ADDERnet Manual

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Tools
The Tools menu provides access to various items:
Alerts – This options displays a complete list of all operational alerts th\
at have been generated by the  
ADDER.NET server in response to events and states which may require atte\
ntion. Individual alerts are also presented within 
the various relevant sections of ADDER.NET.
Logs – Allows you to define various criteria in order to search and dis\
play the complete status log or any part thereof. The 
defined log can be viewed within the application or saved to a CSV fi\
le, as required. See Using Logs
Configure ADDER.NET – Displays the base configuration details for ADDER.NET (see below).
Configure Workstation – Allows you to install the VNC-URI client and/or the key authority \
certificate on the local computer 
(these options are normally only offered during initial configuration\
).
Active Directory – Displays the Active Directory Import page to allow you to define links between ADDER.NET and an 
external directory server. 
Firmware Upgrades – Presents the list of upgrades contained in the firmware director\
y on the server which are applicable to 
known devices on the system and allows the user to upgrade acquired devi\
ces. See Appendix 4.
Device Auto-configuration – Allows you to enable and adjust key settings within the device auto-configuration feature.  
Backup & Restore – Allows you to restore database data from a backup file and to ma\
intain backup files on the server or in 
alternative locations, such as in a directory which is regularly backed-\
up to tape. See Appendix 3.
Licence – Displays licence and system information for the ADDER.NET server i\
nstallation and allows you to add further 
licences to the installation.
Time period (in minutes) of inactivity after which ADDER.NET will auto\
matically logout for security purposes.
Determines the language that the system will use, unless over-ridden by \
user preference.
[See note below] Number of concurrent threads that can occur while searc\
hing for new devices.  
Number of lines displayed within list tables.
Interval (in seconds) for ADDER.NET to wait before updating availabili\
ty icons on any ADDER.NET page.
[See note below] Time duration (in milliseconds) for which S3 credenti\
als sent to a device are valid. When using S3 authentication, the connection must be completed in this period or it wi\
ll fail. Default value is 15,000 (15 seconds). Where SSH connection problems are encountered while using Serial CAM mod\
ules, this value may need to be increased to 20,000.
[See note below] The number of times SNMP (Simple Network Management Pr\
otocol) operations are retried in case of failure. The default value of zero means never retry.  
[See note below] Time duration (in milliseconds) to wait for a reply w\
hen using SNMP. If there is no reply in the period, the operation is assumed to have failed.  Default value is 1,500\
, i.e. 1.5 seconds.
This option allows the ADDER.NET manager to prevent the client logon che\
cks from appearing on all client logon screens. This means that individual clients won’t need to set cookies but also that the warnings won’t appear on PCs with incomplete client installations.
[See note below] ADDER.NET uses a Secure Ticketing mechanism to provide \
authorised access to hosts. Tickets are issued by ADDER.NET and will remain valid for this time. See Appendix 1 for details about the Secure Ticket feature.
Offers an alternative authentication mechanism for devices which overcom\
es deficiencies in real time clocks. Certain requirements must be met before S3 authentication can be used. See Appendix 2 for details.
NOTE: You should not alter values described in red unless requested to do so by technical support.   
						

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The ‘Import Status’ indicator shows the status of import from the \
directory service. A grey box () shows that no import has yet been attempted. A red cross () indicates that an import attempt has failed. A green tick () indicates that the most recent import was successful. An orange ellipsis () indicates that an upload is in progress.
Enter the IP address  or name of the LDAP server that holds the required directory service.
Leave blank to use the standard port number of 389 or enter an alternati\
ve port number.
Tick this only if the directory service is running as an LDAPS (secure)\
 service (see above).    
Specify the base Distinguished Name for the top level of the directory service database from which you wish to import users and groups.
The domain specified here will be passed to the directory service to i\
dentify the users and groups that you wish to import.
Click to configure which data will be used from the Active Directory. \
See next page.
Click to schedule repetitive updates at short intervals or over periods \
daily, weekly or monthly, i.e. at the specified time every day. 
Bind as Current User - With this option selected, ADDER.NET will use the\
 credentials of the machine on which the ADDER.NET service was installed as the means\
 of binding to the directory service.  In most installations, where the ADDE\
R.NET server machine is registered with a directory service, this option should be su\
fficient. 
Bind with username and password - If the ‘Bind as Current User’ op\
tion does not work for any reason, select this option to specify a username and passwo\
rd that can be used to bind to the external directory service. When selected, a user\
 name and password entry section will be displayed:
Active Directory Import
ADDER.NET can use the industry standard LDAP (Lightweight Directory Acc\
ess 
Protocol) to import user and user group information from an external di\
rectory 
service, such as an Active Directory server. Additionally, ADDER.NET can\
 use the 
external directory service as a means of authenticating user access to h\
osts and 
devices, and can also maintain synchronisation with changes to the direc\
tory 
service. Note: We recommend that you take regular back-ups of certain folders 
and files - please see Appendix 3: Backing up and restoring.
To access the Active Directory controls
1 On the ADDER.NET Manager menu bar, place your mouse pointer over 
Tools and then choose Active Directory from the drop down list. The 
Active Directory Update page will be displayed. From this page you can 
configure the main parameters that determine access to the external Ac\
tive 
Directory:
2 When all details have been entered, click the Submit Changes button. 
Using SSL (LDAPS and Windows)
When the ‘Use SSL’ option is selected, ADDER.NET requires that 
your Domain Controller be set-up to use secure-LDAP [LDAPS]. 
Windows servers do not have this feature enabled by default. 
For further details on this involved procedure, please refer to 
Microsoft’s advice at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321051.   
						

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Active Directory Import Options
This page lists a summary of all folders found during a scan of the 
registered Active Directory. It also allows you to specify which Users a\
nd 
User Groups ADDER.NET should import and maintain synchronisation 
from the external Active Directory. This is done by specifying particula\
r 
Folders within the Active Directory from which to import Users and User \
Groups, and further refining this with the use of LDAP Filters. When t\
his 
page is displayed for the first time, ADDER.NET will scan the external\
 
Active Directory for folders and save/display what it finds.
To display this page, click the Import options link in the Active Directory 
Update page. Note: The ‘Import options’ link is only displayed once valid 
LDAP server details have been entered.Click here to refresh the list - Note: This will reinstate all available folders, including any that were previously deleted from the ADDER.NET list.
Each Filter field allows the specification of a subset of the entrie\
s in a particular folder to be included in the update. Only entries which match a filter\
 are included. The filters require standard LDAP notation. A bad filter w\
ill cause the filter to be shown with a red background. A modified row (including\
 changes to the Filter and Users and Groups selection) will show the filter wi\
th a blue background until “Submit Changes” is clicked so that pending chang\
es can be seen.
The Users and Groups checkboxes allow you to decide whether users and/or\
 groups respectively from the folders that match the corresponding filt\
er are updated.Within the User Count and Group Count, ADDER.NET will display how many Users and Groups would be imported from this Folder.
The Check/Delete drop down box works in association with the check boxes\
 that are located directly above. You can use the ‘Select All’ option to\
 include every folder.  
•	 When	‘Check’	is	selected,	click	the	Go	button	to	preview	the	results	of	an	import procedure as determined by the folders that are selected. The pre\
view results are presented in the User Count and Group Count columns and also\
 in the Check Results section in the lower portion of the screen.
•	 When	‘Delete’	is	selected,	click	the	Go	button	to	remove	the	folders	that	are	selected. Note: The delete option is provided to allow you to declutter the list by removing folders that will never be used. Folders are not removed fro\
m the Active Directory, only from ADDER.NET’s list. The deleted folders can\
 be re-instated collectively (but not individually) by re-scanning the Active\
 Directory for folders.
When all settings have been made, click Submit Changes.
For details about LDAP Filters, and their syntax, please refer to the Mi\
crosoft® 
Active Directory documentation. ADDER.NET will pass the LDAP Filters spe\
cified 
here to the Active Directory – this can be used to further refine t\
he specific Users 
and User Groups to be imported from a particular folder.   
						

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Active Directory Synchronisation 
Using the Active Directory Import Schedule facility, you 
can determine how often ADDER.NET should maintain 
synchronisation with the Active Directory. You can 
specify separate synchronisation intervals that range 
from minutes to months, as appropriate. Once in action, 
the schedule will re-import the Users and User Groups 
from the specified Active Directory in order to ensure 
consistency between its own database and that of the 
external directory.
To create or edit an update schedule
1 Within the Active Directory Import page, click the 
Schedule automated imports link.
 If one or more import schedules already exist, they 
will be listed. Either click the Edit... button to change 
an existing schedule or click the Add... button to 
create a new schedule. The page shown on the right 
will be displayed.
 If there are no existing schedules, the page will show 
only an empty list and an Add... button.
2 When all changes have been made, click the Submit 
Changes button.   
Click here to view the overall list of import schedules
Enter/edit a description for this import schedule 
The timing box changes depending upon the type of import interval. Use the appropriate box to specify how often synchronisation should take place with the external directory.     
						

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Using logs
ADDER.NET provides a status logging system where messages generated by 
all registered devices can be viewed centrally. This feature saves you h\
aving to 
access each device individually. 
To view logs
1 On the ADDER.NET Manager menu bar, place your mouse pointer over 
Tools and then choose Logs from the drop down list:
2 Use the various controls within the Search Criteria section in combinati\
on to 
narrow down the number of log entries to be displayed.
3 Click the Search button.
 In the resulting display screen, use the arrow buttons to move through 
multiple page lists.
4 If required, click the ‘Save the filtered logs as a CSV file’ \
link at the top of 
the page to create a file that can be used independently of ADDER.NET \
for 
further analysis or reporting. 
 Depending on the browser version this may bring up a dialog box asking 
you to save the file or the browser may produce a textual display of t\
he data 
(which can be saved and then opened later).
Use the Date ranges to define a suitable time period
The device filter section can be used in two ways:
•	 Specify	a	range	of	IP	address	(‘from’	and	‘to’)	to	display	logs	from	all	qualifying devices.
•	 Specify	an	IP	address	in	the	‘from’	box	only,	using	the	wildcard	character	‘*’ to display logs from all devices within the range e.g. 192.168\
.*.42 will display logs from addresses 192.168.0.42 to 192.168.255.42
Use the Message Filter to specify the contents of the message (e.g. typ\
ing ‘accepted’ will match any message which contains “accepted”)\
 Wildcard characters can be used (e.g. ‘c*d’ will match terms such as ‘a\
ccepted’, ‘closed’, ‘ABCDE’, etc.) 
The category can be selected to match the category column.
Use this control to limit the number of log entries per page (10 to 100\
0).   
						

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Device auto-configuration
Device auto-configuration is an optional feature within ADDER.NET that\
 is 
designed to help administrators when adding new hardware to an existing \
network installation. When enabled, device auto-configuration allows c\
ertain 
supported KVM-over-IP units and power control devices to be automaticall\
y 
located and acquired.
Note: The successful use of auto-configuration depends upon the system\
 running 
ADDER.NET being configured to have a couple of additional IP addresses\
 (namely 
192.168.1.23 and 192.168.168.167). These can be configured during the\
 initial 
installation or can be added by running the installer program once again\
 (this 
does not overwrite the existing ADDER.NET installation). For assistance\
 on doing 
this, please contact Adder Technical Support.   
There are a number of requirements for the successful use of the device \
 
auto-configuration feature:
•	 The	devices	must	use	their	factory	default	IP	addresses:
•	 192.168.1.42	for	AdderLink	iPEPS	units,
•	 192.168.1.22	for	all	other	Adder	KVM-over-IP	units,
•	 192.168.168.168	for	WTI	power	control	devices.
•	 The	added	device(s)	must	be	within	the	same	network	segment	as	the	
ADDER.NET server.
•	 The	ADDER.NET	server	must	be	configured	to	have	the	additional	IP	
addresses	192.168.1.23	and	192.168.168.167	in	order	to	directly	
communicate with newly added devices (see note above). The address 
192.168.1.23	is	used	to	link	with	KVM	devices	while	192.168.168.167	is	
used to communicate with WTI power control devices.
•	 When	adding	multiple	devices,	you	should	leave	at	least	thirty	seconds	
between linking each one to the network. This gives ADDER.NET time to 
locate and reconfigure each unit. 
Provided all of the requirements listed above are met (and auto-confi\
guration 
is enabled - see opposite), each new device will be automatically acqui\
red 
by ADDER.NET and added to the list of devices. From there you can edit a\
nd 
configure the entry in the usual manner. As part of the auto-configu\
ration 
process, ADDER.NET will enable DHCP on each device, in order for an 
appropriate new IP address to be automatically assigned.
Note: The feature works well for ADDER.NET servers operating on Windows \
XP. 
However, for ADDER.NET servers running on Windows Vista or 7, it is impo\
rtant 
that the server itself does not use DHCP for its own IP address allocati\
on.
To enable device auto-configuration
1 On the ADDER.NET Manager menu bar, place your mouse pointer over 
Tools and then choose Device Auto-configuration from the drop down 
list:
2 Within the appropriate device parameters section, click the Change button 
for the Enable option and then change the setting to Yes.
3 Click the adjacent Save button.
4 You are recommended to change the Default Password (used to gain access 
to the located device). Also, if necessary, alter the Name Template (the prefix 
that will be added to the device when it is added to the list of devices\
 within 
ADDER.NET).    
						

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The Connector
The ADDER.NET Connector module provides access to all hosts, devices and\
 
device clusters according to your access rights.
Accessing the Connector 
To access the Connector module
The Connector is accessible in two main ways, either:
•	 Directly	from	the	logon	page	if	you	are	not	authorised	to	view	the	 
ADDER.NET Manager module, or
•	 From	within	the	Manager	module:	Click	the	Connector option from the 
Manager menu bar.
When you first enter the Connector module, you will see a list of avai\
lable 
targets for which you have access rights:
Searching for hosts, devices or clusters 
To search for a host, device or cluster    
1 On the ADDER.NET Connector menu bar, choose the Search 
option. The Connection Search page will be displayed:
To return to the Manager module
1 On the ADDER.NET Connector menu bar, choose the Manager 
option. Note: If you’re not authorised to access it, the Manager 
option will not appear on the menu bar.
2 As required, enter one or more search criteria for the connection:
•	 The	name	of	the	host,	device	or	cluster,
•	 The	description	of	the	host,	device	or	cluster,
•	 The	location	of	the	host,	device	or	cluster.
3 Choose the search logic that you wish to apply:
•	 Include	items	that	meet	ANY	of	your	search	criteria,
•	 Include	items	that	meet	ALL	of	your	search	criteria,
•	 Show	items	that	DON’T	match	your	search	criteria.
4 When all search criteria are in place, click the Search button. 
After a short delay the search page will list all of the items that 
match your criteria. 
SECT 4
Note: 
* can also be used as a wildcard character during searches.
Once you’ve finished interacting with the ADDER.NET server you should log out by clicking here.
Manager users may click “Manager” to switch from the Connector module to Manager module.
Column sort orderClick a column heading to sort the list according to the contents of that column (a triangular arrow head will appear). When the white arrow is pointing up, the column is sorted alphabetically. Click the same column heading once more to invert the arrow and change to reverse alphabetic order.  
‘Connect’ or ‘SSH’Click to link with the host. Opens either a VNC window (for a KVM connection) or a PuTTY window (for a secure serial connection via a Console CAM) as appropriate to view/control the host.
Power controlWhere a device is linked to a power controller, use these entries to check status of the outlet:
On (),  Off (), Partially on* (), or Unknown ().
And, if necessary, change power states: Switch on (  )
Switch off (  )
Power-cycle (  )* shown for devices that have more than one power input, where one of th\
e power supplies is known to be on whilst the other is either off or unkno\
wn.   
						

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Using hosts
To access a host, device or cluster
1 Locate the required host, device or cluster, either: 
•	 Click	the	View	All	link,	
•	 From	your	Favourites	list,
•	 From	the	Targets	Accessed	Most	Recently,	or
•	 By	using	the	search facility.       
2  Click the Connect button adjacent to the required 
host or device cluster entry. A new VNC window 
will be opened to allow you to view the current 
output of the selected host.
To view information about a host, device or cluster 
1 Locate the required host, device 
or cluster entry within the 
Connector page.
2 Click the  icon.
 Here you can view a summary of the item and/or connect to it. The 
connection status is represented by the monitor icon:  
    Device is active, not in use and available for access,
   Device is active, in use within “Shared” mode and can be accessed,\
  Device is active, in use within “Private” mode and cannot be acces\
sed,
   Device appears to be offline,
   No information is available about the status of this device.
To add an item to your favourites list
1  Locate the required host, device 
or cluster entry within the 
Connector page.
2 Click the  icon.
•	 To	remove	a	favourite:	click	 
the  icon.
 The screen will show information about the selected item:
Click Connect/SSH button to link with the host. Opens either a VNC window (for a KVM connection) or a PuTTY window (for a secure serial connection via a Console CAM) as appropriate to view/control the host.
or
Power controlWhere a device is linked to a power controller, use these entries to check status of the outlet:
On (),  Off (),  Partially on* (), or Unknown ().
And, if necessary, change power states: Switch on (  )
Switch off (  )
Power-cycle (  )
* shown for devices that have more than one power input, where one of the power supplies is known to be on whilst the other is either off or unknown.   
						

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Connector preferences
To access the Connector preferences
1 On the ADDER.NET Connector menu bar, choose the Preferences option. 
The Preferences page will be displayed:
2 Click the Change button adjacent to the required option. The chosen option 
will now allow you to alter its value:
3 Alter the value of the option and click the Change button to store it.
4 Select any other option from the menu bar to leave the Preferences page.\
       
						

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Further information
Troubleshooting
If you experience problems when installing or using ADDER.NET, please ch\
eck 
through this section for a possible solution. If your problem is not lis\
ted here 
and you cannot resolve the issue, then please refer to the ‘Getting a\
ssistance’ 
section.
My browser issues a security warning when first accessing ADDER.NET.
•	 Use	the	link	that	you	selected	when	installing	the	software	(either	the	name,	
the fully qualified name or the IP address).
My browser issues repeated “website certified by an unknown 
authority” messages.
•	 Install	the	key	authority	certificate	on	your	computer	-	a	link	to	this	is	given	
on the ADDER.NET login page.
I cannot make a connection to the required host.
•	 Ensure	that	you	have	installed	the	VNC-URI	client	on	you	computer.	
How do I backup the installation?
•	 ADDER.NET	takes	daily	backups	automatically.	You	can	also	take	separate	
backups (to any destination) at any time. Please see Appendix 3: Backing 
up and restoring.
SECT 5
Getting assistance
If you are still experiencing problems after checking the list of soluti\
ons in the 
Troubleshooting section then we provide a number of other solutions:
•	Adder Technology website – www.adder.com
 Check the Support section of our website for the latest solutions and dr\
iver 
files.
•	Email – [email protected]
•	Fax  in the UK: 01954 780081
    in the US: +1 888 275 1117
•	Phone in the UK: 01954 780044
    in the US: +1 888 932 3337