RESpedia!
New to the User Workspace comunity? No worries, many people are these days. When you need to figure what PowerFuse and Wisdom is all about, first thing is to scale that brick wall of buzzwords so you know what the story is when somebody talks about Workspaces, Dispatchers, and Custom Resources etc.
The RESpedia below (formerly know as the glossary), will be a work in progress, continually updated. Therefore you may encounter items which have not been described fully yet. If you would like to contribute with some relevant terminology, just comment on this article below and I’ll move it into the article. A final couple of notes: The RESpedia is ordered alphabetically and organized across all RES products. Not all terms in this glossary are official RES terminology, but may come from consultant jargon in the field or similar sources.
To make it easier to recognize to which product or part of the RESverse the term applies, I’ve added relevant tags to the terms in the RESpedia. Here is an overview of them:
- [P]owerFuse
- [W]isdom
- [O]rchestration Pack for Wisdom
- [B]usiness stuff
- [T]raining related.
Where you see links in Italics, it refers to a jump link to another item covered in the RESpedia. Below is an alphabetical jump index of the entire RESpedia:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
$Adinfo() [P] – A function in PowerFuse which will allow you to reference any Active Directory attribute within PowerFuse. For example use $adinfo(firstname) as part of an Email Template signature for Outlook.
Access Balancing [P] – A performance subsystem found in PowerFuse (which flavors?) which acts as a session throttle. Works really well in preventing overloaded servers in peak load periods. The log of acces balancing can also help you analyse your logon-time SLA. See this article for info how to do this.
Access Control [P] – The ability to control to whom and where a configuration or security object is available. Access control is a tab on most PowerFuse objects, where you can configure one or more Access Principals to configure the identity of the user. Multiple access principals can either be combined with a logical AND or a logical OR. The access principal can optionally be combined with a Location and Devices setting, describing where/what the computer is. The logical relationship between the Identity and Location elements of an Access Control configuration is always a logical AND.
Access Principal [P] – This term references the methods with which you can apply Access Control to almost any object in PowerFuse. Examples of simple access principals are groups, ou’s and individual users. More advanced access principals exists, such as Language selection, Orchestration Services (only available when Wisdom/Orchestration integration is configured and enabled). You are also able to use exclusions. Note that while you can mix and match access pricipals on regular objects, you can currently (per PowerFuse 9.0.0.1) only select one access principal on applications.
Action [O] – This is an activity which moves a Orchestration workflow from one step to the next after completion. An example could be asking somebody, like a manager for permission to add a given new Finance employee access to the payroll system.
Administrative Note [P,W] – Formerly known as Annotations. You will find these fields all over PowerFuse and Wisdom and it’s your job as a responsible console operator to put some sensible information into them. Don’t enter information here just for the sake of entering info. Put in good comments that will help yourself and your colleagues 6 months down the road to figure out why you did any particular configuration in the first place.
Administrative Roles [P, W] – Formerly known as Security Roles. Adminstrative roles are used to delegate what part of the consoles (both PowerFuse and Wisdom) can be used by whom. This is brilliant for slicing out the console for different parts of the IT organization. For example you may only wish to give access to Workspace Analysis and User Sessions for firstline supporters, while 2nd and third get more priveledges. On the other hand the CIO may request a pure read-only role to the console, so he can keep up to speed on what’s going on, but not wanting to change anything. In PowerFuse you can in addition combine Administrative Roles with Scope Control.
Agent [P,W] – A term used for both PowerFuse and Wisdom. Both are regular NT services which run in the background and talk with respectively the PowerFuse and Wisdom datastores. The Wisdom agent’s purpose is to execute jobs which are scheduled to it. The PowerFuse agent’s primary job is to ensure that the DBcache folder is synchronized with the central datastore. Agents are uniquely indentified by either a unique GUID or WUID, the MAC address of the first NIC, or the combination of domain+computername.
Annotation [P,W] – Old name for Administrative notes.
AppGuard [P] – A security subsystem in PowerFuse. Appguard prevents unauthorized processes from running. When enabled, it can be run in either Blocking mode or Learning mode.
Audit Trail [P,W,O]- A function in PowerFuse and Wisdom which will allow you to see who’s been modifying a given setting in the console. An audit trail is usually available per object, such as an application or for example a drive letter mapping. In both products there is also a global audit trail which will show you what’s been going on. Both can be protected from deletion with a seperate password.
Azure [P] – A new cloud based SQL Database offered by Microsoft, which PowerFuse 2010 now supports natively as it’s datastore. See this article for more information.
B
Blocking Mode [P] – Refers to a state which a security subsystem is currently operating in. Note: There is no such term as Blocking Mode in the console, this is just a term commonly being used by field engineers. Blocking mode is active when the given subsystem is set to enabled.
Building Block [P,W] – Term applies to both PowerFuse and Wisdom. A buildingblock is a block of configuration data for either product which is stored in XML format. A buildingblock allows you as an integrator to re-use configuration from one customer site to another, thereby being more costeffective. As an admin it allows you to backup/restore individual parts of the system and re-use them elsewhere. An example of a valuable Wisdom building block could be one which installs a Citrix server from scratch.
C
Catalog [O] – This is essentially a list of OPW orchestration Services which may be made available to users or 3rd party applications.
Catalog Service [O] – This is a NT service, part of OPW, which is installed in your datacenter. Publishes sets of available Orchestration services. May be used by the Orchestration Client, Control Center and 3rd party applications.
Category [O] – Logical classification of a group of people in Orchstration Pack for Wisdom. A category may be pretty much anything, for example: Department, Education, Shoesize, etc – whatever you need to distinguish people on in order to orchestrate services for them in your organization. You can then filter Qualification uppon these categories.
Composition [P] – A main section of the new PowerFuse 2010 console. It includes access to Managed Applications, User Installed Applications, Files and Folders, Data sources and User Settings. In short, the composition covers every type of item the user might receive in PowerFuse.
Condition [W] -
Connector [W] -
Consultancy Reward Program [B] – This is a program designed to reward currently non-partnering consultants and/or integrators for bringing business to RES Software. Contact your local RES Software representative for more information on the CRP program.
Context [P] – A main section of the new PowerFuse 2010 console. It includes access to Locations and Devices, Directory Services, Administative Roles, Connection State, Languages and Workspace Containers.
Control Center [O] – The central console for OPW. This console is the first item that you typically will install. It requires .Net Framework 3.
CPU Optimization [P] – Formerly known as CPUshield. One of the performance enhancement subsystems in PowerFuse. CPU Optimization works by actively repriortizing any user process which misbehaves. As default if an app is using more than 70% cpu time for more than 5 secs, CPU Optimization slams the process’ priority down to Idle. Once the process starts behaving nicely again (keeps under 10% for 30 secs) the original process priority is restored. This system is so simple yet incredible effective that it is enabled per default.
CPU Shield [P] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See CPU Optimization.
CRP [B] – Acronym for the Consultancy Reward Program
Custom Resources [P] – This is a place in the RES console where you can store files which automagically should be replicated out onto each machine running PowerFuse. The files are stored in the powerfuse datastore. The replication is done by the RES PowerFuse agent service, which is a part of any PowerFuse installation. There is a variable %rescustomresources%, which inside a PowerFuse session will point to the folder the resources are replicated to. Examples of usage for custom ressources are: Ensuring a certain graphic logo is replicated out to all computers, so an HTML outlook signature will work with it. Another good usage is to store a mandatory profile here, to eliminate network traffic. There is a nice article on that here
D
Datastore[P,W,O] - Reference to the database of either PowerFuse or Wisdom. Supported database systems are: MS SQL 2000 and up, Oracle 8.1 and up, IBM DB II, MySQL 5.0 and up and Microsoft Azure (from PowerFuse 2010)
Data Sources [P] – Formerly known as Instant Datasources. A configuration item in PowerFuse, which will enable you to create ODBC connections on the fly. PowerFuse stores the ODBC configuration once created. All you need to do is to attach it to an application. Uppon launch of the app, PowerFuse creates the datasource as a User DSN. If access is withdrawn from a user to an app with an associated Instant Datasource, the User DSN will be cleaned out uppon next logout.
DBcache[P] - This is the folder where PowerFuse stores it’s cached copy of the central configuration datastore. The default path is %programfiles%\res powerfuse\data\DBcache
Desktop Sampler [P] – This is a standalone component in PowerFuse 2010, which can be deployed into any existing Windows environment to pick up current settings. It’s like sticking your head into every users session. The desktop sampler currently records stuff like: Current applications in startmenu, Location information, Domain, Datasources, Drive and Port Mappings, Subst’s and network Printers. All this stuff is stored in an encrypted file (haha), which then can be processed in the Workspace Designer. The Desktop samper can be pushed out with an MSI file and have preconfigured an expiry date and a path to save sample files. It is launched per default via HKLM\…\Windows\Run.
Directory maintainance [P] - This part of PowerFuse will let you wrangle the contens of the users homedirectories and profile directories. It revolves around a Model Directory where you store all the stuff you need to deploy to someone. The files etc are deployed according to rules which can be copy always, copy only if newer, delete, or edit values in .ini file. The last part is really cool, as it will allow you to use variables too.
Dispatcher [W] - A part of the Wisdom architechture. The function of a Dispatcher is to broker communication between Wisdom Agents and the Wisdom datastore. Also the dispatcher will cache ressources being used, thereby minimizing network traffic. In short the Dispatcher is the keystone in Wisdom’s ability to operate concurrently on litteraly thousands of computers without killing the central datastore.
DSbrowse – A really cool utility which RES has. The utility helps customers time different responses from their AD. In other words, if your domain controller is performing like crap, DSbrowse will let you know about it. DSbrowse is unfortunatly not available from the download portal, so you have to ask around. More info here
E
EAP [B] – Acronym for Early Adopter Program.
Early Adopter Program [B ] – This is RES Software’s program for existing customers and partners who are willing to go the extra mile to help us try out and give suggestions on our upcomming releases. This program is by invitation only. Where the EAP program differs from a regular Beta program, is that Interim releases made available to early adopters are completely supported. The caveat is that due to support capacity, RES Software only takes in a certain number of EAP members and each applicant is reviewed individually. If you have received an invitation, it is required you fill out this form and send it back to your point of contact within RES.
E-mail Templates [P] – Formerly known as Instant Mail. Allows you to setup MAPI profiles for many of the most popular communications suites. The emphasis is on Outlook 2000 and up, but Instant mail also supports configuring a bunch of other messaging components. It works similar to Datasources: You create one and attach it to an application. For Outlook especially, it will also allow you to create a dynamic email signature which picks up it’s elements, such as title, name and phone etc, from Active Directory
Exclusive Filter [P] – This is an optional checkmark which you can set on PowerFuse filters which will configure the filter to show only settings which have explicitly have been given only to the users/workspaces/powerzones as specified by the filter.
Execute Command [P,W] – Formerly know as External Task. The ability to run a command of your choice within the framework of either PowerFuse or Wisdom. Note that currently within PowerFuse 9.0.0.1 the command is executed with the credentials of the user who’s currently logged in.
External Task[P] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See Execute Command.
F
File Types [P] – Formerly known as Instant Filetype Associations. This feature of PowerFuse lets you take granular control with any type of file associations, both very simple yourapp.exe %1 to very complex DDE filetype configurations. With File Types you can import existing associations for an app, as well as create new ones. This includes building context (rightclick) menu’s which can do all sorts of nice things for your users.
Filter [P] – A way to see only the stuff you need to work with in PowerFuse. In the lower left hand corner you’ll find a funnel icon. By rightclicking it you can define for who, what or where you want to see in the righthand side of the console. See also Scope Control.
Folder Synchronisation [P] – A feature of PowerFuse 2010 which utilizes Microsoft’s .Net synchronisation framework. You may already be familiar with this technology through utilities such as SyncToy. Problem with that specifically is that it was part of the PowerToys from Microsoft, thus never supported. Using PowerFuse you get a fully centralized GUI for managing any kind of filesync in your user’s sessions. This is especially usefull for synchronizing the users’ network homedirectory to a laptop so they can work offline. Sync can be configured to happen on login/logout/refresh/reconnect and ofcourse when you launch an application. This is usefull for creating a Sync-My-Stuff-Now button. Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 and Microsoft Sync Framework 1.0 must be installed on all Agents running user sessions in which folders are to be synchronized. Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 must be installed separately; Microsoft Sync Framework 1.0 is automatically installed during installation of RES PowerFuse.
G
Global Authorized Files [P] -
GUID [P,W] – Global Unique IDentifier. Within PowerFuse and Wisdom, each configuration item is assigned a GUID which enables the replication subsystems to distinctly identify the changes in the datastore and replicate those changes to where they need to go.
H
Home Directory [P] – A crucial part of any PowerFuse installation. As individual workspace preferences and user settings are stored here, it is important that every user has a homedirectory
Home Directory Maintainance [P] – PowerFuse has the ability to shape the contens of the users network based home directory, by using a model directory. This allows you to distribute any kind of files using rules based on access control and workspace containers. One of the features of home directory maintainance will even let you dynamically modify the contens of .INI files, based on environment variables, etc.
I
Identification Method [P, W] – Both PowerFuse and Wisdom Agents can be identified by either MAC, GUID/WUID or Domain+Computername. Which ID method you select will depend on the environment you use. For example you probably will not use GUID/WUID identification if you use Cloning alot in your environment. I
Instant Datasources [P] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See Data Sources for details.
Instant File Associations [P] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See File Types for details.
Instant Logoff [P] - A technology in PowerFuse which was developed a year before Microsoft released their UPHclean utility. Instant Logoff does two things. It closes any open filehandles when a logoff is initiated. Second, if it’s running inside a ICA/RDP or VDI session, it can optionally disconnect the session. The resulting impression is a logoff that is fast as lightning, although it’s smoke, mirrors and a timely disconnect which does the job.
Instant Mail [P] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See Email Templates for details.
Instant Report [P] - A nifty way to generate system configuration documentation. PowerFuse will allow you to generate PDF based reports for every configuration screen in the console. This also is the case for the Workspace analysis view of a given user. You can either click on the Instant repport button for a given item you wish to document, or you can rightclick in the console and choose “Select items for instant report”
Interim Release [B] – A fully supported early release of any RES Software product. These releases are strictly personal and only available to RES Software’s Early Adopter Program partners. Interim software is fully supported by RES.
IP Security [P] – See NetGuard.
L
Learning Mode [P] – The different security Subsystems in PowerFuse have a learning mode. This mode will allow anything through the filters, but a log entry will be created on anything that has not been autorized and would have been prevented in Blocking Mode. Learningmodes for all subsystems writes to the log table stored in the PowerFuse datastore. Note: Unchecked and enabled globally, logs can become very large, why I urge you to excercise caution when enabeling in a live environment. See this article for further info.
Licensing(1) [P] – PowerFuse is licensed per concurrent users, depending of the device where the user is logging in. If a an ACPI compliant battery is detected in the device, PowerFuse assumes it’s a laptop and a license is bound to the ID of the PowerFuse agent running on that machine. This is however not permanent. If a laptop is lost, all you have to do is delete the PowerFuse agent from the PowerFuse console and the license is returned to the pool.
Licensing(2) [W] - RES Wisdom is licensed differently from PowerFuse as Wisdom deals with the machine and not not the user session on it. Therefore Wisdom is licensed per device and device type. This means that one regular windows workstation or laptop takes 1 license, a server (print/file/etc) takes 4 licenses, and a server with Terminal Services configured in Application Server mode, requires 8 licenses. On top of this you have the option to add additional functionality by configuring so-called connectors. See the Wisdom Licensesing 101 article for further information
Licensing, managing applications [P] - PowerFuse has the ability to not only monitor but also enforce the licensing of applications provided by the user. There are currently 5 licensing models supported: Company wide license, per Server, per named user, Per seat and Concurrent users.
Locations and Devices [P] – Aka. Zones, aka. Location. Formerly known as PowerZones. A containerobject in PowerFuse which describes a computers geography and/or geometry. By geography is meant where the computer is. This can be IP subnets, ranges, computer name masks, etc. By geometry a Location can trigger on the contens of the computer. To name a few examples are: Screen resolution, CPU speed, DVD burner present and reported chassis type. A Location doesn’t do anything by itself, but almost any kind of configuration item can be attached to it.
M
MAC [P,W] – Media Access Control number. One of the Identification Methods available for both PowerFuse and Wisdom
Managed Application [P] -
Memory Optimization [P] – This feature set of PowerFuse contains multiple ways of helping you control memory consumption. This is obviously most valuable on a multiuser system. By linking what’s going on in the workspace with what’s being swapped to disk, PowerFuse ensures memory is freed up exactly when it is not needed anymore. Second, Memory Optimization allows you to set limits, either per number of apps or per amount of MB’s allocated, before a user is allowed to launch new apps.
MemoryShield [P] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See Memory Optimization for details.
Model Directory [P] – A place in the PowerFuse console where you can create templates for how your home directory and your profile folder should contain. See home directory maintainance
Module [W] – A Wisdom object, which can contain multiple Wisdom Tasks. The module is essentially a list of items to process plus associated module parameters and conditions and Wisdom modules can be scheduled on their own or organized into Wisdom Run Books and Projects.
Module Parameters [W] – These will allow you to make Wisdom modules generic and flexible by allowing you to enter input during import and/or execution of the module. For example if you create a module to enter a computer into the domain, it’s a good idea to make a parameter for the domain credentials, as they probably will change over time. By asking for them when a module is scheduled you avoid having to re-edit the module.
N
NetGuard [P] – aka IP Security. This is a security subsystem of RES PowerFuse which will let you control which hosts are reachable from a given executable. This is usefull for limiting for example a telnet client from reaching certain hosts in the datacenter. Traffic can be controlled on portnumber, dirction, transport (udp/tcp) and target IP adress which supports wildcards.
O
OPW [O] – Unofficial acronym for Orchestration Package for Wisdom.
Orchestration Client [O] – This is the user interface of OPW. There are currently 2 Orchestration clients available. One is a windows client, which sits nicely in the systemtray, the other is a webclient. Both clients look practically identical and the user may use the client to request services, or partake in a workflow, by adding input, aprooving something, etc.
Orchestration Package for Wisdom [O] – The new RES product comming out later in 2010, which will allow you to implement people processes and business flows in a swift and efficient manner. As of March 2010, OPW is still in EAP, so we look forward to be able to provide details a bit further down the road.
P
Partly Managed Workstations [P] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See User Installed Applications.
Pass-thru Publishing [P] – A very nifty feature of PowerFuse which will enable you automatically connect to a published application in a farm when the given application is not available on the server you are on. Pass-though publishing will automatically generate the required ICA or RDP file to create a session to the serve(s) which offer the app. This works with both Terminal Services 2008′s remoteapps and also with Citrix Xenapp.
PFWSMGR.exe [P] – Main process for the PowerFuse Workspace Manager, now from PowerFuse 2010 renamed to the Workspace Composer.
Placeholder App [P] – An empty application (that doesn’t have a commandline) in PowerFuse which only purpose is to store a set of configuration items such as security rules. See this article for further information.
PlusMenu [P] – This is an integral part of the PowerFuse 2010 console. It is used to specify global options for specific users/locations/workspace containers. You will notice it on console nodes which normally define global settings. An example is CPU Optimization. You will see a menu appearing as [+] at the top. If you click on it, you will be able to add one or more Workspace Containers. You can then specify a different set of CPU Optimization rules for that workspace container. If one or more plusmenu’s are inserted, they will be processed from left to right. You can re-arrange them and/or disable them individually by rightclicking.
PowerLaunch [P] - This was a pre PowerFuse 2010 term, commonly used for items such as Environment variables, Drive and port mappings, Drive Substitutes, Network printer mappings, user registry settings, home directory/profile folder management, external tasks and Wisdom integration. There are two places in PowerFuse where Powerlaunch settings are configurable. The global PowerLaunch settings, which are found under Configuration Management | PowerLaunch, and then underneath every single application defintion, under the Configuration | Powerlaunch tab. The difference between the two is that the global PowerLaunch items are mostly processed only at logon (there are certain exceptions to this), while the application PowerLaunch settings are processed when an application is started. All this is still the case in PowerFuse 2010, although the old menu of PowerLaunch items have been broken up and put other places in the console.
PowerHelp [P] – A utility for the user, found inside a PowerFuse user session. PowerHelp will allow the user to see an overview of available applications, what they do and where to find them, even though he might not have access to them yet. Think of PowerHelp as a service catalog. PowerHelp can be disabled, or applications can individually be hidden from view in PowerHelp. Note with the advent of the Orchestration Package for Wisdom mid 2010, this feature will be mostly obsolete.
PowerHours [P] - Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See Time Restrictions
PowerPanel [P] - Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See WorkSpace Preferences
PowerPrint[P] - Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See Printing Preferences
PowerTrace [P] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See Usage Tracking
PowerZone [P] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See Locations and Devices
Printers.lst [P] – This is a special file which can be distributed to users via Directory Maintainance or Custom Resources. The file will allow users much more intuitively to chose printers from a tree of well known geographical/physical locations instead of just the names of printservers. See this article for more information.
Printing Preferences [P] - Formerly known as PowerPrint. This is a utility similar to WorkSpace Preferences. Printing Preferences in it’s simplest form, merely allows a user to choose his default printer. An advanced button is available per default, letting the user configure a default printer which will be remembered per device. This is very usefull for users who frequently roam back and forth between two or more locations and don’t want to be bothered with setting up printers every time they move.
Project [W] – A project is a Wisdom container object wich is designed to hold two or more Wisdom Modules. The idea with using a project is that you can group a bunch of modules together. An example module would be building a Citrix server. Here you would have different modules which would be installing different prerequisite components such as Java, .Net framework etc. A Project can have Project Parameters which then can be linked to the modules inside.
PwrTech.exe [P] – The executable which launches the PowerFuse Management Console. See this article for commandline options.
Q
Query [W] -
Query Evaluator [W] -
R
RALC [T] – Acronym for RES Authorized Learning Center.
RCP [T] – Acronym for RES Certified Professional.
RCT [T] – Acronym for RES Certified Trainer.
Refresh [P] – The process of reinitializing the user’s PowerFuse session with new settings. It is important to know that only some settings are processed during a refresh. These are security rules, and settings on applications. Anything below Configuration settings | PowerLaunch requires the user to login again. From PowerFuse 2010 two major changes has been made to the refresh: 1) If a refresh is triggered by the user or an admin while in a session, the screen is not blanked anymore. A progress indicator is shown just above the system tray area and the user can continue working while this happens. 2) The refresh can now be performed completely silent.
RES Authorized Learning Center [T] – A training company or partner with adequate facilities and a RCT on staff able to provide official certification training with RES Software courseware. To find a RALC in your area, contact training@ressoftware.com
RES Certified Professional [T] – A certification awarded to those who pass the prometric exam for a given RES Product. This means you can be a RCT in PowerFuse and Wisdom seperatly.
RES Certified Trainer [T] – a certification awarded to those who a) currently hold RCP certifications in all RES Products and b) have participated in a T3 class. While a RALC can provide the prerequisites, only RES Software can certify new trainers.
%RESCUSTOMRESOURCES% [P] – Environment variable which points to the location of PowerFuse Custom resources. Default path is: %programfiles%\res powerfuse\data\DBcache\Resources\custom_resources\
RES Portal [B] – A.k.a The support portal. This is the place where SA customers can log in to retreive the latest released software, access the knowledgebase. See this article for details.
RES PowerFuse [B] – The flagship product of RES Software for over 10 years. PowerFuse is User Workspace management software. It allows you to bring all the configuration, security, monitoring and documentation needs of your Windows IT environments under central management under one console. RESguru.com is dedicated to help you get as much as possible out of your investment.
Resource [W]- A Wisdom object which describes any kind of file or collection of files, which are being used by a Wisdom module. A resource can be anything; for example a hostfile, a MSI file to a printer driver, consisting of multiple files. A resource can be stored in the Wisdom datastore or you can point to an existing fileshare.
Run Book [W] – A runbook, in Wisdom terminology is an object which can contain parings between modules and/or projects, and agents and/or teams. What this means in plain english is that you can store job schedulings for different tasks to be run on different computers, all within one container. This will enable you to automate jobs which has dependancy across multiple computers. An example would be to build the components of a citrix farm: First build the DC, then the SQL, and then finally deploy Citrix to the terminal servers.
S
SA [B] – Acronym for Solution Assurance.
Sampling Mode [P] – Is a subfeature of the PowerFuse 2010 User Settings. It allows you to capture what’s going on for an cross section of the user population to which you are planning to implement User Settings. You can configure a ratio so that you for example only record sample data for, say 1 out of 10 users. Unlike User Settings, the sampled data is stored in the PowerFuse datastore. This is however only temporary until you get a fix on what settings you want to presereve or ignore. After that you are free to dump the sampledata.
Scope Control [P] – This describes the ability to limit a given Administrative Role to a certain subset of users identities, locations and devices and/or workspace containers. The idea is that you can run several departments (or perhaps even companies for that matter) under the same umbrella. Using scope control, you can then configure that AdminX for DepartmentX can only manage settings which are exclusive to the users of DepartmentX. Settings which are shared among different scopes will be read-only to the Administrative Roles that share them.
Secure Envelope [P] – This was a demo concept to show off the capabilities of USB Security. The secure envelope is configured around a “secure” app, where the prereqiusites are: a) Two factor authentication and b) Certain other communication apps such as IE, MSN, Outlook must not be allowed to run while the envelope is active. More information on this novel approach can be found in this article
Security Roles [P,W] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See Administrative Roles.
SessionGuard [P] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See Sessions.
Sessions[P] – Formerly known as SessionGuard. This is a technology within PowerFuse to allow the admin to control the behavior of user sessions when the user roams physically from one device to another. If a user moves from one device (PC or thin client) then PowerFuse can prompt the user for what he wants to do (log off the other session, disconnect, etc)
SetShell[P] – This utility is almost obsoloete. See end of this paragraph. SetShell is a free utility from RES Software designed to switch the shell of either the local or a remote computer between native Windows (means Powerfuse 2008 or earlier switched off), PowerFuse 2008 enabled, or RES Subscriber enabled. SetShell can only do one computer at a time. If you need to change the shell on more than one computer simultaniously, there is a Task in Wisdom to do just this, or you can do it in the Powerfuse 2010 Agent view. The SetShell used to be freely available for download from the main RES site, but they have moved it onto the portal, so you need a username and password to get it. Note: With the release of PowerFuse 2010, setshell has become largely obsolete as you can now set the shell on all agents centrally from the RES console. See this article. Note however that if you are using the Subscriber, currently (March ’10) Setshell is the only RES utility that can set that for you, unless you want to modify the registry yourself.
Shell[P] – The interface you’re presented with. When PowerFuse is controlling a user session’s shell, there are two options available. Either use the built-in Windows shell, managed by PowerFuse or use a small RES-built desktop called PowerMenu. There are advantages and caveats of each, which may be covered in another article sometime. Note however that you can configure exeptions for the shell so you can have different users running different shells.
Solution Assurance [B] – A.k.a. Software Assurance, Subscription Advantage, etc. This is the annual fee you would pay as a RES Software customer to ensure eligibility and continual access to the latest releases of the software you’ve purchased. A typical SA would be 20% of the purchase price. When you purchanse your RES product, one year of SA is included per default. Note: SA does not per default entitle you for EAP status as this is per invitation only.
Stealth Mode [P] – This is as of yet still an unofficial term, used to describe the situation when you install PowerFuse 2010 onto an existing unmanaged computer and switch off all the management functions in the Workspace Model to begin with. The user will not notice the shell has been switched to PowerFuse if the splashscreen is disabled at the same time. The cool thing about stealthmode is that you can then gradually start to take managed ownership over different parts of the existing estate. For example you might want to start with taking over the network drive mappings, thereby eliminating a big chunk of the existing loginscript.
Subscriber[P] – This is a variation of the Workspace Extender. This component will allow you to convert any regular PC into a thin-client, though preserving it’s ability to launch local applications. The Subscriber is set as an alternative shell, which in turn either can display a local simple menu, or suck the user straight into a loadbalanced, published, central desktop (where PowerFuse must be running in order for the Subscriber and WSExtender to work). Tip: run subscriber.exe /config to access the configuration panel of the application.
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Task[W] – Object within RES Wisdom which either does something to the target computer, or it can be a simple query. There are 50+ different tasks to chose from in RES Wisdom from the simple of changing computer properties, to the advanced items which can manipulate Active Directory objects.
Time Restrictions [P] - Formerly known as PowerHours. A way of configuring an application to only be available in certain timeframes on certain days. PowerHours are configured underneath an applications Access Control | Time Restrictions tab, where you can specify the available “opening hours” for an app in 30 minute intervals for a 7 day period. Note, currently the user will get warned 1 minute before he/she hits a time restriction on an application. If the user does not comply and closes the application, it will be forcefully terminated.
Tracing [W,P] - This is essentially switching on a debug log if there’s something strange in the neighborhood. You can enable this in both PowerFuse and Wisdom although the methods are a bit diffrent. To enable Tracing in PowerFuse, go here. To do the same in Wisdom, go have a look here
W
Web Portal [P] – Formerly known as WebTop. Allows you to generate a web-page in the users session that will show the contens of the start menu as a web page. To address any confusion, NO – this is not a replacement for Citrix’s web interface. The HTML is rendered inside the users session in the %temp% folder. It is for use in environments where you want to provide a consistent web look-n-feel.
W.i.s.d.o.m [acronym] – Interesting factoid #117. Originally Wisdom was an acronym for Windows Installation, Scheduling and Deployment Operations Manager. No longer in use. These days we speak about Runbook Automation for Windows, when referring to Wisdom.
WMC [W] – Often heard acronym for the Wisdom Management Console.
Workspace Analysis [P] – A part of PowerFuse which will let you analyze a users workspace environment into details. You will be able to see every aspect of the central PowerFuse configuration, but from the perspective of the user. Not only can you see what configuration items the user is eligeble to receive, but also the result. Did he actually receive it and did it result in an error. Examples are what applications does the user have access to, and why. What printers, drives and registry settings. Account cctive directory attributes. What security violations has this user incurred. What happened during the last X logons. Etc etc. The list is very extensive, which is why an Instant Report can be generated for every user.
Workspace Composer [P] – Formerly known as the Workspace Manager. This is the thing that runs during logon and encapsulates the users session from beginning to end. Note that from PowerFuse 2010, the splash screen of the WorkSpace Composer can be hidden from the User.
Workspace Container [P] – An object in PowerFuse which will allow you to cut out and manage certain parts of your environment. Useful applications for a workspace includes managing workstations, laptops and terminalservers from one console, or perhaps managing multiple silo’s in a citrix farm. The uses are many, therefore I have dedicated a separate article to workspace containers and their many uses.
WorkSpace Extender [P] – This is a free component available from the RES portal, which you can use to extend applications, running locally, into a remote PowerFuse desktop on a Citrix/TS environment. In effect what the workspace extender does is allowing you to do Reverse Seamless Windows. This means that apps which doesn’t run well on Server Based Computing environments (such as DVD burners, CAD and video apps, etc) can be run locally, yet seem as they are part of the centralized desktop. See also Subscriber.
Workspace Model [P] – A central part of the new PowerFuse 2010 console which acts as a master circuitbreaker panel. Here you can turn on/off all parts of the PowerFuse experience. For example, if you turn everything off, you’ve effectively enabled Stealth Mode. The cool thing about the Workspace Modelis that you can define several configuration sets for different uses, using the PlusMenu.
Workspace Preferences [P] - Formerly known as PowerPanel. The WorkSpace Preferences is an application provided in the users’s start menu, which will allow him to change certain items in his environment, which in turn the admin has allowed. Per default, the user can change the contens of the start menu, desktop, quicklaunch and startup. Besides that there are options to change screensaver timeout, and similar things. Most Workspace Prefs items can at any time be overruled by the console operator. Alternatively the WorkSpace Preferences panel can be disabled completely.
WUID [W] – Acronym for Wisdom Unique IDentifier. This is a value written into the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry. The purpose of the value is to uniquely identify a wisdom
WUP file [W] – These files are downloadable from the RES portal, when a new version or service release of Wisdom is available. Wisdom automagically updates all agent, dispatcher and wisdom console components. In Wisdom 4.0 and up you can if necessary do a downgrade by loading up an older .WUP file. All components will then revert to the older version.
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UPF file [P] – UPF files contain the file based user setting that are recorded for a User Setting in Powerfuse. The files in questions are files/folders/foldertrees specified in the users %userprofile% path.
UPR file [P] – These files store the HKCU registry PowerFuse 2008 User Preferences for a user. The UPR files can be found in <Homedrive:>\PwrMenu\UserPrefs\{GUID}.UPR Note: the files are binary and can only be read by PowerFuse and a certain old internal RES utility. This is however obsoloete with the advent of PowerFuse 2010, as you are now able to view the User Settings files directly in the RES PowerFuse console.
UPR2 file [P] – This is the new real-time storage file format for HKCU registry based User Settings in PowerFuse 2010 and up. These files are encrypted, but their contens can be viewed using WorkSpace Analysis on the user.
Usage Tracking [P] – Formerly known as PowerTrace. An extensive historical logging system built into PowerFuse, which can collect information about all application, web, user, department and computer activity: For example, which websites were visited by who and how long, what applications were used for how long. More information about Usage Tracking can be found here and here
USB Security [P] – PowerFuse offers two ways of managing security around USB drives. A) you can set security on the drives so for example you can read data IN from a drive, but not write data OUT to a drive. This is governed by the kernal filter driver built into PowerFuse. B) another way is using the said USB device as a security token. PowerFuse is able to read the serial number and manufacturer off almost any USB drive, hence enabeling you to detect ranges of USB devices. Combine an app with the prompt for password setting and you’ve got two-factor authentications on your apps! See this article for an example on how to use USB security.
User Installed Applications [P] – Formerly known as Partially Managed Workstations. This feature of PowerFuse will allow installation of new unmanaged applications by certain specified users on certain computers. Note that the users usually need local admin privledges to execute MSIexec. All installations by the users are logged centrally in terms of Time, date and Software title. Tip: look into using PowerFuse and Wisdom combined to trigger installation.
User Preferences [P] – Old name, pre PowerFuse 2010. See User Settings.
User Settings [P] – The implementation of Hybrid Profiles, Flex Profiles, etc in RES PowerFuse. The idea is to scoop up specified user settings from files/registry in the user’s profile, save it instantly to the homedir (or at logout), and then dunk it all back in there when you need the setting again. User Settings can be specified both globally and per application. The big deal here is that this happens in realtime. PowerFuse will grab both HKCU settings and files modified in %userprofiles% and you can do all sorts of exclusions to your hearts content. Besides that, user modifies settings are NOT (unlike certain other vendors do) stored in the datastore, but easily accessible in the users homedirectory. Finally, you can record and log everything that’s going on, using Sampling Mode.
$UserShell() [P] – This function will allow you to refer to UserShellFolders locations, such as favorites, desktop, appdata, sendto, cookies, etc. to name a few. This is especially usefull when defining environment variables in PowerFuse. See this article for an overview of the function.
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Zero-Profile Technology [P] – This is marketing speak for using PowerFuse 2010 to A) manage configuration settings which need to be rendered dynamically B) grabbing User settings in realtime and storing them outside the profile, thereby C) not relying on any specific profile. To be perfectly candid about it, it’s way cool to do this, but since any Windows session in reality needs to load some kind of profile, one might be a bit more specific and refer to it as zero profile reliance. Example: If you don’t configure a profile for users in a TS environment, this will work nicely. However local static profiles would start to pile up on every server, hence you really want to set up a fast locally stored mandatory profile everywhere you can in that example. There is an nice article on that right here. Expect an article on Zero Profile technology in the near future here on the ‘Guru.
RESguru | 
2009/03/31 17:52
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