Getting Started Guide

From ReachPlus Alerts

1 Welcome
2 Brief Product Overview
3 Deploying ReachPlus Alerts Clients
4 Using the ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) Configuration Generator
5 Sending Your First Alert

[edit] Welcome

ReachPlus Alerts comes with tools and features specifically designed to help you painlessly deploy the product on your network in little time. Furthermore, ReachPlus Alerts sports a Quick Send Wizard to help you start sending instant network-wide Alerts with a minimum of hassle.

[edit] Brief Product Overview

ReachPlus Alerts is a safety and security oriented one-way instant messaging solution that has been developed with the specific goal of enabling administrators and security personnel to effortlessly deliver emergency messages across an organization. Also, with the help of ReachPlus Alerts, you can send inter-office and cross-office messages quickly without having to resort to email or interrupting busy personnel.

There are three main components to the ReachPlus Alerts product:

ReachPlus Alerts Server
ReachPlus Alerts Console (Advanced)
ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced)

ReachPlus Alerts Server is the central hub for all ReachPlus Alerts related activity. Using the application called ReachPlus Alerts Console (Advanced), administrators connect to Server in order to configure the system and to send or schedule messages. ReachPlus Alerts Server then takes care of the task of dispensing alerts to all available ReachPlus Alerts Clients in near real-time.

ReachPlus Alerts Console (Advanced) has dual functionality. On one hand, it functions as a control panel for the administrator for configuring the various ReachPlus Alerts Server options, creating user accounts etc. On the other hand, it is used to initiate alert messages to all or select users on the network.

ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) is a standard Windows based application that is deployed to users’ machines on a network. ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) is the receiving end of alert messages that are generated in the ReachPlus Alerts system. This guide will help you in the process of effortlessly deploying ReachPlus Alerts Clients on your network.

[edit] Deploying ReachPlus Alerts Clients

Using the command-line

Using the Microsoft Installer executable msiexec.exe, administrators can perform a completely silent installation of ReachPlus Alerts Client using a network share.

Create a network share on the server to be used as the installation source
Copy the ReachPlusAlertsClient-A.msi to the network installation source
Copy the configuration file (RPCAlertsConfig.ini) generated by the ReachPlus Alerts Client (Premium) Configuration Generator to the network installation source
For installation use the /i and /q options. Construct a command-line similar to the following to execute the installation:

msiexec /i \\UNC Path\ReachPlusAlertsClient-A.msi /q PATHINI="\\UNC Path\RPCAlertsConfig.ini"

To produce a log file:

msiexec /i \\UNC Path\ReachPlusAlertsClient-Pre.msi /q /Lv* "C:\Temp\install.log" PATHINI="\\UNC Path\RPCAlertsConfig.ini"

Replace the "UNC Path" with the fully qualified UNC path of the installation source. The value of PATHINI public property must be enclosed in quotation marks. The msiexec.exe is located in the windows system directory.

Note: Windows Installer Version 2.0 Required

Using Active Directory and Group Policy

Active Directory and Group Policy can be used to deploy ReachPlus Alerts Clients to the users.

Create a network share on the server to be used as the installation source
Copy the ReachPlusAlertsClient-A.msi to the network installation source
Copy the configuration file (RPCAlertsConfig.ini) generated by the ReachPlus Alerts Client (Premium) Configuration Generator to the network installation source
Deploy via the Computer Assign options. Please read ahead for help on assigning a program to computers via the Group Policy.

Assign a Package
To assign a program to computers that are running Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional, or to users that are logging on to one of these workstations:

Start the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in. To do this, click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
In the console tree, right-click your domain or OU (Organizational Unit), and then click Properties.
Click the Group Policy tab, select the group policy object that you want, and then click Edit.
Under Computer Configuration, expand Software Settings.
Right-click Software installation, point to New, and then click Package.
In the Open dialog box, type the full Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to the shared folder that contains the MSI package that you want. For example, \\file server\share\file name.msi.
IMPORTANT: Do not browse to the location. Ensure that you use the UNC path to the shared folder.
Click Open.
Click Assigned, and then click OK. The package is listed in the right pane of the Group Policy window.
Close the Group Policy snap-in, click OK, and then quit the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in. When the client computer starts, the managed software package is automatically installed.

[edit] Using the ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) Configuration Generator

ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) Configuration Generator is a tool to generate default configuration (.ini) files for ReachPlus Alerts Clients. The generated .ini file can then be used in a Remote Install. See the section titled Deploying ReachPlus Alerts Clients for more information about when the Generator tool is used. The step-by-step process of generating a configuration file is discussed in this section and is as follows:

Run ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) Configuration Generator. You will see a window similar to the following:

Specify the various options that will go into the configuration file. The details of these options are as follows:

Port: Refers to the port number on which ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) will try to connect to the ReachPlus Alerts Server.

Primary Host: Refers to the host which is running the ReachPlus Alerts Server.

Enable Secondary Host: Select this option to specify a secondary host.

Secondary Host: Refers to the host which is running the ReachPlus Alerts Server.

Please note that only one ReachPlus Alerts Server should be online at a time. Secondary host can be brought online if primary host becomes unavailable for an extended period of time.

Connect Retry Interval: ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) will automatically attempt to connect to the ReachPlus Alerts Server every ‘n’ number of milliseconds, where ‘n’ refers to the interval of time you specify in this option.

Pop up Window: If this option is checked, ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) displays the new message in a popup window.

Pop up window as maximized: If this option is checked, ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) displays the popup message window as maximized.

Sounds: Clicking the Sounds button allows you to specify as to whether or not ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) should play a sound when a new message arrives. You can choose to enable/disable sounds for each individual Alert Level that ReachPlus Alerts supports.

Heartbeat Interval: ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) periodically sends a still-alive notification to the ReachPlus Alerts Server. This interval is known as the “heartbeat”. This option allows you to configure the heartbeat interval for ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced).

Security: Clicking the Security button allows you to configure security settings for ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced). You can choose to override the default security key that ReachPlus Alerts uses. Please note that ReachPlus Alerts Server and ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) are required to have the same security key to work correctly. Please refer to ReachPlus Alerts Help for how to change the security key in ReachPlus Alerts Console (Advanced).

Show text labels with toolbar buttons: If checked, ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) displays text labels with toolbar buttons.

Allow ReachPlus Alerts Client to exit: This option dictates whether or not the user will be able to exit from ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced). It essentially enforces a strict mode for ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced). If left unchecked, the Exit menu option in the program will be disabled and the user will not be allowed to exit from the program. Furthermore, the option "Allow the user to configure connection information" that appear below, will also be unavailable to the user.

Allow the user to configure connection information: If this option is not checked, the user will not be able to configure the port number and hostname for ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced). The “options” window in ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) will show these options as disabled.

Hide System tray icon: If checked, ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) hides the task tray icon.

Balloon tip display interval: ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) optionally displays the new message as a balloon tip window just above the taskbar notification area. This option dictates the number of seconds that the said balloon tip window will be displayed.

Mark messages read after displaying for X seconds: ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) displays unread messages in bold. This option allows you to specify the interval of time that must elapse before an alert message is marked as read.

Auto delete old messages after X days:ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) will automatically delete messages that are specified number of days old.
Click Next. A window similar to the following will be shown.

Do Multicasting: If checked, this option causes ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) to try to automatically determine the IP address of the host where the ReachPlus Alerts Server is running, by using multicasting. This option is disabled if a secondary host has been specified.

Multicasts can be used to inform other ReachPlus Alerts Clients about the ReachPlus Alerts Server: If checked, this option causes ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) to respond to any multicasts requesting ReachPlus Alerts Server information, if the Client is itself connected to a Server.

Disable Toolbar: If checked, this option disables the main toolbar in ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced).

Hide Options Menu: If checked, this option hides the Options menu in the main window of ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced). You can, however, still access the Options screen in the program by pressing a special hotkey combination: Ctrl + Shift + F9.

Hide Help Menu Options: If checked, this option hides the help options that are available by default under the Help menu in ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced), namely ‘Read Me’, ‘License Agreement’, ‘Bug Report’ and ‘Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)'.

Always show last popup message in the Alert Display Window: If this option is checked, ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) will always display the last received popup message in the Alert Display Window. If not checked, ReachPlus Alerts Client (Advanced) continues to the display the first popup message in the Alert Display Window until the window is dismissed by the user by clicking the close button.

Click Finish to generate the configuration file when you're done.

[edit] Sending Your First Alert

This section will guide you through the process of sending your very first Alert using ReachPlus Alerts Console (Advanced). Please refer to ReachPlus Alerts Help for detailed explanation of various options available in the Quick Send Wizard.

Step-by-step instructions for sending an Alert follow:

In ReachPlus Alerts Console (Advanced), point to the Alert menu and choose Quick Send to launch the Quick Send Wizard.
In the resulting Message Text screen of the Quick Send Wizard, you can format the Alert that you wish to send and configure other options.

Configure the options exactly as shown in the screen-shot above; then click Next.

In the resulting Send Options screen of the Quick Send Wizard, you can specify whether you wish to schedule the Alert to be dispatched later or send it right away.

Configure the options exactly as shown in the screen-shot above; then click Next.

In the resulting Options screen of the Quick Send Wizard, you can specify the Group to which to send the Alert, Method of Transmission, Header information and Alert Validity.