Are you managing a complex group structure in HP Web Jetadmin and looking for an easy way to have devices in child groups populate the parent group as an aggregate?  Then view the video tutorial I put together for you here.

Have devices in child groups populate into their parent groups in HP Web Jetadmin 10.x Click Here to launch the video Please note that clicking the link above will redirect you towards my personal website (a non-HP website) where the video I have created is hosted.

Please be very careful about any auto-group you create in HP Web Jetadmin.  Sometimes administrators create policies to trigger against a group which can produce unpredictable results if you're adding large groups of devices you would otherwise not prefer to configure.  I strongly recommend customers test in an isolated environment first, then bring over into production afterwards.  HP Web Jetadmin 10.2 facilitates this by allowing administrators to import and export groups in its most recent versions.

Take care, B.

I had a question come up from one of my customers recently about configuring icons at the front panel of HP MFPs.  I figured this would be a good opportunity to do up a brief video (10 mins) showing how to hide/display icons as well as offer alternate languages for multi-lingual envirponments.  These settings were at the devices already of course (although you may need to update your firmware).  But the ability to configure fleet-wide was just introduced in recently with HP Web Jetadmin 10.2 and later.

Use HP Web Jetadmin 10.2 or later to configure MFP Home Screens Click Here to launch the video Please note that clicking the link above will redirect you towards my personal website (a non-HP website) where the video I have created is hosted.

Take care and happy new year!  B,

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is used in many network appliances like switches, routers, printers, IP console KVMs, etc.  While most network administrators would be directed to use tools like HP Web Jetadmin to do the work for them, for various reasons some administrators may prefer to query devices directly.  I put together this simple video to show how you can use a simple tool like Net-SNMP to walk the list of OIDs, hunt for a particular value to find its corresponding OID to use in specific SNMP get queries admins may choose to build into their own scripts, programs etc.

Use SNMP to Query Select Device Settings: Serial Number & MAC Address Example Click Here to launch the video Please note that clicking the link above will redirect you towards my personal website (a non-HP website) where the video I have created is hosted.

Firstly a caution.  Not all objects are enumerated in SNMP.  Examples of objects which typically are in SNMP include low-level objects like serial numbers, mac addresses, system location, system contact, etc.  Examples of objects which are not typically found in SNMP include high-level objects used in functions like digital sending such as the type of authentication used and servers jobs are sent to.  I may cover a little about scripting and HTTP in the future, but that gets a little more interesting, so mining that from HP Web Jetadmin (or exporting it in a CSV format) might be the easiest.

Secondly, not all devices behave the same way.  As you dip into the more consumer oriented devices, SNMP objects may not be as consistent.  I don't have specific examples, but don't automatically assume because you can find the object in one device that it will be there for all.  There's a good chance it will be but double-check to be sure.

And finally, this is only one technique used to accomplish the goal of looking for an OID and them mining that OID from various devices using Net-SNMP (http://sourceforge.net/projects/net-snmp/).  Other approaches could be to navigate a MIB if you're comfortable navigating the trees in tools like iReasoning's MIB Browser (www.ireasoning.com).  If you're looking for HP specific MIBs, get them from the "Public SDK's" section on HP's developer website (www.hpdevelopersolutions.com).

Here are some resources for those interested in taking SNMP to the next level in their scripting and programming:

• For those managing their own BAT or PERL scripts, "Net-SNMP" is great (http://sourceforge.net/projects/net-snmp/)


• I'm fond of "#SNMP for C#" as it's the only set of libraries I was able to use for free with my C# (C-Sharp) programming hobbies (http://lextm.blogspot.com/search/label/%23SNMP).  There's many other commercial libraries out there, but as a hobbiest I liked this one since I could play without paying money.


• I haven't done much with Java or PHP or C++ or VisualBasic (VB, VBA, VBS), if anyone has any freebie recommendations out there they'd like me to reference, write in your comments.

Take care everyone. B, out.

Posted by: Brian R. Kneebone
Technology Consultant, Imaging and Printing Group

The HP Web Jetadmin team has put together an amazing series of training videos that are beyond fantastic.  I'm really happy to recommend this to customers of all sizes and types who would like a quick crash course in familiarizing themselves with the software or even to use it as a refresher.  Many customers use HP Web Jetadmin for some, but not all functionality.  Perhaps these videos are useful even to seasoned veterens with WJA interested in using features they may not have even known were available.  This may be especially true as security topics continue to interest customers wishing to proactively manage their printing and imaging assets.

The training topics covered (based on the content I just saw today) include:

• Introduction to Web Jetadmin – Part 1:
  This video is the first of two introductory reviews of Web Jetadmin 10.x, including installation topics and device discovery.


• Introduction to HP Web Jetadmin – Part 2:
  This video is the second of two introductory reviews of HP Web Jetadmin 10.x, including Proactive Alerts, Reports Generation, Print Management, and Help Resources.


• Advanced HP Web Jetadmin Deployment:
  This video outlines the installation and deployment of HP Web Jetadmin on various types of servers, including troubleshooting and detailed instructions.


• Advanced HP Web Jetadmin Problem Resolution and Proactive Management:
  This video outlines areas such as Problem Resolution, Performing Firmware Upgrades, Advanced Alerts, and Supplies Group Management.


• Advanced HP Web Jetadmin Security:
  This video outlines all areas of HP Web Jetadmin security, including Application Security, Users and Roles, SSL, Device Security, and Other Security Areas.


• Advanced HP Web Jetadmin Reporting and Optimization:
  This video covers key areas of Reporting and Optimization, such as Data Collection and Reports Generation.

The videos can be accessed by visiting the HP Web Jetadmin Portal (www.hp.com/go/webjetadmin) and clicking on the "Self Help" tab, then selecting the "Training Videos" link.  For customers who need more, HP offers advanced onsite consulting and integration services.  Talk with you HP sales representative for more information on the options and prices available in your region.  Take care, B.

Posted by: Brian R. Kneebone
Technology Consultant, Imaging and Printing Group  

It's been well over a month since I've posted an update on this portal, so I figured it was time for another video tutorial. This question has come up a couple of times with my various customers around importing and exporing data.  This is usually around using asset management fields like exporting a list of serial numbers to compare against an asset management system or even importing tags into HP Web Jetadmin to either help for device identification with helpdesk and/or incorporate into reports.

While this 20-minute video tutorial just covers the basics, it will give you an understanding on how to get data out of and into HP Web Jetadmin using CSV (Comma Seperated Values) and pointers for how tools like Microsoft Excel can be used as an intermediary to merge data depending on your goals.

Let me know what you think of this video.  I'm trying to keep them short and sweet.  Too short?  Not sweet enough?

Take Care, B.