Rove (www.roveit.com) develop mobile admin solutions for IT professionals, enabling IT staff to perform all manner of routine tasks directly from their smartphone, be it resetting a user's active directory password, adding a record to a DNS server or generating a BlackBerry activation password - no matter where they are.

Available for Windows Mobile (6 or higher), BlackBerry (device software 4.2 or later), iPhone (iOS 3 or later) and Android (1.5 or later) platforms, Rove Mobile Admin removes the need for a permanent on-site IT presence, and also removes the need for IT staff to always have their laptop with them when on call or working away from the office.

Managed via a web interface, the server component requires a Windows-based server to run on, with IIS installed as well as the Dot Net Framework.

The full list of features which Rove allows administrators to access remotely is as follows:

• Windows - view and clear event logs, run programs, restart or shutdown, view and kill processes, ping, traceroute, net send, manage printers and print jobs, manage files and drive shares, manage scheduled tasks
• Active Directory - manage users and groups, reset passwords
• Exchange - manage users, mailboxes, queues and messages
• IIS - stop, start, restart web sites, create, delete and edit settings
• SQL Server - view, start and stop instances, view, create and manage databases, synchronisations and processes, run queries, reset passwords
• DHCP - view, create and manage scopes, reservations and exclusions
• DNS - view, create and manage records and caches
• Cluster Server
• System Center Operations Manager - view and resolve alerts, view and resolve computer health messages
• System Center Mobile Device Manager - view devices and details, block and unblock, manage wipe and pre-enrollment
• RSA
• Lotus Domino - manage users, groups and mailboxes, manage server ports
• Novell
• Oracle
• BlackBerry Enterprise Server - manage users and devices, set passwords, lock and kill handhelds
• Citrix
• HP ILO
• Backup Exec
• NetBackup
• VMware
• Nagios
• BMC Remedy Service Desk
• BMC Performance Manager Portal
• CA Service Desk
• Microsoft Hyper V

A Telnet, SSH and RDP client is also included as part of the Rove mobile client, allowing you to connect to any server from your mobile device.

A number of authentication options are supported, including an existing active directory account, or an account specific to the Rove Mobile Admin server. Integration with RSA or RADIUS is also possible.

The server can be made accessible from the Internet, secured by HTTPS, but a separate VPN solution is advised due to the nature of the resources that the solution provides remote access to.

Management

The installation of the Rove Mobile Admin server component is a simple process - the product license key will need to be verified against the Rove activation server (even for 14-day trials), requiring that the server have outbound Internet access for this step only.
Once installed, the server is managed via a web interface on port 4054 (https://(rove_server):4054)

Servers and services that should be accessible to mobile clients can be defined by the administrator via this interface:

The list of available services is as detailed above:

Once configured, the client software will need to be installed on mobile devices. The client application is free to download from the device's corresponding online application market - be it the Google Market or the iPhone App Store. The client will need to be configured with the IP address of the Rove Mobile Admin server as well as authentication details. Once connected, the same admin interface will be displayed:

Configured servers and services will be listed, and administrators can add new resources as required:

Common tasks are available at the tap of a button: managing resources such as Activ Directory could not be easier:

Resources such as BlackBerry Enterprise Server require the configuration of additional authentication credentials, such as the BesAdmin service account, but once configured on the server, tasks can be performed from client devices in the same efficient manner:

Visit the Rove web site for more information - www.roveit.com