Feature Request

[renaud.counhaye]

Hello TranquilIT,

My team and I have been using WAPT for several months now, and we've deployed it across three major sites within our company, easily totaling 300 to 400 PCs.
With such a large inventory, it becomes difficult to manage the tool that's supposed to make our lives easier.

So here are my feature requests, which seem essential:
-Update scheduling (defining a time to deploy a package or forcing an update for everyone at a specific time every X days)
-Creation of PC groups (clients) to easily target, for example, the company's HR department without needing an Excel spreadsheet to search for machine IDs one by one to apply a specific package.
-Creation of a 'Groups' tab in the console that groups these groups, similar to the Bundles tab for packages.
Groups are created via the 'Groups' tab, but a PC can be added to a group later, either through the tab itself or via the "Edit host configuration" window, where a 'Group Membership' sub-tab is added with checkboxes depending on the available groups (also allowing membership in multiple groups!). This allows us to assign a packet to a group of PCs with a few clicks instead of going through each one individually.
-A number column has been added to the inventory, so we can quickly see the total number displayed by the current search.
-An additional status has been added for when the server hasn't received any updates from a machine for X days. This allows us to identify machines that have disappeared, been deleted, or are experiencing a complete error. Currently, it's difficult to differentiate between a machine that is rarely on our network and one that is no longer active due to a poorly managed replacement.
-A filter has been added per packet. Add a "Packets" menu to the Inventory tab, next to the "Groups" dropdown menu. This would allow users to select a specific package and display only the machines that have it.

Hoping to see these features implemented very soon,

Regards

[sfonteneau]

Hello TranquilIT,

My team and I have been using WAPT for several months now. We have deployed it across 3 major sites in our company, easily totaling 300 to 400 PCs.
With such a large number in our inventory, it becomes difficult to easily manage the tool that is supposed to make our lives easier.

For your information, in version 1.5 Enterprise, we plan to incorporate the Active Directory organizational unit (OU) structure directly into the WAPT console. This way, WAPT packages can be applied to an OU and will function similarly to Group Policy Objects (GPOs) with an inheritance system. This will provide a clearer view and easier management.

So here are my 'feature requests' which seem more than necessary to me:
-Update scheduling (define a time to deploy a package or force the update of all at X time every X days)

This can already be done by pushing a scheduled task that will execute a "wapt-get upgrade":
A bunch of examples here: https://wapt.lesfourmisduweb.org/detail ... 4_all.wapt

-Creation of PC groups (clients) to easily target, for example, the company's HR department without needing an Excel spreadsheet to search for machine IDs one after the other to apply a specific package.

We can already do that. We can already filter by group packages. This allows us to filter who has the group package as a dependency.

-A 'Groups' tab has been created in the console to group these groups in the same way as the Bundles tab for packages.
Groups are created via the 'Groups' tab, but a PC can be added to the group later, either through the tab itself or via the "Edit host configuration" window, where a 'Group Membership' sub-tab is added with checkboxes depending on the available groups (also allowing membership in multiple groups!). This allows us to assign a package to a group of PCs with a few clicks instead of going through each one individually.

I don't quite understand the process described here! The groups displayed in wapt currently contain software dependencies. You can then filter machine memberships by group using the group menu.

-Added a number column to the inventory, so we can quickly see the total number displayed by the current search.

This is already the case. You just need to select the displayed packages and the console. The functionality is improved in version 1.5.

-Added an additional status for when the server hasn't received any updates from a machine for X days. This allows us to identify machines that have disappeared, been deleted, or are experiencing a complete failure. Currently, it's difficult for us to differentiate between a machine that's rarely on our network and one that's completely inactive due to a poorly managed replacement.

We can already filter this using the "last logged on" column (1.5 only) or the "last update" column.

-Added a filter by package. Added to the Inventory tab, next to the "Groups" dropdown menu, a "Packets" menu where you can choose a specific package and thus display only the machines possessing that package.

The best way is to search the inventory, focusing only on packages, and check the "not" box. This way, all computers that don't have the tis-flashplayer package, for example, in their package list will appear!

We listen carefully to all community requests. Basic features are generally included in the community version; however, specific and advanced features are included in the enterprise version.
The OU system is planned in the enterprise version because this feature provides real ease of use and is not a fundamental advancement in the core of WAPT.
We can get in touch to discuss your needs in more detail and to offer you a solution tailored to the size of your park.

[renaud.counhaye]

Hello,

First of all, thank you for this quick and comprehensive response.

The enterprise version seems quite interesting, but in our current situation, it would be of little use to us.
We have two Windows domains and one OpenLDAP domain, cobbled together after several acquisitions (it's not a pretty sight), so the concept of using Active Directory Organizational Units (OUs) is impossible here.

When I talk about creating groups, I envision a way to define a client bundle based on the host inventory.
This way, when I create a new package, I can assign it not to a package bundle, but to a client bundle.

We previously created software bundles by language (fr/en/es/de...) to be as "universal" as possible, never with the intention of separating divisions or departments. So now we end up with PCs bundled in FR-EN that can be in our different offices in France without necessarily being in the same department.
The ability to manually create separations ("workstation bundles") could then allow us to later identify which workstations are in Paris and which are in Strasbourg, while maintaining the concept of a universal language-based package.
Why not create a "Paris" package bundle then? We often have workstations moving between certain sites.
In short, I still think that a way to create workstation bundles would be quite practical.

I understand that many interesting options will be in version 1.5. I'm currently using 1.3.12.15, and I must admit I'd be interested but also apprehensive about upgrading clients without deploying it via GPO.
If version 1.5 is intended solely for Enterprise users, then it would indeed be a good idea to get in touch and discuss it.

[sfonteneau]

Hello,

First of all, thank you for this quick and comprehensive response.

The enterprise version seems very interesting, but in our current situation, it would be of little use to us.
We have two Windows domains and one OpenLDAP domain, cobbled together after several acquisitions (it's not a pretty sight), so the concept of using Active Directory OUs is impossible here.

In the mode we've implemented in the enterprise version, the WAPT server doesn't need to be joined to the domain to retrieve the OUs. Therefore, workstations can be in completely different domains as long as they have an OU in the domain they're currently in!

When I talk about creating groups, I'm imagining a way to define a client bundle from the host inventory.
So when I create a new package, I can assign it not to a package bundle, but to a client bundle.

Exactly! The method currently proposed is particularly suitable!

For example, I create a group of accounting packages (no packages inside)
I'm assigning this accounting package to my accounting machines; I can now filter based on who has the accounting group as a dependency....

Now I want to add an office software group to the accounting group. So I add the office software group as a dependency of the accounting group.

We previously created software bundles by language (fr/en/es/de...) to be as "universal" as possible, never with the aim of separating divisions or departments. So now we end up with PCs bundled in FR-EN that can be in our different offices in France without necessarily being in the same department.
The ability to manually create separate bundles ("workstation bundles") could then allow us to identify which workstations are in Paris and which are in Strasbourg, while still maintaining this concept of a universal language-based package.
Why not create a "Paris" package bundle then? We often have workstations moving between certain sites...
In short, I still think that a way to create workstation bundles would be quite practical...

Regarding languages, the new version of wapt 1.5 should support this parameter more easily with the locale attribute in packages!

I understand that quite a few interesting options will be in version 1.5. I'm currently using 1.3.12.15 and I must admit I'd be interested, but also apprehensive about upgrading clients without deploying it via GPO.
If version 1.5 is only intended for Enterprise, then it would indeed be a good idea to get in touch and discuss it.

In any case, contact us, we'd love to hear from you!

You can update to version 1.5 using the already installed Wapt 1.3, so don't panic

[vcardon]

You say you have multiple domains, no problem.

We have a WAPT package at TIS that we jealously guard for our domain merger/migration clients. It takes a PC between 12:00 and 2:00 PM, removes it from the old domain, cleans it up, and integrates it into a new Active Directory domain, preferably Samba, preserving the user profile. For example, the executive assistant (no sexism intended) doesn't notice anything, but she changed the Active Directory domain during her lunch break; she comes back at 2:00 PM, enters her password, and she's good to go. She didn't see anything technically blocking, so there are zero calls to the support team! Of course, it's coordinated with the server teams who will reconfigure the LDAP and other mechanisms of the old system, but the idea is there: zero user calls.

So, if you want even more simplicity, you should consolidate your three MSAD and SMBv3 domains into a single Samba-AD domain (give us a call). Then it will be incredibly easy to deploy your WAPT agents across your network and benefit from the AD integration advantages of the Enterprise version.

With 300-400 machines, your situation is interesting and warrants a few minutes on the phone with our support and sales teams.

Vincent

[sfonteneau]

Video demonstrating this type of operation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jjAl1uk08Q&vl=fr