Applies To
Express Software Manager version 4.x through 5.x

Summary
This technical note describes the conflicts encountered when trying to inventory ghosted machines, and offers a solution for users who want to run the Express Software Manager Inventory client on ghosted workstations. The solution involves the use of an Express Metrix utility, Gensmsid.exe.

Ghosting and Express
By default, Express Software Manager identifies computers by comparing three variables: the name of the machine, the address of the network card (NIC), and the serial number of the hard drives. If two or more of these identifying variables match information in the existing Applib.mch file, the data gathered will be stored in a corresponding .INV file.

Many companies use a process called ghosting to install a standard operating system by copying a single hard disk image and set of programs on multiple computers. These ghosted computers have identical registries, which presents identification problems for Express. Ghosting causes each machine to have the same hard drive serial number and machine name, which causes Express inventory data gathered from ghosted machines to overwrite the .INV file from a previously scanned machine. Users who have ghosted machines in their environment might notice machines disappearing from the Machines list in the Library Properties or that fewer machines appear in the list than expected.

Using Express Metrix’s Utility to Create a Unique Identifier
If you have ghosted computers in your environment (this includes purchasing machines from vendors with pre-installed software), you may want to use the Express Metrix utility, Gensmsid.exe, to create a unique identifier on each ghosted machine.

Gensmsid.exe creates a file called Sms.ini (if it does not already exist) in the root of the PC's first hard drive and inserts a unique 19-character ID number into the Sms.ini. You can then change the Machine re-identification method to SMS ID and Express can then use these ID numbers to uniquely identify ghosted machines. Because this guarantees that each machine in the library has a unique identifier, the use of the SMS ID prevents machines from overwriting each other’s data even if they have the same hard drive serial number and machine name.

Note: If SMS 1.2 has already been deployed in your environment, the Gensmsid utility detects the existing Sms.ini and will NOT overwrite it. (The -o switch can be used to overwrite an existing Sms.ini file.) If you attempt to deploy SMS 2.0 after the Gensmsid utility has been run, there should not be any conflict because SMS 2.0 does not utilize to the Sms.ini file.

Obtaining Gensmsid.exe
In order to obtain the Gensmsid.exe utility, you will need to download and unzip the file Ex1382as.zip:

http://www.expressmetrix.com/main/downloads2/ex1382as.zip

Preparing to Deploy Gensmsid.exe
In order to use the SMS ID that will be deployed via Gensmsid.exe, you should create a new library and change the Machine re-identification method in Library Properties.

1. Before you run Gensmsid.exe, create a new Express library in a different location than the previous library.

Caution: If you choose to keep the new library in the same location as the previously existing library, you should disable the login script as well as the gathering of metering and inventory data PRIOR to creating the new library

2. Change the Machine re-identification method in the Library Properties to SMS ID:
   1. Open Library Properties in Express Console.

   2. On the Advanced tab, change the Machine re-identification method to SMS ID.

This causes the client to identify the machine by SMS ID rather than by using the Standard re-identification method that compares the name of the machine, the address of the network card (NIC), and the serial number of the hard drive.

Deploying Gensmsid.exe
The GENSMSID utility can be run in a login script or from a disk on individual workstations.

1. Run Gensmsid.exe on each workstation in your environment. (This includes machines that were not configured using ghosting.) If you are using a login script to deploy the Express client, modify the script to run Gensmsid.exe on the line prior to running Exinst.exe. Remember to point the inventory client to the new library location.

Note: Use the optimal -p switch to add identifying text to the beginning of the SMS ID. This might be used to identify groups of computers. For example, if you want to sort computers by floor, this utility can be used to assign IDs with a floor prefix by entering the following syntax:

gensmsid -pFLOOR1_

2. If you are not using login scripts in your environment, you must run the inventory client from the new library to re-scan the computer. On the Run line, enter the following command:

\\<server name>\Clients\Exinv16.exe

3. Run Express Reports to verify that all computers are recognized.

Modifying Reports
Reports that rely on machine name to identify each workstation default to "_Unknown" if the workstation does not have a unique machine name. Ghosted machines are frequently reported as "_Unknown" thus rendering these reports useless.

A Microsoft Access query can be written to replace the machine name with the SMS ID generated by Gensmsid.exe. The query allows an administrator to identify a machine with its user. If you are familiar with programming database queries, the pertinent Express database attributes for such a query are the MachineAttributes table and Attribute 3003. Note: A full version of Microsoft Access 97 is required to write such a query.

For assistance creating custom reports or queries, contact Express Metrix. For more information, see http://www.expressmetrix.com/main/services.asp.

Related Technical Notes

1563	Ghosted Computers and Express Software Manager 6.0
9991	Express Software Manager Technical Notes (5.x or lower)