Manage Microsoft Windows with Mobile Admin

This section provides information about how to use the Mobile Admin Client to manage Microsoft Windows computers and servers.

All procedures in this chapter assume that you are logged in to Mobile Admin, and that you have selected a server to manage from your list of hosts.

Detection

Windows Management features are detected if a successful WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) connection can be made to the WMI root/cimv2 namespace on the server being managed.

Authentication

The credentials used to authenticate Windows Management are either the Mobile Admin login credentials or the credentials specified after a "Change Credentials" action has been taken.

Communication method

The communication method is WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation).

Troubleshooting

You must be able to establish a successful connection using WBEMTest from the Mobile Admin server to \\server\root\cimv2. WBEMTest is run from the Windows Start Menu. Specify credentials in WBEMTest if required.

Use the command prompt

You can use the command prompt function in Mobile Admin to run MS-DOS commands on the server you have selected.

You cannot run interactive programs in Mobile Admin from the command prompt.

1. From the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts, select Command Prompt.
2. Type an MS-DOS command, then click Send on the menu.

To send symbols that are not available on the keyboard of your wireless device, click Show Symbols on the menu when your cursor is in the text field. To refresh the screen, click Refresh on the menu.

Use Windows PowerShell

You can use the Windows PowerShell function in Mobile Admin to run certain Windows PowerShell commands on the server you have selected.

You cannot run interactive programs in Mobile Admin from Windows Powershell.

1. From the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts, select the Windows PowerShell icon.
2. Enter a Windows PowerShell command, then select Send on the menu.

Establish a dial-up connection

You can use existing dial-up connections with Mobile Admin.

You can only manage dial-up connections for the server on which Mobile Admin Server is installed.

1. From the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts, click the Dial-Up Connections icon.
2. Scroll to the dial-up connection that you want to use. On the menu, click Select.
3. Complete the following fields as required:
   • Username – type the user name required for this connection
   • Password – type the password required for this connection
   • Domain – type the domain for this connection
4. On the menu, click Connect. Mobile Admin will display a message confirming your successful connection.

Use the Event Viewer

You can use the Event Log Viewer in Mobile Admin to view and clear event logs, as well as to see details of specific events.

Viewe event logs

1. From the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts, click the Event Viewer icon.

2. Click the type of event you want to view.

   Five time frames will appear:

   • Last hour
   • Last 12 hours
   • Last 24 hours
   • Last week
   • Last month

3. Select one to open the event log for that time frame.

   For details of a specific event, select that event. You will see a screen detailing the event properties.

Clear event logs

1. Follow the procedure for viewing event logs.
2. On the menu, click Clear events.
3. Confirm that you wish to clear the event log. Mobile Admin will display a message to confirm that the event log has been cleared.

Manage drives, folders, and files with File Explorer

See File Explorer.

Send pop-up messages using Net Send

You can use Net Send in Mobile Admin to send a pop-up message to a Windows computer desktop.

To use Net Send successfully, the Messenger service must be running on the Windows computer that you to send the message to. The Messenger service is not the same as Windows Messenger or MSN Messenger.

1. From the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts, click the Net Send icon.
2. In the Message field, type the message that you would like to send.
3. Click Send, on the menu or on the Send Message screen.

Use NSLookup

You can use NSLookup in Mobile Admin to query Internet Domain Name Servers (DNS) from any of your Managed Servers.

1. From the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts, click the NSLookup icon.
2. Complete the following fields:
   • Hostname or IP – type the domain name or IP address that you want to query.
   • Query Type – select Address, Mail Exchange, Name Server, or Start of Authority from the drop-down menu
3. Click Lookup on the menu or on the NSLookup screen.

Use the ping function

You can use the ping function in Mobile Admin to determine if a specific IP address is accessible from the server you are managing.

1. From the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts, click the Ping icon.
2. Complete the following fields:
   • Hostname or IP – type the hostname or the IP address that you want to ping.
   • Ping Count – type the number of pings you want to send to the IP address.
3. Click Send Ping, either on the menu or on the Ping screen.

Manage printers

See Managing Printers.

Restart servers

You can use Mobile Admin to shutdown or restart the server you have selected from the server list. You can also log a user off the selected server. To execute these tasks, you must first click the Restart icon from the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts.

Restart and shutting down

To restart a server, click Restart on the menu. Mobile Admin will prompt you to confirm the restart.

To shutdown a server, click Shutdown on the menu. Mobile Admin will prompt you to confirm the shutdown.

Log off a logged-in user

On the menu, click Log Off User. Mobile Admin will display a message asking you to confirm that you wish to log out the user.

Running programs

You can use Mobile Admin to run a program on any of your Managed Hosts. To run a program:

1. From the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts, click the Run icon.
2. In the Program field, type the name of the program that you want to run. You must type the full path for the program if the program is not located in the default path for the system you are managing.
3. On the menu or on the Run Program screen, click Run.

Manage scheduled tasks

See Managing Scheduled Tasks.

Manage services

See Managing Windows Services.

Manage shared folders

See Managing Shared Folders.

View system information

You can use Mobile Admin to access system information about the server that you have selected from the server list. System information includes details about:

• Operating system (version and manufacturer)
• System manufacturer; model and type
• Total and free physical memory
• Free virtual memory
• Available disk space on the system drive(s).

To view system information from the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts, click the System Information icon.

Manage Terminal Services

You can use Mobile Admin to manage Terminal Services on the server you have selected. To view a terminal services connection and execute further tasks associated with terminal services, you must first click the Terminal Services icon from the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts. Clicking this icon will display current connections. To view details about a specific connection, scroll to and select the connection for which you are seeking more details.

Reset or disconnect a Terminal Services connection

To reset a connection:

1. Scroll to and select the connection that you want to reset.
2. On the menu, click Reset. Confirm that you wish to reset the connection when prompted.

To disconnect a connection:

1. Scroll to and select the connection that you want to disconnect.
2. On the menu, click Disconnect. Confirm that you wish to disconnect the connection when prompted.

Send a message using Terminal Services

Scroll to and select the connection that you want to send a message to.

On the menu, click Send Message.

Type the message you want to send. On the menu or the Send Message screen, click Send.

Using Trace Route

You can use Mobile Admin to trace a route from the server that you have selected to another server.

To trace a route:

1. From the Mobile Admin Manage Services screen or from the Services screen for one of your Managed Hosts, click the Trace Route icon.

2. In the Hostname or IP field, type the hostname or the IP address for which you want to trace the route.

3. If you want to have the trace route program return the names of the routers, select or turn ON the Resolve Names box.
4. On the menu or on the Trace Route screen, click Trace.

Manage local users and groups

See Managing Local Users and Groups.