How to use UEM Depot Sync 2.0 and later

Changes in Version 2.0

As of version 2.0 the UEM Depot Sync has some major advantages and changes.

First of all we have increased the performance of the synchronization of computer values, which are the computer its .ini, .ddc and os.ini files. The Empirum Servers (Master/Depots) are using less disk space and have to write and keep fewer files if they serve other depot servers. A large relief occurs on the depot servers that are hosting a Microsoft IIS. Instead of using the costly PROPFIND method, we are using a computer list to identify the files to be downloaded for a depot. This leads to a much lower CPU usage on the master and depot servers.

Another improvement was made regarding the quick synchronization of changed values files. From now on, changes at client configuration (ini/ddc/os.ini) are sent almost immediately to the according depot servers. No more temporary caching of the files is required on the master server. Therefore we also refer to this kind of sync as "push sync" instead of "quick sync" in the future.

Requirements

We highly advise to uninstall and remove the old Empirum Sync from any machine which is supposed to work with the new UEM Depot Sync. They will interfere with each other which will result in unforeseen and unwanted results.

In order to use the new features it is required to host an Enterprise Service Bus system. We support Microsoft Azure Service Bus, which is also used by our cloud offering, and RabbitMQ, which can be installed by you.

A RabbitMQ Installation guide can be found here. The RabbitMQ installation package can be found here. (Click button on the left side "Matrix42 Service Bus RabbitMQ ...")

Configuration

So after installing the service bus system, the Empirum Service Bus service has to be configured and installed as described here. The service is responsible to communicate with the depot servers.

If you are only using UEM Depot Sync v2.0 and later and no older sync technologies, like the legacy Empirum Sync or UEM Depot Sync v1.x, then you can set the checkmark for the checkbox "Only use UEM Depot Sync (>=2.0)" in the DBUtil Empirum-Activation tab now. This will disable the now redundant creation of dedicated subfolders and remove all files that are not needed anymore.
If you are still using older depot sync technologies, please read the Migration topic before changing that value.

Now configure the depot servers by changing their Empirum variables in the collection MX42_UEM_DEPOT_MANAGEMENT as described here.

Depot Server Status

The Empirum Management Console now has a register in the "Depot Sync" tab which shows the latest status of all Depots with an installed and running UEM Depot Sync package.

At service start and at least every hour each depot server is sending a "heartbeat" message to the backend which updates the depot server status. (The normal job synchronization status messages are also taken into account.) If the last received status message is older than 70 minutes, the status switches to "Error", so the administrator can see which depot servers are offline or may have a problem.

Migration

The migration from older depot syncs (legacy and version 1.x) to version 2.x is simple if the following steps are observed:

• Install and configure a service bus system
  • Keep in mind to update the depot's variables in the collection MX42_UEM_DEPOT_MANAGEMENT.
• Rollout UEM Depot Sync v2.0 step by step on all depot servers.
• Check the success of the rollout and depot responsiveness in the Empirum Management Console in the Depot Sync tab (Depot Status).
• Switch to "Only use UEM Depot Sync (>=2.0)" in the DBUtil Empirum-Activation tab

The configuration variable "SYNC_QUICKSYNC" is then obsolete and can be ignored. (It remains for backward compatibility.)

The configuration "SYNC_OS_CONFIGDATA" is not required for synchronizing OS.INI files anymore (but remains as well for backward compatibility). These files are synchronized by the "Values" job, configured with "SYNC_CONFIGURATIONDATA".

Limitations

We have introduced a limit on repetitions for scheduled jobs in order to avoid high load due to misconfigurations. Every sync job has a minimum time that must pass until another sync job of the same type is started. These times can be found here. A manual start of the job via Empirum Management Console or Powershell is still possible.

The "Push Sync" is always active. So there is no need to run the "Values" sync very often. We suggest not more than once a night.

Information for Cloud Customers

If you have migrated all depots to version 2, please inform Matrix42 so that we can change the backend in order to ensure the best possible performance.

Details to function of "Values" sync job

Some technical background information on how the "Values" sync job is working:

• When the job starts, the depot is sending a request for an updated computer list to the server via service bus message.
• The server (Service Bus Service) creates the file based on the actual values and informs the depot via service bus message.
• The depot downloads the computer list from its master depot.
• The depot checks, based on the hash of each file, which files must be downloaded and downloads these files.
• Files and folders that are not contained in the computer list are removed from the depot (DeviceMapping.xml is never deleted).
• When using cascaded depots, keep in mind that the files on a lower depot cannot not be more actual than the files on their master depot. So time the schedules accordingly. (Higher tiers must finish sync before lower tier syncs are started.)