A group is a set of managed hosts to which you can send jobs simultaneously. There are two types of groups:
Master Group. Contains the master host and all its sharing hosts. A job cannot be sent to only one of the hosts in a Master Group; the entire group must receive any job.
Custom Group. Contains any set of master hosts that you choose. If the hosts do not have sharing hosts, the group can run and successfully deploy jobs. If any one of the hosts in a Custom Group has sharing hosts, jobs cannot be deployed on this group.
When you create privileged users with Permitted Groups, the groups must be complete Master Groups. You cannot assign a Custom Group as a permitted group, even it contains only hosts without sharing hosts.
The Hosts window displays icons to indicate the type of the groups and the type of managed host.
Table 5–1 Hosts Window and Groups Tab Icons
Sun Update Connection – Enterprise creates a Master Group only after a master host has at least one sharing host. Every Master Group contains at least two managed hosts: the master host and the sharing host.
The Hosts window also shows a new button: Synchronize. Use this feature to create a job that runs only on sharing host, to synchronize it with its master host. This button is available only while Sun Update Connection – Enterprise is in Sharing Mode; it is enabled if you select a sharing host that is not synchronized with its master.
In the Hosts window, when you have selected either a sharing host or a Master Group, the New and Properties buttons are disabled.