Day 10: Using client computer schedules

Today we will look at client computer schedules. While these are similar to server schedules from yesterday’s blog post, client computers have some additional start and end actions. These give you more control to better save energy.

Creating client computer schedules

Start your management console or dashboard and open the calendar tab. Click on “Add new item to calendar”. Then select a client computer as target device (here vw10pro):

All options are now available and there’s even an additional start action!

Client computer start actions

Creating a start action works the same way as for server schedules. If you select “Wake up”, a timer is created to wake the computer from standby or hibernation. Additionally, the server sends a Wake-On-Lan (WOL) magic packet to wake computers which are shut down. This works if the computer is connected via LAN cable. It does not work with WLAN (WiFi). If the server is itself saving energy at the point in time a client should wake-up, it therefore can’t send a WOL magic packet. For such a scenario use the new option “Wake server for execution”. This will wake the server 3 minutes ahead of time. Now the server is ready to send a WOL magic packet to wake the client computer.

Client computer end actions

Again, the end actions are identical to the server. What’s new are 2 additional options, which give you more control about the execution of an end action.

Execute after backup

If you enable “Execute after backup”, the end action is executed after a backup took place. This can now happen just before the end of time if your backup completes fast enough. However, if your backup is running slowly and exceeds the end of time, this option makes sure that the end action is still executed.

For example, you set a start time of 10 PM and an end time of 11 PM. In the first case, the backup already completes at 10:15 PM. Without “Execute after backup”, the client will run until 11 PM. Otherwise it will stop at 10:15 PM. In the second case, the backup completes at 11:15 PM. Without “Execute after backup”, there’s no end action and the client will run and run. Otherwise it will stop at 11:15 PM.

Execute end action if inactive for xx minutes

This option comes into play if a user is logged in. Inactivity is the user inactivity. If you enable “Execute end action if inactive for xx minutes”, the end action is executed if the user has not used mouse or keyboard during the last xx minutes. This comes in handy to detect that the computer is not used and can save energy.

Putting it all together to save energy

In this last section, we will now use all elements to build a more complex schedule. Let’s assume, that work starts at 8 AM in the morning and ends at 5 PM. First you want, that the computer is ready before the user (or your employees) arrive at work. Secondly, you like that the computer saves energy if not used. Let’s assume the user has taken his holiday today. And finally, you want that the computer shuts down after end of work.

This requires 3 client computer schedules:

1. Schedule: Start at 7:45 AM, end at 8:00 AM. We set out start action to wake-up, end action to do nothing.
2. Schedule: Start at 8:00 AM, end at 5:00 PM. Here we need no start action but an end action to save energy, executed after 15 minutes of inactivity.
3. Schedule: Start at 5:00 PM, end at 5:15 PM. Again, we use a start action for wake-up and an end action to force a shutdown.

These 3 schedules look like this screen shot in day view. The dashed border indicates that schedule (2) uses “Execute end action if inactive for 15 minutes”

Furthermore, you see, that you can use the mouse to get a tooltip for the short schedules (1) and (3).

Summary

In today’s part of our step-by-step series we looked at client computer schedules. You learned more about the additional start and end actions. Finally, you learned how to put all together to create a more complex scenario to save energy.

Here you will find the complete list of all days of our step-by-step series.