Draft FAQ

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[edit] DRAFT

The following information is in draft form, is subject to (and most likely will) change, and does NOT constitute any commitment of any kind to anyone. This section contains the FAQ for [NOT-YET-RELEASE-SCHEDULED] ConsoleWorks (and maybe other stuff, too).

[edit] About ConsoleWorks FAQ

[edit] What's a FAQ?

The Consoleworks FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) contains the answers to questions we get asked a lot.

[edit] Where do I look for answers not found in the FAQ?

You can find more information

And please think about sharing your question and answer in this FAQ. If it was a question for you, you can bet it is a question for a lot of users.


[edit] About ConsoleWorks ITFM

[edit] What is ConsoleWorks?

[edit] What is ConsoleWorks not?

[edit] When do I need ConsoleWorks?

[edit] What is Foundation Management?

IT Foundation Management is an IT management approach that focuses first on securing, controlling, and auditing the privileged interfaces to the hardware, software, operating systems, and virtual assets that are the foundations of the services and operations that run your business. More...

[edit] What kind of system do I need to run Consoleworks ITFM?

ConsoleWorks does not require a specialized or heavy-duty processor. In most situations, any processor made in the last two or three years is sufficiently fast to meet the needs of most sites. That being said, faster is better, as is more storage and more memory.

[edit] What kinds of things can Consoleworks watch?

[edit] What's the current version?

The current version is V4.4-0u1. You can find the version for your ConsoleWorks invocation on the bar at the top of your ConsoleWorks window (on the left side under the white and gold CONSOLEWORKS) and on the Version Check page (click HELP > Version Check).

[edit] How secure is ConsoleWorks?

ConsoleWorks is as secure as you want to make it.

  • To encrypt connections from a browser to the ConsoleWorks server, you can use SSL v3 or later.
  • To encrypt connections from the ConsoleWorks server to the managed asset, ConsoleWorks uses the latest verion of OpenSSH.


[edit] Installing & Upgrading

[edit] What do I need to install ConsoleWorks?

[edit] What do I need to upgrade ConsoleWorks?

[edit] How do I move ConsoleWorks to another platform?

For instructions for migrationg a ConsoleWorks invocation to another host running a different operating system, see the wiki article, Moving ConsoleWorks from One Platform to Another.

[edit] Can ConsoleWorks be installed on a Virtual Machine?

Yes, but we don't recommend it. If the hypervisor, the server hosting the Virtual Machines (VMs), goes down, then not only do you lose the VMs but you also lose ConsoleWorks, which you are--or were--using to manage your environment.


[edit] Licenses

[edit] Do I need a license to upgrade from V4.3 to V4.4?

No. You will, however, need licenses for any of the new licensed features in ConsoleWorks 4.4 that you want to use.


[edit] Registration

[edit] What the heck do I do with my Success.txt file?

On the Registration page, click the Complete My Offline Registration link and enter the Success.txt file's location in the Offline Registration Completion box, and then click OK. More...


[edit] Logging In

[edit] I just installed ConsoleWorks and it is asking me for a password. Do I use the password you sent me to download it from the website?

No. ConsoleWorks wants the password for the Username you've entered (most likely Console_Manager). The default password for a just-installed ConsoleWorks is Setup (use the capital ess).

[edit] What's the New Session checkbox do?

The New Session check box, located at the bottom-right of the Login page, controls whether or not ConsoleWorks displays the setup of your last session.

  • To have ConsoleWorks display the pages that were open when you last closed ConsoleWorks, leave the New Session check box clear.
  • To log in to an empty workspace, select the New Session check box, and then log in as usual.


[edit] Getting Started & Getting Going

[edit] Okay, I installed and logged in. Now what?

Well, now you should decide:

  • What you want watched and go set up the Consoles (connection protocols plus so much more) to your assets
  • What do you want them watched for and go set up your Events and Scans
  • Who can access the Consoles and go set up User accounts
  • What they can do with/to the Consoles and go set up Profiles for the Users

For more information, explanations, and step-by-step instructions for all those tasks, see the Getting Started Guide

[edit] How do I set the default column order and which columns are visible by default?

Two ways:

  • Use the XML Export/XML Import features (use XML Export to turn configurations into XML code, change the XML so that ConsoleWorks displays the desired defaults, and then use XML Import to move the changed configurations into ConsoleWorks).

OR

  • Use the Set As System Defaults feature (recommended):
  • Add a ConsoleWorks User account that you will use to configure and set system defaults. Ensure that the User has Admin Control permissions.
  • Log off ConsoleWorks and log in as this User.
  • Open the page on which you want to set the default for columns and/or column order, and adjust the columns/order. Save the page. Repeat for each page on which you want to set defaults.
  • Open the USERS: Preferences page.
  • Click the Set As System Defaults button (it's at the bottom of the page).
Note: After you click Set As System Defaults, any User account that has not set preferences for their own column configurations inherits this new system default.
  • To provide these new defaults to User accounts that have set their own defaults, have these Users open their own USERS: Preferences page and click the Restore Defaults button.
Note: The change does not occur until the next time these Users log in.

[edit] Are there any tools to make mass changes to items like Events or Severities?

Yes. You can make bulk edits to Events with the Mass Change feature. Mass Change is available to the Profile that holds Architect permissions. When a User applies that Profile, he sees the Mass Change command appear in the ADMIN: Database Management menu. For more information, see the Help on the ADMIN: Database Management: Mass Change page.

[edit] Consoles

[edit] What's an On-Demand Console?

[edit] Should I create a Psuedo Console or an SSH Console?


 

[edit] Connecting

[edit] How many active connections to one asset can I have?

You can have as many connections as you have CONNECT licenses for.

If by "active" you mean READ/WRITE ability on the asset you're connecting to, that ability is controlled by the permissions of the connecting Profile. You can have as many Profiles with Console Write (or better) or Admin Write (or better) permissions connecting with READ/WRITE to an asset as you have CONNECT licenses.

  • Note: You can have only one ConsoleWorks server connected at a time. If you had ConsoleWorks installed on a virtual server and on a physical server and tried to connect via the virtual server to a device that already had a Console connected to it on the physical server, the physical-server ConsoleWorks would drop the connection and display the status: “The attempt to connect was forcefully rejected".

[edit] How can I use PuTTy to connect?

To use the third-party terminal emulator PuTTy to connect through ConsoleWorks to a managed asset, configure a connection rule for PuTTY on the CONSOLES: Connection Rules page. Show Me

[edit] How can I use Reflection to connect?

[edit] My keyboard's in German. How do I get the JTE to send the correct character when I press a different key?


 

[edit] Virtualization/VIRTUALfx

[edit] Can VIRTUALfx/ConsoleWorks be run in a VM?

The short answer is yes.

The long answer is that, while ConsoleWorks will run in a VM (Virtual Machine) and TDi does support it, we don’t typically suggest running it in a VM. Here's why: If the Host VM server goes down, the VMs, including the one hosting ConsoleWorks, go away, and you lose your ability to monitor and mangage your infrastructure.

[edit] Why won't VMware buy your company to get the Vfx codebase?

[edit] What's the best way to transfer Consoleworks to a Windows virtual machine?

1. You should be familiar with uninstalling and installing ConsoleWorks. To get familiar, read the ConsoleWorks Installation Guide (Microsoft(R) Windows(R)).

2. Log in to the current ConsoleWorks invocation (source invo) and disable all Consoles.

3. Open the Configure ConsoleWorks Server page (ADMIN > Server Management > Configuration) and ensure that the Host Address box displays 0.0.0.0. Also, ensure that the Force SSL check box is clear (Note: this check box is not available for all invocations).

4. Log off and stop the ConsoleWorks Service(s).

5. Back up the entire ConsoleWorks tree: <drive>:\Program Files\Tdi

6. Uninstall the source invo ConsoleWorks. This action leaves behind the invocation data you need.

7. Back up the tree again, which now contains only needed invocation data.

8. Restore the tree backed up in Step 7 to the virtual machine. The virtual machine must be running Windows Server(R) 2003.

9. Install ConsoleWorks over the restored tree.

10. Start the ConsoleWorks Service(s), log in, enable the Consoles, change the server host address if necessary, select the Force SSL check box if you require SSL connections, and begin testing.

11. Register ConsoleWorks on the new server.


--SSL Considerations--

If you are using SSL, and the server certificate was created using the IP address as opposed to the host name, and you're not going to reuse the same IP address, then create a new certificate. Create the certificate using the host name. Instructions for creating the SSL certificate are detailed in the installation guide. Also, if you have created a new server SSL certificate, have ConsoleWorks users open their ConsoleWorks web interfaces and click SECURITY > SSL Certificate.


[edit] Logging

[edit] How do I add comments to a log?


 

[edit] Alerting & Events

[edit] How do I send emails out as Event alerts?

  1. Decide which Event you want to act as the email-sending trigger (that is, when this Event occurs, an email is sent) and open that Event's configuration page (EVENTS: EDIT).
  2. Create an Event Action to send the email.

For information and step-by-step instructions, see the following assistance:


[edit] How do I associate PANIC Severity with lots of Events?

  • For those Events that can be grouped by Class, Console, Group, Scan, Severity, or Subsystem, you can use Mass Change.
  • Alternatively, you can select the Events on the View Events page, click Edit, and on the EVENTS: Edit pages that open, change the Events' Severity.

[edit] How do I see which Events have a Severity of PANIC?

  1. On the View Events page, click the funnel at the top right of the page. The column content filter boxes appear.
  2. In the box above the Severity column, type PANIC. ConsoleWorks filters the column's content and displays only Events with a PANIC Severity.

[edit] Users & Profiles

[edit] How can I find out if a supervisor gave Jose temporary access to a higher Profile in order to help out with User maintenance?

  • If you know the date of the alledged deed, then you could review the CONWRKS (ConsoleWorks server) logs for that day. For more information, see the Help for the CONSOLES: View page, and click View Console logs.
  • If you are unsure of the date, then run a Console Messages report, using *profile* for the pattern and a very large timeframe, one that would definately cover the time of the incident, if it did really happen. Review the report for a message similar to the following message:
CONWRKS Aug 24 09:43:19 2011 <| SUPRVSR added profile for user JOSE, profile CONSOLE_MANAGER
If you are unsure of how to run a report, see the Help on the REPORTS: Log Reports: Console Messages page or view this video tutorial Show Me

.

[edit] Reporting

  • XXX?


[edit] Tools

  • XXX?


 

[edit] Security

[edit] How do I use SSL to encrypt my ConsoleWorks connections?

You need to create an SSL certificate on the ConsoleWorks server and import that certificate to each browser that's used to connect to ConsoleWorks.

  • To create a server-side SSL certificate, follow the instructions in the ConsoleWorks installation guide for your site's operating system.
  • To import client-side (browser) SSL certificates, follow the instructions in this wiki article: Importing SSL Certs in v4

[edit] Why can't I import the SSL certificate?

1. Try some of the easy fixes first:

For Internet Explorer
  • Turn off pop-up blockers.
  • Enable Java for IE.
  • Clear Java cache.
  • Clear IE cache.
  • Close all browser windows.
  • Open IE and connect to ConsoleWorks, open the Connection Rules page (CONSOLES > Connection Rules), look at the bottom of the page, ensure that the Default box contains Internal Connection Applet.
  • Now try to download the SSL certificate.

2. Is more than one instance of Java installed?

  • If the error message mentions a folder, like C:\PROGRA~1\Java\JRE15~1.0_1\lib\security\cacerts, and you know you have Java 1.6.0_21 installed, then you might have more than one Java instance installed.
  • (Windows) Look in the folder under C:\Program Files\Java and see how many Java instances are there.

Solution: Remove the extra Java instances.

For Windows

  • Local Administrator access required.
  1. Open the Control Panel window, and then open the Add or Remove Programs window or the Programs and Features window.
  2. Review the list of programs and remove all J2SE Runtime entries.
  3. Open C:\Program Files\Java and rename its subfolder from \Java to Java.old.
  4. Reinstall Java (if needed, you can obtain Java from |Java.com.
  5. Ensure that only one browser is open, and clear that browser's cache or delete its temporary files.
  6. Use that browser to connect to the ConsoleWorks server and download the SSL certificate.

[edit] Why can't I make an SSL connection?

Is the error message similar to this one:

Trying <invocation_name> 5176 .. Failed to connect due to IO exception: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target.

then the client machine is looking for the SSL certificate. To import the SSL certificate to the client, use the instructions in the wiki article, Importing SSL Certs in v4.


Is the error message similar to this one:

...Beginning SSL connection/handshake...Failed to connect to <invocation_name> javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: No trusted certificate found

then the client machine is looking for the SSL certificate. To import the SSL certificate to the client, use the instructions in the wiki article, Importing SSL Certs in v4.

If you have imported an SSL certificate
  • A proxy server might be blocking the certificate.
  • Clear the Java cache.
  • Clear the browser's cache (cookies, temporary files, and history).
  • Disable the proxy server.
  • Close all browsers and then open just one, log in to ConsoleWorks, and try an SSL connection.
  • Could the ConsoleWorks server has two IP addresses? The SSL certificate might have been built with using one address and you are trying to connect using the other. In that case, the certificate authority is invalid.

[edit] I forgot my SSL certificate store password and now I can't import SSL certificates. What are my options?

Uninstall Java from the client machine, get another Java installation from java.com, install the new Java on the client machine, import SSL certificates to the client machine.
 

[edit] Administrating

[edit] How do I move ConsoleWorks to another server?

(OpenVMS) Follow the instructions in the article: Re-Hosting ConsoleWorks - OpenVMS to OpenVMS ConsoleWorks 3.x

(Windows) Follow the instructions in the article: Re-Hosting ConsoleWorks - Windows Server 2003

(UNIX) We don't get asked this for *NIXes frequently. For the answer, please contact TDi Support at support@tditechnologies.com.

[edit] How do I move ConsoleWorks to another OS?

Follow the instructions in the TDi wiki article: Moving ConsoleWorks from One Platform to Another

[edit] TroubleShooting

[edit] Trying to connect shows message: The attempt to connect was forcefully rejected

Q. I have ConsoleWorks installed on a virtual server and a physical server. When I use a Console on the virtual server to connect to a device that already has a Console connected to it on the physical server, the physical-server ConsoleWorks drops the connection and shows the error message: “The attempt to connect was forcefully rejected". Can I have only one active connection?

A. Yes. Specifically, you can have only one ConsoleWorks server connected at a time. In this case, the virtual server connects and the physical server's connection is forcefully rejected. If you disable the virtual server's Console, the physical server can make the connection.

[edit] Am I nuts or does ConsoleWorks 4 seems slower?

Lots of factors can affect perceived speed.

  • Is your client machine getting old? To make ConsoleWorks 4 more responsive, we redesigned more of its processing to take place on the client computer. With more to do, this now-rich client (desktop, laptop, etc.) requires a more robust CPU and sufficient memory to maintain performance. Any middle-of-the-road class, commercially built computer should meet your needs.
  • Which browser and which version are you using? We’ve optimized ConsoleWorks 4 for IE7 and later and the most current version of Firefox. Some of our developers use Firefox because it seems to have a faster Javascript engine.
  • Do you have any not-used-but-hidden windows? Close them.
  • Are you using the Console Event ticker that crawls across the bottom of ConsoleWorks? Close it.

[edit] What's this error message mean?

[edit] Why am I seeing this JavaScript Error?

[edit] ConsoleWorks keeps kicking me out--WTF?

Sorry to hear you're having problems. ConsoleWorks remembers the setup of your last session so you can get started when you come back in right where you left off. However, if that last session had issues that forced you out, then when you log in, the whole cycle starts over again. To break this cycle, select the New Session check box on the ConsoleWorks Login page, and then log in as usual.


Image:New_Session.png

After you've logged in, you can stop ConsoleWorks from remembering your setups by opening the USERS: Preferences page (on the ConsoleWorks menu, click USERS > Preferences), then opening the Display Settings section, and then clearing the Remember Layouts check box.

[edit] Why does the Add page appear when I click the Edit menu?


 

[edit] What's This?

  • Raw Data checkbox?
  • Verbose checkbox?
  • ... button?

[edit] * Connection Status icons?

Image:status_bad.png Faulty connector, connection, or connection target
Image:status_disabled.png Disabled Console
Read-only connection available
User connected with Read-only connection
Image:status_pencil.png Read/Write connection available
Image:status_pencil_person.png User connected with Read/Write connection
Image:status_locked.png Locked Console
Image:status_ghost.png The virtual machine that ConsoleWorks knew about is no longer part of the managed virtual infrastructure, but its configuration still exists in ConsoleWorks, if you need it.
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