Working with Hyena's server listing
For many years Hyena has had to rely on the Windows Browse List to populate the Servers folder due to lack of an efficient mechanism for retrieving a list of servers from AD. As environments started locking down network broadcasts, along with newer OSes having the Computer Browser service disabled by default, SystemTools has seen an increase in questions about the Servers folder.
This tip offers a different solution for this issue, and that is to create a query that filters for *server* in the OS field. The first step is to create the query:
- Select File > Manage Object View > AD Queries
- Change the Query Type to "Container/OU Contents"
- Click the "New Query" icon on the right.
- For the "Query Name" type "Servers" or another name of your choice, then check the box at the bottom to "Include subcontainers and sub-OUs in search".
- In the "LDAP Search Filter" box type the following:
(&(objectCategory=computer)(objectClass=computer)(operatingSystem=*server*))
- Click OK to create the query and return to the Object Manager Configuration dialog and choose the attributes to display for this query. A simple example would include:
Directory Name
Description
OS
Version
Service Pack
- Click OK to save the new query and close Object Manager.
To run this query, expand the domain in Hyena's left window, then right-click on the main Containers/OUs object and choose Query Active Directory > Servers.
The SystemTools site has more information on this issue along with several other options: http://www.systemtools.com/faq.htm#faq5
Using special Active Directory symbols
While Active Directory contains a great deal of information, at times the data is not formatted in such a way that makes it easy to use. For example, the directory does not have an attribute to indicate the name of the container that an object resides in. While this information is part of the directory path of the object, it is not easy parsed out or visually easy to see.
Hyena supports a number of special 'symbols' that can be added to AD queries which will be calculated or programmatically determined when the query is executed. To add a symbol to a query, set the Attribute Category to 'Special AD Symbols'. See the above tip for creating a new OU query; the technique is similar if you want to create a new All Users query or just modify one of the existing directory queries.
Some of these symbols can affect the performance of getting back the query results. The following special symbols can be added to a query, but before adding any of these symbols to an AD query, read the information below for specific performance impacts:
%SYM_AD_USER_NO_CHG_PWD%
When this symbol is added to a query, Hyena will call a Windows function to retrieve additional information to determine the status of the 'user cannot change password' setting. This function must be called on each user account, and can therefore increase the time required to process the AD query. Test using this function first on a small subset of users accounts. Its usage should only be needed if the AD user account flags (useraccountcontrol / role attribute) is not accurate with respect to this particular setting.
If this symbol is added to a query, and the user icon rule (Tools >Settings >Active Directory (User Icons...) for 'user cannot change password' is enabled, the user icon will reflect the same data retrieved for this symbol. See the Active Directory > Customized User Images topic in Hyena's help file for more information.
Performance: Potentially a significant performance impact when added to a query. Best added to queries that are NOT run by default.
%SYM_AD_CONTAINER%
Calculates the AD container path, which is essentially the DN without the leading name (CN) of the object. For example, if the entire user DN is:
CN=JackieJohnson,OU=Sales,OU=Marketing,DC=mydomain,DC=com, then the AD container will be: OU=Sales,OU=Marketing,DC=mydomain,DC=com
Performance: No performance impact when added to a query.
%SYM_AD_CONTAINER_NODOMAIN%
Using the above example, this symbol value would be:
OU=Sales,OU=Marketing
Performance: No performance impact when added to a query.
%SYM_AD_TOP_CONTAINER%
Using the previous example, this symbol value would be:
Sales
Performance: No performance impact when added to a query.
%SYM_DAYS_UNTIL_EXPIRE%
Displays the number of days left until the account expires, based on the account expiration date.
Performance: Small performance impact, as the account expiration date must be retrieved/computed.
%SYM_PWD_AGE%
Displays the number of days since the password was changed.
Performance: Small performance impact, as the 'pwdlastset' attribute must be retrieved/computed.
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