Re: Helpdesk and monitor software

[PCSC Information Services <info () pcsage biz>]

Hi James,

The majority of systems that I work with are BSD based so I use cron,  
with a couple of scripts for updates ( portsnap, cvsup, pkg_version |  
grep "<", portupgrade -arR etc. )

To be frugal, on Windows Systems I've been using MBSA which checks the  
latest patches for Microsoft products, you can also scan a range of  
machines on a schedule using this great tool, I like to save my budget  
money for hardware where possible (oh and perks for techs that work  
hard! ;) ) . Software is a dead loss imco.

On Mac networks that I oversee I use the servers centralized Software  
Update daemon, and as all of the Macs are usually 'managed' you can  
set them up to 'automagically' download software updates nightly.

If you are in a production environment that is 'touchy' (i.e. legacy  
software, legacy hardware, or OS) I'd advise having a test lab to  
properly regression test any patches that are made available before a  
wide scale roll-out.

Each environment is unique, and computers (often even in the same  
system family) do not always behave the same with patching. From my  
experience there is no cut and dry solution, and it's not something  
that you can 'really' automate in most cases as you may find  
accounting all has a different firmware for example...

There can be no substitute for constant vigilance and good team  
communication :)

Sean Swayze

On 26-Feb-08, at 1:59 PM, James Mecca wrote:

> What do you guys use/like for patch management software?
>
> Regards,
>
> James
> -----Original Message-----
> From: listbounce () securityfocus com [mailto:listbounce () securityfocus com 
> ] On
> Behalf Of Mike Hale
> Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:17 AM
> To: lennons () comcast net
> Cc: security-basics () securityfocus com
> Subject: Re: Helpdesk and monitor software
>
> We've used TrackIt for licensing and help desk.  It also has a bunch
> of other modules that'll do what you need it to.
>
> www.numarasoftware.com
>
> On 2/25/08, lennons () comcast net <lennons () comcast net> wrote:
> > although it is not free, we have been using a program called kaseya.
> >
> > It has help desk, monitoring, license tracking, reporting, and  
> > quite a few
> other options and add ons.
> > Like I said not free, but it works well for us.
> >
> > see www.kaseya.com
> >
> > s
> >
> > (user of the software since 2004)
> > -------------- Original message ----------------------
> > From: "Murda Mcloud" <murdamcloud () bigpond com>
> > > I'm also in the process of evaluating this. As far as I know,  
> > > spiceworks
> > > serves adverts to keep it 'free'.
> > > You can turn these off if you like-not sure yet what functionality  
> > > you
> may
> > > lose if this is the case.
> > > It works nicely though, gives good snapshots of the systems on your
> network
> > > and the helpdesk module is pretty cool.
> > >
> > > I didn't know it was open source, though. I wonder what the license
> is...
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: listbounce () securityfocus com [mailto:listbounce () securityfocus com 
> > > ]
> On
> > > Behalf Of LAS
> > > Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 2:56 AM
> > > To: rafael.almeida () adml pt; security-basics () securityfocus com
> > > Subject: Re: Helpdesk and monitor software
> > > Importance: High
> > >
> > > I use an opensource tool that I am a Beta tester on as well ...
> > >
> > > You can even request feature additions for both monitoring and  
> > > helpdesk.
> > >
> > > http://www.spiceworks.com/2.1/
> > >
> > > Some people have done some funky stuff with the Helpdesk module ...
> > >
> > > Like project management and collaborations.
> > >
> > > Try it for yourself ... proof is in the pooding.
> > >
> > > Regards
> > >
> > > Lennard-Peter A. Sutherland (LAS)
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: <rafael.almeida () adml pt>
> > > To: <security-basics () securityfocus com>
> > > Sent: Saturday, 2008, February 23 16:29
> > > Subject: Helpdesk and monitor software
> > >
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > To measure the IT system I use Nagios and Cacti for communication  
> > > and
> server
> > > uptime.
> > >
> > > I need a software to helpdesk, application and licensing software
> monitor.
> > > For the first I thinking use sharepoint 2007, for the second I  
> > > study MS
> SC
> > > and altiris.
> > >
> > > What you recommend for this proposes?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > > Rafael
>
>
> --
> 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0