1. NEXThink Console

Launching Start > All Programs > NEXThink for SCCM > NEXThink Console brings up the following screen:

1.1. NEXThink Console root node

The NEXThink Console root node has the following actions:

1.1.1. Custom actions...

Create/manage custom actions (see Using Custom Actions for more information)

1.1.2. Send feedback...

Send information to NEXThink about issues or any other feedback about NEXThink for SCCM

1.1.3. Diagnostics...

Enable/disable diagnostics mode. Diagnostics mode collects detailed application logs to improve identification of issues. Only enable this mode when you are experiencing problems and you are planning to send us feedback information via the Send feedback... action.

1.2. Engines node

The engines node allows configuration of engine connections. It allows adding several engine connections, however with an important limitation: only one engine can be connected at a time.

1.2.1. Adding an engine

The add engine action brings up the following dialog:

The dialog allows selecting the address/port of the engine and a NEXThink Finder account to log into. It is recommended that you create dedicated NEXThink Finder accounts for NEXThink Console usage (see Managing Accounts for information about creation of accounts). Note that you can use the default admin/admin account if you haven't created any finder accounts yet. Note that NEXThink Console requires an account with personal information privileges.

1.2.2. Engine node

A node is added for each Engine connection. When connected, clicking on the node shows the engine Home screen, a convenient way of viewing Live Statistics, My Alerts, Global Alerts, Services, Engine statistics and Sources comparison:

For more information about Home Tab usage, see Home Tab.

1.3. Sources node

The sources node contains the monitored systems (sources in NEXThink terminology) and allows addition/removal of sources. An overview of all monitored sources is shown in the central panel, with their last seen ip address.

1.3.1. Adding a source

There are two possibilities to add a source: either using the Add source... node action or using the Add to NEXThink Console ConfigMgr extension:

1.3.1.1. '''Add source... node action'''

Clicking of Add source... sources node action brings up the following dialog:

If an engine is currently connected, suggestions are proposed from the list of known source names.

1.3.1.2. '''Add to NEXThink Console ConfigMgr extension'''

When selecting one or several systems in Configuration Manager Console collections, a new Add to NEXThink Console action is available. This adds the selected system(s) in the sources node (if not already present).

Hint: to select multiple nodes you can Ctrl+Click (to add a single node to the selection) or Shift+Click (to add multiple consecutive nodes).

1.3.2. Source node

When adding a source a node is created for it. Clicking on this node shows an overview of its activity.

This is is the same view as available in NEXThink Finder, please refer to Using Source View for more information. Note in particular that this view can be customized in NEXThink Finder, refer to Customizing the Overview Tab for more information.

1.3.3. Source real-time inventory nodes

Expanding a source node reveals a collection of associated inventory nodes:

Selecting one of these nodes launches an investigation showing the detailed list of associated objects. The resulting investigation provides the same features available in NEXThink Finder, including Network Activity, Local Activity, Contextual Drill-down, One-Click Investigations, and so on. For detailed documentation about investigations see Using Investigation Results, Using Contextual Drill-down, and Using a One-click Investigation