This post is going to detail the best and easiest way of integrating your Bomgar Remote Support Appliance with the Symantec Altiris Client Management Sutie. To do this we will be leveraging Bomgar’s built-in API to correlate Bomgar Support Sessions with the Symantec ITMS database (Altiris 7.5) managed computer assets.

First to utilize the Bomgar API, ensure that the Enable XML API option is checked on the Management > API Configuration page of the /login administrative interface.

Now let’s look at the magic API call and see how it works:

“https://support.yourdomainhere.com/api/client_script?type=rep&operation=generate&action=start_pinned_client_session&search_string=192.168.1.121”

The search_string identifies the target computer and this can specify a variety of criteria.  In my example above, the target is identified by IP address. Other criteria can be used, including the hostname.  If the search_string matches more than one Jump Client, then the technician will receive a prompt to choose which target in order to complete the jump. If the service technician is not logged into their Bomgar Representative Console application, the console will be started and the technician will be prompted to log in.

In our environment I decided IP address would be the most unique criteria to call for the search string due to naming conflicts, especially on Macintosh clients. For the purpose of this integration will be utilizing Right-click actions in the Altiris console. Right-click actions are used to add options to the context menu of an item or a resource in the management console.

To create our custom right-click action launch the management console and go to Settings > All Settings > Notification Server > Right Click Menu. Right click on the User Defined folder and select New > Right-Click Action.

Under Target Resources select Computer as the resource type. This will limit the Right-Click action to displaying under only assets defined as Computers in the database. You can drill down even more and filter this further if you’d like. In the Configure Action section select URL as the Action Type. In the Base URL field paste the following Bomgar API call (make sure you put the correct FQDN of your Bomgar appliance in the URL).

“https://support.yourdomainhere.com/api/client_script?type=rep&operation=generate&action=start_pinned_client_session&search_string=”

Next we need to add the correct data class, in this example I’ll be using IP address. In the Substitution Parameters click ‘Add’, in the ‘Group’ field select Inventory > Basic Inventory > AeX AC TCPIP. Then highlight IP Address and then click the > arrow to add the data class to the selected items list, then click OK.

Finally, add the following string to the end up the Bomgar API URL in the Base URL, ‘%AeX AC TCPIP.IP Address%’. This will insert the IP address of the computer you execute the Right-Click action on to the Bomgar API script. Your final Base URL should look like this:

“https://support.yourdomainhere.com/api/client_script?type=rep&operation=generate&action=start_pinned_client_session&search_string=%AeX AC TCPIP.IP Address%”

Ensure the Right-click item task is enabled by selecting ON and then click Save Changes. If you configured everything properly you should now be able to go back into Computer Management tab, right click a computer, go to User Defined and then select your new Bomgar Integration Right-click action. If the computer you select has a Bomgar Jump Client it will auto-download a small file, click Open and the Bomgar Representative Console will automatically begin a support session!

Below is the Altiris XML source: 

I wouldn’t usually post this, but Chinese Jailbreaker’s have released whats probably going to be the last stable Jailbreak for iOS for quite some time.  The tool known as Pangu is designed to let you perform an untethered jailbreak on any device running iOS 7.1.1, including the iPhone 5S and iPad Air.

If you’ve been running 7.0.4 like me then this is a great time to move up to 7.1.1 before iOS 8 is released. However, due to the origin of this release (China) its smart to be careful in what devices you utilize this JB for. Many in the iOS jailbreaking community are split on whether or not its littered with ‘Spyware’. Proceed with caution.

Before the era of social media and Photoshop revolutionized how every single one of us, including your Grandma, told our life stories, we had relatively much simpler ways of sharing. When I was eleven my parents took my brother and I to Disney World, a right of passage for any child (Good job Disney marketing). I vaguely remember a Toy Story parade, including an obscenely over sized Buzz Lightyear, but in all honesty I don’t have any photos to verify that. Why? Because, like everyone else at the park, my family toted around a backpack of Kodak disposable cameras of which nobody knows where the developed photos are anymore. Do you remember the process and excitement of coming back from vacation, running to the local CVS (shameless CVS plug, please send coupons), and having the joy of seeing your photos in your hand? Of course, like today, more than half the photos were crap, over-exposed, under-exposed, mostly taken in excitement haste with no clear framing. Nonetheless, they were tangible proof of a story.

All right, but what’s the point here? This post is supposed to be about injecting custom global positioning coordinates into your iPhone’s operating system, not my memories of Buzz Lightyear from Disney.

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At the request of the Altiris community I am releasing the source code to reports I’ve written throughout out our implementation. This report will execute and retrieve all active endpoints and their corresponding Computer Name, Operating System, Primary User, Telephone, Email, Computer Model, Serial Number, Last Check-In Date, Status, and Barcode. Below is the SQL source code to run against your Symantec IT Management Suite 7.5 database either through SQL Server Management Studio or the built in reporting tool in the console. Always remember to backup your database before executing any code!