lanauditor: automatically track hardware and software assets enterprise wide. lanauditor Inventory Audit Software - Quick Start Guide

OVERVIEW

1. Small inventory agents (*.EXE's) are run on workstations and servers to collect inventory data which is then stored in central or localized lanauditor Data files (*.LAD).
2. The inventory data files are imported into the lanauditor management 'console' where your data can then be examined and reports generated.

SIMPLE REVIEW OF EXAMPLE DATABASE AND TEST RECORD

1. Install lanauditor to its default installation path on to your local Windows 9x / NT PC.
   Note that Administrator privilages are required to install correctly on NT.
2. Run lanauditor. By default, the console opens the empty 'Example' database.
3. Go Tools | Inventory Update. You will see an example .lad (lanauditor audit data) file ready to be imported.
4. Check the tick box next to example.lad. Then click Start Update to import the data.


5. Once the import is complete press Quit to return to the console.
6. View the data in the example record by running the first standard query: Query | Standard | a Basic Win32 Hardware.
7. You will be able to see the basic information for the example PC. Go Query | Standard and try the other standard queries.
8. To see more details for the example PC click on any mauve Detail folder in the bottom l/hand corner window.

AUDIT YOUR OWN PC

1. Run lanauditor.
1. If you have purchased a full license code, install it now using the Help | License function.
   If no license code is entered the installation remains at the normal evaluation 25 record (PC) limit.
2. Create a new blank database by selecting File | New and giving your new database a name.
3. Choose Tools | Agent Builder Wizard. In Step 1 for Audit Type select 'Win 9x, NT, 2001' as your PC uses one of these operating systems. For Audit Level select 'Hardware & Software - (full file matching)'. Next >
4. On Steps 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 simply press Next > (for this demonstration we are using only the basic agent features).
5. On Steps 7 and 8 type or browse to select a local temporary directory such as C:\TEMP. For the purposes of this demonstration, select the same directory on both steps. Press Finish >.



2. Locate the file agent32.exe in the directory you specified in step (e). This is the inventory agent. It will be accompanied by auditor.prf. This is the agent profile, which was created by the Agent Builder Wizard.
3. Run Agent32.exe. It will audit the hardware and software on your PC and write an inventory data file *.LAD in to the same directory. The time taken to audit the system depends on the hard drive size and the installed applications. For this demonstration we chose the most comprehensive (and thus slowest) audit level.
4. This final step imports the audit data you have generated with the agent into your new database.



1. From the lanauditor console choose Tools | Inventory Update, then 'Update Locations'.
2. Type or browse to select the location of your inventory data file as specified in step (e) then 'Add', 'OK'.
3. The inventory update main window should now show your inventory data file ready to import, with one record. Click on the check box to select the data file. Note: if you ran the inventory agent twice on the same machine, the file would show 2 records as the second audit would have appended to the same file. When the two records were updated to the database lanauditor would have recognized that both belonged to the same PC and combined them.
4. Select 'Start Update' to import the audit data into your database. Once completed 'Quit' to return to the main console window.
5. Go Query | Standard | and select the first query, 'Basic WIN32 Hardware' to query the database and display basic information for your PC.
6. Run the other standard queries (d) and (g) to see detected software and unrecognized files found on your PC.

Your local audit is completed.

AUDITING NETWORK WORKSTATIONS USING A LAN

Capturing inventory data using the network requires slightly more preperation, but is an extremely efficient way to collect information. Thousands of PCs over a large physical area can be audited within hours.

To audit workstations from a network, follow the same basic procedure above but with the additional task of copying the configured inventory agents to a network drive where all users can read and write. For instance, under NetWare you might create a path on the SYS volume called COLLECT.

It does not matter if you configure the agents (using the Agent Builder Wizard) and store them locally before copying them to a network drive, providing you copy all files that are generated by the Wizard process. Using some advanced features (such as the User Questionnaire) will generate additional files that must also be transferred.

The steps to auditing a network are:-

1. Create the inventory agent(s) you require as shown above.
2. Create a centralized collection path on the network.
3. Copy the inventory agent(s) to the path - you need one agent per operating system (agent32.exe for Win 9x & NT, auditwin.exe for Windows 3.x etc). Each agent must be created separately.
4. Edit the system login script to run the appropriate agent on each workstation.

All networks differ, but you essentially need to use the login script for the primary authentication server for the users you wish to audit (for tolerance in large networks, it is recommended to define several collection paths across the enterprise). Edit the login script to run the relevant agent. For workstations logging in through a Windows 32 bit platform use agent32.exe; for Windows 3.x use Auditwin.exe; for DOS use WAUDITOR etc.

Simply include a call to that command in the script, e.g. F:\COLLECT\agent32.exe –P F:\COLLECT\auditor.prf (assuming an F: drive is mapped). The simpler agents, auditwin.exe and wauditor.exe, do not require the .prf command e.g. F:\COLLECT\auditwin.exe.

5. As users log in, the script executes the inventory agent and these collect inventory information and drop it into a *.LAD or AUDITOR.DAT file in the collect directory. (The Windows 32 bit agent produces *.LAD files - the older agents AUDITOR.DAT). It is recommended that the agents reside in the collection path. It is common practice to let agents collect data over several days, to ensure all users have logged in.

   NOTE: lanauditor is a very fast auditing engine. A software audit takes seconds, and a hardware audit should not even be noticed. This ensures the inventory process does not impact on users. Compare this speed with any other audit product available.

6. Update the main database

Following exactly the same method as for a local audit, run lanauditor, choose Tools | Inventory Update, and define the collection path(s), this time pointing to the network collection path(s). Now you should see multiple collection paths, with varying record numbers depending how many have logged on since you modified the login script. Select the required paths, update the database and use the Queries to interrogate the data as before.

*Note: lanauditor only uses the most recent record within the database for a given PC. It is possible to have multiple records for a single PC if you configure the agent to audit every time on login and the user logs in several times in that period. This means that you might have an audit file with 59 records even though there are only 50 nodes on your network. lanauditor will recognize the duplicates during data import to the console.

Your network audit is completed.

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Last modified: 2001-09-10

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