Software Delivery Functions › Logon Shield for Windows Operating Environments

Logon Shield for Windows Operating Environments

The Logon Shield ensures that the system can perform installations or updates of applications, without being disturbed by users logging on during the installation or update process. In other words, the Logon Shield, when activated, prevents users from logging on to a Windows operating system. The Logon Shield feature is available for all Windows NT operating environments and Windows Vista.

As Microsoft has changed the underlying technology for the Windows Vista operating system, the Logon shield feature has been aligned to meet the Windows Vista requirements. In pre-Windows Vista environments the logon shield works based on Microsoft's Graphical Identification and Authentication (GINA) concept, whereas in Windows Vista operating environments it works on the concept of credential provider filtering. On the target systems, the user interface of the logon shield differs slightly in Windows Vista and non-Windows Vista operating environments.

The Logon Shield can be enabled and configured using the Logon Shield configuration view on the DSM Explorer. The Logon Shield can also be enabled implicitly when setting up a software distribution job.

Note: When the Logon Shield is activated for the first time on pre-Windows Vista systems, a system reboot is initiated before executing the first job that uses Logon Shield protection.