One of the most common questions that comes up when people are buying a new computer, is how can they manage all their devices. Goverlan Reach offers an easy way to keep track and control your ever-growing list of systems both on and offsite without having to manually set anything up or make any changes directly on each individual device.
The “goverlan easyvista” is a cloud-based system that simplifies systems management. It provides tools to help you monitor, manage, and maintain your computers. This software can be used on Windows or Mac.
Full disclosure: This is a sponsored article for a GoverLan review from Goverlan, a trusted partner. The only contribution Goverlan made to this page was to correct technical mistakes and provide a brief remark on the user interface.
For years, as a PowerShell developer, I’ve been developing PowerShell scripts to manage systems. I’ve written remote system administration scripts and modules to perform about everything you can imagine. It is what I do for a livelihood.
Although the result feels fantastic when I finish a script, the time it takes to build any degree of automation for a chore might be lengthy. It may be time consuming to write PowerShell scripts to query WMI across hundreds of servers, run reports, or make enterprise-wide changes.
Most IT workers are in the same situation as I was a few years ago: wearing several hats, putting out fires, and getting things done. They understand the benefits of automation, but they don’t always have the luxury of time.
Goverlan Reach is a very effective method for resolving this issue. It looks a lot like major products like System Center Configuration Manager, LanDesk, and Symantec Endpoint Management, but it’s a lot lighter, quicker to set up, and has real-time data. Goverlan Reach may be thought of as a one-stop shop for collecting data and performing actions on all of your distant Windows PCs.
One of the important aspects that impressed me the most when examining GoverLAN is how it uses Active Directory for a variety of activities. For internal nodes, for example, device onboarding for unattended administration is automatic and quiet.
You can manage passwords in bulk, set up enterprise-wide password restrictions, and unlock restricted accounts. User login history, password age, machine identification information, and folder permissions may all be reported on.
You may also create customized user account provisioning templates, apply them to new user accounts, and automate all new user provisioning chores such as permissions, mapped drives, and more!
Setup
Goverlan Reach was a joy to set up. Even with the optional server included, it took me around an hour in total. Did I mention that you don’t need to set up a server to play Goverlan Reach? It adds some more features, but you can get away with merely installing the console on your local machine.
Although non-domain machines may be managed, it is simpler to get started on a domain-joined Windows workstation. My Windows client and server were both in the same domain.
After you’ve set up your 30-day free license, the download and installation procedure is the same as before. On a client computer (Windows 10 in this example), click next a few times for the Goverlan console installation, then do the same for the server component (Windows Server 2012 R2). Just make sure you have a service account setup on the server side, else the server will not start up.
Deployment of Agents
You’ll need to deploy some agents after you’ve set up the console and server. The agents, according to Goverlan, are passive and light. In my brief sample, I saw that the installation was swift and that the agent didn’t use a lot of resources on my customers.
Agent Manager for GoverLAN
The Deployment of Agents is a two-step process – discovery and installation.
GoverLAN Reach has a few different ways to figure out what's on the network. I did run into some minor issues where it wasn’t picking up the hostname when I could resolve it via my client though.
Options for Finding Agents
Once the discovery has run, you can then push the agent to the machines via a simple point and shoot process. Although I did have a time when I forgot to deploy an agent and just assumed one was installed to find out that it will check for an installed agent first. If an agent is not on a machine, it will optionally prompt you and just go ahead and install it. This is nice since it makes the Deployment of Agents process seamless.
Features
I checked out some of GoverLAN’s features once it was set up for my evaluation. Among the most significant are:
- Exclusive Control through remote (seems to be snappier than RDP)
- Ad hoc management duties (remotely querying anything in WMI, managing services, file sharing, etc.)
- fastConnect — a function that lets you target people instead of computers.
- Microsoft LAPS support was recently announced, allowing workstations to be authenticated without having to know the local administrator password.
- My personal favorite is Process Automation.
There are just too many features to cover in this article. I suggest downloading a trial and trying it out for yourself. You may immediately start selecting machines from Active Directory after installing the interface. When you right-click, a menu of choices appears.
Alternatives include:
- Account Administration
- Refresh Group Policies
- Programs
- Windows
- Users and Groups in Your Area
- Local and Planned Routes
- Printers
- Services
- Manager of Devices
- Folder Sharing
- Environmental Factors
- Message in a Popup
- Chat
- Control through remote
- Manager of Tasks
- prompt for remote command
- Manager of files
- Script execution from afar
- WMI activities
- …and a few more.
The Process Automation section was interesting. This feature functions as a little automation engine. It enables you to build up several jobs and run them all at once, complete with if/then logic.
It reminded me of the build tasks I use with Team Foundation Server while I was fiddling with it. I’d look for a pre-built job, put it into the pipeline, and keep going until I had a complete process automation workflow.
Then I need to find the machines or users against whom I want to run all of these processes and make it happen.
Cost
Before I go into the price, I should mention that Goverlan is one of those firms who publishes the price of their product on their website! I understand. Isn’t it crazy? They provide a subscription model with costs ranging from $29 per month per person to $129 per month per user, depending on how many services you get.
Summary
Goverlan Reach impressed me in general. It was simple to install, bundled a slew of common remote-management duties into one, and its strong interaction with Active Directory allowed for near-seamless targeting of both logged-in people and computers. It did, however, have several minor flaws.
Adam of Adam The Automator reviews Goverlan Reach.
Do you want to have a look? Visit their website for a free trial and learn how it may assist you!
The “goverlan patch management” is a new release of the Goverlan Reach system management software. It allows users to manage their servers and workstations from one central location.
Related Tags
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