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Can two computers with the same host name appear in Enterprise Console?

infralit14

Hi,

We have several Windows 7 systems running the latest version of Sophos Antivirus.  They are being managed by the latest Sophos Enterprise Console.

These machines are not on the domain, but exist in different physical sites.  They have the same name; e.g.

workstation1

workstation2

workstation3

It seems I cannot have two systems with the same name show up in SEC.  If I install Sophos AV on each, only the LAST one on which I installed it checks in.

Unfortunately, renaming these machines would be very tricky due to the complexity involved; scripts on other systems which connect to them, links, documentation, etc. etc.

Is there any way to get two host names with the same name to appear in SEC?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

:53719


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  • 0

    HI,

    You can override the name and domain name at install time with switches to setup.exe:

    http://www.sophos.com/en-us/support/knowledgebase/12570.aspx

    You can modify the values post installation by creating the same registry key(s) that setup.exe writes and then restart the Sophos Agent service on the endpoint but I would suggest just using the top option if you can.

    Regards,

    Jak

    :53729
  • 0

    Thanks, but no luck unfortunately. The hosts don't appear at all in the Enterprise Console.  I tried various switches but nothing.  I think there is something really flaky going on with the Enterprise Console; various other hosts will show up there and some never do despite all firewall rules, etc. being in place.  I see a string of updating problems, scan failures, etc.  Logs don't tell me anything.  I will open a support ticket to get this straightened out or explore alternatives for a stable AV management platform.

    :53763
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    Not sure if you checked or not but are they in the Unassigned group in the SEC?

    :53779
  • 0

    Hello infralit14,

    only the LAST one on which I installed it checks in

    each one should check in but they are "folded" and you see the attributes of the one which has last sent a message. While Computers with the same name, domain and user name are considered to be the same computer refers to the Cloud product, the description applies in principle (sans User name) to the Endpoint product as well. The post-install procedure that Jak's mentioned is in Enterprise console: changing the description of virtual machines to aid management.

    I can confirm that the registry method works. The former article also mentions potential install/updating problems owing to policy assignment viz. missing or "misassigned" policies.

    I see a string of updating problems, scan failures, etc. 

    You should segregate the different areas - some issues might be related but others are not. Updating issues might be related to the folding problem but can as well have other causes. Scan failures are an endpoint-local problem.

    I'd suggest to tackle the management/communications problem first. As long as the endpoints are tumbling you could end up chasing ghosts (e.g. you see that workstation1 at siteA reported an error or sent an alert but you can't find a thing in its logs - because actually the message came from siteB's workstation1). And some not checking in at all means you can't manage them (BTW, incorrectly imaged/cloned endpoints will cause a similar issue: Computers in Enterprise Console appear to update the same record). In both situations  it's not hard to disentangle the endpoints (been there, done it).

    I wouldn't call SEC's behaviour unstable though (and also not BAD - broken as designed - for that matter). The logic has constantly been refined but it's not impeccable - there's simply no way to make it work perfectly in all scenarios without adding significant complexity or/and stricter requirements for the setup.

    Christian   

    :53787
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    Suddenly all seems to be working as expected!  I've got the computers registered in the Sophos Enterprise Console with the alternate names.  Thanks for the assistance--

    :53845