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I’m struggling to find any advantages to using WMS and I think I might be missing something? I installed it as I started using WES devices after using ThinOS devices with INI files up to that point, which were simple to use and easy to manage.
I cannot change the port that WMS uses without it throwing errors on every device that checks in regarding not being able to connect on 443 even though the correct port is set. This wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact it for some unknown reason will only install on Windows Server so it cannot co-exist (happily) with any other services meaning it needs a dedicated server, and another licence.Also coupled with the fact there are errors and bugs in the installer (took several attempts to get 3.5.2 to install despite following Dells instructions) and the manuals seem to gloss over quite a few specifics it looks like it’s a difficult tool for a simple job?
The MQTT service seems to connect to the NETBIOS name of the server despite the FQDN being configured in WDA so none of the devices connecting over VPN connect properly anyway. Adding something simple (to ThinOS or WES) like an RDP connection involves an unnecessary amount of clicking and scrolling rather than the simple INI config method (just copy & paste the config and then change the FQDN and name). Adding things to WES devices like printers is a complete nightmare to do ad-hoc (custom scripts and files per device), and anything really. Most things I have issues with I just think “I can do this in no time with GPO”. When editing and updating configs there is so much work involved (e.g. change a printer on a client, which btw the admin guide for WMS mentions “printer mappings” but never says how to use them or what they are) and I have updated some policies and found they do not get applied (e.g. agent update policy does not seem to be applied to any clients for some reason but the old one was) so it begs the question, what is the point of WMS?
As it stands I am better off just logging the WES devices onto the domain and sticking with INI files for the ThinOS devices. Just wondering if anyone can change my mind before I decommission the WMS server that I have come to loathe.
I can understand you fully. I have probably lost 200 hours of working time because new ThinOS versions were constantly coming out with x Bugs.
What is for me the worst : you Pay much Money for Pro Support to Dell and invest hours with documentation and videos and nobody cares. You are not taken seriously as a customer.
You mention devices accessing WMS via VPN, have you considered using WMS Pro (Cloud) version. You don’t need to set up any server except for a WMS repository for Windows and Linux images and packages. You can set up a 45-day demo for 25 devices, these devices can be managed on your local network and remote. I am happy to do a one-on-one call with you to see if there are any best practices I can offer.
Let me know if you care to chat…
Jim
I avoided using the cloud version as I was trying to avoid a monthly cost to this. If I was going to spend more money on it I would rather just invest in hardware that had better management facilities. I still can’t see how the cloud version would work any better than a VPN connected version. I could even just expose my local version to the web but either way the point is the MQTT service tries to connect using NETBIOS and ignores the FQDN so I can’t see how it would work on the cloud version if it doesn’t work outside of local networks. Regardless of any of that the WDA settings on the clients have the FQDN of the MQTT server so the software isn’t doing what it says it should anyway, coupled with the fact even when it does connect on the alternative web port the log is full of errors saying it cannot connect on 443 would suggest this is not a flexible or scalable platform. I have spent days on this and when I eventually just turned the server off it took me minutes to set up the INI files again and no more than 20 minutes to fully set up a WES device. I can easily use this as a master image so in an afternoon I can do for free what WMS wants me to spend money on and spend hours setting up (including all the subtle differences of sub groups etc).
I realise this just looks like a rant (which it is I guess) but I am genuinely perplexed by the existence of WMS. Just hoped someone could show me what I was missing. Appreciate the offer of a call but I think as always I am just too small for Dell to care about. Being able to copy configs would be a good start to saving some of the headache but you can only do that with a licensed version (which is too much for managing a handful of WES devices, and even then it’s not really copy, it’s export/import and the manual makes some contradictory statements on how it works anyway).
What would be better (for me, and I’m sure a lot of other users) would be for WES devices to be manageable with the same INI file method as ThinOS devices.
Thank you! I thought I was the only one that felt this way.
Yes, WMS gives you a pretty dashboard, and I’ve used it for a long time just to keep track of which terminals are at which site, but it was a surprise that the new clients we got with 9.0+ OS suddenly needed WMS to configure them instead of the tried and test ini file that I’ve been using (with modification obviously) flawlessly for the better part of 10 years.
With the bugs in 9.0+ OS, and the difficulties configuring, compounded by now working out of the office so being able to change and test easily is not possible, my users are getting very frustrated and starting to demand that they be replaced.
Even management is starting to think we’d be better off just buying laptops to replace them.Thank you for confirming that I am not alone in feeling like this.
I used to use Dell solely and moved away from them for a while due to some issues with their not-very-transparent-pricing issues at the time but have started to use them again recently. Luckily I haven’t got full in team Dell as it seems to be more of the same, but worse. Dells way or the highway I think, which I don’t understand when Dells way is harder than the highway! Problems are twofold with this, it doesn’t make any sense for SME’s to even look at Wyse or WMS now as they are pushing this as a solution for enterprise/cloud but even then it still doesn’t work so I’m not sure what the angle is here. I can only assume this is just how arrogant Dell are now, “here give us all your money for this second rate garbage”. No thanks, I’d rather just use Raspberry Pi’s as terminals at this point TBH.
Let me position this question, would there be interest in me hosting a Zoom session where we can discuss issues and possible answers to issues? I will be one of the first to say WMS and other TC management tools are not perfect, but with some collaboration, we might be able to find a working solution with WMS Standard (Free version).
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