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Configuring Desktop Policy

The tasks Desktop Policy can perform are organized into three general categories:

  • Policy - Defines and applies specialized user setting policies for power management, directory mappings and printers.
  • Desktop Standard - Defines and applies standard user settings that can be applied to multiple machines.
  • Wake On LAN - Schedules powers ups of machines and creates alerts for power up success or failure.

Configuring Policies

You can define and apply each of the three specialized Desktop Policy policies separately.

  • Power Management
    1. Before applying power policies to a machine, use the Status page to compare existing power settings of machines to any of the power policies already defined. You can show this page to customers who are considering using the power management features in Desktop Policy.
    2. Define power policies and apply them to target machines using the Power page. A power policy is not defined by group ID, since the same power policies are applicable to multiple customers.
    3. Recheck the Status page to display the conformance of machines to new or changed power policies. Optionally select the Assigned Power Policy item from the Conformance drop-down list to determine which machines do not conform to the power policy applied to the machine.
  • Mapped Drives
    • Review current mapped drives by machine ID and user using the Current Stage page.
    • Define mapped drive policies and apply them to target machines using the Mapped Drives page. A mapped drive policy is defined by group ID, since mapped drives are typically unique to a customer site.
  • Printers
    • Review printers by machine ID and user using the Current Stage page.
    • Define printer policies and apply them to target machines using the Printers page. A printer policy is defined by group ID, since printers are typically unique to a customer site.

Configuring Desktop Standard Packages

A desktop standard package is an install file created to apply user settings uniformly across multiple machines, typically within the same company. For example, a company may want a set of company-specific desktop icons and internet bookmarks always available on each user's machine.

  1. Create a desktop standard package using the Desktop Package page. Typically desktop standard packages are specific to a group, but you can optionally create a desktop standard package for <All Groups>.
  2. Apply a desktop standard package to one or more target machines using Desktop.

Configuring Wake On LAN

  1. Schedule powers ups of machines using Wake on LAN > Schedule.
  2. Be notified when a power up succeeds or fails using Wake on LAN > Alerts.