WHD Admin Guide

Transcription

WHD Admin Guide

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4/9/2015
Table of Contents
Introduction
15
Key Features
15
Ticket Processing
16
For Evaluation Users
17
Before You Begin
19
Server Requirements
19
Hardware
19
Operating System
20
Web Browser
21
Server Sizing
21
SolarWinds Integration Requirements
22
Database Requirements
22
Embedded Database Migration Requirements
23
MySQL Requirements
23
SQL Server Requirements
24
Software
24
Hardware
25
Appliance Requirements
25
Installing the Application
26
Installing Web Help Desk on a Microsoft Windows System
26
Uninstalling the Application
30
Upgrading from Windows 32-bit to Windows 64-bit
31
Installing Web Help Desk on an Apple OSX System
31
Uninstalling Web Help Desk on an Apple OSX System
1
35
Installing Web Help Desk on a Linux System
Uninstalling Web Help Desk on a Linux System
Database Migration Options
37
40
41
External Database Options
41
Migrating External or Unsupported Databases to PostgreSQL
41
Migrating from MySQL to SQL Server
42
For More Information
43
Getting Started
44
Setting Up the Database
44
Using an Embedded Database
44
Using an External Database
44
Using an Embedded PostgreSQL Database
45
Creating a Custom SQL Database and Account
46
Creating an Integration Email Account
47
Creating the Default Admin Account
50
Accessing the Getting Started Wizard
51
Adding and Editing Custom Request Types
52
Adding Custom Request Types
52
Editing Custom Request Types
54
Setting Up the Application
56
Set Up Overview
57
Setup Menu Options
58
Defining Techs
60
Editing Your Administrator Account
61
Creating Techs
62
Defining Tech Groups
66
Creating a Tech Group
66
Assigning Tech Group Levels
67
2
Assign Supported Request Types
Setting Tech Permissions
68
69
Defining Ticket Routing Processes
70
Creating Action Rules for Ticket Processing
71
Adding Approver Roles
74
Creating Approver Roles for Locations
74
Adding Department Approver Roles
75
Assigning Clients To Location Approval Roles
75
Assigning Clients To Department Approval Roles
76
Creating a Change Advisory Board (CAB)
76
Adding CAB Status Types
77
Defining the Approval Processes
80
Adding Approval Steps
81
Adding Supported Request Types
83
Applying Approvals
83
Ticket Approvals
83
Approver Action
84
Email Approvals
84
Client Web Approvals
85
Setting Up Tickets
86
Configuring Ticket Options
87
Defining Request Types
92
Defining Status Types
95
Setting Priority Types and Alert Triggers
96
Creating Custom Ticket Fields
97
Creating Tasks
100
Access the Task Screen
100
Create a New Task
101
3
Add New Task Elements
102
Creating New Tickets From Task Elements
104
Entering Locations
105
Defining Location Custom Fields
106
Adding Clients
108
Defining Client Options
108
Setting Up Client Admin Roles
109
Defining Client Custom Fields
109
Importing Active Directory/LDAP Directory Connections
111
Importing Clients
114
Defining Assets
116
Configuring Asset Import and Permissions Options
117
Defining Asset Type, Status, Warranty, and Lease Information
117
Defining Custom Asset Fields
119
Configuring Additional Asset Features
120
Manufacturers & Models
120
Vendors
120
Discovery Connections
120
Adding Manufacturers
120
Adding Vendors
121
Defining PO Custom Fields
121
Importing Asset Data
122
Setting Up Parts & Billing
123
Applying Parts & Billing Options
125
Performing Invoicing
126
Defining Rates & Terms
127
Defining Part Custom Fields
128
Configuring General Settings
129
4
Configuring General Options
129
Setting Up Authentication
131
Setting Time & Place
133
Configuring Look & Feel
134
Customizing the Database Connection
138
Setting and Forwarding Log Settings
138
Setting Up Email
139
Simplifying Email Management – Options
139
Setting Up Outgoing Email Accounts
140
Setting Up Incoming Email Accounts
141
Applying Email Templates
142
Built-in Email Templates
142
Outgoing Email Templates
142
Incoming Email Templates
144
Template Layout
144
Editing Built-in Email Templates
145
Creating New Email Templates
148
Applying Tags in Email Templates
153
Configuring and Managing Authentication
156
Deploying SSO with SAML Using AD FS
157
Before You Begin
158
Help Desk and SAML AD FS Settings
158
Adding AD FS Login URLs to Trusted Sites
159
Deploying SSO with CAS 2.0
160
Deploying on Tomcat
161
Enabling SSL on the Help Desk
161
Deploying on the Help Desk Server
161
Configuring a GPO to Push Internet Explorer Settings
162
5
Enabling HTTPS
163
Configuring HTTPS Listening Port
164
Configuring URL Ports
164
Enabling Listening for HTTPS Requests
165
Entering SSL Connection Port
166
Restarting the Help Desk
166
Working with Keys and Certificates
166
Using Default Keypair Alias and Passwords
168
Adding Certificate Chains
168
Replacing Self-signed Certificates with CA Certificates
169
Generating a New Certificate in Porteclé
169
Creating a New Keypair
170
Generating a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)
172
Importing CA Chain and Root Certificates
173
Importing a CA Reply Certificate
173
174
178
Adding a Certficate Authority to Embedded Java CA Cert Keystore
179
Importing Certificates on Windows or Mac OSX
179
Importing Certificates on Linux Virtual Appliance
180
Importing CA Root and Chain Certificates
180
181
Importing an Existing Certificate
182
Creating a PKCS#12 Keystore from a Private Key and a Certificate
183
Exporting a PKCS#12 Keystore from Microsoft Management Console 184
Importing a PKCS#12 File into the Keystore
184
Adding SSL Certificates to the Virtual Appliance
185
Adding a Self-signed SSL Certificate
6
186
Adding a Certificate from a Certificate Authority
187
Resolving Untrusted Site Errors After Adding Certificates
189
Certificate Troubleshooting Tips
191
Troubleshooting Scenarios
192
Managing Clients
194
Manually Adding a New Client
194
Configuring Client Notifications
194
Viewing Client Information
195
Enabling Client-initiated Account Setup
195
Assigning Assets
196
Managing Tickets
198
Ticket Flow
198
Manually Creating Tickets
200
Creating Quick Tickets
200
Customizing Ticket Views
201
Searching Tickets
203
Refining Search Results
205
Displaying Print Views
205
Performing Ticket Bulk Actions
205
Merging Tickets
207
Configuring Ticket Details
209
Selecting a Request Type
210
Improving Ticket Resolution with Ticket Types
210
Changing Ticket Relationships
211
Linking and Unlinking Incident and Problem Tickets
212
Adding Details to Tickets with Tech Notes
214
Tech Permissions and Tickets
215
Ticket E-Mail Recipients
216
7
Managing Ticket Tasks
217
Escalating and De-escalating Tickets
218
Creating Email Tickets
219
Updating Tickets Using Email
220
Using Client Ticket Emails
220
Using Tech Ticket Emails
222
Managing Assets
227
Discovering Assets
228
Configuring Asset Discovery Tools
228
Configuring Absolute Manage (LANrev) Settings
229
Configuring Apple Remote Desktop 3.2 Settings
230
Configuring Apple Remote Desktop 3.3 Settings and Later
232
Configuring Casper 8 Settings and Earlier
234
Configuring Casper 9 Settings
235
Configuring Database Table or View Settings
237
Configuring Lansweeper Settings
238
Configuring Microsoft SMS/SCCM Settings
239
Configuring NCM, NPM, or SAM Settings
240
Configuring WHD Discovery Engine (WMI) Settings
241
Syncing and Discovering Assets
245
Adding Assets
245
Removing Assets
247
Editing Asset Properties
248
Working with Asset Properties
248
Creating Parent and Child Associations
251
Adding Purchase Orders
253
Defining Vendors
253
Adding a Purchase Order
254
8
Adding Purchase Order Line Items
255
Importing Purchase Orders
256
Searching Assets
256
256
Saved Queries
256
Reserving Assets
257
Making Assets Reservable
257
Reserving as a Tech
258
Reserving as a Client
258
Checking In and Out
259
260
Managing FAQs
262
Creating New FAQs
262
Accessing FAQs
263
Searching FAQs
264
Working with Reports
265
Using Sample Reports
266
Creating and Editing Reports
267
Create Ticket Reports
269
Designing Billing Reports
273
Creating Report Groups
274
Building Report Schedules
275
Managing Parts and Billing
276
Manually Adding Parts
278
Configuring Inventory Alerts
279
Overriding Default Inventory Alert Recipients
279
Enabling Service Time Blocks
280
Customizing the Billing Statement Template
281
9
Getting Client Feedback
282
Creating Surveys
282
Creating Messages
284
Reviewing Survey Results
285
View Ticket Details
285
Viewing Survey Results Reports
285
Sending Email Ticket Surveys
286
Importing Data
287
Using Templates to Import Data
288
Exporting Data
290
Exporting Tickets
290
Exporting Clients
291
Exporting Assets
291
Exporting Parts
292
Exporting FAQs
292
Customizing Tickets, Notes, Instructions, and Emails with BBCode
293
Applying Basic Formatting
295
Creating Your Own Tags
296
Adding Clickable Links
297
Integrating with SolarWinds Products
299
Configuring Orion-to-Web Help Desk Ticketing
299
Enabling SolarWinds Orion to Share Alerts with Web Help Desk
299
Configuring Orion Alerts for Orion Platform 2015.1.0
300
Configuring Orion Alerts Prior to Orion Platform 2015.1.0
301
Testing Orion Server Access to the Help Desk Integration Email
Account
306
Entering an SolarWinds Orion Alert Source into Web Help Desk
307
Assigning Request Types
309
Entering SolarWinds Account and Credentials Data
309
10
Configuring Alert Filtering Rules
309
Understanding Rule Configuration
310
Using the Rule Configuration Interface
311
Adding and Configuring Matching Rules
312
Adding and Configuring Complex Rules
315
Alert Filtering Configuration Example
315
Testing Alert Filtering Rules
317
Parsing Orion Alert-based Tickets Using Action Rules
319
Sample Orion Alert-based Web Help Desk Ticket
322
Embedding Web Help Desk into the Orion Web Console
323
Creating Web Help Desk Link in NPM Node Details
325
Putting Web Help Desk on the NPM Menu Bar
326
Integrating with DameWare MRC
329
Installing DameWare MRC
330
Using DameWare MRC
330
Configuring Integration
331
Launching and Closing DameWare MRC
332
Launching DameWare from a Client Ticket
332
Launching DameWare from an Asset
333
Closing a DameWare Session
333
Deploying as a Virtual Appliance
335
Using VMware vSphere
335
Using Microsoft Hyper-V
338
Upgrading the Virtual Appliance
341
Upgrading on vSphere
341
Upgrading on Hyper-V
342
Managing the Appliance
343
Logging in to the Appliance
343
11
Setting the Time Zone
344
Configuring Network Settings
345
Configuring Proxy Settings
346
Rebooting the Appliance
347
Changing the Appliance Administrator Password
348
Deployment Considerations
349
Memory Sizing and JVM Options
349
Supporting Less Than 20 Techs
349
Supporting More Than 20 Techs
349
Clearing JVM Heap Memory
350
Automatically Restarting Mac OS X
350
Automatically Restarting Windows
351
Automatically Restarting Linux
352
WebObjects on Mac OS X Server
352
High Availability Deployments
355
Monitoring Deployment on Mac OS X
355
Configuring Multiple Instance Tomcat Deployments
356
Configuring Multiple Instance Tomcat Daemons
360
Setting the Tomcat Daemon
361
Setting Daemon Memory
361
Setting WebObjects Daemon Mode
361
Deploying Multiple Virtual Machines
Configuring Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL External Databases
362
363
Configuring Microsoft SQL Server
363
Configuring MySQL
367
Integrating Apache
371
Installing IIS
373
Customizing Server Settings
376
12
Help Desk Ports
377
WHD Interfaces
377
Databases
377
Emails
378
LDAP/AD
378
Asset Discovery
379
Unsecured and Secured Ports for Login
380
No Redirect to HTTPS
381
URL Ports (Optional)
382
Tomcat Server Port
383
Mail Notification Port
383
Java Home Location
383
IP Address
384
Privileged Networks
385
Keystore Settings (for SSL Connnections)
386
Memory Allocation
387
Database Connections
388
Java Command Line Options
389
Database Datatypes
390
Frequently Asked Questions
390
13
14
Introduction
SolarWinds® Web Help Desk® software (WHD) is a web-based automated
ticketing solution that helps you manage your IT support requests for both internal
and external clients.
Web Help Desk includes a web console with an integrated dashboard for
performance reporting. Using customizable widgets that you add to the
dashboard, you can track metrics such as ticket activity, ticket status, and ticket
resolution in real time to help you decide how well your help desk is performing.
All help desk processes are managed through the web console. After you set up
the application, you can configure Web Help Desk to perform specific tasks, such
as routing tickets to a specific help desk technician or work group, billing
customers for parts and labor costs, and creating new tickets from email requests
or alert messages from a supported monitoring application.
You can run Web Help Desk on the following operating systems and platforms:
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Microsoft® Windows Server®
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Apple® OSX
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Red Hat® Enterprise Linux®
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Red Hat® Fedora
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CentOS
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VMware® vSphere
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Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines
Key Features
Web Help Desk provides the following features for your enterprise or managed
service provider (MSP) help desk operations:
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Automated Ticketing. You can generate tickets manually in the user
interface or automatically by emails from any third-party monitoring tool. If
you are running DameWare® Mini Remote Control (MRC) (included with
Help Desk Essentials), you can establish a remote connection and
15
Introduction
troubleshoot a client's system directly from a ticket or asset and save remote
session details into a new or existing ticket.
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Asset Management. Using Windows® Management Instrumentation (WMI)
or supported third-party discovery tools, you can search a specific
IP address range in your corporate network and create a list of client assets
(such as computer systems, installed software, and attached peripherals).
When asset discovery is completed, you can use DameWare MRC to
connect remotely to a client system, troubleshoot the issue, and append
remote session information to a new or existing ticket.
Knowledge Base. Includes an extensive library of FAQs, integrated tool
tips, and help you can access from the web console.
Communication. Automatically creates new tickets from alerts received
from SolarWinds monitoring products, such as SolarWinds Network
Performance Monitor, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor, and
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. If the ticket is not resolved
within a pre-configured span of time, Web Help Desk can escalate the ticket
and send an SMS alert to the assigned help desk technician. Additionally,
when you create new tickets, you can send notes to the end user to provide
status or request additional information.
Ticket Processing
WHD initiates and manages your help desk processes through the WHD web
console, email, SMS, and built-in procedures. After you configure WHD, it
automatically routes tickets to the proper technician and updates your customer. If
a repair requires spare parts, WHD orders the required parts and automatically
bills the customer for parts and labor costs. WHD accepts email ticket requests
and opens a ticket based on the information in the email. You can also update
and close tickets using email.
Each customer can access a web console dedicated to their help desk needs.
Customers have access to all of their help desk features through a web portal,
and they cannot see any information about other customers help desks.
The following illustrations describes the basic WHD processes at a high level.
16
For 30 days after you install your free version of Web Help Desk, you have
unlimited Tech seats. If you have not entered a license after 30 days, Web Help
17
Introduction
Desk automatically switches to a 1-Tech license, allowing updates up to 1 year.
All Tech accounts other than the initial admin account become inactive.
Purchasing and entering a license reactivates the deactivated accounts. Once
you have purchased a license, enter it into Web Help Desk at Setup > General >
License.
Note: Converting your unlicensed version of Web Help Desk to a licensed
version keeps all your existing Web Help Desk settings or files, so there is no
need for reinstallation or reconfiguration.
18
Before You Begin
SolarWinds recommends reviewing the following requirements before performing
an installation, upgrade, or migration:
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Server Requirements
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Discovery Connector Requirements
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Hypervisor Requirements
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LDAP Requirements
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Mobile Admin Requirements
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Virtual Appliance Requirements
Server Requirements
The following tables list the minimum Web Help Desk requirements for:
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Hardware
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Web Server
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Operating System
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Web Browser
Hardware
Component
Requirements
CPU
Intel® 64-bit Dual Core 2.0GHz or faster
RAM
3GB (up to 10 technicians)
Add 1GB for every 10 additional technicians
Hard Drive Space
20GB
19
Before You Begin
Application Ports
8081 (or alternate browser port)
1433 (Microsoft SQL Server)
Operating System
Type
Supported Versions
Microsoft® Windows®
Windows Server® 2003 32-bit
(less than 20 technicians)
Windows Server 2008 (32- and 64-bit)
Windows Server 2008 Release 2 (R2) 64-bit
Windows Server 2012 64-bit
Windows Server 2012 R2 64-bit
Microsoft Windows
(more than 20 technicians)
Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit
Microsoft Windows
Windows XP (32- and 64-bit)
(Trial evaluation only)
Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit)
Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit)
Windows 8.0 (32- and 64-bit)
Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit)
Apple iPhone
Apple iOS® 5 through 8
(for WHD Mobile)
Apple® OSX
10.8 (Mountain Lion)
10.9 (Mavericks)
10.10 (Yosemite)
Red Hat®
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.5 64-bit
CentOS™
CentOS 6.5 (32- and 64-bit)
Fedora™
Fedora 20 (32- and 64-bit)
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Web Browser
Web Browser
Note: Due to frequent updates of Google® Chrome® v32 and Mozilla® Firefox®
v32, check the SolarWinds Support Website for the latest information about
compatibility issues between these web browsers and the latest version of Web
Help Desk.
Type
Supported Versions
Google Chrome
Latest version
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox 30
Firefox 32
Microsoft Internet
Explorer® (IE)
IE8
IE9
IE10
IE11
Apple Safari®
Safari 5
Safari 6
Safari 7
Server Sizing
SolarWinds Web Help Desk software manages help desk operations for networks
of any size—from small corporate LANs to large enterprise and service provider
networks. Most Web Help Desk systems perform well on 3.0GHz systems with
3GB of RAM. However, when you create a large number of techs, consider the
existing hardware and the system configuration. SolarWinds recommends adding
1GB of memory to your Web Help Desk server for every 10 technicians.
If you plan to integrate Web Help Desk with existing SolarWinds products, ensure
that your SolarWinds server is running SolarWinds Orion Platform 2012.2 or later.
WHD requires this version to integrate SolarWinds alerts into trouble tickets.
For information about SolarWinds upgrade paths and compatibility, see the
SolarWinds Knowledge Base article Compatibility of SolarWinds Orion Products
for Installation and Upgrade. For SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
(NPM) software upgrade and licensing instructions, see Installing SolarWinds
21
Before You Begin
Orion Network Performance Monitor, in the SolarWinds Orion Network
Performance Monitor Administrator Guide.
SolarWinds Integration Requirements
The following table lists the SolarWinds products that integrate with Web Help
Desk.
Supported Product
Version
SolarWinds Orion Platform
SolarWinds Orion Platform
2012.2 and later
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor
(NPM)
SolarWinds NPM 10.4 and later
SolarWinds Server and Application
Monitor (SAM)
SolarWinds SAM 5.5 and later
SolarWinds Network Configuration Monitor
(NCM)
SolarWinds NCM 7.1.1 and later
Note: SolarWinds SAM and SolarWinds NCM must be running with SolarWinds
NPM to integrate with Web Help Desk.
Web Help Desk uses an embedded PostgreSQL database as its standard
database. See Embedded Database Requirements for specific requirements
information.
The following table lists the supported databases.
Database
Supported Versions
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL 9.2
PostgreSQL 9.3.2
MySQL
MySQL 5.6
MySQL 5.74
22
Microsoft SQL Server®
SQL Server 2008
SQL Server 2012
SQL Server 2014
Note: For optimal external database performance, run Web Help Desk and a
supported external database on separate servers.
See MySQL Requirements and SQL Server Requirements for more information
about software and hardware requirements.
Web Help Desk does not support the pre- WHD v12.0.0 FrontBase database. To
automatically upgrade an embedded FrontBase database to an embedded
PostgreSQL database, upgrade to Web Help Desk v12.0.0 and then upgrade to
the latest version.
Note: External FrontBase databases must be manually migrated to the
embedded PostgreSQL database.
To ensure that the Web Help Desk database upgrade starts automatically after
the Web Help Desk 12.0.0 upgrade, ensure that:
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Both FrontBase and PostgreSQL are running.
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The embedded FrontBase uses the whd and user whd schemas.
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The new server has enough free space to support the database migration.
Web Help Desk notifies the user about the space required before migration
begins.
The migration process creates a $WEB_HELPDESK_HOME/temp folder with associated
files. As a result, the system administrator performing the installation must have
write privileges on both the FrontBase and PostgreSQL databases.
After you upgrade to version 12.0.0, you can upgrade to the latest version. The
version 12.0.0 upgrade converts your embedded FrontBase database to an
embedded PostgreSQL database. No additional database conversions are
required to upgrade to the latest version.
MySQL Requirements
The following table lists the minimum software and hardware requirements for the
MySQL database server.
23
Before You Begin
Software and
Hardware
Requirement
MySQL Database
MySQL Community, Cluster, or Enterprise (version
5.5 or later)
MySQL Workbench Tools
CPU Speed
Intel® Dual core 2.0GHz or better
Hard Drive Space
20GB
Memory
2GB plus 1GB for every additional 10 techs
SQL Server Requirements
The following tables list the minimum software and hardware requirements for the
SQL database server.
Software
Software and
Hardware
Requirement
Database
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise, Express, or
Standard Edition
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise, Express, or
Standard Edition with the following components and
requirements:
CPU Speed
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SQL Server Database Engine
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SQL Server Management Studio
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SQL Server Management Tools
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TCP/IP enabled
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SQL authentication support
Intel® Dual Core 2.0GHz or better
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Hardware
Hard Drive Space
20GB
Memory
2GB (+1GB for every 10 Techs)
Hardware
Component
Requirements
CPU
Intel Dual Core 2.0GHz or better
Hard Drive Space
20GB
RAM
2GB with 1GB additional RAM for every additional
10 techs
Appliance Requirements
Web Help Desk supports installations on VMware and Microsoft virtual
appliances when the hosting servers meet the minimum configuration
requirements. Virtual server requirements are the same as the Web Help Desk
server requirements.
25
The following procedures describe how to install Web Help Desk on Windows,
Apple, and Linux servers.
Before you begin, ensure that the host system meets or exceeds the
recommended requirements. See Software and Hardware Requirements for more
information.
During the installation, you are prompted to create a unique email account to
receive and process alerts from Orion Platform systems. See Creating an
Integration Email Account for more information.
Installing Web Help Desk on a Microsoft Windows
System
To install Web Help Desk on a server running a supported version of the
Microsoft Windows Server operating system:
1. Using an account with local administrative privileges, log on to the server
that will host the application.
Before you begin, ensure that you:
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Do not use a domain account.
Ensure that the account is not subject to any local or group policy
restrictions.
Use the Run as administrator option when launching the installer on
a system running Windows Server 2008.
Quit all other programs before running the installer.
2. If you are installing Web Help Desk from a downloaded .zip file, navigate to
the file, extract the evaluation package to an appropriate location, and
launch the executable.
If you are installing Web Help Desk from a CD, locate and launch the
executable from the CD.
26
If you are installing Web Help Desk on a system running Windows Server
2008, right-click the installer and select Run as administrator.
When you launch the executable, the Introduction window appears.
3. Review the Introduction text, and then click Next.
27
Installing Web Help Desk on a Microsoft Windows System
The License Agreement window appears.
4. Review and accept the terms of the license agreement, and then click Next.
The Choose Install Folder window appears.
28
5. Accept the default installation location or click Choose to select a new
location.
If you created a new installation folder but decide to accept the default
location, click Restore Default Folder.
6. Click Next to continue.
The Choose Shortcut Folder window appears.
7. Select a location for the product shortcut icons, then click Next.
The installer creates icons in your selected location.
If you select a location other than the Program group, the icons will not
appear in Start > All Programs.
Next, the Pre-Installation Summary window appears.
29
8. Review the information in the window, then click Install.
The installation procedure begins, which requires several minutes to
complete.
When completed, the Install Complete window appears.
9. Click Done.
The Install Complete window closes and the installation procedure is
completed.
To uninstall the application on a Windows Server system:
1. Quit all running programs.
that will host the application.
2. Navigate to:
C:\Program Files\ Web Help Desk
The WebHelpDesk directory appears.
30
3. In the directory, double-click UNINSTALL.bat.
A command prompt window appears with a message prompting you to
verify the uninstall.
4. Enter y to continue.
WHD and its associated data are uninstalled from the system.
5. Close the command prompt window.
Upgrading from Windows 32-bit to Windows 64-bit
If you are upgrading from Web Help Desk 32-bit to Web Help Desk 64-bit,
uninstall the 32-bit version before you continue. See Uninstalling on Windows for
more information.
When completed, install the 64-bit version. See Installing on Windows for more
information.
Installing Web Help Desk on an Apple OSX
System
To install Web Help Desk on a system running a supported version of the
Apple OSX operating system:
31
2. Using an account with local administrative privileges, log on to the Apple
server that will host the application.
3. If you downloaded the application from the SolarWinds or Web Help Desk
website, navigate to your downloaded .dmg file and double-click the file.
If you are installing the application from a CD, locate and double-click
the.dmg executable to mount the installation program.
The Web Help Desk splash screen appears.
5. Double-click WebHelpDesk.pkg.
The Welcome screen appears.
32
6. Review the introduction text, and then click Continue.
The Software License Agreement screen appears.
7. Review the terms of the license agreement, and then click Continue.
A dialog screen appears, prompting you to accept the terms of the software
license agreement.
33
8. Click Agree to accept the license terms.
The Standard Install screen appears.
9. Review the installation information, and then click Install.
The Installation Complete screen appears.
34
10. Click Close to complete the installation.
The application is installed on your Apple OSX system.
To uninstall WHD on an Apple OSX system:
that is hosting Web Help Desk.
3. Open your Applications directory.
The Applications folder appears.
35
4. In the directory, double-click Uninstall Web Help Desk.
A command prompt appears, prompting you to verify the uninstall.
5. Enter Y or Yes to delete the application and associated data.
Web Help Desk is uninstalled from your Apple OSX system.
6. Close the command prompt window.
36
Note: Installing Web Help Desk on a Linux system does not require appliance
deployment.
To install Web Help Desk on a system running a supported version of the Linux
operating system:
that will host Web Help Desk.
3. Navigate to your downloaded executable or the CD containing the
executable.
4. Run the appropriate command based on your system configuration.
For 32-bit systems, run:
gunzip webhelpdesk- webhelpdesk-12.2..XXX-1.i386.rpm
gunzip webhelpdesk- webhelpdesk-12.2.X.XXX-1.x86_
64.rpm
5. Run the appropriate installer command based on your system configuration.
rpm -ivhwebhelpdesk-12.2.X.XXX-1.i386.rpm
sudo rpm - webhelpdesk-12.2.X.XXX-1.x86_64.rpm During the installation, the following message appears:
[root@loalhost ~]# r[m -ivh webhelpdesk-12.2.X.XXX1.x86_64.rpm Preparing...webhelpdesk-12.2.X.XXX-1.x86_64.rpm ######################################### [100%]
1:webhelpdesk
######################################### [100%]
37
Setting up the webhelpdesk-to start automatically at
boot...Done.
To start the webhelpdesk, use
'usr/local/webhelpdesk/WHD: start'
Note: To upgrade an existing Web Help Desk Linux installation, apply
the command -Uvh, rather than -ivh.
6. Run the following command to start the application:
/usr/local/webhelpdesk/WHD start
During start-up, the following message appears:
[root@localhost ~]# /usr/local/webhelpdesk/WHD start
Web Help Desk 12.2.X.XXX
Copyright (c) SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC
Using XX:MaxPermSize=256Starting postgresql-9.2
service: [ OK ] Starting the Web Help Desk on port 8081...
Using CATALINA_BASE: /usr/local/webhelpdesk/bin/tomcat
Using CATALINA_HOME: /usr/local/webhelpdesk/bin/tomcat
Using CATALINA_TMPDIR:
/usr/local/webhelpdesk/bin/tomcat/temp
Using JRE_HOME: /usr/local/webhelpdesk/bin/jre
Using CLASSPATH: /usr/local/webhelpdesk
/bin/tomcat/bin/bootstrap.jar:/usr/local/webhelpdesk/
bin/tomcat/bin/tomcat-juli.jar
Using CATALINA_PID: /usr/local/webhelpdesk/log/.whd.pid[root@localhost ~]
#
38
Note: You can stop the application by running the following command:
/usr/local/webhelpdesk/WHD stop
When you stop WHD, the following message appears:
[root@localhost ~]# /usr/local/webhelpdesk stop
Web Help Desk 12.2.X.XXX
Copyright (c) SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC
Using XX:MaxPermSize=256Stopping the Web Help Desk...
Stopping postgresql-9.2 service: [ OK ][root@localhost ~]#
7. Launch your browser and navigate to the following URL:
http://127.0.0.1:8081
The Introduction text appears.
8. Review the text, and then click Next.
The License Agreement text appears.
9. Review the terms of the agreement, and then click Agree.
The Installation Information screen appears.
10. Review the information, and then click Next.
A prompt appears, stating that the installation is completed.
11. Click Close.
A dialog screen appears.
To use the embedded PostgreSQL database, click Continue and go to step
12.
To use a MySQL database, click Cancel and perform the following steps to
connect WHD to MySQL:
39
a. Clear the Use Embedded Database check box.
b. On the right side of the Vendor list, click the drop-down menu and
select:
Microsoft SQL Server 2008+
c. In the Host field, enter the SQL server IP address.
d. In the Port field, enter:
1433
e. In the Database and Username fields, enter:
WHD
f. Enter the SQL whd user’s password, and click Save.
g. Close the Web Help Desk console.
h. In the Applications folder, double click Stop Web Help Desk.
i. In the Applications folder, double click Web Help Desk.
j. Click Continue… to initialize the SQL database and start WHD.
12. In the WHD web console, enter admin for the user email address and
admin for the password, and then click Log In.
You are logged in.
To uninstall Web Help Desk on a Linux system:
that is hosting Web Help Desk.
3. Run the uninstaller using one of the following commands:
# rpm -e webhelpdesk-12.2.X.XXX-1.i386.rpm
or
yum remove webhelpdesk-12.2.X.XXX-1.x86_64.rpm The uninstall is completed.
40
Database Migration Options
SolarWinds does not provide support, tools, or assistance with
database migration. For information about migrating your database
using a third-party tool, contact the tool vendor for assistance.
Web Help Desk uses an embedded PostgreSQL database as its standard
database. If you are upgrading to Web Help Desk v12.1.0 and later with an
embedded FrontBase database, the Web Help Desk installation wizard walks
you through upgrading the existing database to an embedded PostgreSQL
database.
To avoid future update issues, SolarWinds strongly recommends migrating your
data before you update Web Help Desk to the next version.
External Database Options
Web Help Desk supports Microsoft SQL Server versions 2008 and 2012 and
MySQL version 5.5 as external databases. You can also use an external
PostgreSQL 9.2 or 9.3 database with Web Help Desk v12.0.0 and later. See
Configuring Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL External Databases for more
information.
Important: If you are using an Oracle or OpenBase database, use a migration
tool that migrates your data to a supported database (such as PostgreSQL,
MySQL, or SQL Server). Use caution when choosing target data types to use in
one of the supported databases. If Web Help Desk does not support the data type,
you may experience unexpected results when upgrading to the latest version.
See Database Datatypes for information about mapping information types across
other databases types.
Migrating External or Unsupported Databases to PostgreSQL
database migration. For information about migrating your external or
unsupported databases using a third-party tool (such as PGAdmin3 or
PostgreSQL Data Wizard), contact the tool vendor for assistance.
41
Web Help Desk v12.0.0 and later does not support migration to FrontBase,
OpenBase, or Oracle databases. If you choose to migrate from an external or
unsupported database to PostgreSQL on your own without SolarWinds support,
stop Web Help Desk and convert the data types in your old database to the data
types used in your new database.
See Database Datatypes for database data types used in previously and currently
supported Web Help Desk databases.
Note: Convert the data types before you migrate your data.
See Converting from other Databases to PostgreSQL on the PostgreSQL website
for information about migrating from an external or unsupported database to
PostgreSQL. This article covers database migration from many databases,
including, but not limited, to:
l
FileMaker Pro
l
IBM DB2
l
Microsoft Access
l
Microsoft SQL Server (SQL Server)
l
MySQL
l
Oracle
database migration. For information about migrating your database
using a third-party tool, contact the tool vendor for assistance.
If you choose to migrate a MySQL database to Microsoft SQL Server using a thirdparty tool on your own without SolarWinds support, map the data types in your old
MySQL database to the data types used in your new SQL Server database.
For identical data types that span both databases (such as DATETIME), use the
Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) 5.2 tool. You must manually
convert inconsistent data types, such as DECIMAL (MySQL) and money(SQL
Server), because the SSMA conversion tool does not support these data types.
42
The following steps provide an overview for migrating a MySQL database to
SQL Server:
1. Stop Web Help Desk.
2. Perform the database migration using the SSMA tool to migrate datatypes
(such as DATETIME), which are the same in both MySQL and SQL Server.
3. In the SSMA tool, manually map MySQL data types to SQL Server data
types using the data type in Database Datatypes.
4. Start Web Help Desk.
5. Change the database settings to connect to a new SQL Server database.
6. Continue the upgrade to the latest version.
For More Information
See Automating Database Migration to SQL Server 2012 to download SSMA 5.2.
See MySQL to SQL Server Migration: How to Use SSMA for instructions about
applying SSMA to convert MySQL schema to a SQL Server format.
See Database Datatypes, for a complete list of current and previous WHD
database data types that include MySQL and SQL Server. SolarWinds
recommends converting data types before beginning the migration process.
Note: The Automating Database Migration to SQL Server 2012 page also
contains links for downloading SSMA versions for converting Oracle, Sybase,
and Access databases to SQL Server.
43
Getting Started
The first time you use Web Help Desk, the application walks you through the
setup process using a Getting Started Wizard. This wizard walks you through the
following processes:
l
Setting up your database
l
Creating an email account for alerts
l
Creating an admin account
l
Adding and editing custom requests
Setting Up the Database
Before you install Web Help Desk, decide whether to use an embedded or
external database. Web Help Desk v12.0.0 and later comes standard with an
embedded PostgreSQL database.
Using an Embedded Database
The embedded database is easy to set up. It works well for small to medium
installations, and is configured as part of the Web Help Desk application setup in
the Web Help Desk Getting Started Wizard. See Using an Embedded
PostgreSQL Database for more information.
Using an External Database
SolarWinds recommends using a Microsoft SQL Server database. Be sure to
install and configure SQL Server before you install Web Help Desk. SQL Server
and Web Help Desk can reside on the same server or on a separate server. Web
Help Desk can also use a new SQL database instance on an existing SQL
Server.
See Creating a Custom SQL Database for information about setting up an
external Web Help Desk database.
44
Getting Started
If you have an existing database, consider using an external database
with Web Help Desk. Enterprise or multiple client installations must use
an external database.
Using an Embedded PostgreSQL Database
When the Web Help Desk Getting Started Wizard prompts you to select a
database, select Use Embedded PostgreSQL database (recommended) and
click Next.
45
To set up an external database in Web Help Desk:
1. Select Use Custom SQL database (advanced).
2. Click the Database Type drop-down menu and select the appropriate
database.
2. Enter the appropriate information in the remaining fields.
3. Click Test to test the database connection.
If Web Help Desk connects with the external database, click Next.
If Web Help Desk cannot connect with the external database, check your
settings and rerun the test.
If you do not have an account on the selected database:
1. Select Create database and user account if necessary.
2. Enter the database admin account user name.
46
Getting Started
3. Enter the database admin account password.
4. Click Create.
See Configuring Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL Databases for information
about setting up your external database to work with Web Help Desk.
An alert source is a system or device that generates alerts. The source sends
email directly to Web Help Desk or to the Web Help Desk integration email
account. This source can be an Orion Platform system (direct) or another emailgenerating system.
You can configure Web Help Desk to receive and process alerts from any alert
source that transmits email. The email alert source transmits email to the Web
Help Desk integration email account you create. The following illustration
describes how Web Help Desk processes the email alerts.
The integration email account provides additional systems an integration point
with Web Help Desk. This account includes both incoming and outgoing email to
and from the application. By default, Web Help Desk polls this account each
minute for email from users and alert-generating systems. Web Help Desk
processes and transforms these emails into Web Help Desk tickets and deletes
all other emails from the account.
For information about configuring Web Help Desk to recognize and process
emails from the Integration email account, see Setting Up Incoming Email
Accounts.
47
To ensure the best possible system performance and results, set up a
dedicated Web Help Desk integration email account.
WHD requires a dedicated business email account for all integration email. After
you set up the dedicated account on a mail server, enter the email configuration
information in the Getting Started Wizard.
Note: The incoming mail account requires an assigned request type by default.
Web Help Desk uses your first configured request type as the default. When you
complete the procedures in the Getting Started Wizard, you can update your
email account information by clicking Setup > E-Mail and selecting either
Outgoing Mail Accounts or Incoming Email Accounts.
To configure your email accounts in Web Help Desk in the Setup Wizard:
1. During the installation procedure In the Setup Wizard, navigate to Email
Accounts.
The Email Accounts window appears.
48
Getting Started
2. In the top field, enter the integration email account address.
3. Complete the remaining fields as required.
4. Maximize Advanced.
5. In the Incoming Mail Port field, enter the port number for incoming mail.
6. Select the Require a Secure Connection check box (if required).
7. In the SMTP port field, enter the port number for outgoing mail.
8. In the Test Email Addresses field, enter your test email addresses.
Web Help Desk uses these email addresses to test email connectivity.
9. Click Test.
49
If Web Help Desk contacts the email account and is able to send the test
email, click Next.
If Web Help Desk cannot contact the email account and send the test
email, check your settings and rerun the test.
See Creating the Default Admin Account.
During setup, the Getting Started Wizard prompts you to create a single default
admin account. This local "super user" account is used to:
l
Log in to Web Help Desk for the first time and configure the application.
l
Access all Web Help Desk settings and accounts.
Administrators with a default admin account can create all user accounts,
including additional admin accounts. The default admin account includes tech
account privileges, allowing you to create and process tickets with tech privileges.
Techs can have either Tech or Tech Admin account privileges.
For information about adding tech accounts, see Defining Techs.
Additionally, you can create client accounts and clients with privileges to create
their own accounts. For information about creating client accounts, see Adding
Clients.
To create the default admin account:
1. In the Setup Wizard, navigate to the Admin Account section.
The Create an Admin Account screen appears.
50
Getting Started
2. Enter your name, user name, password, and email address in the
appropriate fields.
The Request Types section appears.
Accessing the Getting Started Wizard
After you complete the Getting Started Wizard and create your Admin account, the
Getting Started Wizard is no longer accessible. To access the Web Help Desk
application, log in through the Web Help Desk login page.
If you try to access the Getting Started Wizard, an error message appears with a
link to the login page, as shown below.
51
To change your Web Help Desk settings after you initialize the application, use
the Web Help Desk Setup area.
The Default Admin account is the only Web Help Desk account that can view and
use the Switch to Demo Client account toolbar button. When you create the
Default Admin account, the Getting Started Wizard automatically links the Demo
Client account. Additional Admin and Tech accounts must be specifically
configured to link to a client account.
When a client creates a ticket, they can select a request type in the Ticket Details
tab to specify a category that categorizes their issue (for example, Email/Outlook,
Facilities, or HR). During setup, you can configure request types that route tickets
to specific Techs for problem resolution, automating your help desk processes.
Web Help Desk includes standard request types, such as Hardware, Network,
and Email/Outlook. If your organization requires custom request types to address
additional requests, the WHD administrator can add and define these request
types and edit the properties of existing request types to suit your needs.
Note: For seamless integration with DameWare Remote Support, ensure that all
Web Help Desk request types do not include required custom fields.
Adding Custom Request Types
To add a custom request type:
1. In the Getting Started Wizard, navigate to Account Types.
The Add custom Request Types screen appears.
52
Getting Started
2. Maximize Add Request Type.
The Create New Request Type window appears.
3. In the Request Type Name field, enter Security.
53
4. In the Default Priority field, click the drop-down menu and select Urgent.
5. Maximize Advanced.
6. Click Add New Group.
7. Enter the name of the group handling security.
In this example, the group is called Web Security.
8. Click Add.
9. Select any of the following options to enable clients to provide as much
detail as possible:
l
Require clients to add details
l
Allow clients to add attachments
l
Allow clients to review these requests after they are created
10. Click Save.
To edit a request type:
1. Select a request type and click Edit.
2. Edit the request type as needed.
For example, when editing the request type in the previous section, you can
change the request name from Security to Web Security.
3. Click Save to save your edits.
4. Click Finish to complete the Web Help Desk setup.
The Getting Started Wizard configures the embedded PostgreSQL
database and the Web Help Desk application with your edits.
54
Getting Started
5. Click Login as Admin to continue setup.
6. Review and accept the End User License Agreement (EULA) and then click
Continue.
Web Help Desk starts and opens the My Tickets window.
55
SolarWinds recommends planning and implement a configuration strategy that
supports your help desk operations and corporate structure. The order you create
WHD settings and how you weight each setting (for ticket assignment) can impact
your deployment.
For example, you can assign tickets to technicians based on where service is
needed, by the type of location requiring service, by the department needing
support, or by another option.
Additional considerations include: l
Number of worldwide locations in our organization
l
Types of support your techs provide
l
Number of supported clients
l
Types of support your clients require
l
Number of help desk techs
l
Number of techs with specific areas of expertise
l
Number of multi-skilled techs who can troubleshoot and resolve multiple
types of customer issues
These considerations can help you determine how—and in which order—to
configure your WHD settings.
See General Configuration Approach Example for an example setup deployment.
The following sections describe how to configure WHD for your help desk
operations.
l
Setup Overview
l
Defining Techs
l
l
Setting Up Tickets
l
Entering Locations
56
l
Adding Clients
l
Adding Assets
l
l
l
Setting Up Email
Set Up Overview
The following steps provide a basic overview of how to set up Web Help Desk in
a typical help desk deployment.
1. Configure the techs in your help desk deployment. This procedure
describes how to add each tech, define your tech groups, and set up their
permissions.
See Defining Techs.
2. Define the ticket routing processes for all requests. This procedure
describes how to set up action rules for ticket processing, add approver
roles, define your approval processes, and apply approvals to tickets.
See Defining Ticket Routing Processes.
3. Configure your ticket functions. This procedure describes how to define
request types, status types, priority types and alert triggers, custom ticket
fields, and tasks.
See Setting Up Tickets.
4. Configure your customer locations. This procedure describes how to
define companies; locations and rooms; location groups and assigned
locations, techs, and group managers; location custom fields; departments
and department groups; and department custom fields.
See Entering Locations.
5. Configure your clients. This procedure describes how to set up client
administration roles, define client custom fields, import Active Directory /
LDAP directory connections, and import clients.
See Adding Clients.
57
Setup Menu Options
6. Define your assets. This procedure describes how to configure your asset
import and permission options; define asset type, status, warranty, and
lease information; define asset custom fields; add manufacturer and model
information; add vendors; define purchase order custom fields; and import
asset data.
See Defining Assets.
7. Set up your parts and billing processes. This procedure describes how
to apply parts and billing options, create invoicing options, define rates and
terms, and define custom fields for your parts.
See Set Up Parts and Billing.
8. Configure your general settings. This procedure describes how to
activate your WHD license, configure general user interface options, setting
up your authentication method in the web browser interface, setting up the
time zone and local work hours for your employees, configuring the look
and feel of the WHD console (such as adding your company logo),
customize your database connection, and configure your log settings.
See Configuring General Settings.
9. Set up your incoming and outgoing email settings. This procedure
includes setting up your inbound and outbound email accounts, applying
email templates, and applying tags in email templates.
See Setting Up Email.
Setup Menu Options
When you click Setup, the Setup screen appears with a left column menu. The
following table describes the left column menu options.
Menu Option
Description
General
Defines licensing information, authentication methods,
interface look and feel, time and location, logging, and
information about the WHD software installed.
Email
Defines email options, incoming and outgoing email
accounts, and email templates. email filter creation and
58
application, templates, graphics handling, user interface, and incoming and outgoing accounts.
Companies
& Locations
Defines companies; locations and rooms; location
groups and assigned locations, techs, and group managers; location custom fields; departments and department groups; and department custom fields.
Customers
Defines options for defining customers, rooms, departments, and groups, as well as the fields used to
describe these resources.
Tickets
Defines the WHD user interface and the fields and
information they contain, request types (such as facilities and hardware), status types (such as Open and
Pending), priority types and alerts (such as Urgent,
High, and Low), custom ticket fields, and tasks.
Clients
Defines the client options (such as ticket approval methods, display name template, and default client view), client administration roles, client custom fields, and Active
Directory / LDAP connections.
Techs
Defines your account information (My Account), all
techs configured to use WHD and their assigned tech
groups, and tech permissions.
Assets
Defines asset types, manufacturers and models,
vendors, asset and purchase order custom fields. From
the Assets settings, you can run and pre-schedule
asset discoveries to scan connected networks for the
assets in your corporate network.
SolarWinds Integration
Links WHD to SolarWinds NPM, SAM, and NCM systems to automatically create new tickets and dispatch
techs from Orion Platform alerts. You must be connected to Orion Platform 2012.2 or later.
Processes
Defines how WHD defines, stores, and applies action
rules and the roles that approve action rules. Action
59
Defining Techs
rules apply custom actions triggered by events you
define, such as ticket routing.
Surveys
Defines your survey options and associated text to set
up surveys and gather feedback from your client users.
Parts and Billing
Defines your parts and billing options; custom fields;
inventory alerts; invoicing options; and billing rates,
terms, and tax rates.
Data Import
Defines how WHD imports data for locations, clients,
assets, purchase orders, tickets, and more.
Defining Techs
Use the Techs tab in Setup to assign your help desk technicians to specific
support areas, such as Locations & Departments and Clients. When completed,
WHD will automatically assign tickets to the appropriate technician based on your
selections, such as Tech Group, Locations & Departments, and Assets.
To access the Techs tab, click Settings in the toolbar and select Techs.
The Techs tab includes the following options:
l
My Account
l
Techs
l
Tech Groups
l
Tech Permissions
Below is an example of the Techs tab options.
60
Editing Your Administrator Account
Use the My Account page to update your administrator account contact
information, email notifications, and other personal account settings. This account
is the administrator account you use to log in to WHD.
To add or edit your administrator account information:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup and select Techs > My Account.
The My Account page appears.
61
Creating Techs
2. Click the Edit button to enter edit mode.
The page is now in edit mode.
3. Add or update your admin account information as needed.
Click the tool tips next to each selection for more information.
4. Click Save.
Your admin account information is saved in the application.
Creating Techs
Use the Techs page to define the work schedules for your help desk technician
work schedules, locations, tech groups, and business zones.
62
SolarWinds recommends creating your non-supervisory techs before you create
your supervisors. This method allows you to assign techs to supervisors as you
create the supervisors.
To create a new tech:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup and select Techs > Techs.
The Techs page appears.
2. Click New.
The New Tech page appears.
3. Configure the Identity section.
a. Enter the tech's First Name, Last Name, User Name, Passwords,
and E-mail in the corresponding fields. These bold fields are required.
b. Enter the tech's Secondary E-mail, Phone, Mobile phone, and Pager
information in the corresponding fields
c. In the Account Type drop-down menu, select one of the following:
l
Administrator. Provides full access to all WHD features and
settings
63
Creating Techs
l
Tech. Provides limited access to WHD features specified in the
Tech Permissions drop-down menu (visible only when the
account type is set to Tech).
d. In the Supervisor drop-down menu, select the supervisor for this
account.
When WHD escalates a ticket for this tech, the tech's supervisor
receives a notification email (as do the new and previous techs).
Supervisors can also be configured to receive notifications in Setup >
Tickets > Priority Types & Alerts when tickets trigger an alert.
If this tech account needs to view a particular client's account, you can
link the client account to the tech account. After you specify a linked
client, the Switch to Client Account button appears next to the
Logout button in the menu bar, enabling the tech to switch to the
client user interface as the client.
Note: Only admins and techs with Edit Clients permissions can edit a
linked client. WHD discards any unsaved changes when switching
between client and tech accounts.
e. In the Color field, select a color to use for the label background. For
no label color, select White.
f. In the Linked Client field, enter the last and first name of the client
associated with this tech.
When linked, a Switch to Client Account button appears, enabling
the tech to switch to the client user interface as the given client.
g. Select the Enable UI Enhancement check box to enable certain user
interface enhancements that require the speed and standards support
of modern browsers. Otherwise, leave this box unchecked.
4. Configure Ticket Setup section.
a. Click the Note Collapsing Threshold drop-down menu and select
the number of recent notes to display in the Ticket Detail page before
collapsing additional notes.
64
b. Click the History Collapsing Threshold drop-down menu and select
the number of recent history entries to display in the Ticket Detail page
before collapsing additional entries.
c. Select the Secure-delete Tickets check box to remove a ticket and
associated attachments and data when the tech deletes a ticket.
Otherwise, leave this box unchecked to save all attachments and data.
5. Configure the E-Mail Setup section.
a. Select the Use HTML E-mail check box to transmit email in HTML
format. If unchecked, all email is sent in text format.
b. In the Include Graphics in HTML E-Mail row, select Yes to allow the
tech to include images in client email.
Otherwise, select No.
c. In the E-Mail Signature box, enter an e-mail signature format for the
tech's email or accept the default format.
d. In the Notifications row, select the events that generate an e-mail to
the tech.
e. Select the SMS E-Mail Enabled check box to indicate if tech mails
can be sent to a mobile device using the Short Message Service
(SMS).
6. Configure the Scheduling Setup section.
a. Click the Business Zone drop-down menu and select the appropriate
business zone to use when formatting dates and times.
b. Select the Specify Work Schedule check box if this tech works a
schedule other than the schedule defined in the assigned business
zone.
c. Select the On Vacation check box when the tech is on vacation so
new tickets are not automatically assigned during the ticket creation
process. Deselect this box when the tech returns from vacation.
d. Click the Backup Tech drop-down menu and select a backup tech
who receives escalated tickets when the tech is not scheduled to work
or is on vacation.
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e. Select the Active Account check box to activate this tech account.
When deselected, the tech cannot log in to Web Help Desk and does
not impact your licensed seat count.
7. Click Save to save your selections.
The tech account information is saved to the Web Help Desk database.
Next, the Techs page appears with the new tech listed in the page.
8. Repeat step 2 through step 7 to configure additional techs in your help desk
operation.
You can group techs together with similar skills, technical expertise, and the types
of requests they can service. Typical tech groups could include phone, systems,
or software techs.
All current tech groups appear in the Tech Groups page located at Setup
> Techs > Tech Groups. In this page, you can:
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Create a tech group
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Assign tech group levels
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Assign supported request types
Creating a Tech Group
To create a new tech group:
1. In the left menu, click Tech Groups.
The Tech Groups page appears.
2. Click New.
The Tech Group Info page appears.
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3. In the Group Name field, enter a name for the tech group.
4. Click the Group Manager drop-down menu and select a manager for this
tech group.
5. Select the check box to assign all tickets to the group manager for
disposition. Otherwise, leave this check box deselected.
6. In the Color field, select a color for the tech group label background.
Otherwise, select White.
7. Click Save.
A message appears, stating that the tech group was saved successfully.
8. Click Back.
The Tech Groups page appears.
9. Repeat step 2 through step 8 to add additional tech groups.
Assigning Tech Group Levels
To assign a tech group level:
1. In the Tech Groups page, click a tech group name.
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2. Click the Tech Group Levels tab.
3. Click Add Level to add a level or click an existing level.
The Level Options page appears.
4. In the Auto-Assign Tickets To row, select the type of tech you want to
receive the ticket.
This process provides an automatic ticket assignment to this tech level.
5. Leave the Ignore Location and Department check box deselected.
6. In the Force E-Mail Notification To row, select who receives an email
notification when:
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A client updates a ticket.
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A new ticket is created using the REST API.
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A ticket is updated using the REST API.
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A new ticket is created from a SolarWinds Orion Platform alert.
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A ticket is updated from a SolarWinds Orion Platform alert.
7. In the Default Selected E-Mail Recipients row, select the appropriate users
who will receive an email when a tech clicks Save and E-Mail in a customer
ticket.
8. In the Level Techs row, select the appropriate techs assigned to this level.
9. Click Save.
Your changes are saved to the Web Help Desk database.
Next, the Tech Group Level tab window appears.
10. Repeat step 3 through step 9 to add additional levels or update an existing
level.
To assign a supported request type:
1. Select the Request Types Supported page tab.
2. Click Edit.
3. Select one or more Request Types for this group to receive.
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4. Click Done.
Note: You must repeat the above two procedures to assign Tech Group
Levels and Support Types to each Tech Group.
To assign tech group levels and supported request to the remaining groups,
repeat the steps in Assigning Tech Group Levels.
Setting Tech Permissions
Create Tech detailed permissions defining what Techs can do in Web Help Desk,
based on how they interact with:
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Locations & Departments
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Tickets
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Clients
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Assets
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Other permissions such as working with FAQs and viewing and editing
reports
To set Tech Permissions:
1. Click Setup and select Techs > Tech Permissions.
The Permissions tab appears.
2. Click New.
The Permissions tab window appears.
3. Define the permissions for each section.
See the tool tip for each option for additional information.
a. Location Permissions. Select the appropriate options to limit tech
access by company, location group, or department group.
b. Ticket Permissions:. Define what techs can access and change with
tickets, such as overriding new ticket assignments, view and create
hidden notes, import tickets, and edit action rules.
c. Client Permissions:. Define what techs can edit, delete, import, and
download.
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d. AssetPermissions:. Select what techs can do with assets in WHD.
You can enable techs to view, edit, and delete assets, as well as edit
purchase orders.
e. Other Permissions: . Define the options that enable techs to edit
locations, manage parts, edit and import FAQs, work with reports and
surveys, and view hourly billing rates.
4. Click Save.
The Tech Permissions screen appears with the permission name and
assigned techs.
After you define your tech permissions, use the Assigned Tech tab to
link your techs to permissions. The tool tips provide more information
about each permission. Additionally, a tech can only be linked to one
permission at a time.
Ticket routing processes select when and how to route tickets for certain types of
requests, providing a controlled environment for managing time and costsensitive events. This feature enforces your defined settings, ensuring the right
person or team receives the trouble ticket in a timely manner for problem
troubleshooting and resolution.
You can add the client personnel responsible for approving or denying changes,
as well as define the process workflow and requirements. When you create your
WHD ticket routing processes, you define your action rules. approver roles, and
approval processes.
WHD supports approval processes to authorize work to proceed for certain
request types. Approval processes consist of multiple approval steps, each of
which specify a set of clients, change advisory board, or a location/department
approver who authorizes a ticket so a tech can work on it. Change Advisory
Boards (CABs) comprise a set of clients who authorize approval steps assigned
to them.
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Clients with approver roles approve ticket assignments based on the location or
department associated with a given ticket. For example, each location could have
a facilities representative and faculty representative location approver role who
must approve requests to get a new printer.
You can configure these roles for each location in the Location Approvers screen
located at Setup > Processes > Location Approvers. If these roles are
assigned to an approval process for a Procure Printer request type,
WHD automatically sends approval requests for this request type to the clientsassigned approver roles for the ticket location.
Action rules create customized processes for unique situations. Create action
rules that define when, what, who, and how issues are approved, tracked,
assigned, and handled. Action rules create a customized process for unique use
cases.
To add a new action rule:
1. In the toolbar, click Setup and select Processes > Action Rules.
The Action Rules tab screen appears.
2. Click New.
The Action Rule Info tab screen appears.
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3. In the Priority drop-down menu, select a priority for this rule.
Note: Only one action rule can be executed at a time. The action rule
priority determines the trigger order of all action rules.
4. In the Rule Name field, assign a unique rule name.
5. In the Description field, add a description for this rule.
6. Select the Cascade check box to trigger all defined actions for a ticket.
Do not select Cascade to trigger only the highest priority action.
7. In the Rule Triggering field, select the rule triggering options to define
when and how often WHD applies the action rule.
8. Click the Criteria tab.
The Criteria tab window appears.
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9. Configure the ALL conditions that tickets must match and/or ANY of the
conditions tickets can match for the action rule to be applied. The following
conventions apply:
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The conditions specified in the ALL grouping must have all condition
true to trigger an action. WHD qualifies these conditions using the
Boolean AND operator.
The conditions specified in the ANY grouping must have at least one
condition true to meet the triggering condition. WHD qualifies these
conditions using the Boolean OR operator.
The ANY condition group begins with …and. As a result, WHD
evaluates the ANY group, along with the conditions in the ALL
condition group when the ALL group is used.
If no conditions exist in the ALL group, the ANY group evaluates the
conditions using only the Boolean OR operator. 10. Click the Actions tab.
The Actions tab window appears.
11. Specify the action to be taken when the criteria is met.
12. Click Save.
Your changes are saved.
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Approver roles provide dynamic approver assignments based on the location or
department associated with a given ticket.
For example, each location can have location approver roles titled Facilities
Representative and Faculty Representative that approve all requests to procure a
new printer. For each location, you can configure clients for these roles in the
Location Approvers screen located at Setup > Processes > Location
Approvers. If you assign these roles to an approval process for a request type
such as Procure Printer, WHD automatically sends ticket approvals for this
request type to the clients assigned to these roles at the appropriate ticket
location.
Approver roles specify the level of authority for a given approver. These roles
include:
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Location Approver. Approves the assignment for specific locations.
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Department Approver. Approves specific departments.
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Change Advisory Board Member. Participates in a Change Advisory
Board (CAB).
Creating Approver Roles for Locations
To add a position that will be responsible for approvals for one or more locations:
1. Click Setup > Processes > Approver Roles.
The Approver Role Name screen appears.
2. Click New.
The Location Approver Roles tab window appears.
3. In the Approver Role Name field, enter a name that describes the role.
For example:
Austin Approver
4. Click Save.
Your selected name is added as an approver role name.
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Adding Department Approver Roles
To add a position responsible for approvals for one or more departments:
1. Click Setup > Processes > Approver Roles.
The Approver Role Name field screen appears.
2. Click the Department Approver Roles tab.
3. Click New.
The Approval Role Name field appears in the screen.
4. In the Approval Role Name field, enter a name that describes the role.
For example:
Legal Dept Approver
5. Click Save.
Your selected name is added as a department approver role.
Assigning Clients To Location Approval Roles
1. Select Setup > Processes > Location Approvers.
The Location Approvers screen appears.
2. Click Add Role.
The Add Role screen appears.
3. Click the Approver Role drop-down menu and select the appropriate role.
4. In the Approver Name row, enter a client first and last name in the
appropriate field and click Search to locate a client.
5. Click the name of the person you want to assign as a location approver.
Note: Repeat steps 4 and 5 above to add additional approvers.
6. When you are finished assigning approvers, click Save.
Your selections are saved.
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1. Select Setup > Processes > Department Approvers.
The Department Approvers screen appears.
2. Select the department and corresponding approval role from the list.
To search for a specific role, enter a department name in the Department
field and click Search.
3. Click the name of the person you want to assign as a department approver.
4. Repeat step 1 through step 3 to add additional approvers.
5. When you are finished assigning approvers, click Save.
Creating a Change Advisory Board (CAB)
Change Advisory Boards (CABs) consist of a set of clients and the minimum
number of these clients who must authorize any approval steps assigned to them.
To create a new CAB:
1. Click Setup and select Processes > Change Advisory Boards.
The Change Advisory Boards screen appears.
2. Click New.
The Change Advisory Board Details screen appears.
2. In the CAB Name field, enter a CAB name.
To locate a CAB name, enter first and last name in the Client Lookup box
and click Search.
4. Click additional names (if needed) to add additional members.
5. Select the minimum number of members required to approve a change
ticket.
The minimum can be any number between one and the number of CAB
members.
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6. Click Save.
The tech assigns a status type when they create a ticket. Before you configure the
Processes section, check the ticket status types to ensure that the CAB status
types are configured correctly.
To add Approved, Approval Pending, and Denied status types:
1. Click Setup and select Tickets > Status Types.
The Status Types screen appears.
2. Click New.
The Status Types tab window appears.
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3. In the Name field, enter Denied.
4. In the Description field enter CAB Status Type.
5. Click the Display Order drop-down menu and select the order that the items
will be listed.
6. In the Color row, select a color to use for the label background.
Otherwise, leave this color set to White.
7. Select the Include in My/Group Ticket Filter check box if the status type is
used in the default filter for the group tickets list.
Otherwise, leave this check box blank.
8. Select the Use for Load Balance check box if the status type is used when
determining the load balance ticket total for a tech.
Use Load Balancing when auto-assigning tickets in a tech group level.
9. Select the Alerts Enabled check box to enable alerts for this status type.
10. Select the Count Time check box if the time during which a ticket includes
this status type should be included in the ticket's total open time.
11. Select the Client Reminders check box to indicate whether e-mails are
sent to clients for tickets currently set to this status type.
Reminders are sent only if the ticket status type has reminders enabled and
the ticket priority type includes a client reminder interval.
12. Select the Show in Calendar check box if tickets for this status type are
displayed in calendar views.
13. Click the Automatically Close Ticket After drop-down menus and select
the amount of time until tickets for this status type should automatically
change to Closed status.
If no value is selected, the status type will not change automatically.
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14. Select the Prompt Client to Confirm Ticket Resolution check box to
enable a confirmation message and the Yes/No buttons to the client in emails and the Ticket Detail view in the user interface for tickets with this
status type.
15. Click Save.
Repeat steps 1 through 15 above to add the Approved and Approval Pending
status types.
After adding the above status types, you can set the status types options to
enable the CAB features.
To set the status type options for the CAB feature:
1. Click Setup and select Tickets > Status Types.
2. Click the Options tab.
The Options tab window appears.
3. Select the Clients Can Reopen Closed Tickets check box to allow clients
to add notes to closed tickets.
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4. Click the Reopened Status Type drop-down menu and select a status type
that should be reopened to a ticket when reopened by a client.
Otherwise, accept the default selection.
5. Click the Needs Approval Status Type drop-down menu and select a
status type for a request type that requires an approval.
6. Click the Approved Status Type drop-down menu and select the status
type that enables when a ticket for the request type is approved.
7. Click the Client Update Sets Status To drop-down menu and select the
status type assigned to a ticket when updated by the client.
8. Click the Tech Note Default Status drop-down menu and select the status
type used in the Tech Note editor when you create a new note.
9. In the When Tickets Are Merged row, select the status type assigned to a
ticket after it is merged into a parent ticket.
10. In the E-Mail Recipients After Auto Close row, select the option that
describes how mail is sent when a ticket closes automatically.
11. Click Save.
After you create the approver roles, define your approval process.
These include:
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Approval basics
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Approval steps
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Supported request types
To define the approval process:
1. Click Setup and select Processes > Approval Processes.
The Approval Processes screen appears.
2. Click an approval process or click New.
The Approval Basics window appears.
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3. In the Process Name and Description fields, enter the appropriate
information.
4. In the E-mail Client On row, specify when to send an e-mail to the client
when a ticket is approved or denied.
5. In the E-Mail Tech On row, specify when to send an email to a tech when a
ticket is approved or denied.
6. Click Save.
To add approval steps:
1. Select the Approval Steps tab.
The Approval Steps and Request Types Supported tab windows appear.
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2. Click the Step No. drop-down menu and select the step number of this
approval step.
3. In the Step Name field, add a descriptive name.
4. In the Approver Type row, select which type of approver will handle the
step.
If you select Client, enter a first and last name in the Client Lookup box
and click Search to locate a specific client to assign to this step.
If you select CAB, click the CAB Approver drop-down menu and select an
approver.
If you select Location Approver, click the Location Approver drop-down
menu and select an approver.
If you select Department Approver, click the Department Approver dropdown menu and select an approver.
5. In the E-mail Greeting box, enter a greeting that appears at the top of
messages requesting approval for a ticket.
This selection overrides the default greeting located at Setup > E-Mail
> Templates > Approval Request Greeting.
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6. Click Save.
Adding Supported Request Types
1. Click the Request Types Supported tab.
The Request Types Supported window appears.
2. Click Edit.
The Request Types Supported tab window appears.
3. Select the appropriate request type.
4. Click Save.
Applying Approvals
This section describes the following information about approvals:
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Ticket Approvals
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Approver Action
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Email Approvals
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Ticket Approvals
When a client logs in, creates a new ticket, and selects a request type assigned to
an approval process, a notification in a large blue field appears:
This Request Type requires approval.
To complete the approval process:
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Approver Action
1. WHD sends an email to the approver assigned to the first step of the
approval process.
2. The first approver approves the change, and then an email is sent to the
next approver.
3. The process continues until the ticket is approved or declined as specified
in the approval process criteria.
Approver Action
An approver views or responds to the approval request in email or the web
interface.
Email Approvals
To complete the email approval process:
1. Approvers receive an email when a ticket is created with an approval
process assigned to it.
2. The approver responds by clicking Yes or No.
3. WHD opens a web page asking the approver to confirm their decision.
a. If the required number of required approvers choose Yes, the ticket
status changes to Approved.
b. If the required number of required approvers do not choose Yes, the
ticket status changes to Denied.
4. If an approver clicks No, the approver is given an Explanation text box
where they provide reasons for declining the request. The approver can
also use a Visible to Requestor check box that allows the explanation to
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appear to the requestor.
To view and approve through the web interface:
1. Click Approvals to view New Approvals and vote on each new request
and to view Old Approvals.
2. Add an explanation (if desired).
3. Select Visible to Requester to share the denial explanation as a note in the
ticket.
4. Click Save.
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Setting Up Tickets
Setting Up Tickets
Clients and techs create tickets, either through the WHD application or through
email, and use tickets to correspond to each other.
The Tickets tab defines ticketing functions, such as how tickets are generated,
routed, updated, and closed.
These functions include the following:
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Setting ticket options
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Defining request types
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Defining status types
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Setting priority types and alerts
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Creating custom fields for tickets
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Creating tasks
When a client or tech creates a ticket, they select a request type that determines
which custom fields appear on the ticket and which techs can be assigned to it.
The request type also determines how the ticket is routed to a tech.
Each ticket is assigned a status and a priority. The status indicates the ticket's
stage of completion (for example, Open, Acknowledged, Resolved, or Closed)
and determines whether time should be counted against the ticket while in that
stage.
The priority determines the ticket due date. Each priority can be configured with
three alert levels to warn techs when a ticket needs attention.
Tasks facilitate how tickets are automatically created. A task contains one or more
task elements, each of which provides settings for a new ticket. When the task
runs, a ticket is created for each task element, either sequentially or all at once,
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depending on how the task has been configured. Tasks can be run manually or
automatically at given intervals.
You can configure your ticket contents, generation, and ticket access options on
the Options page located at Setup > Tickets > Options. WHD categorizes all
ticket options into three areas:
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General Options
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Client Options
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Tech Options
To set up tickets starting from the Ticket Options page:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup and select Tickets > Options.
The Ticket Options page appears.
2. Configure the General Options section, as shown below.
a. Select the Use Subject Field check box to indicate if clients and techs
will see a Subject field above the Request Detail field.
b. Click the Default Priority drop-down menu and select the default
priority type for new tickets.
c. In the Lookup Clients By row, select the attribute used for looking up
clients when assigning them to tasks and parts.
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d. Select the Attachments Enabled check box to allow clients and
techs to attach files to tickets using the user interface or by attaching
files to an e-mail. Otherwise, leave this check box blank.
e. Select the Room Required check box to prevent a ticket from being
accepted until a client or tech selects a room to associate with the
ticket.
f. In the Room Field Style row, select how rooms are selected in the
ticket.
g. In the Enter Work Time As row, select whether work time is entered
into a ticket as minutes or points.
h. Select the Non-User CC Updates check box to allow ticket updates
by email from people who are not authorized Web Help Desk users
but were CC or BCC recipients on the ticket update e-mail.
3. Configure the Client Options section, as shown below.
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a. Select the Client Required check box if a ticket must have an
assigned client.
b. In the Clients Can Create Tickets Using row, select the method
clients can use to create new tickets.
c. In the Client Priority Option row, select the personnel who are
permitted to set the priority level of their tickets.
Otherwise, new tickets will be assigned the Default Priority setting.
d. Select the Clients Can Cc: E-Mail check box to allow clients to
carbon copy e-mail tickets to additional email addresses.
e. Select the Show Scheduled Date to Clients check box if the time
scheduled for ticket processing is provided to the client through e-mail
or the web user interface.
f. Select the Show Estimated Due Date to Clients check box if time
scheduled for ticket processing is provided to the client through e-mail
or the web user interface.
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g. Select the Show Estimated Due Date to Clients check box if the
estimated ticket processing due date and time are provided to the
client through e-mail or the web user interface.
h. Select the Lock Ticket to Client Location check box if tickets will be
assigned to the location of the client who submitted the ticket.
i. Select the Update Ticket Location/Room/Department when Client
Changes check box to assign the location, room, and department
based on the values assigned to the new client.
j. Select the Include Room Assets in Client Asset List check box to
present a list of all assets to clients in their assigned room.
k. Select the Tickets Must Use Assigned Asset check box to allow
clients to select only from their assigned assets when creating tickets.
l. Select the Asset Number Lookup for Client check box to allow
clients to search for an asset by asset number to associate with their
ticket.
m. Click the Note Collapsing Threshold For Clients drop-down menu
and select the number of ticket notes displayed to the client before
adding a More link.
n. In the Auto-Reply to Client row, select which client action invokes an
automatic e-mail confirmation.
o. In the Enable Cancellation By Client row, select the condition when
a Cancel option is available to the client in the web interface and email ticket display.
4. Configure the Tech Options section, as shown below.
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a. In the Default Tech Note Visibility row, indicate whether tech notes
are visible by default to clients.
b. In the Print View Note Visibility row, indicate which note types are
displayed in the Print View and Tickets PDF sections of the Ticket
Detail page.
c. In the Note and History Visibility row, select the order that notes are
displayed in the Ticket Details page.
d. In the Default Setting for E-mail Recipients row, select the check
box that determines which users associated with a ticket will receive
an e-mail when a tech updates a ticket.
e. In the Default Ticket Editor Button row, select the default button that
appears in the Ticket Details page.
f. Select the E-mail Delete Confirmation check box to send a
confirmation e-mail to an assigned tech or tech group when a ticket is
deleted.
g. Select the Limit Assigned Tech to Current Level check box to only
include techs in the current ticket tech group level to appear in the
Assigned Tech drop-down menu on the Ticket Details page.
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h. In the When an attempt is made to edit a Ticket already being
edited in another session row, select the appropriate response.
i. Select the Enable Ticket E-Mail Overrides check box to enable
options for overriding e-mail settings elsewhere in the Web Help Desk
application.
j. Select the Automatically Delete Obsolete Custom Fields check box
remove custom fields from a ticket regardless of whether they include
a value.
5. Click Save.
Define the types of tickets your help desk services support in the Request Types
page. Request types define what type of issue the customer is experiencing and
what action needs to be taken. When a user opens a ticket, they choose a request
type.
Request types can be defined as parent and child types. An example is a request
to have a password reset. The parent type may be IT Software Assistance and
the child type may be Password Reset.
To begin, build your parent types first, and then add your corresponding child
types. If you build a child type before you build the parent type, you cannot set the
child type as a child.
To add a new request type:
1. Navigate to Settings > Tickets > Request Types.
The Request Types window appears, displaying your current request
types.
2. Click New.
The New Request Type screen appears.
3. In the Request Type field, enter a name for your request type.
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4. If this request type is a child request, click the Parent Type drop-down
menu and select the appropriate parent type.
Otherwise, go to the next step.
5. In the Tech Group drop-down menu, leave this tech group blank because
the tech groups have not been defined at this point.
6. In the Default Priority drop-down menu, select a priority level to assign
tickets for this request type.
7. Select the Hide Subject check box to hide the subject field for tickets that
include this request type.
8. Select the Hide Request Detail check box to hide the Request Detail field
for this request type.
9. Select the Request Detail Required check box indicate whether tickets
with this request type require a detail entry.
10. In the Detailed Instructions field, enter the appropriate text that displays as
a blue "Instructions" sticky note about the Request Detail field. The description should explain the request type's purpose so the client can
easily decide whether or not to choose the request type.
Note: Apply BBCode formatting to make a request type's detailed
instructions stand out and to include links to other information. See
Customizing Tickets, Notes, Instructions, and Emails with BBCode for
information about using BBCode to format text in the Detailed Instructions
field or any other WHD field using custom text.
Otherwise, leave this field blank.
11. Select the Visible to Clients check box if this request type will be included
in the pop-up menu presented to clients.
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12. Select the Use Models check box to indicate whether clients will be
prompted to select an asset or model when creating tickets for this request
type.
13. In the Companies row, select the companies for which the request type is
visible to clients.
This selection determines if the request type is available for a tech when a
client with a company is assigned to the ticket.
14. In the Locations row, select the locations for which the request type is
visible to clients.
client with a location is assigned to the ticket.
15. In the Departments row, select the departments for which the request type
is visible to clients.
client with a department is assigned to the ticket.
16. Click the Approval Process drop-down menu and select the approval
process that is automatically created when a ticket is saved with this request
type.
17. In the Custom Fields row, indicate if the request type supports custom
fields.
Selecting All displays all visible and editable custom fields.
Selecting Specific allows the selection of one or more custom fields.
The default selection is None.
18. Select the Attachments Enabled check box if the request type allows
clients to attach files.
Note: This setting does not affect a tech's ability to add file attachments.
19. Select the Use as FAQ Category check box if the request type is available
as a category for defining FAQs.
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20. Click the Lead Technician drop-down menu and select the tech who
receives the highest level escalation (after Group Manager).
21. Click the Survey drop-down menu and select the survey that is sent to
clients when tickets of this request type are closed.
22. Click Save to save your selections.
Your selections are saved to the WHD database.
Defining Status Types
Each ticket is assigned a status from the available Status Types. The following
status types are predefined:
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Open
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Closed
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Cancelled
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Resolved
To enable Change Access Board (CAB) features, you add Pending Approval,
Approved and Denied status types.
Note: Adding these status types is not necessary if you do not implement CAB
Process. It is recommended that you add these status types in case you need to
enable the CAB feature in the future.
To add approved, approval pending, and denied status types:
1. Navigate to Setup > Tickets > Status Types and click New.
2. In the Name field enter:
Denied
3. In the Description field enter:
CAB Status Type
4. Click Alerts Enabled.
5. Click Client Reminders, and then click Save.
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Repeat steps 1 through 5 above to add the Approved and Approval Pending
Status types.
After adding the above status types, you set the Status Types Options to allow the
CAB features.
To set the status type options for the CAB feature:
1. Navigate to Setup > Tickets > Status Types > Options.
The Options tab window appears.
2. Click the Needs Approval Status Type drop-down menu and select
Pending.
3. Click the Approved Status Type drop-down menu and select Approved.
4. Click the Approval Denied Status Type drop-down menu and select
Denied.
5. Review the remaining selections and verify they are correct.
6. Click Save.
WHD prioritizes tickets and sends automated email alerts to techs based on how
you configure those parameters.
A ticket has one of the following predefined priority types:
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Urgent
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High
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Medium
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Low
Each priority type includes adjustable alert levels for automatic email escalation.
Alert levels are set at three levels, with alert level 3 as the highest severity. The
Not Completed condition is considered more important than Not Updated,
which is more important than Not Assigned. If alert levels include matching
criteria, WHD uses the highest severity level.
To set the alert triggers for a priority type:
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1. Click Setup and select Tickets > Priority Types and Alerts.
The Priority Types and Alerts screen appears.
2. Click the Priority Type name.
The Priority Type Details screen appears.
3. Leave the Name and Display Order fields unchanged.
4. (Optional) In the Color row, select a color.
5. Click the Due Time drop-down menus and select the proper time to close a
ticket with this priority.
6. Click the Client Reminder Interval drop-down menus and select the
amount of time to elapse before sending (or resending) a reminder to
clients.
7. In the Alert Level rows, set the proper conditions (such as time interval,
criteria, and Email To:) for each Alert Level, beginning with Alert Level 1
and ending with Alert Level 3.
8. Click the Alert Repeat Interval drop-down menus and select the amount of
time between reminders when an alert is triggered.
9. Click Save.
10. Repeat step 2 through step 9 for each priority type.
Use the Ticket Custom Fields screen to create custom tickets fields. Using this
screen, you can define field features such as:
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Field name
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Display order
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Type of input, such as text or numbers
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Field size
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Client and Tech permissions
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Searchability
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Data-encrypted field text
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Below is an example of the Ticket Custom Fields screen.
To create ticket custom fields:
1. Click Setup and select Tickets > Ticket Custom Fields.
The Ticket Custom Fields screen appears.
2. In the Label field, enter a name for the custom field.
3. Click the Type drop-down menu and select the appropriate text format type.
4. Click the Width drop-down menu and select the number of columns in the
custom field text area.
5. Click the Height drop-down menu and select the number of rows in the
6. In the Info field, enter a description that appears in a tool tip for this field.
When a tool tip is created, an Info icon appears next to the custom field.
When the user mouses over the icon, the tool tip appears.
7. Select the appropriate options for this custom field.
a. Select the Limit Input to Text Box Width check box ensure the
maximum number of characters allowed does not exceed the number
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of characters selected in the Width drop-down menu.
b. Select the Encrypt in database check box to DES-encrypt the data
entered in the custom field before it is stored in the database.
If you select this option after your data is entered, the existing values
are not encrypted until they are updated.
c. Select the Searchable check box to enable the custom field to appear
as a search option on the Advanced Search page.
d. Select the Allow full-text search (slower) check box when the
custom field value may exceed 255 characters.
For performance reasons, only the first 255 characters are indexed.
Selecting this option reduces the search performance.
e. Select the Exclude From E-Mail check box to ensure the custom field
does not appear in emails to clients or techs.
8. Click the Display Order drop-down menu and select the order the custom
field appears with the current custom fields.
9. In the Clients section, select the appropriate client permissions, defining
whether the field is hidden, visible, editable, or required for the client.
These fields are disabled when the custom field is not visible in the client
interface.
10. In the Techs section, select the appropriate client permissions, defining
whether the field is hidden, visible, editable, or required or the tech.
Administrators have at least Editable access to all custom fields. Required
fields are required for all administrators.
11. In the Request Types section, click Edit and select the request type(s)
where this custom field appears. When completed, click Done.
12. Click Save.
Your custom field changes are saved.
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Creating Tasks
Creating Tasks
WHD uses tasks to create tickets. A task contains one or more task elements,
each of which provides settings for a new ticket. When the task runs, WHD
creates a ticket for each task element, either sequentially or all at once,
depending on the task’s configuration. Tasks can run manually or automatically,
at given intervals or based on specific criteria, depending on how you configure
them. WHD tasks are especially useful for handling repetitive processes.
For example, if your HR department has a set of routine on-boarding tasks to
complete for a new employee, you can create a task called New Employee and
define each task element required to help a new employee get started in their
new position.
Related tasks can include:
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Completing tax and insurance forms
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Accessing network resources
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Configuring a new computer system
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Installing and configuring corporate and department-specific software
You can trigger a new task when required—for example, when you on-board a
new employee. When you run the task, WHD generates a ticket for each element.
These tickets can be assigned to techs, who ensure each task element is
completed.
To create a new task:
1. Access the Task screen.
2. Create a new task.
3. Add new task elements.
4. Create new tickets from task elements.
Access the Task Screen
You can access the task screen by clicking the Setup icon in the toolbar. In the
Setup left column, click Tickets > Tasks.
The following screen appears.
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When you create a new task, they appear in this screen.
Create a New Task
To create a new task, click New. The Task Info screen appears.
To create a new task:
1. In the Task Name field, enter a name for the task.
For example, New Employee.
2. (Optional) If this task pertains to a specific employee, search for the
appropriate client in the Client Lookup box fields and assign a client to the
task.
Otherwise, leave this box blank.
3. Select the Scheduled check box to schedule this task to run at a specific
time interval. Otherwise, leave this check box unchecked.
4. Select the Shared check box to share this task with other users.
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Selecting this check box will also make the task available as an Action Rule
so you can assign the task to other techs or personnel.
5. Click Save.
A message appears stating that the task was created successfully. The
Task Elements and History tabs appear in the screen.
When completed, a message appears stating that the task was created
successfully. The Task Elements and History tabs also appear in the
screen.
To add new task elements, click Task Elements. In the initial screen, click New.
The Task Elements tab screen appears, as shown below.
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To create new task elements:
1. Click the Element Order drop-down menu and select 1 so this element runs
first.
2. Select the appropriate selections for Location, Room, and Department.
3. Click the Request Type drop-down menus and select the appropriate
request type.
For example, for new hire tasks, select HR and New Hire.
4. In the Subject field, enter a name for this element.
For example, to configure a new computer system for a new hire, you can
enter Configure a new computer system.
5. In the Request Detail field, enter a description for the element.
For example:
Configure a new computer system with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel,
Outlook) and all required corporate-related software.
6. In the Tech drop-down menu, select a specific tech for this element (if
required).
7. In the Priority drop-down menu, select the appropriate priority for this
element.
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8. In the Asset No. field, enter an asset number (if required).
9. In the Generate Next Element field, select On Creation to trigger the next
element immediately after the ticket for this element is created.
Otherwise, you can select When Status Equals and select the appropriate
selection to trigger the next element.
10. Click Save.
When completed the Task Elements tab lists a summary of your task.
After you create your first task elements, add additional elements to create
new task elements for your task. For example, for the New Employee task,
you can create new elements to create an email account, assign a specific
desk in a building, and enroll the employee in on-site new hire classes.
To create tickets from task elements, click the Task Info tab, select a task, and
click the Green arrow next to the Task Name field. To select another task, click
the left and right arrows at the top right to scroll through all available tasks.
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After you execute a task, click Tickets and verify that the task created the
appropriate tickets. For example, when you click the Green arrow in the example
above, WHD creates a new ticket for the task, as shown below.
Entering Locations
The Locations Setup tab provides the ability to store information about customer
locations, and map those locations to technicians in the same geographical area.
Populating the location pages is another step towards automated ticket
processing and technician dispatch.
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Note: When you first use the Locations tab, only the four Location pages
(Options, Locations & Rooms, Location Groups, and Location Custom Fields) are
listed, as seen above. Depending on the features you choose, the tab name and
pages will change.
Use the Location Custom Fields screen to create location custom fields. Using
this screen, you can define field features such as:
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Field name
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Display order
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Field size
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Searchability
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Below is an example of the Location Custom Fields screen.
To create location custom fields:
1. Click Setup and select Companies and Location > Location Custom
Fields.
The Location Custom Fields screen appears.
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Selecting this option reduces the search performance.
10. In the Request Types section, click Edit and select the request type(s)
where this custom field appears. When completed, click Done.
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Adding Clients
11. Click Save.
Adding Clients
The Clients tab pages define WHD Client users and how they enter information
into WHD. When a new client accesses WHD and is accepted by the system,
they are automatically given the access and interaction you have defined for that
client.
Data import and synchronizing Active Directory (AD)/LDAP Directory copy and
add client data from Microsoft Exchange and other mail servers and add the data
to WHD. Using this feature helps you avoid adding clients manually.
For more information on adding Clients and defining their permissions in WHD,
see the following:
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Define Client Options
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Identify Client Admin Roles
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Discovering and Adding Active Directory/LDAP Directory Connections
Defining Client Options
Most of the Client Options page settings can be accepted by default. SolarWinds
recommends that Clients only be able to create accounts if their emails match
Accepted Domains. Use the tool tip help to assist on other settings.
Click Save when you have completed any changes on this page.
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Setting Up Client Admin Roles
A client can be assigned limited administrative roles, usually for simple tasks
such as resetting their password.
To Create a Client Admin role:
1. Click Setup and select Clients > Client Admin Roles.
The Client Admin Role screen appears.
2. Click New.
The Roles screen appears.
3. In the Role Name field, enter a name for this role.
4. In the Request Type Supported row, select the appropriate role check
boxes.
Note: These request types populate with the Request Types you defined in
the Tickets > Request Types section.
5. Click Save.
Use the Defining Client Custom Fields screen to create custom client fields.
Using this screen, you can define field features such as:
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Field name
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Display order
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Field size
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Searchability
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To create client custom fields:
1. Click Setup and select Clients > Client Custom Fields.
The Client Custom Fields screen appears.
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Selecting this option reduces the search performance
e. Select the Exclude From Email check box to ensure the custom field
does not appear in emails to clients and techs.
9. In the Clients section, select the appropriate client permissions, defining
whether the field is hidden, visible, editable, or required or the client.
11. Click Save.
Use the Active Directory / Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (AD / LDAP)
Connections settings to discover and import client AD / LDAP information from
the client’s Microsoft Exchange or LDAP server. AD / LDAP Connections can
perform bulk data imports of AD and LDAP directories that speeds up the client
setup process and greatly reduces manual input errors.
You can use the AD/LDAP Connections settings to synchronize WHD user
information with the latest information on your Exchange or LDAP server. To
simplify the configuration, WHD assumes it operates in a trusted network. As a
result, WHD automatically trusts all LDAP connection certificates.
When you import your AD/LDAP connections, use the following conventions:
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Ensure that the person configuring and using this import is experienced with
AD and LDAP administration.
Work with a client representative familiar with AD/LDAP and the existing
structure. The client representative must have administrative access to the
customer AD/LDAP server.
If your AD/LDAP directory contains mostly users not using WHD,
SolarWinds does not recommend performing a bulk AD/LDAP import.
To connect to a client LDAP server and import and/or synchronize users:
1. Navigate to Setup > Clients > AD/LDAP Connections.
2. In the LDAP Connections pane, click New.
The Connection Basics tab window appears.
3. In the window, click Enabled to enable the LDAP connection.
4. In the Host/Domain Controller and Port fields, enter the host address and
port number.
You can also select SSL for secure connections.
Note: The default port for non-secure LDAP is 389. The default port for
LDAP through SSL is 636.
5. Click the Directory Type drop-down arrow and select the appropriate type.
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If you select Active Directory (default):
a. Enter a Connection Account name.
This name can be one of the following:
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Distinguished Name, such as cn=Joe Admin, cn=users,
dc=mycompany, dc=com
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User Principal Name, such as [email protected]
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Down-level Logon Name, such as DOMAIN\jadmin
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Default Domain, where the Connection Account name is admin
b. Enter the Connection Password for the account.
c. Enter a Connection Name that describes the connection.
d. To define import filters for specific records, click Advanced.
e. Enter or browse for the Users Distinguished Name.
f. Note: If you select Browse and want to check records in
subcontainers too, select Include Subtrees.
g. Use the following fdefault search filter:
(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user))
h. Select Ignore Blank LDAP Values to ensure that blank LDAP values
do not replace existing values in Client fields.
If this is a new sync and not an update, leave Sync With Existing
WHD Clients Only not selected.
i. Choose an action to perform when LDAP records are removed.
Note: If you are unsure of which option to choose, select No Action.
j. Set the Cache Time Period to the length of time required for an LDAP
resynchronization
k. Test your settings and adjust if needed.
l. Save your settings.
6. Click the Attribute Mappings tab.
7. Click the Edit icon to edit the page.
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Importing Clients
8. Enter Attribute Mappings as specified by the customer’s LDAP
representative.
9. Click Done.
To manually add clients:
1. Click Clients on the top menu bar.
Note: If you arrive at an existing client form, click the Back icon to go to the
Clients page.
2. Click New.
3. Fill in the pertinent information for this client.
4. In the Location field, assign a company, and a primary location.
5. Click Save.
Importing Clients
Use the Import Clients function to import client data into WHD. See Importing
Data Using Templates for information on applying templates.
To import client data:
1. In the toolbar click Setup and select Data Import > Import Clients.
The Import Clients screen appears.
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2. Click the Sync Based On drop-down menu and select the column in the
import file used to synchronize the import data with existing records.
3. Select the Ignore Blank Fields check box to ignore blank fields in the
imported file.
If not selected, the blank fields in the import file will clear the corresponding
values in the existing records.
4. Select the Add New Entities check box to add new entities referred by the
import records if they do not exist in the database.
5. Select the Abort Import on First Error check box to stop the import
procedure when WHD encounters an error.
If not selected, WHD will continue the import if errors appear.
6. In the File Type row, select the appropriate import file format.
7. Click the File Encoding drop-down menu and select the method used to
encode the import file.
If your import file contains any Unicode characters, select Microsoft Excel,
as this file format encodes in UTF-16 format.
8. In the Import Data File row, click Choose File and select the file to use for
the import procedure.
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Defining Assets
Note: The first line of the import file must match the import template.
SolarWinds recommends copying and pasting the template into your data
file to ensure that it is identical. The import procedure will generate an error
if the first row of the import file does not match the template.
9. Click Import.
The file contents is imported into the WHD database.
Defining Assets
Assets are the Client-owned software and hardware that Techs work with. WHD
tracks Assets by properties such as:
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Location
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Type
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Status
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Owner
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Serial Number
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Model and Manufacturer
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Warranty Dates
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Lease Types
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Relationship to Other Assets
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Ticket History
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Purchase Orders
Because Clients usually have large numbers of Assets, and Assets have a large
number of properties associated with each one, assets are not typically entered
manually. WHD has an extensive selection of asset import and discovery options.
These options include interfaces to:
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LANrev Absolute Manager
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Apple Remote Desktop
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JAMF Casper
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Lansweeper
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Microsoft SMS/SCCM
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Spreadsheet import
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CSV or TSV imports
See Importing Data for details on how to import Asset Data. For information on
configuring connections to import asset data, see Discovering Assets. For
information on adding individual Assets, see Manually Adding Assets.
Configuring Asset Import and Permissions Options
Set options for Asset and Asset permissions for Techs. Fill in the pertinent
information on the Options page.
Note: Popup tooltips are available in the application to describe each item and its
function. Hover the cursor over an item to see the tooltip.
Asset type, status, warranty, and lease information are usually included data
imports, but if you find undefined Asset types, you can manually define them on
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the Types page.
Assets can be associated with Clients so that Techs can easily identify the items
for which support is requested.
The Types page includes tabs for defining:
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Asset Classes – Use Asset Classes to represent any type of classification
you choose, such as Software, Hardware, Owned, Leased, and so on.
Sample Class is the default Asset > Classes.
Asset Status Classes – Add Status Types to define Asset status. A status
can be anything you create, such as Deployed, for equipment in use, or In
Storage, for equipment in storage and not in use. WHD comes with the
Deployed status type defined.
Warranty Classes – Create and apply Warranty Types, such as 1 Year and
2 Year, to reflect the appropriate warranty length or type for a particular
Asset Class.
Lease Classes – Create and apply Lease Types, such as 1 Year and 2
Year, to reflect the appropriate warranty length or type for a particular Asset
Class.
To manually add Asset Classes:
1. Navigate to Setup > Asset > Classes.
2. Click New.
3. Enter The Name for the new type, and then click Save.
To manually add more Status Types:
1. Navigate to Setup > Assets > Asset Status Types.
2. Click the Asset Status Types tab.
3. Click New.
To manually add one or more Warranty Types:
1. Navigate to Setup > Assets > Warranty Types.
2. Click the Asset Warranty Types tab.
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3. Click New.
To manually one or more Lease Types:
1. Navigate to Setup > Assets > Lease Types.
2. Click the Asset Lease Types tab.
3. Click New.
Defining Custom Asset Fields
Use Custom Fields to extend the types properties associated with Assets. Define
field features such as:
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Field name
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Display order
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Field size
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Searchability
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Whether or not field data is encrypted when stored
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Manufacturers & Models
The Manufacturers & Models page populates from the Asset imports. You can
manually add manufacturers and models and edit existing Assets on this page, as
well.
Vendors
The Vendors field defines the contacts for ordering parts or software. Fill in the
pertinent information for each vendor contact and click Save when finished.
Discovery Connections
Discovery Connections sets up the basic information for the asset import tool
chosen. It also defines the mappings of the imported data fields to WHD database
fields. This can also be managed using the Asset Data Import feature.
Adding Manufacturers
Use the Manufacturers Info page to add hardware and software and other asset
manufacturers' contact information. Click the Edit button to enter information. Click
Save when you finish entering the manufacturer information.
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Adding Vendors
The Vendors page defines contacts for ordering parts or software. Fill in the
pertinent information for each vendor contact and click Save when finished.
Defining PO Custom Fields
PO Custom Fields define custom fields and specify view/editing permissions for
techs.
Use Custom Fields to extend the types properties associated with purchase
orders. Define field features such as:
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Field name
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Display order
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Field size
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View and edit permissions
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Searchability
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Note: No client permissions are available in PO custom fields, because clients
never view purchase orders.
See Managing Assets for details on working with purchase orders.
Using the data import function from Settings > Data Import>Import Asset is the
easiest way to get Asset data into WHD. To ensure a successful import, use the
Assets Import template. See Importing Data Using Templates for information on
applying templates.
To import Assets into WHD:
1. Navigate to Setup > Data Import.
2. Select Import Assets from the Data Import tab.
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3. Select a Sync Based On type. This field synchronizes the data import with
any existing Asset data.
4. Choose a Client Key to define the key field for database column reference.
5. Select the Ignore Blank Fields check box ff you expect some of the table
fields not to populate. Otherwise, leave this check box blank.
6. Select the Add New Entries check box to add fields that are not defined on
the downloaded template. Otherwise, leave this check box blank.
7. Select the Abort Import on First Error check box if you get poor results
after importing your data. Otherwise, leave this check box blank.
8. In the File Type and File Encoding fields, select the proper file type and file
encoding, respectively. Select MS Excel for .xls imports.
9. In the Import Data File row, click Browse and select a saved template.
10. Click Import to import the file.
The file is imported into WHD.
Parts & Billing is where you configure how WHD tracks parts, inventory, and
billing on tickets, as well as when the functionality is available.
To access Parts & Billing setup, navigate to Setup and select Parts & Billing.
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Functions available on this page include the following:
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Creating Invoicing Options
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Managing Parts
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Parts & Billing Options enable or disable the Parts & Billing functionality, define
the ticket PDF format, and enable or disable service time blocks by location. All of
this functionality is enabled by default. Always make sure this functionality is
active when you configure how WHD handles parts and billing.
To access Parts & Billing Options, select Options from the Parts & Billing
menu.
To disable this feature, clear the Parts & Billing Enabled check box. Disabling
Parts & Billing hides the main Parts icon, the ticket detail Parts & Billing tab,
billing preferences and the billing reporting options.
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To specify a company contact for invoices:
1. Click Setup and select Navigate to Setup > Parts & Billing > Invoicing
Options.
The Invoicing Options screen appears.
2. In the Invoicing tab window, add the appropriate contact information
3. (Optional) Click the Log tab and upload a .gif or .png file containing your
company logo.
4. In the Invoicing tab window, click Save.
To generate a PDF invoice or quote directly from a ticket:
1. In the toolbar, click Tickets and select Search Tickets.
The Search Tickets screen appears.
2. In the Basic Search or Advanced Search tab windows, enter the
appropriate search criteria for your ticket, and then click Search.
Your search results appear in the bottom menu.
3. In the search results, click the appropriate ticket number.
4. Click the Parts and Billing tab.
The Parts and Billing tab window appears.
5. Select the type of PDF you want to generate.
6. Click the PDF icon.
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The Billing Rates, Terms, and Taxes feature allows you to define billing rates to
use in your tickets. You can configure specific billing rates to be consistent with
the level of delivered service (Level tech) and the applicable local tax codes.
To define the billing rates:
1. Navigate to Setup > Parts & Billing > Rates & Terms.
2. The Rate and Terms screen appears.
3. Click the Billing Rates tab.
The Billing Rates tab window appears.
4. Click New.
5. In the Rate Name field, enter the billing rate name.
Billing rates appear in a pop-up menu when entering work time in a ticket
tech note.
6. In the Hourly Rate field, enter the amount per hour to be billed.
will be listed.
8. Select the Subtracts From Time Blocks if you use time block billing.
9. Select the Travel Rate check box if this rate is for travel time only.
10. Click Save.
11. Click the Billing Terms tab.
The Billing Terms tab window appears.
12. Click New.
13. The Billing Term tab windows appears with new selections.
14. In the Term Name field, enter a name that reflects the negotiated term.
For example:
Net 30
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will be listed.
16. Click Save.
17. Click the Tax Rates tab.
The Tax Rates tab window appears
18. Click New.
The Tax Rates tab window appears with editable fields.
19. In the Tax Name field, enter a name for the custom tax rate.
20. In the Rate field, enter the tax rate to apply to invoices.
21. Select the Default Rate check box if this tax rate will be used in all tickets
where location-specific tax rates do not override.
22. In the Apply to Labor row, select the option that describes how the tax is
applied to labor.
will be listed.
24. Select the Apply to Parts check box to apply the tax to the parts.
25. Select the Apply to Shipping check box to apply the tax to shipping.
26. Click Save.
Use this page to create custom Part fields. Define field features such as:
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Display order
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Field size
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Searchability
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Each of the following Setup sections begins with the left Setup navigation bar.
To access the left setup bar, click the Setup icon on the top navigation bar, click
General, and then select one of the following:
General settings enable you to set up how the application works.
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License
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Options
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Authentication
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Time & Place
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Database
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Logs
Configuring General Options
WHD General Options define how WHD presents information to Clients and
Techs. This page defines features such as:
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URLs users see when they use WHD
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Maximum search results and items per page
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How the dashboard appears to different users
A basic WHD deployment does not require any changes to the default General
Options settings. You may, however, want to customize the options for your
environment. If, for example, your deployment uses a secure port, or you want to
include WHD direct contact information in emails to Clients, you must configure
the WHD General Options.
The General Options page is also where you can define how much information a
Client or Tech sees. Limiting the amount of data displayed in search results or the
WHD dashboard can significantly increase performance.
Note: WHD never filters dashboard data for Administrators.
To customize these options for your environment:
1. Navigate to Setup > General Options.
2. Delete the current name in the Server DNS Name field.
3. Enter the server name you would like to appear in URLs generated for the
help desk. If WHD is running on a port other than 80, specify the port. The
DNS name with a specified port looks like this: company.com:8081.
Note: This setting does not actually set the port WHD listens to; it simply
sets the port WHD URLs use. To change the port WHD listens to, modify the
DEFAULT_PORT setting in <WebHelpDesk>/conf/whd.conf and
restart the application.
4. If needed, enter the Web Help Desk Name. The default is Web Help Desk,
but you can change this to the name you want your users to see.
5. Enter the maximum number of rows a Ticket, Client, or Asset search can
return in the Max Search Results field. A typical "safe" value for this option
is from 1000 - 5000. Do not leave the Max Search Results field empty if
WHD contains more than 5000 records. If the field is left empty, WHD
enforces no search limit, which can affect search performance.
6. Select the maximum number of items returned per page for Ticket, Client,
Asset and FAQ searches.
7. Enter how large attachments uploaded to WHD can be.
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8. Select the maximum number of weeks data remains in the WHD dashboard.
9. Select Filter Dashboard Data to User to only include Tickets visible to a
Tech, based on the , Request Types, and Tech Group Levels that the Tech
has access to.
10. Select Show Icons for Referenceable URLs to have icons appear in list
and detail pages, providing referenceable URLs for accessing a given
Ticket, FAQ, or other item.
11. If desired, add Web Help Desk contact information. Clients can use this
information to contact Techs directly for help.
Select your authentication method in the WHD browser interface, by navigating to
Setup > General > Authentication > Authentication Method.
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Choose one of the following authentication methods:
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Web Help Desk – This method authenticates the user by username and
password. Usernames and passwords come from those configured in WHD
or are imported from Active Directory or LDAP connections.
SAML 2.0 – Security Assertion Markup 2.0 Language. This XML protocol
provides authentication from an Identity Provider (IdP) to a Service Provider
(SP). In WHD, SAML 2.0 allows SSO authentication using Active Directory
Federation Services (AD FS) to authenticate a user over multiple Web
applications over the life of a single online session. When you configure
SSO in WHD using AD FS, you can enable users, for example, who log in
to the Exchange server to be automatically logged in to WHD as well. See
Deploying SSO with SAML Using AD FS for details on configuring SAML
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with AD FS for WHD.
Note: AD FS must be configured separately to work with WHD. For details
on configuring AD FS to work with WHD, see the AD FS 2.0 Step-by-Step
and How To Guides at http://technet.microsoft.com.
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CAS 2.0 – Central Authentication Service 2.0. CAS 2.0 uses an SSO
service URL to authenticate the user WHD sends it. The CAS server then
sends the user back to WHD and attaches a "ticket" to the WHD URL. WHD
submits the ticket to CAS so it can validate the URL to get the username of
the authenticated user. Deploy the CAS server in Tomcat and set the
endpoints to this service WHD. See Deploying SSO with CAS 2.0 for
information on how to set up CAS 2.0 on your WHD Tomcat server.
Servlet Authentication – Servlet Authentication sends the authenticated
username to web applications through the
HttpServletRequest.getRemoteUser() method. Use this type of
authentication for Tomcat installations only.
Note: You may, at your own risk, be able to use WAFFLE for WHD Servlet
Authentication. Be aware that SolarWinds does not support this method of
SSO. For information on configuring WAFFLE, see the article, "Servlet
Single-Sign On Security Filter" at https://github.com.
For additional information, refer to http://thwack.solarwinds.com and the
SolarWinds knowledgebase article, WAFFLE servlet authentication
configuration steps.
HTTP Header – This method uses web servers like Apache to forward
externally authenticated user information through HTTP headers.
HTTP Form Value – HTTP Form Value forwards the authenticated
username through an HTTP name/value pair, rather than an HTTP header.
For details on these procedures, see Configuring and Managing Authentication.
The Time & Place page shows the time zone and local work hours for the
locations your help desk manages.
In the Business Zones tab, you can add new location, time zones, countries, date
and time formats, business hours, and work days.
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To add a new location and set the business hours:
1. Click New.
2. Enter a name for the location.
3. Select the Time Zone for the location.
4. Select the Country for the location.
5. Use a Currency Precision to for the country's monetary system. The
default setting usually works.
6. Select the proper time and date formats for the location.
7. Select the Business Hours and Work Days for the location.
8. Click Save.
To add calendar events for up to a year in the future or past:
1. Select the Calendar tab.
2. Select the calendar events to include.
3. Define how far into the future and past to include events.
4. If inapplicable, deselect iCalendar-Integration Enabled.
5. Define formats for Due-Date Calendar Events and Work-Time Calendar
events, using the formats described in the detailed tooltips available by
mousing over the Information
button.
6. Click Save.
The Look & Feel page allows you to place your company logo on the web
console. Follow the instructions and guidelines on the page to make this change.
If you make changes on this page, click Save to save the changes.
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Click Style Sheet Gallery to access templates such as the following:
Or, you can access these style sheet templates at the Web Help Desk CSS
Gallery.
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To install and apply a new style sheet template:
1. Download desired template.
2. Copy content of the zipped .css file into clipboard.
3. To modify the Client Style Sheet setting, select Custom and click Edit CSS
to expose the CSS editor.
4. Remove any existing content in the editor.
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5. Paste the template from the clipboard.
6. Select Replace Default CSS and Compress.
7. Click Update to refresh the panel with parameters from the new template.
8. Review the new style sheet implementation at the bottom of the page.
9. If the implementation does not look the way you want, adjust the template
Header, Help Desk Name, and Button Bar color, size, and spacing
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parameters.
For complete information on color code names and what the colors look
like, refer to HTML tutorial websites such as w3schools.com's HTML Color
Names.
10. Click Save to activate the new style sheet.
Customizing the Database Connection
Select your database, update the host name and login credentials, configure a
database backup schedule, and, if needed, add a custom backup folder. If you
make changes on this page, click Save to save the changes.
Setting and Forwarding Log Settings
The Logs page allows you to set a criticality level for logging. This is not
necessary for your initial configuration and is typically used for troubleshooting. If
you make changes on this page, click Save to save the changes.
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Setting Up Email
Setting Up Email
WHD uses email to automate its communications. Each item in the Email pages
has a popup tooltip that explains how to set the option and the effect of that setting
on your installation.
Web Help Desk supports multiple accounts for receiving and sending email. Each
Incoming Mail Account is associated with a specific Request Type and,
optionally, a Tech Group. Incoming mail accounts are checked each minute for
new messages, which are processed and turned into tickets. After they are
processed, messages are deleted from the incoming mail server.
Each Incoming Mail Account is associated with an Outgoing Mail Account (SMTP
server) used for delivery of outgoing mail.
Custom greetings can be defined in Templates associated with a specific Status
Type and, optionally, a Request Type. These templates can be personalized by
the use of tags that serve as placeholders for parameters like first name, last
name, ticket number, login URL, etc.
Simplifying Email Management – Options
Simplify incoming mail processing by configuring WHD to accept email from
unknown persons in your client domains. Otherwise, you will need to define and
maintain lists of each email sender for each client.
Configure these settings in the E-mail > Options page, which contains advanced
settings for restricting email formats, senders, and contents. Most of the options
can accepted at the default settings.
Complete the followings steps to simplify email management options:
1. Click Only if email matches an Accepted Domain in the Create Accounts
for Unrecognized Senders section.
2. Enter the domain names for your clients, separating each domain name by
a comma and then a space. For example, [[[Undefined variable
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WHD.solarwinds]]].com, example.com.
3. Click Save.
The Ignored Senders box allows you to deny email from senders who may be
sending SPAM or other unwanted email.
The Regular Expression Filters allow you to filter out email, based on specific
criteria for the Subject, Body, Content, or Attachments. The tooltip provides
detailed information on using each of these filters.
Review the remaining options settings and make any changes required for your
email environment.
If you make any other changes on the page, click Save to submit the changes.
Setting Up Outgoing Email Accounts
You define your SMTP server(s) and help desk email address in the Outgoing
Mail Options page.
To configure your outgoing WHD email:
1. Click New.
2. In the SMTP Server field, enter the IP address of your SMTP server. Use
port 25 unless your server uses something other than the default port. 3. If your SMTP server requires SSL authentication, click the SSL check
box.
4. Enter the SMTP Username and SMTP Password.
5. Enter the administrator’s email address in the E-Mail field.
6. Enter the domain names for each of your help desk customer domains.
Separate each name with a comma and then a space. The Accepted
Domains field defines the domains to which your SMTP server sends
email.
7. Enter the administrator’s email address in the E-Mail field.
Note: If you have specific mail.smtp or mail.from requirements for your
SMTP server, enter those requirements in the Advanced E-Mail Properties
field. Hover your mouse over the field title to see details on these properties.
8. When you have completed entering information on this page, click Save.
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A green dot to the right indicates a connection has been made to your SMTP
server. A red dot indicates a failure to connect to the SMTP server. The error
message at the top of the page indicates the nature of the failure.
Note: Be certain to delete the sample outgoing server that was installed by
default. The sample server may interfere with your actual SMTP server.
The Incoming E-mail Accounts page defines the requirements for accepting email
and initiating some of the automated email processes.
To setup incoming email:
1. Click New on the Incoming Mail Accounts page.
2. If you want to be able to open tickets automatically from incoming
email, select the Enable E-mail Tickets check box.
3. If this server is your default incoming mail server, click Make Default.
4. Enter the Email Address for incoming email.
Note: This should be a new email inbox for WHD. Do not use a personal
inbox. Email in this inbox is processed and deleted.
5. Select the Account Type (IMAP, POP3, or Exchange 2007/2010).
6. Leave Compatibility Mode cleared.
7. Enter the Incoming Mail server IP Address, port, and then select SSL if
your server requires SSL.
8. Enter the User Name and Password for the email account
9. Leave Inbox Folder as INBOX.
10. For the Outgoing Mail Account, select the server defined on the Outgoing
Mail Accounts page.
11. Click the Allow Auto-Submitted Email check box.
Note: Special settings may be required for your email server to properly
process incoming mail. Leave the Advanced Email Properties blank at this
point. If your server fails incoming email tests, you may have to troubleshoot
this area. Hover your mouse over Advanced Email Properties for more
information.
12. Click Save.
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For information on using mail templates to create professional-looking email
messages from WHD to clients, see Applying Email Templates.
Applying Email Templates
Email templates make it possible for outgoing and incoming email to use
information already in WHD Tickets. Email templates use tags to pull information
from tickets into emails, such as first name, last name, ticket number, and login
URL.
Note: See Applying Tags in Email Templates for a complete list of tags for WHD
Ticket information.
Apply email templates and tags to create emails such as:
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Ticket update emails
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Ticket approval and disapproval emails
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Action rule emails
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Other general emails that require information from Tickets
You can use WHD's built in email templates or you can create custom templates.
Built-in Email Templates
WHD includes ready-to-use, built-in email templates for ticket-related outgoing
and incoming emails. You can use these templates or customize them to fulfill
your needs.
For information on using built-in templates, see Editing Built-in Email Templates.
The following table lists the outgoing email templates included with WHD.
Template
Description
SMS Message
Template that used to create the body portion of
all SMS messages.
New Account Message
Message sent when a new Web Help Desk
account has been created.
Validate Email Message -
Message sent when a Client creates the new
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New Account
account and the Setup > Clients > Client
Options > Require E-Mail Validation setting is
enabled.
Validate Email Message
Existing Account: Message sent when a Client
edits an existing account and the Setup > Clients > Client Options > Require E-Mail Validation setting is enabled.
Reset/Forgot Password Mes- Existing Account: Message sent when a Client
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edits an existing account and the Setup > Clients > Client Options > Require E-Mail Validation setting is enabled.
Unrecognized E-mail Reply
Plain-text reply to Web Help Desk email that
does not match a Client or Tech account.
Unauthorized Update E-mail Plain-text reply to email from a Tech not authorReply
ized to change the status of the Ticket.
Unauthorized Status
Change E-mail Reply
Plain-text reply to email from a Tech or Client
not authorized to update the Ticket.
E-mail Reply for Status
Change Request on Tickets
Pending Approval
Plain-text reply to an email from a Tech for a
Ticket that is pending Approval.
Disabled Account Reply
Plain text reply to an email from a Client with a
disabled Location.
Approved Ticket Greeting
Greeting at the top of messages sent for Tickets
that have completed the Approval process.
Denied Ticket Greeting
Greeting for messages based on Tickets having
status and request types that do not match any
configured templates.
Default Ticket Greeting
Greeting for messages based on Tickets having
status and request types that do not match any
configured templates.
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Overdue Message
Message sent to a Client for an overdue asset.
Approval Request Greeting
Default greeting that appears at the top of messages requesting approval for a Ticket.
Incoming Email Templates
The following table lists the incoming email templates included with WHD.
Template
Description
Message Body When
Adding a Client Note
Default message for the email opened by clicking the Add Note action link in an email from
WHD.
Message Body When
Canceling a Ticket
WHD.
Message Body When Confirming a Resolved Ticket
Default message for the email opened by clicking the Yes action link in aWHD email sent when
a Ticket status is changed to Resolved.
Message Body When
Rejecting a Resolved
Ticket
Default message for the email opened by clicking the No action link in aWHD email sent when
a Ticket status is changed to Resolved.
Message Body When Voting to Approve a Ticket
Default message for the email opened by clicking the Yes action link in an email from WHD.
Message Body When Voting Not to Approve a Ticket
aWHD.
Note: Built-in templates can be edited, but cannot be deleted.
You can also define custom email templates associated with a specific status
type and a request type.
Template Layout
Each built-in template includes a detailed description of its purpose, the tags it
uses, and the text and tags that make up the template.
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A typical email template configuration page resembles the SMS Message
template page shown below.
Built-in templates are pre-configured and ready to use for your WHD deployment.
If required, you can modify the tags and text in the built-in templates so your WHD
installation is able to send custom emails.
If you need to modify a built-in template, you can: l
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Modify the information that appears in the resulting email by moving,
adding, or removing the text and tags available for that template. See
Applying Email Tags for a complete list of tags available for all email
templates.
Add a language other than standard English.
Apply an email footer you have already defined in Setup > Email >
Options.
The following example customizes an outgoing built-in template called
Unrecognized E-Mail Reply. WHD uses this template to send replies to an
unrecognized email address that submitted a request. The goal for this example
is to have the resulting emails reflect the actual name of the help desk.
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To edit this built-in email message template:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup and select Email > Templates.
The Email Templates screen appears.
2. Select the Outgoing Mail tab is active.
3. In the E-mail Template column select Unrecognized E-mail Reply.
The Unrecognized E-mail Reply template properties appears.
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4. In the Subject field, change:
ERROR: Your support request could not be processed
to
<helpdesk_name> cannot process your request.
The helpdesk name now appears in the Subject field for emails using this
template.
5. In the Template field, change the existing default message:
We're sorry, your e-mail address was not recognized
by the help desk, so your request for support could
not be submitted.
to
We're sorry, but <helpdesk_name> does not recognize
your email address and cannot process your request.
The helpdesk name now appears in the body text of any emails using this
template.
Below is an example of your edited template.
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6. Click Save.
Your changes are saved to the template.
The following example describes how to create a new outgoing template for
emails WHD sends to Clients who opened trouble tickets accepted in WHD.
To create this new email template:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup and select Email > Templates.
The Email Templates screen appears.
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2. Select the Outgoing Tab.
3. Click New.
A blank template design appears.
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4. In the Name field, enter a name for the template.
In this example, name the template:
Open Ticket Acknowledgment
5. In the optional Description field, enter a description that helps your help
desk personnel when to apply this template.
Explain the purpose and reason for using this template. For example,
Use this template for emails sent to clients who
opened tickets requiring IT support only - no HR or
Facilities requests.
6. In the Template field, enter the customer correspondence to include in the
email.
Since the purpose of this template is to acknowledge that the client's new
ticket is being addressed in your help desk system, include information such
as:
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Client name or login ID
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Ticket number
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Help Desk name
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Help Desk contact person (such as a Tech or Admin)
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How the client can obtain their ticket status
You can automate most of this information using tags, which act as
placeholders for information available in your tickets. The blue box at the
bottom of the Template field labeled Tags offers a partial list of tags you
can use.
See Applying Tags in Email Templates for a complete list of available tags.
7. In the Template field, enter the text for your email template and the tags
needed to represent the ticket information to include in the email.
For example, if you chose to include the following information in your email:
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Client first name
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Client last name
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ID number of the ticket the Client submitted
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URL where Client can login to find out about the Ticket's status
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Name of the help desk system
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Help desk contact person name
then create the text for the email template and enter these tags (listed in
Applying Tags in Email Templates) where appropriate:
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<first_name>
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<last_name>
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<ticket_id>
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<helpdesk_name>
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<login_url>
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<helpdesk_contact_info>
Below is an example of your completed email template.
5. In the Status Type field, select Open
Note: Selecting Open addresses an email that is sent when a ticket is
opened.
6. In the Request Types field, select Specific.
7. Select the appropriate request types.
Request types included with WHD are:
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Email/Outlook
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Facilities
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Hardware
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HR
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IT General/Other
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Network
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Phone/Voicemail
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Printer/Toner/User Administration
Note: To enable the template to apply to all open ticket greeting emails,
select All. The template is applied to all default and custom-created request
types. For more information on request types, see Adding and Editing
Custom Request Types.
8. Skip the Other Languages field if you are creating a template in United
States English.
If your Client requires emails in another language, click All to select the
Client's language. Then design your template and click Save.
Note: The option lists more than 100 languages, including variants of
English and other languages. Review them carefully before choosing one.
9. (Optional) In the Use Email Footer field, click the check box to include the
footer already defined in Setup > E-Mail > Options > E-Mail Footer, with
this template.
When completed, your template is configured with your new selections.
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10. Click Save.
The template is saved.
Tags are placeholders used in email templates used to autopopulate emails with
ticket information. The tickets contain information types defined in the WHD Setup
pages for areas such as Tickets, Clients, Techs, and Processes. These tags are
used in email templates for general, approval and disapproval, and action rule
emails.
WHD replaces these placeholders with their proper values (based on values in
client tickets) once the email is generated.
You can use the following list of working tags in any type of WHD email template
for emails about tickets or information in tickets.
Note: When you add tags to an email template, use the tag exactly as it appears
in the table below. The content (such as tech, email, and client) must appear
between right and left facing angle brackets (such as <client>).
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Tag
Information Pulled From Ticket
<ticket_url>
URL where Ticket resides.
<login_url>
URL for logging in to access Ticket.
<ticket_id>
WHD ID number of the Ticket.
<request_type>
Ticket's Request Type. A Request Type defines what
the ticket is about. It can be, for example,
Email/Outlook, Network, Printer/Toner, or User Administration.
<status_type>
Ticket Status. Indicates the Ticket's state of completion, which can be Open, Closed, Pending,
Canceled, or Resolved.
<priority_type>
Ticket Priority Type. Default priorities are Urgent,
High, Medium, and Low. Ticket Priority Type determines the Ticket due date.
<client>
Client first and last name.
<client_short>
Shortened version of Client name. Used when little
space is available, such as in lists.
<client_phone>
Phone number of the Client who submitted the Ticket.
<client_email>
Email of the Client who submitted the Ticket.
<assigned _to>
Name of tech to whom Ticket is assigned.
<assigned_to_short>
Short name of Tech to whom Ticket is assigned
<tech>
Tech first and last name.
<tech_short>
Shortened version of Tech's name. Used when little
splace is available, such as in lists.
<tech_phone>
Tech phone number.
<tech_email>
Tech email address.
<room>
Room, according to value in Ticket.
<company>
Company, according to value in Ticket.
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<location>
Location, according to value in Ticket.
<subject>
Ticket subject.
<report>
Request detail information.
<due_datetime>
Estimated Ticket completion date and time.
<scheduled_worktime> Scheduled date and time for work on Ticket.
<worktime>
Time spent working on Ticket.
<first_initial>
First letter of Client first name.
<last_name>
Client last name.
<last_initial>
First letter of Client last name.
<email>
Client email address.
<last_name>
Client last name.
<helpdesk_contact_
info>
WHD contact information.
<helpdesk_name>
Name of Help Desk installation.
<custom_x>
Ticket custom field, where x represents a custom field
ID. For more information on Ticket Custom fields, see
Creating Custom Fields for Tickets.
Because these tags are hard coded into WHD, they cannot be edited. However,
you can edit the templates where they appear. For information about using tags in
templates, see Applying Email Templates.
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Configuring and Managing
Authentication
After choosing an authentication method in the WHD browser interface's Settings
> General > Authentication page, configure and maintain Single Sign On (SSO)
and security authentication outside the WHD browser interface. These
authentication methods comprise:
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SSO – SSO is a single point of access linking applications to one signon
point. You log in one time at that one login window to access all linked
systems, without having to individually log in to each system. For example,
your Windows login provides SSO functionality when logging onto your
desktop also gives you network and email access. WHD supports SAML
2.0, CAS 2.0, and Application Servlet SSO authentication. For information
on applying SSO in WHD, see Deploying SSO with SAML Using AD FS
and Deploying SSO with CAS 2.0.
HTTPS – Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. Also known as secure HTTP,
HTTPS is widely used for communications across the Internet. HTTPS is a
secure, encrypted communication channel between browsers and servers.
HTTPS is not an actual protocol. See Enabling HTTPS for information on
setting up HTTPS.
SSL – Secure Socket Layer. SSL is a cryptographic protocol that secures
Internet communications. SSL encrypts segments of network connections
using a system requiring two separate keys: symmetric encryption for
privacy and message authentication codes for message integrity. The
HTTPS channel results from layering SSL security on top of HTTP. When a
browser submits an HTTPS request to WHD, the SSL protocol requires
WHD to respond with a certificate to prove the authenticity of the server. The
certificate contains a public key used for encryption and a digital signature
from a Certification Authority (CA). The digital signature indicates which CA
verified the authenticity of the server.
Certificates – An SSL certificate verifies who the certificate owner is,
containing information such as owner name, website address, email
address, how long the certificate is valid, and the digital signature of the
person or entity owning the certificate. For more information on using
certificates in WHD, see Working with Keys and Certificates.
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Keys – An SSL certificate contains a public and private key pair. The
private key contains the code and the public key decodes the public key.
The private key is installed on the server and never shared with anyone.
The public key is incorporated into the SSL certificate and shared with web
browsers. The certificates that came with your browser and application, for
example, contain the keys that can decrypt those applications' root
certificates. For more information on using keys in WHD, see Working with
Keys and Certificates.
Note: WHD does not support Windows Authentication for connections to
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).
For details on configuring and managing single sign on and security
authentication for WHD, see the following:
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Enabling HTTPS
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Certificate Troubleshooting Tips.
WHD 10.2.0.22 and later supports SAML 2.0, which allows Single Sign On (SSO)
authentication. SSO in WHD uses SAML with Active Directory Federation
Services (AD FS) to authenticate a user over multiple Web applications over the
life of a single online session.
When you configure SSO in WHD using AD FS, you can enable users, for
example, who log in to the Exchange server to be automatically logged in to WHD
as well.
Note: If you are using Windows Server 2008 R2, you must upgrade to AD FS 2.0.
AD FS 1.0 is the default on Windows Server 2008 R2 and does not support
SAML 2.0.
WHD and AD FS settings must be configured separately from each other. These
instructions describe how to configure SSO in WHD only. For details on
configuring SSO with SAML using AD FS, see the AD FS 2.0 Step-by-Step and
How To Guides at http://technet.microsoft.com.
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Before You Begin
Before You Begin
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Enable automatic Active Directory (AD) logon through Windows by adding
the AD FS logon URL to the Local Intranet sites in Internet Explorer through
Tools > Internet options. This can also be done through a group policy for
the whole organization.
Set up your SAML server with an identity repository such as AD FS or Light
Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) in the remote login URL for your SAML
server.
Enable SSL in your WHD installation using a trusted certificate (like
GoDaddy or Verisign) or create your own certificate. For additional
information, see Working with Keys and Certificates.
Help Desk and SAML AD FS Settings
In the following settings, replace mydomain.com with your actual domain
name.
To configure Web Help Desk to use SAML AD FS for authentication:
1. Navigate to Setup > General > Authentication.
2. Select SAML 2.0 as the Authentication Method. The Authentication Settings
window changes to accept SAML configuration input.
3. Enter https://adfs.<mydomain>.com/adfs/ls as the login page URL. To
bypass external authentication, add the following to your login URL:
?username=<username>&password=<password>.
4. Click Upload to apply a Verification certificate and enable SSL. Apply the
same certificate used to sign the assertion in the of AD FS 2.0 Relying Party
(RP) setting. For example, an uploaded GoDaddy verification certificate
might look like the following after being uploaded.
5. Enter https://adfs.<mydomain.com>/adfs/ls for the Logout URL or leave
this field blank to use the WHD default logout page. WHD redirects the
users to this page for logout.
To configure SAML 2.0 on the AD FS Server to work with WHD:
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1. Enter the following AD FS 2.0 RP settings:
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Identifier: <mydomain.com>/helpdesk/WebObjects/Helpdesk.woa
Signature: Enter the name of the certificate uploaded to WHD in step 4
of the WHD SAML configuration instructions.
Endpoint: Binding: POST, URL: < server IP
address>/helpdesk/WebObjects/Helpdesk.woa
Detail: Secure hash algorithm SHA-1
2. Enter the following AD FS 2.0 Log Out settings:
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Identifier: https://<mydomain.com
us>/helpdesk/WebObjects/Helpdesk.woa
Signature: Use the same certificate as above.
Endpoint: SAML Logout, Binding: POST, URL: https://<ADFS_
Server_fqdn>/<domain name>/adfs/ls/?wa=wsignout1.0
Detail: Secure hash algorithm SHA-1
3. Enter the following AD FS 2.0 Claim Mapping settings:
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Attribute store: Active Directory
LDAP attribute: Usually an email address. If your WHD client login
attribute is a user name rather than an email address, use the user ID
or account name instead of the email address.
Outgoing claim type: NameID
Adding AD FS Login URLs to Trusted Sites
Adding the AD FS login URL to Internet Explorer's Trusted Sites eliminates the
WHD login script popup and automatically authenticates your login and logs you
in to WHD.
To add a Trusted Site to Internet Explorer:
1. In Internet Explorer, navigate to Tools > Internet options > Security >
Trusted Sites.
2. Click Sites.
3. Enter the AD FS login URL to this zone and click Add. Make sure you have
entered the URL with the prefix https://.
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4. Select Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone.
5. Click Close to apply these settings and close the Trusted site dialog.
6. Click OK to close the Internet Options dialog.
To add a trusted site to Internet Explorer and enable automatic WHD logon:
1. In Internet Explorer, navigate to Tools > Internet options.
2. Select the Security tab and click Local Internet.
3. Click Sites.
4. Click Advanced.
5. Enter the appropriate AD FS URL in the Add field and click Add.
6. Click Close and return to the Internet Options dialog.
7. In the Internet Options dialog, select the Security tab and click Trusted
Sites.
8. Click Sites.
9. Enter the WHD URL in the Add field and click Add.
10. Click Close return to the Internet Options dialog.
11. In the Internet Options dialog with Trusted Sites still selected, click
Custom level...
12. Scroll to User Authentication and select Automatic logon with current
user name and password.
13. Click OK to close the Security tab and exit the Internet Options dialog.
14. Start WHD.
CAS 2.0 is a web-based SSO protocol. CAS server is deployed into Tomcat and
endpoints to this service are set in WHD. WHD uses these endpoints to
authenticate the client according to the user’s Windows login credentials. You
can deploy your CAS server into WHD’s Tomcat or your own WHD server.
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Deploying on Tomcat
To deploy CAS 2.0 Server on the Help Desk Tomcat Server
1. Download the CAS 2.0 ZIP file: http://www.jasig.org/cas/download.
2. Extract the files.
3. Turn off the WHD server.
4. From the /module directory, copy cas-server-webapp-3.5.2.war into your
Tomcat deployment /bin/webapps.
5. Rename cas-server-webapp-3.5.2.war to cas.war.
6. Turn on the WHD server.
From now on, CAS 2.0 is accessible from https://webhelpdesk:port/cas. You
should have the HTTPS port on Tomcat enabled. If you have SSL already
enabled, skip Enabling SSL on the Help Desk and go on to Deploying on the
Help Desk Server.
Enabling SSL on the Help Desk
To enable SSL on WHD:
1. Uncomment HTTPS_PORT=443.
2. Using Porteclé, create new certificate (as described in Generating a New
Certificate in Porteclé) and insert it into /conf/keystore.jks.
Note: Make sure that the certificate’s Common Name (CN) is set to the
WHD server's Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). The CN should
comprise the host server and domain name. For example, if your FDQN is
www.hostserver.com, the CN name must also be www.hostserver.com.
3. Restart WHD.
Deploying on the Help Desk Server
To deploy CAS 2.0 on your own WHD server:
1. In WHD , navigate to Setup > General > Authentication.
2. Select CAS 2.0 as the Authentication Method.
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3. Set the following endpoints and certificate (ask your local administrator for
details).
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CAS login URL: https://fqdn:port/cas/login
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CAS validate URL: https://fqdn:port/cas/serviceValidate
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Verification certificate: Select a certificate that uses CAS for signing
the responses. WHD's Tomcat certificate is from keystore.jks.
Logout URL: https://fqdn:port/cas/logout.
4. Save changes.
Now you are able to log in using CAS 2.0.
Group Policy Objects (GPOs) define settings for Windows server configurations.
Group Policies apply these settings.
To set up a GPO to push Internet Explorer settings for WHD:
1. Log on to the WHD domain using the Domain Administrator account.
2. Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
3. On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap-In, and then click Add. The
Add or Remove Snap-Ins dialog box opens.
4. In Available snap-ins, scroll down to and double-click Group Policy
Management Editor, and then click OK. The Group Policy Wizard opens.
5. In Select Group Policy Object, click Browse. The Browse for a Group Policy
Object dialog box opens.
6. In Domains, OUs, and linked Group Policy Objects, click Default Domain
Policy, and then click OK.
7. Click Finish, and then click OK.
8. In the Default Domain [yourdomain.com] Policy console tree, expand the
following path: User Configuration, Policies, Windows Settings, Internet
Explorer Maintenance, Connection.
9. Double-click Automatic Browser Configuration, clear the Automatically
Detect Configuration Settings check box, and then click OK.
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10. In the Default Domain [yourdomain.com] Policy console tree, expand the
following path: User Configuration, Policies, Windows Settings, Internet
Explorer Maintenance, Security.
11. Double-click Security Zones and Content Ratings, click Import the
current security zones and privacy settings, click Continue when
prompted, and then click Modify Settings.
12. In the Internet Properties dialog box, click the Security tab, click Local
Intranet icon, and then click Sites.
13. In the Local Internet dialog box, in Add this website to the zone
type*.yourdomain.com, click Add, select the Require server verification
(https) for all sites in this zone, click Close, and then click OK.
Enabling HTTPS
When a browser submits an HTTPS request to WHD, the SSL protocol requires
WHD to respond with a certificate to prove the authenticity of the server. Begin
your security configuration by enabling HTTPS.
To activate HTTPS in WHD:
1. Configure the port WHD uses to listen for HTTPS requests.
2. Configure the port WHD uses to listen for the URLs it generates that point
back to itself, if needed.
3. Configure WHD to listen for HTTPS requests.
4. Enter an SSL connection port, if needed.
5. Restart WHD.
For best practice, SolarWinds recommends reviewing the following
steps before you begin the configuration.
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To configure the HTTPS listening port:
1. Navigate to WebHelpDesk/conf/whd.conf.
2. In the whd.conf file, locate the Ports section and enter the port number
WHD monitors for HTTPS requests, which appears after HTTPS_PORTS=.
3. Save your changes.
4. If you have no other configuration changes, exit the whd.conf file.
Configuring URL Ports
In some rare cases, you may require WHD to use a different port in URLs it
generates to itself than the port the app server itself is actually running on.
For example, a web server might be configured to route requests for the default
port (80) to go to the default WHD port (8081). In this case, you can have URLs to
the help desk use port 80 rather than 8081. Port 8081 might even be kept behind
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a firewall and thus be unreachable from other machines. If you do not configure
the URL ports, WHD uses the default ports.
If needed, configure the port WHD uses for the URLs it generates that point back
to itself.
To configure an URL port:
1. Remaining in the whd.conf file, find the URL Ports (optional) section.
2. At the bottom of the section, enter the desired URL port number after URL_
HTTPS_PORT=.
3. Save your changes. If you have no other configuration changes, exit the
whd.conf file.
Enabling Listening for HTTPS Requests
To enable WHD to listen to HTTPS requests, uncomment the HTTPS_PORT
setting in WebHelpDesk/conf/whd.conf:
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1. Remove the pound sign # at the beginning of the line.
3. If you have no other configuration changes, exit the whd.conf file.
By default, browsers use port 443 for SSL connections. If you use a different port,
include the port number in URLs referring to WHD. For example, if your whd.conf
file contains the line HTTPS_PORT=8443, connect to WHD using the following URL:
https://localhost:8443.
Restarting the Help Desk
After you cofigure the HTTPS_PORT setting, restart WHD. WHD creates a new
Java keystore at WebHelpDesk/conf/keystore.jks. The new keystore contains
a self-signed certificate.
When a browser submits an HTTPS request to WHD, the SSL protocol requires
WHD to respond with a certificate to prove the authenticity of the server. The
certificate contains a public key used for encryption and a digital signature from a
Certification Authority (CA). The digital signature indicates which CA verified the
authenticity of the server.
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Web browsers already trust most certificates signed by large CAs such as
Verisign. That does not mean, however, you cannot use certificates signed by
smaller CAs. When a browser does not recognize the certificate’s CA, the
browser asks you to confirm trust in the certificate.
After you confirm trust in a certificate, the browser uses the certificate's public key
to encrypt information it sends to WHD. WHD decrypts the information using its
private key. Similarly, WHD uses its private key to encrypt information sent to the
browser, and the browser uses the public key received in the certificate to decrypt
it.
WHD keeps its keys and certificates in a Java keystore at
WebHelpDesk/conf/keystore.jks. The open-source utility Porteclé (“POR-tuhCLAY,” French for keychain), which comes bundled with WHD, provides a
graphical user interface for administering the keystore on the Windows or Mac
OSX platform.
If you do not have a certificate for your server and are using the Windows or Mac
OSX platform, use Porteclé to generate both a keypair and a Certificate Signing
Request (CSR) to send to the CA. Then import the CA Reply certificate.
If you already have a certificate, import both the certificate and the primary key
into the keystore. Porteclé does not allow you to import a primary key by itself, so
you must combine it with its certificate in a PKCS#12 file (*.p12 or *.pfx). In each
case, the keypair must be aliased as tomcat, and both the keypair and the
keystore must be protected by the password specified in the KEYSTORE_
PASSWORD setting in whd.conf.
For instructions on working with keys and certificates, see:
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Generating a New Certificate Using Porteclé
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Importing a CA Chain and Root Certificates
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Exporting a PKCS#12 Keystore from Microsoft Management Console
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Adding an SSL Certificate to the Virtual Appliance
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When working in the WHD Virtual Appliance, use the command line interface to
generate new certificates and an FTP interface tool like WinSCP or FileZilla to
transfer any new or existing certificates.
WHD uses the Tomcat web server. The Tomcat web server requires its keypair to
have the alias tomcat.
The default password to both the keypair and keystore is changeit; Tomcat
requires the keystore and keypair password be identical. To use your own
password, change the KEYSTORE_PASSWORD setting in whd.conf located at
\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\whd.conf.
It is possible for a trusted CA to delegate to another CA. In this case, the
certificate returned by the delegated CA will itself be signed by the trusted CA,
resulting in a certificate chain. Certificate chains may be of any length. The
highest certificate in the chain, the root certificate, should be a self-signed
certificate, signed by the trusted CA.
Each certificate in the chain must be imported into the keystore so that the
complete chain can be sent to the browser. If the CA Reply does not include the
chain certificates, they must be added to the keystore manually before the CA
reply.
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The certificates must be imported in order of dependency. This means that the
root certificate must be added first, then the next chained certificate that was
signed by the root certificate, and so on, down to the CA reply.
A keypair created using Porteclé has a self-signed certificate. To replace the selfsigned certificate with a certificate signed by a CA, you must generate a
Certificate Signing Request (CSR) for the keypair and submit it to the CA. The
CSR contains the public key and the name of the server, in a format defined by
the PKCS#10 standard (typically given the filename extension .p10 or .csr).
After verifying the applicant’s identity, the CA sends you a certificate you can use
to replace the self-signed certificate in the keypair. This CA Reply (or CSR Reply)
is typically an X.509 Certificate file (.cer, .crt, .pem, or .der) or an PKCS#7 file
(.p7b).
Generating a New Certificate in Porteclé
Generating a new certificate using Porteclé comprises the following processes:
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Creating a new keypair
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Generating a certificate signing request (CSR).
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Importing the CA reply certificate.
If you already have a certificate, see Importing an Existing Certificate.
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To create a new keypair:
1. Launch the Porteclé batch file from the \Program Files\WebHelpDesk
folder.
2. Select the JKS file type.
3. Enter changeit in the Enter Password field.
After opening the keystore, you should see a keypair entry with the alias
tomcat. WHD automatically created this keypair. Replace the keypair with a
new keypair configured for your domain.
4. Delete the existing tomcat keypair by right-clicking the alias and then
clicking Delete.
5. Click Tools > Generate Key Pair.
7. Choose an algorithm and key size. Enter either 1024 or 2048, and select
RSA.
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8. Click OK. Porteclé prompts you to provide the x509 attributes for your
certificate.
9. Select a Validity that matches the number of days you CA certificate will be
valid. Typical validation periods are 6, 12, or 24 months.
Note: The Validity period is the period you specified when you purchased
you certificate from the CA.
10. Enter a CN that matches the site used in the certificate For example, if WHD
is hosted at support.example.com, your CN must be support.examole.com.
11. Enter an Organization Unit (OU) that helps distinguish this certificate from
others for your organization.
12. Enter an Organization Name (O), typically name for your organization.
13. Enter a Locality Name (L). This is typically a city name.
14. Enter a State Name (ST). This should be the unabbreviated city and
state/province/region/territory of your organization.
15. Enter a Country (C) This should be the two letter ISO 3166 country code for
your country.
16. If desired, enter an Email. This is an optional setting that your CA may use
as the address to which the certificate will be mailed.
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17. Click OK. In the Generate Certificate panel, Porteclé asks you to provide an
alias for the new keypair.
18. Enter the alias tomcat, and then click OK.
19. Enter changeit in both fields, and then click Enter After successfully
providing the keypair password, you should see the new keypair aliased by
Tomcat.
1. Right-click the tomcat keypair and then click Generate CSR.
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2. Enter a name for the CSR to help you remember the domain it validates. For
example, you might use support.example.com.csr.
This is the file you send to your CA to request your certificate. The CA should
return an x.509 certificate in DER (*.cer, *.crt), PEM (*.pem, *.cer, *.crt) or PKCS#7
(*.p7b, *.p7c) encoding.
Importing CA Chain and Root Certificates
Before importing your certificate into the keystore, check whether the certificate
vendor requires you to include any other certificates to complete the certificate
chain.
To import a certificate, complete the following steps:
1. ClickTools > Import Trusted Certificate.
2. Locate each of the certificates provided by your CA and import them into the
keystore.
After installing any required root certificates, you need to import the response from
the CA.
To import the CA reply, right-click the tomcat keypair and then click Import CA
Reply.
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Note: If your certificate is in Base64-encoded format (*.pem and sometimes *.cer),
you may get an error when importing the certificate if it contains anything besides
the certificate itself. If this is the case, make a copy of the certificate that includes
only the lines starting with -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- and ending with ----END CERTIFICATE-----.
After importing your certificate reply, Porteclé reports that the certificate has been
imported successfully.
If, when attempting to import the CA Reply, Porteclé gives you an error that the
certificate cannot be trusted, you may be missing a root certificate. To determine
which certificate you need, temporarily import your CA Reply as a Trusted
Certificate, rather than a CA Reply certificate, and examine the Certificate Details.
Locate the Issuer property. You need to obtain a certificate from your CA that
matches this property and then import the certificate into Porteclé as a Trusted
Certificate. Once you have imported this certificate into Porteclé, as well as any
other certificates needed by its issuer, you can delete your own trusted certificate
and re-import it as a CA Reply to your keypair.
To create a new keypair:
1. Launch the Porteclé batch file from the \Program Files\WebHelpDesk
folder.
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2. Select the .jks file type.
3. Enter changeit in the Enter Password field.
After opening the keystore, you should see a keypair entry with the alias
tomcat. WHD automatically created this keypair. Replace the keypair with a
new keypair configured for your domain.
4. Delete the existing tomcat keypair by right-clicking the alias and then
clicking Delete.
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5. Click Tools > Generate Key Pair.
7. Choose an algorithm and key size. Enter either 1024 or 2048, and select
RSA.
8. Click OK. Porteclé prompts you to provide the x509 attributes for your
certificate.
9. Select a Validity that matches the number of days you CA certificate will be
valid. Typical validation periods are 6, 12, or 24 months.
Note: The Validity period is the period you specified when you purchased
you certificate from the CA.
10. Enter a CN that matches the site used in the certificate For example, if WHD
is hosted at support.example.com, your CN must be support.example.com.
11. Enter an Organization Unit (OU) that helps distinguish this certificate from
others for your organization.
12. Enter an Organization Name (O), typically name for your organization.
13. Enter a Locality Name (L). This is typically a city name.
14. Enter a State Name (ST). This should be the unabbreviated city and
state/province/region/territory of your organization.
15. Enter a Country (C). This should be the two letter ISO 3166 country code
for your country.
16. If desired, enter an Email. This is an optional setting that your CA may use
as the address to which the certificate will be mailed.
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17. Click OK. In the Generate Certificate panel, Porteclé asks you to provide an
alias for the new keypair.
18. Enter the alias tomcat, and then click OK.
19. Enter changeit in both fields, and then click Enter. After successfully
providing the keypair password, you should see the new keypair aliased by
tomcat.
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1. Right-click the tomcat keypair and then click Generate CSR.
2. Enter a name for the CSR to help you remember the domain it validates. For
example, you might use support.example.com.csr.
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This is the file you send to your CA to request your certificate. The CA should
return an x.509 certificate in DER (*.cer, *.crt), PEM (*.pem, *.cer, *.crt) or PKCS#7
(*.p7b, *.p7c) encoding.
Adding a Certficate Authority to Embedded Java CA Cert Keystore
WHD does not accept certificates signed by a Certificate Authority (CA) its Java
does not trust. To import the certificate into the trust store, you must export the
certificate to the .crt file and import the CA. Run Porteclé as an administrator to
import the CA.
Importing Certificates on Windows or Mac OSX
To import the CA in Windows or Mac OSX:
1. Start Porteclé :
a. Windows: Run <WHD>/portecle.bat
b. Mac OSX: Navigate to Applications > WebHelpDesk > Porteclé
and double click the Porteclé icon.
2. Navigate to File > Open Keystore File.
3. Open the cacerts keystore file:
a. Windows: Find the keystore at <WHD>/bin/jre/lib/security/cacerts.
b. Mac OSX: Open a terminal window and enter the following command:
/usr/libexec/java_home; e.g.
System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0jdk/
Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts
4. When prompted, enter the default password: changeit.
5. Navigate to Tools>Import Trusted Certificates and locate the .crt file
6. Choose the file and alias/name FileSaveKeystore.
7. Restart WHD.
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To import the CA in the Linux Virtual Appliance:
1. Open a terminal window and enter following command:
echo -n | openssl s_client -connect <exchange_
address>:<port> | sed -ne '/-BEGIN CERTIFICATE-/,/END CERTIFICATE-/p' > /tmp/<cert_name>.crt
2. Enter the following command:
sudo /usr/local/webhelpdesk/bin/jre/bin/keytool import -trustcacerts -keystore
/usr/local/webhelpdesk/bin/jre/lib/security/cacerts storepass <password> -noprompt -alias <cert_alias_
name> -f
3. Restart WHD.
Importing CA Root and Chain Certificates
Before importing your certificate into the keystore, check whether the certificate
vendor requires you to include any other certificates to complete the certificate
chain.
To import a certificate, complete the following steps:
1. ClickTools > Import Trusted Certificate.
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2. Locate each of the certificates provided by your CA and import them into the
keystore.
After installing any required root certificates, you need to import the response from
the CA.
To import the CA reply, right-click the tomcat keypair and then click Import CA
Reply.
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Note: If your certificate is in Base64-encoded format (*.pem and sometimes *.cer),
you may get an error when importing the certificate if it contains anything besides
the certificate itself. If this is the case, make a copy of the certificate that includes
only the lines starting with -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- and ending with ----END CERTIFICATE-----.
After importing your certificate reply, Porteclé reports that the certificate has been
imported successfully.
If, when attempting to import the CA Reply, Porteclé gives you an error that the
certificate cannot be trusted, you may be missing a root certificate. To determine
which certificate you need, temporarily import your CA Reply as a Trusted
Certificate, rather than a CA Reply certificate, and examine the Certificate Details.
Locate the Issuer property. You need to obtain a certificate from your CA that
matches this property and then import the certificate into Porteclé as a Trusted
Certificate. Once you have imported this certificate into Porteclé, as well as any
other certificates needed by its issuer, you can delete your own trusted certificate
and re-import it as a CA Reply to your keypair.
If you have an existing certificate that you would like to use with Web Help Desk,
you need to import your private key as well as your certificate chain.
Important: Do not import the certificate using Porteclé’s Tools > Import Trusted
Certificate… option, as it will not include the private key.
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The PKCS#12 standard specifies a keystore format that is used for transferring
private keys and certificates. PKCS#12 files typically use the extension .p12 or
.pfx. If you already have your private key and certificate bundled in this format, you
can import it directly into Porteclé. If you do not have a PKCS#12 (.p12 or .pfx)
file, you can use the OpenSSL pkcs12 command to generate one from a private
key and a certificate; or, if your certificate is on a Windows server, you can export
a PKCS#12 file from the Microsoft Management Console.
OpenSSL provides the pkcs12 command for generating PKCS#12 files from a
private key and a certificate. OpenSSL is open source and can be downloaded
from http://openssl.org. The private key and certificate must be in PEM format (i.e.,
base64-encoded, with ----BEGIN CERTIFICATE---- and ----END CERTIFICATE--- headers and footers).
Use this command in OpenSSL to create a PKCS#12 file from your private key
and certificate:
openssl pkcs12 -export \
-in <signed_cert_filename> \
-inkey <private_key_filename> \
-name ‘tomcat’ \
-out keystore.p12
If you have a chain of certificates, you should first combine the certificates into a
single file and use it for the input file, as shown below. The order of certificates
must be from server certificate to the CA root certificate. See RFC 2246 section
7.4.2) for details on this order.
cat <signed_cert_filename> \
<intermediate.cert> [<intermediate2.cert>]
... \
> cert-chain.txt
openssl pkcs12 -export \
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Exporting a PKCS#12 Keystore from Microsoft Management Console
-in cert-chain.txt \
-inkey <private_key_filename> \
-name ‘tomcat’ \
-out keystore.p12
You are prompted to provide a password for the new keystore, which you will
need to provide when importing the keystore into the Web Help Desk Java
keystore.
Exporting a PKCS#12 Keystore from Microsoft Management
Console
To use an existing certificate located on a Windows server, complete the
following steps:
1. Click Start > Run… and enter the command mmc. A Microsoft Management
Console window opens.
2. Select File > Add/Remove Snap-In.
3. Select Add > Certificates > Add > Computer Account > Local Computer >
Finish.
4. Expand Console Root > Certificates > Personal. Your certificate is listed.
5. Right-click your certificate and select More Actions > Export List.... Follow
the Certificate Export Wizard prompts to export a Personal Information
Exchange – PKCS #12 (.pfx) file. Note the location where you saved the .pfx
file.
6. Select the option to Include all certificates in the certification path if
possible, leaving the two other options unselected.
7. Import the certificate into Porteclé using the instructions in Importing PKCS#12
File Into the Keystore.
Porteclé provides two ways to import contents of a PKCS#12 file into the Web
Help Desk Java keystore. The first method is to open the PKCS#12 keystore in
File > Open Keystore File…, convert it to a Java keystore in Tools > Change
Keystore Type > JKS, and overwrite the existing keystore by saving it as
WebHelpDesk/conf/keystore.jks.
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The second method is to open the Web Help Desk keystore file and then import
the keypair containing your certificate, using Tools > Import Keypair….. Porteclé
prompts you to select which keypair in your PKCS#12 keystore to import.
If your keystore already contains a default, unsigned Tomcat certificate, delete
this certificate before importing your PKCS#12 file.
Be sure that your certificate chain is intact in the Web Help Desk keystore. You
can inspect the certificate chain by double-clicking the certificate to view the
certificate details. Use the left and right arrows at the top of the details panel to
navigate through each certificate in the chain.
If you do not see the full certificate chain, try importing the CA certificates first in
Tools > Import Trusted Certificate…, and then import your keypair again.
Porteclé does not establish trust when a certificate is imported before the
certificate that was used to sign it.
Sequence is important. Import the root certificate first, then the next certificate in
the chain, and so on, until you get to your own certificate.
Your certificate must be aliased as tomcat. The password for your certificate and
for the keystore itself must be the same, and must match the KEYSTORE_
PASSWORD setting in WebHelpDesk/conf/whd.conf (changeit by default).
Adding SSL Certificates to the Virtual Appliance
You can replace the SSL certificate included with the WHD Virtual Appliance with
one of your own. WHD can manipulate the original keystore.jks file when the
certificate's Common Name (CN) does not match the hostname.
The following instructions explain how to add the following to the Virtual
Appliance:
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These instructions, including those for sudo commands, assume you have root
access to the Virtual Appliance. Use the Virtual Appliance login credentials
wherever a password is required in the steps that follow.
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To add a self-signed SSL certificate to your Virtual Appliance:
1. Log on to the Virtual Appliance using the console or an SSH connection.
2. Navigate to the WebHelpDesk folder on the virtual appliance, at
/usr/local/webhelpdesk folder.
3. Enter the following command where daysvalid is the number of days the
certificate is valid:
sudo ./bin/jre/bin/keytool -genkey -alias tomcat keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -keystore ./conf/keystore_
new.jks -validity daysvalid
4. When prompted, enter a new keystore password. You need this information
for a later step.
5. Enter the information needed for the new certificate, providing the following
information:
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Your domain name, instead of a first and last name
Note: If you do not use the domain name for the name, you receive
certificate errors.
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The name of your organizational unit
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The name of your organization
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The name of your city or locality
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The name of your state or province
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Your two letter country code
Note: This information displays to users accessing the Virtual Appliance
through a secure connection.
6. Enter yes when prompted to confirm your new key information.
7. When prompted for the key password, enter the keystore password you
entered before.
8. Modify the owner of the keystore by entering the following command:
sudo chown root.root ./conf/keystore_new.jks
9. Change the permissions on the keystore by entering the following
command: sudo chmod 755 ./conf/keystore_new.jks
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10. Make a backup and copy the keystore_new.jks file using the following
command:
sudo cp conf/whd_keystore.jks conf/keystore_
new.jks.backup
11. Edit the configuration file, ./conf/whd.conf. Change password used in step 4
above, by entering:
sudo vi conf/whd.conf
(i to edit, <esc> to quit edit mode,:w to save edits, :q to quit the editor)
KEYSTORE_PASSWORD=<password>
KEYSTORE_FILE=/usr/local/webhelpdesk/conf/keystore_
new.jks
12. Stop Web Help Desk by entering:
./whd stop
13. Start Web Help Desk by entering:
./whd start
To add a certificate from a Certificate Authority (CA) to your Virtual
Appliance:
1. Log on to the virtual appliance using the console or an SSH connection.
2. Navigate to the WebHelpDesk folder on the virtual appliance, at
/usr/local/webhelpdesk folder.
sudo ./bin/jre/bin/keytool -genkey -alias tomcat keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -keystore ./conf/keystore_
new.jks
4. When prompted, enter a new keystore password. You need this information
for a later step.
5. Enter the information needed for the new certificate, providing the following
information:
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Your domain name, instead of a first and last name
Note: If you do not use the domain name for the name, you receive
certificate errors.
The name of your organizational unit
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The name of your organization
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The name of your city or locality
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The name of your state or province
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Your two letter country code
Note: This information displays to users accessing the Virtual Appliance
through a secure connection.
6. Enter yes when prompted to confirm your new key information.
7. When prompted for the key password, press <Enter>.
sudo ./bin/jre/bin/keytool -certreq -keyalg RSA alias tomcat -keystore ./conf/keystore_new.jks -file
mycertreq.csr.
9. When prompted for the key password, enter the keystore password you
entered in step 4 of this procedure.
10. Submit the CSR to your CA.
11. Once you have downloaded the certificate, transfer it to the WebDelpDesk
folder on the VA, using a utility like WinSCP, and import as follows:
a. Import the Root and/or the intermediate CA. Their certificates need to
be loaded in order: root first and then the intermediate.
sudo bin/jre/bin/keytool -import -trustcacerts alias root -file /usr/local/webhelpdesk/root.crt
-keystore /usr/local/webhelpdesk/conf/keystore_
new.jks
sudo bin/jre/bin/keytool -import -trustcacerts alias intermed -file
/usr/local/webhelpdesk/root.crt -keystore
/usr/local/webhelpdesk/conf/keystore_new.jks
b. Import the CA Reply, the signed primary CA for WHD (tomcat):
sudo bin/jre/bin/keytool -import -trustcacerts alias tomcat -file
/usr/local/webhelpdesk/helpdesk.sample.com.crt -
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keystore /usr/local/webhelpdesk/conf/keystore_
new.jks
12. Make a backup and copy the keystore_new.jks file using the following
command:
sudo cp conf/whd_keystore.jks conf/keystore_
new.jks.backup >
13. Edit the whd.conf file to specify not to use the default key store:
sudo vi conf/whd.conf
(i to edit. <esc> to exit edit mode, :w to save edits, :q to quit the editor)
14. In the keystore settings section of the file, add a value for the KEYSTORE_
FILE= setting: KEYSTORE_
FILE=/usr/local/webhelpdesk/conf/keystore_new.jks
15. Stop WHD by entering:
./whd stop
16. Start WHD by entering:
./whd start
Note: If you need additional clarification on adding a certificate from a certificate
authority to your Virtual Appliance, see Installing a Certificate from a Certificate
Authority on the Tomcat website or your CA’s help page. SolarWinds Technical
Support can only assist with adding a self-signed certificate to your Virtual
Appliance.
If you receive an Untrusted Site error after adding a certificate, you may need to
either create a permanent exception or install the certificate as a trusted
certificate. Each browser handles security differently. In Firefox, you can create a
permanent exception. In Chrome or Internet Explorer you must install the
certificate in your trusted certificates store.
Both Chrome and Internet Explorer use the Trusted Root Certification Authorities
store when verifying certificates. If you have performed the steps to install the
certificate for either Internet Explorer or Chrome, you do not have to perform the
same steps again to use either browser.
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Note: You must close all instances of your Internet Explorer or Chrome and
completely clear your cache.
To create a permanent exception for Firefox:
1. Open a browser to your Virtual Appliance using https.
2. When the error occurs, expand I Understand the Risks.
3. Click Add Exception.
4. When prompted, click Confirm Security Exception.
To install the certificate as a trusted certificate with Internet Explorer:
2. When the error occurs, click Continue to the website (not recommended).
3. In the address bar, click Certificate Error.
4. Click View Certificates
5. In the General tab, click Install Certificate…
6. Click Next.
7. Select Place all certificates in the following store, and then click Browse.
8. Select Trusted Root Certification Authorities, and then click OK.
9. Click Next.
10. Click Finish.
11. When prompted to confirm installation, select Yes.
12. Close the tab, and restart Internet Explorer.
To install the certificate as a trusted certificate with Chrome:
2. When the error occurs, click Proceed Anyway.
Note: In Chrome version 37, click Advanced Options and then click
Proceed Anyway.
3. In the address bar, click the lock icon to view the site information.
4. On the Connections tab, click Certificate Information.
5. On the Details tab, click Copy to File…
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6. Click Next.
7. Select DER encoded binary X.509 (.CER), and click Next.
8. Enter a file name. By default Chrome saves the certificate in a hidden file in
\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Applications\...
9. If you do not want to make hidden files visible, browse to a different location
to save the certificate.
10. Click Next.
11. Check the location of the certificate, and then click Finish.
12. In Chrome, open Settings > Advanced Settings, and then click Manage
certificates…
13. Navigate to the Trusted Root Certification Authorities tab.
14. Click Import.
15. Click Next.
16. Browse to the certificate you exported, and then click Next.
17. Select Place all certificates in the following store, and then select
Trusted Root Certification Authorities.
18. Click Next, and then click Finish.
19. When prompted, select Yes.
20. Close the tab and restart Chrome.
If you are having difficulties importing certificates, check for improper settings or
mistakes in your procedures:
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In Porteclé, navigate to Tools > Options... and check Use CA Certs
Keystore. Porteclé checks the built-in Java certificates when attempting to
establish trust. This action is fine, because this same set of certificates is
available to WHD at runtime.
Porteclé requires that certificates be imported in order of most-trusted
certificate first (i.e., root certificate, then the intermediate certificate that is
issued by the root, then the certificate issued by that certificate, etc.). If you
attempt to import a certificate out of order, Porteclé allows it, but complains that
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it cannot establish trust. You should never need to confirm trust for any
certificate other than the root certificate.
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Do NOT import your own certificate using the Tools > Import Trusted
Certificates... menu option. This option is only for importing root and chain
certificates. Instead, right-click your tomcat keypair and select Import CA
Reply.
Make sure that the password set for the keypair and the keystore are the
same, and match the KEYSTORE_PASSWORD setting in
WebHelpDesk/conf/whd.conf. (The default password is changeit.) To set the
keypair password, right-click the tomcat keypair and select Set password. To
set the keystore password, select Tools > Set Keystore Password....
Make sure that your keystore is saved to: WebHelpDesk/conf/keystore.jks.
Restart WHD to ensure changes in Porteclé or whd.conf to take effect. On
Windows, be sure to use the WHD Start/Stop utilities in the Start menu, not the
Windows Services panel (right-click Run As Administrator on Server
2008+).
You get a certificate warning when the hostname in the address you are using
to browse to WHD is different from the Common Name (CN) field in your
certificate. You can get a certificate warning, for example, if your certificate is
for help.my company.com and you use localhost as the hostname in your
URL.
It is no longer necessary to edit web.xml to enable Web Help Desk to switch
automatically from HTTP requests to HTTPS requests. Requests
automatically switch from HTTP to HTTPS when both DEFAULT_PORT and
HTTPS_PORT are enabled in WebHelpDesk/conf/whd.conf.
When using HTTPS, set Setup > Options > Force HTTPS to Always. This
setting ensures that links pointing to WHD use HTTPS.
Issue: Porteclé says my CA Reply certificate cannot be trusted.
An issuer Porteclé does not trust has signed your certificate. You must obtain a
root certificate (or chain of certificates) from your CA that match the Issuer identity
of your certificate, and import them into Porteclé before importing your own
certificate as a CA Reply.
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You can determine the Issuer of your CA Reply by temporarily importing your
certificate into Porteclé as a Trusted Certificate rather than a CA Reply, and then
examining its Certificate Details. Look at the Certificate Details of other
certificates in your keystore to see if any of them match your certificate’s Issuer
attribute. If not, you will need to obtain from your CA a certificate that does match.
Once you have imported a certificate that matches your own certificate’s issuer,
as well as any other certificates needed to trust those certificates, delete your
temporarily trusted certificate and re-import it as a CA Reply to your keypair.
Issue: After importing my certificate, WHD does not start.
Check your whd.conf file to be sure you have uncommented the SSL_PORT
setting, and that your DEFAULT_PORT and HTTPS_PORT settings are not
conflicting with any other processes on the server.
Ensure that your KEYSTORE_PASSWORD setting in whd.conf matches BOTH
the password of your keystore AND the password of your keypair. The default
password is changeit.
Issue: After importing my certificate, WHD is OK, but my browser shows a selfsigned certificate.
Check whether your private key was generated using the DSA algorithm. DSA
keys can fail with many browsers, including Internet Explorer. Try using RSA
instead.
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Managing Clients
Clients typically interact with WHD using the web interface, but they can be set up
to work with WHD using email as well.
Manually Adding a New Client
When you create a new client, the information is saved in the WHD database.
SolarWinds recommends that clients only be able to create accounts if their
emails match accepted domains.
To manually add a new Client:
1. In the toolbar, click Clients.
The Basic Search and Advanced Search tabs appear.
2. Click New Client.
The Client Info tab window appears.
3. Complete all required fields and then click Save.
WHD sends a confirmation email to the new customer.
Configuring Client Notifications
When you configure a new client, you can enable WHD to send a confirmation
email to the client regarding their new account.
To enable this option:
1. Click Setup.
2. In the left column, click Client > Options.
The Client Options page appears.
3. Select the E-mail Client When Account is Created check box.
4. Click Save.
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Managing Clients
Viewing Client Information
To view information about a customer:
1. Click Clients.
2. In the Client Name column, click a client name.
The Client Info tab appears with the client's information.
To edit the client's information, click the Edit icon, update the fields and check
boxes as appropriate, and click Save.
The Assigned Assets tab displays the customer's assigned assets. The Ticket
History tab displays the client's ticket history.
Enabling Client-initiated Account Setup
To allow clients to create their accounts upon first login, navigate to Setup >
Client > Options and select Customer Can Create Account.
New clients see the following screen. To create a new account, they click the
New Account button.
Notes:
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Clients must be qualified using the email restriction set in Setup > Clients >
Options.
SolarWinds recommends requiring domain matching for new Clients, as
shown below.
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Assigning Assets
Assigning Assets
To assign an existing asset to a Client
1. In the toolbar, click Assets.
2. Below the toolbar, click Select Assets.
The Select Assets screen appears with the Basic Search and Advanced
Search tabs.
3. Select the Basic Search tab.
The Basic Search tab window appears with an additional window that
displays your results.
4. In the tab window, select and/or enter the appropriate criteria to locate the
asset.
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Managing Clients
To locate the asset using a specific set of conditions, click the Advanced
Search tab and enter your search criteria.
5. Click Save.
Your results appear in the bottom window.
The bottom window includes buttons that allow you to add a new asset or
generate an asset report in PDF, tab-separated value (TSV), and Microsoft Excel
format.
The No. column includes a link to the asset basics, details, history, and ticket
history. This column also includes links that provide access to the asset using
DameWare remote support software, which integrates with Web Help Desk to
access assets remotely from a system running DameWare products.
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Managing Tickets
WHD uses tickets to manage service requests. These tickets can be initiated
through email, created in the WHD application, and imported from another
application. Techs, Admins, and Clients can also manage tickets through email or
through the WHD application in a web browser.
Using WHD, you can:
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Customize ticket views - Create custom ticket views and searches by
creating custom filters.
Create Quick Tickets - Create quick tickets for frequent issues, such as a
forgotten password.
Add detailed information to tickets - Create tech notes to provide details
about a particular issue.
Escalate and de-escalate tickets - Escalate and de-escalate tickets to
ensure they are assigned to the appropriate Tech.
Create email tickets - Set up help desk tickets by sending an email to a
WHD email address.
For information about using commands (instead of the WHD interface)
to manage tickets, see the Tickets section in the Web Help Desk REST
API Guide.
Ticket Flow
The following diagram details WHD ticket flow.
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Managing Tickets
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To create a new ticket:
1. In the toolbar, click Tickets.
2. Click New Ticket.
3. In the Client Search box, assign the ticket to a client (if desired).
4. If the ticket requires an asset, click the Asset tab and add the proper asset.
5. Click the Ticket Details tab.
6. In the tab window, assign a location, room, department, tech, schedule, and
any text instructions.
7. In the tab window, assign parts or specific labor charges (if applicable).
See Working with Parts & Billing for more information.
8. Select the applicable parts and billing options, and then click Save or Save
and Send E-Mail.
Clicking Save saves the ticket. Clicking Save and E-Mail triggers the ticket
email process.
The ticket is sent to the individuals specified in the ticket and in the Tech,
Client, Location, and Ticket set up options.
You can launch DameWare MRC from a customer ticket or from the
Web Help Desk Toolbar.
Creating Quick Tickets
Use quick tickets to create identical tickets for repetitive issues, such as a
forgotten password. You can create a quick ticket templates to define the fields in
quick tickets.
Techs and admins complete the Client and Location information
based on the request type in a quick ticket before the ticket is assigned
to help desk personnel.
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Managing Tickets
To create a quick ticket:
1. Click Tickets.
The Tickets screen appears.
2. Click New Ticket.
The New Ticket screen appears.
3. In the Quick Ticket section, click the plus icon to create a new ticket.
The Quick Ticket Details screen appears.
4. Complete the fields and drop-down menus for your quick ticket.
The Subject and Request Type fields are required fields.
5. At the bottom of the ticket, locate the Save Quick Ticket as field.
6. In the field, enter a name for this quick ticket type.
6. Click Shared to allow others to use this quick ticket template.
7. Click Save
8. Click Apply.
To launch a previously saved quick ticket:
1. Select the saved quick ticket from the pull down list.
2. Click OK to launch the ticket.
To edit a quick ticket before launching:
1. Select the saved quick ticket from the pull down list.
2. Click the Edit icon.
3. Make the required edits.
4. Click Save, and then click Apply.
WHD offers several options for viewing tickets. Begin by clicking the Tickets
button in the upper tool bar.
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The My Tickets and Group Tickets views are pre-filtered tickets lists showing
tickets assigned to you or to your group.
In the first column, you can select tickets for bulk actions, such as merging tickets.
The second column provides color-coded ticket information:
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Blue. New ticket with no Tech response
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Purple. Ticket reassigned to a new Tech
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Yellow. Ticket with a new Client update
A ticket without a colored field falls outside the categories listed above.
Most tickets can display without colored fields.
In the fourth column, click or double click to add or remove a flag on a ticket.
Additional columns provide more detailed information on the tickets. Double click
the in-column icon to view and edit a ticket's details:
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No.. Displays the WHD-assigned ticket number.
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Updated. Shows the date and time of last ticket update.
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Status. Indicates the ticket level of completion. Initial status is Open.
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Managing Tickets
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Alert Level. Displays the message warning Techs when a ticket needs
attention. Alerts are email notifications about ticket priorities, with three
configurable levels for automatic escalation.
Escalation. Shows the Tech group currently owning ticket, such as Level 1
or Level 2 Support or Group Manager.
Priority. Determines the ticket due date, with priority names such as Urgent,
.High, Medium, and Low.
Client. Displays the WHD Clients receiving support from Techs.
Request Type. Shows the category of the help request, such as for
hardware support, email support, network connectivity, and facilities
requests.
Request Detail. Provides details about the Client's Request Type. For
example, if a Client requested hardware support, the Request Detail might
show that they are requesting additional memory for their notebook
computer.
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Latest Notes. Displays the latest notes from the Tech handling the ticket.
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Tech. Shows the name of the Tech handling the ticket.
For information about configuring what appears in the My Tickets and Group
Ticket views, see Setting Up Tickets.
Techs only see tickets that are assigned directly to them in My Tickets. Techs
only see tickets that have been assigned directly to a tech group they belong to in
Group Tickets. These two restrictions apply to all accounts, including admin
accounts.
Searching Tickets
Locate tickets quickly using the Search Tickets tab.
To initiate a basic search:
1. Click the Basic Search tab.
2. Use the text boxes and lists to narrow the search for the desired ticket.
3. Click Search.
4. To view or edit a ticket, click the Ticket Number (No.)
To create an Advanced Search:
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Searching Tickets
1. Click the Advanced Search tab.
2. Select the qualifying conditions starting from the left to the right.
To add a new qualifying condition to Tickets matching ALL of these
conditions, click the + button to the right of the top condition.
3. Select the qualifying conditions as in step 2.
Note: The conditions specified in the ALL grouping must all be true to
result in a found ticket. These conditions are qualified using the Boolean
AND.
4. To add qualifying condition to Tickets matching ANY of these conditions,
click + at the right of the ellipsis and ANY of these conditions: section.
Notes:
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The conditions specified in the ALL grouping must have all
condition true to result in a found ticket. These conditions are
qualified using the Boolean AND.
The conditions specified in the ANY grouping must have at least
one condition true to result in a found ticket. These conditions are
qualified using the Boolean OR.
The ANY condition group begins with …and. Therefore the ANY
group is evaluated along with the conditions in the ALL condition
group, if the ALL group is used.
If no condition exists in the ALL group, WHD evaluates the ANY
condition is using only the Boolean OR.
5. When you have completed entering search conditions, click Search.
The following illustrates a query that returns tickets that meet these criteria:
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Priority = Urgent
Status = Open
-- And either –
Escalation is 2 or above
-- Or–
Company = ABC Co
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Managing Tickets
To save the search enter a query name and then click Save. The Shared check
box allows other techs to access the query.
The search results list may display a large amount of ticket data. Filter the results
using the Column Set widget. The widget is located at the upper right corner of
the search results list.
1. To modify the column headers, click + to add a new set or Edit to edit the
selected set.
2. Drag and drop column headers between The Available Columns and
Selected Columns areas.
3. Click Save.
Note: Saved column sets are not shared across techs. Each column set
can specify a different PDF download option (Invoice or Ticket format) and
full text option.
Displaying Print Views
To display the ticket information in a printer-friendly view, use the printer at the
top of the ticket. Clicking the button opens the ticket in a window for printing.
Ticket bulk actions apply actions to multiple tickets, based on the criteria you
define.
Suppose, for example, you want to escalate all open, unassigned, urgent priority
IT requests for laptop repairs. WHD allows you to select all these requests and
escalate them at one time.
To create the bulk action to escalate these tickets:
1. Expand the Bulk Action field.
2. On the Bulk Action Details page, select the details you want to the bulk
action to look for when it is applied:
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a. In the Ticket Details tab, select the following Request Type options:
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IT Request
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Hardware Support
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Laptop
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Repair Request
b. In the Status & Schedule tab, select Open.
3. When completed, enter the name Escalate Unassigned Urgent Open
Tickets for the action in Save Bulk Action as field, and then click Save.
4. Click the Back button at the top of the Bulk Action Details page.
5. Select the tickets you want to escalate.
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Managing Tickets
6. Select the Bulk Action Escalate Unassigned Urgent Open Tickets and
click the Start arrow.
7. Click OK. WHD informs you that it is processing the tickets.
When the operation completes, you receive a confirmation message
resembling the following.
Merging Tickets
Perhaps a Client has submitted three separate tickets – ticket numbers 19, 20,
and 21 – for items related to obtaining and setting up their new laptop. Since
these three tickets are all for the same Client, relate to the same Asset, and are
assigned to the same Tech, you can merge the three tickets into a single ticket.
To merge tickets into a single ticket:
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Merging Tickets
1. From a Tickets window, select tickets 19, 20, and 21.
2. From the bottom left corner of the page, select the Merge Selected Tickets
button.
3. Select the ticket number into which to merge all the tickets.
In this example, you can merge all the tickets into the Client's initial ticket,
so you can select Ticket 19.
Note: If any of the tickets to be merged contain attachments, select Include
Attachments so those attachments link to the new merged ticket.
4. Click Merge Tickets.
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Managing Tickets
WHD combines Tickets 19, 20, and 21 into Ticket 19. Ticket 19 now
contains the attachments, Client request information, and notes from the
three original tickets.
Configuring Ticket Details
When you click Tickets in the WHD, you can view tickets under My Tickets and
Group Tickets if:
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You belong to a group that has assigned tickets.
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The tickets are directly assigned to you.
To view the ticket detail page, you can:
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Click Tickets in the WHD toolbar.
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Click My Tickets, and then click a ticket number.
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Click Group Tickets, and then click a ticket number.
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Use the search options to locate the ticket of interest.
To assign a technician to the ticket use the Assigned Tech list or click Add Tech.
To escalate the ticket, click the up triangle on the Tech Group.
In the Details page, you can edit all ticket fields, which include: l
Location
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Department
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Ticket Type
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Request Type
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Action Rules
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File Attachments
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Status
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Schedules
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E-mail Recipients
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When a Tech or Client opens a new ticket, they must choose a Request Type.
Request types define the issue type and the action that needs to be taken.
The Request Type selected determines which custom fields appear on the Ticket
and which Techs can be assigned to it. The Request Type also determines how
the Ticket is routed to a Tech.
WHD comes standard with the following Request Types:
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Hardware
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Network
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Email/Outlook
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Phone/Voicemail
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Printer/Toner
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IT General/Other
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Facilities
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HR
Admins can also add Request Types, as described in Defining Request Types.
Note: To ensure seamless integration with DameWare, ensure that all WHD
request types used for DameWare integration do not include required custom
fields.
Improving Ticket Resolution with Ticket Types
WHD's Ticket Types groups together multiple tickets on the same issue as Child
tickets of a Parent ticket. This capability allows Child tickets to be handled when
you edit the Parent ticket.
WHD uses three types of tickets to facilitate this type of ticket resolution:
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Service Request: A request submitted by a client to WHD for assistance,
such as information, advice, or access to an IT service. Examples include
resetting a password, access to a shared network resource, or repairs to
their computer system.
Problem ticket: A ticket that provides the root cause for attached Incident
and Child tickets. An example of a Problem ticket would be a network
resource is offline, with Incident and Child tickets describing users who
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Managing Tickets
cannot access the resource. Problem tickets are based on an initial Service
Request or an automatic trouble ticket from a system integrated with WHD.
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Incident ticket: A ticket that describes a new occurrence of an issue
currently documented in an existing Problem ticket. The Incident ticket can
be attached to a Problem ticket. Once attached, the Incident ticket becomes
a Child ticket. Incident tickets are created from a Service Request or an
automatic trouble ticket from a system integrated with WHD.
When a ticket type is set to Problem in the Ticket Details tab, the ticket becomes
available in the Problems drawer, as shown below.
This capability provides a parent root cause for related tickets. When a ticket is
linked to a Problem ticket, it becomes an Incident ticket. Changing the ticket back
to a Service Request removes the link to the Problem ticket.
When a Parent ticket is closed, all of its Child tickets close as well. When you
view a Parent ticket, you can view notes from Child tickets. When you view an
Incident ticket, you can also view the notes from the Problem ticket.
See Creating Parent/Child Service Relationships for more information.
Changing Ticket Relationships
When you create or modify parent and child tickets, the following rules apply:
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In the Ticket Details > Details pane, changing the existing ticket type to
another selection removes all existing relations, whether they are
Parent/Child or Problem/Incident relations.
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Only Service Requests can have Parent or Child tickets.
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A ticket cannot be linked until it is saved.
Use the Problem tickets Parent-Child feature to manually link multiple reports of a
single issue. The Problem ticket is considered a Parent and each linked Incident
ticket is considered a Child ticket.
To link an Incident ticket to a Problem ticket:
1. From the Tickets page, double click the desired ticket.
The Ticket Details tab appears, displaying the ticket's relevant dates,
content, Tech notes, history, and other details.
2. In the Ticket Details tab, ensure that Incident is the active Ticket Type.
3. Click the Problems tab on the upper right side of the page.
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Managing Tickets
The Problem Search tab appears.
4. Enter and/or select a ticket number, request type, ticket status, and/or search
term that you think may be in any existing Problem tickets.
For example, if the connection to building 17 is down, many users in
building 17 may open tickets. Searching for building 17 and perhaps Bldg
17 should list existing Problem tickets that you can make into a Parent
ticket.
5. Click Search to find Problem tickets relating to your Incident ticket.
6. In the search results, click View to preview possible Parent tickets.
7. Click Link to assign the Problem ticket as a Child ticket.
To unlink a Problem ticket from an Incident ticket:
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1. From the Tickets page, double click the desired Problem ticket.
2. Make sure Problem is the active Ticket Type in the Ticket Details tab.
3. Scroll down to the Linked Incidents tab.
4. Click the Unlink Problem button.
The Parent Problem ticket is no longer linked to the Incident ticket.
Technicians add information to tickets using Tech Notes. A ticket can have any
number of notes and notes can be added by any technician.
Tech Notes can contain basic HTML tag or Bulletin Board Code (BBCode) tag
formatting.
Note: When Setup > Parts & Billing > Options > Parts & Billing Enabled is
selected, the technician can specify a billing rate for the work.
A Tech Note can also be used to create a new FAQ, using the request detail as
the question and the Tech Note as the answer. WHD sets new FAQs created from
Tech Notes to an Unapproved status by default and use the ticket’s request type
as the FAQ category. See Managing FAQs for more information about FAQs.
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Managing Tickets
To add an FAQ to a tech note:
1. Open the ticket details page for the ticket of interest.
2. Click New in the Notes section.
3. Click Link FAQ. The FAQ Search dialog will open.
4. Search for the proper FAQ, and then click the FAQ Number to insert it into
the ticket notes.
5. Click the Save & E-Mail button.
Tech Permissions and Tickets
Administrators can re-assign technicians, change ticket status, and delete tickets.
Technicians have various levels of access depending on the permission set they
are granted. Permissions are set at Setup > Techs > Tech Permissions. The
access limits are:
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Limit to Assigned Tech Groups: create, view, and edit tickets belonging
only to Tech Groups to which the tech is assigned.
New Ticket Assignment Override: override the normal Ticket assignment
logic and self-assign the Ticket instead.
Other’s Ticket Status Edit: Allow the tech to change the status of tickets not
assigned to them.
Change Ticket Dates: Change the ticket’s Open Date, Close Date, Note
Date, and Due Date.
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Request Detail Edit: Allow the tech to update the text of the reported issue.
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Client Note Edit: Allow the tech to edit a client created note.
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Allow Re-Assignment: Enable the tech to re-assign the ticket to any other
tech. Disabling this option allows the tech to only re-assign jobs to
themselves.
Change Priority: Allow the tech to change the priority of tickets assigned to
themselves or, if Edit Other’s Tickets is enabled, the priority of any ticket.
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Close Tickets: Enable the tech to set tickets to the “Closed” status type.
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Delete Tickets: Allow tech to delete tickets.
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Import Tickets: Allow the tech to access Tickets > Import Tickets.
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Task Edit: Allow the tech to create and edit tasks at Setup > Tickets > Tasks.
Limit by Asset Group: Allow the tech access only to those tickets, clients,
and assets in “assigned” status
Limit by Department Group: Enables the tech access to only those tickets,
clients, and assets in assigned Department Groups. This option is only visible
if Departments are enabled.
All of the above are Rights assigned in a grouping called a Permission.
To create a new Permission:
1. Navigate to Setup > Techs > Tech Permissions.
2. Click New.
3. Enter a name for the new permission in the Permission Name field.
4. Select the permissions you want this type of user to have.
Note: Hover the mouse over an option's text to see detailed information
about that option.
5. Click Save.
When the ticket is saved, you can email it to the client, assigned technician, level
techs, group manager, or other addresses in the cc: and bcc: fields. Select the
recipient check boxes and add cc: or bcc: addresses if necessary, then click Save
& E-Mail.
Clicking Save does not cause an email to be sent, unless the ticket has been reassigned. In that case, the newly assigned Tech receives an email. Clicking the
padlock toggles the ticket privacy setting – when tickets are private, non-tech
users cannot see them.
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Managing Tickets
Managing Ticket Tasks
A Task is a series of one or more separate steps, called Elements. A task can be
scheduled to repeat at daily, weekly, or monthly intervals.
1. To create a new task, go to Setup > Tickets > Tasks. Click the New
button at the bottom of the Task list. The Task Info page will open.
2. Enter a Task Name.
3. Use the Client Lookup widget to look up and assign the client.
4. If you want to schedule the task to run automatically, click Scheduled.
a. Select a Schedule Interval.
b. Click the applicable run times (calendar days, weekdays, or time) you
want the task to run.
5. Click Shared if you want other to be able to launch this task.
6. Click Save.
7. Click the Task Elements tab.
8. Click New.
9. Select a Location, Room, and Department.
10. Add a Subject and Request Detail.
11. Select a Tech and Priority.
12. Add Asset Number, if applicable.
13. If you want to generate all task element tickets when the task is
triggered, select On Creation in the Generate Next Element section.
14. If you want to issues the next task element ticket based on the status
of this element, select When Status Equals in the Generate Next
Element section, and then select a Status.
15. Click Save.
16. To create the next element click New, and then repeat steps 1 through 15
above. 217
Tasks run automatically on their scheduled date or they can be triggered
manually using the green Play triangle next to the task name.
Escalating orde-escalating a ticket moves an assigned ticket to a higher or lower
tech group level. If a higher tech group level is available, the ticket can be
escalated to that level. If a ticket still requires escalation and a higher level tech
group is not available, the ticket escalates to the group manager. If further
escalation is required, the ticket can be escalated to the lead tech for the request
type.
When a ticket is escalated or de-escalated, a tool tip provides more information
about the escalation or de-escalation, as shown below.
Note: When a ticket is escalated, it inherits the email settings from the tech group
level settings and ticket assignment strategy.
When the assigned tech changes, WHD sends escalation or de-escalation emails
to the current and former techs assigned to the ticket.
To escalate a ticket:
1. From the Tickets page, double-click the desired ticket.
The ticket opens in the Ticket Details tab.
2. Scroll to Details in the Tech Tab and click Escalate.
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Managing Tickets
3. Click De-escalate to send the ticket to a lower level Tech group.
Note When you have escalated or de-escalated the ticket as far as you can,
the dscalate/de-escalate icon deactivates.
4. Click the History tab.
The History tab window appears.
5. Review the ticket assignment history for accuracy. This information includes
Creating Email Tickets
Clients and techs can create tickets by sending an email message to the
dedicated help desk email address. WHD creates a ticket for each new message
its dedicated email address receives.
See Setting Up Email for information about setting up the incoming WHD email
address that receives and responds to email support requests.
See Applying Email Templates for information about setting up outgoing and
incoming emails using information included in WHD tickets.
See Updating Tickets Using Email.for information about email ticket updates.
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Clients and Techs can update tickets by responding to the WHD email messages
about the tickets.
Exactly what the Client or Tech sees in their email depends on how the
recipient's email template is set up and which options have been configured for
the recipient in Setup. For more information on setting up what a Client or Tech
sees in the emails they receive from WHD, see Applying Email Templates.
Using Client Ticket Emails
When a Client submits a help request, WHD sends the Client a copy of the ticket.
The email a Client receives can look like the following example.
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Managing Tickets
To add more information to the ticket, the Client clicks Add Note or the ticket
number under Ticket Info. Doing this creates a new email addressed to the help
desk. When the Client sends email, it updates the ticket. WHD then sends the
Client a new email showing the updated ticket.
To cancel the ticket, the Client clicks Cancel Ticket.
When the Tech resolves and closes the ticket, WHD forwards the closed ticket to
the Client. The Client can edit the subject line in the email to perform the following
tasks:
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ConfirmSolution This option confirms ticket resolution.
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RejectSolution This option reopens the ticket.
For approval processes, use following in the email subject line:
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ApproveTicket: Adding this option to the email subject line approves the
approval step.
DenyTicket: Adding this option to the subject line denies the approval step.
VisibleToRequester: The body of the email contains the explanation of the
approval decision.
Define what a Client can do with their ticket through email in Setup > Clients >
Options. For more information on configuring Client permissions, see Adding
Clients.
When a ticket is assigned to a Tech, WHD sends the Tech an email that looks
like the following.
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Managing Tickets
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Techs can easily update a ticket by pressing Control and clicking any of the
active links in the email. Links in the email are:
Ticket: In this example, the ticket number is 32340. The number specifies
which ticket to update. Ticket numbers can be different, based on how you
define them in WHD.
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Action: Because you selected the Add Note option, the TechUpdate action
displays.
Hidden:[NO|YES|true|false|1|0] (case insensitive) Because you selected
the Add Note option (rather than the Add Hidden Note option), this
characteristic is set to NO.
EmailClient:[NO|YES|true|false|1|0] (case insensitive) The default for this
example is YES.
In our example, the following characteristics are not defined:
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Reassigned:<[email protected]> Enter the email address of the
Tech to whom the ticket is reassigned.
MinutesWorked:<INTEGER> Enter how much time the Tech has spent
working on the ticket. This option works only when the Tech is adding a
note, so that the email body is not empty
BillingRate:<BILLING RATE NAME> Add billing rate information here.
Pressing Control and clicking an active link in the email from WHD creates a
new email specific to the link clicked. In the example above, the Tech can add a
note that the Client can see, add a hidden note, or delete the ticket. The Tech can
also change the ticket's status.
Let's say the Tech selects the Add Note option. Selecting this option creates an
email that looks like the following.
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Managing Tickets
Notice the email's subject. The subject reflects the ticket's defined options:
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Ticket: In this example, the ticket number is 32340. The number specifies
which ticket to update. Ticket numbers can be different, based on how they
have been defined in WHD.
Action:[Update|Cancel|...?] Because you selected the Add Note option,
the TechUpdate action displays. When a Tech selects this option, they can
perform any of the actions described here, including deleting the ticket.
Techs can also add a note to the body of the ticket, a billing rate, time spent
on the ticket, and more. When a Client selects this option, they can cancel
the ticket or add a note to the body of the ticket.
Hidden:[NO|YES|true|false|1|0] Because you selected Add Note, rather
than Add Hidden Note, this option is set to NO. This option is not case
sensitive.
EmailClient:[NO|YES|true|false|1|0] The default for this example is YES.
This option is not case sensitive.
In our example, the following characteristics have not been defined or selected to
be defined:
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Reassigned:<[email protected]> Here, you would enter the email
address of the Tech to whom the ticket is reassigned. An example of how a
Tech might complete this field is
Reassigned:[email protected].
MinutesWorked:<INTEGER> This is where you enter how much time the
Tech has spent working on the ticket. This option works only when the Tech
is adding a note, so that the email body is not empty. An example of how a
Tech might complete this field is MinutesWorked:45.
BillingRate:<BILLING RATE NAME> This option defines which billing rate
to us and is active only when the Tech is adding note and the email body is
not empty. Use whole billing rate name, including spaces and special
characters. This option is not case sensitive. An example of how a Tech
might complete this field is BillingRate:Standard.
Notes:
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Ticket updates can be sent to the any address as long as it passes the
WHD incoming email-specific filter.
Apply the following construct for editing and of the options described above:
FieldName:Value. WHD ignores any spaces before Value.
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Subject edits must be in the order noted above.
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WHD validates users' email sender address.
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Managing Assets
WHD provides a number of options to work with assets:
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Discovering Assets
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Manually Adding Assets
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Searching Assets
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Reserving Assets
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Removing Assets
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Discovering Assets
WHD supports several methods of automated asset discovery. Using one or more
of these tools, you synchronize WHD with the tool and import the assets into the
WHD database.
WHD discovers assets using its native WMI discovery engine and can pull assets
from the following asset discovery tool databases:
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Apple Remote Desktop 3.x and later
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Casper Recon Suite
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LANrev Client Manager 4.6.4
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Systems Management Server (SMS)/Microsoft System Center Configuration
Manager (SCCM)
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Database Table or View
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NPM asset synchronization
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SAM asset synchronization
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NCM asset synchronization
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LANsweeper 5.x
Use the Attribute Mapping tab to map asset custom fields to the
discovery tool attributes. The available asset attributes you can map
depend on your selected discovery tool. These values come directly
from the discovery tool’s database.
Configuring Asset Discovery Tools
Select from the links below for instructions on how to configure WHD to use the
following asset discovery tools:
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Absolute Manage (LANrev)
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Apple Remote Desktop 3.2
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Apple Remote Desktop 3.3 and Later
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Casper Asset Discovery 8 and Earlier
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Casper Asset Discovery 9
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Database Table or View
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Lansweeper
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Configuring Microsoft SMS/SCCM
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Configuring NCM, NPM, or SAM
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WHD Discovery Engine (WMI)
Configuring Absolute Manage (LANrev) Settings
WHD features asset discovery integration with Absolute Manage. This integration
consists of two components:
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An Absolute Manage MySQL ODBC connection to WHD.
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Remote control of the Absolute Manage system using a link in WHD.
To implement this integration:
1. Configure the Absolute Manage MySQL ODBC export, as described in the
Absolute Manage User Guide.
2. Configure the Absolute Manage admin console to respond to HTML
requests from Web Help Desk, as described in the Absolute Manage User
Guide.
3. Configure WHD to import client inventory data from the Absolute Manage
MySQL database and enable the Absolute Manage inventory and remote
control links.
To create and configure an Absolute Manage connection in WHD:
1. In the toolbar, click Setup > Assets > Discovery Connections.
The Discovery Connections screen appears.
2. Click New.
The Connection Basics and Attribute Mapping tabs appear.
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3. In the Connection Basics tab, enter a descriptive Name for this
connection.
4. Enter the Absolute Manage Mysql Database Host IP address and Port.
5. Enter the Database Name, Username, and Password.
6. Select Included Virtual Machines to include virtual machine assets.
7. Optionally, select an Auto-Sync Schedule.
8. Use the Attribute Mapping tab of the asset discovery connection to map
any custom asset fields to Absolute Manage attributes.
9. Navigate to Setup > Assets > Options and select Absolute Manage
Links Enabled.
With this feature enabled, wherever you select assets in Web Help Desk,
icons appear that allow you to open the asset in an Absolute Manage
browser window.
10. Click Save.
11. Select the Attribute Mapping tab and click Edit
12. Map the desired custom asset fields to Absolute Manage’s attributes. The
asset attributes are different for each discovery tool, mapping directly to the
values in the discovery tool’s database.
13. Click Save.
14. To view the imported assets, navigate to Assets > Search Assets.
To use Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) 3.2, enable and configure the ARD
PostgreSQL database to allow network connections. WHD provides a setup script
to make the configurations for you. Next, you will scan all the assets that must be
included in WHD and then run a System Overview report in ARD (The System
Overview Report option exports the asset data to the ARD PostgreSQL database.
For more information about the Apple database, see: Providing Application
Access to SQL Data in Apple Remote Desktop 3.2. This Apple document
explains in detail what the WHD script does, and gives instructions on how to
manually access the database from the Apple terminal.
To set up an ARD 3.2 connection in WHD:
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1. Download WHDRemoteDesktopBridge.dmg.
2. Run the bridge installer on the WHD server.
3. Install Apple Remote Desktop on the discovery database server.
4. Start Apple Remote Desktop and ensure it is scanning for computers.
5. Follow the steps in Providing Application Access to SQL Data in Apple
Remote Desktop 2 to configure ARD for TCP/IP access.
6. Ensure that:
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The Remote Desktop is started before you configure the database for
TCP/IP access.
You note the Apple script connection settings. The Apple script
configures the ARD database to enable TCP/IP access, and then
displays your database connection information. Record these
connection settings, as you will need to enter them into Web Help
Desk.
7. Open Remote Desktop and select the computers to import.
8. Navigate to Report > System Overview, and then click Run to run a
System Overview Report.
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Note: ARD does not remove computers from the database when they are no
longer included in a System Overview report. Remove any retired assets
from ARD before synchronizing with WHD.
9. In WHD, go to Setup > Assets > Discovery Connections and click New.
10. Select Apple Remote Desktop as the discovery type, click 3.2 or earlier
for the version and enter the database connection parameters provided by
the database setup script in step 5.
11. Enter the Remote Desktop PostgreSQL Database Host IP address and
port.
12. Click Save.
14. Map the desired custom asset fields to ARD’s attributes. The asset
attributes are different for each discovery tool, mapping directly to the values
in the discovery tool’s database.
15. Click Save.
As of version 3.3, ARD uses a local SQLite database to store report data. This
means that ARD must be installed on the same machine as WHD to sync
inventory data.
Using ARD 3.3 requires no additional configuration on the SQLite database to
make the connection.
To set up an ARD 3.3 connection in WHD:
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1. Install Apple Remote Desktop on the WHD server.
2. Start Apple Remote Desktop and ensure it is scanning for computers.
3. Open Remote Desktop and select the computers to import.
4. Navigate to Report > System Overview, and then click Run to run a
System Overview Report.
Note: ARD does not remove computers from the database when they are
no longer included in a System Overview report. Remove any retired assets
from ARD before synchronizing with WHD.
5. In Web Help Desk, go to Setup > Assets > Discovery Connections and
click New.
6. Select Apple Remote Desktop as the discovery type, click 3.3 or later for
the version.
7. Enter the Remote Desktop SQLite Database Filename.
8. Optionally, select an Auto-sync Schedule. Select the day or days to autosync and define a time and how often to run auto-sync.
9. Set the Advanced Options on the lower section of this screen. See the tool
tips for detailed explanations of each option.
10. Click Save.
11. Select the Attribute Mapping tab and click Edit.
attributes are different for each discovery tool, mapping directly to the values
in the discovery tool’s database.
13. Click Save.
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To set up a discovery connection for Casper in WHD:
1. In Web Help Desk, go to Setup > Assets > Discovery Connections and
click New.
2. Click the Discovery Tool drop-down menu and select Casper as the
discovery type.
3. In the Casper MySQL Database Host and Port fields, enter your Casper
IP address and port number, respectively.
4. In the Database Name field, enter the name of your database.
5. In the Username, and Password fields, enter the database user name and
password, respectively.
6. (Optional) In the Auto- Sync Schedule row, select the day or days to autosync and define a time and how often to run the auto-sync.
7. In the Advanced Options section, complete the check boxes and
selections as needed.
See the tool tips for detailed explanations of each option.
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8. Click Save.
Your information is saved.
9. Click the Attribute Mapping tab.
The Attribute Mapping tab window appears.
10. Click Edit.
11. Map the desired custom asset fields to Casper’s attributes.
The asset attributes are different for each discovery tool, mapping directly
to the values in the discovery tool’s database.
12. Click Save.
See Integrating Web Help Desk with the JSS for information about importing
assets directly from the JAMF software database, which stores information about
assets in the JAMF Software Server (JSS),
To set up a discovery connection for Casper 9 in WHD:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup and select Assets > Discovery
Connections and click New.
The Discovery Connections window appears.
2. Click New.
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3. Click the Discovery Tool drop-down menu and select Casper 9 as the
discovery type.
4. In the JSS Server URL, enter the appropriate URL.
The URL must contain the JSS server hostname or IP address.
Additionally, you can supply the protocol and port number, but they are not
mandatory. When no protocol is supplied, HTTPS becomes the default.
5. In the Database Name field, enter the name of the database.
6. In the Username, and Password fields, enter the database user name and
password, respectively.
7. (Optional) In the Auto-Sync Schedule row, select the day or days to autosync and define a time and how often to run the auto-sync.
8. In the Advanced Options section, select the appropriate options.
See the tool tip help for detailed explanations of each option.
9. Click Save.
10. Click the Attribute Mapping tab.
11. Click Edit.
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Map the desired custom asset fields to Casper’s attributes.
The asset attributes are different for each discovery tool, mapping directly
to the values in the discovery tool’s database.
12. Click Save.
Configuring Database Table or View Settings
To create a discovery connection for a Database table or view:
1. In the Web Help Desk Admin interface, click Setup and select Assets
> Discovery Connections.
The Asset Discovery Connections window appears.
2. Click New.
The Connection Basics window appears.
3. (Optional) In the Connection Name field, enter a name for the connection.
4. Click the Discovery Tool drop-down menu and select the tool used to
discover asset information.
5. In the Auto-Sync Schedule row, select how often WHD collects
properties from the discovered endpoints.
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To disable automatic synchronization, select Every <day> but do not
select any actual days.
6. In the Advanced Options section, select the appropriate options.
See the tool tip help for detailed explanations of each option.
7. Click Save.
To create a discovery connection for Lansweeper:
1. In the Web Help Desk interface, navigate to Setup > Assets > Discovery
Connections, and click New.
2. Select Lansweeper as the discovery type.
3. Enter the Lansweeper SQL Database Host IP address and Port.
4. Enter the Database Name, Username, and Password for the database.
5. Optionally, select an Auto-Sync Schedule. Select the day or days to autosync and define a time and how often to run auto-sync.
6. Set the Advanced Options on the lower section of this screen. See the
tooltip help for detailed explanations of each option.
7. Click Save.
9. Map the desired custom asset fields to Lansweeper’s attributes. The asset
attributes are different for each discovery tool, mapping directly to the
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10. Click Save.
Configuring Microsoft SMS/SCCM Settings
To create a discovery connection for Microsoft SMS/SCCM:
1. In the Web Help Desk Admin interface navigate to Setup > Assets >
Discovery Connections, and click New.
2. Select Microsoft SMS/SCCM as the discovery type.
3. Enter the SCCM SQL Database Host IP address and Port.
4. Enter the Database Name, Username, and Password for the database.
5. Optionally, select an Auto-sync Schedule. Select the day or days to autosync and define a time and how often to run auto-sync.
6. Set the Advanced Options on the lower section of this screen. See the
tooltip help for detailed explanations of each option.
7. Click Save.
attributes are different for each discovery tool, mapping directly to the
10. Click Save.
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Before you configure WHD to integrate with NCM, NPM, or SAM, ensure you
have the following:
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SolarWinds Orion Platform system IP address and port number
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SolarWinds Orion Platform login and password
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System database’s logon and password
To create a discovery connection using Orion NCM, NPM, or SAM as a discovery
tools:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup and select Assets > Discovery
Connections
The Asset Discovery Connections window appears.
2. Click New.
The Connection Basics window appears.
3. In the Connection field, enter a name for the new connection.
4. Click the Discovery Tool drop-down menu and select NCM, NPM, or SAM
(depending on which connection you wish to discover your assets).
Note: If you want to discover assets for NCM, NPM, and SAM, you will need
to set up three separate discovery connections.
5. In the Auto-Sync Schedule row, select how often Web Help Desk collects
properties from the discovered endpoints.
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6. Select the Ignore Blank Discovered Values check box to indicate whether
blank values encountered in mapped fields of the discovery tool should be
ignored or used to overwrite existing values in Web Help Desk.
7. Select the Sync with Existing Assets Only check box if assets found in the
discovery connection will be synchronized with assets that currently exist in
the Web Help Desk database or if assets not in the Web Help Desk will be
added to current assets.
8. In the When Assets Are Removed row, select the appropriate action if an
asset currently in the Web Help Desk database is no longer found by the
discovery tool.
9. Click Save.
The WHD Discovery Engine (WMI) uses an IP address range to scan at least one
set of administrator credentials to create a new discovery connection. WHD stores
and encrypts all administrator credentials in the database with the connection
parameters (such as IP ranges and schedule).
Using the WHD Discovery Engine, you can create separate Discovery and AutoSync job schedules. A Discovery job scans a selected IP address range and
discovers endpoints that accepts at least one of the saved credentials. The first
time you run the discovery job, it forces an auto-sync (collection). An Auto-Sync
job collects configuration data from endpoints discovered by the discovery job.
To create a discovery connection using the WHD Discovery Engine:
1. Navigate to Setup > Assets > Discovery Connections.
The Asset Discovery Connections screen appears.
2. Click New.
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3. In the Connection Name field, enter a name for the new connection.
4. Click the Discovery Tool drop-down menu and select WHD Discovery
Engine (WMI).
The Connection Basics window options change, and the Attribute Mapping
tab appears.
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5. In the IP Ranges row, enter a starting and ending IP address to scan for
assets.
Click Add IP Range to add additional IP ranges.
6. In the Credentials row, enter the credentials to use when you attempt to
authenticate against discovered assets.
WHD will attempt to authenticate the discovered assets based on your
applied credentials.
7. In the Discovery Schedule row, select the appropriate days and times to
scan for assets within your selected IP range(s).
All discovered assets are synchronized with WHD based on your selections
in the Auto-Sync Schedule row.
8. In the Auto-Sync Schedule row, select the appropriate days and times
when WHD collects properties from discovered endpoints.
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To disable auto synchronization, select Every <day> but do not select a
specific day.
9. Select the Ignore Blank Discovered Values check box to accelerate the
discovery process. When selected, WHD does not sync blank values.
10. Select the Sync With Existing Assets Only check box to sync discovered
resources with existing resources currently in the WHD database.
11. In the When Assets are Removed row, select the appropriate action in an
asset currently in the WHD database is no longer found by the discovery
tool.
Select Delete Asset to delete the asset from the WHD database.
Select No Action to leave the asset in the WHD database.
Select Set Status to and select a status for the appropriate action.
12. Click Save.
13. Select the Attribute Mapping tab.
14. Click the Edit icon.
The tab window changes to Edit mode.
15. Map the asset fields as appropriate. All bold selections are required.
The asset attributes are different for each discovery tool, mapping directly to
the values in the discovery tool’s database.
16. Click Save.
To view the imported assets, navigate to Assets > Search Assets.
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Syncing and Discovering Assets
To sync and run an asset discovery session after configuring connections and
mapping assets:
1. Click the Sync Now button for the desired connection.
2. Click OK when WHD prompts you to sync assets with your connection.
WHD returns you to the Connection Basics tab, where, under
Discovery Status, you can monitor discovery and collection progress
and results.
3. Click Done when the discovery and sync process is completed.
Adding Assets
For information about import options and discovery tools, see Discovering
Assets.
To manually add assets:
1. In the toolbar, click Assets and select Search Assets.
The Search Assets tab windows appear.
2. In the lower window, click New Asset.
The Asset Basics tab windows appear.
3. Click the Asset Basics tab.
The Asset Basics tab window appears.
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Adding Assets
4. In the Asset No. field, enter a unique number for the asset.
To automatically increment asset numbers, adjust this setting in the Options
screen located at Setup > Assets > Options.
5. Click the Asset Type drop-down menu and select the appropriate asset
type.
6. Click the Model drop-down menu and select the asset model (if required).
7. Click the Location drop-down menu and select the location where the asset
is assigned (if required).
8. Click the Room drop-down menu and select the room where the asset is
assigned.
9. Click the Department drop-down menu and select the department assigned
to the asset.
10. In the Clients Lookup box, enter a last and first name to look up and assign
assets to a client.
When completed, click Search to display and select a client.
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11. Click the Status drop-down menu and select the current status of the asset.
12. Select the Synchronization Disabled check box if the asset is disabled.
13. Select the Service Contract check box if the asset is under a service
contract.
14. Select the Reservable check box if the asset can be reserved or checked
out.
15. Click Save.
The asset information is saved.
Removing Assets
In WHD, the default aging interval for all assetsis 90 days. If a node is not
rediscovered or or provided data within the last 90 days, its life cycle status
changes from ACTIVE (0) to DECOMISSIONED (2).
To update the default aging interval:
1. Locate and open the appropriate configuration file in a text editor.
For Microsoft Windows systems, open the wrapper_template.conf file
located at:
webhelpdesk\bin\wrapper\conf\wrapper_template.conf
For Linux and Apple OSX systems, open the whd.conf file located at:
webhelpdesk\conf\whd.conf
2. In the file, update the value in the following JAVA_OPTS parameter:
-Dasset.agingInterval=30d
In this example, all WHD assets are decommissioned if not rediscovered
within 30 days.
3. Save and close the file.
Note: If WHD discovers the asset after the decommission, the asset will become
active in WHD again.
See Configuring WHD Discovery Engine (WMI) Settings for information about
removing or changing the status of an undiscovered, decommissioned asset
listed in the WHD database.
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WHD imports several asset properties when you perform an asset discovery or an
import operation. The WHD user interface provides a method of adding and
editing asset properties.
You can access the asset properties by clicking Setup and selecting Search
Assets. The Search Assets screen includes four tab windows that provide
information about your asset.
Below is a description of each tab window.
Tab Name
Description
Asset Basics
Provides general asset information you can edit,
including:
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Type (such as a desktop PC, notebook
computer, or printer
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Location (such as a city, room, and department)
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Clients assigned to the asset
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Status (such as deployed or in storage)
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Asset Details
Asset number (entered manually or generated
automatically by WHD)
Availability (if the asset can be reserved or
checked out)
Associated service contracts
Provides detailed asset information you can edit,
including:
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Serial number
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Version
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IP address
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Network name
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Asset History
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MAC Address
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Purchase Date
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Warranty Type
Provides dates and actions when an asset was
removed, modified, or changed status, as well as the
associated tech.
This information cannot be edited.
Ticket History
Provides the ticket number, date, status, and problem
report associated with the asset, as well as the
associated tech in each instance.
This information cannot be edited.
To edit basic and detailed asset properties:
The Search Assets screen appears.
The Basic Search tab window appears.
3. Select and/or complete the appropriate field to locate the asset.
For additional search options, click Advanced Search and complete the
fields in the window.
4. Click Search.
Your search results appear in the bottom window.
For example:
5. In the No. field, click the asset number icon.
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The Asset tab windows appear.
For example:
6. In the window, click the Edit icon.
The tab window changes to Edit mode.
7. Make any changes as required.
8. Click the Asset Details tab.
The Asset Details tab window appears.
9. Make any changes as required.
10. Click Save.
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In the Asset Basics tab, you can link assets as a parent or as a child of another
asset. When you assign parent/child associations to your assets, the following
conventions apply: l
A parent asset can have any number of child assets.
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A child asset cannot be a parent to another asset.
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Removing the parent status orphans all the child assets for that parent.
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Child assets can be removed from individually from a parent.
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A child asset can have any number of parent assets.
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Child assets inherit priorities from the parent objects including location,
status, and other properties.
Parent/child status is set by adding child assets to a parent asset. You
cannot add a parent to a child.
To add assets as children of a parent asset:
4. Click Search.
5. In the No. field, click the appropriate asset number icon.
The Asset Basics tab windows appears, displaying information about your
selected asset.
The Child Assets box appears at the bottom of the window.
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6. Click the Edit icon at the top of the window.
The window changes to Edit mode, allowing you to change the asset
details.
7. In the Child Assets tabbed box, click Edit.
The Asset Lookup box appears.
8. Select and/or enter the search criteria to locate the appropriate asset, and
then click Search.
The Search Results box appears with a list of assets.
9. Click Link to select one of the listed assets as a child asset.
10. In the Asset Lookup box, click Done.
The asset is added as a child asset.
11. Click Save.
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The asset is saved as a child asset.
To removeassets as children of a parent asset:
4. Click Search.
5. In the No. field, click the appropriate asset number icon.
The Asset Basics tab windows appears, displaying information about your
selected asset.
The Child Assets box appears at the bottom of the window.
6. Click the Edit icon at the top of the window.
The window changes to Edit mode, allowing you to change the asset details
7. Click the trash can next to the child asset you want to remove.
8. Click Save.
The child asset is removed.
The WHD purchase orders feature simplifies tracking your asset purchases and
leases. This feature, however, is not meant to replace your company’s current
accounting or ordering systems. WHD does not create purchase orders but rather
stores information about purchase orders.
Defining Vendors
Before adding a new PO, one or more vendors must be entered into the database.
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To add a new Vendor:
1. Go to Setup > Assets > Vendors.
2. Click New.
3. Fill in the vendor information, and then click Save.
Fields in a purchase order include:
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PO Number – must be unique in the database
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Order Date – the date the purchase order was entered
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Invoice Date – the date the vendor shipped the product (used to help
calculate warranty / lease expiration date)
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Vendor - Vendor type
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Order Type – Lease or Purchase
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Originator Last Name – last name lookup of the client who made the PO
request.
Deliver To Last Name– last name lookup of the client to whom the
purchased items should be delivered
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Attachments - Any supporting documentation
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Notes – Any additional information about the purchase order
To add Purchase Order information:
1. Click Assets > Purchase Orders.
2. Click New Purchase Order at the bottom of the search display list.
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3. Fill in the Purchase Order information, and then click Save.
Adding Purchase Order Line Items
After saving a purchase order, you add line items to the purchase order using the
line item editor. You add individual parts and their costs to purchase orders in
Line Items.
You associate specific assets by providing a valid asset number. If you attempt to
link a line item to an asset number that does not exist, or is already linked to
another PO, you receive an error message.
To access the line item editor:
1. Select a purchase order by navigation to Assets > Purchase Orders,
search for a PO and click the PO Number link.
2. Click the Pencil to edit the PO.
3. Complete the Line Item box to the right.
4. If you want to add more line items, click New Line Item.
5. When you have completed the line items, click Save.
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Line items must define a model and may contain part number and price
information. Assets can also be associated to a PO from within the Asset detail
view.
You must have a “free” line item defined in the PO in order to link the asset. If you
were to add a new iMac G5 asset, you could associate it with the PO in the
example above, because the iMac G5 line item is free (not linked) to any asset
number.
See Importing Data, for details on importing purchase orders.
Searching Assets
You search for assets in either the either Basic or Advanced tabs. Basic
searching provides a simplified sub-set of the search criteria available in the
advanced search mode.
To sort your search results, click on a column header. To download the search
results in PDF format, click the button for the format type you want.
The search results list can display a large amount of asset data. To control what
information is displayed, use the Column Set widget on the upper right of the
search results list to enable or disable specific columns. Click + to add a new
column set, or edit the selected column set by clicking Edit .
Saved Queries
You save searches for future use in the Advanced Search Tab.
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To save a query:
1. Define your search criteria using the same method explained in Searching
Tickets.
2. Provide a name in the Save Query as: field.
3. Select the Shared box if you want others to be able to use this search.
Note: Depending on your access level, you may not have access to the share
box.
To run a query, select the query name from the Query menu at the top of the
search results display. The query runs automatically upon selection.
Reserving Assets
You ensure assets are available when you need them using the Asset reservation
feature. Before reserving it, the asset must first be set to reservable in the Asset
Basics editor.
Making Assets Reservable
To set Assets as reservable:
1. Navigate to Assets > Search Assets
2. Search for and select the Asset you want to make reservable.
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Reserving as a Tech
3. Select the Reservable check box.
4. Click Save.
Reserving as a Tech
To set up Asset reservations as a tech:
1. Navigate to Assets > Reservations and click New Reservation.
2. Use the Client Lookup to select the client who will be checking the Asset
out, and set the Scheduled Out and Scheduled In dates and times.
3. Find the asset to be reserved using the Asset Lookup box
4. Click the asset to be reserved, and then click Save.
Reserving as a Client
An administrator must give clients permission to reserve asset before clients can
use the reserve asset feature.
To allow clients to reserve an asset:
1. Navigate to Setup > Assets > Options.
2. Click Clients can Search assets.
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3. Click Limit to Assigned and Reservable, and then click Save.
To reserve an asset as a client:
1. Click Assets at the top of the client interface.
2. Click Search.
3. Once the desired asset has been located, select the Reserve check box
and then click Reserve Checked.
Upon clicking Reserve Checked a calendar window appears, allowing
reservation date or range of dates selection.
To select a reservation date range, click the first day of the reservation, drag the
cursor to the last day of the reservation, and then click Save.
To remove a reservation, click the trash can on the reservations page.
Checking In and Out
Only Techs can check reserved assets in or out.
Navigate to Assets > Reservations and click Search to find reserved assets
To check assets in or out, click Check In or Check Out.
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Using the data import function from Settings > Data Import>Import Asset is the
easiest way to get Asset data into WHD. To ensure a successful import, use the
Assets Import template. See Importing Data Using Templates for information on
applying templates.
To import Assets into WHD:
1. Navigate to Setup > Data Import.
2. Select Import Assets from the Data Import tab.
3. Select a Sync Based On type. This field synchronizes the data import with
any existing Asset data.
4. Choose a Client Key to define the key field for database column reference.
5. Select the Ignore Blank Fields check box ff you expect some of the table
fields not to populate. Otherwise, leave this check box blank.
6. Select the Add New Entries check box to add fields that are not defined on
the downloaded template. Otherwise, leave this check box blank.
7. Select the Abort Import on First Error check box if you get poor results
after importing your data. Otherwise, leave this check box blank.
8. In the File Type and File Encoding fields, select the proper file type and file
encoding, respectively. Select MS Excel for .xls imports.
9. In the Import Data File row, click Browse and select a saved template.
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10. Click Import to import the file.
The file is imported into WHD.
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Managing FAQs
WHD allows you to import, create, access, and search FAQs and knowledge
base articles and make these available to Clients, so you can reduce the number
of inbound support requests. WHD promotes self resolution by displaying relevant
knowledge base articles and FAQs to clients as they enter their service requests
into the web portal.
Creating New FAQs
To create a new FAQ:
1. In the toolbar, click FAQs.
The FAQs screen appears.
2. In the FAQ toolbar, click New FAQ.
The Create FAQ screen appears.
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Managing FAQs
3. Click the Category field and select a category.
Note: This field is populated from the ticket request types. You can add
additional request types in the Request Types screen. See Defining
Request Types for more information.
4. In the Question box, enter the question text for this FAQ.
Questions can include HTML links and formatting, as well as Bulletin Board
Code (BBC) tags.
5. In the Answer box, enter an answer for this FAQ.
Answers can include HTML hyperlinks and formatting, as well as BBC tags.
6. In the Audience row, select the appropriate restriction for this FAQ.
7. In the Models row, select the models that apply to this FAQ.
8. In the Companies row, select the companies that can access this FAQ.
9. In the Locations row, select the locations that can access this FAQ.
10. In the Departments row, select the locations that can access this FAQ.
11. In the Attachments row, click Add File to add an attachment to this FAQ.
12. Select the Approved check box to publish this FAQ.
Note: Only administrators can approve FAQs.
13. In the Expiration Date row, select an expiration date and time if you want
this FAQ to expire. Otherwise, leave these selections blank.
14. (Optional) In the Rating row, select the appropriate rating.
15. Click Save.
Your FAQ is saved.
Accessing FAQs
To access FAQs, click FAQs in the WHD toolbar. From here, you can search for
existing FAQs or create new FAQs.
All FAQs you create are accessible from within your WHD installation. You can
link your FAQs to specific locations so they are available only through WHD with
the appropriate user permissions.
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Searching FAQs
For information about creating FAQs, see Creating New FAQs.
Searching FAQs
To search FAQs, click FAQs in the toolbar.
You can filter FAQs by FAQ number, category, location, model, approval,
expiration, and question/answer text.
To edit an FAQ, click the FAQ hyperlink number.
To sort the results list, click a column header.
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WHD provides robust, customizable graphic reporting features to monitor
technician performance, customer support needs by location, real-time billing
data, and incidence frequency. You configure the type of information displayed
and the format in which it appears, for Asset, Billing, Ticket, and, for direct
comparisons, Composite reports. Pull in data from surveys, to see where the
service bottlenecks are.
WHD comes standard with sample reports that you can customize or use as-is.
Begin the report creation process by thinking about the types of things you'll need
to report on, and how you want to categorize those items. You can create reports
on any information WHD contains. Perhaps you need to know, on a monthly
basis, how much money your company is spending on leased equipment. Or
maybe you want to find out which of your organization's Locations have submitted
the most service requests over the past quarter. Or you need to find out how long
Techs are taking to resolve service requests.
If you are planning to use more than 10 or 15 reports, or need to control access to
certain reports, consider whether you need to categorize those reports into
groups. WHD's Report Groups feature makes reports easier to find. You can also
configure a report group so that Techs or Clients can work only with those reports
they need.
WHD's Report Schedules feature schedules and automates to report creation and
distribution.
To access reporting, click the Reports icon in the WHD toolbar. A list of existing
reports displays.
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For details on how to use WHD's reporting capabilities, see:
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Creating Reports
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Creating Report Schedules
WHD includes a set of sample reports you can customize or use immediately:
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Average open time this month
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Average work time this month
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Billing report by location
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Billing report by technician
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Closed tickets this month
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Location status this month
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Open tickets by request type
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Technician status this month
To access, run, and view a sample report onscreen, click Reports and then click
the Play icon on the right side of the report row.
To generate a printable web view in a new window, click the Print View
in the report row.
icon
To create a PDF for downloading or printing, click the PDF icon in right side of the
report row.
You can create custom reports or edit existing reports that focus on a wide variety
of issues, including asset, billing, and ticket information. You can also create
composite reports that link together a mixture of reports. Each report includes
charts and/or tables that display the number of items in possible categories.
WHD provides four options to define reports:
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Category. Determines values represented in Ticket, Billing, and Asset
reports. For example, if you set the bar, pie, slice, or row category in an
Asset report to Model, the report contains your selected components for
each asset model. The Repetition category determines the categories used
to create multiple charts for comparison.
Chart Metric. Calculates the length and size of bar charts and pie slices in
Ticket and Asset reports, as well as attributes included in a table.
Time Range. Filters the report information in Ticket and Billing reports to
include only what occurs within a given time period. You can limit the report
with a time range to increase reporting performance.
Report Filters. Defines the included data in Ticket, Billing, and Asset
reports by specifying category items to include and/or exclude. For example,
if an Asset report filter is set to Model, a Model filter restricts the report to
include only selected models. Filter categories are not limited to those used
for the report categories.
Report button functionality includes:
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Run Report. Generates a sample report using the current unsaved settings.
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Delete. Removes the current report from the report list.
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Cancel. Returns to the report list without saving any changes.
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Save. Saves your report settings.
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Done. Saves your report changes and returns to the main reports window.
To create a new report:
1. Click the Reports icon in the WHD toolbar.
The Report window appears with a list of existing reports.
2. Click New to create a new report.
3. Enter a name for the new report.
4. Select a Report Group to organize and control access to reports.
For more information about this configuration, see Creating Report Groups.
5. Select a Report Type:
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Asset Report
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Billing Report
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Composite Report
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Ticket Report
6. Click Save.
See the following sections for more information about creating and editing each
report type:
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Building Asset Reports
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Creating Ticket Reports
Metrics determine which ticket attribute is used to calculate the length of bars or
size of pie slices, and to determine which attributes are included in the table.
To create a new Bar Chart ticket report:
1. Click Reports
and then click New.
2. In the Report Basics tab, enter the Report Name.
3. Optionally, select a Report Group.
4. Select Ticket Report in the Report Type list.
5. Click the Report Details tab.
6. Select Bar Chart as the Chart Type.
7. Select a Bar Category to indicate what data the bar will represent.
8. Optionally, choose a Bar Stack Category to indicate data to be stacked
on the bar.
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For example, the chart below was created using Day of Week Opened as
the Bar Category and Hour of the Day Opened as the Bar Stack
Category.
9. Optionally, choose a Repetition Category to create multiple charts,
separated by this field.
For example, the chart below was created using Day of Week Opened as
the Bar Category, Hour of the Day Opened as the Bar Stack Category,
and Assigned Tech as the Repetition Category. This creates multiple
reports, one for each tech.
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10. Select a Chart Metric to indicate the type of measurement. The above
examples were created using the Tickets metric.
11. If you want to show a data table with the chart, select Show Table.
12. Select a Time Range and a Date Attribute.
13. Click Save.
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14. Optionally, click the Report Filters tab to add a report filter.
15. Select a Filter Attribute. WHD populates the filer values available by this
choice.
16. Select a Filter Type and the Filter Values, and then click Save
To create a new Pie Chart ticket report:
1. Click Reports
and then click New.
4. Select Ticket Report in the Report Type list.
5. Click the Report Details tab.
6. Select Pie Chart as the Chart Type.
7. Select a Pie Slice Category to indicate what data the slices will represent.
8. Optionally, choose a Repetition Category to create multiple charts,
separated by this field.
For example, the chart below was created using Day of Week Opened as the Pie
Slice Category and Location as the as the Repetition Category.
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Date Worked On is a unique date attribute as it looks specifically at tech notes
created during the specified date range and not ticket dates. Ticket reports using
this date attribute include data based on all tech notes in the date range
regardless of who created them, however all work time is attributed to the
assigned tech on the ticket.
To group request sub-types together within a single entry for their parent type,
create a filter that includes the parent request type.
For example, if there are request types for Hardware and Software, and each
have subtypes that you do not wish to appear as separate lines in the report,
create an inclusive Request Type filter that includes the Hardware and Software
request types. The report shows a single line for Hardware that includes all tickets
with subtypes of Hardware, and a single line for Software that includes all tickets
with subtypes of Software.
Billing Reports generate a table showing the total work time, parts cost, and labor
cost accrued for a set of tickets.
To create a new billing report:
1. Click Reports
and then click New.
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4. Select Billing Report in the Report Type list. 5. Click the Report Details tab.
6. Select a Category to indicate the type of information this report will
contain.
7. Select a Time Range for the report.
Note: The default range is not shown, but it is from today, back one month.
8. Select a Date Attribute for Time Range from the list. 9. Optionally, click the Report Filters tab to add a report filter.
10. Select a Filter Attribute. WHD populates the filer values available by this
choice.
11. Select a Filter Type and the Filter Values, and then click Save.
The Report Groups function helps organize reports and control access to report
data.
Report Groups control access to created reports sorted by Tech and Location
Group. This ensures that each Tech is only presented with reports within their
scope of work.
To create a new Report Group:
1. Navigate to Reports > Report Groups, and then click New.
2. Enter a Report Group Name.
3. Select the Tech GroupsLocation Groups that will have access to the
reports.
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4. Click the Included Reports tab.
5. Select the applicable Reports, and then click Save.
To further facilitate the distribution of reports, WHD includes the Report
Schedules function. This function schedules and automates to report creation and
distribution.
To create New Report Schedules:
1. Navigate to Reports > Report Schedules, and then click New.
2. Enter a Schedule Name.
3. Specify the Interval values.
4. Use the Client Lookup widget to search for clients.
5. Click a client Name to add a client.
6. Optionally, add non-client and non-tech recipients in the Other Recipients’
E-Mails field.
7. Click the Tech Recipients tab, and the click Edit. 8. Select the applicable tech check boxes.
9. Click the Included Reports tab, and then click Edit.
10. Select the reports you want to include.
11. Click Save.
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WHD tracks part inventory levels for locations set to store parts. To add parts to
WHD, see Manually Adding Parts. To designate locations for parts storage, see
Entering Locations and Departments.
You configure tax rates in Tax Rates tab located at Setup > Parts & Billing >
Rates & Terms. If you update your rates, tickets created prior to the update retain
their original rate. To update an old ticket with the new rates, click Refresh Tax
Rate.
To add parts to a location:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Parts and select the Inventory tab.
The Inventory Tab window appears.
2. In the search box, select the appropriate search criteria (such as part
number and description) and then click Search.
To list all parts leave the search fields empty and click Search.
Your results appear in the tab window.
3. Click the appropriate Storage Location drop-down menu and select storage
location.
4. In the Add Count field, add the number of available parts.
Note: To reduce the number of parts available, use a negative number. For
example, to change the number of available parts from 6 to 4, enter 2.
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5. Click Save.
Note: When a part inventory reaches zero, the inventory status changes
from Available to Back Ordered.
To use parts in a ticket:
1. Click Tickets and then click the ticket number.
The client ticket appears.
The Parts and Billing tab window appears.
3. In the Part Search box, enter and select the appropriate information to
locate the part.
4. Click Search.
The Search Results box appears, displaying the location and number of
available parts.
5. Click the inventory name or the number available to add the part.
The part now appears in the Assigned Parts box.
To remove defective parts from inventory, enter the number of parts in the
DOA field. WHD will remove the cost of the DOA parts from the ticket and
list DOA parts in a separate area in your billing reports.
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To remove an entire parts line item and return the parts back to inventory,
click the trash can icon.
6. Click Save to save your changes.
Using additional tools in WHD you can manage your parts and billing procedures
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Manually adding parts
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Configuring inventory alerts
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Enabling service time blocks
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Customizing your billing templates
To manually add parts:
1. Click Parts.
The Parts List and Inventory tabs appear.
2. Click New Part.
The New Part window appears.
3. In the Part No. field, enter a part number.
4. Click the Manufacturer drop-down menu and select a manufacturer.
Manufacturers and models are added at Setup > Asset >Manufacturers &
Models. For more information about adding manufacturers and models, see
Defining Asset Types.
5. Click the Model drop-down menu and select a model.
6. In the Description field, enter a description of the item.
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7. In the Our Cost and Customer Cost fields, enter the appropriate amounts.
8. Select the Tax Free check box if this item is not applicable to state or local
taxes.
9. Select the Inventory Alerts Enabled check box to receive an alert when
inventory falls below a certain level.
10. In the Notes field, enter any applicable notes.
11. Click Setup and select Parts & Billing > Inventory Alerts
The Inventory Alerts screen appears.
12. Click the Inventory Alert Interval drop-down menus and select the time
and frequency when the alert will be generated.
13. Click Save to save your settings.
See Importing Data for more information about importing parts.
Use the Inventory Alerts screen to configure the frequency and recipients for all
email alerts—for example, when your inventory threshold falls below your
specified level for parts a client regularly requests.
To configure inventory alerts:
1. Click the first Inventory Alert Interval drop-down menu and select a
number from 0 to 100.
2. Click the second Inventory Alert Interval drop-down menu and select the
appropriate alert frequency.
3. In the Default Inventory Alert Recipients field, enter the email addresses
of the default recipients who will receive inventory alerts.
You can override these values for each location that stores parts by
Overriding Default Inventory Alert Recipients
You can override the Default Inventory Alert Recipients values for each
location that stores parts.
To override the Default Inventory Alert Recipients values:
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1. Click Setup and select Companies and Locations > Locations and
Rooms.
The Location and Rooms screen appears.
2. In the Location Name column, click the appropriate location.
A new screen appears with the Location Info and Room Editor tab
windows.
3. Edit the information in the tab windows as required.
4. Click Done to save your changes.
This option allows you to offer support to your client locations based on
predefined service time blocks.
To enable Time Block Billing:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup and select Parts & Billing > Options.
The Parts and Billing Options screen appears.
2. Select the Enable Location Service Time Blocks check box and then click
Save.
3. Navigate to Setup > Locations And Rooms.
4. Click Enable Location.
The Enter Work Time As option appears.
5. Select the appropriate option to enable time blocks.
6. Click Save.
A message appears, stating that your preferences were saved.
Notes:
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For an expired block, the usable value may be lower than the block value
depending on how much time was used before the block expired.
The amount of service time available for a location displays within the
Ticket Details of a ticket under the location popup. If the value is negative, it
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displays in red.
Customizing the Billing Statement Template
You can customize billing statements to suit your needs by editing the
invoice.html file located in the following directory:
WebHelpDesk\bin\webapps\helpdesk\WEB-INF\lib\whdweb.jar\Resources\Invoice.wo\Invoice.html
For example, if you wanted to remove the signature line, you could remove lines
433 - 438:
<fo:table-row>
<fo:table-cell number-columns-spanned="<webobject
name=LineItemColumnCount></webobject>" padding-topp="10mm">
<fo:block font-family="FreeSans, ArialUnicodeMS, sans-serif" font-size="10pt"
text-align="right"><webobject name = "SignatureLbl"></webobject>: <fo:leader
leader-length="4.0in" leader-pattern="rule" rule-style="solid" color="black"></fo:leader>
</fo:block>
</fo:table-cell>
</fo:table-row>
After you delete these lines or make any other changes, restart WHD to enable
your changes.
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Surveys provide feedback from your client users. After you close a ticket, you can
give your clients the option of completing a survey. The survey is at the top of the
Ticket e-mail and in the Help History page of the client interface.
The Survey presented to the client is determined by the ticket's request type that
is configured at Setup > Tickets > Request Types > [Request Type] > Survey.
If you select Default Survey for the request types survey, the client will be given
the survey you configure at Setup > Surveys > Options > Default Survey. You
can also send out surveys manually to a group of clients using the Send Survey
button in the client search results header.
After you submit a survey, you can view but not edit the survey. To view the
survey results, click Reports and select Survey Results, or go to a ticket's detail
panel and click the View Survey button in the ticket header. The View Survey
button appears in the Survey Results screen after the client completes the
survey.
You can link surveys to a specific ticket for a single client, or send surveys as
general questionnaires to a number of clients.
Creating Surveys
To create a new survey:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup > Surveys > Surveys.
The Surveys screen appears.
2. Click New.
The New Survey screen appears.
3. In the Survey Name and Description fields, enter the appropriate
information for your survey.
4. In the Greeting and Thank You Message fields, enter the appropriate
information.
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5. In the E-Mail Invitation Message field, enter the message text that will
appear in survey invitations emailed to clients. This information includes the
client name and survey and ticket URL information.
Use the following tags in the email invitation message:
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Client name: <first_name>, <last_name>
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Survey link: <survey_linktext="click here">
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Ticket URL: <ticket_url>
6. Click the Frequency drop-down menu and select a frequency for this
survey.
Frequency defines the rate at which the survey is sent. A frequency of 1
sends the survey for each ticket. A frequency of 2 sends the ticket on every
second ticket.
7. Click the Max E-Mail Invitations drop-down menu and specify how many
times the survey is sent when the client does not respond.
8. Click the E-Mail Reminder Interval drop-down menus and select the
frequency that WHD sends email reminders to the client.
9. In the Email-Reminder Subject, and Email-Reminder Message fields,
enter the appropriate subject and message text to include in your email
reminder.
10. (Optional). In the Competition Notification Address. field, enter a list of
email addresses that will be sent a notification each time this survey is
completed.
To set the survey options:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup and select Surveys > Options.
The Survey Options screen appears.
2. Click the Default Survey drop-down menu and select a default survey for
ticket request types that are marked for a default survey.
If the Default Survey is set to None, no survey will be provided for tickets
with a request type using the Default Survey selection.
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Creating Messages
3. Click the Default Max Survey Invitations drop-down menu and select the
maximum number of survey invitations that a client receives by email.
4. Click the Default Survey Reminder Interval drop-down menus and select
the number of reminders sent to clients when they do not respond to a
survey.
5. In the Email Reminder and Email Reminder Message fields, enter the
appropriate text that appears in the customer reminder emails.
6. Click Save.
Creating Messages
To create a new message:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Messages.
The Messages screen appears.
2. Click Create Messages.
A list of messages appears.
3. Click New Message.
The New Message screen appears.
4. In the Message box, enter your message text.
Messages can contain plain text, HTML tags, and inserted FAQ links.
To include a link to an FAQ, click Link FAQ.
5. In the Audience row, select the types of users that can view the message.
If you select Clients or both Techs and Clients, the message will appear as
a public message on the login page.
6. Select the Specify Tech Groups check box to enable the message to
appear to techs in certain tech groups.
Leave the check box unchecked to enable the message to be visible to all
techs.
7. Select the Locked check box to lock the message so all recipients cannot
delete the message.
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Otherwise, leave the check box blank.
8. In the Start Date row, select the appropriate start date.
9. In the Expiration Date row, select the appropriate expiration date.
10. Click Search and then click Link.
11. Click Save to save and send the message.
The message is sent to your selected recipients.
Reviewing Survey Results
WHD offers two ways to examine survey results: the Ticket Detail View and
Survey Reports.
Ticket Detail View shows the result for a single ticket. Survey Reports show ticket
and general survey data and provide the ability to combine and sort results. View Ticket Details
To see the results of an individual ticket:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Tickets.
The Tickets screen appears.
2. In the No. column, click the ticket number you want to view.
3. The client ticket appears.
4. In the top left corner of the ticket, click the Survey View icon.
The survey results appear on your screen.
Viewing Survey Results Reports
To view summary data on both ticket and general surveys:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Reports and select Survey Results.
The Survey Results screen appears.
2. Select the survey you want to view.
Optionally, select any of the other fields to narrow the scope of the results.
3. When you have completed your selections, click Run Report.
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Survey reports are the only way to view the results of a general (nonticket) survey.
WHD sends email ticket surveys for each closed ticket with a survey selected in
Setup > Tickets > Request Types. Clients can access surveys by replying to the
email or by selecting History from the top menu.
To send a general survey to one or more clients:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Clients.
The Clients screen appears.
2. In the bottom box, click Send Survey.
A list of options appears.
3. Select the check boxes for the clients you want to send surveys.
4. Select the Survey to send, and then click Save & Email.
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Importing Data
To import data, WHD must first be configured to connect to your network using
one or more of the following tools:
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Absolute Manage
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Apple Remote Desktop
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Casper
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LANsweeper
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Microsoft SMS/SCCM
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Web Help Desk (WMI)
See Discovering Assets for information on how to set up connections with these
discovery tools.
The data import options let you import data in bulk, rather than having to add
individual items manually. You import data using either predefined templates, or
by using an asset discovery tool. WHD provides templates in three formats: Excel
spread sheets, Tab Separated Variable (TSV) files, and Comma Separated
Variable (CSV) files.
Use template data imports for the following WHD items:
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Locations
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Clients
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Assets
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Purchase Orders
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Tickets
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FAQs
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Parts
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Inventory
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Importing Data
See Using Templates to Import Data for details on how to set up and apply WHD
templates to import this data.
After you set up your connections using the discovery tools described in
Discovering Assets, you can import data from files in tab-separate-values (TSV),
comma-separated-values (CSV), or Excel formats.
WHD uses templates to ensure data files are formatted correctly. The first row of
data in the file must match the template, which can be downloaded from each
importer panel. SolarWinds recommends downloading this template and copying
and pasting it into the data file.
For all but the ticket import format, the import file format matches the TSV
downloads formats available for each entity. A typical TSV template contains
column headings similar to the following Client TSV template.
The file downloaded when you click the Download Template button in, for
example, the Import Clients page, can be reimported directly into the Clients
importer template.
Because Ticket TSV downloads are typically used for reporting, rather than for
making bulk changes, the columns in the Ticket TSV download match the
columns in the selected Column Set rather than those of the Ticket importer
template.
If you are using an Excel spreadsheet to format the data, and your data file
contains Unicode characters, be sure to select the MS Excel Unicode (UTF-16)
file encoding option, both in Excel and in Web Help Desk.
To import data using TSV, CSV, and Excel template files:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup and select Data Import.
2. In the drop-down menu, select an import type.
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3. Select a data format for the template.
4. Download the template.
5. Populate the template.
6. Import the populated template to WHD.
The table below specifies the type of import and the fields required for the import.
Type of Import
Required Fields
Location
Location Name
Companies
Company Name, Manager Tech Username
Clients
Last Name, User Name, E-Mail
Assets
Asset Type, Manufacturer, Model
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Exporting Data
Purchase Orders PO Number, Vendor
Tickets
Open Date, Request Type
FAQs
Category, Question, Answer
Parts
Part Number, Manufacturer, Our Cost, Customer Cost
Inventory
Part Number, Location, Count
When you populate the template, use the following conventions:
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To prevent failed imports, do not change the data order or delete columns in
any import.
Define all inventory import parts in Web Help Desk before you import your
inventory.
If the tickets implement request sub-types, enter the type and sub-type in the
Type column and separate the type and sub-type with a semicolon.
Do not use commas or currency symbols in your template.
Exporting Data
Export Web Help Desk data from the following:
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Tickets: Export data in PDF, TSV, and Excel formats
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Clients: Export data in TSV and Excel formats
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Assets: Export data in PDF, TSV, and Excel formats
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Parts: Export data in TSV and Excel formats
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FAQs: Export data in TSV and Excel formats
Note: TSV file cells are limited to 32 kbs.
Exporting Tickets
Export Ticket data to a TSV format for export to other locations or applications.
To export Tickets information:
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Exporting Clients
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Tickets.
The Tickets window appears.
2. Click the gear icon and select Tickets PDF or Download TSV.
3. View and save the Tickets Report.pdf file to your hard drive or other
location.
4. Save the WHD_Tickets.tsv file to your hard drive or other location.
Exporting Clients
Export Client information to a TSV or Excel format for export to other locations or
applications.
To export Clients information:
1. Navigate to the Clients window.
2. Click the TSV button to download a TSV file containing a list of Clients or
click the Excel button to download an Excel file containing a list of Clients.
3. Save the client_export.txt or client_export.xls file to your hard drive or
other location.
Exporting Assets
Export Assets information to PDF, TSV, or Excel format for export to other
locations or applications.
To export Assets information:
1. Navigate to the Assets window.
2. Click the PDF button to view and save Assets information as a PDF report.
Click the TSV button to download a TSV file containing a list of Assets or
click the Excel button to download an Excel file containing a list of Assets.
3. Save the Asset_export.txt or Asset_export.xls file to your hard drive or
other location.
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Exporting Data
Exporting Parts
Export Parts information to TSV or Excel format for export to other locations or
applications.
To export Parts information:
1. Navigate to the Parts window.
2. Click the TSV button to download a TSV file containing a list of Parts or
click the Excel button to download an Excel file containing a list of Parts.
3. Save the part_export.txt or part_export.xls file to your hard drive or other
location.
Exporting FAQs
Export FAQs information to TSV or Excel format for review, or for export to other
locations or applications.
To export FAQs information:
1. Navigate to the FAQs window.
2. Click the TSV button to download a TSV file containing a list of FAQs or
click the Excel button to download an Excel file containing a list of FAQs.
3. Save the faq_export.txt or faq_export.xls file to your hard drive or other
location.
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Customizing Tickets, Notes, Instructions, and
Emails with BBCode
Sometimes you might want to highlight certain information in an email, send a
clickable link, or format an FAQ or request type's detailed instructions so it's easy
to follow. Or maybe you need to highlight crucial information in an asset note, so
your coworkers won't forget to notify you when updating your machine. Some
forms, like ticket notes, offer formatting options in a small menu on the top of the
screen, but these may not be available everywhere, or you might want to do more
than standard options offer.
Bulletin Board Code (BBCode) is a lightweight markup code for text formatting. It
was introduced in message-boards, but is widely used in many other types of
software today. Tags are usually indicated by square brackets enclosing a
keyword, like this: [ and ]. BBCode has no formal standard; you can find different
implementations and variations in supported tags. WHD also has its own
customizable implementation of BBCode.
Here's a simple example of BBCode, which you can use in WHD.
[size=20]Title[/size]
[img]http://www.[[[Undefined variable WHD.solarwinds]]].com/favicon.ico[/img]
<p>
Lorem ipsum [b]dolor sit[/b] amet, [urll=http://www.webhelpdesk.com]consectetuer adipiscing[/url] elit. *** sociis natoque [i]
penatibus et magnis[/i] dis parturient montes,
nascetur ridiculus mus.
</p>
And here's a list:
[list]
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[*]Fusce tellus. Proin in tellus sit amet nibh
dignissim sagittis.
[*]Sed convallis magna eu sem. Maecenas sollicitudin.
[/list]
[list=A]
[*][color=blue]FAQ link:[/color] [faq id=1]
[*][u]FAQ link:[/u] <faq id=2>
[/list]
This text, which is actually a mix of BBCode and HTML, renders the following:
WHD stores transformation rules for tags in
WebHelpDesk/bin/webapps/helpdesk/WEBINF/Helpdesk.woa/Contents/Resources/bb_config.xml.
For more additional information on working with BBCode to format custom
information in WHD, see:
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Basic markup follows a simple structure:
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Simple tags: [tag]something[/tag]
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Simple parameterized tags: [tag=value]something[/tag]
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Complex parameterized tags: [tag value1="xxx" value2="yyy"]
something[/tag]
WHD supports wide range of tags:
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[code]your code here[/code]: Embeds your code.
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[quote]Text[/quote]: Adds quote to text.
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[quote=Author]Text[/quote]: Adds quote from specified author.
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[b]bold[/b]: Bolds text.
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[i]italics[/i]: Italicizes text.
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[u]underscored[/u]: Underlines text.
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[list][*]First item [*]Second item[/list]: Creates a list
using the symbols you define.
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[img]URL[/img]: Links image URL.
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[email]address[/email]: Embeds email address
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[email=address]Text[/email] Adds pre-defined email address.
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[url]address[/url]:Provides URL address,
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[url=address]Text[/url]: Adds pre-defined URL address.
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[color=name]Text[/color] : Supports HTML color names.
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[size=number of pixels]Text[/size]: Defines text size by
specific number of pixels.
[google]key words[/google]: Adds Google key words.
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[google=key words]Text[/google]: Adds pre-defined Google key
words.
[faq id=number]: Provides a link to an existing FAQ.
Additionally you can also use the following HTML tags with BBCode tags:
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<li>
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<ul>
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<ol>
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<font>
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<br />
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<p>
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<pre>
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<center>
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<faq>
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<hr>
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<strong>
You can use the BBCode in many places in WHD, like ticket subject, request
details, notes, email templates, FAQ, messages, login messages, custom field
descriptions, and so on.
Note: Most fields do support BBCode, but some, like secondary email fields in
your account details, do not. So make sure to test the code to make sure it works.
You can easily create your own tags in the bb_config.xml file. Say you want to
use strikethrough text. Simply add this custom tag definition to bb_config.xml, as
shown below:

<match name="s">
<regex>(?s)(?i)\[s\](.*?)\[/s\]</regex>
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<replace>
<![CDATA[
<strike>$1</strike>
]] >
</replace>
</match>
To apply the formatting, save your changes, and restart WHD.
BBCode can detect http and ftp links, emails, and Universal Naming Control
(UNC) paths and make them clickable. If you link to a YouTube or Vimeo video,
WHD can actually embed that video and display it, instead of the link. You can
also disable this behavior. In bb_config.xml, you can also disable embedding
video instead of displaying a link. Find all rules with name starting with autoyoutube (or auto-vimeo) and comment them out with . Save your
changes and then restart WHD to see the link, instead of the video.
Sometimes when working on an incident or writing an FAQ, you refer to other
tickets, referencing ticket 544 or terms like request, case, or problem. To make
these references into clickable links that open the referenced tickets, write a
simple rule.
To write a rule linking to other tickets, add the following to the bb_config.xml file:
<match name="TicketLink" alwaysProcess="true">
<regex>(?s)(?i)((?:ticket|incident|case|problem|request)\s*)([0-9]+)
</regex>
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<replace>
<![CDATA[
<a href="http://webhelpdesk.com:8081/
helpdesk/WebObjects/Helpdesk.woa/wa/TicketActionsview?ticket=$2">$1$2</a>
]]>
</replace>
</match>
Note: Remember to replace the URL with the link to your system.
Now typing case 22, automatically creates a link to case 22
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Integrating with SolarWinds
Products
WHD v12.2.0 and later can integrate with SolarWinds Network Performance
Monitor (NPM), Server and Application Monitor (SAM), and Network
Configuration Manager (NCM) to create WHD tickets from SolarWinds Orion
Platform alerts. When configured and enabled, the Orion Platform sends WHD an
http request for a network change—for example, a SolarWinds-monitored network
node that fails for any reason. WHD can be configured to receive and assimilate
the alert and generate a corresponding WHD ticket to address the issue
described in the alert.
Configuring Orion-to-Web Help Desk Ticketing
You can configure the Orion Platform to share alerts with WHD by completing the
following procedures:
1. Enable SolarWinds Orion to share alerts with Web Help Desk.
2. Enter the SolarWinds Orion server link in Web Help Desk.
3. Configure alert filtering rules in Web Help Desk to recognize and process
Orion Platform variables.
4. Test alert filtering rules in Web Help Desk.
Enabling SolarWinds Orion to Share Alerts with
Web Help Desk
To create WHD tickets from alerts triggered in NPM, NCM, and SAM, you can
configure any alert on any network change (for example, when a node goes
down) in the Orion Web Console (for SolarWinds Orion Platform 2015.1.0) or the
Orion Advanced Alert Manager or Basic Alert Manager (prior to Orion Platform
2015.1.0) to initiate a WHD trouble ticket.
See the appropriate section depending on your Orion Platform version.
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Configuring Orion Alerts prior to Orion Platform 2015.1.0
If you upgraded to Orion Platform 2015.1.0, the Advanced Alert Manager and
Basic Alert Manager are deprecated from the Orion release. Alerts are now
created and managed in the SolarWinds Orion Web Console.
Additionally, WHD does not support the following new condition introduced in
Orion Platform 2015.1.0:
To create, modify, enable, or disable alerts, use the Alert Manager integrated in
the Orion Web Console.
To create a new alert to share with WHD:
1. Log in to the Orion Web Console.
2. Click Settings.
The Main Settings & Administration screen appears.
3. Under Alerts and Reports, click Manage Alerts.
The Manage Alerts screen appears.
4. In the Alert Manager tab toolbar, click Add New Alert.
The Add New Alert screen appears.
5. Follow the instructions on your screen to create a new alert.
To share an alert with Web Help Desk:
a. Navigate to the Alert Summary > Alert Integration page.
b. Select the following check box:
Integrate alert with other solarwinds products and subscribers
(Recommended).
c. Save your changes.
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See Creating and Managing Alerts in the Orion Platform Admin Guide for more
information.
If you are running Orion with a core version prior to Orion Platform 2015.1.0, you
can configure WHD alerts by opening the Advanced Alert Manager and clicking
Configure Alerts.
For more information about Orion alert properties, see NPM Variables and
Examples in the SolarWinds Orion NPM Administrator Guide.
To configure Orion to share a Node Down alert with WHD:
1. From the Start menu on the Orion server, navigate to SolarWinds Orion >
Alerting, Reporting, and Mapping > Advanced Alert Manager.
2. Click Configure Alerts.
The Manage Alerts window appears.
3. Select the alert you want sent to WHD and click Edit.
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4. In the Edit Alert dialog's General tab, ensure the Enable this Alert option
is selected.
The Orion server sends the alert only when this option is active.
5. Select the Trigger Condition tab.
6. Click Add and then click Simple Condition.
7. Click the first asterisk * in the condition, and then select Network Nodes >
Node Details > Node Name.
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8. Click the second asterisk * in the condition and select the node from which
you want WHD to receive alerts.
9. Click Add, and then click Simple Condition.
10. Click the first asterisk * in the condition, and then select Network Nodes >
Node Status > Node Status.
11. Click the second asterisk * in the condition and select Down.
12. Select the Alert Suppression tab.
Make sure this tab is not configured. Otherwise, your system will not
generate an alert to the WHD system.
13. Select the Trigger Actions tab.
14. Click Add New Action, select Send an E-mail/Page, and then click OK.
The Edit E-Mail/Page Action... window appears.
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15. In the E-Mail/Page Addresses tab, locate the Email/Pager Recipients
box and enter the WHD integration email address in the To field.
Note: Ensure your network environment is configured to allow the Orion
server to send email alerts to the WHD integration email account. Check
with your Orion system administrator to find out which networks accept
Orion server emails. Additionally, you can test whether Orion can access
the WHD integration server yourself. See Testing Orion Server Access to
the Help Desk Integration Email Account for more information.
16. Select the Message tab.
17. Review the message and note any variables in the message.
Consider adding these variables to the WHD alert filtering rules. See
Testing Alert Filtering Rules for more information.
18. Click OK.
19. Click the Alert Sharing tab.
20. Select the Automatically share alert data with other SolarWinds
products and subscribers check box.
21. Set the Severity level.
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The alert’s Severity level passes along to WHD. In this example, the
Severity level is Warning.
22. In the Properties to Include box, review the property names in the Name
column.
Properties in this example include:
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IP Address
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Object Sub Type
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Status Description
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Node Name
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Vendor
Note: WHD uses the actual names of the properties as alert fields in WHD
rules it uses to filter alerts from Orion.
23. Click OK to apply edits and new properties.
24. Click Done to complete the editing process.
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Testing Orion Server Access to the Help Desk Integration Email
Account
After you assign an Orion alert to the WHD integration email account, ensure that
your Orion server can access your WHD integration email account.
If the alert is for an intermittent event (such as a failed node), the following test
procedures may not be applicable unless you change the Trigger Condition to a
reoccurring event. For example, if a node isn't down, the Orion server cannot
trigger an alert. To test your Orion server access, create or edit a test alert for a
fairly constant condition (for example, when a node is up and operating
efficiently). Configure this test alert to forward to the WHD integration email
address.
See Enable SolarWinds Orion to Share Alerts for more information.
To test integration email account access from your Orion server:
1. In the Alert Manager - Quick Start window toolbar, click Active Alerts.
The Orion server processes and displays the alert state. When completed,
the server sends the alert to the WHD integration email account. Next, the
Active Alerts tab displays the time when the alert was triggered.
If the alert does not appear in the Active Alerts tab,
a. Click Configure Alerts.
b. Select the alert, and then click Edit.
c. Check your alert settings and verify if the alert is configured correctly
and the alert can be tested.
For example, if the alert is configured for a down node and no nodes
are down, you cannot test your WHD integration email account using
this alert.
For more information about networks that transmit Orion server integration emails,
contact your Orion system administrator.
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Entering an SolarWinds Orion Alert Source into Web Help Desk
Entering an SolarWinds Orion Alert Source into
Web Help Desk
Configure WHD to retrieve and process alerts from a SolarWinds alert source by
adding the server link to WHD.
Before you create a connection with a SolarWinds Orion alert source,
ensure that the source is running SolarWinds Orion Platform 2012.2 or
higher. Additionally, if you need to edit connection details for a
SolarWinds source, delete the existing source and create a new source.
To create a SolarWinds alert source:
1. In the WHD toolbar, click Setup and select SolarWinds Integration
> SolarWinds Connection.
The SolarWinds Connection screen appears.
2. Click Add New SolarWinds Source.
The Add New SolarWinds Source screen appears.
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3. In the Source Name field, enter the new SolarWinds source name.
4. In the WHD Request Type.field enter the request type.
Note: For more information about selecting and defining WHD Request
Types, see Defining Request Types.
5. In the Server IP Address or FQDN field, enter the SolarWinds Server IP
Address or Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
6. In the Administrator username field, enter the SolarWinds administrator
user name.
7. In the Administrator user password field, enter the SolarWinds
administrator user password.
Note: To ensure WHD can access the required SolarWinds alerts, enter
administrator-level SolarWinds account and credentials data into WHD. 8. Click Test.
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The Server Settings Test dialog box appears.
When WHD creates a connection with a SolarWinds Orion alert source, the
checked areas in the window contain green check marks.
The alert source is configured.
WHD creates new tickets from the SolarWinds alerts it accepts. Request types
define the ticket issue, such as Hardware, Software, Networking, and so on. WHD
requires each new ticket have a request type. You can select a pre-defined
request type from the pull-down menu or you can define a new request type.
To learn how to define new request types, see Defining Request Types.
Entering SolarWinds Account and Credentials Data
To ensure WHD can access the required SolarWinds alerts, enter administratorlevel SolarWinds account and credentials data into WHD. Configuring Alert Filtering Rules
WHD creates tickets from Orion alerts by matching the Orion alert contents and/or
features to filters you set up in WHD. To build WHD alert filtering rules, apply the
property names that exist in your system’s Orion alerts.
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Orion alerts use any properties a SolarWinds administrator chooses or creates.
Alert properties can have default names or other types of name configurations
assigned by the SolarWinds Orion administrator. The following table lists some
basic default alert variables you can use to create standard alert properties in
SolarWinds applications.
Severity
Location
AlertID
Operating System
Object Type
IP_Address
Alert Type
Machine Type
UserProperties
TotalMemory
Node Name
DNS
Vendor
System Name
Description
Location
For a detailed list of Orion alert variables used to build alert properties, see NPM
WHD and Examples in the SolarWinds Orion NPM Administrator Guide and the
SolarWinds paper entitled Understanding Orion Advanced Alerts. The white
paper explains how to customize Orion alert properties and provides additional
information about Orion alert contents.
After you set up the SolarWinds server in WHD (as described in Entering an
SolarWinds Orion Alert Source into Web Help Desk) and gather information about
your system's Orion alerts and associated properties, configure WHD to transform
Orion alerts into WHD tickets.
Understanding Rule Configuration
WHD defaults to ignoring Orion alerts. To transform alerts into WHD tickets, select
and define the appropriate rules so WHD can recognize the alerts. The following
table describes these rules.
Filtering Rule Type
Rule Description
Matching rule
Defines the characteristics alerts must contain for WHD
to recognize and transform them into WHD tickets or
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ignore them.
These characteristics include:
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Severity level, such as Notice, Information,
Warning, Critical, and Serious
Exact field name, such as Date, Alert Type,
Operating System, and so on
Operator (whether the alert field name or severity
level contains, equals, starts with, end with,
matches regular expression, does not contain, is
not equal to, does not start with, does not end with,
or does not match regular expression)
Value, which can be any type of alphanumeric
data
AND/OR block
Specifies whether WHD accepts or rejects alerts based
on whether they meet ANY or ALL Child rules in a Complex rule.
Child rule
Provides additional filtering on existing rules. For
example, when an initial filtering rule transforms all
alerts with a Critical severity into tickets, you can create
child rules to transform only Critical severity alerts from
Windows 2008 and Windows 2011 systems into WHD
alerts.
Complex rule
A set of rules that contain at least one parent rule (which
can be a Matching rule or an AND/OR block), plus one
or more child rules.
WHD provides the following interface for rule configuration.
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Begin filtering rule configuration by clicking either Add a new matching rule or
Add new AND/OR block.
Adding a new matching rule tells WHD to match certain variables in alert text
fields or a defined severity level. For example, if you click Add new matching
rule, WHD displays the following screen.
The Filters pane contains a new, unconfigured rule. Use the Configure Rule pane
to configure the new rule to recognize or ignore alerts based on criteria you
define.
WHD provides the following filtering options: 312
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Accept alert: Choose this option for WHD to recognize the alert.
Or
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Reject alert : Choose this option for WHD to ignore the alert.
if Severity: Select this option to match alerts by severity level. If you select
this option, choose one of the following:
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is equal to: Select this option to match alerts by one of the following
Orion alert levels:
Notice
Information
Warning
Critical
Serious
Or
o
is not equal to: Select this option to match all severity levels except
the one selected. If you select this option, choose one of the following
alert levels to ignore:
Notice
Information
Warning
Critical
Serious
Or
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if Alert Field: Enter an Orion alert field variable. To further define matching
rules, select from one of the following:
o
contains
o
is equal to
o
contains
o
is equal to
o
starts with
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o
ends with
o
matches the regex
o
does not contain
o
is not equal to
o
does not start with
o
does not end with
o
does not match the regex
In the Configure Rule pane, enter the alpha-numeric information required
for matching. The following example displays a sample configuration for
selecting and entering the data in the Configure Rule pane.
In this example, WHD is configured to create tickets from all Orion alerts
containing Windows 8 in the Operating System field.
Note: For both the Accept Alert and Reject Alert options, Ignore case and
Ignore whitespace are active by default. To ensure the best results, leave
these options selected.
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When you click Add new AND/OR block, the Configure Complex Rule pane
appears, as shown below.
Selecting Match any matches if any Child rule in the Complex rule matches.
Selecting Match all requires all Child rules match for WHD to accept the alert and
create a WHD ticket.
Alert Filtering Configuration Example
In the following example, our goal is to enable WHD to create tickets for
improperly functioning network nodes. We want to configure WHD to recognize
and create tickets from the Orion alert selected in Enabling SolarWinds Orion to
Share Alerts, so the severity-level and condition properties used in the next
example include Warning, IP Address, and Node Name.
To define and configure filtering rules, using the severity Warning and the alert
fields IP Address and Status Description:
1. In the Filters pane, click Add new matching rule.
2. Select Accept Alert or Reject Alert in the Configure Rule pane. For this
example, we are selecting Accept Alert.
3. Select if Severity.
Note: As explained above, you can find Orion property names by becoming
familiar with the properties defined in your SolarWinds Orion system.
Warning may or may not be a property your particular SolarWinds Orion
system uses; it is only an example in this set of instructions.
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4. Select one of the ten options from the pull-down field. For this example,
select the word contains, because we want to filter alerts that contain a
certain severity level.
5. Enter the Orion property severity level. In this example, enter the severity
level Warning.
6. Select Ignore case and Ignore whitespace (treat multiple spaces as one
space). Selecting these options helps ensure WHD accepts any Orion
alerts in which the properties occur.
7. Click Add new matching rule in the Filters pane.
8. Select Accept alert in the Configure Rule pane.
9. Select If Alert field.
10. Select contains.
11. Enter 10.199.5.70.
space).
13. Click Add new matching rule in the Filters pane.
14. Select Accept alert in the Configure Rule pane.
15. Select If Alert field.
16. Select contains.
17. Enter node Up.
space).
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19. Click Next.
Notes:
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To change the order in which WHD applies the rules you define, highlight the
rule you want to move and click Up or Down at the top of the Configure Rule
pane.
To delete a filter, highlight the filter and click Remove at the top of the
Configure Rule pane.
Test your new rules rules to ensure they are filtering properties correctly. You can
access the test function by clicking the Test button under the main page title.
Properties come from the field names you defined when you configured rules
filters, and these properties contain values.
For example, you can configure a rule that accepts an alert if the severity of the
alert was severe and you configure another rule that accepts an alert if the text in
the Alert field condition contains the words node down. To ensure WHD accept
alerts using these rules, be sure to test your rules configuration.
To test your alert filtering rules:
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1. In the Severity field, enter Warning (from the previous page).
2. Under Alert Properties, click Add new property.
A field appears under Value.
3. In the new field, enter Status Descriptionfrom the previous page).
4. Click the right side of the Property row to invoke a new field.
A new field appears.
5. In the new field, enter Node Down (from the previous page).
6. Click Add new property to invoke a field under Value.
7. In the new field, enter IP Address(from the previous page).
8. Click the right side of the Property row to invoke a new Value field.
9. In the field, enter the following IP address: 10.199.12.65 (from the
previous page).
The illustration below displays the Test Alert Properties window after you
complete the previous steps.
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10. Click Test.
If you configured the rules correctly, a message appears stating that the filter
rules match and the alert is accepted in the Test Results pane. Click Done.
If you did not correctly configured the rules correctly, a message appears
stating that the filter rules did not match and the alert is rejected in the Test
Results pane. Click Back to resolve your configuration errors.
Parsing Orion Alert-based Tickets Using Action
Rules
The following information offers an example of how to set up an action rule to
parse Orion alert-based tickets.
To set up an action rule on a ticket created from an Orion alert:
1. Select Setup > Processes.
The Processes window appears.
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2. Click New.
The Action Rule Info tab appears.
3. Select the Enabled check box to activate the action rule.
4. Click the Priority drop-down menu and select 2 for the Priority level.
5. In the Rule Name field, enter:
Orion Network Issues
6. Select the Criteria tab.
The Criteria tab window appears.
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7. Under Tickets matching ALL of these conditions, select:
Request Contains @priority=low
8. Select the Actions tab.
The Actions tab appears.
9. Select Change Priority Low.
10. Click Save.
11. Repeat step 2 through step 10 for Urgent / High / Medium priorities.
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Sample Orion Alert-based Web Help Desk Ticket
Following is a sample WHD ticket, based on an Orion alert. The fields shown
below are not an all-inclusive list. WHD ticket fields can vary, depending on what
the Orion alert contains. The field names are what can be used in the filtering
rules.
Note: Some of these fields are default fields that do not display in the Alert
Sharing tab in the Orion Advanced Alert Manager.
Here are some notes populating WHD from the Orion alert.
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Embedding Web Help Desk into the Orion Web Console
Embedding Web Help Desk into the Orion Web
Console
Once they have logged in to WHD, users can perform all WHD functions from
within the Orion Web Console.
To add the WHD interface to the Orion web console, complete the following
steps:
1. Click Settings in the upper right corner of the SolarWinds Orion web
console.
2. Click Manage Views in the Views resource.
3. Scroll through the views, select the Orion Summary Home view, and then
click Edit.
4. Click Edit next to Column Width
5. Change Column 2 width to 1000 and click Submit
6. Click + on the upper right edge of Resources in Column 2.
7. Click + next to Miscellaneous.
8. Select the Custom HTML option.
9. Click Submit.
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10. Click Custom HTML in Resources in Column 2, and then click <put in a
picture or copy and paste the character>. Move the Custom HTML to the
top of the list.
11. Click Done.
12. Select the Home tab, and then click Summary. Your Home Summary view
should look similar to the following:
13. Click Edit in the Custom HTML resource.
14. Change the title to Web Help Desk.
15. In the third box type the following HTML:
<style type="text/css">
iframe { overflow:hidden; }
</style>
<iframe src="http://Web Help Desk IP:port or DNS
name:port" width="100%" height="1100px">
</iframe>
Users familiar with HTML can alter the above as desired.
16. Replace the Web Help Desk DNS name:port with the IP address and port
number or the DNS name used to access the Web Help Desk console.
You can find this information by opening a browser and navigating to the
Web Help Desk console. Once you have navigated to the Web Help Desk
console, copy the URL from that browser window and paste it into the HTML
replacing http:// Web Help Desk IP:port or DNS name:port
After you have launched the SolarWinds NPM web console and
authenticated to Web Help Desk, your Home Summary view looks similar to
the following:
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You can add WHD as a new resource to any NPM Node Details view.
To add Web Help Desk link resource in NPM Node Details views:
1. In the SolarWinds NPM web console, click Settings.
2. In the Views resource, click Manage Views.
3. Scroll through the views, select the Node Details view, and then click
Edit.
4. Expand the upper right edge of Resources in Column 2.
5. Expand Miscellaneous.
6. Select User Links.
7. Click Submit.
8. In Resources in column 2, click User Links, and then click the double
up arrow button to move the HTML to the top of the list.
9. Click Done.
10. Select the Home tab.
The Home tab window appears.
11. Click Summary.
11. Expand the All Nodes resource until the individual nodes are visible.
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12. Click any node to access its Node Details view.
A blank User Links resource appears at the top of the right resource
column.
13. In the User Links resource, click Edit.
14. In the Name #1 field, enter:
Web Help Desk Console
15. In the URL #1 field, type the URL you use to access the Web Help
Desk console.
16. Check Open in new window.
17. Click Submit.
The Node Details page appears.
NPM Node Details now contains a link to Web Help Desk.
To add a Web Help Desk link to the Orion menu bar:
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1. Click Settings in the upper right corner of the Orion window. The Orion
Website Administration page appears.
2. Click External Websites in the Customize area.
The External Websites page appears.
3. Click Add.
A New External Website dialog appears.
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4. In the Main Title field, enter the name of the link to appear in the Orion
menu bar.
5. In the Page Title field, enter a page title.
6. In the URL field, enter the WHD server’s IP address in the following format:
http://127.0.0.1:8081/
7. Click the Menu Bar drop-down menu and select the Orion menu bar to
access the Web Help Desk link.
8. Click OK.
The External Website page appears, stating that the Web Help Desk link is
added to the external website.
9. Click Preview to see your results and logon to Web Help Desk.
Note: If the Web Help Desk Logon dialog does not appear and you receive an
error, navigate back to Settings > Customize > External Websites and delete
your previous configuration. Create a new menu bar configuration for Web Help
Desk, following steps listed above.
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DameWare Mini Remote Control (MRC) is a remote administration and
troubleshooting solution that enhances your WHD solution. With built-in
integration between both applications, you can:
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Connect to remote computers directly from help desk trouble tickets and
asset inventory
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Troubleshoot and resolve remote systems directly from your system
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Save a history of troubleshooting steps to the client ticket
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Establish and save chat sessions with remote users to client tickets
DameWare MRC can access and troubleshoot computers running a variety of
supported operating systems, including:
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Microsoft Windows
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Microsoft Windows Server
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Linux with VNC enabled
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Apple OSX with VNC enabled
To Integrate DameWare MRC with WHD:
1. Install DameWare MRC on all tech systems running WHD.
See the DameWare Mini Remote Control (Standalone) Evaluation Guide for
more information.
2. Configure WHD to integrate with DameWare MRC.
3. Enable your techs to access and use DameWare MRC through WHD.
When completed, your techs can initiate MRC sessions from within a WHD Asset
Details page, connects the tech to the Asset. If the Asset is not connected to the
local network included on a Saved Host list, the Remote Connect dialog appears.
From here, the tech can create an internet session or add the Asset to their Saved
Host list.
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To maintain customer security, Web Help Desk will not allow you to
access remotely any server in your WHD system without the
appropriate permissions on the DameWare Central Server.
Installing DameWare MRC
When you DameWare MRC in your help desk deployment, ensure that the
application is installed on the same systems techs use to access WHD.
Unlike previous DameWare MRC-WHD integration solutions (described in the
Web Help Desk v12.1.0 Administrator Guide's Integrating DameWare Mini
Remote Control into Web Help Desk chapter), WHD v12.2.0 provides seamless
integration with DameWare MRC. Additionally, WHD v12.2.0 provides direct
integration with DameWare MRC with no requirement for third-party software.
See your DameWare Remote Support and MRC documentation for more
information.
To ensure seamless integration with DameWare, ensure that all WHD
request types do not include required custom fields.
Using DameWare MRC
When you start DameWare MRC, it opens in WHD Integration mode, allowing
you to save information you collect from a remote support session in MRC to a
WHD ticket. A banner appears during the session when MRC runs in WHD
Integration mode
When you close the session, you can save the following session details to the
client ticket:
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Tech IP address
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Client IP address
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Session start time
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Session end time
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Session duration
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Session termination reason
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Tech notes
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Chat transcripts
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Screen shots
Techs must have DameWare MRC installed on the same computer on which they
are using WHD. So begin the DameWare-WHD integration process by installing
DameWare MRC on WHD Techs' PCs. For DameWare MRC installation
instructions, see the DameWare Mini Remote Control (Standalone) Evaluation
Guide.
After installing and deploying DameWare MRC on the Tech PCs, configure WHD
to integrate DameWare MRC.
Note: You must be a WHD Administrator to integrate DameWare MRC into WHD.
Follow these steps to integrate DameWare MRC into WHD:
1. Open WHD.
2. Navigate to Setup >Assets > Options.
3. Click DameWare Integration Links Enabled. Once you enable DameWare
here, it is automatically enabled for all Techs in WHD. You can configure
more granular access settings for individual techs in their profiles.
4. Select the Default Request Type. When you creates a ticket, you must
specify the kind of help needed by selecting a Request Type. The Request
Type determines which custom fields appear on the Ticket and which Techs
is assigned to it. The Request Type also determines how the Ticket is
routed to a Tech.
The Request Type you select should be the type most likely to result from a
DameWare troubleshooting session. For example, if you know you will be
using DameWare to troubleshoot mostly hardware issues, select Hardware
as the request type.
For more information on Request Types, see Selecting a Request Type.
5. Click Save.
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Launching and Closing DameWare MRC
After you configure DameWare integration for tech access, launching and closing
DameWare MRC in WHD is a seamless process.
Help desk techs can launch an MRC session in WHD from a client ticket or an
asset.
Note: Each Asset must have a valid IP address in WHD. If an asset does not
have a valid IP address, the Remote Connect dialog appears, prompting you for
the WHD IP address and your WHD login and password.
Launching DameWare from a Client Ticket
To launch DameWare MRC from a client ticket:
1. Click My Tickets to open an existing WHD ticket assigned to you.
2. Click the Asset Info tab.
3. In the Ticket Assets tab in the No. column, locate the DameWare icon
attached to the asset.
For example, it could be linked to a Dell Latitude system.
4. Click the DameWare icon.
The DameWare Mini Remote Control (MRC) console appears, stating that
you are running in Web Help Desk Integration mode
5. Complete your session with the client.
See the DameWare Mini Remote Control Reference Manual for more
information.
6. then click Save Details to the Ticket.
The Session Detail Upload window appears.
Your session details are uploaded to the client ticket.
7. Click OK to close the window.
The customer ticket appears.
8. Click the Ticket Details tab.
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The Ticket Details tab window appears.
9. Scroll down to the Notes section.
10. Locate your remote session details.
These details include:
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Chat sessions saved in .rtf format
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Screen shots stored in .png format
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Session details incorporated into the note.
11. Complete the customer ticket as needed.
To launch DameWare from an asset.
1. Search for the Asset, as described in Searching Assets.
2. Locate the Asset in the search results and click the DameWare integration
button next to the Asset number.
3. Troubleshoot the Asset as needed.
See the DameWare Mini Remote Control Reference Manual for details on
how to use the MRC for troubleshooting.
4. When completed, close the session.
Closing a DameWare Session
When you close the session, you are prompted for your WHD credentials (see
Why Do I Need to Connect to Web Help Desk for more information). Next, you are
prompted to select a ticket or to create a ticket to upload the DameWare
troubleshooting information to.
To close your DameWare session and save the session information to a WHD
ticket:
1. Click Disconnect.
2. Save the session details, chat logs, or screenshots to the WHD ticket.
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3. Log in to WHD to save the DameWare troubleshooting information.
Note: You must either have a ticket number or create a new ticket so that
the information can be saved to WHD.
4. Select the ticket and click Use selected ticket to save the session details to
the WHD ticket listed on the screen.
Note: To save the session to a new ticket, click Create new ticket and
follow the instructions in Manually Creating a New Ticket.
5. Enter any information you or the client may want to refer to later about the
troubleshooting session.
To make this information available to Clients, select Make the session
details and attachments visible to clients.
6. Click Save details to Ticket.
The ticket updates (or new ticket) displays in your WHD list of tickets.
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If you run a VMware vSphere or Microsoft Hyper-V virtual environment, you can
install Web Help Desk as a virtual appliance. The appliance contains the Linux
version of Web Help Desk pre-installed on a CentOS Linux distribution.
Extract the appliance files from the .zip or .dmg file to your desktop, and then
follow the appropriate deployment instructions:
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Deploying Using VMware vSphere
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Deploying Using Microsoft Hyper-V
You can deploy Web Help Desk on an appliance using VMware vSphere version
4 or higher.
To deploy WHD on a vSphere client:
1. Start vSphere client, and log on.
2. Click File > Deploy OVF Template.
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3. To select the WHD vSphere-12.0.X.XXX.ova file on your desktop, click
Browse, then click Next.
4. Complete the setup wizard.
5. Select Thin provision or Thick provision disk format, then click Next.
Note: Thin provisioning is a space-saving feature. You allocate as much
space as required, based on the value entered for the disk size. Thick
provisioning allocates virtual space when you first create the virtual disk.
6. After the WHD-vSphere-12.0.X.XXX.ova deploys, and the wizard
completes, click Close.
7. On the VM Summary tab, click the Power On link or right-click the VM
name in the vSphere Client inventory pane and choose Power > Power
On from the context menu. You can also press Ctrl-B to start the appliance.
8. Click the Console tab.
This screen is similar to a virtual monitor.
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9. To manage the appliance, launch a Web browser and navigate to the
vSphere Client Console tab, at
https://ip_address:5480/.
The Virtual Appliance Management Interface (VAMI) login opens.
10. To login to the appliance for the first time, use the default login, admin.
The default password is also admin.
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Note: We recommend that you change the default password after your first login.
For instructions on changing your password, see Changing the Administrator
Password.
This section describes how to install WHD using Microsoft Hyper-V 2008 R2 and
later.
To install WHD using Hyper-V:
1. Extract the contents of the Hyper-V .zip file to a permanent location.
2. Launch the Hyper-V Manager.
3. Connect to the appropriate Hyper-V server.
4. Click Action > Import Virtual Machine…
5. Click Browse to select the extracted .zip file’s folder.
6. Under Settings, select Copy the virtual machine… and Duplicate all
files… from the Import Virtual Machine window.
7. Click Import.
8. Right-click the newly copied appliance and select Settings.
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9. Confirm the network is set to Not Connected by default after deployment.
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10. Specify the network settings the appliance should use and then click OK.
11. Right-click the appliance in the inventory, and then click Action > Connect.
12. If you use DHCP for network setup, and your deployment ends with
deployment ends with "warnings/errors - No networking detected," refer to
the section on "See "Configuring Network Settings " on page 345" to setup
the virtual appliance with a static IP configuration.
You will need som or all of the following information:
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The IP of the virtual appliance.
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The network mask
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The IP for the Default Gateway
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The IP of the Preferred DNS Server
13. In the virtual console window, click Action > Start and wait for the
appliance to start.
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Note:SolarWinds recommends changing the default password after your
first login. For instructions on changing your password, see Changing the
Administrator Password.
13. To start the WHD application, launch a web browser and navigate to the
URL shown in the Hyper-V Console tab.
The WHD appliance upgrade is available for download as a compressed file
called WHD-Appliance-Upgrade-ISO-12.X.X.XXX.zip. Use the
following instructions to upgrade WHD on the vSphere or Hyper-V virtual
appliance.
Upgrading on vSphere
To upgrade on vSphere 4.0 or later:
1. Save the .iso file to the computer you use to access the vSphere client.
2. Run the vSphere Client and then log on as an administrator.
3. Select the appliance currently running WHD.
4. Click the CD/DVD utility icon and then click CD/DVD Drive 1 > Connect to
ISO image on local disk.
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5. Select the .iso file and then click Open.
6. Open a browser to the following URL:
7. https://ip_address:5480
8. Log on to the website using the following credentials:
admin/admin
9. Click the Update tab.
10. Click Check Updates.
11. Click Install Updates and then click OK.
Note: If WHD displays odd behavior after an upgrade, you may need to clear your
browser cache.
Upgrading on Hyper-V
To upgrade on Hyper-V:
1. Save the .iso file to a datastore that you can access from the appliance
running WHD.
2. Run the Hyper-V Manager.
3. Select the appliance currently running WHD.
4. Click Settings.
5. Click DVD Drive.
6. Select the Image file, and then click Browse.
7. Select the .iso file and then click Open.
8. Click OK.
9. Open a web browser window.
10. Log in to the WHD Management Console interface at:
https://ip_address:5480
where ip_address is the IP address or name of the WHD server and
5480 is the port number for the WHD Management Console interface.
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11. Log on to the website using the credentials admin/admin.
Note: admin/admin are the default login credentials. Ensure that the login
credentials are correct.
12. Click the Update tab.
13. Click Check Updates.
14. Click Install Updates and then click OK.
Note: If WHD displays odd behavior after an upgrade, you may need to
clear your browser cache.
The appliance is configured to use default settings, including time zone,
IP configuration, and hostname. You must change these settings for the appliance
to work in your network environment. Complete configuration takes approximately
10 minutes.
Perform each procedure in the following order to ensure correct appliance
configuration:
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Rebooting the Virtual Appliance
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Note: Both vSphere and Hyper-V virtual appliances use the same interface once
you reach the appliance log in, so the instructions for both machines are the same
after log in.
Logging in to the Appliance
To log into the appliance:
1. Open a Web browser window.
2. Navigate to the following Website:
https://ip_address:5480
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where the ip_address is the appliance URL shown in the URL shown in
the Console tab.
The Login screen appears.
3. Enter you User Name and Password in the appropriate fields.
4. If you are logging in for the first time, use the following credentials:
User Name: admin
Password: admin
Note: SolarWinds recommends changing the default password after your
first login. For instructions on changing your password, see Changing the
Administrator Password.
5. Click Login.
You are logged in to the appliance.
To set the time zone for the appliance:
1. Click the System tab.
The System tab screen appears.
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2. Click the System Time Zone drop-down menu and select the correct time
zone.
3. Click Save Settings.
Your time zone settings are saved and the new time zone settings appears.
When you configuring your appliance network settings,SolarWinds recommends
using a static IP address. During the initial configuration, WHD expects an IP
address that never changes and VMware network settings apply DHCP as the
default setting. When DHCP is the default setting, WHD may lose connection with
other products if the IP address changes for any reason.
Additionally, ensure that the DNS forwarding entries are configured correctly for
Orion Platform products and WHD so all connected software products can resolve
the host name correctly (if you choose to use a hostname). An incorrect setup
would be in the SQL tables for Orion Alert subscribers. If the entry for WHD's url
says localhost.localdom, the DNS is set up incorrectly and needs to be
reconfigured.
To configure network settings for the appliance:
1. Select the Network tab.
The Network tab appears with the network status.
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You can view current network settings or set the network address or proxy
settings. See Configuring Proxy Settings for more information.
2. Click Address to set network address settings.
3. Click the IPv4 Address Type drop-down menu and select the appropriate
type.
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DHCP. If you select this option, make sure the DHCP server or
manual network settings sets a DNS server that can resolve host
names for Orion and email servers configured by host name instead of
a static IP address.
Static. If you select this option, enter the following information:
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Hostname. Host name labels may contain only the ASCII letters
a through z (case-insensitive), 0 through 9, and the hyphen (-).
Host names cannot begin with a digit or a hyphen and must not
end with a hyphen. No other symbols, punctuation characters, or
white spaces are permitted.
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IPv4 Default Gateway
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IPv6 Default Gateway
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Preferred DNS Server
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None
4. In the IPv6 Address Type row, select the appropriate IPv6 address type.
If you select Static, enter the IPv6 address and prefix.
Your settings are saved.
Configuring Proxy Settings
To configure the proxy settings:
1. Click the Network tab.
The Network tab screen appears.
2. Click Proxy.
The Proxy screen appears.
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3. Select the Use a proxy server check box.
4. In the HTTP Proxy Server field, enter the proxy server IP address.
5. In the Proxy Port field, enter the proxy port number.
6. (Optional) In the Proxy Username and Password fields, enter the
appropriate information.
Your settings are saved.
To reboot the appliance and re-initialize all services with the new settings:
1. Select the System tab.
The System tab screen appears.
2. Click Reboot.
3. In the reboot confirmation dialog, click Reboot.
The appliance reboots.
After the reboot, the Management tab appears. In this tab screen, you can:
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View appliance status
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Change your password
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Refresh your view
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View appliance and application status, version, and time zone
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Restart the application service
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Restart the system’s time synchronization network time protocol daemon
(ntpd)
Bundle logs to send to SolarWinds Support
To change the administrator password:
1. In the SolarWinds Management tab, click Change Password.
The Change Password window appears.
2. Enter the current password.
The default password is: admin
3. Enter the new password.
4. Enter the new password again to confirm.
5. Click Change.
Your password is updated.
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One of the main deployment factors to consider is the number of concurrent users
you expect your application to support. Another item to be aware of is filling up the
JVM Heap Memory, which can degrade performance. See Memory Sizing and
JVM Options and Clearing JVM Heap Memory for more information on these
important deployment considerations.
Memory Sizing and JVM Options
Use an estimated number of concurrent Tech sessions to determine which type of
deployment best meets your needs. Use Tech sessions rather than Client
sessions, because Tech sessions use much more memory than Client sessions.
Supporting Less Than 20 Techs
For a 32-bit operating system, Web Help Desk uses a 32-bit Java Virtual Machine
(JVM). The maximum memory that a 32-bit JVM can address varies slightly by
operating system. However, 1600MB is a common maximum value. This value
supports 10-20 concurrent techs with no memory issues.
Ensure you have enough physical memory in your WHD system to support both
the 1600MB requirements for the JVM, as well as the server operating system and
any additional services you run on the system.
ITo adjust the maximum memory setting, edit the MAXIMUM_MEMORY option in the
WebHelpDesk/conf/whd.conf file.
Supporting More Than 20 Techs
To support more than 20 simultaneous Tech sessions, SolarWinds recommends
installing WHD on a system running a 64-bit operating system and a 64-bit JVM.
On a 64-bit JVM, you can increase the max heap memory to multiple gigabytes in
size by editing the MAXIMUM _MEMORY option in the
WebHelpDesk/conf/whd.conf file.
A 64-bit JVM is included with Apple OSX 10.5 (Leopard) and later.
To enable the 64-bit JVM, add the following argument to the JAVA_OPTS option in
the /Library/WebHelpDesk/conf/whd.conf file:
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JAVA_OPTS=“-d64”
For other operating systems, install your own 64-bit JVM (Java 5 or Java 6), then
update the JAVA_HOME option in the WebHelpDesk/conf/whd.conf file to
point to your Java installation.
Clearing JVM Heap Memory
WHD deployments can fill up the JVM Heap Memory, which can degrade WHD
performance. To avoid this issue, periodically restart WHD to clear the heap
memory.
See the appropriate procedure to automatically restart the operating system on
your system hosting WHD.
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Apple OSX
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Microsoft Windows
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Linux
Automatically Restarting Mac OS X
This procedure requires WHD version 8.4.6.8 or later.
To schedule the WHD application for a nightly restart:
1. Login to your OS as root or admin.
2. Copy the following file to your /Library/LaunchDaemons folder: /Library/WebHelpDesk/bin/
com.macsdesign.RestartWebHelpDesk.plist
3. Execute the following command:
launchctl load
4. Verify that the plist was loaded successfully by executing the following
command:
launchctl list
5. To unload the LaunchDaemon, execute the following command:
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launchctl unload
The provided plist file is configured to restart WHD each night at 1 AM. You can
change the schedule by editing the StartCalendarInterval property in the
plist. See your Apple OS X documentation for details.
The following conventions apply:
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This launch daemon works only with the standard WHD Tomcat deployment.
WebObjects Monitor deployments use the Monitor tool to configure automatic
restarts.
When scheduling with the Monitor, make sure to clear Is Graceful, to force the
instances to restart.
To schedule the WHD application for a nightly restart:
Note: Depending on your Microsoft Windows operating system version, these
steps may vary.
1. Click Start and select Control Panel > Scheduled Tasks > Add
Scheduled Task
The Scheduled Task Wizard appears.
2. Select any application to run.
3. Select a daily time to run the task.
4. Select Open Advanced.
5. Change the Run command to:
6. net stop webhelpdesk.
To create a second scheduled task to restart WHD, follow the steps above, but
use the Run command net start webhelpdesk as the final step.
Note: Schedule the start at least one minute later than the stop command to
ensure that the service has completely stopped before attempting to restart.
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Automatically Restarting Linux
For Linux installations, create a nightly cron job that calls the stop/start scripts as
root or use sudo.
Create the cron job using the following command:
/usr/local/webhelpdesk/whd stop
/usr/local/webhelpdesk/whd start
Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 Server support WebObjects deployment. Mac 10.6
Server does not support WebObjects deployment.
To configure WHD to run under WebObjects using the Monitor tool:
1. Install WHD, and then run the following deployment script in the terminal
(as root or sudo):
/Library/WebHelpDesk/bin/UpdateWebObjectsConfiguration
2. In Mac Server Admin, start the Web and the WebObjects services. Enable
the Monitor by selecting Turn Monitor On. You can leave the default ports.
3. With a web browser, connect to the Monitor tool at
http://<yourserver>.com:56789.
4. Select the Site tab. Provide a valid URL to Adaptor.
5. Select Round Robin as your load balance scheme and set the Receive
Timeout value to 300.
6. Click Update Adaptor Settings to save.
7. Select the Host tab. Provide the DNS name or IP address of the server
and then select Mac OSX as the of type option.
8. Click Add Host. If this is the only host that will be running the application,
enter 127.0.0.1 as the Host Address.
9. Select the Application tab. Add an application called Helpdesk. Click Add
Application.
To configure the new application:
1. Click Path Wizard for the Mac OSX path field to lookup the following path
to the application startup file:
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/Library/WebHelpDesk/bin/webapps/helpdesk/ WEBINF/Helpdesk.woa/Helpdesk.
2. To capture log files, provide an Output Path.
Note: The directory you designate must be writable by the appserver user.
3. Provide Additional Arguments to specify the max JVM heap size for the
application instances. Each instance can handle up to 1600m, but values
of 256m to 384m are sufficient. The format is: -Xmx256m.
4. Click Push All to save all settings, and then click on the Applications tab
again. You should see your application listed.
5. Click Detail View and add the optimal number of instances for your server
based on the max JVM memory setting you specified in the application
configuration.
Note: Remember to leave enough free memory for your system and any
other services running on the machine. Leave an additional 64 MB free for
the Daemon application to be added.
6. Click Add to create the instances.
7. The instances should startup on their own.
Notes:
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Optionally, to speed up the process click , the Start button in the ALL
INSTANCE row for the Start/Stop column.
To refresh, click the blue hyperlink Refresh Now text below the
application name.
At this point, you should be able to connect to your application by going
to the following URL: http://myserver.com/cgibin/WebObjects/Helpdesk.woa
If you did not name your application Helpdesk, make sure to substitute
the appropriate application name in the URL.
8. Select the Applications tab and add a new application called Daemon.
This application has a configuration similar configuration to Helpdesk, but
the path to the application startup file is:
/Library/WebHelpDesk/bin/webapps/WHDReminder- Daemon/WEBINF/WHDReminderDaemon.woa/WHDReminderDaemon
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9. Provide an Output Path if you are capturing log files. You can use an
additional argument of -Xmx64m for the memory setting.
10. Click Push All to save.
11. Go to the Detail View for the Daemon application and add one instance of
the Daemon.
Note: It is important that you have only a single instance, as multiple instances
will cause problems with email ticketing and alert email generation.
WHD is now configured to run under WebObjects using the Monitor tool.
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High Availability Deployments
Create a high availability WHD deployment using one of these methods:
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Configure a multi-instance Tomcat deployment on Linux or Windows.
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Deploy on multiple virtual machines
Monitoring Deployment on Mac OS X
Use Mac OS X Server 10.6 and earlier included WebObjects. For later versions,
use the instructions provided in Deploying on Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).
After installing WebObjects:
1. Run the Web Help Desk installer to extract the application to
/Library/WebHelpDesk.
2. Run the following script to configure Web Help Desk to work with
WebObjects:
sudo
/Library/WebHelpDesk/bin/UpdateWebObjectsConfigurati
on
3. In WebObjects Monitor, add a new application named Helpdesk with the
following path:
/Library/WebHelpDesk/bin/webapps/helpdesk/WEBINF/Helpdesk.woa/Helpdesk
4. Also in Monitor, add a new application named HelpdeskDaemon with the
same path as above:
/Library/WebHelpDesk/bin/webapps/helpdesk/WEBINF/Helpdesk.woa/Helpdesk
5. In the instance configuration page for HelpdeskDaemon, add the
following to the Additional Arguments setting:
-DWHDDaemonMode=dedicated
Note: Only one WHD instance should ever be running as a daemon.
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After starting the applications in Monitor, you can connect to WHDusing the
following URL:
http://localhost/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Helpdesk.woa
Apache Tomcat provides both a web server and an application server. Tomcat is
a web container that enables Java servlets and Run Pages that supports Java
code running along with a web server. You can run multiple-instance Tomcat
deployments on both Windows and Linux installations.
Perform the following general steps before installing Tomcat:
1. Set up your database. If you set up an external database, make sure it is
available for all WHD instances over the network.
2. Install the WHD application to provide the files and folders Tomcat requires
for deployment.
3. Remove the WHD service to disable the WHD application. Or copy the
WHD folder structure, put it aside for later, and uninstall the application for
now. You will need to reinstall WHD after installing and configuring
Tomcat.
Perform the following steps to deploy Tomcat:
1. Download the latest released version of Tomcat from
http://tomcat.apache.org.
2. Install Tomcat, making sure you use the correct version of Java as the
runtime environment. For Linux, edit <tomcat_home>/bin/catalina.sh and
add JAVA_HOME=<PATH_TO_JAVA_HOME>. Use the same Java
version for all instances you plan to deploy in a load balancer or cluster.
3. Download extended security libraries from
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jce-6-download429243.html.
4. Deploy the libraries to the Java installation Tomcat uses, at: C:\Program
Files\Java\<jre6 or jre7>\lib\security for Java 6 or 7, or /usr/lib/java* or
/usr/java/jre*/lib/security for Linux.
5. Deploy the WHD application to the installed Tomcat instance, by copying all
folders and files from <WebHelpDesk_Home>/bin/webapps into your
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Tomcat webapps folder. In Linux, you can create a symlink to avoid having
to recopy folders and files every time you update WHD.
6. Copy the folder C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\conf\endorsed span> to
your<tomcat_home>/webapps directory.
7. Copy the following files to your <tomcat_home>/webapps directory:
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logback-config.xml - change <WHD_home> to
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whd.properties - change
correct address
database setting
For Linux, edit <tomcat_home>/bin/catalina.sh and add following:
JAVA_OPTS="-Djava.endorsed.dirs=<tomcat_home>/webapps/endorsed DWHDconfig=<tomcat_home>/webapps/whd.properties -Dlogback.configurationFile=<tomcat_
home>/webapps/logback-config.xml -Xmx1024m -Xms512m -XX:MaxPermSize=256m DWHDPrivilegedNetworks=* -DWHDPort=8080 -DWHDDaemonMode=none DWHDPrivateBaseUrl=http://127.0.0.1:8080"
For Windows, download the start.bat file to your <tomcat_home> directory.
8. Edit all JAVA_OPTS in start.bat / catalina.sh using the following variables:
– Set this parameter for each
instance and ensure it refers to the port configured in Tomcat.
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-DWHDPrivateBaseUrl=http://127.0.0.1:<port>
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-DWHDconfig=<path_to_file>
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-DWHDconnections=<max_number_of_db_connections>
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-Xms<init_size>m
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-Xmx<max_size>m
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-XX:MaxPermSize=<perm_size>m –
– This argument must refer to the original
conf/.whd.properties files that contains database configuration.
Provide the same database configuration for all instances
- This argument
describes maximum of database connections allowed for WHD
connection pools. The argument also requires database configuration.
Allow at least 2 times the maximum number of database connections
in your database configuration.
- Replace the <init_size> variable by the integer
number defining initial amount of memory allocated to WHD
application (megabytes)
- Replace the <max_size> variable by the integer
number defining maximum amount of memory allocated to WHD
application (megabytes).
Replace the <perm_size> variable
by the integer number defining amount of memory allocated to WHD
application. The recommended default is 256 MB.
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When running more than one Tomcat instance on one machine, set a
different port for the JMS queue by using -Dactivemq.broker.port=<port>.
The default is 61616, so use, for example, 61617, 61618...for the rest of the
instances:
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-Djava.awt.headless=true –
May be necessary on Linux systems running
without X Windows.
– Port to use in URLs that refer back to WHD.
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-DWHDPort=<Port_number>
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-Dlogback.configurationFile=<path_to_logback_config_file>
– File for spring
logging.
–File with database settings.
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-DWHDconfig=<path_to_whd-test.properties_file>
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-DWHDDaemonMode=<background | dedicated | none>
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-DWHDPrivilegedNetworks=ip_address / *>
– Specifies the way in
which daemon processes will be run in this instance.
- List of hosts from which WHD is
accessible.
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-DJava.endorsed.dirs=<tomcat_home>/webapps/endorsed
- Enables WHD files
in Tomcat to run.
9. On Linux, start Tomcat by running <tomcat_home>/bin/startup.sh.
10. On Windows, start Tomcat by running <tomcat_home>\start.bat.
11. Connect to WHD using the URL http://localhost:8080/helpdesk. 8080 is your
Tomcat port.
12. Log in to WHD and update your port in Preferences > General > Server Settings to
match your Tomcat port.
13. Test if WHD starts in standalone Tomcat. Use parameters from How can I
run the application in my own installation of Tomcat?, if needed.
14. Repeat Tomcat deployment steps for all Tomcat instances.
15. Install Apache httpd Server. Refer to Compiling and Installing at apache.org
for Apache HTTP Server installation instructions.
Important:
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If you configure multiple Tomcat instances to run WHD, be sure only one
instance has the daemon mode enabled. Otherwise, duplicate email tickets
will occur. See Configuring Multiple Instance Tomcat Daemons for more
information on configuring daemon modes.
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Use the same version of WHD for all instances. Use the
<WebHelpDesk>/bin/webapps folder from one installed distribution.
Remember to change paths, ports, and all other settings so they fit your
environment.
Set up a load balancer for the multiple instances of Tomcat. A load balancer
is necessary for more than one front-end Tomcat instance. For information
on setting up the load balancer, see The Apache Tomcat Connector Generic HowTo - LoadBalancer HowTo.
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Configuring Multiple Instance Tomcat Daemons
For multiple-instance WHD installations, one instance of WHD must be
configured to provide either dedicated or background daemon services.
Having more than one instance provide daemon services can result in duplicate
tickets and the unnecessary use of system resources.
All but one WHD instance should run without daemon services
(WHDDaemonMode=none).
The single daemon instance can be set to either dedicated or background. The
other instance must be set to none.
Applying these daemon settings results in the following:
Dedicated
The WHD installation instance functions only as a daemon, and the login
page is disabled.
Background
The WHD instance functions as a daemon, but users can also log in to it.
None (default)
The WHD instance does not execute daemon tasks.
To configure a multiple instance installation, set the memory, the Tomcat
deployment descriptor, and the WebObjects daemon mode.
Only one instance of WHD can be configured to run as the daemon, either in
dedicated or background mode. We recommend running it in background mode
so that it can be restarted at will, on a more frequent basis than the front-end
instances, without interfering with the front-end application. For information on
configuring the daemon, see the SolarWinds knowledgebase article, How to
Implement Large Deployments with Web Help Desk.
Daemon processes should be allocated at least 256 MB of memory. If the WHD
DaemonMode is set to background, it should be given an additional 256 MB of
memory beyond the amount given to other instances, since it will provide daemon
services in addition to serving the application user interface.
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See the following instructions for details on setting the daemons required for
multiple instances of Tomcat:
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Set the Tomcat Daemon
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Set the Tomcat Daemon Memory
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Set Web Objects Daemon Memory
Setting the Tomcat Daemon
To set the Tomcat deployment daemon:
1. Stop WHD.
2. Open \webhelpdesk\conf\tomcat_web_tempate.xml.
3. Set the WHDDaemonMode (near the end of the xml file) for the instance
type described above. 4. Save the file.
5. Restart WHD.
Setting Daemon Memory
To set the daemon memory:
1. Stop WHD.
2. Open the \webhelpdesk\conf\whd.conf file.
3. Change the MAXIMUM_MEMORY setting to MAXIMUM_MEMORY=1024.
4. Save the whd.conf file.
5. Restart WHD.
Setting WebObjects Daemon Mode
To set the daemon mode for WebObjects Monitor deployments:
2. Open \webhelpdesk\bin\wrapper\conf\wrapper_template.conf
3. Add the following parameter to the end of the # Java Additional Wrappers
section. wrapper.java.additional.14=DWHDDaemonMode=background
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4. Save the file.
5. Restart Web Help Desk.
We recommend creating a separate WebObjects Monitor application for the
daemon instance, naming it HelpdeskDaemon. Using this naming convention
ensures the WebObjects adaptor does not attempt direct login requests intended
for the Helpdesk instance to the daemon instance.
Like the other application instances, the daemon instance should have its
application path set to /Library/webhelpdesk/bin/webapps/helpdesk/WEBINF/Helpdesk.woa/Helpdesk.
Since the default daemon mode is none, it is not necessary to set the
WHDDaemonMode argument for non-daemon instances.
Multi-instance WHD Windows deployments can be problematic because the
WHD service name and the embedded database are hard coded.
This means that you cannot simply install a second instance to a different
location.
You can, however, install another WHD instance on another machine and
connect it to the same database.
When multiple instances are required on the same physical machine, they can be
installed on separate virtual machines.
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and MySQL External Databases
If you plan to use Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL as your database, install the
database engine and management tools according to the product instructions.
Once SQL server is installed, follow the instructions to configure SQL to work with
WHD.
Make sure the Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL database resides on its own drive.
A Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL database does not need to reside on the same
machine as the WHD application. The database drive must be large enough (at
least 20 GB) to accommodate not only the database engine, management tools,
and help desk tickets, but ticket file attachments as well. SQL databases store
ticket file attachments as binary objects, which can take up a lot of space. Configuring Microsoft SQL Server
Depending on the version of Microsoft SQL Server being used, TCP/IP may need
to be enabled.
To enable TCP/IP on your SQL Server:
1. Open SQL Server Configuration Manager on your SQL Server.
2. Expand SQL Server Network Configuration section
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3. Click Protocols for SQLXXX, where XXX is your version of SQL Server.
4. If TCP/IP is not enabled in the right pane, right-click TCP/IP, and then
select Properties.
5. Click Enable.
6. Click Save.
7. Right-click TCP/IP again.
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8. Click the IP Addresses tab.
9. Click the IP Addresses tab and ensure that IP is enabled for the server’s
network IP address and the 127.0.0.1 loopback address. Also ensure that
TCP Dynamic Ports is blank and that TCP Port is set to 1433 and the
server’s IP address is set to 127.0.0.1 if it will reside on the WHD server.
10. Click Apply, and then click OK.
Next, create and configure SQL Server to the WHD database instance.
To create and configure your SQL database:
1. Open SQL Server Management Studio on your SQL Server.
2. Right-click the server name in the Object Explorer pane and select
Properties.
3. Click Security and ensure that SQL Server and Windows
Authentication mode is selected, and then click OK.
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4. Expand the Security folder and then right-click the Logins folder, and then
select New Login….
5. Enter whd in the Login name: field.
6. Click SQL Server authentication.
7. Enter a password in the Password: field, and then enter the same
password in the Confirm password: field.
8. Ensure that Enforce password policy, Enforce password expiration,
and User must change password at next login check boxes are all not
selected.
9. Click OK.
10. Right-click the Database folder and select New database…..
11. Enter whd in the Database name: field and then assign that user as the
Owner. 366
Configuring MySQL
12. Click OK.
Configuring MySQL
1. Connect to the MySQL database server using the SQL Development pane
of the MySQL Workbench application.
2. Select Actions > Add Schema.
The New Schema window appears.
3. In the Schema Name field, enter:
whd
4. Select utf8 - utf8_general_ci for the collation type.
5. Click Apply.
6. Click the Home tab and click on MySQL server.
7. Select Configuration > Options File.
The Options File window appears.
8. Click the General tab.
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The General window appears.
9. In the Networking section:
a. Select the Port check box.
b. In the Port field, enter:
3306
10. In the General section:
a. Select the default-storage-engine check box.
b. In the default-storage-engine field, enter:
InnoDB
11. Click Apply.
12. Click the Misc tab.
The Misc window appears.
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Configuring MySQL
13. Select the init_connect check box.
14. In the init_connect field, enter:
SET NAMES utf8
15. Click Apply.
16. Click Startup/Shutdown, then click Stop Server.
The server is stopped.
17. Click Startup/Shutdown, then click Start Server.
The server is started.
18. Click Security and select Users and Privileges > Add Account.
The Server Access Management tab is highlighted, displaying the Login
window.
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19. In the Login name field, enter:
whd
20. In the Password fields, enter and confirm a password.
21. In the Limit Connectivity to Hosts matching field, enter the host name for
the WHD server.
If MySQL is running on the WHD, enter:
localhost
22. Click Apply.
23. Click the Schema Privileges tab.
The Schema Privileges tab window appears.
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Integrating Apache
24. In the left column, select the whd user, and then click OK.
25. Click Add Entry...
26. In the Host box, select your host.
27. In the Schema box, select Selected Schema and whd.
28. Click OK.
29. Click Select All, and then click Save Changes.
Integrating Apache
By default, WHD runs on port 8081.
If Apache is not required and prefer to run the application on port 80:
1. Stop Apache.
2. Set the DEFAULT_PORT variable in webhelpdesk/conf/whd.conf to
80.
3. Restart Web Help Desk using /usr/local/webhelpdesk/whd
start.
To enable Apache to run on port 80, allow it to proxy requests to the Web Help
Desk on port 8081. The application will appear as if it is running on port 80.
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To proxy port 8081 requests:
1. Open webhelpdesk/conf/whd.conf.
2. Set URL_DEFAULT_PORT=80
3. Save the Web Help Desk/conf/whd.conf file.
4. Enable mod_proxy as described in the Apache HTTP Server Version
2.0.
See Apache Module mod_proxy on the Apache Software Foundation site
for more information.
5. Add the following lines at the end of your Apache configuration file
(httpd.conf):
ProxyPass /helpdesk
http://localhost:8081/helpdeskProxyPassReverse
/helpdesk http://localhost:8081/helpdesk
6. Save the file.
7. Restart your Apache server.
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Installing IIS
Installing IIS
WHD does not integrate with IIS. WHD runs on port 8081 by default.
To run WHD on port 80 and shut off IIS on Server 2008:
2. Go to Startup > Administrative Services > Server Manager.
3. Click Roles.
4. Select IIS, and then click WHD.
5. Click Confirm.
6. Open the following file:
\Program Files\Web Help Desk\conf\whd.conf
7. Set the DEFAULT_PORT setting to the following:
DEFAULT_PORT= 80
8. Save the following file:
\Program Files\Web Help Desk\conf\whd.conf
9. Start WHD.
To run WHD on port 80 and shut off IIS on Server 2003:
1. Stop WHD.
2. From the Windows Control Panel, click Add or Remove Programs.
3. Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
4. Select Application Server.
5. Clear the Internet Information service check box.
6. Click Yes to confirm.
7. Click OK.
8. Click Next.
9. When Windows Component Wizard completes, click Finish.
10. Open the following file:
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\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\conf\whd.conf
11. Set the DEFAULT_PORT setting to the following:
DEFAULT_PORT= 80
12. Save the following file:
\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\conf\whd.conf.
13. Start WHD.
Notes:
If there are multiple IP addresses on the machine and one of them uses IIS, bind
IIS and Web Help Desk to separate IP addresses.
To specify the IP address for Web Help Desk, edit the \Program
Files\WebHelpDesk\conf\whd.conf file and set the IP_ADDRESS option
to the desired IP address.
To bind IIS to an interface on Windows 2003 with multiple network interface
controllers (NICs):
1. At a command prompt, navigate to the \Program Files\Support
Tools folder.
2. At the \Program Files\Support Tools prompt, enter:
httpcfg set iplisten -i xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP address on which you want to run IIS.
3. To check your settings, enter:
httpcfg query iplisten
4. Restart your server after making this change.
To bind IIS to an interface on Windows 2008:
1. Log on with the local Administrator account.
2. Open a command prompt window.
3. Execute the following command: netsh http add iplisten ipaddress= xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
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Installing IIS
4. To check your settings, enter netsh show iplisten.
5. Restart IIS.
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Customizing Server Settings
The whd.conf server configuration file defines your server options, such as the
http and https port, Java Virtual Machine memory, and server IP address. This file
is located at webhelpdesk/conf/whd.conf.
When you upgrade WHD, the upgrade procedure only replaces the
whd.conf.orig file located in the same directory. Use this file as a reference for
new options available in the upgraded version. You can copy options into the
existing whd.conf file or replace the whd.conf file with the whd.conf.orig file
and edit the file as needed.
If you update the file, restart WHD for changes to take effect. On WHD systems
running Microsoft Windows Server, restart your system using the Start menu
option. Restarting Windows Services will not apply your configuration changes.
The following sections explain how to customize and use the default settings in
the whd.conf file.
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Help Desk Ports
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Privileged Networks
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Keystore Settings (for SSL Connections)
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Memory Allocation
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IP Address
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Help Desk Ports
Help Desk Ports
Web Help Desk provides communication ports for the following resources: l
WHD interfaces
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Databases
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Emails
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LDAP/AD
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Asset Discovery
WHD Interfaces
The following table lists the WHD ports for secure and non-secure interface traffic.
Port
Type
Description
80
TCP
Non-secure traffic from the SolarWinds WHD Console (VA)
443
TCP
Secure traffic from the SolarWinds WHD Console
5480
TCP
Virtual Appliance Management Infrastructure (VAMI)
interface for VA
8081
TCP
Non-secure traffic from the SolarWinds WHD Console (Windows, Linux, OSX)
61616
TCP
WHD Discovery engine (JMS queue port)
Databases
The following table lists the WHD ports for external and embedded database
communications.
Port
Type
Description
1433
TCP
Microsoft SQL external database
Lansweeper
Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) / System
Center Configuration Manager (SCCM),
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Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
Network Performance Monitor (NCM)
Server and Application Monitor (SAM)
3306
TCP
External MySQL database
5432
TCP
External PostgreSQL database
20293
TCP
Embedded PostgreSQL database
Emails
The following table lists the WHD ports for email traffic.
Port
Type
Description
25
TCP
Traffic from the SolarWinds WHD appliance to your email
server for automated email notifications
80
TCP
Non-secure connection to EWS
110
TCP
Non-secure POP3
143
TCP
Non-secure IMAP
443
TCP
Secure connection to EWS
993
TCP
Secure IMAP
995
TCP
Secure POP3
LDAP/AD
The following table lists the WHD ports for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
/ Active Directory (LDAP / AD).
Port
Type
Description
389
TCP
Traffic from the SolarWinds WHD appliance to a designated server (usually a domain controller) for use with the
Directory Service tool (LDAP, AD)
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Asset Discovery
636
TCP
Secure traffic from the SolarWinds WHD appliance to designated server (usually a domain controller) for use with the
Directory Service tool (LDAP, AD)
Asset Discovery
The following table lists the WHD ports for Asset Recovery.
Port
Type
Description
135
TCP
Asset Discovery via WMI (WMI calls uses port 135 and
then chooses a random port for further communication)
1433
TCP
Microsoft SQL external database, Lansweeper, Microsoft
SMS / SCCM, SolarWinds NCM / NPM / SAM
1521
TCP
Oracle JDBC for Asset Discovery
3306
TCP MySQL external database, LANrev, Casper 8 and lower
4445
TCP
Remote log server reader
5433
TCP
Asset Discovery for Apple Remote 3.2
7100
TCP
Asset Discovery for Sybase
Firewalls between any two points of communication must have the requisite ports
open to inbound and/or outbound traffic according to the relative direction of the
communication traffic.
For additional port information, see:
l
l
l
l
Tomcat Server Port
l
l
Java Home Location
l
IP Address
379
Web Help Desk uses the following unsecured and secure ports for login:
DEFAULT_PORT=8081HTTPS_PORT=443
The Tomcat application server WHD runs in is configured to use non-secure http
on port 8081 by default. To run on a different http port, change the DEFAULT_
PORT value. Be sure that the newly selected port is available, or WHD willl not be
able to start.
To run the application over https, uncomment the HTTPS_PORT option. To use
the standard https port (443), the port must be available or WHD will be unable to
start. When the application successfully starts up on the configured https port, it
automatically generates a self-signed certificate at:
webhelpdesk/conf/keystore.jks
For more instructions on importing an SSL certificate into the keystore.jks file, see
Adding Third-party SSL Certificates.
380
NO_REDIRECT=true
When both the DEFAULT_PORT and HTTPS_PORT are enabled, the default
behavior is to automatically redirect all http requests to https. If this is not the
desired behavior, uncomment the NO_REDIRECT=true option.
381
URL_DEFAULT_PORT=8081URL_HTTPS_PORT=443
In some deployments, it is necessary to have the Web Help Desk use a different
port in URLs it generates for external links than the port that Tomcat is running on.
For example, an Apache web server might be configured to route requests for the
default port (80) to go to the default WHD port (8081) using proxy pass. In this
case, WHD should generate URLs with port 80, rather than port 8081. Port 8081
might even be kept behind a firewall and thus be unreachable from other
machines.
382
Tomcat Server Port
Tomcat Server Port
TOMCAT_SERVER_PORT=23010
Port on which Tomcat listens for start/stop commands. If running multiple Tomcat
instances, each instance on the same machine must use a different port.
See Is it possible to create m?ultiple instances on the same server? for
instructions on deploying multiple instances on Mac OS X or Linux (not supported
on Windows).
#MAIL_NOTIFICATION_PORT=79
Using the command finger nm_notifyuser to send the text finger nm_
notifyuser to the MAIL_NOTIFICATION_PORT triggers the email daemon to
check for new mail. Deploying this command also stops automatic email account
polling.
The default notification port is 79. To disable the mail notification listener,
comment out this setting or set it to -1.
For more information on this port setting, see Request For Comments (RFC)
4146.
Java Home Location
JAVA_HOME=<homedirectory>
All WHD installers include a Java 6 JVM as part of the installation package, so a
separate Java install is not required. While not recommended, it is still possible to
use a different JVM by providing the path to the JRE in this setting. On Windows,
the path looks like:
JAVA_HOME=C:\Progra~1\Java\jre6
383
IP Address
IP Address
IP_ADDRESS=
By default, Tomcat listens on the configured DEFAULT_PORT and HTTPS_
PORT on *all* IP addresses assigned to the machine. To limit Tomcat to a specific
port, use this setting.
The setting is especially important on Windows Server when WHD is configured
to run on port 80 or 443 and IIS needs to run on the same server. See How do I
run both Help Desk and IIS on port 80 or 443 without a conflict? for instructions on
binding IIS to a specific IP address.
384
Privileged Networks
Privileged Networks
Privileged networks are those networks from which database updates are
permitted.
In the server configuration file, whd.conf, the setting PRIVILEGED_
NETWORKS= identifies those networks from which database updates can occur. If
the database requires an update, browser connections from hosts not belonging
to these privileged networks receive a message indicating an update is in
progress.
Note: Use the PRIVILEGED_NETWORKS=setting when installing headless
servers.
You can customize the browser message by editing
login.msg.applicationUpdateInProgress in the custom labels file.
To remove the info popup icon on this page, use an empty entry for
login.msg.applicationUpdateInProgressHelp
The localhost (127.0.0.1) is always permitted to update. However, a Windows
server with multiple IP addresses may not respond to the localhost address. In
that case, the IP_ADDRESS option must be set to one of the server IPs, and the
PRIVILEGED_NETWORK should also use that same IP.
Please add 1-2 sentences to Admin Guide under “Privileged Networks” section
describing that this settings is to be used when installing headless servers.
Reason is for users to be able to find that keyword in guide, when looking for a
solution.
385
Keystore settings contain the password WHD should use to access the Java
keystore. The Java keystore comprises the certificate used for SSL connections.
Both the Java keystore and the certificate inside it (aliased by the name tomcat)
must use this password.
KEYSTORE_PASSWORD=changeit
Default keystore file is webhelpdesk/conf/keystore.jks.
KEYSTORE_FILE=
Keystore type may be either JKS (default) or PKCS12.
KEYSTORE_TYPE=JKS
If using SSL, make sure that the KEYSTORE_PASSWORD matches the password
set when creating the new tomcat keypair. See Importing an SSL Certificate for
detailed instructions.
386
Memory Allocation
Memory Allocation
Most WHD systems perform well on 3.0 GHz systems with 3 GB of RAM.
However, when you create a large number of techs, consider the hardware used
and the system configuration. SolarWinds recommends you add 1 GB of memory
to the WHD server for every 10 technicians.
If you plan to integrate WHD with SolarWinds Orion, ensure your Orion server is
SolarWinds Orion Core 2012.2 or higher. WHD requires this version of Orion
Core so it can automatically integrate SolarWinds alerts. For NPM upgrade and
licensing instructions, see Installing SolarWinds Orion Network Performance
Monitor, in the SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor Administrator
Guide.
387
DATABASE_CONNECTIONS=10
The maximum number of connections made between the WHD application and
the configured database. Larger installations may want to increase this value. 1
connection for every 5 simultaneous users is a conservative ratio.
388
JAVA_OPTS=""
Use this property to override the default options for several WHD settings. Place
the entire set of arguments between the pair of quotes, and follow the format:
JAVA_OPTS="-Darg1=true -Darg2=true"
This property is only effective on Mac OS X and Linux servers. For Windows
servers, additional JVM arguments must be specified in the Java Additional
Parameters section of <webhelpdesk>\bin\wrapper\conf\wrapper_
template.conf.
Here is a list of the command-line options available with the default value and
description:
-DWHDEmailCheckInterval=60 [seconds between email check]
-DWHDLdapPasswordCacheHours=168 [hours ldap passwords are cached in
the DB -- 0 is no caching]
-DWHDDashboardEnabled=true [set to "false" to remove the Tickets >
Dashboard tab for all users]
-DWHDsql=false [set to "true" to enable SQL debug logging to helpdesk.log]
-DWHDDaemonMode=background
See How should the Help Desk Daemon be configured? for more information.
389
Database Datatypes
WebHelpD
esk
FrontBase
Oracle
PK
INTEGER
currency
OpenBase
PostgreSQL
MySQL
SQL
Server
NUMBER int
int4
INT
int
DECIMAL
NUMBER mone
y
numeric
DECIMA
L
money
datetime
TIMESTA
MP
DATE
timestam
ptz
DATETI
ME
dateti
me
integer
INTEGER
NUMBER int
int4
INT
int
pk
BLOB
BLOB
object
bytea
BLOB
varbin
ary
(max)
data
BLOB
BLOB
object
bytea
LONGBL
OB
varbin
ary
(max)
text
VARCHA
R
1000000
CLOB
char
4000
text
TEXT
nvarch
ar
(max)
varchar
VARCHA
R
VARCHA
R2
char
varchar
VARCHA
R
nvarch
ar
dateti
me
The following FAQs reflect real-life user questions with answers from SolarWinds
Support and Development personnel:
390
What is Advanced Search - First Call Resolution?
Why can't I edit the Client's room when submitting a help ticket?
How do I uninstall the Help Desk application?
What is the relationship between Tech Groups, Location Groups, and
Departments when tickets are auto-assigned?
How do I enable support for Unicode characters (such as Japanese) in the PDF
files the Help Desk generates?
How do I customize the Client interface to use a language other than English and
apply labels other than the defaults?
How do I restore the embedded PostgreSQL database from a backup?
How do I stop and start the embedded FrontBase database?
How do I make Tomcat use a specific IP address?
Is it possible to create multiple instances of Help Desk on the same server?
When trying to open a TSV download in Excel, the data displays incorrectly with
line breaks in the wrong place. How do I fix these breaks?
When running the Windows installer, I repeatedly get a message asking me to
choose another location to extract the installer. How can I fix this?
When I try to import my SSL certificate into Porteclé, it gives an error about an
illegal key size or about needing unlimited-strength jurisdiction policy files. How
can I add this support?
How do I delete tickets from my PostgreSQL database and start over from ticket
number 1?
How do I run both the Help Desk and IIS on port 80 or 443 without a conflict?
How do I configure Web Help Desk to integrate with Absolute Manage (LANrev)
asset discovery when the Absolute Manage service is running a different server
than Web Help Desk?
After upgrading to Version 9, I can't look up clients to add to Assets, Approval
Steps, or other areas. How do I fix this issue?
How do I configure a Web Help Desk Asset Discovery Connection with Apple
Remote Desktop?
How do I fix ticket custom fields that do not display in Client-created tickets?
How can I run the Help Desk in my own installation of Tomcat?
391
Where can I download the latest documentation?
How do I configure Exchange 2007 to work with the Exchange email connection
option?
What should I do when I try to import the CA reply for my VeriSign Secure Site
SSL certificate and Porteclé complains that it cannot establish trust?
My email uses the Gmail web interface, but when I click on email links in Help
Desk, my machine opens up Outlook or some other local mail client. What can I
do about this?
When attempting to download a TSV file or an Import Template using Internet
Explorer, I get a popup window with an Information Bar message saying that
"Internet Explorer blocked this site from downloading files to your computer." Can
I use IE to download these files?
How should the Help Desk daemon be configured?
When I save the settings of an incoming-mail Exchange account, I get the error
message: "The server 'your.server' returned a 401 status, indicating the provided
username/password is not authorized to access the Exchange Web Services
site."
I have SSL enabled in my incoming-mail settings and pointed to my Exchange
2007+ server. When I save the settings, I receive an error message beginning
with the following: can't connect to: server_name
I'm having trouble establishing a connection with my Exchange server. I've tried
the troubleshooting tips suggested by error messages that have come up. What
else can I do?
The Help Desk was able to make a connection with the Exchange web server,
but a timeout occurred while attempting to retrieve the Exchange folder list. How
do I resolve this issue?
I am using version 11.0.6 or 11.0.7 of Web Help Desk, and when I attempt to
configure my incoming-mail account with an Exchange mailbox, I receive an error
that begins with "can't connect to..." How do I fix this issue?
392

WHD Admin Guide

Transcription

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