Controllers Pane

The Controllers pane is an advanced management interface that enables system administrators to handle multiple machines simultaneously, while comparing and managing the Windows registry, services, file system, and installed software. If you need to investigate an irregularity or misconfiguration, the Controllers pane provides an aggregated view of your machines where you can manage multiple machines simultaneously.

You can use the following controllers:

• Services. Compare and manage Windows services on multiple machines simultaneously.
• Registry. Compare and manage the Windows Registry on multiple machines or user sessions simultaneously.
• File System. Compare and manage files and folders from the perspective of multiple managed machines or user sessions simultaneously.
• Programs and Updates. Compare installed programs on multiple machines.
• Shares. Compare and manage files on shared folders in your enterprise, not necessarily on machines already managed by ControlUp.

The Registry and Programs and Updates Controllers might reference either machines or user sessions, depending on your selection in the Controllers tree. Both of these types of instances are called Targets. The Services and File System Controllers only reference machines, since user sessions don't have their own services or file systems. The Shares Controller references UNC paths on file servers in your organization.

Exporting Results from the Controllers Pane

Click the Export icon on the Home ribbon of the Controllers pane to export the comparison results into an Excel XLSX file. Only results from the Instances pane export to the file.

Lists in the Controllers Pane

You can save lists of managed machines for future use in the Controllers pane. You can't save user session lists since they are temporary and volatile. For example, you might save a list of file servers which you frequently check for irregularities or differences. Click the Manage Lists icon to manage lists.

Services Controller

The Services Controller is an advanced utility that enables you to controll Windows services on a remote machine or on multiple machines simultaneously. If you select multiple machines and launch the Services Controller, you are presented with an aggregated view of the services from all of the selected machines.

You can then browse the system services in a similar way to the standard Windows Services console. To emphasize the differences between the services configurations of different machines or users, the Services Controller uses the following color-coded icons:

In the Instances area on the right side of the Services Controller, you can view the details of the differences listed above, for example, the state of the selected services on the target machines.

Adding Operation Targets
To add targets to the Services Controller, click the Add Target icon in the Home ribbon. You can only add machines that are currently connected to ControlUp.

Removing Operation Targets
To remove a machine from the Controller view, right-click the machine in the Machines panel and select Remove.

Search Services
The Services Controller allows searching the selected machine(s) for services with a specified name by using the Search button in the toolbar.

Services Actions

The Services Controller allows you to start, stop and modify Windows services just like you would using the services MMC snap-in.

If you select a service in the Instances grid of the controller, your action will affect a single service instance on a single machine. If you select a service in the Services panel, you can perform the following management actions by right-clicking the service, or by clicking the Actions button on the Home ribbon:

Start Service
Starts the selected service(s) on the target machine(s).
Stop Service
Stops the selected service(s) on the target machine(s).
Pause Service
Pauses the selected service(s) on the target machine(s).
Restart Service
Restarts the selected service(s) on the target machine(s).
Remove Service
Removes the selected service(s) from the target machine(s).
Edit Properties
Enables batch modification of service(s) properties on the target machines. You can perform this action to modify the start type and logon information for a single service or multiple services simultaneously on multiple machines.
Search
Search for specific terms in the metadata of the services.

Registry Controller

The Registry Controller is an advanced utility that enables viewing and editing the registry on multiple machines simultaneously. If you select multiple machines and launch the Registry Controller, an aggregated view displays of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hives from all of the selected machines.

If you select multiple user sessions and launch the Registry Controller, an aggregated view displays of the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hives from all of the selected sessions.

You can then browse the registry tree can in a similar way to the Windows Registry Editor. To emphasize the differences between the registry configurations of different machines or users, the Registry Controller uses the following color coded icons:

In the Instances area on the right side of the Registry Controller you can view the details of the differences listed above, for example, the data of the same registry value on different machines.

Adding Targets
To add targets to the Registry Controller, click the Add Target button in the Home ribbon. The Add Target wizard guides you through the process of adding machine or user hives to the Controller.

The Registry Controller can manage the following targets:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hives of the machines connected to the console.
• User Profiles currently loaded on the machines connected to the console.

Removing operation targets
To remove a hive from the Controller view, right-click the machine or user in the Machines or Users panel and select Remove.
Search Registry
Use the Registry Controller to search the registry on selected machine or user hives using configured search pattern. Expand the Targets pane to select individual targets for this operation.

Registry Actions

The Registry Controller enables you to manipulate the Windows Registry just like you would using Windows Registry Editor (regedit.exe).

If you select a registry key or value from the Registry Keys or Registry Values panels, your action affects a single target’s registry. You can perform the following management actions by right-clicking a registry key or value, or by clicking the Actions button on the Home ribbon:

Create Key
Creates a key with the specified name in the selected machine/user hives.
Delete Key
Deletes the selected key in the selected machine/user hives.
Rename Key
Renames the selected key in the selected machine/user hives.
Copy/Move Key
Copies or moves a key within the selected machine/user hives. For example, you can copy the SoftwarePolicies key to SoftwarePolicies_old to create a backup of this key. Copying keys and values between machines is supported using the Distribute action, as explained below.
Distribute
Copies or moves a key within between machine/user hives. You can copy a key from one machine to another or to multiple machines, or from a single user’s hive to one or more other users’ hives.
Create Value
Creates a value with specified type, name and data on the selected machine/user hives.
Delete Value
Deletes the selected value in the selected machine/user hives.
Rename Value
Renames the selected value to the configured name in the selected machine/user hives.
Modify Value Data
Modifies the selected value’s type and name in the selected machine/user hives, while overwriting all existing data in the selected value.

You can expand the Targets pane to select individual targets for the operations above.

File System Controller

The File System Controller is an advanced utility that enables viewing and manipulating the local file system on a remote machine or on multiple machines simultaneously.

If you select multiple machines and launch the File System Controller, an aggregated view displays of the local fixed drives from all of the selected machines. Network drives and removable media aren't displayed.

You can then browse the file system tree in a similar way as Windows Explorer. To emphasize the differences between the file systems of different machines, the File System Controller uses the following color coded icons:

In the Instances grid, you can view the details of the differences listed above, for example information about files in the same directory on different machines.

Adding Operation Targets
You can add targets to the ControlUp File System Controller by clicking Add Target in the Home ribbon. The Add Target window guides you through the process of adding your operation target(s).
Removing Operation Targets
To remove a machine from the Controller view, right-click the machine in the Machines panel and select Remove.

File System Controller Folder Actions

The File System Controller allow you to manipulate files and folders using the selected machine(s). The paths and filenames you provide must be valid on the target machine in order to perform all folder actions are on it.

You perform folder actions using the Local System account on the target machine. Since it is a highly privileged account, you are unlikely to encounter a permissions issue when performing local file operations. However, make sure to provide valid domain credentials when using network (UNC) paths or network drives, since the Local System account doesn't have access to the network.

You can perform the following folder actions by right-clicking a folder in the Folders panel:

Create Folder. Creates a folder in the selected path on all selected machines.
Delete Folder. Deletes the selected folder and all its contents on all selected machines.
Rename Folder. Renames the selected folder on all selected machines.
Copy/Move Folder. Performs a local copy or move operation on the selected folder within all of the selected machines. Note that during this operation, no data is copied between machines.
Send Files Here. Copies files or folders from your management machine or a network location to the specified folder on all selected machines.
Gather. Copies the selected folders from all of the selected machines to a specified location, while prepending the folder names with source machine names.
Edit Folder Attributes. Toggles the Hidden folder attribute on all of the selected machines.
Permissions > Add. Adds an Access Control Entry for a specified account to the security descriptor of the folder on all selected machines.
Permissions > Revoke. Removes an Access Control Entry for a specified account from the security descriptor of the folder on all selected machines.
Permissions > Replace. Modifies Access Control Entries for the specified account in the security descriptor of the folder on all selected machines.
Permissions > Migrate. Replaces occurrences of a specified account with another account in the security descriptor of the folder on all selected machines.
Set Owner. Modifies the NTFS folder ownership on all selected machines.
Folder Size. Calculates the sizes of all instances of the selected folder on all selected machines.
Refresh. Reloads the aggregated directory content data for the selected folder.

File System Controller File Actions

You can perform the following file actions by right-clicking a file in the Files panel:

Delete File. Deletes the selected file(s) on all selected machines.
Rename File. Renames the selected file on all selected machines.
Copy/Move File. Performs a local copy or move operation on the selected file within all of the selected machines. Note that during this operation no data is copied between machines.
Edit File Attributes. Toggles the Archive, Read Only and Hidden file attributes on all of the selected machines.
Gather. Copies the selected files from all of the selected machines to a specified location, while prepending the file names with source machine names.
Set Owner. Modifies the NTFS file ownership on all selected machines.
Permissions > Add. Adds an Access Control Entry for a specified account to the security descriptor of the file on all selected machines.
Permissions > Revoke. Removes an Access Control Entry for a specified account from the security descriptor of the file on all selected machines.
Permissions > Replace. Modifies Access Control Entries for the specified account in the security descriptor of the file on all selected machines.
Permissions > Migrate. Replaces occurrences of a specified account with another account in the security descriptor of the file on all selected machines.
Refresh. Reloads the aggregated directory content data for the selected file.

Programs and Updates Controller

The Programs and Updates Controller is an advanced utility that enables viewing a list of installed software and updates on multiple managed machines simultaneously. If you select multiple machines and launch the Programs and Updates Controller, an aggregated view displays of the software packages and updates from all of the selected machines.

You can browse installed programs and updates in a similar way to Windows “Programs and Features” or “Add/Remove Programs”. To emphasize the differences between software installed for different machines or users, the Programs and Updates Controller uses the following color-coded icons:

The Programs folder in the Software panel includes an aggregated view of installed software, while the Updates folder includes updates for the OS and third-party components. You click Search button in the Home ribbon to search for programs and compare the results in the Instances panel.

Currently, the Programs and Updates Controller doesn't support management actions and only includes read functionality.

Shares Controller

The Shares Controller is functionally similar to the File System Controller and includes the same management actions. The major difference is that the Shares Controller references UNC paths (in the form of servernamesharename), while the File System Controller references local file system paths on machines managed by ControlUp. This difference impacts the following operations of the Shares Controller:

• You can add any file system path to the Shares Controller, as long as it is accessible to you. The share paths don't need to be located on machines that you added to ControlUp. They can be located on any SMB-compatible file server or workstation capable of sharing folders for Windows.
• All available management actions are performed by the ControlUp console, while the File System Controller performs most of the actions in the context of the managed machines.