How to remove client machines from the SMP Console that are still active but no longer managed by your company

Products

• IT Management Suite

Issue/Introduction

This is the use case scenario:

1. You have a task to push the uninstall process for Symantec Management Agent (aka Altiris Agent or SMAgent) but they have some computers in a Business Center running a software named Deep Freeze by a company named Faronics.
   (This product requires a password to disable it. Also, anytime the computer reboots it is put into the state it was when the software was installed and enabled. So if you get on that machine with Admin rights and you do not disable the software first, then when it reboots all changes are undone).
2. You don’t have access to some of these computers anymore because you don’t manage the property any longer.
3. If you push the uninstall task for Altiris Agent then once the PC reboots Altiris Agent is back on the machine.
4. Since you can't access those machines, you can't uninstall the Altiris Agent from those machines.

The request:

Since you can't uninstall the Altiris Agent using the agent uninstall task because DeepFreeze is installed (also it can apply to machines that were left behind in another domain or after the company split-off but the Altiris Agent is still active on those machines), you don't want those machines showing in the SMP Console. You don't want to track them anymore because those are no longer your computers.

Environment

ITMS 8.5, 8.6, 8.7

Resolution

There are a few options:

1. If you don't want to manage them, you can just delete them directly from the SMP Console under Manage>Computers>select computer>right-click>Delete  

or you can just "retire" them: Manage>Computers>select computer>right-click>CMDB Functions>Set Asset Status>Retired  

These options should remove these machines from being considered active and visible on your Manage>Computers page.

2. Now, if those machines can still access the SMP server because those machines have the CEM (cloud-enabled management) mode turned on, there is a chance that they can come back and be added back again when they send basic inventory. You can "revoke" access to those machines:
a) Go to SMP Console>Reports>Notification Server Management>Registration>Agent Registration Status
b) Change the "period" on the report to 1 or 2 days for example, set "status" to "All", run the report, and see if those machines came back. If so, right-click on the machine on the Report and select "Revoke Internal agent trust". See more details under "Viewing and Managing the Agent Registration Status"

When you "revoke" access to these machines, they can't get new configuration or send info back because the access has been revoked or denied. The Altiris Agent itself on those computers will fail to reach out to the SMP server.

c) Then, you can delete or retire the machine(s) from your SMP Console as mentioned in step 1 above.