InformaCast Desktop Notifier 4.3.1

Transcription

1 InformaCast Desktop Notifier Installation and User Guide for an InformaCast Fusion Hybrid Runtime Environment (HRE) Windows Environment Corporate Headquarters: Singlewire Software 1002 Deming Way Madison, WI Singlewire. All rights reserved.

2 2019 Singlewire. All rights reserved. InformaCast Desktop Notifier and InformaCast are trademarks of Singlewire Software. All other referenced trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners and our reference to them does not imply or indicate any approval, endorsement, sponsorship or affiliation with such owners unless such approval, endorsement, sponsorship or affiliation is expressly indicated. Singlewire Software products would not be what they are without the use of open source software. Singlewire takes its open source compliance obligations seriously, and towards this end, the open source information for each product release is published here. Last Updated: January 10, 2019

3 Table of Contents Chapter 1. Overview Intended Audience User Guide Standards Prerequisites VDI Environments Citrix Environments Microsoft Remote Desktop Services VMware Horizon Configuration Details VDI Environment Caveats Getting Help Chapter 2. Setting Up the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier As-is Pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Installer Chapter 3. Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Download the Installation Files Pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Installation Unpack the Installer Modify Configuration Files to Customize the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Modify the DesktopNotifier.xml File Re-package the Installer Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Individually Install Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Installer Install Using Command-line Parameters Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier En Masse

4 Chapter 4. Configure InformaCast Fusion Establish Communication with InformaCast Fusion Automatically Add InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances Manually Add InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances Manage the InformaCast Desktop Notifier in InformaCast Fusion Edit the Details of InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances Test InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances View the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Status Reboot the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Delete InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances from InformaCast Fusion Chapter 5. Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Modify Settings with the InformaCast Fusion User Interface Customize the Notification Window Set the Display Status of the Clear Command for Users Menus Set the Display Status of the Exit Command for Users Menus Set the Display Status of the Stop Broadcasts Command for Users Menus Set the Logo for the Notification Window Modify Settings with the Speaker Properties File Access the Speaker Properties File Set the Number of Concurrent Notification Windows Determine Speaker Configuration File Retrieval Method Allow Reconfiguration of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Determine the SLP Scope for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Set the Port Number for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Set the MAC Address of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier

5 Set the Network Interface for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Configure Application Updates for Users Add a Domain Name to the Reported Name Rule Filter Ignore Specific MAC Addresses Stop/Restart the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Chapter 6. Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier About the Desktop Notifier View the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Status Check for Software Updates Stop/Start Notifications Stop Broadcasts on Windows Stop Broadcasts on Windows Receive and Respond to Notifications Clear Notifications Exit the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Uninstall the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Chapter 7. Appendix. Editing the Policy File Access the Policy Configuration File Access the Policy Configuration File Pre-installation Access the Policy Configuration File Post-installation Set the Display Status of the Exit Command for Users Menus Set the Display Status of the Stop Broadcasts Command for Users Menus Set the Display Status of the Clear Command for Users Menus Customize the Notification Window for All Notifications Use Profiles to Customize the Notification Window and its Initial Display

6 Set the Location and Override Settings for the Policy Configuration File Modify the Speaker Properties File Pre- or Post-installation Modify the Override File Post-installation Additional Steps When Modifying the DesktopNotifier.xml File Chapter 8. Release s Chapter 9. Index

7 C HAPTER 1 Overview The InformaCast Desktop Notifier allows Windows and Mac computer desktops to receive InformaCast Fusion notifications. InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances register with InformaCast Fusion similarly to IP speakers and can be added to InformaCast Fusion s device groups with the same process you d use when adding IP speakers. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier starts up automatically upon user login, contacts the InformaCast on-premises server for registration, and then listens for its inclusion in the device group of an InformaCast Fusion notification. Four distinct components make up the InformaCast Desktop Notifier: The Notification window The InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu The InformaCast Fusion user interface (a policy configuration file is also available, although all file functionality can be accessed through the InformaCast Fusion user interface) A speaker properties file The Notification window (shown in the following picture) displays/plays InformaCast Fusion notifications of which it is a recipient on Windows or Mac desktops. 1

8 Overview The Subject field of an InformaCast Fusion message template displays immediately in the right pane of the Notification window while the Body field s contents (if configured) will display upon clicking the Show Details button in the left pane. Depending on whether the InformaCast Fusion message template contains audio or confirmation requests, the Respond, Stop/Start Audio, and Mute Audio buttons will either be enabled or disabled. In addition to receiving notifications through the Notification window, InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances can also receive less intrusive notifications through a badge (i.e. an incrementing of the number of notifications overlaid on the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s icon in the Task Bar); toasts (i.e. brief, automatically expiring pop-up windows); or a ticker (i.e. a scrolling banner at the bottom of users screens). See Customize the Notification Window on page 42 for more information. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu (shown in the following picture) provides access to an About window and Status report, and houses the commands to stop notifications, check for software updates (if configured), or exit the application altogether as well as two sub-menu options to see your received notifications and clear those notifications from your screen. The command to stop notifications only applies Windows 7 users. For Windows 8+ users, stopping notifications is done through the Action Center. Intended Audience The InformaCast Fusion user interface allows for the customization of the Notification window s appearance and the initial display type (i.e. immediate, badge, ticker, etc.). These settings can also be controlled by a policy file; however, the InformaCast Fusion user interface is the preferred medium for this configuration. Lastly a speaker properties file houses the settings for the method in which the InformaCast Desktop Notifier retrieves the speaker configuration file from the InformaCast Fusion on-premises server, its MAC address, the on-premises server s port number on which it listens for InformaCast Fusion communication, menu preferences, and automatic update parameters. This guide is intended to walk you through the installation and administration of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. It is written with two audiences in mind: its administrators and users. There are several versions of this guide: Windows InformaCast Cisco Unified Communication Manager environments 2

9 Overview User Guide Standards Prerequisites Windows InformaCast HRE environments Mac InformaCast Cisco Unified Communication Manager environments Mac InformaCast HRE environments Windows InformaCast Fusion Cisco Unified Communication Manager environments Windows InformaCast Fusion HRE environments Mac InformaCast Fusion Cisco Unified Communication Manager environments Mac InformaCast Fusion HRE environments Please ensure you have the right version by looking at the cover page or the environment type printed at the bottom of every page. Specific fonts are used to represent specific kinds of information in this user guide. The fonts and their meanings are listed here: Bold fonts indicate the name of a button, text field, or other element with which you interact and any text that you must enter. Italic fonts indicate the name of an area or section on one of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s windows. Angled brackets enclose text that varies with your specific environment, i.e. IP Address> means that you would enter your specific IP address instead of the brackets and what they enclose. Blue, underlined text indicates a hyperlink. There are several kinds of notification boxes used in this guide. Tip. These offer advice or best practices.. These contain additional information, usually relevant in special cases. Caution. These contain information about a procedure that may reduce the performance of your system. Warning. These contain information about a procedure that can impair or disable your system. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier has the following requirements: A successful installation of InformaCast Fusion or later with an installed license key for InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances (contact sales@singlewire.com if you don t have a license key that includes the InformaCast Desktop Notifier) Controlling the behavior of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier through InformaCast Fusion s user interface is only supported in version or later. For earlier versions, you will need to use the policy/configuration files (see Appendix. Editing the Policy File on page 82). 3

10 Overview Administrative access to an Intel-based Windows OS A PC meeting Microsoft s recommended hardware requirements for Windows 7, 8.1, or 10 (either 32-bit or 64-bit x86) The InformaCast Desktop Notifier requires a minimum of.net 4.5.2; the installation will not proceed if this prerequisite is not met. VDI Environments Supported Virtual Desktop Interface (VDI) Products (optional) VMware Horizon 7.4 or newer with VMware Horizon 7 View Client (Windows and MacOS 4.7) Citrix XenDesktop 7.4 or newer with Citrix Receiver (Windows 4.11 and MacOS ) VMware vsphere 6.5 or newer with Microsoft Remote Desktop (Windows built-in and MacOS ) Several VDI products are supported with the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. The actual configuration of your VDI environment is your responsibility and outside the scope of this user guide; however, there are a few extra configuration steps (see Configuration Details on page 5) that you can take to ensure a more seamless integration between your VDI environment and the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. Citrix Environments The InformaCast Desktop Notifier supports being installed in a pooled-desktop, Citrix environment, which can be assigned to users statically or randomly: Static, virtual desktops are assigned to users upon first logon and for all subsequent sessions. According to Citrix documentation, static desktops allow for certain application limitations to be overcome, particularly around licensing where users may need to run applications from desktops with persistent names, IP addresses and/or MAC addresses. Random, virtual desktops are arbitrarily assigned to users during logon and returned to the pool when they logoff[;]...virtual desktops are considered disposable after each use, helping to keep a clean and consistent environment. When using random pooled desktops, several extra configuration steps must be taken to ensure that users aren t assigned the same MAC address (see Set the MAC Address of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 64). Microsoft Remote Desktop Services The InformaCast Desktop Notifier supports Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) configured with the full Desktop experience. You can connect using a Microsoft Remote Desktop Client to a Microsoft Windows or VMware server, which provides an RDS Desktop Pool. Because the InformaCast Desktop Notifier relies on the network MAC address to register and receive broadcasts with InformaCast Fusion, pooled desktop sessions for session-based virtualization are not supported. 4

11 Overview VMware Horizon The InformaCast Desktop Notifier can be installed in a VMware Horizon environment. When doing so, be sure to enable Multimedia redirection in your Global Policies as needed to receive multicast audio. You may choose to configure Automated Desktop Pools, Manual Desktop Pools, or RDS Desktop Pools. User assignment within these pools may be either Dedicated or Floating. Because the MAC address is used to register and receive broadcasts, if the VDI is not persistent and desktop settings are not preserved, upon startup, each VDI may be assigned a new MAC address and could be seen in InformaCast Fusion as a new device. If you re using non-persistent desktops, extra configuration steps must be taken to ensure that users aren t assigned the same MAC address (see Set the MAC Address of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 64). Configuration Details While the configuration of your VDI environment is outside the scope of this user guide, there are a few extra configuration steps you can perform in your VDI environment to allow the InformaCast Desktop Notifier to handle events such as initial logins and session reconnections. It is assumed that VDI sessions are not shared across multiple devices. Because these changes may need to be merged with your other applications, the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s default installation process does not perform these changes automatically. It is expected that your System Administrator will make the requisite changes. The following table contains the VDI events that may require extra configuration steps along with the supported VDI products. VDI Events An initial connection or login, i.e. when device details are sent to the InformaCast Fusion on-premises server Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a VMware Horizon b Citrix Receiver c The InformaCast Desktop Notifier should run via a standard installation upon login. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier must not run via a standard installation (i.e. Startup Programs); it relies on VMware Horizon Group Policy. d CommandsToRunOnConnect must include: [INSTALLDIR]\VDISessionMon itor.exe connect e The InformaCast Desktop Notifier must not run via a standard installation (i.e. Startup Programs); it relies on Citrix s SessionStateMonitor. StartupCommands must include: [INSTALLDIR]\VDISessionMo nitor.exe connect 5

12 Overview A session resumes from different device, i.e. when new device details are sent to the InformaCast Fusion on-premises server A session disconnects No extra steps are required. Reconnections are detected using standard Operating System Events. No extra steps are required. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier terminates upon logout. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier should use VMware Horizon Group Policy. CommandsToRunOnReconnect must include: [INSTALLDIR\VDISessionMoni tor.exe reconnect The InformaCast Desktop Notifier should use VMware Horizon Group Policy. CommandsToRunOnDisconnect must include: [INSTALLDIR]\VDISessionMon itor.exe disconnect The InformaCast Desktop Notifier should use SessionStateMonitor. ReconnectCommands must include: [INSTALLDIR\VDISessionMon itor.exe reconnect The InformaCast Desktop Notifier should use Session StateMonitor. DisconnectCommands must include: [INSTALLDIR]\VDISessionMo nitor.exe disconnect a. Terminal Services APIs b. Windows Registry values set by Horizon View c. WinFrame APIs d. Running the InformaCast Desktop Notifier installation within a VDI automatically disables program startup via standard Windows facilities. If you are creating a base image elsewhere or need to do this manually, you can use msconfig on Windows 7 or Task Manager on later versions of Windows to disable startup. For a more flexible option, you may instead control program startup behavior using Group Policy. e. The value [INSTALLDIR] represents the Microsoft Windows Software installation absolute filesystem path. VDI Environment Caveats The following VDI access mechanisms are currently unsupported: Multi-hop scenarios (i.e. a session or connection to a VDI which in turn initiates another connection to one or more other VDIs) Web browser access (due to browser and vendor limitations) Access from personal or company-owned devices from non-corporately-controlled networks (IP addresses may overlap using Network Address Translation) Mobile phones on corporately controlled networks Getting Help Before contacting Singlewire Support personnel, check the Support Community for a solution. If you still have questions, you can initiate a request for support. Please include: Account contact information InformaCast Fusion maintenance contract number Detailed description of problem Windows platform version Product name and version 6

13 C HAPTER 2 Setting Up the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Setting up the InformaCast Desktop Notifier differs depending on whether you are installing InformaCast Desktop Notifier as-is or pre-configuring your installer. Use the following orders of processes depending on your installation preferences. Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier As-is Use the following overview of steps to install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier as-is. Step 1 Download the Installation Files on page 8 Step 2 Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Individually on page 15 or Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier En Masse on page 23 Step 3 Configure InformaCast Fusion on page 25 Step 4 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings on page 41 Pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Installer Use the following overview of steps to pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s installer before installing it. Step 1 Download the Installation Files on page 8 Step 2 Unpack the Installer on page 9 Step 3 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings on page 41 Step 4 Re-package the Installer on page 13 Step 5 Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Individually on page 15 or Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier En Masse on page 23 Step 6 Configure InformaCast Fusion on page 25 7

14 C HAPTER 3 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier After determining how you will set up the InformaCast Desktop Notifier (see Setting Up the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 7 for more information), you should download the InformaCast Desktop Notifier installation files and install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier (either individually or en masse). If you d like to pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s installer, you should do so in between downloading your installation files and actually installing them (see Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings on page 41). Download the Installation Files The installation files for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier are located on Singlewire s website. If you have trouble obtaining the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s installation files, contact sales@singlewire.com. Step 1 Go to and log into your account. If you don t yet have a Singlewire account, you ll need to create one before you can access the installation files. Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Go to The InformaCast Desktop Notifier Download page appears. Ensure the Software Download tab is selected and click the Download Now button for the Windows installation. The installation files download to your computer. Navigate to the location of your downloaded installation file and extract it from the ZIP file. Determine the type of installation you d like to perform for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier and proceed to the correct section: Pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Installation on page 9 Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Individually on page 15 Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier En Masse on page 23 8

15 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Installation If you don t want to pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s installer, you can skip this section and go to either Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Individually on page 15 or Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier En Masse on page 23. Caution When you install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier through its installer, it s using a Singlewire signature to facilitate your installation process. If you follow the steps in this section, the signature will be invalidated. This means that during the installation, you will be prompted to install an application from an unknown publisher. This is a safe operation to perform. If you want to sign your version of the installer, you will need to obtain a code-signing certificate with Microsoft or one of its partners. By default, the InformaCast Desktop Notifier installs with certain default settings. If you d like to change those settings before installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier, you will want to pre-configure its installer (e.g. DesktopNotifier.msi). Once you ve pre-configured the installer, it can then be made available to your users either via download over the Internet (as an individual installation or through a mass installation. The settings available to you for modification include those in the following files: SpelPreconfigFile. Once the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is installed, this file changes to the Spel.properties file, and it houses the settings for the method in which the InformaCast Desktop Notifier retrieves the speaker configuration file from InformaCast Fusion (e.g. SLP vs. static), its MAC address, the port number on which it listens for InformaCast Fusion communication, its allowable network interfaces, and automatic update parameters. DesktopNotifier.xml. Sets which pre-configure files are used during installation (e.g. the default files vs. ones you ve modified here). A third file, IdnPreconfigFile, is also available for modification; however, the InformaCast Fusion user interface provides a more-user friendly experience (see Customize the Notification Window on page 42). If you d still like to modify the IdnPreconfigFile file, see Appendix. Editing the Policy File on page 82. Unpack the Installer The InformaCast Desktop Notifier comes packaged in an MSI file. In order to make any changes to the settings contained in the MSI file, you must first unpack it. Step 1 Go to msi2xml.sourceforge.net/, download the MSI2XML/XML2MSI tool and unzip the contents of the msi2xml-bin.zip file. 9

16 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Step 2 Access Command Prompt, right click it, and select Run as Administrator. A command window appears. Step 3 Enter the following command, where <Directory of MSI File> is the file location of your DesktopNotifier.msi file (e.g. cd C:\InformaCastDesktopNotifier\), and press the Enter key: cd <Directory of MSI File> Tip You can easily enter the location of a file by dragging and dropping the Folder icon in the Windows Explorer s Address field to your command window. The command window refreshes. Step 4 Enter the following command, where <Folder Name> is the location of your output files and <Directory of MSI File> is the file location of your DesktopNotifier.msi file (e.g. msi2xml -c OutputFiles C:\InformaCastDesktopNotifier\DesktopNotifier.msi), and press the Enter key: msi2xml -c <Folder Name> <Directory of MSI File>\DesktopNotifier.msi 10

17 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier The command window refreshes. Tip Leave your command window open. You will come back to it. Next, you will modify your configuration files. 11

18 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Modify Configuration Files to Customize the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Once you ve unpacked the installer, you can modify the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s settings (see Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings on page 41). The names and locations of these configuration files vary depending on when you modify them, i.e. pre- or post-installation. Once you ve completed your customization, continue with Modify the DesktopNotifier.xml File on page 12. Modify the DesktopNotifier.xml File Modify this file if you want to set which pre-configure files are used during installation (e.g. the default files vs. ones you ve modified in the pre-configuration process). Step 1 Step 2 Go back to your Windows Explorer, navigate to the location of your DesktopNotifier.xml file and open it with your favorite text editor. Go to Edit Find in your text editor. The Find window appears. Step 3 Go back to your Find window, enter SetCopyPreconfigSpel in the Find what field and click the Find Next button. You should see the following lines: <row> <td>setcopypreconfigspel</td> <td>51</td> <td>copypreconfigspel</td> <td>"[systemfolder]cmd.exe" /c copy "[INSTALLDIR]Spel.properties.preconfig" "[TempFolder]Spel.properties"</td> <td/> </row> Step 4 Replace TempFolder with INSTALLDIR. Your lines should now look like the following: <row> <td>setcopypreconfigspel</td> <td>51</td> <td>copypreconfigspel</td> <td>"[systemfolder]cmd.exe" /c copy "[INSTALLDIR]Spel.properties.preconfig" "[INSTALLDIR]Spel.properties"</td> <td/> </row> 12

19 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier If you choose to modify the policy configuration file during pre-configuration of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier instead of using the InformaCast Fusion user interface, you will have to follow additional steps while modifying the DesktopNotifier.xml file (see Additional Steps When Modifying the DesktopNotifier.xml File on page 98 for more information). Step 5 Save your changes. Re-package the Installer Once you ve made the necessary changes to your configuration files, you must re-package the installer before using it to install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. Step 1 Step 2 Go back to your command window. Ensure you are still in the correct directory, enter the following command, and press the Enter key: xml2msi -m DesktopNotifier.xml 13

20 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Your MSI file will be re-created. Step 3 Determine the type of installation you d like to perform for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier and proceed to the correct section: Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Individually on page 15 Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier En Masse on page 23 14

21 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Individually Once you have downloaded and extracted the installation files (and optionally pre-configured your installer), you can install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. The steps in this section show you how to install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on individual computers. If you d like to perform a mass installation, see Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier En Masse on page 23. There are two ways of performing individual installations: Through the installer Silently, through command-line parameters Install Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Installer The InformaCast Desktop Notifier s installer is a wizard that walks you through the installation process step by step. Caution When you install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier through its installer, it s using a Singlewire signature to facilitate your installation process. If you followed the steps in Pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Installation on page 9, the signature will be invalidated. This means that during the installation, you will be prompted to install an application from an unknown publisher. This is a safe operation to perform. If you want to sign your version of the installer, you will need to obtain a code-signing certificate with Microsoft or one of its partners. Step 1 Navigate to where you saved your download files and double click the DesktopNotifier.msi file. If you followed the steps in Pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Installation on page 9, navigate to that location to obtain your DesktopNotifier.msi file. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier Setup window appears. 15

22 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Step 2 Click the Next button. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier Setup window refreshes with an end user license agreement. Step 3 Click the I accept the terms in the License Agreement radio button and click the Next button. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier Setup window refreshes with a question as to how the speaker configuration file will be discovered and the option to create a desktop shortcut. 16

23 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Step 4 Determine how the InformaCast Desktop Notifier will find its speaker configuration file: If multicast is configured correctly, clicking the Use SLP radio button will allow SLP to automatically detect the InformaCast Fusion on-premises server even if its IP address changes. Multiple servers can also be supported for distributed activation. For more information on SLP versus a static URL, see Determine Speaker Configuration File Retrieval Method on page 59. SLP relies on the InformaCastSpeaker.cfg file, which must contain the correct IP address of your InformaCast Fusion on-premises server. By default, the InformaCastSpeaker.cfg file is located on the on-premises server in /usr/local/singlewire/informacast/web/resources. If you d like to specify a certain InformaCast Fusion on-premises server from which to pull the speaker configuration file, clicking the Use the following static URL radio button and entering an IP address in the corresponding field will ensure that the specified InformaCast Fusion will provide its speaker configuration file. The only way to enter multiple servers IP addresses in the installer is by modifying the SpelPreconfigFile during the pre-configuration process (see Modify the Speaker Properties File Pre- or Post-installation on page 60). Multiple servers can also be supported for distributed activation. Step 5Deselect the Startup and configure when installation completes checkbox (optional) if you want to defer initial program startup and configuration rather than configure a value for a MAC address. This is useful when creating a single base image that you will be reusing on multiple computers because it prevents multiple computers from being seen as the same device via the saved MAC address that is captured from the network interface when the InformaCast Desktop Notifier starts. Using Group Policy to control startup behavior is also highly recommended; it is installed and started automatically for all users otherwise in the default InformaCast Desktop Notifier installation process. Step 6 Select the Create a shortcut for this program on the desktop checkbox if you d like to be able to access the InformaCast Desktop Notifier from a desktop shortcut. 17

24 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Step 7 Click the Install button. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier Setup window refreshes, showing you the progress of the installation. When the installer is finished, the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Setup window refreshes with a success statement. 18

25 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Step 8 Click the Finish button to exit the installer. The Singlewire logo will appear in your Taskbar, which is in the lower right corner of your screen. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier will also be available through your Windows Start menu, and if you selected the Create a shortcut for this program on the desktop checkbox, the InformaCast Desktop Notifier icon will appear on your desktop. There will also be a Singlewire folder added to your file structure: C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier. Install Using Command-line Parameters If you d like to install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on individual machines without being prompted for any information, you can perform a silent install through your command line. If you d like to perform one installation for multiple machines, see Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier En Masse on page 23. Before installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier through your command line, you should have followed the steps in: Configure InformaCast Fusion on page 25 Download the Installation Files on page 8 Pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Installation on page 9 (optional) When performing a command-line installation, you have several parameters available to you: INSTALLDIR. Sets the directory where the InformaCast Desktop Notifier will be installed. The default location is C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier. This parameter is optional; you only need to cite it if you want to enter a location different from the default. SLPSTATIC. Controls whether the InformaCast Desktop Notifier will use SLP or a static IP address to retrieve the speaker configuration file from InformaCast Fusion (see Determine Speaker Configuration File Retrieval Method on page 59 for more information). The valid entries are: SLP or STATIC. The default is SLP. This parameter is optional; you only need to cite it when you intend to use STATIC. STATICURL and STATICURL1 - STATICURL11. STATICURL sets the complete URL for a static configuration when STATIC is chosen as the method for retrieving the speaker configuration file from InformaCast Fusion. The valid entry is InformaCast Fusion s URL, e.g. Fusion IP Address>:8081/InformaCast/resources/, where <InformaCast Fusion IP Address> should be replaced with the InformaCast Fusion on premises server s IP 19

26 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier address. This parameter is required if you cited STATIC for the SLPSTATIC parameter. STATICURL1 - STATICURL11 sets the additional URLs for a static configuration in a distributed activation environment. INSTALLDESKTOPSHORTCUTS. Controls whether a shortcut to the InformaCast Desktop Notifier will appear on your desktop upon completion of the installation process. The valid entry is 1 (include desktop shortcut). This parameter is optional; you only need to cite it if you want to install a desktop shortcut. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Log onto the machine on which you want to install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier (either manually or remotely). Ensure that your unzipped DesktopNotifier.msi file is present (you performed these steps in Download the Installation Files on page 8). Access Command Prompt, right click it, and select Run as Administrator. A command window appears. 20

27 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Step 4 Enter cd "<C:\DesktopNotifier.msi\Location>", where <C:\DesktopNotifier.msi\Location> is replaced with the actual location of the DesktopNotifier.msi file, and press the Enter key. The command window refreshes. Step 5 Determine which command you will enter depending on your parameters: Default. If you want to install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier with its default location of C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier and the default value of SLP for retrieving the speaker configuration file from InformaCast Fusion, enter msiexec /i "DesktopNotifier.msi" /qn and press the Enter key. New Location. If you want to install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier with a new location (instead of C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier) and the default value of SLP for retrieving the speaker configuration file from InformaCast Fusion, enter msiexec/i "DesktopNotifier.msi" /qn INSTALLDIR="<C:\New\Location>", where <C:\New\Location> is replaced with the path to your new location, and press the Enter key. Static. If you want to install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier with its default location of C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier, but use a static IP address to retrieve the speaker configuration file from InformaCast Fusion, enter msiexec /i "DesktopNotifier.msi" /qn SLPSTATIC="STATIC" STATICURL=" Fusion IP Address>:8081/InformaCast/resources/", where <InformaCast Fusion IP Address> is replaced with the InformaCast Fusion on-premises server s actual IP address, and press the Enter key. If you re using InformaCast Fusion in a distributed activation environment, you can configure up to 11 other IP addresses, in which case you d enter msiexec /i "DesktopNotifier.msi" /qn SLPSTATIC="STATIC" STATICURL=" Fusion IP Address Primary>:8081/InformaCast/resources/" STATICURL1=" Fusion IP Address Secondary>:8081/InformaCast/resources/", where <InformaCast Fusion IP Address Primary> is replaced with the IP address of your primary on-premises server and <InformaCast Fusion IP Address Secondary> is replaced with the IP address of your secondary on-premises server, and press the Enter key. 21

28 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier If you followed the steps in Pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Installation on page 9, you have already set these parameters. If you set any new parameters through the command line, they will override those you previously set. New Location and Static. If you want to install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier with a new location (instead of C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier) and use a static IP address to retrieve the speaker configuration file from InformaCast Fusion, enter msiexec /i "DesktopNotifier.msi" /qn INSTALLDIR="<C:\New\Location>" SLPSTATIC="STATIC" STATICURL=" Fusion IP Address>:8081/InformaCast/resources/", where <C:\New\Location> is replaced with the path to your new location and <InformaCast Fusion IP Address> is replaced with the InformaCast Fusion on-premises server s actual IP address, and press the Enter key. If you re using InformaCast Fusion in a distributed activation environment, you can configure up to 11 other IP addresses, in which case you d enter msiexec /i "DesktopNotifier.msi" /qn INSTALLDIR="<C:\New\Location>" SLPSTATIC="STATIC" STATICURL=" Fusion IP Address Primary>:8081/InformaCast/resources/" STATICURL1=" Fusion IP Address Secondary>:8081/InformaCast/resources/", where <InformaCast Fusion IP Address Primary> is replaced with the IP address of your primary on-premises server and <InformaCast Fusion IP Address Secondary> is replaced with the IP address of your secondary on-premises server, and press the Enter key. Tip If you want to install the desktop shortcut, enter a space and append INSTALLDESKTOPSHORTCUTS=1 following the qn for a default installation or after the last set of quotes in any of the other installations. For example, for a new location with a static URL, you d enter msiexec /i "DesktopNotifier.msi" /qn INSTALLDIR="<C:\New\Location>" SLPSTATIC="STATIC" STATICURL=" Fusion IP Address>:8081/InformaCast/resources/" INSTALLDESKTOPSHORTCUTS=1, where <C:\New\Location> is replaced with the path to your new location and <InformaCast Fusion IP Address> is replaced with the InformaCast Fusion on-premises server s actual IP address, and press the Enter key. 22

29 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier The Command window refreshes and the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is installed. The Singlewire logo will appear in your Taskbar, which is in the lower right corner of your screen. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier will also be available through your Windows Start menu, and if you selected the Create a shortcut for this program on the desktop checkbox, the InformaCast Desktop Notifier icon will appear on your desktop. There will also be a Singlewire folder added to your file structure: C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier. Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier En Masse If you d like to install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on multiple machines without being prompted for any information, you can perform a silent install through Group Policy, wherein you install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier with pre-defined settings. If you d like to perform individual installations, see Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Individually on page 15. Before installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier en masse, you should have followed the steps in: Configure InformaCast Fusion on page 25 Download the Installation Files on page 8 Pre-configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Installation on page 9 23

30 Installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Group Policy, in conjunction with the DesktopNotifier.msi, allows you to perform silent installations of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. Configuring Group Policy for your environment is solely your responsibility, but more information can be found at: support.microsoft.com/kb/ technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb aspx Now that you ve installed the InformaCast Desktop Notifier, you ll need to configure it. 24

31 C HAPTER 4 Configure InformaCast Fusion Configuring InformaCast Fusion for use with the InformaCast Desktop Notifier involves establishing communication between the computers running InformaCast Desktop Notifier with InformaCast Fusion and various administrative functions, such as editing the details of the computers registered with and added to InformaCast Fusion, testing their functionality, checking their status, and rebooting them. Establish Communication with InformaCast Fusion InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances obtain their configuration, which includes the location of the InformaCast Fusion on-premises server, their registration interval, their remote logging configuration, etc., from a file called InformaCastSpeaker.cfg, which is typically located in /usr/local/singlewire/informacast/web/resources. This file can be retrieved from InformaCast Fusion itself using Service Location Protocol (SLP) or set statically (see Determine Speaker Configuration File Retrieval Method on page 59). InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances read the InformaCastSpeaker.cfg file when the application starts, when network configuration changes occur, or if a remote reboot is performed. Once they retrieve the InformaCastSpeaker.cfg file, InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances and InformaCast Fusion will establish communication. With communication established, all InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances register directly with InformaCast Fusion. Registration is only part of the process, however. In order for InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances to be available for inclusion in device groups and eligible for receipt of InformaCast Fusion notifications, they have to be added, which can happen in one of two ways: automatically or manually. Automatically Add InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances When configured correctly in InformaCast Fusion, InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances will be added immediately to InformaCast Fusion s List Desktop Notifiers page upon startup. They will be registered as Desktop, followed by an abbreviation of the computer name. Step 1 Log into InformaCast Fusion and select an on-premises server from the InformaCast Fusion Server dropdown menu in the blue header of the Administration Console. InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances are dependent upon the on-premises server with which they ve registered. 25

32 Configure InformaCast Fusion Step 2 Go to Admin Settings Network Parameters. The Network Parameters Details page appears. Step 3 Step 4 Step 6 Step 7 Select the Automatically Add InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances and LPI Paging Zones checkbox to automatically add registered InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances to InformaCast Fusion s List Desktop Notifiers page and make them available for device group inclusion. Once you select the Automatically Add InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances and LPI Paging Zones checkbox, the Automatically Added InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances and LPI Paging Zones Volume dropdown menu appears. Select a numerical value (1 through 12 with 12 being the loudest) from the Automatically Add InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances and LPI Paging Zones Volume dropdown menu to set the volume at which your automatically added InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances will play. You can override this volume on the List Desktop Notifiers page. Select a number of days from the Automatically Remove Unregistered IDN Instances dropdown menu (optional). After your set amount of days, configured and unregistered InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances will be removed from InformaCast Fusion. Removed IDN instances will re-register with InformaCast Fusion if reconnected to your network, but they will reappear as either unconfigured or automatically added depending on the status of the Automatically Add InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances and LPI Paging Zones checkbox. Click the Save button to save your changes. 26

33 Configure InformaCast Fusion Step 8 Go to Recipients Desktop Notifiers in InformaCast Fusion. The List Desktop Notifiers page appears and you can see that your InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances are already registered with InformaCast Fusion and listed as available recipients. If you don t see your computer listed on this page, ensure that the computer and the InformaCast Desktop Notifier are running, and that you have waited at least the length of the time value listed in the Registration Interval field on the Network Parameters Details page. These computers will still need to be included in a device group before InformaCast Fusion notifications can be sent to them (see Manage Device Groups in the InformaCast Fusion Installation and User Guide for steps on creating device groups). 27

34 Configure InformaCast Fusion Manually Add InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances When InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances aren t configured to be automatically added to InformaCast Fusion, you will have to manually add them. Step 1 Go to Recipients Desktop Notifiers in InformaCast Fusion. The List Desktop Notifiers page appears and you can see that InformaCast Fusion has detected your InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance. The New Unconfigured Desktop Notifiers button is only displayed when InformaCast Fusion detects registered, but unadded InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances. 28

35 Configure InformaCast Fusion Step 2 Click the New Unconfigured Desktop Notifiers button. The New Unconfigured Desktop Notifiers page refreshes and you can see that the InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance is listed, but not yet added to InformaCast Fusion or assigned a name. Step 3 Click the Create icon. The Create Desktop Notifier page appears and you can configure the parameters for this computer. Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Enter a concise name that describes the purpose and/or location of this computer in the Name field, e.g. First Floor. The name needs to be clear because it will be used to select them when you re creating/editing a device group. Enter additional information in the Description field, if you would like to provide more detail about the computer, such as its location, e.g. First Floor - Marketing Dept. Leave as-is the MAC address of the computer in the MAC Address field. Select the computer s volume from the Volume dropdown menu, if needed. Automatically added InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances already have their volume set based on the value in the Volume dropdown menu on the Network Parameters Details page, but you can override it here. 29

36 Configure InformaCast Fusion Tip You may want to wait until you listen to some actual notifications from the computer before adjusting this value. The default of 10 is the maximum normal volume at which it is capable of playing. Setting the volume to 11 or 12 will cause clipping, which can lead to audible distortions. Step 8 Step 9 Select the computer s scroll speed from the Scroll Speed Adjustment dropdown menu, if needed. Positive values increase the scroll speed; negative values decrease it. The value set in the Scroll Speed Adjustment dropdown menu will increment/decrement the value set in the Scroll Speed dropdown menu on the Fusion Settings tab of the Notification Profile Details page. Click the Save button to add this InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance to InformaCast Fusion. This computer will still need to be included in a device group before InformaCast Fusion notifications can be sent to it (see Manage Device Groups in the InformaCast Fusion Installation and User Guide for steps on creating device groups). Manage the InformaCast Desktop Notifier in InformaCast Fusion Several InformaCast Desktop Notifier administrative functions can be performed in InformaCast Fusion, such as editing the details of the computers registered with and added to InformaCast Fusion (e.g. names, volume, scroll speed, etc.), testing their functionality, checking their status, and rebooting them. 30

37 Configure InformaCast Fusion Edit the Details of InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances Once you ve added InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances to InformaCast Fusion, you may need to edit their information. Step 1 Go to Recipients Desktop Notifiers in InformaCast Fusion. The List Desktop Notifiers page appears. 31

38 Configure InformaCast Fusion Step 2 Click the name or Edit icon next to the computer you d like to modify. The Desktop Notifier Details page appears. Step 3 Step 4 Modify your computer s information. Click the Save button to save your changes. 32

39 Configure InformaCast Fusion Test InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances The Test icons on the lists of registered and added or unadded InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances allow you to play a loud test tone for a certain number of seconds to the computer you ve selected. (This tone is built into the computer itself, and not stored in InformaCast Fusion.) Step 1 Go to Recipients Desktop Notifiers in InformaCast Fusion. The List Desktop Notifiers page appears. 33

40 Configure InformaCast Fusion Step 2 Click the Test icon next to the registered and added computer you want to test. The Test Desktop Notifier page appears. Step 3 Step 4 Enter the duration of the test tone (in seconds) in the Test Duration field. Click the Submit button. The computer will emit a tone for the specified number of seconds and you are returned to the List Desktop Notifiers page. 34

41 Configure InformaCast Fusion View the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Status Viewing the Status report can help you when troubleshooting issues with the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. Step 1 Go to Recipients Desktop Notifiers in InformaCast Fusion. The List Desktop Notifiers page appears. 35

42 Configure InformaCast Fusion Step 2 Click the Status Page icon of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance for which you d like to see information. A webpage containing the Status report appears. 36

43 Configure InformaCast Fusion The Status report offers information on: Endpoint details, e.g. your MAC address, port number, configuration file retrieval method, length of time the InformaCast Desktop Notifier has been running, its version number, and the instance s self-reported IP address and name, e.g. the client IP address and name of the true endpoint device (in a VDI environment, this is where the VDI client connection originates from) Gateway details, e.g. whether your InformaCast Desktop Notifier: can listen, has buttons, has a display, has a microphone, has a rich user interface, can handle images, and can acknowledge/respond to notifications, and its supported playback and audio capture capabilities Current state, e.g. whether the InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance is online, if it is accepting notifications ( yes means that the InformaCast Desktop Notifier has been started and no means that it has been stopped), whether it is set to detect network changes on computers running its application (e.g. IP address changes, sleep status, etc.) and reconfigure them with updated policy information, the last time a InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance was configured, and the location of its speaker configuration file Configuration details, e.g. the on-premises server(s) to which the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is registering and the location of the InformaCastSpeaker.cfg file, the interval at which InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances register with InformaCast Fusion, and the interval at which InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances send a special heartbeat associated with an active audio capture Registration details, e.g. the on-premises server(s) to which the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is registering, its registration attempts, their dates and times, and whether they were successful Streaming statistics, e.g. the date and time audio occurred, whether your audio is actively occurring or has already happened, the on-premises server that sent the notification, the IP address and port of the originating audio, the audio format type, and the amount of packets received and sent by the InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance (depending on how many notifications have been sent to this computer, you may see multiple entries; the history is reset whenever the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is restarted) Reboot the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Certain changes to the configuration of InformaCast Desktop Notifier, e.g. changing the background color of the Notification window or the number of allowed concurrent Notification windows, etc., as well as troubleshooting issues may require you to reboot the InformaCast Desktop Notifier running on your computers. You can only reboot the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on computers that are currently registered with and have been added to InformaCast Fusion. Unregistered or unadded computers will not be affected. Caution Rebooting the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on computers running it will cause any active notifications to be lost. 37

44 Configure InformaCast Fusion Step 1 Go to Recipients Desktop Notifiers in InformaCast Fusion. The List Desktop Notifiers page appears. Step 2 Determine how you will reboot your IP speakers: Reboot an individual registered and added computer by selecting the computer s Reboot icon. Reboot all registered and added computers by clicking the Reboot All button in the Reboot Desktop Notifiers area. The Reboot or Reboot All Desktop Notifiers pop-up window appears. Step 3 Click the OK button. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier reboots on that computer. 38

45 Configure InformaCast Fusion Delete InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances from InformaCast Fusion As your needs change, you may need to delete added InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances from InformaCast Fusion. Tip You can set InformaCast Fusion to automatically remove configured and unregistered InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances after a certain amount of days. Go to Admin Settings Network Parameters and modify the value in the Automatically Remove Unregistered IDN Instances dropdown menu to suit your environment. If you selected the Automatically Add InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances and LPI Paging Zones checkbox on the Network Parameters Details page and the InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance that you want to delete is still connected to your network, it will only reappear on the List Desktop Notifiers page once the next registration interval is reached. Likewise, if you did not select the Automatically Add InformaCast Desktop Notifier Instances and LPI Paging Zones checkbox on the Network Parameters Details page and the InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance that you want to delete is still connected to your network, it will reappear on the New Unconfigured Desktop Notifiers page. The only way to truly delete an InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance from InformaCast Fusion is to delete it and disconnect it from your network. 39

46 Configure InformaCast Fusion Step 1 Go to Recipients Desktop Notifiers in InformaCast Fusion. The List Desktop Notifiers page appears. Step 2 Click the Delete icon next to the InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance that you d like to delete. The Delete Desktop Notifier pop-up window appears. Step 3 Click the OK button and the InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance will be removed from InformaCast Fusion. 40

47 C HAPTER 5 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings The InformaCast Desktop Notifier has several configurable settings that can be accessed either through the InformaCast Fusion user interface or through a speaker properties file. Settings modified through the InformaCast Fusion user interface include: Customize the Notification Window on page 42 Set the Display Status of the Clear Command for Users Menus on page 52 Set the Display Status of the Exit Command for Users Menus on page 53 Set the Display Status of the Stop Broadcasts Command for Users Menus on page 53 Set the Logo for the Notification Window on page 55 Settings modified through a configuration file include: Set the Number of Concurrent Notification Windows on page 58 Determine Speaker Configuration File Retrieval Method on page 59 Allow Reconfiguration of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 62 Determine the SLP Scope for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 64 Set the Port Number for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 64 Set the MAC Address of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 64 Set the Network Interface for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 65 Configure Application Updates for Users on page 65 Add a Domain Name to the Reported Name Rule Filter on page 68 Independent of the InformaCast Fusion user interface or the speaker properties file, you can also configure the InformaCast Desktop Notifier to ignore certain MAC addresses (see Ignore Specific MAC Addresses on page 71 for more information). Changing any of these settings will require you to stop/restart or reboot the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on computers running it. See Stop/Restart the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 72 or Reboot the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 37 for more information. Modify Settings with the InformaCast Fusion User Interface Modifying the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s settings with the InformaCast Fusion user interface includes customizing the Notification window and setting the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu commands to which your users have access. 41

48 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Customize the Notification Window By default, the Notification window looks similar to the following image: Each of its customizable components are shown in the following image. Message Template Name Logo Icon Click here for Subject Image pulled from message template Screen Size Confirmation Request Audio Subject Background 42

49 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings In InformaCast Fusion, the look of the Notification window is controlled through the General and Desktop Notifier Settings tabs of a notification profile that is then applied to message templates (see Manage Notification Profiles for more information). There are three default styles for you to use or you can create your own: Normal. Notifications will use the Immediate display, which is set to display the Notification window as soon as a notification is received. The Notification window s size is set to Medium; the background is white; the font is Arial, black in color, and 12 points in size; and links are in the standard blue while using the same font type and size. This is the default look of the Notification window. Warning. Notifications will use the Immediate display, which is set to display the Notification window as soon as a notification is received. The Notification window s size is set to Medium; the background is yellow; the font is Arial, black in color, and 12 points in size; and links are in the standard blue while using the same font type and size. 43

50 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Emergency. Notifications will use the Immediate display, which is set to display the Notification window as soon as a notification is received. The Notification window s size is set to Medium; the background is red; the font is Arial, white in color, and 12 points in size; and links are in the standard blue while using the same font type and size. Custom. The Notification window will use the style settings you create. If you choose a custom configuration, you can adjust the following parameters: Screen size. Set the size of the screen that is displayed when a notification is received. Background color. Customize the background color displayed in the Notification window. Link color. Customize the color of hyperlinks in the Notification window. This is especially useful if your background color is the same color blue as the default color of hyperlinks or particularly dark. Image. Display the message template s image above the Subject field s contents. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier will scale the image so it fits in the designated area. Message template name as a banner. Display the name of your message template in the banner area of every Notification window (alphanumeric only). Subject and Body fields font settings. Set the font name, size, style, and color for the contents of the Subject and Body fields of an InformaCast Fusion message template. The Subject field of an InformaCast Fusion message template displays immediately in the Notification window while the Body field s contents (if configured) will display upon clicking the Show Details button. 44

51 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings While the background color, link color, image, and font preferences can only be modified with a custom configuration, the initial display of the Notification window as well as its screen size can be changed with any of the style choices. For the initial display, you have four choices: Immediate. The Notification window will display upon notification receipt. Toast. A small notification pop-up window will display upon notification receipt. Click it to display the Notification window. Ticker. A scrolling banner will display at the bottom of users screens upon notification receipt. Click it to display the Notification window. Badge. No initial visual notification will display upon notification receipt with the exception of incrementing the number of notifications overlaid on the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s icon in the Task Bar. Click the icon to display the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s menu. Go to Messages and select a notification to display the Notification window. 45

52 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Use the following steps to customize your Notification window. Step 1 Go to Notifications Notification Profiles in InformaCast Fusion and either click the Create icon to create a new notification profile or click the Name link of an existing notification profile. If you chose to create a new notification profile, name it, and you ll be brought to the Notification Profile Details page. If you clicked the Name link of an existing notification profile, you re already there. Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Select a style from the Style dropdown menu, e.g. Normal, Warning, Emergency, or Custom. If you choose anything other than Custom, you re limited by InformaCast Fusion s definition of that style. You won t be able to change anything else related to the look of the Notification window with the exception of the screen size and initial display (set on the Desktop Notifier Settings tab). If this is acceptable, skip to Step 20 on page 51. Otherwise, selecting Custom will allow you to make further modifications. Change the background color of the Notification window by entering any standard hexadecimal color value in the Background Color field, e.g. #ff0000 is red. You can also use the color selector to choose a color. Change the font color of the Subject field s contents in the Notification window by entering any standard hexadecimal color value in the Subject Font Color field, e.g. # is green. You can also use the color selector to choose a color. Click the Save button. If that s all the modifications you want to make, skip to Step 20 on page 51. If you d like to make more modifications, continue with Step 6. 46

53 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Step 6 Click the Desktop Notifier Settings tab. The Notification Profile Details page refreshes, showing the contents of the Desktop Notifier Settings tab. 47

54 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Select one of the Initial Display radio buttons to control what your users will see upon receiving a notification. Your choices are: Immediate. The Notification window will display upon notification receipt. The notification s audio and a sound may play, but that is dependent upon your platform s preferences. Toast. A small notification pop-up window will display upon notification receipt. The notification s audio and a sound may play, but that is dependent upon your platform s preferences. Click the toast to display the Notification window. Ticker. A scrolling banner will display at the bottom of users screens upon notification receipt. The notification s audio and a sound may play, but that is dependent upon your platform s preferences. Click the banner to display the Notification window. Selecting this initial display type allows you to further customize your ticker s appearance through the Ticker tab further down the Desktop Notifier Settings tab. Badge. No initial visual notification will display upon notification receipt with the exception of incrementing the number of notifications overlaid on the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s icon in the Task Bar. Click the icon to display the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s menu. Go to Messages and select a notification to display the Notification window. Select one of the Notification Window Display Size radio buttons to control the size of the Notification window. Your choices are: Small Medium Large Max (i.e. your users full screens) Scroll down to the Notification Window tab. In the Notification Window Appearance Preview area, you can see a preview of what your Notification window will look like based on what you chose from the Style Settings area on the General tab. Step 10 Scroll down the Notification Window tab to the Custom Notification Window Appearance Settings area. 48

55 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Step 11 Click the Show Custom Fonts and Colors Configuration link. The Custom Notification Window Appearance Settings area refreshes with more customization choices, such as the color of your hyperlinks as well as the font type, size, color, and style for the contents of the Subject and Body fields. Step 12 Step 13 Change the font color of hyperlinks in the Notification window by entering any standard hexadecimal color value in the Link Color field, e.g. # is purple. You can also use the color selector to choose a color. Modifying the color of hyperlinks is especially useful if your background color is the same color blue as the default color of hyperlinks or particularly dark. Use the Subject Settings area s dropdown menus and checkboxes to customize the font type, size, and style (e.g. normal, bold, or italic) of the contents of the Subject field. If you want to change the color of the Subject field s contents, you can do that with the Subject Font Color field in the Custom Style Settings area of the General tab. Step 14 Use the Body Settings area s dropdown menus and checkboxes to customize the font type, color, size, and style (e.g. normal, bold, or italic) of the contents of the Body field. 49

56 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Step 15 Select the Ticker tab. You must have first selected the Ticker radio button in the Initial Display Type area to be able to modify this tab. The Notification Profile Details page refreshes showing the contents of the Ticker tab. Step 16 In the Ticker Appearance Preview area, you can see a preview of how the contents of the scrolling banner will look across the bottom of users screens. Change the background color of the scrolling banner by entering any standard hexadecimal color value in the Background Color field in the Custom Ticker Appearance Settings area, e.g. #0a17fc is blue. You can also use the color selector to choose a color. 50

57 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Step 17 Click the Configure Custom Fonts and Colors link. The Custom Ticker Font Appearance Settings area appears with more customization choices, such as the font type, size, color, and style for the contents of the scrolling banner. Step 18 Step 19 Step 20 Step 21 Use the Custom Ticker Font Appearance Settings area s dropdown menus and checkboxes to customize the font type, color, size, and style (e.g. normal, bold, or italic) of the contents of the scrolling banner. Click the Save button to save your changes. Make any other desired message notification profile changes (see Add a Notification Profile for more information). Add your notification profile to a message template (see Add a Message Template for more information). Take care when naming or choosing your message template to which this notification profile is assigned: the message template s name will appear in the banner area of the Notification window. Step 22 Send a test notification to ensure that your changes were incorporated (see Send a Notification from the Administration Console for more information). 51

58 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings In this example, the Notification window was modified to use a yellow background color, the message template s image, and customized font types and color for the Subject and Body fields: Set the Display Status of the Clear Command for Users Menus By default, the option to clear all received notifications from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is available to users through the Clear command (under Messages in the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu). Use the following steps to remove the Clear command from your users menus. Step 1 Go to Admin Settings Desktop Notifiers. The Desktop Notifier Settings page appears. Step 2 Step 3 Deselect the Allow Clear Menu Option checkbox. Click the Save button. 52

59 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Any changes on the Desktop Notifier Settings page will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Set the Display Status of the Exit Command for Users Menus By default, the option to shut down the InformaCast Desktop Notifier completely is available to users through the Exit command. By selecting Exit from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu, users can shut down and exit from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier and no longer receive notifications. This could prove problematic to your communication with users and you may want to remove the Exit command from your users menus. Step 1 Go to Admin Settings Desktop Notifiers. The Desktop Notifier Settings page appears. Step 2 Step 3 Deselect the Allow Exit Menu Option checkbox. Click the Save button. Any changes on the Desktop Notifier Settings page will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Set the Display Status of the Stop Broadcasts Command for Users Menus This section only applies to Windows 7 users. If you are using Macs or any other version of Windows besides 7, skip this section. 53

60 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings By default, the option to stop all notifications from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is available to Windows 7 users through the Stop Broadcasts command in the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu. This could prove problematic to your communication with users and you may want to remove the Stop Broadcasts command from your users menus. Step 1 Go to Admin Settings Desktop Notifiers. The Desktop Notifier Settings page appears. Step 2 Step 3 Deselect the Allow Start/Stop Broadcast Menu Option checkbox. Click the Save button. Any changes on the Desktop Notifier Settings page will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. 54

61 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Set the Logo for the Notification Window By default, the Singlewire logo appears in the Notification window. However, you can provide a custom logo to be displayed in place of the Singlewire logo. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier will scale the image so it fits in the designated area. You can choose whatever image you wish, but it must be in the TIF, BMP, GIF, JPEG, or PNG format. If you upload a custom logo and later remove it without selecting a new custom logo, the Singlewire logo will replace it. Step 1 Go to Admin Settings Desktop Notifiers. The Desktop Notifier Settings page appears. 55

62 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Step 2 Click the Choose File button. The Open dialog box appears. Step 3 Navigate to the location of your image file, select it, and click the Open button. The Desktop Notifier Settings page refreshes and you can see your new logo. 56

63 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Step 4 Click the Save button. Any changes on the Desktop Notifier Settings page will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Modify Settings with the Speaker Properties File The InformaCast Desktop Notifier relies on a speaker properties file for certain configuration settings, e.g. the method in which the InformaCast Desktop Notifier retrieves the speaker configuration file from the InformaCast Fusion on-premises server, its MAC address, the on-premises server s port number on which it listens for InformaCast Fusion communication, menu preferences, and automatic update parameters. In addition to the speaker properties file, a policy configuration file can be used to customize the InformaCast Desktop Notifier (e.g. exclude the certain commands, customize the initial notification display, set the screen size, font, and background color of the Notification window, etc.); however, the InformaCast Fusion user interface is the preferred method (see Appendix. Editing the Policy File on page 82). If modified in this way, it will override anything you configure in the InformaCast Fusion user interface. Access the Speaker Properties File When modifying the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s settings with its speaker properties file, when you access the file (e.g. before installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier or after) determines its location and name: Pre-installation Post-installation File Name SpelPreconfigFile Spel.properties.sample Spel.properties (overrides the previous Spel.properties file) File Location The directory where you unpacked your installer (see Unpack the Installer on page 9) C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier C:\ProgramData\Singlewire\DesktopNotifier Due to the disparity in name and location, the SpelPreconfigFile/Spel.properties.sample file will be referred to as the speaker properties file. When making your changes, use the previous table to determine your file s name and location. Access the Speaker Properties File Pre-installation Accessing the speaker properties file during your pre-configuration of the installer is the best way to push out widespread changes, i.e. changes to all the InformaCast Desktop Notifiers registering with InformaCast Fusion. 57

64 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Pre-installation, the speaker properties file is called SpelPreConfigFile, and you can open it with pad or a similar text editor in the directory where you unpacked your installer: Access the Speaker Properties File Post-installation Accessing the speaker properties file after you install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is most useful for making changes to small amounts of registering computers. If you d like to make more widespread changes, package management software, e.g. Microsoft Group Policy, can assist you. Singlewire Software does not endorse or support specific package management software, and your company most likely has its own policies surrounding it. Post-installation, the speaker properties file is called Spel.properties.sample, and you can open it with pad or a similar text editor in C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier. Before making changes to the Spel.properties.sample file, save it as Spel.properties. Saving it in this manner means that your default Spel.properties.sample file is always available as a backup in case of errors in your changes. Also, until the Spel.properties.sample file is saved as Spel.properties, the InformaCast Desktop Notifier won t read it. An overrides file, Spel.properties, is located in C:\ProgramData\Singlewire\DesktopNotifier and will override anything set in the Spel.properties. file. Any changes to the Spel.properties files will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Set the Number of Concurrent Notification Windows If notifications sent to InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances are not cleared (e.g. a user doesn t close each Notification window after reading the notification), multiple Notification windows will appear on the user s screen until the maxwindows parameter is met. Once the maxwindows parameter is met, the oldest Notification window will be replaced by newer notifications content. By default, the maximum number of concurrent windows is set to 50, but you can limit or expand that parameter. There are two ways to set the number of concurrent Notification windows: Modify the speaker properties file pre- or post-installation Use the overrides file post-installation See the table on page 57 for the file name and location of the speaker properties file. Modify the Speaker Properties File Pre- or Post-installation Use the following steps to modify the speaker properties file pre- or post-installation to set the number of concurrent Notification windows. Step 1 Step 2 Open your version of the speaker properties file in your favorite text editor. Scroll to the line: #client.maxwindows=50 58

65 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Step 3 Remove the # preceding client.maxwindows and replace the default value of 50 with a numeric value to suit your environment. The highest value accepted for this parameter is 100. Any value over 100 causes the InformaCast Desktop Notifier to automatically reset the parameter to 50. Step 4 Save your changes to the speaker properties file. Post-installation, any changes to the speaker properties file will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Modify the Override File Post-installation Use the following steps to modify the speaker properties file to set the number of concurrent Notification windows. Step 1 Open the speaker properties override file with pad or a similar text editor. If you modified this parameter during pre-configuration, you will see the following line: client.maxwindows=50 Step 2 If you haven t already modified this parameter, no line will appear and you will have to enter one. Replace 50 with a numeric value to suit your environment for an existing line or create a new line: client.maxwindows=20 Step 3 Save your changes to the speaker properties override file. Any changes to the speaker properties file will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Determine Speaker Configuration File Retrieval Method InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances can obtain their configuration, which includes the location of the InformaCast Fusion on-premises server, registration interval, remote logging configuration, etc., from a file typically called InformaCastSpeaker.cfg. This file can be retrieved from InformaCast Fusion itself using Service Location Protocol (SLP) or through a statically configured IP address (or addresses as is the case wit distributed activation). Without it, InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances cannot fully register with InformaCast Fusion. 59

66 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings SLP is the more seamless option of the two, but if multicast isn t configured correctly on the network, the InformaCast Desktop Notifier will not work properly. You might also choose a static URL over SLP if you want to specify a specific on-premises server from a pool of on-premises servers from which to pull the speaker configuration file. There are three ways to set the method in which the InformaCast Desktop Notifier will retrieve InformaCast Fusion s speaker configuration file: Allow your users to select a method when installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier, which is only applicable for individual installations (see Install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Individually on page 15) Modify the speaker properties file pre- or post-installation Use the overrides file post-installation See the table on page 57 for the file name and location of the speaker properties file. Modify the Speaker Properties File Pre- or Post-installation Use the following steps to modify the speaker properties file pre- or post-installation to change your method of retrieving the configuration file. Step 1 Step 2 Open your version of the speaker properties file in your favorite text editor. Change whether SLP or a static URL is used to find/set the InformaCastSpeaker.cfg file by scrolling to the following lines: # The type of configuration to use. If SLP is used, it is dynamic # but the InformaCast server must allow that. If STATIC is used, # a specific URL is provided that will be loaded from a remote # location. This should name a directory that includes # the InformaCastSpeaker.cfg file. #endpoint.configuration.locator.type=slp #endpoint.configuration.locator.type=static Step 3 SLP is used by default. Use a static URL by removing the # preceding endpoint.configuration.locator.type=static. Then scroll to the following lines: # The STATIC configuration locator type whose use is specified above # will use this URL for retrieving endpoint configurations. The # IP address and port should match the server configuration that # you are using. #static.configuration.url= Step 4 Remove the # preceding static.configuration.url and replace with the IP address of your InformaCast Fusion on-premises server. If you re not using InformaCast Fusion in a distributed activation environment, skip to Step 5. If you are using InformaCast Fusion in a distributed activation environment, scroll to the following lines: # When using the STATIC configuration locator type, you may specify # up to 11 additional servers to pull the configuration from. These # are typically your subscriber servers in your resiliency cluster. #static.configuration.url1= #static.configuration.url2= 60

67 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings #static.configuration.url3= #static.configuration.url4= #static.configuration.url5= #static.configuration.url6= #static.configuration.url7= #static.configuration.url8= #static.configuration.url9= #static.configuration.url10= #static.configuration.url11= Step 5 The static.configuration.url1-11 properties allow you to enter up to 11 other InformaCast Fusion IP addresses. Remove the # preceding each static.configuration.url line that you plan to use and enter the IP address of the on-premises InformaCast Fusion server from which you want the InformaCast Desktop Notifier to retrieve the InformaCastSpeaker.cfg file after the =. Save your changes to the speaker properties file. Post-installation, any changes to the speaker properties will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Modify the Override File Post-installation Use the following steps to modify the speaker properties override file to change your method of retrieving the configuration file. Step 1 Step 2 Open the speaker properties override file with pad or a similar text editor. Determine your method of speaker configuration file retrieval: If you are using a static IP address, you will see the following lines: endpoint.configuration.locator.type=static static.configuration.url= If you are using InformaCast Fusion in a distributed activation environment, you may see more static.configuration.url lines (numbered 1 through 11) with URLs to match. To use SLP instead, replace STATIC with SLP and delete any static.configuration.url= <VirtualApplianceIPAddress>:8081/InformaCast/resources/ lines. If you are using SLP, you will see the following line: endpoint.configuration.locator.type=slp To use a static URL instead, replace SLP with STATIC and add a line following it with your URL: static.configuration.url= / resources/ 61

68 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings If you are using InformaCast Fusion in a distributed activation environment, you can enter more static.configuration.url lines (numbered 1 through 11) with URLs to match: static.configuration.url1= st/ resources/ static.configuration.url2= st/ resources/ Step 3 Save your changes to the speaker properties override file. Any changes to the speaker properties override file will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Allow Reconfiguration of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier The InformaCast Desktop Notifier can detect network changes on computers running its application (e.g. IP address changes through DHCP, statically-assigned IP addresses in OS preferences, disabled network adapters, etc.) re-register those computers, and reconfigure them with updated policy information that you manually placed in your policy configuration file on your on-premises server(s), such as new logos, modified banner text, different color scheme, etc. The reconfiguration process differs slightly between computers using SLP to register with InformaCast Fusion versus those using a list of static IP addresses. When the endpoint.configuration.reconfigurable parameter is set to true, re-discovery of InformaCast Fusion on-premises servers (SLP only) and reconfiguration can take some time. If you have an environment that remains relatively stagnant (e.g. you don t change the list of servers to register with based on distributed activation configuration or manually update your policy configuration file outside of the InformaCast Fusion user interface), you may want to set the endpoint.configuration.reconfigurable parameter to false. If you re using SLP to connect your InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances to InformaCast Fusion, when network changes occur and the endpoint.configuration.reconfigurable parameter is set to true, your computers will re-run SLP discovery, discover the InformaCast Fusion on-premises servers, query them for the InformaCastSpeaker.cfg file, and pull from the first successfully-responding InformaCast Fusion on-premises server the list of servers with which to register. Once registered, your computers will also re-read their policy information and change their configuration from this same server if any changes have occurred. If the endpoint.configuration.reconfigurable parameter is set to false and network changes occur, your computers won t re-run SLP discovery they will re-register with the last-known list of InformaCast Fusion on-premises servers and they won t reconfigure themselves. If you ve configured static IP addresses for your InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances, when network changes occur and the endpoint.configuration.reconfigurable is set to true, your computers will re-register with their list of configured InformaCast Fusion on-premises servers. Once registered, your computers will also re-read their policy information and change their configuration if any changes have occurred from the same first-successfully-responding InformaCast Fusion server with which it was statically configured. If endpoint.configuration.reconfigurable is set to false and network changes occur, your computers will re-register with their list of InformaCast Fusion on-premises servers, but they won t reconfigure themselves. 62

69 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Re-registration always occurs. The endpoint.configuration.reconfigurable parameter only affects whether new InformaCast Fusion on-premises servers will be discovered (SLP only) and policy information updated. There are two ways to set whether InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances will reconfigure themselves: Modify the speaker properties file pre- or post-installation Use the overrides file post-installation See the table on page 57 for the file name and location of the speaker properties file. Modify the Speaker Properties File Pre- or Post-installation Use the following steps to modify the speaker properties file pre- or post-installation to set whether InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances will reconfigure themselves. Step 1 Step 2 Open your version of the speaker properties file in your favorite text editor. Change whether InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances will reconfigure themselves by scrolling to the following line: #endpoint.configuration.reconfigurable=true Step 3 Step 4 InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances can reconfigure themselves by default. Disable this reconfiguration ability by removing the # preceding endpoint.configuration.reconfigurable=true and replace true with false. Save your changes to the speaker properties file. Post-installation, any changes to the speaker properties file will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Modify the Override File Post-installation Use the following steps to modify the speaker properties override file to set whether InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances will reconfigure themselves. Step 1 Open the speaker properties override file with pad or a similar text editor. If you modified this parameter during pre-configuration, you will see the following line: endpoint.configuration.reconfigurable=false Step 2 If you haven t already modified this parameter, no line will appear and you will have to enter one. Replace false with true for an existing line or create a new line: endpoint.configuration.reconfigurable=true 63

70 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Step 3 Save your changes to the speaker properties override file. Any changes to the speaker properties override file will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Determine the SLP Scope for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier The endpoint.configuration.locator.scope parameter is used for logically differentiating SLP communications. It should only be changed in lab conditions, and in general should remain commented out of the speaker properties file. If this parameter is changed, InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances will not be able to communicate with InformaCast Fusion via SLP. The speaker properties file (pre- or post-installation) houses the endpoint.configuration.locator.scope parameter: # Used to differentiate groupings of SLP services. It should always be set to # 'Berbee Applications', the scope desktops expect (this is also the default # value if not set). Change this value only in lab conditions. #endpoint.configuration.locator.scope=berbee Applications Contact Singlewire Support if you d like to change this parameter s value. They will evaluate your need and walk you through possible solutions. Set the Port Number for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier By default, the InformaCast Desktop Notifier listens for notifications from InformaCast Fusion on port If this port isn t open on your firewall, InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances won t be able to receive notifications from InformaCast Fusion. If you have a port conflict, you may need to change the port that the InformaCast Desktop Notifier uses. The speaker properties file (pre- or post-installation) houses the endpoint.port.number parameter, and post-installation, the override file can be modified to include or update this parameter. Contact Singlewire Support if you d like to change this port number. They will evaluate your need and walk you through possible solutions. Set the MAC Address of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier The MAC address of an InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance is essentially its unique ID; it is sent with all server requests to identify the computer. By default, the MAC address is set based on the first found network interface, but it is possible to set a specific MAC address instead. The speaker properties file (pre- or post-installation) houses the endpoint.hardware.address parameter, and post-installation, the override file can be modified to include or update this parameter. By default, this setting is ignored, but it can be uncommented to apply. For example, if you re using non-persistent desktops in a VDI environment or creating a single base image that you will be reusing on multiple computers, you should uncomment the following line and enter dynamic after the = #endpoint.hardware.address=_mac_address_ 64

71 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings When you enable this dynamic option, no MAC address will be saved upon program startup; however, for computers with multiple network interface cards, that same computer may be seen as multiple devices depending on which interface is active. In those scenarios, you may want to save the MAC address on subsequent starts for consistency. On your initial installation, you can choose to defer initial program startup and configuration rather than configure any value for a MAC address (see Step 5 on page 17 in Install Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Installer ). If you are creating a shared base image, this option may be better (your base image is taken for new installation on computers where it s desirable to have a unique and consistent device identifier for InformaCast Fusion). If you are upgrading your image from a prior install, it is best to use this option after first performing an uninstall of the old version. Contact Singlewire Support if you d like to set a specific MAC address. They will evaluate your need and walk you through possible solutions. Set the Network Interface for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier By default, the InformaCast Desktop Notifier will use all network interfaces to listen for HTTP requests from the on-premises server; however, this setting can be modified to limit those interfaces to only one, e.g. an Ethernet card. The speaker properties file (pre- or post-installation) houses the endpoint.ip.address parameter, and post-installation, the override file can be modified to include or update this parameter. By default, this setting is ignored, but it can be uncommented to apply. Contact Singlewire Support if you d like to limit your network interfaces. They will evaluate your need and walk you through possible solutions. Configure Application Updates for Users The client.autoupdateurl parameter defines the URL where InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances will look for any updates to the application. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier uses NetSparkle (netsparkle.codeplex.com/), to supply automatic update framework, allowing you to queue updates of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application for your users to install. By default, this parameter is set to none. Once you have configured NetSparkle, you can update this parameter with your specific URL. In an example situation, you would create your DesktopNotifier.msi file and make it available to your users online. Your users would install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier, and when you have updates to the application (e.g. a new version of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier), you d place the updated DesktopNotifier.msi file on the NetSparkle server where InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances would see the update and prompt their users to install it. Properly configuring NetSparkle for your environment is solely your responsibility. More information on configuring NetSparkle is available at netsparkle.codeplex.com/documentation and netsparkle.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=how%20to%20generate%20a%20dsa%20signature. There are two ways to configure application updates for users: Modify the speaker properties file pre- or post-installation Use the overrides file post-installation See the table on page 57 for the file name and location of the speaker properties file. 65

72 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Post-installation changes would mainly be used for testing an updated MSI file before distributing it. Modify the Speaker Properties File Pre- or Post-installation Use the following steps to modify the speaker properties file pre- or post-installation to set configure application updates for users. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Go to netsparkle.codeplex.com/, download NetSparkle, and configure it for your environment. Open your version of the speaker properties file in your favorite text editor. Remove the # preceding client.autoupdateurl=none and replace none with the actual URL of your NetSparkle server in the following lines: # The Sparkle appcast URL #client.autoupdateurl=none Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Save the speaker properties file. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier is now configured to look for your NetSparkle server and periodically check for updates. Navigate to the location of the public key generated by the NetSparkleDSAHelper (e.g. NetSparkle_DSA.pub) and copy it. You ran the NetSparkleDSAHelper during your configuration of NetSparkle. Navigate to the directory where you unpacked your installer (see Unpack the Installer on page 9) and replace the default public key supplied by Singlewire with the public key generated by the NetSparkleDSAHelper. Pre-installation, Singlewire s file name is NetSparklePubKey. Post-installation, the file names should match (e.g. NetSparkle_DSA.pub). If you previously ran the NetSparkleDSAHelper and generated a public/private key pair, running it again in the same directory will generate an error: you don t want to overwrite your public/private key pair. Step 7 Follow the steps in Re-package the Installer on page 13. Step 8 Use the NetSparkle signing tool referenced in the NetSparkle documentation to generate a signature for your MSI file. If you are upgrading from a version of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier or later, you can instead access Command Prompt, right click it, select Run as Administrator and run the sign_update.sh command to generate a signature for your MSI file. Step 9 Step 10 Copy the signature. Download or create the appcast.xml file from your NetSparkle server and open it with pad or a similar text editor. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <rss version="2.0" xmlns:sparkle=" 66

73 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings xmlns:dc=" <channel> <title>informacast Desktop Notifier</title> <link> <description>most recent changes with links to updates.</description> <language>en</language> <item> <title>version Update Test Title</title> <sparkle:releaseslink> </sparkle:releaseslink> <pubdate>fri, 15 Dec :16: </pubDate> <enclosure url=" sparkle:version=" " length=" " type="application/x-msi" sparkle:dsasignature="ilz6t3wv0xvoaabc7uueeec3m1yoy9ngp0fbqj0puyqgzrhqjrttig ==" /> </item> </channel> </rss> Step 11 Ensure that the link associated with <sparkle:releaseslink> contains the updated release notes information that you want to distribute to your users, e.g. <YourNetSparkleServerURL>/release-notes.html. The following is an example of the contents in release-notes.html, a link that is shared across multiple appcast RSS/XML files: <html> <title>this is the title</title> <body> Version adds some great new features such as: <ul> <li>new menu option to check for updates if configured appropriately.</li> <li>the ability to force check for updates even if <i>skip this version</i> was previously chosen.</li> </ul> </body> </html> Step 12 Step 13 Ensure that the text in quotes following <enclosure url= is the actual URL of your NetSparkle server, e.g. url=" Replace the text in quotes following sparkle:version= with the actual version of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. The version number must increment or InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances will not detect the update. Step 14 Replace the text in quotes following length= with the exact length value from your MSI file. Step 15 Replace the text in quotes following sparkle:dsasignature= with the signature you copied in Step 9 on page

74 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Step 16 Upload the modified appcast.xml and DesktopNotifier.msi files to the NetSparkle server. Your InformaCast Desktop Notifier is now set to automatically update when new versions of the DesktopNotifier.msi file are placed on the NetSparkle server. Post-installation, any changes to the speaker properties file will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Modify the Override File Post-installation Use the following steps to modify the speaker properties override file to configure application updates for users. Step 1 Open the speaker properties override file with pad or a similar text editor. If you modified this parameter during pre-configuration, you will see the following line: client.autoupdateurl= Step 2 If you haven t already modified this parameter, no line will appear and you will have to enter one. Replace <YourNetSparkleServerURL>/Windows-appcast.xml with the URL of your NetSparkle server for an existing line or create a new line: client.autoupdateurl= Step 3 Replacing <ActualNetSparkleServerURL> with the actual URL of your NetSparkle server. Save your changes to the speaker properties override file. Any changes to the speaker properties override file will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Step 4 Follow Steps 5 through 16 starting on page 66. You still need to update your public key and sign the application. Add a Domain Name to the Reported Name Rule Filter Optionally, you can prepend a domain name to the Reported Name rule filter. In environments with overlapping computer names (e.g. if you use Active Directory child domains or trust relationships), this can prove helpful in better identifying an endpoint. There are three options when configuring the Reported Name rule filter: None. No additional domain information is available for the Reported Name rule filter. This is the default option. 68

75 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings User. The endpoint domain for the logged on user, which will include the connecting client device in a VDI environment, if available, and may differ from the user s domain for their login in VDI session. In a non-vdi environment, this value is obtained directly from the computer running the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. Client. The domain to which the client device is joined, which may differ from the joined domain of the VDI session. This option is best utilized where all computers are joined to domains and local/non-domain accounts are not used. In a non-vdi environment, this value is obtained directly from the computer running the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. Support for user and client options is dependent upon your VDI vendor s support. The chart in the following table may aid you for your environment (Windows PC and Mac PC are local logins while Microsoft RDS, VMware Horizon, and Citrix are remote logins): Value Windows PC MacOS PC Microsoft RDS VMware Horizon Citrix User Yes Yes No Yes, with restrictions No Client Yes Yes No Yes, with restrictions No For all cells with No, the only domain information available is for the established VDI session (user login/domain name for the VDI rather than user login or client device domain name from the connecting device). Since these values may differ in practice, no value is assumed. There are two ways to configure the Reported Name rule filter: Modify the speaker properties file pre- or post-installation Use the overrides file post-installation See the table on page 57 for the file name and location of the speaker properties file. Modify the Speaker Properties File Pre- or Post-installation Use the following steps to modify the speaker properties file pre- or post-installation to configure the Reported Name rule filter. Step 1 Step 2 Open your version of the speaker properties file in your favorite text editor. Scroll to the following lines: # Allowed options for the domain name component (Active Directory or Workgroup) # in the reported name field include: # none - No domain information is provided (default), only the machine PC name # is used for the reported name field. # user - Prepend the domain of the person who is logged in (for a VDI, this is # the logged on user's domain from the device they connect from if available). # client - Prepend the domain the PC is joined to (for a VDI, this is from the # device they connect from if available). #client.domain.source=none None is used by default. 69

76 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Step 3 Step 4 Configure the display of the Reported Name rule filter by removing the # preceding client.domain.source=none and replacing none with one of the following values: User. The endpoint domain for the logged on user, which will include the connecting client device in a VDI environment, if available, and may differ from the user s domain for their login in VDI session. In a non-vdi environment, this value is obtained directly from the computer running the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. Client. The domain to which the client device is joined, which may differ from the joined domain of the VDI session. This option is best utilized where all computers are joined to domains and local/non-domain accounts are not used. In a non-vdi environment, this value is obtained directly from the computer running the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. Save your changes to the speaker properties file. Post-installation, any changes to the speaker properties will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Modify the Override File Post-installation Use the following steps to modify the speaker properties override file to configure the Reported Name rule filter. Because you can have a Windows VDI environment that also includes Mac clients, both Mac and Windows instructions are shown. Step 1 Open the speaker properties override file with pad (Windows) TextWrangler (Mac) or a similar text editor. If you modified this Windows parameter during pre-configuration, you will see the following line: client.domain.source=user If you modified this Mac parameter during pre-configuration, you will see the following key/string pair: <key>client.domain.source</key> <string>user</string> Step 2 If you haven t already modified this parameter, no line or key/string pair will appear and you will have to enter one. Replace user with either none or client for an existing Windows line or Mac key/string pair, or create a new one. For Windows, this could be: client.domain.source=none For Mac, this could be: <key>client.domain.source</key> <string>none</string> Step 3 Save your changes to the speaker properties override file. 70

77 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Any changes to the speaker properties file will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Ignore Specific MAC Addresses Several software VPN vendors use the same MAC address when you install their software across all the computers in your environment. The MAC address is normally a unique identifier tied to the physical network interface of a computer and is also used to uniquely identify an InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance to InformaCast Fusion. If multiple computers in an environment share the same MAC address, the last one that registered will be the only one to receive a notification. The following MAC addresses are ignored by default: 02004c4f4f50 (Microsoft Loopback Adapter) f4cfe24cbe50 (Cisco AnyConnect VPN Adapter) 00059a3c7a00 (Cisco AnyConnect VPN Adapter) If this list is insufficient or doesn t meet your needs, you may add to it. Step 1 Step 2 Open pad or a similar text editor. Enter the MAC addresses you want to ignore, one per line: # Ignore the same MAC addresses that are by default excluded 02004c4f4f50 f4cfe24cbe a3c7a00 # This is a custom value for our XYZ VPN Software Adapter ab Step 3 You can place comments in this file. Precede them by a pound sign (#). Colons (:), spaces, and dashes (-) will be removed. If the resultant value is 12 characters and looks like a MAC address (e.g. characters such as a-z, A-Z, or 0-9), InformaCast Desktop Notifier will add it to a list of exclusions. When the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is started for the first time, the values included in this file will be ignored from the possible MAC addresses chosen from your network adapters. Save the file as MACAddressExclusions.txt in the installation root directory (typically located in C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier). You will need elevated privileges to save this file if you re using the default installation directory permissions. 71

78 Configuring the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Settings Stop/Restart the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Certain changes to the configuration of InformaCast Desktop Notifier, e.g. changing the background color of the Notification window or the number of allowed concurrent Notification windows, etc., as well as troubleshooting issues may require you to stop/restart the InformaCast Desktop Notifier running on your computers. Caution Stopping/restarting the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on computers running it will cause any active notifications to be lost. Step 1 Step 2 Stop the InformaCast Desktop Notifier by clicking the Singlewire icon in the Taskbar and selecting Exit. Restart the InformaCast Desktop Notifier through your desktop shortcut (if possible) or by going to Start All Programs Singlewire InformaCast Desktop Notifier (for Windows 7 and 10), or click the Windows icon and go to All Applications Singlewire InformaCast Desktop Notifier (for Windows 8). 72

79 C HAPTER 6 Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Singlewire s InformaCast Desktop Notifier has a minimal user interface; all of its commands are available by clicking the Singlewire icon in the Taskbar. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu (shown in the following picture) provides access to an About window and Status report, and houses the commands to stop notifications (Windows 7 only; for Windows 8+, stopping notifications is done through the Action Center) or exit the application altogether as well as two sub-menu options under Messages to see your received notifications and clear those notifications from your screen. If you ve configured InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances to look for any updates to the application (see Configure Application Updates for Users on page 65), you will also have a Check for Software Updates option. The commands available to you are: About ( About the Desktop Notifier on page 74) Show Status ( View the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Status on page 75) Check for Software Updates ( Check for Software Updates on page 75) Stop/Start Broadcasts ( Stop/Start Notifications on page 75) Only Windows 7 has the command in the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu; however, you can still stop/start notifications through your Action Center for post-windows 7 releases. Messages ( Receive and Respond to Notifications on page 77) Clear ( Clear Notifications on page 80) Exit ( Exit the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 80) 73

80 Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Receiving and responding to notifications requires no interaction with the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s menu. All of your interactions will take place within the Notification window (see Receive and Respond to Notifications on page 77) or through one of the other initial display types, e.g. Toast, Ticker, or Badge. If you have further questions about the InformaCast Desktop Notifier, check the Support Community for a solution. About the Desktop Notifier Selecting About from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu allows you to view your version information and a summary of the application (see picture). You can also access links to the software license agreement, the open source libraries used, and the uninstallation procedure (see Uninstall the InformaCast Desktop Notifier on page 80 for more information). Click the X button to exit this window. 74

81 Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier View the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Status Selecting Show Status will open a webpage that contains the Status report, which can help you when troubleshooting issues with the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. The Status report can also be accessed through InformaCast Fusion (see View the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s Status on page 35 for more information). Check for Software Updates If you ve configured InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances to look for updates to the application (see Configure Application Updates for Users on page 65), the Check for Software Updates option will appear in the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu. When you select it, if there are no updates to the software, a pop-up dialog box will inform you: If there are available updates, the Software Update pop-up window will appear and you can choose to skip the update, be reminded of it later, or install it: Stop/Start Notifications You can also choose to have the InformaCast Desktop Notifier automatically download and install its own updates (once they re detected) in the future. If you d like to stop notifications from being displayed on an InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance while still leaving the InformaCast Desktop Notifier running, you can either use the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu (Windows 7 only) or the Action Center (for Windows 8+). 75

82 Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Stop Broadcasts on Windows 7 Select Stop Broadcasts from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu. Once stopped, the option will switch to Start Broadcasts, which is how you can re-enable this computer to receive notifications. Stop Broadcasts on Windows 8+ Go to Settings System Notifications & actions and scroll down to the Get notifications from these senders area. Click the toggle button for InformaCast Desktop Notifier to turn off notifications. Click the toggle button again to turn notifications back on. 76

83 Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Receive and Respond to Notifications Depending on your personal settings and the type of notification that has been initiated, when a message template with text and/or audio is sent out to InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances, you will see several possible initial display types similar to the following: Immediate. The Notification window will display, showing your configured banner text, any images/icons, and the contents of the Subject field of the InformaCast Fusion notification. The notification s audio and a sound may play, but that is dependent upon your platform s preferences. Toast. A small notification pop-up window will display, showing your configured banner text and the contents of the Subject field of the InformaCast Fusion notification. The notification s audio and a sound may play, but that is dependent upon your platform s preferences. Click the notification to display the Notification window. Ticker. A scrolling banner will display at the bottom of users screens that contains your configured banner text and the contents of the Subject field of the InformaCast Fusion notification. The notification s audio and a sound may play, but that is dependent upon your platform s preferences. Mouse over the banner to stop it from scrolling. Scroll speed and repetitions are set on a notification profile s Fusion Settings tab (see Add a Notification Profile in the InformaCast Fusion Installation and User Guide for more information). Click the More button to display the Notification window. 77

84 Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Badge. No initial visual notification will display with the exception of incrementing the number of notifications overlaid on the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s icon in the Task Bar. The notification s audio and a sound may play, but that is dependent upon your platform s preferences. Click the icon to display the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s menu. Go to Messages and select a notification to display the Notification window. You can also select Messages from the InformaCast Desktop menu to bring into focus a specific received notification. In the following Notification window, the displayed message template has both the Subject and Body fields configured, as well as a confirmation option selected from the Confirmation Request dropdown menu. The Subject field s contents are visible immediately in the Notification window, i.e. Monthly company-wide meeting is at 8:00 a.m. Click the Show Details button for more information. While the audio is still running, you can click the Stop Audio button to stop the audio as it is playing or the Mute button to continue playing the audio, but at a silent volume level. These buttons will gray out and become unavailable once the audio is done playing. If the sent message template does not include audio, e.g. a Text message type, these buttons will not appear. 78

85 Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Clicking the Show Details button will reveal any additional information, i.e. the contents of the message template s Body field: Tip Hyperlinks of varying formats are supported in both the Subject and Body fields contents. For example, singlewire.com, and will all redirect you to Singlewire s website. addresses will also be automatically recognized and linked with your platform s default program. If the Body field of the sent message template is empty, the Show Details button will not appear. If the sent notification has attached confirmation requests, clicking the Respond button will reveal any confirmation information and follow-up instructions: In this example, two possible selections were configured. Select an option and click the Choose button to confirm with InformaCast Fusion. 79

86 Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier If confirmation requests are not assigned to the sent message template, the Confirm button will not appear. Click the X button to close the Notification window. Tip For more information on creating notifications that will display on an InformaCast Desktop Notifier instance, please see Manage Message Templates and Manage Notification Profiles in the InformaCast Fusion Installation and User Guide. Clear Notifications Clear, under Messages in the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu, allows you to clear all locally received notifications. The Action Center also offers the ability to clear broadcasts separately. Exit the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Select Exit from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu to exit and shut down the application. Restart the InformaCast Desktop Notifier through your desktop shortcut (if possible) or by going to Start All Programs Singlewire InformaCast Desktop Notifier (for Windows 7 and 10), or click the Windows icon and go to All Applications Singlewire InformaCast Desktop Notifier (for Windows 8). Uninstall the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Once you ve installed the InformaCast Desktop Notifier, you may need to uninstall it at a later date. Step 1 Select About from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu. The About InformaCast Desktop Notifier window appears. Step 2 Step 3 Scroll to the bottom of the About InformaCast Desktop Notifier window and click the Uninstall the InformaCast Desktop Notifier link. Click the Yes button on the Windows Installer dialog box. 80

87 Using the InformaCast Desktop Notifier Step 4 Step 5 Select the Automatically close applications and attempt to restart them after setup is complete radio button in the InformaCast Desktop Notifier dialog box, if prompted. The InformaCast Desktop Notifier will be removed from your computer along with its associated files. The log for the InformaCast Desktop Notifier will remain on your system. If you want to remove it separately, go to the Singlewire entry under Applications in the Event Viewer. 81

88 C HAPTER 7 Appendix. Editing the Policy File The InformaCast Fusion user interface should be the primary interface through which you control the Notification window s display behavior; however, you can optionally use a policy configuration file to do so. If used, it will override what you configure in the InformaCast Fusion user interface. Using the policy configuration file instead of the InformaCast Fusion user interface may prove useful on single computers that run digital signage or kiosks where the standard display behaviors need to be different. Modifying the policy configuration file will always override what you configure in the InformaCast Fusion user interface, but depending on its location (see Set the Location and Override Settings for the Policy Configuration File on page 96), your changes will affect only the computer on which the file is found or all InformaCast Desktop Notifier instances that are registered with that on-premises server s IP address. Caution If you are upgrading the InformaCast Desktop Notifier from a pre version to or later and you have modified your policy configuration file, that information will be preserved; however, it will override anything you try to configure using the InformaCast Fusion user interface. As such, if you want to use the InformaCast Fusion user interface to control your Notification window s display behavior, you should remove your old policy configuration file, which include both the one on your InformaCast Fusion on-premises server and on any computers already running the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. Access the Policy Configuration File When modifying the InformaCast Desktop Notifier s settings with its policy configuration file, when you access the file (e.g. before installing the InformaCast Desktop Notifier or after) determines its location and name: Pre-installation Post-installation File Name IdnPreconfigFile IDN_Policy.cfg.sample File Location The directory where you unpacked your installer (see Unpack the Installer on page 9) C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier 82

89 Appendix. Editing the Policy File Due to the disparity in name and location, the IdnPreconfigFile/IDN_Policy.cfg.sample file will be referred to as the policy configuration file. When making your changes, use the previous table to determine your file s name and location. Access the Policy Configuration File Pre-installation Accessing the policy configuration file during your pre-configuration of the installer is the best way to push out widespread changes, i.e. changes to all the InformaCast Desktop Notifiers registering with InformaCast Fusion. Pre-installation, the policy configuration file is called IdnPreconfigFile, and you can open it with pad or a similar text editor in the directory where you unpacked your installer. Access the Policy Configuration File Post-installation Accessing the policy configuration file after you install the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is most useful for making changes to small amounts of registering computers. Post-installation, the policy configuration file is named IDN_Policy.cfg.sample, can be found in C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier. Open the IDN_Policy.cfg file with pad or a similar text editor. Before making changes to the IDN_Policy.cfg.sample file, save it as IDN_Policy.cfg. Saving it in this manner means that your default IDN_Policy.cfg.sample file is always available as a backup in case of errors in your changes. Also, until the IDN_Policy.cfg.sample file is saved as IDN_Policy.cfg, the InformaCast Desktop Notifier won t read it. Caution Any changes to the policy configuration file will not take effect until the InformaCast Desktop Notifier application running on each computer is stopped and restarted or rebooted. Set the Display Status of the Exit Command for Users Menus By default, the option to shut down the InformaCast Desktop Notifier completely is available to users through the Exit command. By selecting Exit from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu, users can shut down and exit from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier and no longer receive notifications. This could prove problematic to your communication with users and you may want to remove the Exit command from your users menus. Step 1 Step 2 Open your version of the policy configuration file in your favorite text editor. Remove the Exit command by replacing the default of yes with no in the following lines: <Exit allow="yes" /> Step 3 Remove the <!-- before <Menu> and the --> that follows </Menu> so that your lines now look like: <Menu> <Exit allow="no" /> <Stop allow="yes" /> <Messages> <Clear allow="yes" /> </Messages> </Menu> 83

90 Appendix. Editing the Policy File Step 4 Save your changes to the policy configuration file. Set the Display Status of the Stop Broadcasts Command for Users Menus By default, the option to stop all notifications from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is available to Windows 7 users through the Stop Broadcasts command in the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu. Use the following steps to remove the Stop Broadcasts command from your users menus. Windows 8+ users can control whether they receive notifications from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier through the Action Center. Step 1 Step 2 Open your version of the policy configuration file in your favorite text editor. Remove the Stop/Start Broadcasts command by replacing the default of yes with no in the following lines: <Stop allow="yes" /> Step 3 Step 4 Remove the <!-- before <Menu> and the --> that follows </Menu> so that your lines now look like: <Menu> <Exit allow="yes" /> <Stop allow="no" /> <Messages> <Clear allow="yes" /> </Messages> </Menu> Save your changes to the policy file. Set the Display Status of the Clear Command for Users Menus By default, the option to clear all received notifications from the InformaCast Desktop Notifier is available to users through the Clear command (under Messages in the InformaCast Desktop Notifier menu). Use the following steps to remove the Clear command from your users menus. Step 1 Step 2 Open your version of the policy configuration file in your favorite text editor. Remove the Clear command by replacing the default of yes with no in the following lines: <Messages> <Clear allow="yes" /> </Messages> Step 3 Remove the <!-- before <Menu> and the --> that follows </Menu> so that your lines now look like: <Menu> <Exit allow="yes" /> <Stop allow="yes" /> 84

91 Appendix. Editing the Policy File <Messages> <Clear allow="no" /> </Messages> </Menu> Step 4 Save your changes to the policy configuration file. Customize the Notification Window for All Notifications This section describes modifications you can make to the Notification window across all notifications. Skip to Use Profiles to Customize the Notification Window and its Initial Display on page 91 if you want to use profiles to customize your notification by selecting how it will initially display based on the priority of the InformaCast Fusion notification profile assigned to the message template that is sent. By default, the Notification window of the InformaCast Desktop Notifier appears as pictured: However, you can customize its look to fit in with your environment by modifying the policy configuration file. You can adjust the following parameters to customize the Notification window: Screen size. Set the size of the screen that is displayed when a notification is received. Valid values are: SMALL, MEDIUM, LARGE, or MAX. Saving your own PNG image over CustomIcon.png, which is included with your installation files in C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier, will cause your image to display in place of the default icon. Remember to also uncomment the setting. 85

92 Appendix. Editing the Policy File Background. Customize the background color displayed in the Notification window. Valid values can be any standard, HTML-based RGB value or name (e.g. either red or #ff0000 will display the color red). Also, over 100 named values are allowed, e.g. red, white, blue. The value, DEFAULT, will use the desktop color default values on a user s particular desktop. and are two useful websites for determining color names/values. In addition, you can add a linkcolor attribute to the Background element, which will control the color of hyperlinks in the Notification window. This is especially useful if your background color is the same color blue as the default color of hyperlinks or particularly dark. The linkcolor attribute supports the same RGB color values as the Background element. Custom image. Provide a custom image to be displayed in the left-hand side of the banner area in the Notification window (i.e. in place of the Singlewire logo shown in the previous picture). The InformaCast Desktop Notifier will scale the image so it fits in the designated area. You can choose whatever image you wish, but it must be in the TIF, BMP, GIF, JPEG, or PNG format and reside in either the same folder on the on-premises server from which the InformaCast Desktop Notifier pulls its speaker configuration file (typically /usr/local/singlewire/informacast/web/resources) or in C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier for local policy configuration files. The location to which you save your file corresponds to the location in which you ve saved your policy configuration file. An image file, CustomLogo.png, is included with your InformaCast Desktop Notifier installation files in C:\Program Files (x86)\singlewire\desktopnotifier. Saving your own PNG image over this image will cause your image to display in place of the default Singlewire logo. Remember to also uncomment the setting. Animated images can cause reduced performance in the InformaCast Desktop Notifier. Banner text. Enter the text that will display in the banner area of every Notification window (alphanumeric only). You can display your name or any other text to help users identify the origin of each message template. If this parameter is missing in the policy file, the default banner text will display (e.g. Emergency Alert). Subject and Body fields. Set the font name, size, style, and color for the contents of the Subject and Body fields of an InformaCast Fusion message template. The Subject field of an InformaCast Fusion message template displays immediately in the right pane of the Notification window while the Body field s contents (if configured) will display upon clicking the Show Details button in the left pane. The parameters are listed separately so that they can be set independently. The display possibilities of fonts are limited by what your users have installed on their computers. For example, if you choose Lucida Sans as your font name and some users do not have it installed on their computers, the Notification window will revert to its default setting. Valid font color values can be any standard, HTML-based RGB value or name (e.g. either red or #ff0000 will display the color red). Also, over 100 named values are allowed, e.g. red, white, blue. The value, default, will use the desktop color default values on a user s particular desktop. and are two useful websites for determining color names/values. 86

93 Appendix. Editing the Policy File When setting the color of your font, keep in mind the color you ve chosen for the background of the Notification window. <Background>blue</Background> and <FontColor>blue</FontColor> will result in illegible text. Likewise, avoid setting an exceptionally small or large value for your font size; the font will be too small to read or too large to display in its entirety. By default, all of the parameters available for your customization are commented out; the InformaCast Desktop Notifier will ignore any settings changes in favor of the defaults until you uncomment the parameters (i.e. move the --> to the end of the preceding line). Use the following steps to customize the Notification window. Step 1 Step 2 Open your version of the policy configuration file in your favorite text editor. Change the screen size by replacing the default of medium with small, large, or max in the following line: <ScreenSize>medium</ScreenSize> Step 3 Move the --> that follows </ScreenSize> to follow (case insensitive) so that your lines now look like:--> <!-- Screen Sizes: small medium large max (case insensitive). --> <ScreenSize>Small</ScreenSize> While shown here in all lowercase, the values for the parameters in the policy configuration file are case insensitive (i.e. Medium and MEDIUM would also be valid values for ScreenSize as well as Red, red, or RED being acceptable values for Background or FontColor). Step 4 Change the icon by replacing the default of CustomIcon.png with default, broadcast, none, or the file name of your preferred icon in the following line: <IconImage transparentcolor="white">customicon.png</iconimage> Step 5 Move the --> that follows </IconImage> to follow alpha channel so that your lines now look like: <!-- - File to load for the icon shown to the left of the short text. - The following special values are allowed: (case insensitive) - - default: use the application default (an exclamation point); - if no IconImage is provided this value is assumed. - broadcast: use the icon configured on the message broadcast - (on audio only broadcasts the application default is used). - none: don't show an icon (the short text uses the extra space). - - Any other value must be a valid image file. Using a file with - a transparent background is recommended. However, the - transparentcolor optional attribute below demonstrates how to - replace a color to make it transparent. This is only done if the - source image doesn't already have an alpha channel.--> <IconImage transparentcolor="white">customicon.png</iconimage> 87

94 Appendix. Editing the Policy File Step 6 Change the background color by replacing the default of DEFAULT with any standard, HTML-based RGB value or name in the following line: <Background>default</Background> Step 7 Add a linkcolor attribute to the Background element, which will control the color of hyperlinks in the Notification window. There are several ways to implement the linkcolor attribute with the Background element; for example: <Background linkcolor="white">blue</background> Sets a background color of blue with white links <Background linkcolor="yellow" /> Keeps the default background color, but makes yellow links <Background linkcolor="yellow">default</background> Or <Background linkcolor="#0000cd" /> Step 8 Uses a slightly different shade of blue than blue or the default blue (i.e. #0000ee) by specifying an RGB value with the default background color Move the --> that follows </Background> to follow (case insensitive) so that your lines now look like: <!-- - The value for this color can be any standard, HTML-based RGB - value (starts with an #) or name (e.g. white, red, yellow, - blue, etc.; over 100+ values are allowed). The value "default" - will use the standard desktop color for forms (case insensitive). --> <Background linkcolor="yellow">green</background> Step 9 Add an image that will replace the Singlewire logo in the Notification window by replacing the default of CustomLogo.png with a new image s file name in the following line: <CustomImage>CustomLogo.png</CustomImage> Step 10 Move the --> that follows </CustomImage> to follow customizations so that your lines now look like: <!-- - Custom image file, if this file is loaded from the remote - server this should be relative to the same path as the - IDN_Policy.cfg file. If loaded locally, then this file - should be located in the same directory as this configuration. - - This file is the default (it can be overwritten locally or in - the install package for customizations). --> <CustomImage>NewLogo.png</CustomImage> 88

95 Appendix. Editing the Policy File Step 11 Change the banner s text by replacing the default of Emergency Alert with your desired text (alphanumeric only) in the following line: <BannerText>Emergency Alert</BannerText> Step 12 Move the --> that follows </BannerText> to follow window title so that your lines now look like: <!-- Custom banner text used for the window title. --> <BannerText>Special Bulletin!</BannerText> Step 13 Change the font name, size, style, and/or color for the contents of the Subject and Body fields of an InformaCast Fusion message template by replacing the defaults of impact, 12, bold, italic, and black with your desired values. <ShortText> <FontName>impact</FontName> <FontSize>12</FontSize> <FontStyle>bold</FontStyle> <FontStyle>italic</FontStyle> <FontColor>black</FontColor> </ShortText> <LongText> <FontName>impact</FontName> <FontSize>12</FontSize> <FontStyle>bold</FontStyle> <FontStyle>italic</FontStyle> <FontColor>black</FontColor> </LongText> Step 14 Move the --> that follows </LongText> to follow case sensitive so that your lines now look like: <!-- - Customizations are available for the text, you may use - the following element names to control the behavior: - - ShortText: corresponds to the short text field on the - broadcast (should always be available, for audio only - broadcasts a default value will be displayed). - LongText: the long or details text on the broadcast (may - be available depending on the type of broadcast). - - To illustrate via examples: (fonts are system dependent, - you are encourage to use fonts installed on all your - desktops and you may need different values on OS X vs. - Windows installs depending on your display requirements) - - Special s: - 1. FontColor is configured the same way as Background to - include the value "default" Some styles may not be supported for the font chosen FontSize is determined by default based on the screen 89

96 Appendix. Editing the Policy File - size if not explicitly configured Matching for FontName, FontStyle and FontColor is not - case sensitive. --> <ShortText> <FontName>Arial</FontName> <FontSize>12</FontSize> <FontStyle>bold</FontStyle> <FontStyle>italic</FontStyle> <FontColor>black</FontColor> </ShortText> <LongText> <FontName>Verdana</FontName> <FontSize>10</FontSize> <FontStyle>bold</FontStyle> <FontColor>#8A2BE2</FontColor> </LongText> Tip You can remove the lines that don t apply to your environment or for which you don t mind using the defaults. For example, in the previous lines, the Subject field will display with Arial font (a change from the default) and the lines for FontSize, FontStyle, and FontColor have been removed, which means the defaults of 12-point, plain black text will be used. In contrast, the Body field will display with Verdana, 10-point bold text in a light purple color. Step 15 Step 16 Save the policy configuration and close it. Send a test notifications to ensure that your changes were incorporated. In this example, the policy configuration file was modified to use a green background color, new banner text, a custom image, and customized font for the Subject and Body fields: 90