Chapter 3 - Console Overview

Article
07/29/2013

Applies to: Microsoft Antigen

The Antigen Enterprise Manager User Interface (the “Console”) provides administrators with an easy way to deploy Antigen, disseminate scan engine updates, manage Quarantine databases, configure General Options, retrieve log files, run Manual Scans on remote machines, and create reports about virus and spam activity on managed networks.

The AEM Console is used for all configuration and deployment tasks, but it need not remain open when jobs are running. The AEM runs constantly, regardless of the status of the Console window. Once a job has been initiated or scheduled, the AEM Console may be closed without affecting the operation of AEM components.

Launching the AEM Console

The Antigen Enterprise Manager Console is used for all configuration and deployment tasks. To launch the Antigen Enterprise Manager Console locally:

Start/All Programs/Microsoft Antigen Enterprise Manager/Antigen Enterprise Manager Console

To launch the AEM Console remotely, open your Internet browser and enter the server name, followed by /SEMconsole. You will be prompted for the credentials you used when installing the AEM. You can also connect to the local machine this way, using a server name of localhost.

Examples:

https://servername/SEMconsole launching from a remote server
https://localhost/SEMconsole launching from the local machine

The Console

The Console is divided into two main areas:

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The left-hand column is the Navigation area that gives you to the various AEM configuration components and the center area of the console is the work pane. Each navigation option is described briefly below.

At a Glance

The “At a Glance. . .” work pane provides information about the managed servers in your environment. The pane shows a summary of all the following activity in the last 24 hours:

Traffic Summary (messages and files processed)
Virus Statistics
Spam Statistics
Filter Statistics
Top 5 Viruses (found in your environment)
Most Active Servers (Based on Detections)

The information in the "At a Glance. . ." screen is updated when the screen is opened or refreshed so as to always display information for the previous 24 hours. You can display this data at any time by clicking At a Glance.

Administration

Users	The Settings area includes icons for accessing the work panes to configure scan jobs, anti-virus settings, scanner updates, templates, General Options, and the Anti-Spam Job when the Antigen Spam Manager is enabled.
Servers	The Filtering area includes icons for accessing the work panes to configure content filtering, file filtering, mailhost filtering, keyword filtering, allowed senders, and filter lists.
Server Groups	The Operate area includes icons for accessing the work panes to run anti-virus and anti-spam jobs, schedule jobs, and perform quick scans.
Global Configuration	The Report area includes icons for accessing the work panes for notification configuration, the incidents view, and the quarantine area.

Job Management

Packages	The Manage Packages work pane is used to create and configure AEM “packages.” AEM packages are Antigen install images, template files, or license files that are configured for deployment by the AEM to the managed servers. For more information, see Chapter 5 - Manage Jobs.
Jobs	The Manage Jobs work pane is used to create, modify, delete, or view AEM Deployment and Signature Distribution jobs. For more information, see Chapter 5 - Manage Jobs, and Chapter 4 - Getting Started.
Quarantine Manager	The Quarantine Manager is used to manage all Quarantine databases in the enterprise. Data can be retrieved and filtered for analysis. Quarantined messages and files can also be viewed, deleted, and delivered. For more information, see Chapter 6 - Quarantine Management.

Reports

Detections	Detection Reports provide overall statistics on virus, spam, and filter detections including information such as detection rates, actions taken, and filter efficiency. For more information, see Chapter 7 - Reports.
SMTP Traffic	SMTP Traffic Reports provide statistical information about SMTP traffic for both messages and bytes processed. For more information, see Chapter 7 - Reports.
Engine Versions	Engine Version Reports provide a quick view of the signatures file versions deployed throughout the environment; allowing administrators to easily determine which servers are up to date and which still need updating. For more information, see Chapter 7 - Reports.

Alert Management

Alerts

The AEM provides 5 different types of alerts that can be used to monitor when virus or spam activity exceeds certain thresholds. All alerts are configured using the Configure Alerts work pane. For more information, see Chapter 8 - Alert Management.

Event Logs

Alerts	The Alerts Log provides a log of all Alert events. For more information, see Chapter 8 - Alert Management.
Notification Logs	The Notification Logs include AEM activity logs for Deployment, General Options, Log Retrieval, Manual Scan, and Redistribution jobs. For more information, see Chapter 8 - Alert Management.

Help

Online Help	Displays the online help file for the AEM.
E-mail Feedback	Launches your e-mail client so that you can send your questions or comments about the AEM screen you’re on to Microsoft. The subject line is filled in with “Feedback on Microsoft Antigen Enterprise Manager” and the body contains the version number and the name of the work pane you were on when you clicked the link.