How machines are added to the Content Manager

Overview

By default, the SnapComms client software automatically adds Machines to your Content Manager. Once added, they can then be targeted by your SnapComms Administrators when creating Content (Desktop Alerts, Tickers, Screensavers, Wallpapers, etc.) via the Content Manager.
You can also manually add machines, or hide unwanted machines within the Content Manager.

Prerequisite

Machine targeting is not ON by default within SnapComms. To turn this ON, go to Management > General Settings and enable Machine Targeting.

Access to the User & Groups menu is also required to view and manage Machines within the Machines page.
This is managed within the Management > Administrators menu.

To give an Administrator access to the Users & Groups menu:

• Navigate to Management using the left navigation menu
• Click on Administrators
• Click on the Username of the Administrator to update
• Scroll down to Management Access and locate Users & Groups
• Toggle it ON
• Click on Save

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Jump to:

• How Machines are automatically created
• How Machines are manually created
• How to manage Machines
• How to find and export Machines

How Machines are automatically created

When a user logs onto Windows (via a machine that has the SnapComms App installed), the SnapComms client obtains the name of the machine the user logged on to. This action is performed at Windows Startup for any user logging into the machine and rechecks if any details have changed every 6 hours (default) thereafter.

A valid machine within the SnapComms solution comprises of both the machine name and domain part of the User Principal Name (UPN). This information is sent to Content Manager automatically and immediately, therefore populating the Machines page with the new machine name, updating the Last Connected Date against the machine, and making the machine visible in the Target Users screen of any Content.

Note: The Machines page only displays machines that support Machine Targeting with SnapComms (Windows). If you are planning to use Machine Based Targeting on virtual environments, refer to the Install section for VDI environment.
 

How Machines are manually created

Machines cannot be created manually via the Content Manager. Instead, they must be created within a Comma Separated Value (CSV) file. The CSV file is then imported into the Content Manager via the Users & Groups Sync feature (additional license feature) located in the Management menu.
 

You will find the details you need to use this feature here.
 

How to manage Machines

Machine Statuses

Active Machines

​All machines that have connected to the Content Manager are displayed on the Machines page and are made active by default. Only active machines are displayed and available for targeting when creating and publishing content.

By default, the Users page applies a filter to only show Active Users.

If any machines do not appear in your list of machines immediately (or within a few seconds), the SnapComms App may be having connection issues to the Content Manager, or no user has logged on to that machine since the SnapComms App was installed.

Alternatively, the machines might be Disabled or Inactive. Change the view using the Status column filter to view a specific machine status or all machines. Read more about this here.

To make a Machine active manually, select the User using the tick box located next to their Machine Name. Use the Activate button above the Machines table. You can activate one or multiple machines at once on the same page.

Inactive Machines

By default, if no users have connected to the SnapComms App on this machine for a period of 30 days, the Machine will be marked as Inactive. Once reconnected, its status will be set back to Active.

This default can be updated within the General Settings. Navigate to Management > Management Settings and click to display additional settings. Locate Inactive and Deleted User Settings and update the User Inactivity Period and User Reconnection Mode.

Disabled Machines

Machines can be manually disabled within the Machines page. Disabled Machines and their information will still appear within the Machines page and within reports for content published during the User activity period. They however become unavailable for targeting when creating content.

To disable a machine, select the Machine using the tick box located next to their Machine Name. Use the Disable button above the Machines table. You can disable one or multiple machines at once on the same page.

To re-activate the Machine(s), see here.

Delete Machines

Machines can be deleted when they are not in use or if they should not be used to receive further communications from SnapComms. 

To delete a machine, select the machine using the tick box located next to their User Name. Use the Delete button above the Users table. You can delete one or multiple users at once on the same page (up to 1000 Users/page).

Note: The Apps must also be uninstalled in order to keep users from receiving further communications. A deleted user can reappear in the User list if their App connects to the Content Manager after their deletion.

Manage Machines in bulk

Machines can be Activated, Disabled or Deleted in bulk.

• Filter or search the Machines list to display the Machines you wish to manage
• Adjust how many rows (machines) display in the table - the picker is located under the table.

• Select machines individually using the tick boxes next to their User Name or use the bulk tick box located in the header section of the table to select all machines within that page

• Click on Activate, Disable or Delete as relevant

Note: It is not currently possible to select machines from multiple pages via the bulk tick box. To select more machines at once, select 1000/page. Repeat on the next pages as required if you need to manage more than 1000 machines.
 

How to find and export Machines

Search for Machines

Filters and search options within the Machines page can help you locate a specific Machine or Machines that share common information (platform used, activity status etc.) or assist in identifying duplicates.
 

Filter and sort the Machines list

By default, the filter applied to the Machines list or table shows Active machines. Filtering is not remembered, if you navigate away or refresh the page, the default filtering applies again.
Filters that currently apply to the table display as a label above it. To remove applied filters, use the close button within the filter label.



To filter the Machines list or table, locate columns that support filtering. They are identified by a gray funnel icon that appears orange when the column filter is applied to the table.

Not applied:

Applied:

The columns that support filtering are identified here.

By default, the table is sorted by Machine Name ascending. The applied sorting shows as an orange arrow on the column header, up for ascending order (A-Z or 0-9) and down for descending order (Z-A or 9-0). 

To sort a column, simply click on the header. Once to sort ascending and a second time for descending. When navigating away from the Machines page or refreshing, the default sorting applies again (Machine Name ascending).
 

Search the Machines list
There are 2 ways to search the table for specific Machines or Machine information. The General search, located above the table next to the Export as... button searches within the entire table and all columns. The column-specific search, identified by a magnifying glass on the column header, searches through this column only.



Using the search options you can identify duplicate machines. e.g. use the column-specific search on the Machine Name or Full Name columns to look for a Machine. The table will display all users that match the search query.

The same can be achieved using the General search to look into both Machine Name and Full Name columns at the same time. Note that it will also look through the other columns and display any matches found in other columns (Last Connected User Name, Domain Name, etc.).
 

Customize the Users list

The Machines list table can be customized to display the Machine information you need.

To customize the columns, locate the Customize Columns button above the table and click on it.
Each column displays a tooltip on text hover to learn more about it. Further definition of each column is available later in this article. 
To add a column to the Machines list table, simply tick the corresponding box. To remove a column from the table, untick the box. 

The customized view is remembered when navigating away from the Users page or refreshing the page. To reset the view to the SnapComms default, click on Default at the bottom of the column customization drop-down. There you will also find the Advanced view button, to display our Advanced SnapComms default view.



Available columns:

User details



To learn more about a Machine, locate the Action column located on the far right of the table and click on Details in the corresponding row for this User. This opens a window overlapping the Users page with 4 tabs:

• Details: General information about the Machine.

• Users: All the Users that have ever connected to the SnapComms App using this machine.

• Group Memberships: All the groups this Machine is currently a part of.

From the Machine Details window, you can also Activate, Disable or Delete the Machine.
Any changes made to Machine details must be saved before exiting the window. If you wish to discard your changes, click on Cancel.
 

Export options

To export, locate the Export as... button above the table. This drop-down has 1 option:

• Export filtered Machines: Exports all available columns data for the Machines filtered within the table. Includes columns that are not displayed within the table at the moment of export.

This export is downloaded as a comma-separated value file (.csv) and can be opened in a spreadsheet editing software (Microsoft Excel, Google Sheet, Apple Numbers etc.).

    
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For information on how users are added to the Content Manager, click How users are added to Content Manager.
For information on how groups are added to the Content Manager, click How groups are added to the Content Manager.