ChrisERoots

There's a couple Network Manager positions which are available within the Altius Trust group of schools. One based at Manchester Enterprise Academy in Wythenshawe and the other at MEA Central based in Levenshulme. Please follow the link for further details: https://www.tes.com/jobs/vacancy/network-manager-mea-simonsway-wythenshawe-m22-9rh-and-mea-central-lytham-road-manchester-m14-6pl-1132897?preview=1

Used this Website as a reference. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26212091/script-to-install-msi-silently

Okay folks, not sure if anybody else has done this but I think I have partially cracked it and I haven't seen this solution mention here so I'm sharing. Scenario - Silently install SOLUS 3 Searched for solutions high and low. I just wanted to be able to Install it via running the MSI and thats been well documented and never solved. Tried GPO and that hasn't worked. I've been running a Script on the Computers after i've logged in to install it but obviously you always get an Interactive window. Thought i'd try a different approach and see where the MSIEXEC command lived which is in the JS file. Searched for how to modify this for a silent install and bingo! Just add /qb to the MSIEXEC line in the Java Script and it will install without any prompts and with the correct Key file. I've tested on 4 machines its worked. The only thing it does do is close the Command Prompt dialogue box so if you're using this in a task Sequence do a test before Roll Out as you don't want it breaking the sequence. I don't see any reason (if permissions are right) why this couldn't be run from the Login Script now Either way, i hope this helps someone out there with getting this installed. var wshShell, wshSysEnv; var fso, f1, typeLib; fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject"); typeLib = new ActiveXObject("Scriptlet.TypeLib"); wshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell"); var logFileName = WScript.Arguments(0); var agentAddress = WScript.Arguments(1); var dsAddress = WScript.Arguments(2); var keyFileName = WScript.Arguments(3); var msi32 = WScript.Arguments(4); var msi64 = WScript.Arguments(5); var msi = ""; if (is64()) msi = msi64; else msi = msi32; wshShell.Run("msiexec.exe [color="#FF0000"]/qb[/color] /lv* \"" + fso.BuildPath(wshShell.Environment("SYSTEM")("TEMP"), logFileName) + "\" /i \"" + wshShell.CurrentDirectory + "\\" + msi + "\" AGENTSERVICEADDRESS=\"" + agentAddress + "\" AGENTID=\"" + typeLib.Guid.toString().substring(0, 38) + "\" DEPLOYMENTSERVERADDRESS=\"" + dsAddress + "\" RSAKEYPATH=\"" + wshShell.CurrentDirectory + "\"", 0, true); function is64() { var shell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell"); return (wshShell.Environment("SYSTEM")("PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE").indexOf("64") + 1);

I know this question has been asked loads and i'm trying to find some definitive answers. I'm trying to setup Sharepoint at the moment and just when I thought I had it licked there are things to iron out. I'm very tempted to setup a user and just share that Calendar. Just after the simplest to manage solution. How do you do yours?

Simple question really. Just wondering if someone found it was worth the investment of time and energy when new kit wasn't an option?

Congrats on the Ofsted result. I've asked myself this question quite a lot too. The thing with Ofsted and Safeguarding and IT is that they almost never ask a Network Manager what products they're using. If a product ends up catching someone out and helps with the dossier of evidence for a student then Ofsted may see some report from the software which is being used. As to whether or not we actually need it. I'll leave this one story here. Very recently an ICT teacher walked in to an ICT suite and noticed a student searching for info on committing suicide. The student quickly hid/closed the page but if it were not for that member of staff noticing what was on the screen, that student would have missed getting the help they needed. Outstanding or not, these incidents do fly under the radar everyday. I certainly don't want to nanny our students however we have some duty of care to ensure that there is some vigilance of these actions. I just wish that there was a program that could do it all neatly & cost effectively.

Thanks for that. Yeah, i'm not too put off by that. Its how it all comes through in terms of monitoring. All educational software seems to have pluses and minuses on that score. Going to give some others a test and see where this goes. Doesn't feel like theres a clear market leader at the moment.

Okay troops, before I bite the bullet. I'd like some feedback on what software you use to monitor students when it comes to safeguarding. Impero So far i've had a trial of Impero and have loved the Key Logging aspect of it. After getting over the excitement of it returning results, it is extremely chatty and returns a huge amount of false positives and the system itself on a full time basis is not as usable as you'd like it to be. Incidents need to be looked through individually and there's no way that we could see of getting reports to be returned in bulk each day rather than each time an infraction occurs. Classic educational software issue really. Netsupport Just seen a video for Netsuport DNA and straightway that looks like something much more effective in terms of searching through reported incidents. We already use a Netsupport & Notify so maybe this would be worth a look. Am I missing something else keener that can do the job of reporting what the students are typing in to our computers?

I'm currently a Salamander Subscriber and its been a god send these last 12 months. I've recently seen a Demo of RULER Connect which looks cool and very similar to Salamander's product (or vice versa) except that you can change some of the settings yourself. Simple question for those who have used either. Which is best or am I right in thinking that its all much of a muchness?

Currently using Inventry for Staff to sign in and out. THere's some things I wish the back end did more elegantly given the information it holds but seemingly it has been left out. What i'd like to know is if there is some kind of Register that can get marked in SIMS for Staff when they sign in using the system? Obviously, students marks will work but i'd like to see something similar for staff management. The reporting on the system of these events is shocking really. I know the Time Card function can be activated for each user in Inventry and because I have to do this manually for all staff its a little frustrating.

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. I've just been through the process of opening a new School with 365 as the primary and only means of storage. No network shares and although people can save files locally they have OneDrive synced via the client. On the other hand the legacy school in the trust uses conventional shares and 365 for mail. Our new school is doing well with it as they've come in and had to get used to it. There's a long way to go still but people are coming round to it. The challenge i've always seen is changing the habits of those who are used to file shares. Ambassadors are definitely a way forward to change other peoples opinions but i'm tempted to turn things off so that people have no other way. There's a really painful period of transition but people should get used to it. Good luck with everything Jonathon & Jasmine. Really hope you keep the faith and keep driving things forward. Anything that works please share.

Just out of interest. Does anybody have the OneDrive client working on their computers or are you directing people to the cloud or mapping the drives? I don't want to make the C drive visible to staff but with the restriction in place its leaving me with more or a decision than I wanted to make.

IPEvo Ziggi HD's have served me well the last year or so. I haven't had one break yet and overall have been solid. Works via USB and the program it comes with is simple to use which is my basic requirement for everything.

Thanks for the info there, I appreciate your honesty and from my early tests with OneDrive at my current site the questions thing is so true. Starting from a blank slate is definitely the ideal scenario but after talking about authentication this afternoon and feeling like i've made a decision the task still feels daunting. Will be better in the future but for the moment I see the top of the hill is far away.

Okay...sorry if this has been answered before. But I wanted some frank responses from the good people on here before I push the button on our brand new network. ONEDRIVE - Does it actually work day to day in your school for staff & students? Do they like it and embrace it?

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Managed to get things with BT sorted. I'll be giving Gamma a call to get some prices.

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I could do with finding out a little more about them? Just out of interest, how were BT with settling/ending the contract. We've obviously signed up and got to the stage of provisioning the actual equipment. The only part that wasn't asked for from me was the model of our box to actually determine if it would work and now obviously it can't.

Following some mess ups and miscommunication with BT over our SIP connection. We can't use their services without using a PRI card in our PBX and now it looks likely we need a new supplier. Does anybody have any recommendations of a supplier who could deliver native SIP in a very short timescale?

Like many of you, I have many unused ActivExpression Units in the Server Room. I was wondering if anybody cleverer than me had come up with some alternative uses for these devices. The only thing i'll end up doing with them is sending them for recycling. I'd love it if someone found out how to use them as a Powerpoint Clicker or something...

Thanks for the replies. I get the Paywall and its nothing that somebody probably couldn't work out themselves eventually. But it's never come up as a question before. Seems usernames and passwords are simply not enough when it comes to the Paywall

Afternoon, been sent this from a member of staff. He asked if it was okay to fill in the form. However, I haven't seen a form that asks for your schools IP address and domain... Doesn't look too dodgy but was wondering if anyone else took the plunge? https://enterprise.ft.com/en-gb/secondary-schools/sign-up/

We have purchased Read & Write software which seems like a work of genius from the little usage i've had. However, all things have limitations. Our SEN students will be using Read & Write this year to help them with their exams by reading out the questions. This is fine for English and other papers however with Maths there are problems. As it will always read X as X rather than multiply. Does anyone have or know of any Maths related alternatives?

Thanks for the response. So i'm in Manchester. I would imagine going to a company of that size would result in a fairly hit and miss level of support. Our network is a Vanilla variety. Before BSF it was an RM school and we still have a couple old servers ready for collection. What impressed me to begin with was the fact that you could get a tailored package of support. Day to Day, i'm fine with 2nd & a fair chunk of 3rd line stuff. There's times when I really need support investigating and sorting out problems with Switches, some Email routing stuff from time to time and server issues that feel more like large gremlins running round the network. We currently get support from one company locally and they are excellent. However, the contract is up and whatever happens we will have to go to tender.

Hello, I'm just looking for some opinions on 3rd Party Support contracts. We've had support for a variety of 3 line calls for a number of years. Working and supporting a school on my own I need that extra support at times and this year we may well be in the market again for another provider. Over the past 18 months i've had RM on the phone and had them in for discussions at one point too. It seems there product/support offering has changed greatly. Seems people woke up and didn't want to have RM customised networks anymore. Go figure. On inspection of their support offerings they can tailor it to whatever you need and you're able to pay (at the time) a very competitive price for support. Just wondering if any Edugeekers are supported by them or should I give them a wide berth? If any one knows any other company that would be able to offer some kind of 3rd line support agreement to help troubleshoot problems with our Server setup please let me know.

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I might go around it the Google Account route. I've done a fair amount of research already and its nigh on impossible to report them to Youtube for being a minor. There's just no options to do it. Its something that's been happening for years and its almost as difficult for us as a school to police as it is for Youtube/Google to make getting an account trickier.