Environment
Novell ZENworks 7.5 Asset Management - ZAM7.5
Situation
The collector has the ability to read the asset tag information on a pc if it is available. However, there are times that the manufacturer places bogus information in that section for example y's with umlots or 1111111 or 22222 etc.
Resolution
Fixed in ZENWorks Asset Management Interim Release 12
Interim Releases can be scheduled to run automatically or can be downloaded manually at https://download.novell.com . The Interim releases can be set up within the ZAM Manager for the Task server to check the site on a scheduled basis, and download and apply them automatically. Please refer to the Help Section for details of how to set up automatic downloads if desired.
Each interim release is cumulative. If Interim Release 12 is not available due to a newer interim release being placed on the website, be assured that the code needed is in the later release.
Interim Releases can be scheduled to run automatically or can be downloaded manually at https://download.novell.com . The Interim releases can be set up within the ZAM Manager for the Task server to check the site on a scheduled basis, and download and apply them automatically. Please refer to the Help Section for details of how to set up automatic downloads if desired.
Each interim release is cumulative. If Interim Release 12 is not available due to a newer interim release being placed on the website, be assured that the code needed is in the later release.
Additional Information
The ZAM database does contain a table that is used by the loader to ignore certain invalid asset tag numbers we have seen in the past. However, a new feature has been added to the collector to give it the functionality to assess if an assettag number is valid.
The Collector now supports a new option "EnglishAssetTag", whether used globally in Advanced Collector Options or individually in Options.Txt. When this new option is used, the Collector evaluates the System's asset tag. If the asset tag is found to contain any low-ASCII or high-ASCII (anything other than English "typewriter standard" alphanumeric/punctuation symbols), or if it's found to contain any of the 33 strings in the NC_WkstnReconcileData table, that asset tag is overwritten with "Illegible Asset Tag" to indicate that it was overwritten. If the new EnglishAssetTag option is not in use, the Collector's operation will be entirely unchanged.
The Collector now supports a new option "EnglishAssetTag", whether used globally in Advanced Collector Options or individually in Options.Txt. When this new option is used, the Collector evaluates the System's asset tag. If the asset tag is found to contain any low-ASCII or high-ASCII (anything other than English "typewriter standard" alphanumeric/punctuation symbols), or if it's found to contain any of the 33 strings in the NC_WkstnReconcileData table, that asset tag is overwritten with "Illegible Asset Tag" to indicate that it was overwritten. If the new EnglishAssetTag option is not in use, the Collector's operation will be entirely unchanged.