Hyena Usage Tips

Click here for a PDF White Paper with information on how to report NTFS file/directory and share permissions. (Requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Hyena/Exporter Pro can be used to export all installed software for computers on the network, and Microsoft Excel can then be used to sort/search for specific software.

In Hyena select the computers to search (or click on the domain entry in the left window for all computers in the domain), then go to Tools > Exporter Pro > Export From Selected Objects.
Click the Settings button then enable Installed Software Applications found under the Registry section.
Click Close and then Start Export.

In Hyena's right-hand window select the computers to report on, then go to Tools > Exporter Pro > Export Selected Objects.

Click the Settings button, then double-click on Windows NT/Local Group Members.
Check the box to Export Group Members, then enter in an output file such as groups.txt.
Check the box to Only export information for groups listed in this file:

Enter in a file name such as grpmembers.txt and click Edit.
Notepad should open and state the file doesn't exist, and ask if the file should be created. Click Yes.
In the file enter in Administrators, then save the file and close Notepad.
Click OK, then click Close, then click Start Export.

This can be accomplished using Hyena's Home Directory Templates feature:

Go to Tools > Settings > Home Dir, then either create a new template or modify an existing one with the required changes.

To apply this template, select the users for modification in Hyena's right-hand window, then right-click and choose Properties. Go to the Profile tab, and change the information to what it should be. For example to change the path to a new server, the current path might be:

\\server1\users\%username%

Change it to the new location (and matching the home directory template):

\\server2\users\%username%

Click OK and the change will be applied to all of the selected users and the %username% variable will be replaced for each user accordingly.

Who hasn't from time to time wished that they could undo a user deletion, or just know when a particular directory object was deleted. While Microsoft has had a 'Recycle Bin' of sorts in Active Directory since Windows 2003, it wasn't until the release of Windows 2008 R2 that it has finally been usable.

If you are already using Windows 2008 R2, and have not looked at the new Recycle Bin options, visit this link to find out more:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd392261(WS.10).aspx

This article is highly technical, but don't get turned off by the complexity of actually restoring a deleted object. Hyena has for years supported restoring deleted objects. To see what your current directory has deleted, just right click on your domain and select View Deleted Objects. The main change in Windows 2008's AD Recycle Bin is that more attributes can now be recovered making it more usable than in earlier Windows versions.

Hyena offers powerful WMI reporting functionality, and comes with several popular WMI classes already configured. New classes are also very easy to add. Here is an example from a recent support query on how to display CD-ROM information for all computers on the network:

The first step is to see if there is a WMI class that can be used to get the required information. To determine what is available, either use an Internet search engine, or use Hyena's Class Lookup feature. A sample search would be to use Google and search for: cd-rom drive WMI class. This example would find several Microsoft MSDN articles using the 'Win32_CDROMDrive' class.

To test this class to see if it provides the information required, right-click on a computer, or selection of computers, and choose WMI > Execute Query. Then click the New button. Enter a name to help recognize this query later (it will be saved in Hyena for further use) in the WMI Query Name box, and then enter the class name 'Win32_CDROMDrive' in the WMI Class box.

If the name of the class is unknown, the Lookup class function can be used.

Once the class is entered, click OK. In the window on the right side are the properties for this class; pick and choose the fields to display and add them to the Query Properties window on the left. All properties can be chosen initially to see what each produces and then come back to this dialog to remove those that aren't needed.

Once the properties have been added, click the Execute Query button. At this point Hyena will retrieve the information from the selected computers and display it in the right-hand window where it can be sorted, filtered, or sent to Microsoft Excel for further reporting.

The Enterprise Edition of Hyena is required for WMI reporting. Standard Edition users can use the Win32_Process (Processes) class to evaluate this functionality.

Some Active Directory attributes, for example notes and comments fields, can contain carriage return/line feed (CR/LF) characters. By default, these are generally not displayed in the Windows list control which is used for Hyena's right window displays. Beginning with Hyena v8.8 it will by default replace all CR/LF characters in Active Directory data with a Cr/Lf symbol in order to better reflect the underlying information.

However, this can be changed by using the advanced setting 'AdCrLfReplacementString' found under Tools > Settings > Advanced. This option can be set to any string such as the ^ character, or even a blank if desired.

Column rearranging is an often overlooked feature built into the standard Windows list control which Hyena uses for its right window displays. To temporarily move an entire column, simply click on the column header and drag it to the new location. Windows will place a small colored indicator showing where the new column will be positioned. Release the mouse button when you have the new column where you want it.

Recently a customer converted the domain path from Netbios to DNS and noticed an increase in performance when accessing Active Directory. Active Directory can use a variety of paths to describe the domain, but usually DNS works best. To see or change the path for your domain, select File->Manage Object View in Hyena, then set the domain path accordingly. There is a browse button (...) at the end of the ADSI Path box which makes it easier to get the path entered correctly.

Also, verify that the domain type is set to Windows 2000/2003/2008/2012/2016/2019 Domain (and not a Windows NT domain type).

Windows 7 changes a number of things that make remote administration a challenge. Many of our support cases involve the disabling, by default, of the remote registry service under Windows 7. Registry operations and some functions ( such as computer properties) will fail with a rather generic Microsoft error when performed against a remote Windows 7 computer if the remote registry service is disabled on the remote computer. The solution is to enable the Remote Registry service on any computers that will be reported on by Hyena.

When either the main Containers/OU object or any Active Directory container object is selected, Hyena will display a special 'OU Filtering Toolbar' at the bottom of the main window, which can be used to control object retrieval within OUs. While Hyena's help file gives a complete overview of the functionality available, the two main uses are filtering and allowing Hyena to navigate down, or 'traverse into', sub-Ous:

Filtering - The various buttons on the toolbar that represent users, computers, groups, etc. can either be clicked 'up' or 'down', which will control which object types are displayed when the contents of an OU/container are displayed.

Traverse - When the leftmost button is clicked into the "down" position, Hyena will display everything in the selected OU, PLUS all sub-OU contents, based on the settings for the individual object buttons. If you need to only look at users, for example, in a single OU that has many sub-OUs, then this is the tool to use.

(Hyena Enterprise Edition Only) Use WMI to find the total memory on a selection of computers.

Select the computers you want memory information on in the right-hand window, then right-click over one of the selected computers and choose WMI > Execute Query. Choose Computer System, then click Execute Query.

The 'Computer System' query is one of the most popular built-in WMI queries in Hyena. Its uses the Win32_ComputerSystem class, which in addition to memory information, contains information on the computer make and model, number of processors, power management settings, and more.

To view this report in Excel, go to the Tools menu and choose Export to Microsoft Excel, then look for the TotalPhysicalMemory column.

Hyena has for many years supported storing user photos in Active Directory (AD). Since AD was introduced, Microsoft has provided a directory attribute, 'thumbnailPhoto', for store of photos, but never provided a mechanism to store or view the photos. Hyena displays any supported image file on the 'Personal' dialog under User Properties.

Hyena has an entire Help file topic devoted to AD user photo storage under Active Directory > Active Directory User Photo Integration.

One item that our support team gets a lot of inquiries about is having the domain type in Hyena set incorrectly. Hyena still supports old NT-style domains, although nearly everyone has migrated by now to an Active Directory domain structure. We still get occasional inquiries from users who have the domain type set to a 'Windows Domain' and as a result, are losing a lot of functionality.

To verify the domain type, select File > Manage Object View (or click the first toolbar button), and click on the domain(s) you have listed in Hyena. The domain type should be set to Windows 2000/2003/2008/2012/2016/2019 domain and not the older "Windows Domain" style, unless you really do have an older Windows NT domain.

We are investigating how this happens as it appears that something in Hyena during the automatic current domain inclusion or manually adding domains is causing the domain type to default to the wrong type.

Another related item to the domain type is to use DNS names instead of Netbios names for all computer-related functions. All of Hyena's computer operations, for example, looking at services, disk space, registry information, etc. need to use a network path to access the Microsoft functions which return this information. By default, Hyena will use a Netbios style network path, (ie \\computername), instead of a DNS name, for example, \\computername.mydomain.com. In most sites, either network path style will work, but for some environments, the DNS name format can result in faster access.

To use DNS paths, go to Tools > Settings > Active Directory, and enable the option "Use DNS computer paths". This setting only effects access to computers retrieved from an Active Directory domain, for example, from the All Computers objects or through a container/OU.

Using the 'Find' context menu option on any Active Directory container or OU will display Microsoft's standard 'Find Users and Computers' dialog. Hyena can also capture and display the results of the Active Directory 'Find' dialog. This provides access to Hyena's own functions and the standard Microsoft functions as well on the returned objects.

To use this feature, first enable the 'OK' button on this dialog by selecting Tools > Settings > Advanced, find the setting labeled 'EnableAdFindOk' and make sure its set to 'True'. Next, display the Find dialog by selecting Find... from the context menu for any Containers/OUs object, or from any OU/container. After displaying the objects in the Find dialog, select one or more objects in the lower window, then click OK. The resulting set of objects will then be displayed in Hyena's right window.

(Hyena Enterprise Edition Only) Use WMI to find the serial numbers on a selection of computers.

Select the computers you want serial number information on in the right-hand window, then right-click over one of the selected computers and choose:

WMI Query Name - System Enclosure
WMI Namespace - (leave blank)
WMI Class - Win32_SystemEnclosure

Click OK to add the class, then choose the Properties you want to view. Make sure you include the '__SERVER' and 'SerialNumber' properties. Then click 'Execute Query'.

To view this report in Excel, go to the Tools menu and choose Export to Microsoft Excel, then look for the SerialNumber column.

Even if you are not using Terminal Server extensively in your environment, Windows will often use it behind the scenes. Although full multi-session viewing is only available in the Enterprise Edition, all Hyena users can see the first three (3) Terminal Server sessions for Windows XP/Vista clients and all servers. Since Windows will usually show the interactive user that is logged on at the console, you can use the Terminal Server sessions display to send messages and view the associated processes of an interactive logon session. Included in the process display is the option to terminate a process, which is something that cannot normally be done remotely in Windows without additional software agents or WMI.

The Terminal Server sessions can be seen by right clicking on the 'Sessions' under a computer in the left window, then selecting 'Terminal Server Sessions'. Viewing and managing Terminal Server sessions is a new feature available in Hyena v7.7.

The following information will allow you to view BitLocker recovery information for your computers.

Choose File > Manage Active Directory Queries. Change the Query Type drop-down to "Container/OU Contents". Click the "New Query" icon on the right side, and enter a Query Name, for example, "BitLocker". Enter an LDAP Search Filter of:

(&(objectClass=msFVE-RecoveryInformation))

Check the box to "Include subcontainers and sub-OUs in search". Click OK. Add the following Query Active Directory attributes:

%SYM_AD_CONTAINER_NODOMAIN% (Change Attribute Category to Special AD Symbols)
Directory Name (Change Attribute Category to General Directory Object Attributes)
msFVE-RecoveryPassword (Change Attribute Category to Other (Specify Attribute) and type in this field)
msFVE-RecoveryGuid (Change Attribute Category to Other (Specify Attribute) and type in this field)
msFVE-VolumeGuid (Change Attribute Category to Other (Specify Attribute) and type in this field)
msFVE-KeyPackage (Change Attribute Category to Other (Specify Attribute) and type in this field)

Click OK to save the query.

Choose Tools > Settings > Active Directory and check the box to "Show all Active Directory system objects/folders (advanced view)". Also check "View users, groups, and computer objects as containers".

To run this new query, right-click on Containers/OUs in the left window and choose "Query Active Directory > BitLocker".

The method we recommend is to right-click on the Computers folder and choose Query Active Directory -> Computer (Detailed). When that finishes displaying click on the column header for Pwd Last Set to sort by that column. This is the last time the computer reset its computer account password with the domain controller. This happens automatically approximately every 30 days. Identify those that are well beyond a pre-determined range and disable or delete them.

Computer accounts also have a LastLogon value like user accounts do. Exporter Pro is best for this report due to LastLogon being stored locally on each domain controller rather than synchronized throughout the domain. Click on the domain object in Hyena, choose Tools -> Exporter Pro -> Export From Selected Objects. Click the Settings button, then enable Computers under Active Directory(Users, Groups). Double-click on Computers and then click the Set Options button and enable the option to Export from all domain controllers. Add LastLogon to the Query Attributes window by changing the Attribute Category to User Attributes, selecting and adding LastLogon. Click OK, Close and Start Export. When it finishes running the output file open ca be opened with Microsoft Excel.

In complex Active Directory environments it can be a chore to drill down to frequently used OUs each day, so we created an object called Container/OU Contents. Basically it acts like a shortcut that links directly to a particular location in AD. To create one go to File -> Manage Object View -> Objects. Click the New button at the bottom, then change the Type to Container/OU Contents. Enter a name for this location, then click the ... button beside ADSI Path to find the Container or OU and have Hyena enter the proper path information. Click Add, and then OK. There should be a new object in the left-hand window linking to that location in AD.