Zenworks offers a central system where client systems can be configured and 

where updates and patches can be pushed to the client. The central system 

resides inside the firewalls of the organization and can get its content (packages) 

from a variety of sources including Ximian servers, YaST online Update, and 

even Red Hat Network.

The clients connect to the server to update and patch using the rug or red carpet 

programs. This connection uses the HTTP protocol. Administration is done on 

the Zenworks server using either the Web interface or command line commands.

The activation key that is used to activate the client actually specifies which 

administrators have access, which channels are available, and to which groups 

the client belongs.

Some of the features included in the new Zenworks 6.5 for Linux management 

are:

Enhanced ACL   Closely related to Activation keys. Administrators, channels, 

groups, or machine notifications can be associated with an activation key.

Check pending updates   Administrator can see which clients have updates 

pending and the importance of these.

Package sets   Software packages can be grouped to a set. The sets behave 

as packages and can have a version and dependencies.

Ad hoc groups   Groups can be created whenever an Administrator needs 

one, for example, for all machines with a certain update pending.

Enhanced transaction   Immediate or future execution scripts can be added 

or rolled back.

Set client permissions   Client configuration files can be controlled from the 

server.

Server side dry run   A transaction can be tested on the server to check 

dependency information without taxing the client.

Machine comparisons   Tool lists differences between two or more clients.

Choice of database backend   PostgreSQL or Oracle.

Caching server   Server that caches software on different subnets. 

Enhanced mirroring tool   Tool generates package sets from product 

descriptions provided by mirrored servers.

The new client has the following additional features:

Multiple server support   The client can access multiple Zenworks Linux 

management servers.

Time based rollback   Can be invoked locally and from the server.

 Chapter 4. Technical planning 

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