Conflict Resolution
- Prevent Duplicates During Enrollment
- Automated Client Conflict Resolution
- Automatic Enrollment Permissions
- Manual Client Conflict Resolution (Multiple Devices)
Prevent Duplicates During Enrollment
A Desktop device (Client) is identified in FileWave by Client Name and Device Fingerprint. Have a device duplicated in FileWave could cause issues in communication, incorrect inventory information as well as re-enrollment issues.
- Client Name - The name as displayed in FileWave admin console (not to be confused with the device name)
- Mainly used for Fileset deployment
- Device Fingerprint - Which is based on the serial number (macOS) or MAC addresses (Windows)
- Mainly used for inventory reporting and the client certificate identifier
It won't be possible to enroll multiple devices with the same client name or fingerprint. FileWave will detect the conflict and not allow enrollment until it's resolved. A FileWave Admin will have to decide what to do to resolve the conflict.
There are three options:
-
Remove the new client
Select this option if you want to refuse the client for now. You can fix the device identifier and re-enroll it later -
Remove the old client and enroll the new client
Select this option if the old entry is obsolete and can be safely removed; all clones will be removed -
Replace the old client with the new client
Select this option if you want the new client to replace the existing entry (This will take over the old record with all clones, associations, etc)
How you resolve these duplicate conflicts:
Devices in conflict will appear as such in New Client dialog. To resolve, select the device and click Solve Conflict on the bottom left.
Then, simply choose which option best suits your situation and Update Model.
"Replace the old client with the new client" is the only option that will allow the device to take over the same associations and placement in the FileWave structure.
Automated Client Conflict Resolution
What
There is a capability allowing FileWave itself to resolve conflicting new clients on your behalf.
When/Why
Client enrollment conflicts are a natural occurrence in any production environment. Devices are re-imaged and client certificates might not match, or devices may simply have been renamed and a conflict is created. The conflicts themselves are not an issue, but they must be resolved so that the system knows how to behave with the "new" devices coming in. Particularly in larger environments, or during periods of intense device imaging, management of the conflicts can be overwhelming. To account for this, there is auto-conflict resolution.
Automatic conflict resolution is a time-saver to be sure, but it also circumvents the security elements of client-based certificates, so appropriate caution should be considered before enabling this feature. For the most secure environment, it may be more appropriate to use the mass-resolution tool instead.
How
To enable this feature, go to the New Clients/Desktop Clients dialog. (You will notice the auto-conflict resolution option is ONLY available if auto-enrollment is enabled). To enable auto-resolution, just check the checkbox for "Automatically resolve conflicts":
And, then choose the type of resolution you prefer:
Make sure to click "Save" to confirm these preferences.
Related Content
Automatic Enrollment Permissions
What
There is a administrator permission that either allows or denies the ability to make changes to auto-enrollment and automatic conflict resolution.
When/Why
We'll want to add this particular permission to any administrator we expect to manage the automatic enrollment of devices. That is, if devices will be allowed to auto-enroll, and whether auto-conflict resolution will (or can be) be enabled.
How
The permission is very simple to enable for any administrator in the Manage Administrators Assistant:
Typically a new permission would be off by default for pre-existing users, but in this case all pre-existing administartors who had the ability to Modify Clients and Groups will automatically have this new permission enabled.
Related Content
Manual Client Conflict Resolution (Multiple Devices)
What
In large production environments, there may be times during mass enrollments where resolving onboarding conflicts is time-consuming when approached at an individual device level. There is a capability to mass-resolve client conflicts to make this process simpler.
When/Why
Especially during re-imaging periods, client conflicts can arise from natural actions. For instance, wiping a device and setting it up with a fresh OS with the same name will always result in a conflict because the device certificate will not match the new device with the same name. We'll use the mass-resolution capabilities of FileWave to more easily resolve these conflicts in one fell swoop.
Device enrollment conflicts (based on name, fingerprint, certificate, etc) are a protection mechanism against database duplication and for security reasons. Use appropriate caution when mass-resolving conflicts to ensure that you are resolving the conflict in the proper manner. It is always best practice to test any action on individual devices before taking the solution to a larger number of devices.
How
To solve multiple conflicts at one time, simply choose multiple records in the new clients window, and choose solve conflicts, as shown below:
You may find it easiest to sort by the status column as I have above to group similar conflicts for simpler resolution.
In the resulting window, you can choose to look at detailed information about why there are conflicts by clicking the Show Details button:
In the detail view, you can inspect any particular device:
Finally, in the resolution window, you can choose how you want to resolve the selected devices, and click on OK. In this case, we are choosing to replace the existing records with the new clients.
