newsletter PGCG EOM 11.0 to be released soon EOM News and Views Issue 33, Winter 2014 Pretty Good Consulting Group

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Allan Black
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1 newsletter PGCG Pretty Good Consulting Group G o t a p r o b l e m? W e c r e a t e s o l u t i o n s. EOM News and Views EOM 11.0 to be released soon Unisys will release the EOM 11.0 version very shortly. It looks like the ordering process remains the same as with previous releases, so you can also expect the Department Edition to arrive with future ClearPath releases. EOM 11.0 style numbers can be found on page 4. Here are the highlights of this release: The new property "Scheduled scan" provides a daily timeframe when the Directory Monitor is automatically enabled to look for files in a directory and subdirectories. This feature encrypts data within a.bkp file. This protects received data in the files placed in directories/subdirectories by the Backup Job. The EOM Client user is prompted for the key (string) when attempting to view, restore, or create a job from the Backup File. One of the trickier aspects of using Transform Jobs is that you have to define where to extract the input data from the incoming file. There is a defined syntax used to represent the extracted data and prior to this utility you created it manually, usually in Notepad. The Template Utility simplifies this task as well as verifies that your syntax is correct. This GUI program allows you to view an example input file, then create the parsing syntax directly from that input file. The Web Assistant File Finder now has the ability to allow users to display and search on values defined in User Keyword fields. EOM Security Security... 2 Random Eform notes... 3 EOM 11.0 ordering... 4 Quick Hits... 5 Contact information This global option (Configuration Explorer / Options) allows for the User Keyword references to NOT be validated when an EOM configuration is saved. For those of you using many User Keyword substitutions in File Masks, Directory Aliases, Backup Attributes,... sometimes the validation process of the EOM configuration can take a long time - as in minutes if it is really complex use of User Keywords. This option gives you the ability to not validate on every save or delete, but you should still use the File / Validate Configuration menu every once in a while to make sure your syntax is correct. - DDA command has a new option, "Capitalize as sentence" to format text but capitalizing the first letter of the string and the first letter after a punctuation mark (followed by a space). - DDA command can now specify the border width using a variable. Previously the border width was defined statically with a number.

2 Security Security Multiple major retail IT infrastructures have been breeched and all of us are going to pay. There is the usual knee-jerk reaction to lock everything down as quickly as possible and then ease off a bit down the road. It may be different this time, as multiple customers report major changes in requirements to protect their networks and data. There are at least two immediate impacts: We have run into multiple installation and execution issues recently directly related to tightened security. Here are the highlights: Numerous sites are moving to Windows 7 now that Windows XP will be unsupported as of April, As you might expect there are a few more hoops to get through based on the operating system alone. Installation of EOM requires privileges to be installed, something that should not surprise anyone, but apparently causes heartburn for system administrators. The EOM service should run using a login (not the Local System Account) with enough privileges to access directories & printers. System administrators need to understand that EOM runs as a service under a login (without a password change if possible) that is usually in the Administrators group. EOM communicates with the outside world by both TCP connections and access to file servers/directories. The Windows Firewall software, network firewall configurations, and access permissions to directories have gotten in the way recently. EOM prints to printers, a local installation of a Windows printer referencing a remote print server printer failed because of security issues. At one site, the Administrator had to logout from a domain login that was in the Administrators group and login with a local login in the Administrators group to install this kind of printer. They had solved other installation issues using that same method (apparently a local Administrator login has more privileges than an Administrator with a domain account, even though both were in the Administrators group. I didn't believe it either until I saw it first hand). When approached by panicked executives you can be prepared to list off security options that EOM provides: Data transferred from ClearPath hosts to the Windows EOM service can be protected by SSL. Data transferred out of the Windows EOM service can be protected via SSL. Aside from sending to remote EOM instances you can protect FTP, HTTP, LPD/LPR, and simple TCP connections. Operation, viewing of data, and configuration within EOM can be protected by EOM itself using the Windows security model (users & groups). s can be signed and encrypted. attachments sent from EOM can be encrypted. Backup Job files sitting in directories can now be encrypted. Files received by EOM are stored in directories that can be restricted by the Windows access permissions. However, you may still not be done. One very large state agency was tasked with protecting data at all times - from the non-clearpath application server that prints to a local Windows printer, that points at the EOM server, where EOM prints that data to a networked printer. Clearly the security capabilities in EOM do not cover that entire path. So, they purchased the Tectia SSH ( product that is installed on the application server, EOM server, and printer front-end server to have that software encrypt all communication connections. [ 2 ] Page [ 2 ]

3 Random notes on electronic forms in EOM EOM made using electronic forms breathtakingly easy. Along the way we have learned a few things that might make your life easier: Which forms design tool? Microsoft Word is not a great forms design tool, but most people have it and are familiar with the interface. You have to use the Form File Utility along with Word to create the metafile form, but it is usually a small impediment. We have had good success with the Serif PagePlus product, as it is cheap and produces metafile forms directly. Different Microsoft Word versions behave differently when trying to create electronic forms. In addition, sometimes the results of Select All, Copy, and Pasting in the Form File Utility are a bit off depending on the Word version. A customer recently found that trying to Select All, Copy, and Paste from an older version of Serif PagePlus into the Form File Utility was a complete disaster - so, just use the PagePlus File / Export dialog to produce the metafile directly. Then use the Form File Utility Edit / Load a metafile menu selection to bring the form into the Form File Utility. EOM can still use PCL macros, but most customers are now comfortable with the performance and overhead of metafile forms. To refresh your memory, a PCL stream can be created by printing to a Windows printer defined with a PCL driver and selecting the Print to file option. Then that file of PCL commands can be turned into a PCL macro via PCLPacker program (released on the EOM CD). Sometimes the lines of an electronic form appear to disappear in the Form File Utility or EOM Print Preview. The lines are still there, you just have to zoom in a bit to see them. With metafile forms, the fonts used in the form must also reside on the EOM server that prints that form. Otherwise a substitution is made, results may vary. Sometimes it is tempting to scan in a preprinted form and then use that image as an electronic form. This does work, but the size of the form can easily exceed 1MB. Large electronic forms sometimes turn into a performance issue, especially since the metafile form is downloaded on every page. However, scanning a signature and then cropping that image into a file, then using the DDA Position Graphic command is a GREAT way to handle signatures. The size of the metafile electronic form impacts PDF and TIFF files created with that form. The metafile is downloaded (used) on on every page... [ 3 ] Page [ 3 ]

4 EOM 11.0 Ordering information As before, the Windows version of EOM Department Edition will ship with the future ClearPath updates. Assuming your site has paid for the IOE subscription, you will receive the EOM 11.0 Department Edition as well as the current host EOM software. All other pieces of the EOM release need to be ordered. Here are the style numbers and descriptions to do so: EOM 10.0 Owners without subscription services: Product New Upgrade License SSU Department Edition DSS3110-UPG DSU300-DPT Enterprise Edition DSS2110-UPG DSU200-ENT Professional Edition DSS4110-UPG DSU400-PRO New customers or those with pre-eom 10.0 versions: Product Component New License SSU Department Edition DSS32-DPT DSS3110-DPT DSU300-DPT Enterprise Edition DSS32-CTL DSS2110-ENT DSU200-ENT Professional Edition DSS32-ESR DSS4110-PRO DSU400-PRO DDA & Web Assistant owners: EOM 10.0 to 11.0 EOM 11.0 New Product Component Upgrade License Product License SSU DDA Designer/Web Assistant Package DSS500-ADM DSS5110-UPG DSS5110-ADM DSU500-ADM DDA Designer DSS32-DDA DSS5110-DDU DSS5110-DDA DSU500-DDA DDA Designer Additional DSS32-DDA DSS5110-D2U DSS5110-D2 DSU500-D2 Secure Product Component New License EOM Secure US DSS32-SED DSS32-SED EOM Secure INTL DSS32-SEI DSS32-SEI PDF Writer - which IS tied to the EOM 11.0 service: Product Component New License EOM PDF Writer DSS32-PDF DSS32-PDF [ 4 ] Page [ 4 ]

5 Training is available If your team is looking for a brush up on features or want to know about the entire EOM product we can help. Best of all is that we can use your real-life production requirements during the custom training. The training can be accomplished remotely or on-site. We have to admit that the on-site training usually is more beneficial in the long run because we tend to hear about (& see first hand) more problems that EOM can solve. Who are we? Highly skilled, creative, solution provider focused on the Unisys Enterprise Output Manager product (formerly known as DEPCON) with a sense of urgency sums up who we are and what we do. We provide general Enterprise Output Manager consulting, migrations, upgrades, configuration, training, and custom programming. On-site services, remote services, and general consulting are available now. Why use PGCG? Deep knowledge of the EOM product integrated into a variety of customer environments set us apart. Our customer s production environment depends on solid, working solutions that we provide. Quick Hits Yet another update to the EOMConfigAnalyzer based on customer need. It now shows Backup Job configurations. The updated version is available on the PGCG website under the "Downloads" tab. A.Net Framework 4.0 fix is required so that EOM can send messages greater than 3MB. This problem surfaced with the EOM 10.0 release and use of the.net Framework 4.0 requirement. The symptom is the Alert Explorer reporting "[Failure sending mail.] [Index was outside the bounds of the array.]]" Take a look at this link: FrameWorkFix. Write a brief description and send it to SteveD@PrettyGoodConsultingGroup.com for future newsletter discussion. Pretty Good Consulting Group, LLC 4235 Ivy Court Lake Elmo, MN [ 5 ] Page [ 5 ]

newsletter Windows Firewall strikes again and again Moving to Windows Server 2012? PGCG EOM News and Views Issue 38, Spring 2015

newsletter Windows Firewall strikes again and again Moving to Windows Server 2012? PGCG EOM News and Views Issue 38, Spring 2015 newsletter PGCG Pretty Good Consulting Group G o t a p r o b l e m? W e c r e a t e s o l u t i o n s. EOM News and Views Windows Firewall strikes again and again We recently migrated a customer from an