Adding Conditions to Computer Types
9 min
overview computer types are used to categorise computers in activate a computer type is calculated from the //resources/computers/computertypes configuration activate checks each configured type in order and compares the matching rules against properties on the computerdirectoryentry the first matching type is assigned to the computer computer types are mainly used with service delivery methods they allow services to be deployed only to specific types of computers, or to prevent a service from being deployed to computers that do not meet the required criteria for example, a service delivery method can be configured so that it is only available for windows 11 computers, server devices, kiosk machines, or another defined computer category use case use computer types when you need to control which computers can be selected for a service deployment common examples include allowing a service to be deployed only to windows 11 computers restricting server only services to server computer types preventing workstation software from being deployed to servers separating kiosk devices from standard user workstations creating deployment methods for specific device groups or environments this is useful when the operating system alone is not specific enough to determine whether a computer should be eligible for a service configuration navigate to //resources/computers/computertypes computer types are defined inside a \<types> node each \<type> has a name and a \<match> section the \<match> section contains one or more properties that activate checks against the computerdirectoryentry standard example \<types> \<type name="winxp"> \<match> \<property name="operatingsystem">windows xp \</property> \</match> \</type> \<type name="win7"> \<match> \<property name="operatingsystem">windows 7 \</property> \</match> \</type> \<type name="win8"> \<match> \<property name="operatingsystem">windows 8 \</property> \</match> \</type> \<type name="win10"> \<match> \<property name="operatingsystem">windows 10 \</property> \</match> \</type> \<type name="winserver"> \<match> \<property name="operatingsystem">windows server \</property> \</match> \</type> \<type name="other"> \<match> \<property name="name"> \</property> \</match> \</type> \</types> in this example, activate checks the computer's operatingsystem property and assigns the first matching type the final other type acts as a fallback because it matches any computer name matching multiple properties to make a computer type more specific, add additional properties to the \<match> section and set the match type to all \<types> \<type name="finance workstations"> \<match type="all"> \<property name="operatingsystem">windows 10 \</property> \<property name="department">finance\</property> \</match> \</type> \<type name="win10"> \<match> \<property name="operatingsystem">windows 10 \</property> \</match> \</type> \<type name="other"> \<match> \<property name="name"> \</property> \</match> \</type> \</types> in this example, a computer is only classified as finance workstations when both conditions match the operating system matches windows 10 the department matches finance if either condition does not match, activate continues checking the remaining computer types matching behaviour computer types are evaluated in the order they appear in the configuration the first matching type is selected and assigned to the computer a computer can only have one computer type for this reason, more specific types should be listed before more general types for example, this order is recommended \<type name="finance workstations"> \</type> \<type name="win10"> \</type> \<type name="other"> \</type> this ensures that a finance workstation is matched before the broader win10 type use with delivery methods computer types are used by delivery methods through the availablecomputers parameter if a delivery method has availablecomputers configured, activate treats it as a computer based delivery method the selected computer must match one of the allowed computer types before the delivery method can be used for example, if a delivery method has availablecomputers = win11 then only computers with the win11 computer type can be selected for that delivery method if a selected computer does not match the allowed type, activate prevents the selection and requires a valid computer to be chosen supported properties computer type matching can use properties available on the computerdirectoryentry , including active directory attributes activate stored attributes notes computer types are defined in //resources/computers/computertypes the first matching type is assigned to the computer a computer can only have one computer type use match type="all" when multiple properties must match order computer types from most specific to most general delivery methods use availablecomputers to restrict which computer types can be used use a fallback type, such as other , at the end of the list