unaudited
drop ntp ipaddress	- sets existing NTP machine to unaudited
drop dt2 netbiosname	- sets existing DT2 machine to unaudited
del all	- removes all records from the database
del ntp ipaddress	- removes existing NTP machine from the database
del dt2 netbiosname	- removes existing DT2 machine from the database

Adding a machine (or setting an existing machine to audited) can use any kind of identifier that resolves to an IP address. You may use a plain NetBIOS name, an IP address, or a DNS name.

Dropping or deleting machines, however, requires that you use the exact name by which the machine is known to the database. For NTP servers, this is the IP address (either IPv4 or IPv6). For DT2 machines, this is the NetBIOS name.

CAUTION:

---

Use the all options with great care, particularly the drop all command. Batch imports take effect immediately and cannot be undone.

---

Comment lines are ignored. A comment line is any line whose first non-whitespace character is a pound sign (#), a glitch ('), a slash (/), or a semicolon (;). Blank lines are also ignored.

The text file should be CRLF terminated. If you are importing from a *nix operating system, be sure to transform the line terminators to full CRLFs.

Example import file:


#
# this is an example
#

add     ntp    tick.mydomain.com
add     dt2    PDC01
add     dt2    pdc02.south.brooklyn.ny.company.com
drop    dt2    pdc03
add     ntp    ntp2.ourpool.org
delete  dt2    pdc04
delete  ntp    tock.mydomain.com

#
# end of list
#


 System Information
Click this category in the Tree to show important information about the system running Domain Time II Manager (this is also the same information shown when you select Help -> About Domain Time II Manager... from the menu).

There are two other items contained in the System Information category:

Reference Time shows the current status of the reference clocks selected on the Options -> Reference Time page. Click here for more information on configuring Manager's Reference Time.

License Report shows the license status of all known Domain Time components.

The remaining time on any evaluation versions will be displayed, otherwise machines will be shown as registered, along with their current version information and install dates.

Summary information displaying the totals of each type of license appears on the status bar on the bottom of the Manager window.

You may export this report using the File -> Export List... command on the menu.


 Conflicts and Problems
Items will appear in this category if a problem is detected by Manager.

For example, a conflict will be flagged if Domain Time machines are detected running with the same Domain Time serial number. Domain Time serial numbers must be unique.

In most cases, you can resolve the conflict by highlighting the conflict item  in the Tree and double-clicking the Repair link on the Details Pane. This will bring up the Reset Duplicated Serial Numbers dialog which lets you select which machines to renumber.

Domain Time II Manager - Reset Duplicated Serial Numbers dialog   [Click for larger size]

If you are unable to correct the conflict using this utility (such as if the conflicting systems are ‘nix machines running domtimed), you will need to manually correct the serial number on the machines.


 Real-Time Alerts
This category shows you any Real-Time Alerts reported from Servers and Clients. Real-Time Alerts are configured and collected by Audit Server.


 Audit Server
If you have installed Audit Server, this category will appear and show you summary information about the service.

There are two other items contained in the Audit Server category:

Synchronization logs shows you all machines for which you have collected Synchronization (Drift) Logs. You can double-click on the machine's name in the Details Pane to display its Drift Graph.
You can also see this information from the Audit Server -> Synchronization Logs menu item. You can also Right-click to choose Open Containing Folder from the context menu if you want to browse the actual log files using Windows Explorer.

Audit Results shows a list of the most recent audit runs. Double-click the name of the audit in the Details Pane to display the complete Audit Record.

The number of results shown is configurable using the Options -> Appearance and Interface -> Interface Options menu item. You can also Right-click to choose Open Containing Folder from the context menu if you want to browse all of the audit results files using Windows Explorer.

 

Details Pane
The Details Pane will change to display information on the item selected on the Tree Pane.

Manager - Details Pane   [Click for larger size]

If the selected Tree item is a single machine or topic, individual statistics and information about that machine will be shown.

Information in the displayed Details Pane can be updated by clicking Action -> Refresh from the menu or by right- clicking and choosing Refresh from the context menu.

If the Tree item is a category that contains multiple items, you’ll see either summary information or a table display showing the items.

You can also control how Manager displays items, fields, and lists using the Options -> Appearance and Interface menu item.


Layout

Table displays are highly customizable. You can control which columns are displayed, and in what order. You can also sort the table list by any column, making it very easy to see all the machines running a particular version, which machine has the worst variance, etc.

[Click for larger size]

To change which columns are displayed, right-click on any column header. You can pick from a list of all available columns.

To re-arrange the order of displayed columns, grab the column header and drag it to the desired position. Manager will remember your selections.

To sort a column, just click on its column header. Click again to change the sort order.

You may reset any view to the default settings by selecting the View -> Reset Column Layout from the menu. You may reset individual views or reset all views.


Editable Items

The Details Pane will often contain fields that can be edited for selected machines, such as whether a machine is Audited (if Audit Server is installed), Hidden, etc. You may also change a machine's domain name, DNS name, location (if an NTP Server), etc. You can edit these fields by double-clicking them (this default behavior may be modified to be done via a single-click on the Options -> User Interface Settings menu page).

Here’s an example of changing the timezone of a machine remotely by editing its Details record:

Domain Time II Manager - Timezone Change   [Click for larger size]

Editable items are shown in the color selected for them on the Options -> Appearance and Interface -> Interface Colors page.


Export List

Most displays in the Details pane can be exported to a file using File -> Export List... from the main menu.

For example, you could export the current list of NTP Servers to a comma-delimited text file (.CSV extension) for later import into a database, or export the License Report to an XML file for use in Excel, etc.

Exports can include only the visible columns in the Details pane, which allows you to easily select which data to include, or you may choose to include hidden columns as well (there is a checkbox for this on the Save As dialog).

You may export to CSV (comma-separated value), XML, or HTML formatted files.

License Report

Eval Status	Name	Type	Version	Install Date
Registered	FLEEGMAN	Monitor	5.1.b.20090802R	Fri 9 Oct 2009 22:16:11
Registered	FLEEGMAN	Audit Server	5.1.b.20090802R	Fri 9 Oct 2009 22:16:11
Registered	FLEEGMAN	Manager	5.1.b.20090802R	Fri 9 Oct 2009 22:16:11
Registered	VM-WIN98	Client	4.1.b.20080229R	Sat 1 Mar 2008 00:01:45
Registered	Centos5x86	Client	2.5.b.20090617R	Thu 18 Jun 2009 02:00:06
Registered	VM-VISTA-N-32	Client	5.1.b.20090723R	Thu 8 Oct 2009 03:50:43
Registered	OMEGA13	Client	4.1.b.20080916R	Tue 21 Apr 2009 13:22:38
Registered	HV-2008-R2-X64	Client	5.1.b.20090802R	Sat 26 Sep 2009 01:01:13
Registered	XP-PRO-X86	Client	4.1.b.20080916R	Wed 16 Jul 2008 10:37:56
Registered	VM-2003-R2-32	Server	5.1.b.20090727R	Thu 22 Oct 2009 14:26:10
Registered	VM-2000-PRO	Server	4.1.b.20080915R	Fri 29 Feb 2008 23:55:54
Registered	FLEEGMAN	Server	5.1.b.20090802R	Fri 9 Oct 2009 22:16:11
Registered	VM-2008-64	Server	5.1.b.20090720R	Wed 15 Apr 2009 17:28:29

Sample HTML Export of the License Report


Backup/Restore Database

As of version 5.2, Manager can backup and restore its database using the File -> Backup Database and File -> Restore Database commands from the main menu.

You may choose to save the backup files in any file location you want, however, any files you want to restore must be located in the \Program Files\Domain Time II\Backups folder on your system drive.

Database backups are not intended as comprehensive disaster recovery files. Database backups only include information related to individual machines, such as whether particular machines are audited, machine type, etc. The backups do not include information that is kept in the registry, such as Manager's own settings, or Audit Server schedules, alert settings, email configuration, etc.

Backups are primarily for making working copies of the database, such as when making large-scale changes or transporting audit lists to another Manager/Audit Server.

 

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