Installation Guide Help Desk Manager Version 12.3.0
Contents Introduction 1 Key Features 1 Parent/Child Service Relationships 1 Automated Ticketing Processing 1 Asset Management 2 Installation Requirements 3 Server Hardware and Software 4 Hardware 4 Operating System 4 Web Browser 5 Server Sizing Requirements 7 Supporting Less Than 20 Techs 7 Supporting More Than 20 Techs 7 Database Requirements 7 MySQL Requirements 9 SQL Server Requirements 10 Software 10 Hardware 10 Virtual Appliance Requirements 11 Installing the Application 12 Installing Help Desk Manager on a Microsoft Windows System 13 Uninstalling Help Desk Manager 14 Upgrading from Windows 32-bit to Windows 64-bit 14 i
Installing Help Desk Manager on a Linux System 16 Uninstalling Help Desk Manager on a Linux System 18 How do I backup and restore the embedded PostgreSQL database? 19 Customer Support 21 ii
Introduction N-able Help Desk Manager software is a web-based automated ticketing solution that helps you manage your IT support requests for both internal and external clients. Help Desk Manager includes a Web console with an integrated dashboard for performance reporting. Using customizable widgets that you add to the dashboard, you can track metrics such as ticket activity, ticket status, and ticket resolution in real time to help you decide how well your help desk is performing. All help desk processes are managed through the Web console. After you set up the application, you can configure Help Desk Manager to perform specific tasks, such as routing tickets to a specific help desk technician or work group, billing customers for parts and labor costs, and creating new tickets from email requests or alert messages from a supported monitoring application. You can run Help Desk Manager on the following operating systems and platforms: Microsoft Windows Server Apple OSX Red Hat Enterprise Linux Fedora CentOS VMware vsphere Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines Key Features Help Desk Manager provides the following features for managing your enterprise or managed service provider (MSP) help desk operations: Parent/Child service relationships Automated ticket processing Asset Management Parent/Child Service Relationships You can link multiple service requests to one parent ticket to address a repeated issue or task (such as on-boarding a new employee or tracking your IT projects). You can also pass notes, attachments, and custom fields between parent and child tickets to share data to relevant tasks. Automated Ticketing Processing You can generate tickets manually in the user interface or automatically by emails from any third-party monitoring tool. If you are running DameWare Mini Remote Control (MRC) (included with SolarWinds Help Desk Essentials), you can establish a remote connection and troubleshoot a client's system directly from a ticket or asset and save remote session details into a new or existing ticket. Additionally, you can create tasks to link a ticket automatically to an existing ticket that triggers an action rule. Page-HDM 1
Asset Management Using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) or supported third-party discovery tools, you can search a specific IP address range in your corporate network and create a list of client assets (such as computer systems, installed software, and attached peripherals). When asset discovery is completed, you can use DameWare MRC to connect remotely to a client system, troubleshoot the issue, and append remote session information to a new or existing ticket. Page-HDM 2
Installation Requirements N-able recommends reviewing the following requirements before performing an installation, upgrade, or migration: Server Hardware and Software Requirements Server Sizing Database Requirements Virtual Appliance Requirements Page-HDM 3
Server Hardware and Software The following tables list the minimum Help Desk Manager requirements for: Hardware Web Server Operating System Web Browser Hardware Component Requirements CPU Intel 64-bit Dual Core 2.0GHz or faster RAM 3GB (up to 10 technicians) Add 1GB for every 10 additional technicians Hard Drive Space 20GB Application Ports 8081 (or alternate browser port) 1433 (Microsoft SQL Server) Product Version Apache Tomcat 7.0.59 Operating System Platform Supported Versions Microsoft Windows (less than 20 technicians) Windows Server 2003 32-bit Windows Server 2008 (32- and 64-bit) Windows Server 2008 Release 2 (R2) 64-bit Windows Server 2012 64-bit Windows Server 2012 R2 64-bit Page-HDM 4
Microsoft Windows (more than 20 technicians) Windows Server 2008 64-bit Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit Windows Server 2012 64-bit Microsoft Windows (Trial evaluation only) Windows 7 (64-bit) Windows 8.1 (64-bit) Apple iphone (for Help Desk Manager Mobile) Apple ios 7 Apple ios 8 Apple OSX 10.8 (Mountain Lion) 10.9 (Mavericks) 10.10.2 (Yosemite) Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.5 64-bit CentOS CentOS 6.5 (64-bit) CentOS 7.0 (64-bit) Fedora Fedora 20 (32- and 64-bit) Fedora 21 64-bit Web Browser Note: Due to frequent updates of Google Chrome v32 and Mozilla Firefox v32, check the SolarWinds Support Website for the latest information about compatibility issues between these web browsers and the latest version of Help Desk Manager. Type Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Supported Versions Latest version Latest version Page-HDM 5
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) IE9 IE10 IE11 Apple Safari Safari 7 Safari 8 Page-HDM 6
Server Sizing Requirements N-able Help Desk Manager software manages help desk operations for networks of any size from small corporate LANs to large enterprise and service provider networks. Most Help Desk Manager systems perform well on 3.0GHz systems with 3GB of RAM. However, when you create a large number of techs, consider the existing hardware and the system configuration. N-able recommends adding 1GB of memory to your Help Desk Manager server for every 10 technicians. Supporting Less Than 20 Techs For a 32-bit operating system, Help Desk Manager uses a 32-bit Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The maximum memory that a 32-bit JVM can address varies slightly by operating system. However, 1600MB is a common maximum value. This value supports 10-20 concurrent techs with no memory issues. Ensure you have enough physical memory in your Help Desk Manager system to support both the 1600MB requirements for the JVM, as well as the server operating system and any additional services you run on the system. To adjust the maximum memory setting, edit the MAXIMUM_MEMORY option in the HelpDeskManager/conf/whd.conf file. Supporting More Than 20 Techs To support more than 20 simultaneous Tech sessions, N-able recommends installing Help Desk Manager on a system running a 64-bit operating system and a 64-bit JVM. On a 64-bit JVM, you can increase the max heap memory to multiple gigabytes in size by editing the MAXIMUM _MEMORY option in the HelpDeskManager/conf/whd.conf file. To enable the 64-bit JVM, add the following argument to the JAVA_OPTS option in the /Library/HelpDeskManager/conf/whd.conf file: JAVA_OPTS= -d64 For other operating systems, install your own 64-bit JVM (Java 5 or Java 6), then update the JAVA_HOME option in the HelpDeskManager/conf/whd.conf file to point to your Java installation. Database Requirements Help Desk Manager uses an embedded PostgreSQL database as its standard database. See Embedded Database Requirements for specific requirements. The following table lists the supported databases. Database Supported Versions PostgreSQL PostgreSQL 9.2 PostgreSQL 9.3.2 PostgreSQL 9.4 Page-HDM 7
MySQL MySQL 5.6 MySQL 5.74 Microsoft SQL Server SQL Server 2008 SQL Server 2012 SQL Server 2014 Note: For optimal external database performance, run Help Desk Manager and a supported external database on separate servers. See MySQL Requirements and SQL Server Requirements for more information about software and hardware requirements. Page-HDM 8
MySQL Requirements The following table lists the minimum software and hardware requirements for a MySQL database server. Software and Hardware Requirement MySQL Database MySQL Community, Cluster, or Enterprise (version 5.5 or later) MySQL Workbench Tools CPU Speed Intel Dual core 2.0GHz or better Hard Drive Space 20GB Memory 2GB plus 1GB for every additional 10 techs Page-HDM 9
SQL Server Requirements The following tables list the minimum software and hardware requirements for a database server running Microsoft SQL Server. Software Software and Hardware Requirement Database Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise, Express, or Standard Edition Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise, Express, or Standard Edition with the following components and requirements: SQL Server Database Engine SQL Server Management Studio SQL Server Management Tools TCP/IP enabled SQL authentication support CPU Speed Intel Dual Core 2.0GHz or better Hard Drive Space 20GB Memory 2GB (+1GB for every 10 Techs) Hardware Component Requirements CPU Intel Dual Core 2.0GHz or better Hard Drive Space 20GB RAM 2GB with 1GB additional RAM for every additional 10 techs Page-HDM 10
Virtual Appliance Requirements Help Desk Manager supports installations on VMware and Microsoft virtual appliances when the hosting servers meet the minimum configuration requirements. Virtual server requirements are the same as the Help Desk Manager server requirements. Page-HDM 11
Installing the Application The following procedures describe how to install Help Desk Manager on Microsoft Windows and Linux servers. Before you begin, ensure that the host system meets or exceeds the recommended requirements. See Server Requirements for more information. Page-HDM 12
Installing Help Desk Manager on a Microsoft Windows System To install Help Desk Manager on a server running a supported version of the Microsoft Windows Server operating system: 1. Using an account with local administrative privileges, log on to the server that will host the application. Before you begin, ensure that you: Do not use a domain account. Verify the account is not subject to any local or group policy restrictions. Use the Run as administrator option when launching the installer on a system running Windows Server 2008. Quit all other programs before running the installer. 2. If you are installing N-able Help Desk Manager from a downloaded.zip file, navigate to the file, extract the evaluation package to an appropriate location, and launch the executable. If you are installing Help Desk Manager from a CD, locate and launch the executable from the CD. If you are installing Help Desk Manager on a system running Windows Server 2008, right-click the installer and select Run as administrator. When you launch the executable, the Introduction window appears. 3. Review the Introduction text, and then click Next. The License Agreement window appears. 4. Review and accept the terms of the license agreement, and then click Next. The Choose Install Folder window appears. 5. Accept the default installation location or click Choose to select a new location. If you created a new installation folder but decide to accept the default location, click Restore Default Folder. 6. Click Next to continue. The Choose Shortcut Folder window appears. 7. Select a location for the product shortcut icons, then click Next. The installer creates icons in your selected location. If you select a location other than the Program group, the icons will not appear in Start > All Programs. Next, the Pre-Installation Summary window appears. 8. Review the information in the window, then click Install. The installation procedure begins, which requires several minutes to complete. When completed, the Install Complete window appears. 9. Click Done. The Install Complete window closes and the installation procedure is completed. Page-HDM 13
Uninstalling Help Desk Manager To uninstall the application on a Windows Server system: 1. Quit all running programs. 2. Using an account with local administrative privileges, log on to the server that will host the application. 3. Navigate to: C:\Program Files\Help Desk Manager The HelpDeskManager directory appears. 4. In the directory, double-click UNINSTALL.bat. A command prompt window appears with a message prompting you to verify the uninstall. 5. Enter Y to continue. Help Desk Manager and its associated data are uninstalled from the system. 6. Close the command prompt window. Upgrading from Windows 32-bit to Windows 64-bit If you upgrade your system from Windows 32-bit to 64-bit, uninstall HDM 32-bit before you install HDM 64-bit. Uninstalling the HDM 32-bit installation deletes everything in the HDM folder. Before uninstalling the HDM 32-bit installation, you must backup and then restore the following files from the <HelpDeskManager>/conf folder:.hdm.properties (contains database connection settings) hdm.conf (contains port and memory settings) keystore.jks (contains SSL certificates, if there are any) customlabel.properties (if available) If the installation is using an embedded PostgreSQL database, you must also backup the database before uninstalling the 32-bit version of HDM. Page-HDM 14
Pay close attention to the instructions on how to safely backup the database file before upgrading in How do I backup and restore the embedded PostgreSQL database? To perform a HDM 32- to 64-bit upgrade: 1. Stop HDM. 2. Copy the following files from the <HelpDeskManager>/conf directory to a backup location:.hdm.properties (contains database connection settings) hdm.conf (contains port and memory settings) keystore.jks (contains SSL certificates, if there are any) customlabel.properties (if available) 3. If using an embedded PostgreSQL database, backup the database file, as described in How do I backup and restore the embedded PostgreSQL database? 4. Uninstall the HDM 32-bit installation, as described in Uninstalling on Windows. 5. Install HDM 64-bit, as described in Installing on Windows. 6. Stop the newly installed, 64-bit HDM installation. 7. From your backup location, copy the following files to the <HelpDeskManager>/conf directory:.hdm.properties (contains database connection settings) hdm.conf (contains port and memory settings) keystore.jks (contains SSL certificates, if there are any) customlabel.properties (if available) 8. Restore the embedded PostgreSQL database, as described in Use pgadmin3 to connect to a server and restore database files on Windows. Page-HDM 15
Installing Help Desk Manager on a Linux System Note: Installing Help Desk Manager on a Linux system does not require appliance deployment. To install Help Desk Manager on a system running a supported version of the Linux operating system: 1. Quit all running programs. 2. Using an account with local administrative privileges, log on to the server that will host N-able Help Desk Manager. 3. Navigate to your downloaded executable or the CD containing the executable. 4. Run the appropriate command based on your system configuration. For 32-bit systems, run: gunzip HelpDeskManager- HelpDeskManager-12.3.X.XXX-1.i386.rpm For 64-bit systems, run: gunzip HelpDeskManager- HelpDeskManager-12.3.X.XXX-1.x86_64.rpm 5. Run the appropriate installer command based on your system configuration. For 32-bit systems, run: rpm -ivhhelpdeskmanager-12.3.x.xxx-1.i386.rpm For 64-bit systems, run: sudo rpm - HelpDeskManager-12.3.X.XXX-1.x86_64.rpm During the installation, the following message appears: [root@loalhost ~]# r[m -ivh HelpDeskManager-12.3.X.XXX-1.x86_64.rpm Preparing...HelpDeskManager-12.3.X.XXX-1.x86_64.rpm ######################################### [100%] 1:HelpDeskManager ######################################### [100%] Setting up the HelpDeskManager-to start automatically at boot...done. To start the HelpDeskManager, use 'usr/local/helpdeskmanager/hdm: start' Note: To upgrade an existing Help Desk Manager Linux installation, apply the command -Uvh, rather than -ivh. 6. Run the following command to start the application: /usr/local/helpdeskmanager/hdm start Page-HDM 16
During start-up, the following message appears: [root@localhost ~]# /usr/local/helpdeskmanager/hdm start Help Desk Manager 12.3.X.XXX Copyright (c) N-able International Inc. Using XX:MaxPermSize=256Starting postgresql-9.2 service: [ OK ] Starting the Help Desk Manager on port 8081... Using CATALINA_BASE: Using CATALINA_HOME: /usr/local/helpdeskmanager/bin/tomcat /usr/local/helpdeskmanager/bin/tomcat Using CATALINA_TMPDIR: /usr/local/helpdeskmanager/bin/tomcat/temp Using JRE_HOME: /usr/local/helpdeskmanager/bin/jre Using CLASSPATH: /usr/local/ HelpDeskManager /bin/tomcat/bin/bootstrap.jar:/usr/local/helpdeskmanager/bin/tomcat/bin/tomcat-juli.jar Using CATALINA_PID: /usr/local/helpdeskmanager/log/.hdm.pid[root@localhost ~]# Note: You can stop the application by running the following command: /usr/local/helpdeskmanager/hdm stop When you stop Help Desk Manager, the following message appears: [root@localhost ~]# /usr/local/helpdeskmanager stop Help Desk Manager 12.3.X.XXX Copyright (c) N-able International Inc. Using XX:MaxPermSize=256Stopping the Help Desk Manager... Stopping postgresql-9.2 service: [ OK ][root@localhost ~]# 7. Launch your browser and navigate to the following URL: Page-HDM 17
http://127.0.0.1:8081 The Introduction text appears. 8. Review the text, and then click Next. The License Agreement text appears. 9. Review the terms of the agreement, and then click Agree. The Installation Information screen appears. 10. Review the information, and then click Next. A prompt appears, stating that the installation is completed. 11. Click Close. A dialog screen appears. To use the embedded PostgreSQL database, click Continue and go to step 12. To use a MySQL database, click Cancel and perform the following steps to connect Help Desk Manager to MySQL: a. Clear the Use Embedded Database check box. b. On the right side of the Vendor list, click the drop-down menu and select: Microsoft SQL Server 2008+ c. In the Host field, enter the SQL server IP address. d. In the Port field, enter: 1433 e. In the Database and Username fields, enter: HDM f. Enter the SQL HDM user s password, and click Save. g. Close the Help Desk Manager console. h. In the Applications folder, double click Stop Help Desk Manager. i. In the Applications folder, double click Help Desk Manager. j. Click Continue to initialize the SQL database and start HDM. 12. In the Help Desk Manager Web console, enter admin for the user email address and admin for the password, and then click Log In. You are logged in. Uninstalling Help Desk Manager on a Linux System To uninstall Help Desk Manager on a Linux system: 1. Quit all running programs. 2. Using an account with local administrative privileges, log on to the server that is hosting Help Desk Manager. 3. Run the uninstaller using one of the following commands: # rpm -e HelpDeskManager-12.3.X.XXX-1.i386.rpm Page-HDM 18
or yum remove HelpDeskManager-12.3.X.XXX-1.x86_64.rpm The uninstall is completed. How do I backup and restore the embedded PostgreSQL database? To back up the HDMv12.X.X PostgreSQL database using the HDM graphical user interface: 1. Navigate to Setup > General > Database. 2. Select the Vendor PostgreSQL. 3. Click Backup Now to perform a backup immediately. 4. Click Save to save your settings. If you have defined a backup schedule, clicking Save saves and applies the schedule set up for automatic backups. To back up the database outside the HDM graphical user interface: 1. Stop HDM. 2. Backup the database to another server, using the downloadedpgadmin3 tool or apply the PostgreSQL commands described in the PostgreSQL 9.3 Manual's Chapter 24, Backup and Restore. The pg_dump utility is located in the HDM_INSTALL_DIR/pgsql9/bin directory). Use pgadmin3 to connect to a server and restore database files on Windows: 1. Start pgadmin3. 2. Click the connector icon. 3. In the pgadmin3 New Server Registration window, enter only the following parameters in Properties, leaving the other fields empty or with default data: Name: HDM Host: localhost Port: 20293 Username: HDM Password: HDM Note: HDM is the default password. Change this password immediately. 4. Shut down HDM. 5. Start the PostgreSQL service. 6. In the pgadmin3 Object Browser, expand Servers/HDM/Databases/HDM. 7. Right-click HDMand select Delete/Drop. 8. Right-click Databases and select New Database. 9. Name the new database HDMand click OK. 10. Right-click the new HDMdatabase and then click Restore. 11. Navigate to the desired database file or enter the filename. 12. Select the Rolename HDM. Page-HDM 19
13. Click Restore. 14. Restart HDM. Page-HDM 20
Customer Support Online: Email: Phone us: http://www.n-able.com/support/ Support@n-able.com 1-866-302-4689 (US/CAN) +800 6225 3000 (International) Page-HDM 21
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