Remote System Connectivity
This guide is intended to show the configuration, setup and support of a remote WCS installation.
RDC Configuration
Each server has a capability of supporting 1 console session and 2 remote sessions through Remote Desktop Connection (RDC).
A remote session is initiated by a connection to the machine through RDC from a remote machine. To initiate this, you provide a domain, username and password for the connection, which must be set up as a remote user on the server.
When this user connects, a session is started under this username. The session consists of the Windows desktop and all associated client processes required for this user.
Sessions in this state can be seen clearly by using the Task Manager, as sessions for the remote user provided, with status 'Active'. Additionally, the screen will show the machine that is connected to the remote session (i.e. the machine name on the remote or local network).
In the example above, we can see that there are 3 sessions:
- Session 0 is the Console session. It is running (i.e. status Active)
- Session 1 is the first remote session. It was logged on with user FWL_Support, from machine UKATH-1LPD024 and is active.
- Session 2 is the second remote session. It was logged on with user FWL_Support, from machine WALKERT-S1 and is active. This is the session that I connected to, to get this screenshot.
When the remote session is closed, the local session is left running by default, so any programs that were started during the session are left running on the server, within the local session. RDC will warn you of this fact when you close the remote session (using the X on the top right of the window).
Sessions in this state can be seen clearly by using the Task Manager, as sessions for the remote user provided, but with status 'Disconnected'.
If the remote session is terminated using the start menu (Start/Log Off), the local session is terminated with the remote session, stopping all programs running.
Sessions that have been terminated in this way do not show as connected session on the Task Manager.
If 1 or more sessions exist on the machine at disconnected status for the provided Domain and username, RDC will connect to these sessions rather than create a new one.
If there is 1 only, this will be connected to immediately.
If there are more than 1, the client will ask the user to choose which of the session to which they would like to connect.
RDC with WCS
One remote session is used to run the WCS Server, the server-side component of the Calidus 3PL-Mobile application. This must be running for the RF system to be active.
This is not run as a service, but as an application.
If the session that runs the WCS Server is closed (but not logged off), the application continues to run.
If the session that runs the WCS Server is logged off, the application will be terminated and the RF application will no longer work.
Operational Considerations
The site users are connecting to the server using RDC, in order to run the WCS Maintenance application (the Calidus 3PL-Mobile application that allows the user to see and manage RF tasks).
They connect using the FWL_Support account.
If 2 users open a session on a server and stay connected to this session, there are no available sessions for OBS support.
If the users disconnect from the session (and do not terminate the session), the session will be available for OBS to use, when we connect for support purposes.
If users log off the session, there is a chance that the WCS Server application will also be terminated, and so will affect the running of the system – this is not recommended.
As the only purpose of connecting to the server is to run the WCS Maintenance application, all of the above potential issues can be mitigated by installing the application locally (see section 1.4), or running the application over the network (see section 1.5). An installer exists for this purpose.
Installing WCS Maintenance Locally
Prerequisites
In this instance, it is assumed that the WCS has been set up on a WCS Server PC, and that the user has access to this PC over the network. The PC should have some shared folders, as specified in section 2.3:
- '
{Installation Path}\Database' shared as '\\{WCS Server}\WCSDB$' (required) - '
{Installation Path}\Bin\Reports' shared as '\\{WCS Server}\WCSRPT$' (optional) - '
{Installation Path}\' shared as '\\{WCS Server}\WCS$' (optional)
It is further assumed that all required standing data has been set up on the WCS and that the user has been provided a valid username and password for access to the WCS.
Run Installer
Run the WCS installer and install the WCS Maintenance package only.
Follow the on-screen instructions.
Default working directory for the install is:
C:\Program Files\Warehouse Control Server
Run WCS Maintenance
Start WCS maintenance from the shortcut on the start menu under the group 'Warehouse Control Server'.
Choose the appropriate database from the file list or the Browser.
You will be accessing the central WCS database remotely. There are several ways to do this:
- Browse for the appropriate database using the 'More Files' option on the File List. You should be browsing through your Network, looking for the machine on which the WCS has been installed, and choosing the shared Database folder '
\\{WCS Server}\WCSDB$'; - Set up a network drive (for our example, we will choose the driver letter “W”), pointing to the 'Database' shared folder on the WCS Server PC. Use this driver letter to find the database (rdt1.mdb) in the Browser.
Once you have selected the database once, the database will remain on the file list for you to select.
Log in using your provided WCS username and password.
Once in, go to the System Settings screen, using either the toolbar or the menus (System Tools/System Settings).
Click Apply, then OK in this form. That sets up the settings for Maintenance, as well as an 'INI' file for the maintenance functions, with the normal default values for certain areas.
Installing Network WCS Maintenance
Prerequisites
As section 4.1
Run Installer
Run the WCS installer and install the WCS Maintenance (Network Install) package only.
Follow the on-screen instructions.
Default working directory for the install is:
C:\Program Files\Warehouse Control Server
Once completed, this installer will have installed all the required libraries for WCS Maintenance to run and will have created a shortcut on the start menu. This shortcut must be modified to point to the network WCS Maintenance application.
If the site want the users to use the central installation of WCS Maintenance (for ease of release and support), the following steps must be taken:
- Change the 'Target' field to point to the network shared WCSMaintenance.exe file in the format
'\\{WCS Server}\WCS$\WCSMaintenance.exe' where '{WCS Server}' is the network name of the WCS Server Machine. - Save the changes to this shortcut.
Run WCS Maintenance
Start WCS maintenance from the shortcut on the start menu under the group 'Warehouse Control Server'.
Choose the appropriate database from the file list or the Browser.
You will be accessing the central WCS database remotely. There are several ways to do this:
- Browse for the appropriate database using the 'More Files' option on the File List. You should be browsing through your Network, looking for the machine on which the WCS has been installed, and choosing the shared Database folder '
\\{WCS Server}\WCSDB$'; - Set up a network drive (for our example, we will choose the driver letter “W”), pointing to the 'Database' shared folder on the WCS Server PC. Use this driver letter to find the database (rdt1.mdb) in the Browser.
Once you have selected the database once, the database will remain on the file list for you to select.
Log in using your provided WCS username and password.
Change 'Default Report Files Folder' location (found from the menu System Tools/System Settings, Maintenance settings tab) to the shared name of the WCS Reports folder on the WCS PC which is usually '\\{WCS Server}\WCSRPT$'.
Click Apply, then OK in this form. That sets up the settings for Maintenance, as well as an 'INI' file for the maintenance functions, with the normal default values for certain areas.
