Running a mix of RHEL 5.5, 5.8, and 6.3 servers. Windows has a field for Computer Description. Is there a field in Linux to populate that information?

No idea, since you don't tell us where this 'field' you mention is coming from, or where it's populated in Windows. There are plenty of places in SNMP for system/asset description.

And what has Red Hat support told you? RHEL is a commercial distro, and when you buy it, you also buy support.

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In Windows, go to Control Panel, System, Advanced Settings, Computer Name Tab, Computer Description field. I agree, I can use SNMP to add this field and report it via Solar Winds, but we are also running Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager. Would prefer to pull the info into SCCM. There's an MS SCCM agent for Linux distros that reports various limited information pertaining to Linux.

i know mixing of unsupported versions happens
the current redhat legacy 5 is
RHEL 5.10
the current redhat is RHEL 6.5

now you can get security backports for 6.3 and 5.8 but NOT 5.5
and you have to pay redhat extra for this type of support

so if you are using redhat COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS ( and ALL of them ARE)
you have to have the required SERVER support contract
see the required license pricing
https://www.redhat.com/wapps/store/catalog.html


comparing a rhel server to a windows DESKTOP
is not even apples and oranges
it is apples and ROCKS

a rhel server normally dose NOT have a GUI
no graphics are needed
there is NO desktop "window" for the Gnomne2 desktop manager to use

now
if this is a office DESKTOP install there is a desktop manager ( gnome2 )


have you read through the redhat documentation ?

what you are asking will be in there
https://access.redhat.com/site/docum...erprise_Linux/

I think everyone is missing the question. It doesn't matter if its a desktop or a server, whether there is a support contract, version 5.5 or 6.3. In Windows, whether I change it from a command line or the GUI, there is a field called "computer description" where you can define a basic description of what the server does (i.e. print server, file server, app server, etc).

Does this exist in Linux, whether it is RedHat, Suse, Ubuntu, etc? If not, I have no problems updating my SNMP settings to reflect this information. Thanks.

what is asking for the 3 different OS's " computer description " ???????
there is NO way we can tell you how to set this odd named " computer description "

without knowing what is asking for this ?

you can set a "host-name" in the host / network settings

or
a user name in the terminal ?
or any of a few others

so
what is asking for " computer description "

Using SolarWinds to pull the data, I can modify/add a computer description to the SNMP settings in Linux; no problem there.

Using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012 R2, and the respective Linux SCCM agent, is there a file that can be modified with the information?

Not all servers have recognizable hostnames like "printserver" and "fileserver". Other than the hostname, how would you query a group of Linux servers and be able determine what the role of a server is?

With SNMP. You can set numerous different fields there, and define them as you wish. SCCM is a Microsoft product, and is a 'standard' for Microsoft servers only. Any other system (Mac, *nix, routers, switches, etc.), all use SNMP for this.

There is no equivalent for what you're looking to do in Linux, other than SNMP. The SCCM 'computer description' for Microsoft is present only for SCCM. Honestly, I'd NEVER load anything from Microsoft onto ANY *nix system...they do Windows, but other software that shoehorns their Microsoft-only solution onto a platform it's not designed for, will likely cause problems. They're not concerned with stability of other systems, and getting support is going to be challenging. Red Hat won't help you...since it's not Red Hat software. The best they can do is look at a core dump or trace file, and tell you what's happening.

And I'm *SURE* Microsoft will be incredibly responsive when you tell them their agent is causing system problems.

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You could use facter, and add custom facts with description, then setup gui for puppet server: "The Foreman"

Hi,

I get your point. But you have to understand too that not everything in this world is comparable. In an enterprise setting, devices are usually identified by hostnames/DNS aliases/IP Addresses instead of "descriptions". Usually, we also have naming conventions such as
* hronline.de.foo.com -> for example, to denote a server with an HR app in Germany
or something like
* oradbc.fr.foo.com -> to denote a server which houses an Oracle database

The point is, not everything depends on "descriptions", which is why I think people here could not relate much to your question.

You might have hundreds or thousands of server installations and you would not have any problem identifying which is which if you have a well planned infrastructure (naming conventions, etc.) and a good documentation.

I came here looking for the same thing as fuel. I think if you don't have an answer, or an understanding of what the person is trying to do then you shouldn't comment. I firmly believe that forums like this are useful to find out what can be done instead of why the heck would you want to do that. My two cents...

...and by asking what the OP was trying to ACCOMPLISH, people can then speculate as to what can be done. By only looking at ONE potential answer, all others are omitted. By knowing what the actual goal is, options can be suggested.

That is why people ask "why the heck would you want to do that".

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