Anyone used Altiris?

[szachara]

If so, how would you say it compares to Microsoft's deployment tools like WDS or MDT as far as getting software packages images pushed out?

 

we were looking at altiris as an option for our organization but it was way too expensive. just wondering how much it differs.

[Sentro]

Hi there,

 

I used Altiris extensively at my old place of work and was one of the first things I purchased at my new place. We were using Ghost console here and Altiris really makes deployment much easier.

 

The central control you have over your clients is great. It kinda acts like a bit of an inventory tool in that you can easily see all your client machines and the key information about them all from the console. The image side of things is really simple to get to grips with and you can push out software through MSI, scripts or RIPS (an Altiris capture tool).

 

Once a machine is connected to the console you can throw images down to it and Altiris will automatically change things like the computer name and domain membership once the image has downloaded. You can create jobs to include various sub-items. For example, you can create a job to download an image, then configure a machine, then run a script to install some extra software or do some tweaking, then reboot. You really can mix and match with your job creation. We are able to re-image a suite with zero touch.

 

I'm in the process of moving to a new domain at my place at the moment so my install of Altiris is not being as useful as it could but if I can be of any assistance further, you are welcome to contact me.

 

Gareth

[sister_annex]

Hi, sorry to jump into the thread but we are having some issues with Altiris, after the agents were installed on my PC and the PCs of my colleagues our login times went from a few seconds to nearly 20mins. we are not entirely sure why other than the logs show that our AV (sophos) is going nuts and there are service control errors.

 

What I wanted to ask, as you seem to have used it quite a lot with some success is, Have you seen this issue before? Also, some of the software that is pushed out does not seem to 'stick' when a machine is rebooted, Do you have any ideas what may be causing this.

 

Sorry to barge in and thanks for any help that you may be able to give

 

Mark

[carvjo]

I've been offered a cracking deal on Altiris Deployment Solution - we have been using Ghost for our XP rollouts but only the server side and pulled down images - this doesn't work with Windows 7..

 

Altiris is probably an overkill - but I would welcome comments from anyone who is using it and can tell me if it is worth the effort?

 

Many thanks

 

John

[Guest TheLibrarian]

 

We purchased Altiris SVS in February with upgrade protection, I found out yesterday that the latest upgrade is now the Symantec Software Management Suite which includes (free if you have upgrade protection) extras that they [symantec] previously charged for.

 

The extras we got now have are the application streaming and the software portal.

 

At the moment I don't have much clue what either of those do because I haven't rtfm yet.

 

 

Is anyone already using the Symantec Software Management Suite?

[TimJing]

We use Altiris and it is a pretty powerful product compared to any of the MS offerings.

[kili]

I've been offered a cracking deal on Altiris Deployment Solution - we have been using Ghost for our XP rollouts but only the server side and pulled down images - this doesn't work with Windows 7..

 

Altiris is probably an overkill - but I would welcome comments from anyone who is using it and can tell me if it is worth the effort?

 

Many thanks

 

John

 

I've been using if it for 5 years now and it's bl**dy good great for deployment of images and scripts.

 

The only problems I see on the horizon is that symantec have bought them out and now have their hands on it. Expect it to turn to s**t any time soon.

Edited December 15, 2010 by vikpaw
watch the language

[TimJing]

I think Symantec purchased Altiris in order to avoid some litigation issues. So far it's a great product and I dont think Symantec will change it much as long as it continues to dominate in the CMS arena. Just a side note, most of the issues posted in this forums, with Altiris they are just to easy to resolve.