Policy Management Overview

The Policy Management (KPM) module manages agent settings by policy.

• Once policies are assigned to machines, machine groups or organizations, policies are propagated automatically, without further user intervention.
• Each policy comprises sub-categories of agent settings called policy objects.
• Policies can be assigned by machine ID, machine group, or organization. A view definition must be used to filter the machines affected by the policy.
• Changing a machine's association with a machine group, organization, or view, causes the appropriate policies to be automatically re-deployed.
• Multiple policies can be assigned to each machine. If policies conflict, policy assignment rules determine the policies that are obeyed or ignored.
• A compliance cycle checks that each machine is in compliance with applied policies. VSA users can check the status of each machine to ensure it is in compliance with applied policies.
• A policy can be overridden. A Policy Management policy override condition exists if agent settings for a machine have been set manually, outside of the Policy Management module. For example, making changes to the agent menu of a machine using the Agent Menu page in the Agent module sets up an override condition for that agent machine. Policy Management policies will be ignored from then on. Policy overrides can also be cleared.
• Policies can be imported and exported using System > Import Center.
• A System cabinet provides built-in policies that reflect best-practice solutions for common IT management tasks. Policies can be configured for an organization automatically using the Systems Management Configuration setup wizard and these System cabinet policies.

Additional Terms

• Applying a policy means the changes made to its policy objects are marked for deployment. Deployment means the applied changes are propagated to target machines, based on the deployment interval set using the Settings page. Because deployment may take a while, the target machine might not be in compliance between the time the policy is applied and the policy is deployed.
• Pending changes are changes to policies or policy objects that have been saved, but not yet applied.

Configuration

1. Set general settings for the entire Policy Management module using the Settings page.
2. Define agent setting policies using the Policies page.
3. Apply policies to:

• Organizations and machine groups using the Organizations / Machine Groups page.
• Individual machines using the Machines page. You can also clear Policy Management policy overrides using this page, enabling applied policies to take effect.

  Note: Policies will begin propagating after the policies are applied.

1. Monitor policy compliance using the Policy Matrix page and Dashboard page.
2. Monitor Policy Management activity using the Logs page.

Creating Policies Based on Agent Templates

You can migrate agent settings managed by agent template to Policy Management. The Import from Templates button on the Policies page creates a policy based on the agent settings supported by the Agent > Copy Settings page.

Note: See KPM System Requirements.