Secondary and Helper Smart Control

Owned by Demetrius Lovett (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Feb 28, 2024 by Marcus Lewis
4 min read

Introduction
This document will explain the relationship between a primary SmartControl,
a secondary SmartControl and a helper SmartControl. Primary
Smart Controls license, manage, use schedules and perform any other action
available in the program. A secondary SmartControl can do everything a
primary SmartControl can do with the exception of licensing machines. A
SmartShield client can only have one secondary SmartControl at a time. A
helper SmartControl can only use limited features like restart, reboot and
protection changes.

Primary SmartControl
Your primary SmartControl has full access to the management of a computer
and licenses any machines that connect to it. Most Smart Controls are
primary Smart Controls. Centurion Technologies will not provide anything but
primary Smart Controls unless explicitly requested. Your primary
SmartControl is the backbone of your setup, so it would be best served on
either a server computer or a computer that will not reboot often.


Secondary SmartControl
Your secondary SmartControl will have access to all functions of
SmartControl except licensing. If you feel you need a secondary
SmartControl, contact your account manager for an additional SmartControl
license key for no charge.

Secondary Smart Controls are most useful as local stations, such as within a
classroom on a teacher workstation or in a situation where staff monitors or
accesses public access machines.

Helper SmartControl
A “helper” SmartControl only has access to limited functions and can only
see certain information that is forwarded from the SmartControl it is
connected to. A helper SmartControl can change protection status and
reboot or shut down a machine.

Helper Smart Controls are useful to monitor machines if you do not intend to
make property changes from that console.

How to Setup a Secondary SmartControl
To set up a SmartControl as a secondary, you will first need to have it
installed on your second machine. This requires an additional license key, so
please contact your account manager to acquire one of these free licenses.
Once you have installed your secondary SmartShield, load up the program.
You will notice that on load, there should be no clients connect to your
secondary machine. To get the machines to populate, go to your primary
SmartControl and highlight the machines you would like to point to the
secondary. Go to “Client Control” > “Change Smart Control” > “Secondary”.
A connection prompt will open and ask you for the computer name or IP
address of the target (your secondary SmartControl). Press the “Test”
button. If the process worked, you should see a box that states “The
connection test is successful. The OK button will now be enabled.” Press
“Ok” and the machines will populate into your secondary SmartControl when
they send their next keep alive packet. If you receive an error stating “IP
and Port provided do not match a running SmartControl Service. Please
check the data and try again. If this is correct, use the override check box
and continue.”, then you may have communication issues between the two
machines. Please verify they have network connectivity before performing
an override.

 

How to Setup a Helper SmartControl
To set up a SmartControl as a helper machine, you will first need to have it
installed on your second machine. This requires an additional license key, so
please contact your account manager to acquire one of these free licenses.
Once you have installed your helper SmartShield, load up the program.
You will notice that on load, there should be no clients connect to your
secondary machine. To get the machines to populate go to “File” >
“Connections” > “Allowed Connections” on your primary SmartControl. In
the IP box, put the static IP address of the helper SmartControl. Please note
that this configuration does not accept a computer name like most other
parts of SmartControl. Input your SmartControl password for the primary
SmartControl and press “Add” then “Done”.


Next, go to the helper SmartControl. Go to “File” > “Connections” >
“Connect To” and input the data for the primary SmartControl. The “Name”
box does not have to be the computer name; it is only used by SmartControl
to help you keep track of which machine is which. Please input the static IP
address of the primary SmartControl in the IP box, then hit “Test”. If the box
says “Connection Successful” then press “OK” and “Save”. If you receive the
error “This machine is not listed as a valid machine to connect to the
specified Smart Control.”, then you will need to add your helper
SmartControl to the “Allowed Connections” are of SmartControl. This process
is explained in the earlier paragraph. If you receive the error “A connection
could not be made to the server” then you may have communication issues
between the two machines.


Once you establish a connection between the helper SmartControl and the
primary SmartControl, you should see another node on the left side of your
helper SmartControl. This should display the “Name” that you gave
SmartControl during setup. Expand this list and you will see the same data
you would see as if you were at the primary SmartControl, including groups
and all machines.