NEOSYS Technical Support Wiki - User contributions [en]

Procedures

2017-11-20T10:50:29Z

Priyanka: /* Handling junk email */

Here are procedures to be followed by Support Staff in respect to various technical matters in day to day operations of client issues.

== Handling Clients with Overdue Invoice ==
In order to maintain good payment speed by clients NEOSYS needs to restrict support to clients that dont pay their bills on time, however the degree of restriction needs to depend on an intimate knowledge of the client which cannot be expected from all NEOSYS support staff. Therefore we will use a simple escalation policy as follows:

=== Overdue Support List ===
NEOSYS SUPPORT MANAGERS WILL maintain an overdue list on a whiteboard visible to all support staff. Generally, clients will go on the list immediately when their invoice is overdue and come off only after satisfactory commitment to pay have been obtained.

The latest overdue list email MUST always be starred until there are no clients left on the overdue list (apart from the permanently overdue clients). This way support team will know that there are still clients on the overdue list and will not mistakenly provide support to those clients.

For the first week of each quarter of the year, normal support should be provided for server failures and backup failures (including hung processes as it could eventually lead to backup failures). NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any other support requests from overdue clients, with the following letter (where XYZ is the overdue client):

Dear ABC,
There is an issue with your company's account. We have requested our Accounts team for approval in order to provide support to you and other XYZ users.

Support staff must then provide the required support to the overdue client only after 4 working hours. Support Staff need not actually contact the Accounts team for approval, although that is what is mentioned in the letter. This delay in support is to encourage clients to settle their payments on time.

After the first week of each quarter of the year, NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any support requests from overdue clients with the above letter but MUST NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT even after 4 working hours. Instead, NEOSYS Support Staff must refer the support request to NEOSYS Support Manager.

Managers may well instruct support to provide support on a case by case basis even if clients are on the overdue list. Being on the overdue list does not necessarily indicate a major issue with accounts.

== Handling Frozen NEOSYS Installations and Databases ==

Some clients retain fully operational NEOSYS installations or just particular databases even after they stop using them for some reason, either because they move to some other software, or because they terminate an operational division, or other reasons, and this can either be on NEOSYS or their own servers.

In this case, various NEOSYS upgrade and maintenance processes may be suspended, downgraded or completely skipped especially if instant access to the server is no longer available. This does not mean that it should never be done, and pros and cons need to be assessed and documented in support emails on a case by case basis.

*Upgrading NEOSYS version
*Upgrading/standardising NEOSYS database configuration and other files for consistency, security or other issues
*Patching Windows/IIS configuration for consistency, security or other issues

== Handling Links and Email Attachments ==

'''DO NOT TRUST ANY LINK OR ATTACHMENT IN ANY EMAIL EVEN FROM HIGHLY TRUSTED PEOPLE OR ORGANISATIONS'''

These days you can no longer trust links or attachments in emails from anybody - even emails from highly trusted people like your bank.

If a personal computer or intermediate email server is hacked then even genuine emails sent out from it can be infected and modified in a hidden way that can result in the recipient being infected if they click or open anything in the email.

Therefore you should know and understand how to avoid, as far as possible, getting tricked and infected via emails.

Malware authors generally rely on the fact that most people devote no time at all to security precautions so a moderate cautious approach, slowing down a little to spending some time on security, even where it is apparently not required, is enough to defeat most attacks.

=== Links ===

Do NOT click on links, especially in emails that you are not expecting, but also anywhere else that you see links, without taking various precautions. The links in an email, even from someone you know and trust, can LIE to you about what website they will open and they can lead you to websites that mere browsing can infect your computer and then others inside our network.

WHAT LINK/WEBSITE WILL BE OPENED MAY NOT BE WHAT IT SAYS IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL!

Therefore, to use a link in any and all emails, first hover your cursor over it and check the status bar at the bottom of the screen where you can see exactly what website will be opened, or, to be more sure exactly what website you are opening DO NOT click links in emails at all. COPY/PASTE the link to your browser, AFTER following the below points.

*Make sure you know and trust the website being opened.
*Carefully inspect the spelling of the domain name to avoid tricky look-alike fraudulent links eg hcsb.com instead of hsbc.com
*If you trust the sender but you do not personally know the website then get independent confirmation from the sender. Reply to the email so that the sender can check the link you received has not been tampered with.

Example 1:

Below is an example of a phishing email that you can easily tell is malware

[[image:Scamscreenshot1.png]]

1. You don't expect it because it says "before your sign up is complete" ... but you didn't just sign up.

This doesn't mean that links in emails that you ARE expecting ARE safe to open. All the usual cautions apply to emails you DO expect.

2. Hover mouse over the button and check the link visually

In the example above, the email is supposed to be from Dropbox, but hovering the mouse over the button shows the below link, which is obviously wrong:

http://fxloraisdoxbraxsil.com.br/dropbox.html

3. Even if the link looks genuine e.g. something from a service that we use that we didn't expect, be careful for misspelt links that look like genuine links e.g. drobbox.com, which could trick you if you are sloppy.

Never click on links in emails unless you are absolutely 100% sure that the email and link is genuine.

Copy the link using right click copy link then paste into your browser if there is the slightest doubt.

Example 2:

In the following case, hovering over the first two links seem to go to real UPS website, BUT this is NOT sufficient to be sure since slight misspellings and other tricks can lead you to a totally different website.

However, hovering over the third "link" shows that clicking the apparent link would go to some website http://behappy.vn (Vietnam) so clearly this is a DECEPTION.

[[image:Scamscreenshot.png]]

=== Attachments ===

There is no way to determine if an attachment, even from someone you know, has not been infected and is therefore dangerous. The only protection is to rely on anti-virus/anti-malware software on your computer.

You can check the names and file types/extensions of attached files to spot any obviously strange or unexpected attachments but this is not very effective. Don't open attachments ending in .jar or any others without SB's permission.

Be careful that if there are a lot of attached files not to assume that all are safe because the majority are unsafe.

== Handling junk/spam email ==

DO NOT delete emails from Junk or Spam folder because they are used to identify future junk and spam emails.

Any email identified as junk should be manually marked as Junk so that they automatically go into the Junk folder. The spam filter in the mail server will use these emails in the Junk folder to decide what is moved into the spam folder.

== Avoid burdening email servers with excessive graphics ==

Support MUST install the "Auto Resize Image" addon in Thunderbird to reduce the size of images in emails resulting in a significant reduction in email size. See [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Configure_Auto_Resize_Image| setting up auto resize image]] for details.

It reduces the burden on NEOSYS and NEOSYS client's email servers. This is especially important on long conversations about subjects that include many screenshots, since for just a simple one line reply, the email can consume many MB of space. It massively wastes the email server space and makes backups massive and generally a total waste of resources and time.

To be able to refer back to graphics in previous emails, add the SIZE column to your email program so that you can locate large emails with graphics rapidly without searching back one by one.

==Client Communication Policies==
===Client Meeting Report Policy===

After every Client meeting online or otherwise Support MUST send a Follow-Up email to the Client which is open and fully informative and not brief, stating the events during the meet and any action required by either or both parties. The email to the client must not shrink from discussing contentious issues due to a false sense of politeness or timidity to address issues face on. Obviously one should not be rude but it is not rude to address issues openly.(cc Client managers and NEOSYS Managers)

The follow-up email MUST be sent within 24 hours of completion of the meeting so that the points discussed during the meeting are fresh in all the meeting participants' minds. This means that reports for meetings on the day before the weekend MUST be sent on the SAME day.

In addition to above email if there is some information that needs to be shared internally and cannot be said in public to the client then send a Client Meeting report to Support.

Support must also update the Client Contact Record file in Google Drive immediately after sending out the follow-up email.

===Follow Up of Support Issues===

All voice/chat communication MUST also be followed up with an email confirming at least the gist of the communication to keep the whole support team updated on the issue.

If not possible to contact for any reason, then an email MUST be sent stating so and suggesting or requesting a time to connect.

cc Client managers (and/or BCC NEOSYS Managers) MAY be done if thought to be useful and/or appropriate.

===Handling Contentious Emails from Clients===

If emails requesting support become contentious, then voice, phone call or chat is REQUIRED to save time. However, client support via phone call should be done only on local or low-cost calls. High-cost international calls should not be used except in extreme circumstances.

If clients become deliberately combative or uncooperative then Support team is supposed to kick back a little but still emphasise the point. Perhaps it could be done better with a little ironic humour or a smiley. Avoid using !! while responding to contentious emails.

=== Discussing Pricing ===
All discussions about pricing must be done only in Sales inbox. If clients bring up pricing discussion in support emails, NEOSYS staff must respond to the client by starting a new thread in the Sales Inbox.

==NEOSYS Support Response Time Policy==

NEOSYS contracts, in the few cases where we have a written contract with the client, specifies that maximum response time is one business day generally and one business hour for complete stoppages of the system. Obviously we have to do far better than this in practice.

Support staff must inform clients of the progress of the issue if it is not resolved the same day but only if they contact at least 1 hour before office closing.

Deciding to wait on issues is fine (also refer to: [[Procedures#Handling_users_who_do_not_act_upon_standard_messages|Response to standard messages]]), but support MUST at least spend up to 5 minutes on issues to see if they can be handled quickly.

For routine requests for service where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client then no need to send rapid reply.

==Default Browser for support staff ==

Firefox browser MUST be used by Support staff for all work related tasks in Ubuntu that includes wiki testing/wiki work etc as Firefox is a more stable browser as compared to Chromium. To maintain a uniformity in Firefox configuration, Support team has to log in to the support profile.

Also refer to [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_Ubuntu_on_NEOSYS_Support_Computers#Mozilla_Firefox Setting up Mozilla Firefox]

==Handling errors discovered by support staff ==
{{Handling errors}}

==Handling Cheques from Clients==

NEOSYS staff are not to accept deliveries from clients that might be cheques without prior instructions to accept the same. They can ask courier to wait a few minutes until NEOSYS accounts or management agrees but they may not be available and probably will not agree anyway. NEOSYS payment terms do not accept cheques although clients are free to deposit cheques by themselves.

== Client Password Policy ==
All client user passwords, including their initial one, are to be obtained via the user's email address using the password reminder/reset button on the login screen. [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#What_is_NEOSYS_password_policy.3F (NEOSYS password policy)]

NEOSYS staff should never know users passwords therefore NEOSYS will not obtain and grant user passwords. The reason for this is that in the event that users lose their passwords to other people who then login unauthorised then suspicion could fall on the NEOSYS staff who know their password.

All parties concerned, including client management, client users and NEOSYS support staff, benefit greatly from trusting that if something in a NEOSYS database is registered as having been done by a particular user then it was not in fact somehow done by NEOSYS support staff. Nothing should be done that would break such fundamental trust. To achieve this, NEOSYS support staff must never log in as particular users, never ask for users passwords and generally enforce the idea that all work logged as being done by users IS done by users.

Very limited amounts of work by NEOSYS support staff either in person or remotely using teamviewer is acceptable while a user is logged as long as the user login was performed by the user themselves, the user is present and the user specifically agrees with the work being done.

=== Support requests from ordinary client users ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords will be forwarded to known skilled users on the client staff since this is the most efficient (not fastest) way to handle such issues.

=== Support requests from senior client management ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords by senior client management users shall be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bearing in mind that NEOSYS staff should never know user's passwords this will probably involve NEOSYS staff using the Password Reminder/Reset button to send a new password to the user.

=== User Defined Passwords ===
NEOSYS will provide user defined passwords in very special cases which must be pre-approved case by case by NEOSYS management. NEOSYS will not approve this due to the reasons mentioned [[Procedures#Client_Password_Policy|here]].

If the user login gets blocked due to multiple login failures and the user requests support team to reset the password to the user defined password again, support MUST delay the response to this request by at least 1 hour in order to force the user to be more careful when typing the password.

Currently permission for user defined password has only been granted to one NEOSYS client with several hundreds of databases.

== Handling client issues and requests==

All support issues must be dealt with through phone/email/chat. Support Staff can schedule client visits for User Training but should not schedule client visits solely for providing support for petty issues.

ALL Support staff should check the all the previous day's inbound emails for reply flags once in the morning. All Support staff will therefore be held responsible for any unreplied inbound email.

Support staff should NOT waste time and delay support by investigating issues WITHOUT having sufficient information.

Support staff should look for similar issues when solving a particular problem to avoid similar issues in future. This saves the time and energy of Support as well as the Client.

When sending screenshots to clients, support team should economise on space by minimising to the minimum that will show the problem clearly. This is because not every user will be viewing their emails on large wide screens like NEOSYS support team. Browser windows reformat their contents to suit the width available so this is particularly effective in most NEOSYS screens.

Support team MUST be cautious while sending screenshots so that no private/unnecessary information is sent to Client. If you cant avoid taking the screenshot without unnecessary information then you should hide it in the screenshot.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

=== Handling new emails in Support inbox===
Support MUST spend up to 5 minutes on new emails and send a quick reply to the client, to acknowledge the request or give a quick solution in case its a petty issue or has a documented solution in wiki. This should probably be done on priority, interrupting existing work and not wait for one hour and be dealt with quickly.

For routine service requests where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client, Support does not need to send a rapid reply.

=== Handling client call back requests===

Clients who ask us to call them should be given our phone number asked to call us unless there is some GOOD reason why we should make the effort and pay phone charges.

=== Handling login failure issues===

Users often get login failure issues due to typing wrong password and they simply won't read and act according to the error message they get. In this case, Support must send the below email to the user.

<pre>
Dear XYZ,

If you have trouble resetting password, please ask for assistance from your manager/IT Manager/Timesheet Administrator/NEOSYS-expert colleague.

Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

Local support users (TA or IT manager etc) have the LS key using which they can see the User Details page of all users. They should check all the information (usercode, registered email id, last login attempts etc) in the User Details page to find out what is the issue.

This procedure will reduce the endless mails sent back and forth to solve petty issues which could easily be solved by the client's local support.

=== Handling requests or demands for "URGENT" or "PRIORITY" support ===

Any request for prioritised action *without giving any reason for the prioritisation* should be disregarded and the request handled with normal priority. If a reason is given then you may at your discretion prioritise a response but there is no obligation to do so.

=== Handling users who login with other people's NEOSYS usercodes ===
This can cause a lot of confusion in both the client and NEOSYS support. It may also indicate that the correct NEOSYS monthly licensing fee is not being paid. There is no valid reason for anonymous logins or sharing logins between multiple users.

Therefore if NEOSYS support team get requests for support about using NEOSYS from users who are not registered properly in NEOSYS with an personally identifiable user code, name and email then the following email should be sent cc admin@neosys.com.

No exception should be granted to clients without NEOSYS management approval.

<pre>
Dear NEOSYSUSER,

Please note that in order to receive support from NEOSYS you must personally have an identifiable user code, name and email address registered
in NEOSYS.

We can create new user account for you with your management approval. This may or may not have an impact on the NEOSYS monthly licensing fee
depending on the agreement in force.

Please let us know what you would like us to do.

Best Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

=== Handling support requests from expired users ===

If expired users call for any reason including not being able to login, they must not be given any support. They should only be told that their account is expired without any reason being offered because employers sometimes do not want any information at all being passed to expired users.

===Handling support request from senior management===

Any support requests from senior client management users concerning report generations should be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bear in mind that NEOSYS staff should not agree or offer to do client work. Support staff can advise senior management to contact a skilled user to help them with basic NEOSYS reporting. Support staff can also send screenshots of step by step procedure on how to take reports. Depending on the situation and reasons provided by senior management, support staff can at their discretion provide reports but after informing them that this is an exception and no more reports will be sent out as this is against NEOSYS procedures.

=== Handling emails with unrelated subject line ===
At times, clients forward old emails, with new issues, resulting in completely unrelated subject line. In such situations, support MUST follow the below steps to ensure that unrelated emails do not appear in the same conversation group when viewing emails in conversation mode:
#Right click the email -> HeaderToolsLite -> Edit full source
#Modify the text that appears after "Message-ID: <". (e.g. replace the first few characters with "xxxxxxxxx")
#Remove all texts that appear after "References:" and "In-Reply-To:" and click OK.
#Click Reply All on the modified email.
#Change the subject to a relevant one.
#Delete old unrelated content from the email body.

In the email reply, include a comment like "PS Please don't forward old emails for new issues, start a new email with a new subject so that emails can be traced easily."

Sometimes the client does not bother putting the correct subject line for new issues (e.g. blank subject, or "Error"). Then support should add a meaningful subject line in order to make the email easy to search for.

=== Handling emails with poor screenshots ===
Sometimes Thunderbird shows full sized screenshots in a compact format that is not easy to read. These can be resized to make them more legible. To do this, make the email editable by hitting the "Reply" button, then click and drag to resize the screenshot as desired.

If the screenshot sent by the user is genuinely small and hard to read, reply to the mail and request for a full size, clear screenshot.

=== Handling support-request emails sent to anywhere than support@neosys.com ===
Client emails anywhere than support@neosys.com MUST be ignored. This is because ALL support must be recorded in support inbox without exception so that the whole support team is aware of the issue and action taken. If client complains about the delay in support then they can be told this is because they used the wrong email address.

=== Handling users who do not act upon standard messages ===
When users do not bother to read and act on standard NEOSYS-generated messages and instead ask for help, Support staff MUST delay response time and thereafter send them an email which is the same as the message so they get the point that in future they should read the messages and handle issues themselves.

=== Handling Requests to do Client work ===
NEOSYS Support staff must not agree or offer to do work on behalf of the client.

This is because doing client work while logged in as NEOSYS breaks security rules. Support uses the NEOSYS username which has unrestricted access, so when a user requests Support to do some work which they don’t have access to, and if Support agrees to do the work, the client has successfully defeated the security rules by accessing features that they are unauthorised to access.

Client work also includes [[Procedures#Handling_issues_with_totals_on_reports|Handling issues with totals on reports]].

====Requests for colour and font changes====

Support should not be spending lots of time on colour and font changes. Clients can make as many changes as they want until they are happy with a selection. Clients MUST send a screenshot of their required color/font settings (not sample screen/reports) for Support to copy and setup for all users. If Support sees them doing something bad or poor then give comments or better suggestions.

=== Handling Requests that require Approval from Higher Authority ===

The following is a list of user requests that must be handled by NEOSYS support staff only if they are approved by or come from a higher authority (manager/admin). The LIST is '''NOT''' a complete list so there may be other things which might require approval so use good judgement and/or ASK if in doubt.

*Opening new financial year
*Adding new company/dataset
*Editing alert/backup email receiver addresses
*Customising Authorisation File ({{SensitiveSecurity }})
**Adding or removing accesses for existing users in Authorisation file
**Adding new user(s) to Authorisation file
**Expiring a user
**[[Procedures#For_HTTPS_access| Allowing HTTPS/outside office access from any IP number]]

If an unauthorized user sends one of these requests to support staff, support staff must immediately instruct the user to get the request approved by the higher authority.

===Handling User Requests to add an IP or range of IPs to access NEOSYS===

Support staff must identify if the IP or range of IPs is for http or https access.
{{SensitiveSecurity }}

====For HTTP access====
Support staff can add local IP or range of local IPs when requested by the client. Top management approval is not needed to add local IP numbers. Listed below are the IP address ranges reserved for local network.

10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

====For HTTPS access====
Any request for https access from any IP address or range of IP addresses (eg. 123.456.* or just *), or in other words any use of an asterisk in the IP restrictions, MUST have TOP management i.e. the company's decision makers approval. The Staff and their Managers are not the best decision makers in this affair because they usually ignore the risks and it is not really their decision. Security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled. It is completely pointless to inform the staff who want the access about these risks because only their top managers could really decide that this is NOT going to be allowed. Hence the Top Management MUST be asked for approvals and at the same time WARN them about the security risks/threats behind the no IP restrictions.

=====For clients with static IP=====
Any request to add a specific IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses MUST have management approval.

=====For clients with dynamic IP=====
For clients with dynamic IP, support MUST NOT add their public IP to the allowed list as this will encourage the client to again request for access from new IP numbers every time their public IP changes. Instead, support MUST force the client to either install VPN or get the Top Management i.e. the company's decision maker's approval to enable access from any IP after explaining the security risks in doing so, as mentioned above.

Support MUST also mention that installation of VPN by the Company is the industry standard way of providing access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER. Installation of VPN is to be done by their own IT support. Refer to [[Procedures#Using_VPN_to_enable_secure_access_from_outside_the_office|Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office]]

Sample Email:
<pre>
Dear XXX,

I do not recommend allowing access from all IPs because security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc. can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled.

I strongly recommend that you keep IP restrictions for XYZ dataset.

If you want to provide access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER, then installation of VPN is the industry standard of achieving this. Installation of VPN is to be done by your own IT support.

If you still wish to allow access from all IPs, kindly confirm that you acknowledge the security threats of doing so.

</pre>

=== Handling repeated request to allow users to access from all IPs ===

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

If the client wants temporary access from outside for some staff twice in say a six months period then support should send the below email. The real reason is because we don't have the time to be doing this on a regular basis. If at all the client asks why we no longer support the provision of temporary outside access then we can say this is because of the frequency of such requests.

Dear XXX

We have given you temporary outside access this time, as requested. Please note that we can no longer support the provision of temporary outside access. So in the future, you will have to choose between either permanent or no outside access. Alternatively, you can ask your management to install a VPN (which is the industry standard of achieving outside access to a corporate asset in a secure manner), so that you can log in to NEOSYS from outside.

=== Handling requests to create a new feature or modifying existing features ===

Many issues are small and not important but can still be considered for development because they may be easy and neatly added to NEOSYS. The aim here is to avoid development on hard issues for little benefit, or little issues that make NEOSYS more complex for little benefit.

When a client requests to create a new feature or modify an existing feature, a workaround must be given to the user, which is either a permanent solution, for example if the issue is a rare case and not commonly faced by other clients (and the workaround is acceptable to the client), or a temporary solution until some better solution is discovered or can be developed.

Any request to create a new feature or modify an existing feature MUST be discussed with other clients before forwarding it to the programmer because the other clients might not be comfortable with the change as it may not be in accordance with their workflow. If other clients agree to the proposed change then support should go ahead and request the programmer to implement it.

Therefore before escalating a request to the programmer to modify a feature in NEOSYS, the approval for the same from other clients must be taken into account.

When escalating the request to the programmer, support MUST avoid using "Is it possible..?" because the obvious answer to that is "Anything is possible" and because this question is only a way to avoid doing the real work of deciding whether the new feature/modification should be implemented.

=== Handling requests to add more fields to List of Invoices reports ===

Many users may ask for the List of Invoices report to be expanded to show a zillion other things, but this makes it NOT a list of invoices. Therefore other break-downs MUST be obtained from other reports in NEOSYS.

=== Updating Clients about unresolved issues ===
Support should proactively inform clients if an issue is not solved within the same day it was raised, after judging the urgency of the issue and the time it was raised. An email to the client who raised the issue, before the end of each day, is a best practice that keeps the client updated and other support staff too. This email should be sent regardless of the degree to which the issue has been resolved or if the issue is unresolved. If the issue is unresolved, the email should explain why and also explain the cause of delay.

=== Handling new USER creation ===
Support staff should create new USERS for clients ONLY when requested by an authorised person.

If the request comes from an unauthorised person, then support MUST reply to the same person informing them that this request must come from an authorised person. Support MUST NOT directly contact the authorised person asking for approval/confirmation because that is client work.

Clients should not be discouraged to create new users. Clients are billed as per user usage which is reviewed periodically. Over time old USERS are replaced with new USERS.

The USER code is the first name of a user.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

Support team MUST NOT discuss billings with clients unless authorised to do so. Also see [[Procedures#Discussing_Pricing|Discussing Pricing]]

Support team MUST NOT proceed with creating new users until the following details have been clearly provided by the client, otherwise the user may end up with more than the required authorisation, which can lead to problems in future.

New user requirements :-
*Full name
*Email address
*Group level / User with similar authorisation

After the new user has been created, Support Staff must send an email to the person who requested the creation of new user, confirming that the new user has been created along with a screenshot of that part of the authorisation table where the new user was created so that the new user's usercode and email id is visible. This is done so that in case there is some error in the usercode or email id, it is easily visible in the screenshot and also so that the person who requested the creation of the new user is informed about the usercode of the new user.

=== Handling letterhead change requests ===

Support staff should reject any requests that require the letterhead to be setup on the TESTING dataset before it is setup in the MAIN dataset.This is to reduce double work for support staff and to ensure that clients have a clear understanding of their requirements and also send the correct logo image.
The MAIN dataset can be copied to the TEST dataset for any kind of testing.

See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Configuring_Letterhead#Changing_the_letterhead_for_printed_documents How to change letterhead]

=== Handling error messages ===

'''Important:''' Before Attempting to resolve client issues, please ensure that we have secure access to the NEOSYS server.

#The very first step is understanding client problem. Ask questions to the client until you CLEARLY understand the problem.
#If the error is familiar and does not require a screenshot, resolve the problem immediately.
#If the error is unfamiliar and/or requires a screenshot and the user has not sent a screenshot, IMMEDIATELY ask the user to send a screenshot of the problem, along with the options used (basically you need to know HOW to replicate the error and the screenshot MUST show WHAT the error is).
#If the user says "nothing happens, so no screenshot of the error", then IMMEDIATELY request for screenshots again with the exact steps to reproduce the problem using mouse and keyboard.
#Upon receipt of the error and steps to reproduce the error, follow the steps and reproduce the error. Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues|Addressing Browser related issues]]
#If the issue is unknown or you don’t understand it clearly, with the users acknowledgement use remote support to gain access to the users desktop to view how to replicate the error.
{{Handling errors}}

=== Addressing Browser related issues ===

When resolving random browsing issues that seem to be on one user computer only, support MUST send the below email asking the user to check if the same issue occurs on other user computers. Rapidly convincing the user that the problem is only on their computer gains their willingness to sort the problem out at their end, using IT people if necessary and available.

Handling random issues that appear to be on one computer is very very common and it is important to deal with it effectively, not requiring stages of "denial" by the users until they accept something has to be done at their end, and not by NEOSYS. Speeding up this process gains the confidence and appreciation of the users.

<pre>Hi xxxx

Is this error happening only on your computer? If that is the case, it may be due to an issue in your browser cache. Please clear your browser cache with assistance from your IT team if required. Then restart the browser and try again.

If clearing browser cache does not fix the issue, I recommend a full browser reset to ensure that everything works fine.

Follow these instructions for clearing browser cache and resetting browser:
http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers

Please let us know if you face the issue again.</pre>

Also refer to [[Procedures#Handling_Browser_related_issues_in_NEOSYS| Handling Browser related issues]]

=== Addressing Technical support emails ===

In the case of technical support issues, address emails to the IT person and cc the complete group of recipients of backup emails and other NEOSYS alert emails. This allows both NEOSYS and client IT staff to take credit for resolving issues that NEOSYS raises instead of working in the background unacknowledged.

Technical support issues include backup failure, server failure, missing alert email, server connectivity issues and port forwarding issues and many other issues.

For technical issues like browser configuration, clear cache, etc. support must send the user a link to the appropriate wiki article to help the user fix the problem. In some cases the user may be helpless and unable to follow the steps to fix the problem. In such cases, support MUST NOT waste time trying to help the user fix the problem, instead support MUST ask the user to get help from the IT person.

=== Acceptable report format when handling issues in NEOSYS reports ===

NEOSYS Support must only resolve issues in NEOSYS output first. This is because only NEOSYS outputs can be trusted and user versions in Excel or PDF could be copied wrongly or edited by the user.

In case users send reports in excel or other formats, get them to send the original NEOSYS HTML report as an attachment or copy-pasted in email.

=== Handling requests to create new charts or control accounts===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_and_Configuring_NEOSYS_Finance_System#Creating_New_Charts_or_Control_Accounts Refer here]

=== Handling issues with totals on reports ===

If a client has a problem with any total output by NEOSYS software then NEOSYS support will advise them which other NEOSYS report or reports provide a complete breakdown of the total (if necessary, to individual transactions) and ask the client to locate any offending transactions themselves.

NEOSYS support staff will handle any issues where the total on the breakdown report does not add up to the total on the summary report.

Reconciling totals can be hard if there are many transactions involved. Regardless of how hard it may be, reconciliation is an operational task for users not for support staff since NEOSYS support staff will not get involved in understanding client transactions or data.

==== Trial Balance and Financial Statements ====

NEOSYS support staff do not have to prove or trace any figures in NEOSYS Trial Balance Reports or any financial reports. If a figure is stated to be wrong by the user, then NEOSYS support staff should ask for proof or say NEOSYS is confident that the figures are correct unless proved otherwise.

NEOSYS support staff should point out reports in NEOSYS which will support the figures in question but not actually run the reports. Support staff can suggest the users to refer to detailed ledger accounts to prove balances.

== Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office ==
There are two ways in which a user can use VPN:
*User connects to the their office router and makes the PC act like it is on the office LAN.
*User connects to a VPN service that provides a static IP number and can therefore be authorised by NEOSYS to login.

If the client intends to use VPN to connect to their office router and make the PC act like it is on the office LAN, then it depends on what VPN protocols the client's office router supports.

The alternative is to use a paid VPN service that provides a static IP number. Getting a dynamic IP number on VPN is very cheap and there are many suppliers, but getting a static IP number on VPN services seems to be more expensive.

Internally in NEOSYS we use PFSENSE routers which support OPENVPN which is extremely flexible.

==Handling issues with Office PBX phones==

Support should check their respective Office PBX phones every morning to find out if the phone is up and working. In case Support finds any issue with their phone, immediately fix it so that clients do not lose contact with the Support team via phone. Next send an email to Support inbox mentioning the fault, cause and solution for records/future prevention.

== Running undocumented commands on Maintenance mode==

Support Staff MUST NOT run undocumented commands on ***LIVE*** database. Some commands are not documented for a reason, it could be because the commands might give an undesired output or because there is no clarity on what else could be effected by the command.

Even if the command is tested in TESTING database and the output looks okay, support staff MUST get the programmer's approval before going ahead and running the command in LIVE database as there is no guaranty that the command is properly programmed and will do no damage.

==Configuring Browsers to show Javascript errors in NEOSYS==
NEOSYS Support MUST ensure the following Settings for browsers because if NEOSYS generates any javascript error message, the same would appear in the bottom left corner of a window, which in turn helps the programmer to fix the error. This must be done after every Factory Reset.

===Internet Explorer===
Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Browsing - the items Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer) and Disable script debugging (Other) are '''UNTICKED'''.

===Chrome===
Chrome Menu > More Tools > Extensions > Get More Extensions, search for '''Javascript Errors Notifier'''. Add the extension to Chrome.

[[image:Chrome.png]]

[[image:Chrome1.png]]
===Firefox===
Firebug add-on is used to NOTIFY about script errors because we have no other method to get any warning on screen but you should use the main firefox developer tools to investigate any errors as firebug is essentially replaced by built in developer tools.

For developer tools, go to Tools > Web Console

To enable notifications for script errors, download the add-on Firebug from [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/ here]. When a Javascript error is encountered, the firebug icon will report the number of errors.

Set your firebug as per the second screen shot and select "Enable All Panels" as well, the tick will not appear like the other options but the option will get selected. If you miss out on any one of these steps, you will not be able to capture script errors.

[[file:firebug1.jpg|1200px]]

[[File:Firebug.png]]

==Handling Browser related issues in NEOSYS==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Technical_/_Hardware_requirements#NEOSYS_Software_Browser_and_OS_Requirements NEOSYS browser requirements]

Clients frequently ask [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#Why_doesnt_NEOSYS_support_my_XYZ_browser.3F Why NEOSYS doesn't support other browsers]

To avoid browser errors, all new users must follow the steps given in [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#Getting_started_with_NEOSYS Getting started with NEOSYS] before logging in to NEOSYS for the first time.

To troubleshoot browser related errors see [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers Troubleshooting Web Browsers]

Users must clear browser cache after every NEOSYS Upgrade to avoid errors. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS#Sample_email_to_be_sent_to_clients_who_face_issues_due_to_failure_in_clearing_browser_cache Sample email to clients who face issues due to failure in clearing browser cache]

Pop-up blockers and any 3rd party toolbars must be deactivated/switched off or else certain pages and alert messages while using NEOSYS do not appear as a result of blocking from either the pop-up blocker or toolbars with built-in pop-up blockers.

NEOSYS support must ask users to Reset browser (See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Reset_Browser Reset browser]) if they notice any user browsers which have pop-up blockers or 3rd party toolbars installed.

Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues| Addressing Browser related issues]]

== Handling NEOSYS Upgrade==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS Upgrading NEOSYS]

==Handling auto-reply emails like Out of Office etc.==

From 28th May 2017 version, emails sent out by the NEOSYS system now contain headers that in effect request recipient email systems not to auto-reply for things like Out of Office. This is to reduce unnecessary chatter by silencing unnecessary automatic replies. There is no guarantee that recipient email systems will comply. The headers added are:
*X-Auto-Response-Suppress: RN, NRN, OOF
*Precedence: bulk

Support team should notify SB of any auto-responses that come despite their installation being patched.

In NEOSYS versions after 10th Jun 2017, emails sent by NEOSYS from the NEOSYS Help menu, i.e. manually triggered emails, do NOT indicate that OOF replies are not wanted, since if you are sending emails to people using NEOSYS, you will want to know if they are OOF.

== Using Support Tools ==
=== Website Live Support ===
www.neosys.com is equipped with a Live Support software and clients can visit the website, click on this link and chat with any of our support staff, without the need for any installation. The client has to fill in their name and enter their questions to connect to an available support personnel. During non-working hours, the Live Support icon on the website automatically displays "offline".

NEOSYS Support personnel who are authorised to provide such support, need to login to Live helper chat in Firefox using the link given below:

http://neosys.com/lhc_neosys/index.php/site_admin/

Support personnel should enter the account details as provided by their Manager.

Enable notifications for Live helper chat so that whenever there is a visitor trying to contact Support team, the Support personnel will get the notifications on his screen. Set the Live helper chat login page as your home page in firefox.

Use the link below to enable notifications:

http://neosys.com/lhc_neosys/index.php/site_admin/chat/listchatconfig

After setting up Live helper chat if you sign in to a new profile in firefox, you might have to re enable the notifications after your firefox is synced to the new profile.

=== Teamviewer ===
Since Teamviewer allows no restriction on access once a fixed pass is installed, Support must not install fixed pass on teamviewer however convenient it might be.

RULE: NO FIXED PASS TO BE INSTALLED ON TEAMVIEWER IN ANY NEOSYS OR NEOSYS CLIENT COMPUTER

Running teamviewer live from a web link is fine because it does not allow installation of a permanent password

For certain tasks that require temporary install of Teamviewer on the client servers (e.g. upgrading Cygwin remotely), use Teamviewer 7 on the server as well as Support staff computer. Contact NEOSYS IT for commercial license of Teamviewer 7. Teamviewer MUST be uninstalled after usage, otherwise it creates an additional unnecessary security risk.

To support client users who use the latest version of Teamviewer, support staff must also install the latest Teamviewer version available alongside Teamviewer 7.

== Documenting Processes in Wiki ==
NEOSYS Support staff must be in continual learning mode. This is mandatory for support staff and is not an option. Support must read, learn and understand everything in the support emails and ask questions if they don't understand. This understanding must be transferred into wiki in the form of new articles and improvements to existing articles.

For all articles related to formatting and editing in Wiki, see [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Documenting_NEOSYS_systems Documenting NEOSYS systems]

===Avoiding duplication of text in wiki===

Duplication of text in wiki is to be avoided almost at any cost. Duplication has the problem that when one copy is changed or improved in future then it is highly likely the editor will fail to update the other copy or copies and wiki will over time become an inconsistent mess.

There are several ways to avoid duplication:

#Two or more procedures which have significant areas of duplication can be rewritten as a single procedure with alternatives in the middle of the procedure
#Wiki Templates- Templates reproduce the same text in all places and editing one place edits all places. See [[How to create templates in wiki]]
#Wiki links- Only put the text in one place and put links to that in all the other places that it is appropriate.
#Place a note in all copies something to the effect that "This is similar to x, y and z". This alerts any future editor of all other places in wiki that might also have to be updated.

Future modifications in one place may or may not be appropriate to other places. The editor must decide whether to change one or all places

===Highlighting information in wiki===

To highlight particular instructions or info in wiki do NOT invent new styles which are not the way the rest of wiki is done. Instead, follow the USUAL STYLE or open a DISCUSSION with any recommendations you have BEFORE USING THEM.

Instead of using various kinds of highlighting styles like bolding and words like "Note:", use the following words IN CAPITALS especially the word MUST.

The use of the following words IN CAPITALS indicates that you are using them in a special way with formally defined meaning as explained below. Use of the words in lower case indicates that you are using the word in an ordinary commonsense meaning.

*MAY - means optional
*SHOULD - means recommended and you need GOOD reason (not just any weak excuse) to not follow to follow this recommendation
*MUST - mandatory

Only in the rare cases where the consequences of doing or not doing something are irreversible or take a lot of work to reverse then you can use your own additional highlighting methods, eg ALL CAPS, stars, color red etc.

==== Explain WHY ====

Any sentence which uses the word "MUST" in capitals, MUST be followed by a SPECIFIC REASON explaining exactly why is the instruction is mandatory; the reason MUST not be vague and non-specific meaning no more than "or bad things will happen".

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules.

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise it will cause problems in future.

CORRECT way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise the deleted schedules' ads will still show in all media-diary like reports and screens

The Wrong way above gives a general reason "it will cause problems in future" which is vague and a reader may even go ahead and ignore "MUST" because there is no objective or proper side effect mentioned for not following the MUST statement. Basically he doesn't understand the point behind following a certain rule.

Whereas the Correct way gives a SPECIFIC reason for "deleting ads while deleting schedules", so reader will exactly know the trouble that will be caused if ads are not deleted. Therefore "SPECIFIC REASON" behind using the word MUST must be to the point and very informative.

==== Why explain WHY ====
The information contained in the WHY phrase is often '''extremely informative''' to the reader about things that you may otherwise not have considered saying.

The most valuable information is usually contained in the "WHY" of something. There is an apocryphal story of a company where managers could be fired if they gave instructions to their staff without providing explanation. In almost all cases it is better for the efficiency of a team of people that any instructions they follow contain the "WHY" of something. Only in few cases should staff be expected to follow instructions without being well or fully informed.

== Email Retention Policy ==

=== Generally ===

Emails are retained permanently to allow old issues to be discovered in email searches.

=== Account: backups@neosys.com ===

Only the last 365 days of emails to backups@neosys.com are kept in general to reduce the burden on servers and clients due to the heavy number of emails.

For the backups/neosys folder, only 31 days is kept due to the very high numbers of emails ~250/day.

Deletions are configured in and done by a thunderbird client in NEOSYS IT so may not be continuous.

== Use of personal email addresses by NEOSYS support staff ==

NEOSYS support staff MUST NOT use any personal email addresses for NEOSYS business.

The xxxx.neosys@gmail.com addresses that are created by support staff for themselves on joining are also considered personal email addresses and must not be used for NEOSYS business. These email addresses might be linked to NEOSYS wiki accounts but that doesn't matter because wiki is not confidential.

== Accessing NEOSYS accounts on personal devices ==

NEOSYS staff MUST NOT install NEOSYS accounts on skype/dropbox/gmail (or any other external tool) on their personal devices without written permission from NEOSYS management

== Support Staff work-in-progress documents/files ==

Support Staff must not save working files hidden on their computer. Work that is not visible is not work .
Support work should not be done privately and should be shared to all.

ALL personal working files however trivial MUST be stored in Dropbox and MUST NOT be stored anywhere in personal computer (My Documents/Desktop etc.)

The personal encrypted pass file MUST be stored somewhere in personal folder under SB NEOSYS staff in Dropbox. This is because if there is a loss of OS/Computer, it should not lead to loss of access as all the passwords saved in the file will be lost.

== Handling CLIENT/NEOSYS Servers ==

NEOSYS support staff must exercise extreme caution when working on CLIENT and NEOSYS servers. Do not risk making changes without due care and attention to the fact that the consequences of errors can be serious on working production servers.

=== Handling Javascript Files in NEOSYS ===

All the files in NEOSYS installation folder with .JS and .JSE extension are the executable javascript files which startup NEOSYS processes (in a usual DOS window). Their default program is 'Microsoft Windows Based Script Host' (wscript.exe). If a JavaScript file is opened using a notepad, the default program may change to notepad resulting in all NEOSYS processes to open up in a notepad.

Hence be very CAREFUL when accessing a .JS and .JSE file and double check that the default program remains wscript.exe. Refer to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Fixing 'NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (i.e. DOS window)'|Fixing NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host]] in case this issue comes up.

== Handling "List of Open Ports" reports ==

This email comes to NEOSYS support team once a day showing only those client's servers which appear to have changed what TCP ports are open to the internet since yesterday. It will also come once a week showing all clients servers open ports.

NEOSYS support team should work patiently with client IT staff, over time if necessary, to close all ports that are not absolutely mandatory to be open.

Clients with highly skilled IT staff may have a variety of ports open to various non-NEOSYS servers inside their organisation. In this case, NEOSYS plays little or no role other than getting their confirmation of exactly what ports are acceptable. Any new ports that appear over time should be handled in the same way.

For clients without such staff, NEOSYS is their only real line of defence and since NEOSYS requested opening some ports, we should get all other ports closed by patiently following up until action is taken. Involving management may be the only way to get IT to act.

In particular, port 80 and 443 controlling internal or external routers should be closed. It is NOT acceptable except in HIGH IT EXPERTISE environments that critical routers should be exposed to the internet and they MUST NOT be accessible from the internet because routers that do not have their software updated can be hacked using known defects. Even updated routers can be hacked. Making it easy for client IT staff to access the router configuration from outside is NOT a good enough excuse to break this rule. Professional IT does not allow access to critical routers from the internet.

Likewise, any port 80 (unencrypted web access) and port 3389 (RDP remote desktop) open to the NEOSYS server MUST be closed otherwise logins can be monitored and there is no way to guarantee server security.

If a port is definitely required and properly approved to be open by client IT support, please let NEOSYS IT (SB) know and it will be put in the "known" column so that ports in the "unknown" column are all pending action.

The report does not attempt to detect UDP ports since UDP ports can receive information from the internet without responding in any way so there is no way to detect them reliably.

Green color shows ports that have opened since the last report run. Open ports can sometimes not be detected accurately so a port may appear to disappear in one report and reappear in the next report.

=== Why should HTTP port 80 not be open on my router? ===

It is not advisable to expose any HTTP server for any private service on your computer network or router because HTTP is unencrypted and this means that all information regarding that service, including passwords, can be observed by any malware on your LAN and internet connection. This information can then be used to install horrible software on your internal PCs.

What to do?

Use https for any internal services - and advisably on a non-standard port, not the standard https port of 443.

For example, NEOSYS service is exposed as HTTPS (not HTTP) usually on port 4430 - not the standard https port of 443.

Commercial hacking is getting really common with things like FIREBALL and CRYPTOLOCKER causing a lot of damage.

It is advisable to take basic precautions pro-actively before any attack exposes weaknesses.

== Handling Nagios Client Monitoring system ==

NEOSYS support staff on duty MUST follow the procedures outlined below in case Nagios Checker shows a critical or warning message for any service. Failure to schedule appropriate downtime will lead to REDUNDANT ALERTS from NAGIOS every hour.

# Nagios is required to be checked first thing in the morning and any critical or warning messages need to be dealt with to resolve the same at the earliest.
# Some of the messages could be related to backup failures and the usual procedure as stated in [[Backup_and_Restore#Handling_failure_and_warning_messages_on_nightly_backup_alerts|Handling failure and warning messages on nightly backup alerts]] needs to be followed. In case the backup issue isn't resolved by 9:30 am, the Nagios service needs to be scheduled with downtime for a minimum of 2 hours and maximum until 1 am next day if the issue cannot be solved.
# In case any HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host is down, immediate action is required and the relevant IT people at the client side needs to be contacted to get this resolved. A downtime of 2 hours is required to be scheduled with further intervals of 2 hours in case this is not resolved. Support staff shouldn't schedule downtime till 1 am next day, just to get rid of the alerts for the day. Proactive follow up with the client is required to get this resolved before the business day - more so, if there is a weekend ahead.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host goes down during the day, a grace period of 20 minutes is given before the issue is reported to the client IT. This helps in case there is any temporary internet connection issue at the client or along the internet route.
# In case of "Backup not changed" warning status which occurs if the client has not interchanged the USB before 12 noon on that day, no action is required from the support staff and a downtime until 1 am next day needs to be scheduled.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH PING service or Host is down for more than 1 day, client IT should acknowledge the problem and give NEOSYS support staff an approximate time frame before which the issue will be resolved. Set an appropriate downtime for such events.
# In case Host is down for more than 2 days and there is no progress with the fix from client IT, the client management should be notified about the seriousness of not having access to server and their acknowledgement is mandatory.
#Support should check Nagios quite frequently during the day to look for any new alerts so that issues are fixed as soon as possible.

To summarise, any red alert left in Nagios Checker means that there is an issue that has not been attended to properly, and "attended to" does not mean solved. Support staff MUST solve the problem immediately if possible, or downtime/acknowledge and comment on the Nagios alert.

== Handling lack of remote access to NEOSYS server located in client’s premises ==

If access to the NEOSYS server is lost then we must determine the root cause by:
# Checking if the server is UP and running
# If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server
# If there is connectivity, please check the router for connectivity issues

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

Please note that we have currently lost access to the NEOSYS server. The server seems to be down at the moment and it seems that
NEOSYS processes are not running on the server.
Kindly check if the server is UP and running. If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server.
Do keep us posted on the server status so we can test connectivity from our side as well.

Best Regards,
</pre>
== New Router (Port Forwarding) ==

If you have changed your router then you may notice that external access to NEOSYS is unavailable.

'''Solution:'''

Setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to the NEOSYS Server as follows:
# Port 19580 > 19580 for SSH
# Port 4430 > 4430 for HTTPS

You can see [http://portforward.com/ Set Up Port Forwarding] to learn how to configure your Router.

To see how to test/ troubleshoot port forwarding settings, go to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_remote_support_port_forwarding|Troubleshooting Port Forwarding]].

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

You are requested to kindly setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to
the NEOSYS Server,i.e. port 19580 for SSH and port 4430 for HTTPS.

Once this is complete, kindly send me an email to confirm the same so that we could test connectivity from our end as well.

Best Regards
</pre>
== Creating and Handling passwords ==
Passwords made out of a pass phrase should be at least 10 characters since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts.

=== Creating a password ===
Passwords are generated from a pass phrase and it is important to create a very difficult to guess pass phrase.

For example, a good pass phrase would be: '''Today is a good day and it is the best time to go for a holiday'''

The password for this would be '''Tiagd&iitbt2g4ah'''

The important instructions for the above are:
#You have to take the first letter of each word and that makes your password (i.e. by using initials)
#Wherever any word starts with a capital, then you have to take first letter as a capital (eg. For Today you will take T)
#Replace '''and''' with '''&'''
#Replace '''to''' with '''2'''
#Replace '''for''' with '''4'''

=== Handling passwords ===
#Never send the actual password - always send the pass phrase
#Make sure that the password created out of the pass phrase is at least 10 characters long since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts
#Pass phrases are never to be sent by email, whatever the case maybe.
#Pass phrases can be sent by chat - however they have to be broken down in two parts and sent separately over two different messengers or if you are using Gtalk then use the 'off the record' mode.
#Using SMS to send pass phrases is the best known way as of now.
#If you save the passwords on your system in an file then:
#*Ensure that you only store pass phrases in the excel file
#*Ensure that the excel file is encrypted with a master password

== NEOSYS Maintenance Window ==

The NEOSYS server is functional from 6am – 1am. There is a 5hr window gap for the system to perform updates & backups.

The 5hr maintenance window:-

1. At 1am – The server performs a data backup on a USB (for the respective clients) & once the backup has been completed, the system automatically generates an email addressed to the neosys staff & the respective clients.

2. At 2:45am – The main data over writes the test data on the server.

3. At 3:00am – The server by itself performs an update for Windows.

4. At 4:00am – The server performs a backup to the headquarters for clients, and then automatically generates an email addressed to the NEOSYS staff & the respective clients.

5. At 6:00am – The server starts up NEOSYS.

== Using NEOSYS Terminology while communicating with Clients ==

NEOSYS support must communicate in correct language to clients on finance issues in order to ensure that our records exactly represent reality. Conversely NEOSYS must not use other terminology because it can cause considerable confusion and poor quality results. In case client is new and still in training, use client terminology optionally as long as
#It is only an addition to NEOSYS standard terminology
#Only if clear that it is client terminology by putting in brackets like this "Sales Invoices (called PI by you)", where "you" means the client you are talking to or you can put the client company name instead perhaps.

The objective is over time to avoid having the support team to have to know the terminology of the client. NEOSYS support team cannot possibly know and remember it for each client therefore the client MUST over time learn and use NEOSYS terminology. The initial period is one of relearning and translation for the client not for NEOSYS.

Many users operating NEOSYS finance module do not know proper financial procedures and may not appreciate how doing something in a wrong or unusual way now may not be correctable in the future.

NEOSYS staff must follow NEOSYS procedures only. If NEOSYS procedures need to be updated then this must be agreed in advance and not AFTER the fact.

== Amending/Reposting Journal Entries ==
In certain exceptional cases, amending/reposting of journal entries is allowed for a brief period of time to enable clients to present reports in an alternative manner. This would be subject to NEOSYS would requiring a written LETTER OF APPROVAL duly signed and stamped by the highest management of the company.

In case the client management decides to allow editing/reposting of journal entries, the following procedure is to be followed:
# Client must de-allocate vouchers which need to be amended
# NEOSYS support staff must wait for a day so that de-allocated vouchers are copied into Test database
# Authorise required users to amend and repost (without record) '''in Test database only''' ( While reposting, we have 2 options i.e. with record and without record. The 'with record' option causes the system to maintain a history of edits made. Hence, we want to repost without record so that there is no trace of the edit in the system)
# Amend a substantial number of vouchers in Test and verify them. To verify if the edits made are reflected:
# *Print all ledgers for the whole year
# *Cross-check all balances
# Once you verify the balances are correct in Test database, grant users permission to amend and repost in the Live database.
# Ask users to amend and repost vouchers in the Live database.
# Cross-check all balances for the current year.
# If you successfully verify the balances, revoke permissions immediately. Else, wait for 24 hours and revoke permissions irrespectively.

== Removal of unauthorized third-party software on client servers ==

Rule: Any third party software that is discovered by NEOSYS support staff on client servers that has been installed without the agreement of NEOSYS should be uninstalled immediately on discovery.

However purposeful a software is, NEOSYS is contractually responsible for support and there are too many opportunities for poorly installed software to cause unpredictable damage to the NEOSYS database so NEOSYS has to have a clear and safe and simple policy to ensure the integrity of client data. Installing software without prior discussion with NEOSYS by itself indicates that insufficient care and consideration as been given to possible issues.

Any software required by client IT for some purpose may only be installed after discussion and agreement from NEOSYS support staff concerning the configuration and operation of the software.

The NEOSYS Software Licence and Support agreement requires that where NEOSYS software is installed on client servers that a dedicated server is provided and dedicated implies that no other software may be installed without the agreement of NEOSYS support.

== Configuring tunnelier to autologin on opening tlp files ==
If you have many tunnelier tlp files in a directory and connect by opening the desired tlp file the, instead of opening the file and then clicking Login you can also right click the file and select Connect.

Alternatively, you can configure tunnelier to login (connect) automatically by following the procedure mentioned below. (Even if you configure automatic login, you can still open and not login by right clicking and choosing Open)

=== Windows 8 ===

Cannot be done using standard Windows UI. Some download utilities can do it. TODO put a safe one in neosys.com/support

=== Windows XP/Vista/7/2008 ===

#Go to My Computer
#Click on Tools -> Folder Options [[image:tunnauto-1.jpg]] 
#Click on File Types
#*Select TLP (Bitvise Tunnelier Profile) [Type "TLP" to find it quickly]
#*Click on Advanced [[image:tunnauto-2.jpg]] 
#Click on Connect and Click on Set Default [[image:tunnauto-3.jpg]] 

== International v/s Indian English ==

There are some words which have completely different meanings in International and Indian English. NEOSYS Staff should follow International English only. Below are the examples of few of those words:

Word: '''Doubt'''

In the English language word "doubt" means to distrust an alleged fact on the basis of a reason, depending on the strength of the reason which may be anything from factual to feeling e.g "I have no reason to doubt him".
This usage is followed worldwide.

Some people especially from Indian origin use "doubt" when they are unaware about a fact. e.g "I want to clear my doubts about this procedure". This is incorrect. The word must be used when you do not agree on something on the basis of a reason and not when you do not have knowledge about it.

==[[ New Employee Training Checklist]]==

==[[ New Client Training Notes]]==

==[[ General Office Procedures]]==

Installing NEOSYS

2017-11-14T07:08:51Z

Priyanka:

[[Technical / Hardware requirements]]

[[Preliminary Check-list and other Misc items]]

[[Setting up TCP/IP filtering|Setting up TCP/IP filtering (for Windows Server 2003)]]

[[Setting up Windows Firewall|Setting up Windows Firewall (for Windows Server 2008)]]

[[Setting up and using remote support]]

[[Installing NEOSYS Service]]

[[Configuring Antivirus for NEOSYS]]

[[Configuring NEOSYS on Windows 10]]

[[Configuring IIS]]

[[Setting up Host Name]]

[[Setting up HTTPS]]

[[Benchmarking NEOSYS]]

[[Installing IE7 & IE8 Download Blocker]] ** not required for Windows 2008

[[Handling backup in Virtual Server]]

[[Backup and Restore#Configuring NEOSYS automated backup|Configuring NEOSYS automated backup]]

[[Installing EMS Magic]]

[[Establishing Emergency Support Procedures]]

[[Setting up for non-latin characters]]

[[Configuring and Administering Multi-site Installations]]

[[Installing on Windows 7]]

[[Restricting usage of NEOSYS to licence period]]

[[Configuring NEOSYS for various language character sets]]

[[Configuring NEOSYS to display local time]]

[http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_monitoring_in_Nagios#Adding_a_new_NEOSYS_installation_.28new_client.29 Setting up Monitoring from Nagios]

[[Implementing NEOSYS]]

Configuring NEOSYS on Windows 10

2017-11-14T07:08:46Z

Priyanka: Created page with "== Installing NEOSYS on Windows 10 == 32 bit Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise (NOT 64 bit) will run and serve NEOSYS fine. 32 bit Windows Home is not fully suitable because it..."

== Installing NEOSYS on Windows 10 ==

32 bit Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise (NOT 64 bit) will run and serve NEOSYS fine.

32 bit Windows Home is not fully suitable because it does not have IIS web server. NEOSYS processes will run on Windows 10 Home 32 bit but IIS will have to be configured on another computer with access to the NEOSYS folders via a share. The computer running IIS could be any version of Windows including 64 bit.

=== Installing IIS using appwiz.cpl ===

#windows features
#check IIS
#expand IIS
#expand World Wide Web Services
#expand Application Development Features
#check ASP

=== Excluding ntvdm.exe from Windows Defender ===

Must be done otherwise performance according to FILESPEED is 10 to 20 times slower.

Steps to be documented

=== Running AREV.EXE in compatibility mode ===

#Right click AREV.EXE in \neosys\ folder
#Properties
#Compatibility tab
#Run with compatibility for Win95

Installing NEOSYS Service

2017-11-12T08:26:22Z

Priyanka: /* If NEOSYS is installed on NEOSYS Server (win3) */

= INSTALLING NEOSYS SERVICE =

Reference to X:\ in the notes below denotes the actual drive letter and needs to be replaced (eg D:\)

== Main installation: ==

Make sure NOT TO COPY an existing NEOSYS installation to another location and ONLY do a
completely new install with a fresh database, because copying a folder will copy a variety of
hidden configurations.

=== Installing NEOSYS on partitions ===
Good server management practice is to have separate partitions for operating system (C:) and data partitions (D:)

In the case of operating system reinstallation (which causes the loss of the C: partition) if NEOSYS programs and data were installed on D: can be preserved. If there is only one partition then NEOSYS programs and data will have to be backed up and restored.

==== Multiple Partitions ====
NEOSYS MUST be installed on a different partition rather than the C drive for reasons already explained above (eg. D drive)

==== Single Partition ====
If there is only one partition then you have to inform the client to take the effort to reinstall the operating system or using third party repartitioning tools to create separate partitions.

=== Downloading and running installation files ===
# http://www.neosys.com/support/neosys.exe ... and unzip/install to X:\neosys (or to X:\hosts\client for multi-installation on one server where "client" is the client folder name which MUST be same as the main database code planned to be used, to reduce the number of codes that are in use. This folder name MUST also be in lower case to maintain consistency and be able to see deviations easily.)
# http://www.neosys.com/support/neosys2.exe ... and install same as previous step.

=== Creating shortcuts ===
In x:\neosys (or x:\hosts\client), make a shortcut called ‘Maintenance’ and link it to

x:\neosys\neosys\adagency.bat (for Adagency install)

or

x:\neosys\neosys\accounts.bat (for Accounts install)

=== Activating NEOSYS using authorization number ===

Start NEOSYS Maintenance, select Initial Backup and it will give a “Computer Number” and ask for an “Authorisation No”

Send the computer number to NEOSYS admin, email: admin@neosys.com to get the authorisation no. Do not leave the authorisation no. promt page open for a long time. This will cause the CPU usage to go to 100%.

If you cannot get the authorisation number immediately then you can close NEOSYS and when you reopen NEOSYS it will still give the same computer number and accept the same authorisation number.

=== Installing initial Database ===
For standard NEOSYS Installations, copy the BACKUP.ZIP file from WIN3 server (D:\DATA.BAK\STARTUP1\"Day of week") and place it on the D drive of the server where we wish to install NEOSYS. You may choose any other drive also but make sure that this file exists in the root folder e.g. D:\BACKUP.ZIP
 

Follow the steps below:
#Click on the Maintenance icon.
#Select BASIC DATA SET and type in the NEOSYS username and password. (If the system does not prompt for a username and password,then go to Quit > Quit to next user and type the same in. If you do not enter with a username and password then NEOSYS will not allow you to restore the database). The first time when you enter maintenance you will get a command box (like when you do F5). If you do not get a command box, hit the F5 key and get it on the screen and hit ESC after you get it.
#Now restore the BACKUP.ZIP (STARTUP DATABASE), to do so go to General > Backup & Data Management, select (the 4th option) Restore from disk or diskette. select D drive (or whichever drive you put the backup.zip file in) and follow the prompts ahead.
#On every successful restore or creation of dataset, system will give you a message to switch to new database always '''say NO''' to this,because the switch to database option brings you back to the BASIC DATA SET. Hence press the ESC button, type EXIT on the F5 prompt.
#Now startup maintenance again and you will find a new database "STARTUP DATABASE" select it and login with NEOSYS username and password. Once you enter you may find a prompt "TASK ADDED" follow the prompt and continue.
#After you have logged in, go to General > Backup & Data Management > Delete a dataset and select the "BASIC DATASET" to delete, to confirm the delete system will ask you to enter the dataset code. Enter the code and delete the basis dataset.
#Now create a new dataset for the client, go to general > Backup & Data management> Create a new dataset, select (6th option) and follow the instruction on how to setup database code from the following link [[Installing_NEOSYS_Service#Assigning_database_codes|Assigning database codes]]
#Once the client dataset is created,login to the clientdataset and follow the steps in above point6 and delete the STARTUP DATABASE. (while logging in to the client dataset, it asks " This database has been copied or the database name or code has been changed. Is this going to be a unique new master database?" select first option YES - Going to be a new independent database.
#To check the list of dataset on the computer, go to go to General > Backup & Data Management > See a list of dataset in the computer(8th option).

Note:
#Sometimes it may tell you that you cannot use FILEMAN as you are logged in as MASTER. Hence you need to hit the ESC key, go to General > Backup & Data Management > Restore from disk or diskette, select C drive or whichever drive you put the backup.zip file in and follow the prompts ahead.
#While doing the step no.2 if you get a message as below just hit enter or space and continue.

[[File:Message while installing.jpg]]

==== Assigning database codes ====
It is necessary to make sure that the following guidelines are met while creating database codes:

#The code MUST be within 8 letters
#The client MUST be instantly recognisable or as recognisable as possible from the main database code
#The test database code MUST END with the word "TEST" and it is not necessary that it must be recognisable. The system needs to know if a database is "test" or not. Otherwise test documents like invoices appear like real live documents potentially causing serious confusion. Many other internal problems will also occur.
#The test database code MUST sort alphabetically after the main database code at login. Prefixing the code with the letter X may achieve this.

Examples of wrong and right database codes:

ALTO VISTA ADVERTISING
ALTOVIST and XALTTEST - right AVISTA and AVTEST - wrong (AVISTA not "as recognisable as possible")

CONTEXTURE ASSOCIATES
CONTEXT and XCONTEST - right CONTEXT and CONTEST - wrong (CONTEST alphabetically first in the login screen database drop down)

=== Creating a .CMD file to start NEOSYS Service: ===
(Note: change x to the correct drive you have installed NEOSYS on)

In x:\neosys create a file start MAIN-DATABASE-CODE.cmd (eg start ALTOVIST.cmd)

x:
cd \neosys\neosys
Start neosys.js /system ADAGENCY /database databasecode

(where databasecode is the code of the database)
(also you need to replace ADAGENCY with ACCOUNTS if this is an accounts only installation)

In x:\neosys create a file start TEST-DATABASE-CODE.cmd (eg start AVTEST.cmd)

x:
cd \neosys\neosys
Start neosys.js /system ADAGENCY /database testdatabasecode

(where testdatabasecode is the code of the testdatabase)
(also you need to replace ADAGENCY with ACCOUNTS if this is an accounts only installation)

TEST THAT THE FILES YOU HAVE CREATED CAN RUN SUCCESSFULLY

ENSURE THAT YOU DO NOT CLOSE THE PROCESS WINDOWS BY USING THE X BUTTON. HIT ESC 3 TIMES ON EACH WINDOW.

=== Differences for Pure Accounts Module Only Installations ===
Accounts module only has a slightly different startup command. In the above, replace '''/system adagency''' with '''/system accounts''' to startup a service and use '''accounts.bat''' instead of '''adagency.bat''' to start up maintenance. Other than that, accounts module setup is identical. Pure accounts clients are very few and tend not to upgrade often so care needs to be taken when upgrading. Upgrade is done using the usual neosys2.exe file.

=== Setting up daily scheduled tasks ===
NEOSYS is normally configured to backup and shutdown at 1 am. All the processes shutdown except one which performs the backup and then closes.

==== If NEOSYS is installed on NEOSYS Server (win3) ====
Edit d:/hosts/STARTXXX.cmd (XXX could be MEA, USA etc. depending on the time zone of the client) to configure the client's live and test processes to start up automatically. As of 2016 TEST process is set to start first followed by LIVE processes for all clients in STARTXXX.cmd

The number of live and test processes configured to startup in STARTMEA.cmd MUST be exactly the same as the number of processes configured in the client's system configuration file. Otherwise, if a client's required number of processes are not started up by STARTMEA.cmd, then that client's remaining required processes will automatically start up after a few minutes and may interfere with startups of other clients' processes, thus ruining the desired sequential startup of client processes.

Use web access and go to Support Menu, System Configuration File and set the following for a) tiny clients : 1 process for main database and 1 for test database or b) large clients : 2 processes for main database and 1 for test database c) very large clients who have issues regularly with no process available : 3 processes for main database and 1 for test database. Also, set up an automatic copy of the main database to test database as below. The copy is done immediately after the backup. Test running “Copy now” SHOULD be avoided while users are online.

==== If NEOSYS is installed on client server ====
A Windows Scheduled Task MUST be created to startup NEOSYS every day typically at 6 am. It can startup one live database process and that process will startup all other required database processes. Test databases will not startup other database processes automatically unless configured to do so from the System Configuration File.

On Windows 2008 Standard, untick highest privileges and untick run whether user is logged in or not. This means that NEOSYS processes will be visible on the desktop when you login BUT the windows scheduled tasks to startup NEOSYS will FAIL to run if the server is rebooted for any reason including power failure or when the monthly Windows Update procedure reboots.

Alternatively, for clients which cannot tolerate manual intervention after server reboots for any reason (e.g.need to start work before NEOSYS support is available or on NEOSYS support weekends), tick "highest privileges" and "run whether the user is logged in or not". This approach means that NEOSYS processes which are started by the windows scheduled task are not visible on the desktop and run hidden in the background and only listed in task manager, so avoid this approach on small clients (only a few users). Windows Update is a common cause for server reboots so configure Updates to install at 3 AM on any day between Sunday to Wednesday since on these days Support will be available to manually restart NEOSYS processes after a server restart.

Create a task to start one Main database process at 6:00 am daily.

[[File:start1.jpg]] 
[[File:start2.jpg]] 
[[File:start3.jpg]] 

(For multiple sites on the same computer put the second site starting five minutes later at 6:05 am, the third site starting five minutes earlier at 5:55 am, the fourth site starting five minutes later at 6:10 am and so on.)

Once created, test them to see that they are working correctly by running them directly using right click- Run. There is no problem testing the “daily 6 am startup task” at any time since it will just add an additional process.

[[File:task1.jpg]] 

Use web access and go to Support Menu, System Configuration File to request 3 processes for main database and 1 for test database. Also, set up an automatic copy of the main database to test database as below. The copy is done immediately after the backup. Test running “Copy now” SHOULD be avoided while users are online.

[[File:autocopy.jpg]] 

=== Configuring NEOSYS to start automatically on server start-up / reboot ===
We no longer configure NEOSYS processes to start on reboot as we would like to know of the failures at the client side and hence whenever the server reboots we expect the client to inform us and we will start the process - or NEOSYS will start automatically next day at 6 am

Unfortunately using this method the NEOSYS processes are not visible when you login as a user.

[[Image:win_sch_task.jpg]]

Schedule a task to run the main database file whenever the computer starts. In Windows 2008 you need to tick the options - Run whether user logged in or not and Run with highest privilege.

Additional in Windows 2008: Tick Highest Priviledges and Run whether user logged in or not

== Installing and upgrading NEOSYS pure accounting systems ==

Basic installation using NEOSYS.EXE and upgrades using NEOSYS2.EXE are identical to the normal adagency installation process.

Differences are as follows:

# Maintenance shortcut to ACCOUNTS.BAT
# Process startup file contains "/system ACCOUNTS" instead of "/system ADAGENCY"
# Internet address is http://server/neosys/accounts.htm although it auto converts to http://server/neosys/default.htm??ACCOUNTS. Although not to be relied upon, the login page stores a cookie so even plain http://server/neosys or http://server/neosys/default.htm works thereafter until the cookie is lost. To get back to adagency login you use http://server/neosys/default.htm??ADAGENCY
# BACKUP.ZIP files created by ADAGENCY systems and ACCOUNTS systems are slightly incompatible with the result that restoring one in the other type of system will not work. NEOSYS programmers can convert from one type to the other but it is almost never required since any ad agency that only requires accounts only module is given the adagency version of NEOSYS and accounting only clients becoming ad agencies never happened.

Preliminary Check-list and other Misc items

2017-11-12T08:14:25Z

Priyanka:

For Windows 2003 and 2008 - Refer to Installation Checklist to follow the order of doing it
# Make sure you have changed the default password to a strong one as per the guidelines
# Make sure that Windows is activated
# Make sure not connected to domain controller
# No services like IIS and no server roles are installed
# Installed with more than one partition (C: D:)
# Make sure the system has a static internal IP address
# Away in a secure place and secure power cable
# Microsoft network client should be disabled on all network connections.
# Make sure that the boot sequence is correct (CD,HDD,USB) - Allowing "Boot from USB" causes a severe risk of infection by boot sector viruses since the first infected USB device inserted WILL infect the server immediately as anti-virus programs are not active during boot
# Ensure the Windows CD/ I386 folder is copied to C Drive. (Not required for Windows Server 2008)
# All high priority Windows updates from Microsoft are installed
# Automatic Windows update is configured to install at 3AM and can be on any day between Sunday to Thursday since Support will be available to restart NEOSYS processes after a server restart. Refer [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Installing_NEOSYS_Service#Setting_up_daily_scheduled_tasks How to configure daily Scheduled Tasks]
# Make all desktop icons visible (right click on desktop > Personalise > Change desktop icons and tick Computer, User Files, Network, Recycle Bin and Control Panel)
# Change the name of the server to NEOSYS
# In Tools > Folder Options > View – Tick Show hidden files and folders and Un-tick Hide extensions
# Check time zone and make sure it is set to the correct region of installation
# Disable Autorun (all drives) – Run > gpedit.msc > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Auto Play Policies > Turn off Autoplay should be enabled for All Drives
# Enable Audit Privilege Use – Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Local Policy > Audit Policy > Audit Privilege Use – Tick both Success and Failure
# Rename D drive name to NEOSYS
# Create shortcuts for Computer Management, D drive, Scheduled Tasks and Command Prompt in the Quick Launch area
# Use Client's/ISP's DNS and not a general service like 8.8.8.8 so that we are aware of any significant network changes.

For Windows 2008 (additional)
# [[Changing username from Administrator to administrator|Rename Administrator to administrator (A should be in small caps)]]

=== Configuring the administrator account in Windows 10 ===

run cmd as administrator then

Rename Administrator to be administrator (BEFORE INSTALLING CYGWIN). Check in Computer management that it is successful.

wmic useraccount where name='Administrator' rename 'administrator'

Set a password for administrator and enable login

net user administrator *
net user administrator /active:yes

Installing NEOSYS Service

2017-11-12T07:51:53Z

Priyanka: /* If NEOSYS is installed on NEOSYS Server (win3) */

= INSTALLING NEOSYS SERVICE =

Reference to X:\ in the notes below denotes the actual drive letter and needs to be replaced (eg D:\)

== Main installation: ==

Make sure NOT TO COPY an existing NEOSYS installation to another location and ONLY do a
completely new install with a fresh database, because copying a folder will copy a variety of
hidden configurations.

=== Installing NEOSYS on partitions ===
Good server management practice is to have separate partitions for operating system (C:) and data partitions (D:)

In the case of operating system reinstallation (which causes the loss of the C: partition) if NEOSYS programs and data were installed on D: can be preserved. If there is only one partition then NEOSYS programs and data will have to be backed up and restored.

==== Multiple Partitions ====
NEOSYS MUST be installed on a different partition rather than the C drive for reasons already explained above (eg. D drive)

==== Single Partition ====
If there is only one partition then you have to inform the client to take the effort to reinstall the operating system or using third party repartitioning tools to create separate partitions.

=== Downloading and running installation files ===
# http://www.neosys.com/support/neosys.exe ... and unzip/install to X:\neosys (or to X:\hosts\client for multi-installation on one server where "client" is the client folder name which MUST be same as the main database code planned to be used, to reduce the number of codes that are in use. This folder name MUST also be in lower case to maintain consistency and be able to see deviations easily.)
# http://www.neosys.com/support/neosys2.exe ... and install same as previous step.

=== Creating shortcuts ===
In x:\neosys (or x:\hosts\client), make a shortcut called ‘Maintenance’ and link it to

x:\neosys\neosys\adagency.bat (for Adagency install)

or

x:\neosys\neosys\accounts.bat (for Accounts install)

=== Activating NEOSYS using authorization number ===

Start NEOSYS Maintenance, select Initial Backup and it will give a “Computer Number” and ask for an “Authorisation No”

Send the computer number to NEOSYS admin, email: admin@neosys.com to get the authorisation no. Do not leave the authorisation no. promt page open for a long time. This will cause the CPU usage to go to 100%.

If you cannot get the authorisation number immediately then you can close NEOSYS and when you reopen NEOSYS it will still give the same computer number and accept the same authorisation number.

=== Installing initial Database ===
For standard NEOSYS Installations, copy the BACKUP.ZIP file from WIN3 server (D:\DATA.BAK\STARTUP1\"Day of week") and place it on the D drive of the server where we wish to install NEOSYS. You may choose any other drive also but make sure that this file exists in the root folder e.g. D:\BACKUP.ZIP
 

Follow the steps below:
#Click on the Maintenance icon.
#Select BASIC DATA SET and type in the NEOSYS username and password. (If the system does not prompt for a username and password,then go to Quit > Quit to next user and type the same in. If you do not enter with a username and password then NEOSYS will not allow you to restore the database). The first time when you enter maintenance you will get a command box (like when you do F5). If you do not get a command box, hit the F5 key and get it on the screen and hit ESC after you get it.
#Now restore the BACKUP.ZIP (STARTUP DATABASE), to do so go to General > Backup & Data Management, select (the 4th option) Restore from disk or diskette. select D drive (or whichever drive you put the backup.zip file in) and follow the prompts ahead.
#On every successful restore or creation of dataset, system will give you a message to switch to new database always '''say NO''' to this,because the switch to database option brings you back to the BASIC DATA SET. Hence press the ESC button, type EXIT on the F5 prompt.
#Now startup maintenance again and you will find a new database "STARTUP DATABASE" select it and login with NEOSYS username and password. Once you enter you may find a prompt "TASK ADDED" follow the prompt and continue.
#After you have logged in, go to General > Backup & Data Management > Delete a dataset and select the "BASIC DATASET" to delete, to confirm the delete system will ask you to enter the dataset code. Enter the code and delete the basis dataset.
#Now create a new dataset for the client, go to general > Backup & Data management> Create a new dataset, select (6th option) and follow the instruction on how to setup database code from the following link [[Installing_NEOSYS_Service#Assigning_database_codes|Assigning database codes]]
#Once the client dataset is created,login to the clientdataset and follow the steps in above point6 and delete the STARTUP DATABASE. (while logging in to the client dataset, it asks " This database has been copied or the database name or code has been changed. Is this going to be a unique new master database?" select first option YES - Going to be a new independent database.
#To check the list of dataset on the computer, go to go to General > Backup & Data Management > See a list of dataset in the computer(8th option).

Note:
#Sometimes it may tell you that you cannot use FILEMAN as you are logged in as MASTER. Hence you need to hit the ESC key, go to General > Backup & Data Management > Restore from disk or diskette, select C drive or whichever drive you put the backup.zip file in and follow the prompts ahead.
#While doing the step no.2 if you get a message as below just hit enter or space and continue.

[[File:Message while installing.jpg]]

==== Assigning database codes ====
It is necessary to make sure that the following guidelines are met while creating database codes:

#The code MUST be within 8 letters
#The client MUST be instantly recognisable or as recognisable as possible from the main database code
#The test database code MUST END with the word "TEST" and it is not necessary that it must be recognisable. The system needs to know if a database is "test" or not. Otherwise test documents like invoices appear like real live documents potentially causing serious confusion. Many other internal problems will also occur.
#The test database code MUST sort alphabetically after the main database code at login. Prefixing the code with the letter X may achieve this.

Examples of wrong and right database codes:

ALTO VISTA ADVERTISING
ALTOVIST and XALTTEST - right AVISTA and AVTEST - wrong (AVISTA not "as recognisable as possible")

CONTEXTURE ASSOCIATES
CONTEXT and XCONTEST - right CONTEXT and CONTEST - wrong (CONTEST alphabetically first in the login screen database drop down)

=== Creating a .CMD file to start NEOSYS Service: ===
(Note: change x to the correct drive you have installed NEOSYS on)

In x:\neosys create a file start MAIN-DATABASE-CODE.cmd (eg start ALTOVIST.cmd)

x:
cd \neosys\neosys
Start neosys.js /system ADAGENCY /database databasecode

(where databasecode is the code of the database)
(also you need to replace ADAGENCY with ACCOUNTS if this is an accounts only installation)

In x:\neosys create a file start TEST-DATABASE-CODE.cmd (eg start AVTEST.cmd)

x:
cd \neosys\neosys
Start neosys.js /system ADAGENCY /database testdatabasecode

(where testdatabasecode is the code of the testdatabase)
(also you need to replace ADAGENCY with ACCOUNTS if this is an accounts only installation)

TEST THAT THE FILES YOU HAVE CREATED CAN RUN SUCCESSFULLY

ENSURE THAT YOU DO NOT CLOSE THE PROCESS WINDOWS BY USING THE X BUTTON. HIT ESC 3 TIMES ON EACH WINDOW.

=== Differences for Pure Accounts Module Only Installations ===
Accounts module only has a slightly different startup command. In the above, replace '''/system adagency''' with '''/system accounts''' to startup a service and use '''accounts.bat''' instead of '''adagency.bat''' to start up maintenance. Other than that, accounts module setup is identical. Pure accounts clients are very few and tend not to upgrade often so care needs to be taken when upgrading. Upgrade is done using the usual neosys2.exe file.

=== Setting up daily scheduled tasks ===
NEOSYS is normally configured to backup and shutdown at 1 am. All the processes shutdown except one which performs the backup and then closes.

==== If NEOSYS is installed on NEOSYS Server (win3) ====
Edit d:/hosts/STARTXXX.cmd (XXX could be MEA, USA etc. depending on the time zone of the client) to configure the client's live and test processes to start up automatically. As of 2016 TEST process is set to start first followed by LIVE processes for all clients in STARTXXX.cmd

The number of live and test processes configured to startup in STARTMEA.cmd MUST be exactly the same as the number of processes configured in the client's system configuration file. Otherwise, if a client's required number of processes are not started up by STARTMEA.cmd, then that client's remaining required processes will automatically start up after a few minutes and may interfere with startups of other clients' processes, thus ruining the desired sequential startup of client processes.

Use web access and go to Support Menu, System Configuration File and set the following for a) tiny clients : 1 process for main database and 1 for test database or b) large clients : 3 processes for main database and 1 for test database . Also, set up an automatic copy of the main database to test database as below. The copy is done immediately after the backup. Test running “Copy now” SHOULD be avoided while users are online.

==== If NEOSYS is installed on client server ====
A Windows Scheduled Task MUST be created to startup NEOSYS every day typically at 6 am. It can startup one live database process and that process will startup all other required database processes. Test databases will not startup other database processes automatically unless configured to do so from the System Configuration File.

On Windows 2008 Standard, untick highest privileges and untick run whether user is logged in or not. This means that NEOSYS processes will be visible on the desktop when you login BUT the windows scheduled tasks to startup NEOSYS will FAIL to run if the server is rebooted for any reason including power failure or when the monthly Windows Update procedure reboots.

Alternatively, for clients which cannot tolerate manual intervention after server reboots for any reason (e.g.need to start work before NEOSYS support is available or on NEOSYS support weekends), tick "highest privileges" and "run whether the user is logged in or not". This approach means that NEOSYS processes which are started by the windows scheduled task are not visible on the desktop and run hidden in the background and only listed in task manager, so avoid this approach on small clients (only a few users). Windows Update is a common cause for server reboots so configure Updates to install at 3 AM on any day between Sunday to Wednesday since on these days Support will be available to manually restart NEOSYS processes after a server restart.

Create a task to start one Main database process at 6:00 am daily.

[[File:start1.jpg]] 
[[File:start2.jpg]] 
[[File:start3.jpg]] 

(For multiple sites on the same computer put the second site starting five minutes later at 6:05 am, the third site starting five minutes earlier at 5:55 am, the fourth site starting five minutes later at 6:10 am and so on.)

Once created, test them to see that they are working correctly by running them directly using right click- Run. There is no problem testing the “daily 6 am startup task” at any time since it will just add an additional process.

[[File:task1.jpg]] 

Use web access and go to Support Menu, System Configuration File to request 3 processes for main database and 1 for test database. Also, set up an automatic copy of the main database to test database as below. The copy is done immediately after the backup. Test running “Copy now” SHOULD be avoided while users are online.

[[File:autocopy.jpg]] 

=== Configuring NEOSYS to start automatically on server start-up / reboot ===
We no longer configure NEOSYS processes to start on reboot as we would like to know of the failures at the client side and hence whenever the server reboots we expect the client to inform us and we will start the process - or NEOSYS will start automatically next day at 6 am

Unfortunately using this method the NEOSYS processes are not visible when you login as a user.

[[Image:win_sch_task.jpg]]

Schedule a task to run the main database file whenever the computer starts. In Windows 2008 you need to tick the options - Run whether user logged in or not and Run with highest privilege.

Additional in Windows 2008: Tick Highest Priviledges and Run whether user logged in or not

== Installing and upgrading NEOSYS pure accounting systems ==

Basic installation using NEOSYS.EXE and upgrades using NEOSYS2.EXE are identical to the normal adagency installation process.

Differences are as follows:

# Maintenance shortcut to ACCOUNTS.BAT
# Process startup file contains "/system ACCOUNTS" instead of "/system ADAGENCY"
# Internet address is http://server/neosys/accounts.htm although it auto converts to http://server/neosys/default.htm??ACCOUNTS. Although not to be relied upon, the login page stores a cookie so even plain http://server/neosys or http://server/neosys/default.htm works thereafter until the cookie is lost. To get back to adagency login you use http://server/neosys/default.htm??ADAGENCY
# BACKUP.ZIP files created by ADAGENCY systems and ACCOUNTS systems are slightly incompatible with the result that restoring one in the other type of system will not work. NEOSYS programmers can convert from one type to the other but it is almost never required since any ad agency that only requires accounts only module is given the adagency version of NEOSYS and accounting only clients becoming ad agencies never happened.

New Employee Training Checklist

2017-11-12T07:15:16Z

Priyanka: /* Day 1 */

==Day 1==
#Go through [[Procedures#General_Office_Procedures|General Office Procedures]]
#Create email Id eg :- firstname.neosys@gmail.com. Support Manager will share relevant google drive folders.
#Download all Application software as given below. Setup file for the software on Windows platform are available in the NEOSYS staff dropbox folder. To configure various softwares on Linux platform, see [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_Ubuntu_on_NEOSYS_Support_Computers#Configuring_softwares_on_Ubuntu Configuring Software in Ubuntu]

{| style="width: 60%; height: 100px; text-align: center; margin: 1em auto 1em auto;" border="1"
|+ List of softwares to be installed according to the OS platforms
! scope="col" | Windows
! scope="col" | Linux
|-
| Mozilla Thunderbird || Mozilla Thunderbird (built in)
|-
| Bitvise Tunnelier 4.40 (later versions do not connect to certain client servers)|| Remmina (use apt-get)
|-
| Internet Explorer (latest version) || NA/(VM?)
|-
| Mozilla Firefox || Mozilla Firefox (built in)
|-
| Google hangouts || Google hangouts (available in browser when logged in to Google account
|-
| Skype || Skype (download Skype for Linux using browser)
|-
| MS Office || Libre Office (built in)
|-
| Team Viewer 7 || Team Viewer (download using browser) (currently no licence for Linux compatible Team Viewer versions)
|-
| Snagit for Screenshots and Annotations || (Ctrl+Shift+PrtSc) for Screenshots and Shutter for Annotations(download using browser)
|-
| Dropbox || Dropbox (download using browser)
|-
| Live helper chat || Live helper chat
|-
| Cute PDF (Optional) || Not Required in linux
|}

#Create Skype ID eg:- firstname.neosys
#Setup Skype to show as "Away" after 5 minutes of inactivity
#Create an account in Dropbox using the gmail account. Support Manager will share relevant dropbox folders.
#Create Thunderbird inboxes support@neosys.com, backup@neosys.com, nagios@neosys.com. See [[Configuring_Thunderbird| Configuring Thunderbird]]
#Create signature in Thunderbird for all necessary accounts
#Create password for the computer/laptop
#Install and setup [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Configuring_Nagios_add-on_for_Firefox Nagios checker]
#Mails are sent out in Calibri font with font size 11
#Password file:- This file contains all usernames and passwords. The file name should be generic. The file is password protected, please refer link to create an appropriate password for the file ([[Procedures#Creating_and_Handling_passwords| Refer Handling passwords]]). The file should be placed under Support Staff folder in Dropbox. The aim is to protect the file from being accessed or modified by another person.
#Create file to store client info ( clients details) column names:- host name, company name, location of company, time zone, which server is the client's NEOSYS hosted on
#Configure your browsers according to [[Procedures#Configuring_Browsers_to_show_Javascript_errors_in_NEOSYS| Configuring Browsers to show Javascript errors]] and set vm1.neosys.com as Firefox home page
#Go through Procedures in wiki
#Introduce nagios
#Get NEOSYS IT to update Nagios monitoring workstations.cfg file
#Read wiki page “Backup and Restore”
#Live helper chat ID
#Create wiki ID and get NEOSYS IT to allow new users to receive wiki update emails
#http://network-tools.com
#Setup Task reminder in Thunderbird for Quarterly backup report

==Day 2 ==
#Check the clients file
#Explain backup procedure
#Show backup emails
#Share backup files
#Make the candidate do the morning backup-check routine.
#Explain http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Procedures#NEOSYS_Maintenance_Window
#Explain different backup failures
#Various checks on why and how a backup failed. ( mail in inbox, nagios trends, neosys log, server event viewer)
#Share canned file
#NEOSYS login page and configuring NEOSYS
==Day 3==
#Go through Canned mails.
#Show examples on when each canned mails can be sent
#Do backups for the day. Mark backup in backup file.
#Schedule downtime on nagios
#Various errors in Troubleshooting nagios to be looked at http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Handling_Nagios_Client_Monitoring_System

==Day 4==
#Handle backup issues, critical issues on nagios
#Email clients if they need to be informed about issues.
#Explain Getting Started and NEOSYS login process
#Explain Media Schedule (per brand, Client Brand file, Vehicle file, specification, material, dates, free ads, Supplier file, booking, certifying, invoicing)
==Day 5==
#2 Assignments on Schedules ( booking, cancelation, rebooking, certify & invoicing )
#Creating on various client and brand, vehicle and supplier files
#Practice Media module
==Day 6==
#Handling damaged file with examples
#Quiz on Procedures, Nagios and Handling damaged files
==Day 7==
#Jobs Module completely and practice
#Explain Authorisation file (locks and keys, user ID, various levels etc)
==Day 8==
#How to Upgrade NEOSYS
#Upgrade a client
#Tested on TEST installation.
#Explain Zone edit, DNS
==Day 9==
#Free ads in Media schedule, how to replicate issues of clients
#Backup and Restoring NEOSYS
#Moving NEOSYS to new server/location etc
#Consolidated Backup ( Autologin.sh)
#System configuration file features and testing each field

==Day 10==
#Request for a quick demo from the new staff

Procedures

2017-09-26T12:38:07Z

Priyanka: /* Handling errors discovered by support staff */

Here are procedures to be followed by Support Staff in respect to various technical matters in day to day operations of client issues.

== Handling Clients with Overdue Invoice ==
In order to maintain good payment speed by clients NEOSYS needs to restrict support to clients that dont pay their bills on time, however the degree of restriction needs to depend on an intimate knowledge of the client which cannot be expected from all NEOSYS support staff. Therefore we will use a simple escalation policy as follows:

=== Overdue Support List ===
NEOSYS SUPPORT MANAGERS WILL maintain an overdue list on a whiteboard visible to all support staff. Generally, clients will go on the list immediately when their invoice is overdue and come off only after satisfactory commitment to pay have been obtained.

The latest overdue list email MUST always be starred until there are no clients left on the overdue list (apart from the permanently overdue clients). This way support team will know that there are still clients on the overdue list and will not mistakenly provide support to those clients.

For the first week of each quarter of the year, normal support should be provided for server failures and backup failures (including hung processes as it could eventually lead to backup failures). NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any other support requests from overdue clients, with the following letter (where XYZ is the overdue client):

Dear ABC,
There is an issue with your company's account. We have requested our Accounts team for approval in order to provide support to you and other XYZ users.

Support staff must then provide the required support to the overdue client only after 4 working hours. Support Staff need not actually contact the Accounts team for approval, although that is what is mentioned in the letter. This delay in support is to encourage clients to settle their payments on time.

After the first week of each quarter of the year, NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any support requests from overdue clients with the above letter but MUST NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT even after 4 working hours. Instead, NEOSYS Support Staff must refer the support request to NEOSYS Support Manager.

Managers may well instruct support to provide support on a case by case basis even if clients are on the overdue list. Being on the overdue list does not necessarily indicate a major issue with accounts.

== Handling Frozen NEOSYS Installations and Databases ==

Some clients retain fully operational NEOSYS installations or just particular databases even after they stop using them for some reason, either because they move to some other software, or because they terminate an operational division, or other reasons, and this can either be on NEOSYS or their own servers.

In this case, various NEOSYS upgrade and maintenance processes may be suspended, downgraded or completely skipped especially if instant access to the server is no longer available. This does not mean that it should never be done, and pros and cons need to be assessed and documented in support emails on a case by case basis.

*Upgrading NEOSYS version
*Upgrading/standardising NEOSYS database configuration and other files for consistency, security or other issues
*Patching Windows/IIS configuration for consistency, security or other issues

== Handling Links and Email Attachments ==

'''DO NOT TRUST ANY LINK OR ATTACHMENT IN ANY EMAIL EVEN FROM HIGHLY TRUSTED PEOPLE OR ORGANISATIONS'''

These days you can no longer trust links or attachments in emails from anybody - even emails from highly trusted people like your bank.

If a personal computer or intermediate email server is hacked then even genuine emails sent out from it can be infected and modified in a hidden way that can result in the recipient being infected if they click or open anything in the email.

Therefore you should know and understand how to avoid, as far as possible, getting tricked and infected via emails.

Malware authors generally rely on the fact that most people devote no time at all to security precautions so a moderate cautious approach, slowing down a little to spending some time on security, even where it is apparently not required, is enough to defeat most attacks.

=== Links ===

Do NOT click on links, especially in emails that you are not expecting, but also anywhere else that you see links, without taking various precautions. The links in an email, even from someone you know and trust, can LIE to you about what website they will open and they can lead you to websites that mere browsing can infect your computer and then others inside our network.

WHAT LINK/WEBSITE WILL BE OPENED MAY NOT BE WHAT IT SAYS IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL!

Therefore, to use a link in any and all emails, first hover your cursor over it and check the status bar at the bottom of the screen where you can see exactly what website will be opened, or, to be more sure exactly what website you are opening DO NOT click links in emails at all. COPY/PASTE the link to your browser, AFTER following the below points.

*Make sure you know and trust the website being opened.
*Carefully inspect the spelling of the domain name to avoid tricky look-alike fraudulent links eg hcsb.com instead of hsbc.com
*If you trust the sender but you do not personally know the website then get independent confirmation from the sender. Reply to the email so that the sender can check the link you received has not been tampered with.

Example 1:

Below is an example of a phishing email that you can easily tell is malware

[[image:Scamscreenshot1.png]]

1. You don't expect it because it says "before your sign up is complete" ... but you didn't just sign up.

This doesn't mean that links in emails that you ARE expecting ARE safe to open. All the usual cautions apply to emails you DO expect.

2. Hover mouse over the button and check the link visually

In the example above, the email is supposed to be from Dropbox, but hovering the mouse over the button shows the below link, which is obviously wrong:

http://fxloraisdoxbraxsil.com.br/dropbox.html

3. Even if the link looks genuine e.g. something from a service that we use that we didn't expect, be careful for misspelt links that look like genuine links e.g. drobbox.com, which could trick you if you are sloppy.

Never click on links in emails unless you are absolutely 100% sure that the email and link is genuine.

Copy the link using right click copy link then paste into your browser if there is the slightest doubt.

Example 2:

In the following case, hovering over the first two links seem to go to real UPS website, BUT this is NOT sufficient to be sure since slight misspellings and other tricks can lead you to a totally different website.

However, hovering over the third "link" shows that clicking the apparent link would go to some website http://behappy.vn (Vietnam) so clearly this is a DECEPTION.

[[image:Scamscreenshot.png]]

=== Attachments ===

There is no way to determine if an attachment, even from someone you know, has not been infected and is therefore dangerous. The only protection is to rely on anti-virus/anti-malware software on your computer.

You can check the names and file types/extensions of attached files to spot any obviously strange or unexpected attachments but this is not very effective. Don't open attachments ending in .jar or any others without SB's permission.

Be careful that if there are a lot of attached files not to assume that all are safe because the majority are unsafe.

== Handling junk email ==
Any email identified as junk should be manually marked as Junk so that they automatically go into the Junk folder. The spam filter in the server will use the emails in the Junk folder to decide what is moved into the spam folder.

== Avoid burdening email servers with excessive graphics ==

Support MUST install the "Auto Resize Image" addon in Thunderbird to reduce the size of images in emails resulting in a significant reduction in email size. See [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Configure_Auto_Resize_Image| setting up auto resize image]] for details.

It reduces the burden on NEOSYS and NEOSYS client's email servers. This is especially important on long conversations about subjects that include many screenshots, since for just a simple one line reply, the email can consume many MB of space. It massively wastes the email server space and makes backups massive and generally a total waste of resources and time.

To be able to refer back to graphics in previous emails, add the SIZE column to your email program so that you can locate large emails with graphics rapidly without searching back one by one.

==Client Communication Policies==
===Client Meeting Report Policy===

After every Client meeting online or otherwise Support MUST send a Follow-Up email to the Client which is open and fully informative and not brief, stating the events during the meet and any action required by either or both parties. The email to the client must not shrink from discussing contentious issues due to a false sense of politeness or timidity to address issues face on. Obviously one should not be rude but it is not rude to address issues openly.(cc Client managers and NEOSYS Managers)

The follow-up email MUST be sent within 24 hours of completion of the meeting so that the points discussed during the meeting are fresh in all the meeting participants' minds. This means that reports for meetings on the day before the weekend MUST be sent on the SAME day.

In addition to above email if there is some information that needs to be shared internally and cannot be said in public to the client then send a Client Meeting report to Support.

Support must also update the Client Contact Record file in Google Drive immediately after sending out the follow-up email.

===Follow Up of Support Issues===

All voice/chat communication MUST also be followed up with an email confirming at least the gist of the communication to keep the whole support team updated on the issue.

If not possible to contact for any reason, then an email MUST be sent stating so and suggesting or requesting a time to connect.

cc Client managers (and/or BCC NEOSYS Managers) MAY be done if thought to be useful and/or appropriate.

===Handling Contentious Emails from Clients===

If emails requesting support become contentious, then voice, phone call or chat is REQUIRED to save time. However, client support via phone call should be done only on local or low-cost calls. High-cost international calls should not be used except in extreme circumstances.

If clients become deliberately combative or uncooperative then Support team is supposed to kick back a little but still emphasise the point. Perhaps it could be done better with a little ironic humour or a smiley. Avoid using !! while responding to contentious emails.

=== Discussing Pricing ===
All discussions about pricing must be done only in Sales inbox. If clients bring up pricing discussion in support emails, NEOSYS staff must respond to the client by starting a new thread in the Sales Inbox.

==NEOSYS Support Response Time Policy==

NEOSYS contracts, in the few cases where we have a written contract with the client, specifies that maximum response time is one business day generally and one business hour for complete stoppages of the system. Obviously we have to do far better than this in practice.

Support staff must inform clients of the progress of the issue if it is not resolved the same day but only if they contact at least 1 hour before office closing.

Deciding to wait on issues is fine (also refer to: [[Procedures#Handling_users_who_do_not_act_upon_standard_messages|Response to standard messages]]), but support MUST at least spend up to 5 minutes on issues to see if they can be handled quickly.

For routine requests for service where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client then no need to send rapid reply.

==Default Browser for support staff ==

Firefox browser MUST be used by Support staff for all work related tasks in Ubuntu that includes wiki testing/wiki work etc as Firefox is a more stable browser as compared to Chromium. To maintain a uniformity in Firefox configuration, Support team has to log in to the support profile.

Also refer to [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_Ubuntu_on_NEOSYS_Support_Computers#Mozilla_Firefox Setting up Mozilla Firefox]

==Handling errors discovered by support staff ==
{{Handling errors}}

==Handling Cheques from Clients==

NEOSYS staff are not to accept deliveries from clients that might be cheques without prior instructions to accept the same. They can ask courier to wait a few minutes until NEOSYS accounts or management agrees but they may not be available and probably will not agree anyway. NEOSYS payment terms do not accept cheques although clients are free to deposit cheques by themselves.

== Client Password Policy ==
All client user passwords, including their initial one, are to be obtained via the user's email address using the password reminder/reset button on the login screen. [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#What_is_NEOSYS_password_policy.3F (NEOSYS password policy)]

NEOSYS staff should never know users passwords therefore NEOSYS will not obtain and grant user passwords. The reason for this is that in the event that users lose their passwords to other people who then login unauthorised then suspicion could fall on the NEOSYS staff who know their password.

All parties concerned, including client management, client users and NEOSYS support staff, benefit greatly from trusting that if something in a NEOSYS database is registered as having been done by a particular user then it was not in fact somehow done by NEOSYS support staff. Nothing should be done that would break such fundamental trust. To achieve this, NEOSYS support staff must never log in as particular users, never ask for users passwords and generally enforce the idea that all work logged as being done by users IS done by users.

Very limited amounts of work by NEOSYS support staff either in person or remotely using teamviewer is acceptable while a user is logged as long as the user login was performed by the user themselves, the user is present and the user specifically agrees with the work being done.

=== Support requests from ordinary client users ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords will be forwarded to known skilled users on the client staff since this is the most efficient (not fastest) way to handle such issues.

=== Support requests from senior client management ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords by senior client management users shall be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bearing in mind that NEOSYS staff should never know user's passwords this will probably involve NEOSYS staff using the Password Reminder/Reset button to send a new password to the user.

=== User Defined Passwords ===
NEOSYS will provide user defined passwords in very special cases which must be pre-approved case by case by NEOSYS management. NEOSYS will not approve this due to the reasons mentioned [[Procedures#Client_Password_Policy|here]].

If the user login gets blocked due to multiple login failures and the user requests support team to reset the password to the user defined password again, support MUST delay the response to this request by at least 1 hour in order to force the user to be more careful when typing the password.

Currently permission for user defined password has only been granted to one NEOSYS client with several hundreds of databases.

== Handling client issues and requests==

All support issues must be dealt with through phone/email/chat. Support Staff can schedule client visits for User Training but should not schedule client visits solely for providing support for petty issues.

ALL Support staff should check the all the previous day's inbound emails for reply flags once in the morning. All Support staff will therefore be held responsible for any unreplied inbound email.

Support staff should NOT waste time and delay support by investigating issues WITHOUT having sufficient information.

Support staff should look for similar issues when solving a particular problem to avoid similar issues in future. This saves the time and energy of Support as well as the Client.

When sending screenshots to clients, support team should economise on space by minimising to the minimum that will show the problem clearly. This is because not every user will be viewing their emails on large wide screens like NEOSYS support team. Browser windows reformat their contents to suit the width available so this is particularly effective in most NEOSYS screens.

Support team MUST be cautious while sending screenshots so that no private/unnecessary information is sent to Client. If you cant avoid taking the screenshot without unnecessary information then you should hide it in the screenshot.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

=== Handling new emails in Support inbox===
Support MUST spend up to 5 minutes on new emails and send a quick reply to the client, to acknowledge the request or give a quick solution in case its a petty issue or has a documented solution in wiki. This should probably be done on priority, interrupting existing work and not wait for one hour and be dealt with quickly.

For routine service requests where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client, Support does not need to send a rapid reply.

=== Handling client call back requests===

Clients who ask us to call them should be given our phone number asked to call us unless there is some GOOD reason why we should make the effort and pay phone charges.

=== Handling login failure issues===

Users often get login failure issues due to typing wrong password and they simply won't read and act according to the error message they get. In this case, Support must send the below email to the user.

<pre>
Dear XYZ,

If you have trouble resetting password, please ask for assistance from your manager/IT Manager/Timesheet Administrator/NEOSYS-expert colleague.

Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

Local support users (TA or IT manager etc) have the LS key using which they can see the User Details page of all users. They should check all the information (usercode, registered email id, last login attempts etc) in the User Details page to find out what is the issue.

This procedure will reduce the endless mails sent back and forth to solve petty issues which could easily be solved by the client's local support.

=== Handling requests or demands for "URGENT" or "PRIORITY" support ===

Any request for prioritised action *without giving any reason for the prioritisation* should be disregarded and the request handled with normal priority. If a reason is given then you may at your discretion prioritise a response but there is no obligation to do so.

=== Handling users who login with other people's NEOSYS usercodes ===
This can cause a lot of confusion in both the client and NEOSYS support. It may also indicate that the correct NEOSYS monthly licensing fee is not being paid. There is no valid reason for anonymous logins or sharing logins between multiple users.

Therefore if NEOSYS support team get requests for support about using NEOSYS from users who are not registered properly in NEOSYS with an personally identifiable user code, name and email then the following email should be sent cc admin@neosys.com.

No exception should be granted to clients without NEOSYS management approval.

<pre>
Dear NEOSYSUSER,

Please note that in order to receive support from NEOSYS you must personally have an identifiable user code, name and email address registered
in NEOSYS.

We can create new user account for you with your management approval. This may or may not have an impact on the NEOSYS monthly licensing fee
depending on the agreement in force.

Please let us know what you would like us to do.

Best Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

=== Handling support requests from expired users ===

If expired users call for any reason including not being able to login, they must not be given any support. They should only be told that their account is expired without any reason being offered because employers sometimes do not want any information at all being passed to expired users.

===Handling support request from senior management===

Any support requests from senior client management users concerning report generations should be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bear in mind that NEOSYS staff should not agree or offer to do client work. Support staff can advise senior management to contact a skilled user to help them with basic NEOSYS reporting. Support staff can also send screenshots of step by step procedure on how to take reports. Depending on the situation and reasons provided by senior management, support staff can at their discretion provide reports but after informing them that this is an exception and no more reports will be sent out as this is against NEOSYS procedures.

=== Handling emails with unrelated subject line ===
At times, clients forward old emails, with new issues, resulting in completely unrelated subject line. In such situations, support MUST follow the below steps to ensure that unrelated emails do not appear in the same conversation group when viewing emails in conversation mode:
#Right click the email -> HeaderToolsLite -> Edit full source
#Modify the text that appears after "Message-ID: <". (e.g. replace the first few characters with "xxxxxxxxx")
#Remove all texts that appear after "References:" and "In-Reply-To:" and click OK.
#Click Reply All on the modified email.
#Change the subject to a relevant one.
#Delete old unrelated content from the email body.

In the email reply, include a comment like "PS Please don't forward old emails for new issues, start a new email with a new subject so that emails can be traced easily."

Sometimes the client does not bother putting the correct subject line for new issues (e.g. blank subject, or "Error"). Then support should add a meaningful subject line in order to make the email easy to search for.

=== Handling emails with poor screenshots ===
Sometimes Thunderbird shows full sized screenshots in a compact format that is not easy to read. These can be resized to make them more legible. To do this, make the email editable by hitting the "Reply" button, then click and drag to resize the screenshot as desired.

If the screenshot sent by the user is genuinely small and hard to read, reply to the mail and request for a full size, clear screenshot.

=== Handling support-request emails sent to anywhere than support@neosys.com ===
Client emails anywhere than support@neosys.com MUST be ignored. This is because ALL support must be recorded in support inbox without exception so that the whole support team is aware of the issue and action taken. If client complains about the delay in support then they can be told this is because they used the wrong email address.

=== Handling users who do not act upon standard messages ===
When users do not bother to read and act on standard NEOSYS-generated messages and instead ask for help, Support staff MUST delay response time and thereafter send them an email which is the same as the message so they get the point that in future they should read the messages and handle issues themselves.

=== Handling Requests to do Client work ===
NEOSYS Support staff must not agree or offer to do work on behalf of the client.

This is because doing client work while logged in as NEOSYS breaks security rules. Support uses the NEOSYS username which has unrestricted access, so when a user requests Support to do some work which they don’t have access to, and if Support agrees to do the work, the client has successfully defeated the security rules by accessing features that they are unauthorised to access.

Client work also includes [[Procedures#Handling_issues_with_totals_on_reports|Handling issues with totals on reports]].

====Requests for colour and font changes====

Support should not be spending lots of time on colour and font changes. Clients can make as many changes as they want until they are happy with a selection. Clients MUST send a screenshot of their required color/font settings (not sample screen/reports) for Support to copy and setup for all users. If Support sees them doing something bad or poor then give comments or better suggestions.

=== Handling Requests that require Approval from Higher Authority ===

The following is a list of user requests that must be handled by NEOSYS support staff only if they are approved by or come from a higher authority (manager/admin). The LIST is '''NOT''' a complete list so there may be other things which might require approval so use good judgement and/or ASK if in doubt.

*Opening new financial year
*Adding new company/dataset
*Editing alert/backup email receiver addresses
*Customising Authorisation File ({{SensitiveSecurity }})
**Adding or removing accesses for existing users in Authorisation file
**Adding new user(s) to Authorisation file
**Expiring a user
**[[Procedures#For_HTTPS_access| Allowing HTTPS/outside office access from any IP number]]

If an unauthorized user sends one of these requests to support staff, support staff must immediately instruct the user to get the request approved by the higher authority.

===Handling User Requests to add an IP or range of IPs to access NEOSYS===

Support staff must identify if the IP or range of IPs is for http or https access.
{{SensitiveSecurity }}

====For HTTP access====
Support staff can add local IP or range of local IPs when requested by the client. Top management approval is not needed to add local IP numbers. Listed below are the IP address ranges reserved for local network.

10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

====For HTTPS access====
Any request for https access from any IP address or range of IP addresses (eg. 123.456.* or just *), or in other words any use of an asterisk in the IP restrictions, MUST have TOP management i.e. the company's decision makers approval. The Staff and their Managers are not the best decision makers in this affair because they usually ignore the risks and it is not really their decision. Security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled. It is completely pointless to inform the staff who want the access about these risks because only their top managers could really decide that this is NOT going to be allowed. Hence the Top Management MUST be asked for approvals and at the same time WARN them about the security risks/threats behind the no IP restrictions.

=====For clients with static IP=====
Any request to add a specific IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses MUST have management approval.

=====For clients with dynamic IP=====
For clients with dynamic IP, support MUST NOT add their public IP to the allowed list as this will encourage the client to again request for access from new IP numbers every time their public IP changes. Instead, support MUST force the client to either install VPN or get the Top Management i.e. the company's decision maker's approval to enable access from any IP after explaining the security risks in doing so, as mentioned above.

Support MUST also mention that installation of VPN by the Company is the industry standard way of providing access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER. Installation of VPN is to be done by their own IT support. Refer to [[Procedures#Using_VPN_to_enable_secure_access_from_outside_the_office|Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office]]

Sample Email:
<pre>
Dear XXX,

I do not recommend allowing access from all IPs because security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc. can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled.

I strongly recommend that you keep IP restrictions for XYZ dataset.

If you want to provide access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER, then installation of VPN is the industry standard of achieving this. Installation of VPN is to be done by your own IT support.

If you still wish to allow access from all IPs, kindly confirm that you acknowledge the security threats of doing so.

</pre>

=== Handling repeated request to allow users to access from all IPs ===

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

If the client wants temporary access from outside for some staff twice in say a six months period then support should send the below email. The real reason is because we don't have the time to be doing this on a regular basis. If at all the client asks why we no longer support the provision of temporary outside access then we can say this is because of the frequency of such requests.

Dear XXX

We have given you temporary outside access this time, as requested. Please note that we can no longer support the provision of temporary outside access. So in the future, you will have to choose between either permanent or no outside access. Alternatively, you can ask your management to install a VPN (which is the industry standard of achieving outside access to a corporate asset in a secure manner), so that you can log in to NEOSYS from outside.

=== Handling requests to create a new feature or modifying existing features ===

Many issues are small and not important but can still be considered for development because they may be easy and neatly added to NEOSYS. The aim here is to avoid development on hard issues for little benefit, or little issues that make NEOSYS more complex for little benefit.

When a client requests to create a new feature or modify an existing feature, a workaround must be given to the user, which is either a permanent solution, for example if the issue is a rare case and not commonly faced by other clients (and the workaround is acceptable to the client), or a temporary solution until some better solution is discovered or can be developed.

Any request to create a new feature or modify an existing feature MUST be discussed with other clients before forwarding it to the programmer because the other clients might not be comfortable with the change as it may not be in accordance with their workflow. If other clients agree to the proposed change then support should go ahead and request the programmer to implement it.

Therefore before escalating a request to the programmer to modify a feature in NEOSYS, the approval for the same from other clients must be taken into account.

When escalating the request to the programmer, support MUST avoid using "Is it possible..?" because the obvious answer to that is "Anything is possible" and because this question is only a way to avoid doing the real work of deciding whether the new feature/modification should be implemented.

=== Handling requests to add more fields to List of Invoices reports ===

Many users may ask for the List of Invoices report to be expanded to show a zillion other things, but this makes it NOT a list of invoices. Therefore other break-downs MUST be obtained from other reports in NEOSYS.

=== Updating Clients about unresolved issues ===
Support should proactively inform clients if an issue is not solved within the same day it was raised, after judging the urgency of the issue and the time it was raised. An email to the client who raised the issue, before the end of each day, is a best practice that keeps the client updated and other support staff too. This email should be sent regardless of the degree to which the issue has been resolved or if the issue is unresolved. If the issue is unresolved, the email should explain why and also explain the cause of delay.

=== Handling new USER creation ===
Support staff should create new USERS for clients ONLY when requested by an authorised person.

If the request comes from an unauthorised person, then support MUST reply to the same person informing them that this request must come from an authorised person. Support MUST NOT directly contact the authorised person asking for approval/confirmation because that is client work.

Clients should not be discouraged to create new users. Clients are billed as per user usage which is reviewed periodically. Over time old USERS are replaced with new USERS.

The USER code is the first name of a user.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

Support team MUST NOT discuss billings with clients unless authorised to do so. Also see [[Procedures#Discussing_Pricing|Discussing Pricing]]

Support team MUST NOT proceed with creating new users until the following details have been clearly provided by the client, otherwise the user may end up with more than the required authorisation, which can lead to problems in future.

New user requirements :-
*Full name
*Email address
*Group level / User with similar authorisation

After the new user has been created, Support Staff must send an email to the person who requested the creation of new user, confirming that the new user has been created along with a screenshot of that part of the authorisation table where the new user was created so that the new user's usercode and email id is visible. This is done so that in case there is some error in the usercode or email id, it is easily visible in the screenshot and also so that the person who requested the creation of the new user is informed about the usercode of the new user.

=== Handling letterhead change requests ===

Support staff should reject any requests that require the letterhead to be setup on the TESTING dataset before it is setup in the MAIN dataset.This is to reduce double work for support staff and to ensure that clients have a clear understanding of their requirements and also send the correct logo image.
The MAIN dataset can be copied to the TEST dataset for any kind of testing.

See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Configuring_Letterhead#Changing_the_letterhead_for_printed_documents How to change letterhead]

=== Handling error messages ===

'''Important:''' Before Attempting to resolve client issues, please ensure that we have secure access to the NEOSYS server.

#The very first step is understanding client problem. Ask questions to the client until you CLEARLY understand the problem.
#If the error is familiar and does not require a screenshot, resolve the problem immediately.
#If the error is unfamiliar and/or requires a screenshot and the user has not sent a screenshot, IMMEDIATELY ask the user to send a screenshot of the problem, along with the options used (basically you need to know HOW to replicate the error and the screenshot MUST show WHAT the error is).
#If the user says "nothing happens, so no screenshot of the error", then IMMEDIATELY request for screenshots again with the exact steps to reproduce the problem using mouse and keyboard.
#Upon receipt of the error and steps to reproduce the error, follow the steps and reproduce the error. Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues|Addressing Browser related issues]]
#If the issue is unknown or you don’t understand it clearly, with the users acknowledgement use remote support to gain access to the users desktop to view how to replicate the error.
{{Handling errors}}

=== Addressing Browser related issues ===

When resolving random browsing issues that seem to be on one user computer only, support MUST send the below email asking the user to check if the same issue occurs on other user computers. Rapidly convincing the user that the problem is only on their computer gains their willingness to sort the problem out at their end, using IT people if necessary and available.

Handling random issues that appear to be on one computer is very very common and it is important to deal with it effectively, not requiring stages of "denial" by the users until they accept something has to be done at their end, and not by NEOSYS. Speeding up this process gains the confidence and appreciation of the users.

<pre>Hi xxxx

Is this error happening only on your computer? If that is the case, it may be due to an issue in your browser cache. Please clear your browser cache with assistance from your IT team if required. Then restart the browser and try again.

If clearing browser cache does not fix the issue, I recommend a full browser reset to ensure that everything works fine.

Follow these instructions for clearing browser cache and resetting browser:
http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers

Please let us know if you face the issue again.</pre>

Also refer to [[Procedures#Handling_Browser_related_issues_in_NEOSYS| Handling Browser related issues]]

=== Addressing Technical support emails ===

In the case of technical support issues, address emails to the IT person and cc the complete group of recipients of backup emails and other NEOSYS alert emails. This allows both NEOSYS and client IT staff to take credit for resolving issues that NEOSYS raises instead of working in the background unacknowledged.

Technical support issues include backup failure, server failure, missing alert email, server connectivity issues and port forwarding issues and many other issues.

For technical issues like browser configuration, clear cache, etc. support must send the user a link to the appropriate wiki article to help the user fix the problem. In some cases the user may be helpless and unable to follow the steps to fix the problem. In such cases, support MUST NOT waste time trying to help the user fix the problem, instead support MUST ask the user to get help from the IT person.

=== Acceptable report format when handling issues in NEOSYS reports ===

NEOSYS Support must only resolve issues in NEOSYS output first. This is because only NEOSYS outputs can be trusted and user versions in Excel or PDF could be copied wrongly or edited by the user.

In case users send reports in excel or other formats, get them to send the original NEOSYS HTML report as an attachment or copy-pasted in email.

=== Handling requests to create new charts or control accounts===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_and_Configuring_NEOSYS_Finance_System#Creating_New_Charts_or_Control_Accounts Refer here]

=== Handling issues with totals on reports ===

If a client has a problem with any total output by NEOSYS software then NEOSYS support will advise them which other NEOSYS report or reports provide a complete breakdown of the total (if necessary, to individual transactions) and ask the client to locate any offending transactions themselves.

NEOSYS support staff will handle any issues where the total on the breakdown report does not add up to the total on the summary report.

Reconciling totals can be hard if there are many transactions involved. Regardless of how hard it may be, reconciliation is an operational task for users not for support staff since NEOSYS support staff will not get involved in understanding client transactions or data.

==== Trial Balance and Financial Statements ====

NEOSYS support staff do not have to prove or trace any figures in NEOSYS Trial Balance Reports or any financial reports. If a figure is stated to be wrong by the user, then NEOSYS support staff should ask for proof or say NEOSYS is confident that the figures are correct unless proved otherwise.

NEOSYS support staff should point out reports in NEOSYS which will support the figures in question but not actually run the reports. Support staff can suggest the users to refer to detailed ledger accounts to prove balances.

== Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office ==
There are two ways in which a user can use VPN:
*User connects to the their office router and makes the PC act like it is on the office LAN.
*User connects to a VPN service that provides a static IP number and can therefore be authorised by NEOSYS to login.

If the client intends to use VPN to connect to their office router and make the PC act like it is on the office LAN, then it depends on what VPN protocols the client's office router supports.

The alternative is to use a paid VPN service that provides a static IP number. Getting a dynamic IP number on VPN is very cheap and there are many suppliers, but getting a static IP number on VPN services seems to be more expensive.

Internally in NEOSYS we use PFSENSE routers which support OPENVPN which is extremely flexible.

==Handling issues with Office PBX phones==

Support should check their respective Office PBX phones every morning to find out if the phone is up and working. In case Support finds any issue with their phone, immediately fix it so that clients do not lose contact with the Support team via phone. Next send an email to Support inbox mentioning the fault, cause and solution for records/future prevention.

== Running undocumented commands on Maintenance mode==

Support Staff MUST NOT run undocumented commands on ***LIVE*** database. Some commands are not documented for a reason, it could be because the commands might give an undesired output or because there is no clarity on what else could be effected by the command.

Even if the command is tested in TESTING database and the output looks okay, support staff MUST get the programmer's approval before going ahead and running the command in LIVE database as there is no guaranty that the command is properly programmed and will do no damage.

==Configuring Browsers to show Javascript errors in NEOSYS==
NEOSYS Support MUST ensure the following Settings for browsers because if NEOSYS generates any javascript error message, the same would appear in the bottom left corner of a window, which in turn helps the programmer to fix the error. This must be done after every Factory Reset.

===Internet Explorer===
Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Browsing - the items Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer) and Disable script debugging (Other) are '''UNTICKED'''.

===Chrome===
Chrome Menu > More Tools > Extensions > Get More Extensions, search for '''Javascript Errors Notifier'''. Add the extension to Chrome.

[[image:Chrome.png]]

[[image:Chrome1.png]]
===Firefox===
Firebug add-on is used to NOTIFY about script errors because we have no other method to get any warning on screen but you should use the main firefox developer tools to investigate any errors as firebug is essentially replaced by built in developer tools.

For developer tools, go to Tools > Web Console

To enable notifications for script errors, download the add-on Firebug from [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/ here]. When a Javascript error is encountered, the firebug icon will report the number of errors.

Set your firebug as per the second screen shot and select "Enable All Panels" as well, the tick will not appear like the other options but the option will get selected. If you miss out on any one of these steps, you will not be able to capture script errors.

[[file:firebug1.jpg|1200px]]

[[File:Firebug.png]]

==Handling Browser related issues in NEOSYS==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Technical_/_Hardware_requirements#NEOSYS_Software_Browser_and_OS_Requirements NEOSYS browser requirements]

Clients frequently ask [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#Why_doesnt_NEOSYS_support_my_XYZ_browser.3F Why NEOSYS doesn't support other browsers]

To avoid browser errors, all new users must follow the steps given in [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#Getting_started_with_NEOSYS Getting started with NEOSYS] before logging in to NEOSYS for the first time.

To troubleshoot browser related errors see [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers Troubleshooting Web Browsers]

Users must clear browser cache after every NEOSYS Upgrade to avoid errors. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS#Sample_email_to_be_sent_to_clients_who_face_issues_due_to_failure_in_clearing_browser_cache Sample email to clients who face issues due to failure in clearing browser cache]

Pop-up blockers and any 3rd party toolbars must be deactivated/switched off or else certain pages and alert messages while using NEOSYS do not appear as a result of blocking from either the pop-up blocker or toolbars with built-in pop-up blockers.

NEOSYS support must ask users to Reset browser (See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Reset_Browser Reset browser]) if they notice any user browsers which have pop-up blockers or 3rd party toolbars installed.

Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues| Addressing Browser related issues]]

== Handling NEOSYS Upgrade==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS Upgrading NEOSYS]

==Handling auto-reply emails like Out of Office etc.==

From 28th May 2017 version, emails sent out by the NEOSYS system now contain headers that in effect request recipient email systems not to auto-reply for things like Out of Office. This is to reduce unnecessary chatter by silencing unnecessary automatic replies. There is no guarantee that recipient email systems will comply. The headers added are:
*X-Auto-Response-Suppress: RN, NRN, OOF
*Precedence: bulk

Support team should notify SB of any auto-responses that come despite their installation being patched.

In NEOSYS versions after 10th Jun 2017, emails sent by NEOSYS from the NEOSYS Help menu, i.e. manually triggered emails, do NOT indicate that OOF replies are not wanted, since if you are sending emails to people using NEOSYS, you will want to know if they are OOF.

== Using Support Tools ==
=== Website Live Support ===
www.neosys.com is equipped with a Live Support software and clients can visit the website, click on this link and chat with any of our support staff, without the need for any installation. The client has to fill in their name and enter their questions to connect to an available support personnel. During non-working hours, the Live Support icon on the website automatically displays "offline".

NEOSYS Support personnel who are authorised to provide such support, need to login to Live helper chat in Firefox using the link given below:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin

Support personnel should enter the account details as provided by their Manager.

Enable notifications for Live helper chat so that whenever there is a visitor trying to contact Support team, the Support personnel will get the notifications on his screen. Set the Live helper chat login page as your home page in firefox.

Use the link below to enable notifications:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin/chat/listchatconfig

After setting up Live helper chat if you sign in to a new profile in firefox, you might have to re enable the notifications after your firefox is synced to the new profile.

=== Teamviewer ===
Since Teamviewer allows no restriction on access once a fixed pass is installed, Support must not install fixed pass on teamviewer however convenient it might be.

RULE: NO FIXED PASS TO BE INSTALLED ON TEAMVIEWER IN ANY NEOSYS OR NEOSYS CLIENT COMPUTER

Running teamviewer live from a web link is fine because it does not allow installation of a permanent password

For certain tasks that require temporary install of Teamviewer on the client servers (e.g. upgrading Cygwin remotely), use Teamviewer 7 on the server as well as Support staff computer. Contact NEOSYS IT for commercial license of Teamviewer 7. Teamviewer MUST be uninstalled after usage, otherwise it creates an additional unnecessary security risk.

To support client users who use the latest version of Teamviewer, support staff must also install the latest Teamviewer version available alongside Teamviewer 7.

== Documenting Processes in Wiki ==
NEOSYS Support staff must be in continual learning mode. This is mandatory for support staff and is not an option. Support must read, learn and understand everything in the support emails and ask questions if they don't understand. This understanding must be transferred into wiki in the form of new articles and improvements to existing articles.

For all articles related to formatting and editing in Wiki, see [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Documenting_NEOSYS_systems Documenting NEOSYS systems]

===Avoiding duplication of text in wiki===

Duplication of text in wiki is to be avoided almost at any cost. Duplication has the problem that when one copy is changed or improved in future then it is highly likely the editor will fail to update the other copy or copies and wiki will over time become an inconsistent mess.

There are several ways to avoid duplication:

#Two or more procedures which have significant areas of duplication can be rewritten as a single procedure with alternatives in the middle of the procedure
#Wiki Templates- Templates reproduce the same text in all places and editing one place edits all places. See [[How to create templates in wiki]]
#Wiki links- Only put the text in one place and put links to that in all the other places that it is appropriate.
#Place a note in all copies something to the effect that "This is similar to x, y and z". This alerts any future editor of all other places in wiki that might also have to be updated.

Future modifications in one place may or may not be appropriate to other places. The editor must decide whether to change one or all places

===Highlighting information in wiki===

To highlight particular instructions or info in wiki do NOT invent new styles which are not the way the rest of wiki is done. Instead, follow the USUAL STYLE or open a DISCUSSION with any recommendations you have BEFORE USING THEM.

Instead of using various kinds of highlighting styles like bolding and words like "Note:", use the following words IN CAPITALS especially the word MUST.

The use of the following words IN CAPITALS indicates that you are using them in a special way with formally defined meaning as explained below. Use of the words in lower case indicates that you are using the word in an ordinary commonsense meaning.

*MAY - means optional
*SHOULD - means recommended and you need GOOD reason (not just any weak excuse) to not follow to follow this recommendation
*MUST - mandatory

Only in the rare cases where the consequences of doing or not doing something are irreversible or take a lot of work to reverse then you can use your own additional highlighting methods, eg ALL CAPS, stars, color red etc.

==== Explain WHY ====

Any sentence which uses the word "MUST" in capitals, MUST be followed by a SPECIFIC REASON explaining exactly why is the instruction is mandatory; the reason MUST not be vague and non-specific meaning no more than "or bad things will happen".

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules.

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise it will cause problems in future.

CORRECT way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise the deleted schedules' ads will still show in all media-diary like reports and screens

The Wrong way above gives a general reason "it will cause problems in future" which is vague and a reader may even go ahead and ignore "MUST" because there is no objective or proper side effect mentioned for not following the MUST statement. Basically he doesn't understand the point behind following a certain rule.

Whereas the Correct way gives a SPECIFIC reason for "deleting ads while deleting schedules", so reader will exactly know the trouble that will be caused if ads are not deleted. Therefore "SPECIFIC REASON" behind using the word MUST must be to the point and very informative.

==== Why explain WHY ====
The information contained in the WHY phrase is often '''extremely informative''' to the reader about things that you may otherwise not have considered saying.

The most valuable information is usually contained in the "WHY" of something. There is an apocryphal story of a company where managers could be fired if they gave instructions to their staff without providing explanation. In almost all cases it is better for the efficiency of a team of people that any instructions they follow contain the "WHY" of something. Only in few cases should staff be expected to follow instructions without being well or fully informed.

== Email Retention Policy ==

=== Generally ===

Emails are retained permanently to allow old issues to be discovered in email searches.

=== Account: backups@neosys.com ===

Only the last 365 days of emails to backups@neosys.com are kept in general to reduce the burden on servers and clients due to the heavy number of emails.

For the backups/neosys folder, only 31 days is kept due to the very high numbers of emails ~250/day.

Deletions are configured in and done by a thunderbird client in NEOSYS IT so may not be continuous.

== Use of personal email addresses by NEOSYS support staff ==

NEOSYS support staff MUST NOT use any personal email addresses for NEOSYS business.

The xxxx.neosys@gmail.com addresses that are created by support staff for themselves on joining are also considered personal email addresses and must not be used for NEOSYS business. These email addresses might be linked to NEOSYS wiki accounts but that doesn't matter because wiki is not confidential.

== Accessing NEOSYS accounts on personal devices ==

NEOSYS staff MUST NOT install NEOSYS accounts on skype/dropbox/gmail (or any other external tool) on their personal devices without written permission from NEOSYS management

== Support Staff work-in-progress documents/files ==

Support Staff must not save working files hidden on their computer. Work that is not visible is not work .
Support work should not be done privately and should be shared to all.

ALL personal working files however trivial MUST be stored in Dropbox and MUST NOT be stored anywhere in personal computer (My Documents/Desktop etc.)

The personal encrypted pass file MUST be stored somewhere in personal folder under SB NEOSYS staff in Dropbox. This is because if there is a loss of OS/Computer, it should not lead to loss of access as all the passwords saved in the file will be lost.

== Handling CLIENT/NEOSYS Servers ==

NEOSYS support staff must exercise extreme caution when working on CLIENT and NEOSYS servers. Do not risk making changes without due care and attention to the fact that the consequences of errors can be serious on working production servers.

=== Handling Javascript Files in NEOSYS ===

All the files in NEOSYS installation folder with .JS and .JSE extension are the executable javascript files which startup NEOSYS processes (in a usual DOS window). Their default program is 'Microsoft Windows Based Script Host' (wscript.exe). If a JavaScript file is opened using a notepad, the default program may change to notepad resulting in all NEOSYS processes to open up in a notepad.

Hence be very CAREFUL when accessing a .JS and .JSE file and double check that the default program remains wscript.exe. Refer to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Fixing 'NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (i.e. DOS window)'|Fixing NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host]] in case this issue comes up.

== Handling "List of Open Ports" reports ==

This email comes to NEOSYS support team once a day showing only those client's servers which appear to have changed what TCP ports are open to the internet since yesterday. It will also come once a week showing all clients servers open ports.

NEOSYS support team should work patiently with client IT staff, over time if necessary, to close all ports that are not absolutely mandatory to be open.

Clients with highly skilled IT staff may have a variety of ports open to various non-NEOSYS servers inside their organisation. In this case, NEOSYS plays little or no role other than getting their confirmation of exactly what ports are acceptable. Any new ports that appear over time should be handled in the same way.

For clients without such staff, NEOSYS is their only real line of defence and since NEOSYS requested opening some ports, we should get all other ports closed by patiently following up until action is taken. Involving management may be the only way to get IT to act.

In particular, port 80 and 443 controlling internal or external routers should be closed. It is NOT acceptable except in HIGH IT EXPERTISE environments that critical routers should be exposed to the internet and they MUST NOT be accessible from the internet because routers that do not have their software updated can be hacked using known defects. Even updated routers can be hacked. Making it easy for client IT staff to access the router configuration from outside is NOT a good enough excuse to break this rule. Professional IT does not allow access to critical routers from the internet.

Likewise, any port 80 (unencrypted web access) and port 3389 (RDP remote desktop) open to the NEOSYS server MUST be closed otherwise logins can be monitored and there is no way to guarantee server security.

If a port is definitely required and properly approved to be open by client IT support, please let NEOSYS IT (SB) know and it will be put in the "known" column so that ports in the "unknown" column are all pending action.

The report does not attempt to detect UDP ports since UDP ports can receive information from the internet without responding in any way so there is no way to detect them reliably.

Green color shows ports that have opened since the last report run. Open ports can sometimes not be detected accurately so a port may appear to disappear in one report and reappear in the next report.

=== Why should HTTP port 80 not be open on my router? ===

It is not advisable to expose any HTTP server for any private service on your computer network or router because HTTP is unencrypted and this means that all information regarding that service, including passwords, can be observed by any malware on your LAN and internet connection. This information can then be used to install horrible software on your internal PCs.

What to do?

Use https for any internal services - and advisably on a non-standard port, not the standard https port of 443.

For example, NEOSYS service is exposed as HTTPS (not HTTP) usually on port 4430 - not the standard https port of 443.

Commercial hacking is getting really common with things like FIREBALL and CRYPTOLOCKER causing a lot of damage.

It is advisable to take basic precautions pro-actively before any attack exposes weaknesses.

== Handling Nagios Client Monitoring system ==

NEOSYS support staff on duty MUST follow the procedures outlined below in case Nagios Checker shows a critical or warning message for any service. Failure to schedule appropriate downtime will lead to REDUNDANT ALERTS from NAGIOS every hour.

# Nagios is required to be checked first thing in the morning and any critical or warning messages need to be dealt with to resolve the same at the earliest.
# Some of the messages could be related to backup failures and the usual procedure as stated in [[Backup_and_Restore#Handling_failure_and_warning_messages_on_nightly_backup_alerts|Handling failure and warning messages on nightly backup alerts]] needs to be followed. In case the backup issue isn't resolved by 9:30 am, the Nagios service needs to be scheduled with downtime for a minimum of 2 hours and maximum until 1 am next day if the issue cannot be solved.
# In case any HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host is down, immediate action is required and the relevant IT people at the client side needs to be contacted to get this resolved. A downtime of 2 hours is required to be scheduled with further intervals of 2 hours in case this is not resolved. Support staff shouldn't schedule downtime till 1 am next day, just to get rid of the alerts for the day. Proactive follow up with the client is required to get this resolved before the business day - more so, if there is a weekend ahead.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host goes down during the day, a grace period of 20 minutes is given before the issue is reported to the client IT. This helps in case there is any temporary internet connection issue at the client or along the internet route.
# In case of "Backup not changed" warning status which occurs if the client has not interchanged the USB before 12 noon on that day, no action is required from the support staff and a downtime until 1 am next day needs to be scheduled.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH PING service or Host is down for more than 1 day, client IT should acknowledge the problem and give NEOSYS support staff an approximate time frame before which the issue will be resolved. Set an appropriate downtime for such events.
# In case Host is down for more than 2 days and there is no progress with the fix from client IT, the client management should be notified about the seriousness of not having access to server and their acknowledgement is mandatory.
#Support should check Nagios quite frequently during the day to look for any new alerts so that issues are fixed as soon as possible.

To summarise, any red alert left in Nagios Checker means that there is an issue that has not been attended to properly, and "attended to" does not mean solved. Support staff MUST solve the problem immediately if possible, or downtime/acknowledge and comment on the Nagios alert.

== Handling lack of remote access to NEOSYS server located in client’s premises ==

If access to the NEOSYS server is lost then we must determine the root cause by:
# Checking if the server is UP and running
# If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server
# If there is connectivity, please check the router for connectivity issues

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

Please note that we have currently lost access to the NEOSYS server. The server seems to be down at the moment and it seems that
NEOSYS processes are not running on the server.
Kindly check if the server is UP and running. If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server.
Do keep us posted on the server status so we can test connectivity from our side as well.

Best Regards,
</pre>
== New Router (Port Forwarding) ==

If you have changed your router then you may notice that external access to NEOSYS is unavailable.

'''Solution:'''

Setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to the NEOSYS Server as follows:
# Port 19580 > 19580 for SSH
# Port 4430 > 4430 for HTTPS

You can see [http://portforward.com/ Set Up Port Forwarding] to learn how to configure your Router.

To see how to test/ troubleshoot port forwarding settings, go to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_remote_support_port_forwarding|Troubleshooting Port Forwarding]].

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

You are requested to kindly setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to
the NEOSYS Server,i.e. port 19580 for SSH and port 4430 for HTTPS.

Once this is complete, kindly send me an email to confirm the same so that we could test connectivity from our end as well.

Best Regards
</pre>
== Creating and Handling passwords ==
Passwords made out of a pass phrase should be at least 10 characters since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts.

=== Creating a password ===
Passwords are generated from a pass phrase and it is important to create a very difficult to guess pass phrase.

For example, a good pass phrase would be: '''Today is a good day and it is the best time to go for a holiday'''

The password for this would be '''Tiagd&iitbt2g4ah'''

The important instructions for the above are:
#You have to take the first letter of each word and that makes your password (i.e. by using initials)
#Wherever any word starts with a capital, then you have to take first letter as a capital (eg. For Today you will take T)
#Replace '''and''' with '''&'''
#Replace '''to''' with '''2'''
#Replace '''for''' with '''4'''

=== Handling passwords ===
#Never send the actual password - always send the pass phrase
#Make sure that the password created out of the pass phrase is at least 10 characters long since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts
#Pass phrases are never to be sent by email, whatever the case maybe.
#Pass phrases can be sent by chat - however they have to be broken down in two parts and sent separately over two different messengers or if you are using Gtalk then use the 'off the record' mode.
#Using SMS to send pass phrases is the best known way as of now.
#If you save the passwords on your system in an file then:
#*Ensure that you only store pass phrases in the excel file
#*Ensure that the excel file is encrypted with a master password

== NEOSYS Maintenance Window ==

The NEOSYS server is functional from 6am – 1am. There is a 5hr window gap for the system to perform updates & backups.

The 5hr maintenance window:-

1. At 1am – The server performs a data backup on a USB (for the respective clients) & once the backup has been completed, the system automatically generates an email addressed to the neosys staff & the respective clients.

2. At 2:45am – The main data over writes the test data on the server.

3. At 3:00am – The server by itself performs an update for Windows.

4. At 4:00am – The server performs a backup to the headquarters for clients, and then automatically generates an email addressed to the NEOSYS staff & the respective clients.

5. At 6:00am – The server starts up NEOSYS.

== Using NEOSYS Terminology while communicating with Clients ==

NEOSYS support must communicate in correct language to clients on finance issues in order to ensure that our records exactly represent reality. Conversely NEOSYS must not use other terminology because it can cause considerable confusion and poor quality results. In case client is new and still in training, use client terminology optionally as long as
#It is only an addition to NEOSYS standard terminology
#Only if clear that it is client terminology by putting in brackets like this "Sales Invoices (called PI by you)", where "you" means the client you are talking to or you can put the client company name instead perhaps.

The objective is over time to avoid having the support team to have to know the terminology of the client. NEOSYS support team cannot possibly know and remember it for each client therefore the client MUST over time learn and use NEOSYS terminology. The initial period is one of relearning and translation for the client not for NEOSYS.

Many users operating NEOSYS finance module do not know proper financial procedures and may not appreciate how doing something in a wrong or unusual way now may not be correctable in the future.

NEOSYS staff must follow NEOSYS procedures only. If NEOSYS procedures need to be updated then this must be agreed in advance and not AFTER the fact.

== Amending/Reposting Journal Entries ==
In certain exceptional cases, amending/reposting of journal entries is allowed for a brief period of time to enable clients to present reports in an alternative manner. This would be subject to NEOSYS would requiring a written LETTER OF APPROVAL duly signed and stamped by the highest management of the company.

In case the client management decides to allow editing/reposting of journal entries, the following procedure is to be followed:
# Client must de-allocate vouchers which need to be amended
# NEOSYS support staff must wait for a day so that de-allocated vouchers are copied into Test database
# Authorise required users to amend and repost (without record) '''in Test database only''' ( While reposting, we have 2 options i.e. with record and without record. The 'with record' option causes the system to maintain a history of edits made. Hence, we want to repost without record so that there is no trace of the edit in the system)
# Amend a substantial number of vouchers in Test and verify them. To verify if the edits made are reflected:
# *Print all ledgers for the whole year
# *Cross-check all balances
# Once you verify the balances are correct in Test database, grant users permission to amend and repost in the Live database.
# Ask users to amend and repost vouchers in the Live database.
# Cross-check all balances for the current year.
# If you successfully verify the balances, revoke permissions immediately. Else, wait for 24 hours and revoke permissions irrespectively.

== Removal of unauthorized third-party software on client servers ==

Rule: Any third party software that is discovered by NEOSYS support staff on client servers that has been installed without the agreement of NEOSYS should be uninstalled immediately on discovery.

However purposeful a software is, NEOSYS is contractually responsible for support and there are too many opportunities for poorly installed software to cause unpredictable damage to the NEOSYS database so NEOSYS has to have a clear and safe and simple policy to ensure the integrity of client data. Installing software without prior discussion with NEOSYS by itself indicates that insufficient care and consideration as been given to possible issues.

Any software required by client IT for some purpose may only be installed after discussion and agreement from NEOSYS support staff concerning the configuration and operation of the software.

The NEOSYS Software Licence and Support agreement requires that where NEOSYS software is installed on client servers that a dedicated server is provided and dedicated implies that no other software may be installed without the agreement of NEOSYS support.

== Configuring tunnelier to autologin on opening tlp files ==
If you have many tunnelier tlp files in a directory and connect by opening the desired tlp file the, instead of opening the file and then clicking Login you can also right click the file and select Connect.

Alternatively, you can configure tunnelier to login (connect) automatically by following the procedure mentioned below. (Even if you configure automatic login, you can still open and not login by right clicking and choosing Open)

=== Windows 8 ===

Cannot be done using standard Windows UI. Some download utilities can do it. TODO put a safe one in neosys.com/support

=== Windows XP/Vista/7/2008 ===

#Go to My Computer
#Click on Tools -> Folder Options [[image:tunnauto-1.jpg]] 
#Click on File Types
#*Select TLP (Bitvise Tunnelier Profile) [Type "TLP" to find it quickly]
#*Click on Advanced [[image:tunnauto-2.jpg]] 
#Click on Connect and Click on Set Default [[image:tunnauto-3.jpg]] 

== International v/s Indian English ==

There are some words which have completely different meanings in International and Indian English. NEOSYS Staff should follow International English only. Below are the examples of few of those words:

Word: '''Doubt'''

In the English language word "doubt" means to distrust an alleged fact on the basis of a reason, depending on the strength of the reason which may be anything from factual to feeling e.g "I have no reason to doubt him".
This usage is followed worldwide.

Some people especially from Indian origin use "doubt" when they are unaware about a fact. e.g "I want to clear my doubts about this procedure". This is incorrect. The word must be used when you do not agree on something on the basis of a reason and not when you do not have knowledge about it.

==[[ New Employee Training Checklist]]==

==[[ New Client Training Notes]]==

==[[ General Office Procedures]]==

File:Scamscreenshot1.png

2017-09-26T06:16:20Z

Priyanka: Priyanka uploaded a new version of File:Scamscreenshot1.png

Procedures

2017-08-14T09:17:29Z

Priyanka: /* Handling issues with Office PBX phones */

Here are procedures to be followed by Support Staff in respect to various technical matters in day to day operations of client issues.

== Handling Clients with Overdue Invoice ==
In order to maintain good payment speed by clients NEOSYS needs to restrict support to clients that dont pay their bills on time, however the degree of restriction needs to depend on an intimate knowledge of the client which cannot be expected from all NEOSYS support staff. Therefore we will use a simple escalation policy as follows:

=== Overdue Support List ===
NEOSYS SUPPORT MANAGERS WILL maintain an overdue list on a whiteboard visible to all support staff. Generally, clients will go on the list immediately when their invoice is overdue and come off only after satisfactory commitment to pay have been obtained.

The latest overdue list email MUST always be starred until there are no clients left on the overdue list (apart from the permanently overdue clients). This way support team will know that there are still clients on the overdue list and will not mistakenly provide support to those clients.

For the first week of each quarter of the year, normal support should be provided for server failures and backup failures (including hung processes as it could eventually lead to backup failures). NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any other support requests from overdue clients, with the following letter (where XYZ is the overdue client):

Dear ABC,
There is an issue with your company's account. We have requested our Accounts team for approval in order to provide support to you and other XYZ users.

Support staff must then provide the required support to the overdue client only after 4 working hours. Support Staff need not actually contact the Accounts team for approval, although that is what is mentioned in the letter. This delay in support is to encourage clients to settle their payments on time.

After the first week of each quarter of the year, NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any support requests from overdue clients with the above letter but MUST NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT even after 4 working hours. Instead, NEOSYS Support Staff must refer the support request to NEOSYS Support Manager.

Managers may well instruct support to provide support on a case by case basis even if clients are on the overdue list. Being on the overdue list does not necessarily indicate a major issue with accounts.

== Handling Frozen NEOSYS Installations and Databases ==

Some clients retain fully operational NEOSYS installations or just particular databases even after they stop using them for some reason, either because they move to some other software, or because they terminate an operational division, or other reasons, and this can either be on NEOSYS or their own servers.

In this case, various NEOSYS upgrade and maintenance processes may be suspended, downgraded or completely skipped especially if instant access to the server is no longer available. This does not mean that it should never be done, and pros and cons need to be assessed and documented in support emails on a case by case basis.

*Upgrading NEOSYS version
*Upgrading/standardising NEOSYS database configuration and other files for consistency, security or other issues
*Patching Windows/IIS configuration for consistency, security or other issues

== Handling Links and Email Attachments ==

'''DO NOT TRUST ANY LINK OR ATTACHMENT IN ANY EMAIL EVEN FROM HIGHLY TRUSTED PEOPLE OR ORGANISATIONS'''

These days you can no longer trust links or attachments in emails from anybody - even emails from highly trusted people like your bank.

If a personal computer or intermediate email server is hacked then even genuine emails sent out from it can be infected and modified in a hidden way that can result in the recipient being infected if they click or open anything in the email.

Therefore you should know and understand how to avoid, as far as possible, getting tricked and infected via emails.

Malware authors generally rely on the fact that most people devote no time at all to security precautions so a moderate cautious approach, slowing down a little to spending some time on security, even where it is apparently not required, is enough to defeat most attacks.

=== Links ===

Do NOT click on links, especially in emails that you are not expecting, but also anywhere else that you see links, without taking various precautions. The links in an email, even from someone you know and trust, can LIE to you about what website they will open and they can lead you to websites that mere browsing can infect your computer and then others inside our network.

WHAT LINK/WEBSITE WILL BE OPENED MAY NOT BE WHAT IT SAYS IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL!

Therefore, to use a link in any and all emails, first hover your cursor over it and check the status bar at the bottom of the screen where you can see exactly what website will be opened, or, to be more sure exactly what website you are opening DO NOT click links in emails at all. COPY/PASTE the link to your browser, AFTER following the below points.

*Make sure you know and trust the website being opened.
*Carefully inspect the spelling of the domain name to avoid tricky look-alike fraudulent links eg hcsb.com instead of hsbc.com
*If you trust the sender but you do not personally know the website then get independent confirmation from the sender. Reply to the email so that the sender can check the link you received has not been tampered with.

In the following case, hovering over the first two links seem to go to real UPS website, BUT this is NOT sufficient to be sure since slight misspellings and other tricks can lead you to a totally different website.

However, hovering over the third "link" shows that clicking the apparent link would go to some website http://behappy.vn (Vietnam) so clearly this is a DECEPTION.

[[image:Scamscreenshot.png]]

=== Attachments ===

There is no way to determine if an attachment, even from someone you know, has not been infected and is therefore dangerous. The only protection is to rely on anti-virus/anti-malware software on your computer.

You can check the names and file types/extensions of attached files to spot any obviously strange or unexpected attachments but this is not very effective. Don't open attachments ending in .jar or any others without SB's permission.

Be careful that if there are a lot of attached files not to assume that all are safe because the majority are unsafe.

== Handling junk email ==
Any email identified as junk should be manually marked as Junk so that they automatically go into the Junk folder. The spam filter in the server will use the emails in the Junk folder to decide what is moved into the spam folder.

== Avoid burdening email servers with excessive graphics ==

Support MUST install the "Auto Resize Image" addon in Thunderbird to reduce the size of images in emails resulting in a significant reduction in email size. See [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Configure_Auto_Resize_Image| setting up auto resize image]] for details.

It reduces the burden on NEOSYS and NEOSYS client's email servers. This is especially important on long conversations about subjects that include many screenshots, since for just a simple one line reply, the email can consume many MB of space. It massively wastes the email server space and makes backups massive and generally a total waste of resources and time.

To be able to refer back to graphics in previous emails, add the SIZE column to your email program so that you can locate large emails with graphics rapidly without searching back one by one.

==Client Communication Policies==
===Client Meeting Report Policy===

After every Client meeting online or otherwise Support MUST send a Follow-Up email to the Client which is open and fully informative and not brief, stating the events during the meet and any action required by either or both parties. The email to the client must not shrink from discussing contentious issues due to a false sense of politeness or timidity to address issues face on. Obviously one should not be rude but it is not rude to address issues openly.(cc Client managers and NEOSYS Managers)

The follow-up email MUST be sent within 24 hours of completion of the meeting so that the points discussed during the meeting are fresh in all the meeting participants' minds. This means that reports for meetings on the day before the weekend MUST be sent on the SAME day.

In addition to above email if there is some information that needs to be shared internally and cannot be said in public to the client then send a Client Meeting report to Support.

Support must also update the Client Contact Record file in Google Drive immediately after sending out the follow-up email.

===Follow Up of Support Issues===

All voice/chat communication MUST also be followed up with an email confirming at least the gist of the communication to keep the whole support team updated on the issue.

If not possible to contact for any reason, then an email MUST be sent stating so and suggesting or requesting a time to connect.

cc Client managers (and/or BCC NEOSYS Managers) MAY be done if thought to be useful and/or appropriate.

===Handling Contentious Emails from Clients===

If emails requesting support become contentious, then voice, phone call or chat is REQUIRED to save time. However, client support via phone call should be done only on local or low-cost calls. High-cost international calls should not be used except in extreme circumstances.

If clients become deliberately combative or uncooperative then Support team is supposed to kick back a little but still emphasise the point. Perhaps it could be done better with a little ironic humour or a smiley. Avoid using !! while responding to contentious emails.

=== Discussing Pricing ===
All discussions about pricing must be done only in Sales inbox. If clients bring up pricing discussion in support emails, NEOSYS staff must respond to the client by starting a new thread in the Sales Inbox.

==NEOSYS Support Response Time Policy==

NEOSYS contracts, in the few cases where we have a written contract with the client, specifies that maximum response time is one business day generally and one business hour for complete stoppages of the system. Obviously we have to do far better than this in practice.

Support staff must inform clients of the progress of the issue if it is not resolved the same day but only if they contact at least 1 hour before office closing.

Deciding to wait on issues is fine (also refer to: [[Procedures#Handling_users_who_do_not_act_upon_standard_messages|Response to standard messages]]), but support MUST at least spend up to 5 minutes on issues to see if they can be handled quickly.

For routine requests for service where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client then no need to send rapid reply.

==Handling errors discovered by support staff ==
{{Handling errors}}

==Handling Cheques from Clients==

NEOSYS staff are not to accept deliveries from clients that might be cheques without prior instructions to accept the same. They can ask courier to wait a few minutes until NEOSYS accounts or management agrees but they may not be available and probably will not agree anyway. NEOSYS payment terms do not accept cheques although clients are free to deposit cheques by themselves.

== Client Password Policy ==
All client user passwords, including their initial one, are to be obtained via the user's email address using the password reminder/reset button on the login screen. [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#What_is_NEOSYS_password_policy.3F (NEOSYS password policy)]

NEOSYS staff should never know users passwords therefore NEOSYS will not obtain and grant user passwords. The reason for this is that in the event that users lose their passwords to other people who then login unauthorised then suspicion could fall on the NEOSYS staff who know their password.

All parties concerned, including client management, client users and NEOSYS support staff, benefit greatly from trusting that if something in a NEOSYS database is registered as having been done by a particular user then it was not in fact somehow done by NEOSYS support staff. Nothing should be done that would break such fundamental trust. To achieve this, NEOSYS support staff must never log in as particular users, never ask for users passwords and generally enforce the idea that all work logged as being done by users IS done by users.

Very limited amounts of work by NEOSYS support staff either in person or remotely using teamviewer is acceptable while a user is logged as long as the user login was performed by the user themselves, the user is present and the user specifically agrees with the work being done.

=== Support requests from ordinary client users ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords will be forwarded to known skilled users on the client staff since this is the most efficient (not fastest) way to handle such issues.

=== Support requests from senior client management ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords by senior client management users shall be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bearing in mind that NEOSYS staff should never know user's passwords this will probably involve NEOSYS staff using the Password Reminder/Reset button to send a new password to the user.

=== User Defined Passwords ===
NEOSYS will provide user defined passwords in very special cases which must be pre-approved case by case by NEOSYS management. NEOSYS will not approve this due to the reasons mentioned [[Procedures#Client_Password_Policy|here]].

If the user login gets blocked due to multiple login failures and the user requests support team to reset the password to the user defined password again, support MUST delay the response to this request by at least 1 hour in order to force the user to be more careful when typing the password.

Currently permission for user defined password has only been granted to one NEOSYS client with several hundreds of databases.

== Handling client issues and requests==

All support issues must be dealt with through phone/email/chat. Support Staff can schedule client visits for User Training but should not schedule client visits solely for providing support for petty issues.

ALL Support staff should check the all the previous day's inbound emails for reply flags once in the morning. All Support staff will therefore be held responsible for any unreplied inbound email.

Support staff should NOT waste time and delay support by investigating issues WITHOUT having sufficient information.

Support staff should look for similar issues when solving a particular problem to avoid similar issues in future. This saves the time and energy of Support as well as the Client.

When sending screenshots to clients, support team should economise on space by minimising to the minimum that will show the problem clearly. This is because not every user will be viewing their emails on large wide screens like NEOSYS support team. Browser windows reformat their contents to suit the width available so this is particularly effective in most NEOSYS screens.

Support team MUST be cautious while sending screenshots so that no private/unnecessary information is sent to Client. If you cant avoid taking the screenshot without unnecessary information then you should hide it in the screenshot.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

=== Handling new emails in Support inbox===
Support MUST spend up to 5 minutes on new emails and send a quick reply to the client, to acknowledge the request or give a quick solution in case its a petty issue or has a documented solution in wiki. This should probably be done on priority, interrupting existing work and not wait for one hour and be dealt with quickly.

For routine service requests where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client, Support does not need to send a rapid reply.

=== Handling client call back requests===

Clients who ask us to call them should be given our phone number asked to call us unless there is some GOOD reason why we should make the effort and pay phone charges.

=== Handling login failure issues===

Users often get login failure issues due to typing wrong password and they simply won't read and act according to the error message they get. In this case, Support must send the below email to the user.

<pre>
Dear XYZ,

If you have trouble resetting password, please ask for assistance from your manager/IT Manager/Timesheet Administrator/NEOSYS-expert colleague.

Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

Local support users (TA or IT manager etc) have the LS key using which they can see the User Details page of all users. They should check all the information (usercode, registered email id, last login attempts etc) in the User Details page to find out what is the issue.

This procedure will reduce the endless mails sent back and forth to solve petty issues which could easily be solved by the client's local support.

=== Handling requests or demands for "URGENT" or "PRIORITY" support ===

Any request for prioritised action *without giving any reason for the prioritisation* should be disregarded and the request handled with normal priority. If a reason is given then you may at your discretion prioritise a response but there is no obligation to do so.

=== Handling users who login with other people's NEOSYS usercodes ===
This can cause a lot of confusion in both the client and NEOSYS support. It may also indicate that the correct NEOSYS monthly licensing fee is not being paid. There is no valid reason for anonymous logins or sharing logins between multiple users.

Therefore if NEOSYS support team get requests for support about using NEOSYS from users who are not registered properly in NEOSYS with an personally identifiable user code, name and email then the following email should be sent cc admin@neosys.com.

No exception should be granted to clients without NEOSYS management approval.

<pre>
Dear NEOSYSUSER,

Please note that in order to receive support from NEOSYS you must personally have an identifiable user code, name and email address registered
in NEOSYS.

We can create new user account for you with your management approval. This may or may not have an impact on the NEOSYS monthly licensing fee
depending on the agreement in force.

Please let us know what you would like us to do.

Best Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

=== Handling support requests from expired users ===

If expired users call for any reason including not being able to login, they must not be given any support. They should only be told that their account is expired without any reason being offered because employers sometimes do not want any information at all being passed to expired users.

===Handling support request from senior management===

Any support requests from senior client management users concerning report generations should be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bear in mind that NEOSYS staff should not agree or offer to do client work. Support staff can advise senior management to contact a skilled user to help them with basic NEOSYS reporting. Support staff can also send screenshots of step by step procedure on how to take reports. Depending on the situation and reasons provided by senior management, support staff can at their discretion provide reports but after informing them that this is an exception and no more reports will be sent out as this is against NEOSYS procedures.

=== Handling emails with unrelated subject line ===
At times, clients forward old emails, with new issues, resulting in completely unrelated subject line. In such situations, support MUST follow the below steps to ensure that unrelated emails do not appear in the same conversation group when viewing emails in conversation mode:
#Right click the email -> HeaderToolsLite -> Edit full source
#Modify the text that appears after "Message-ID: <". (e.g. replace the first few characters with "xxxxxxxxx")
#Remove all texts that appear after "References:" and "In-Reply-To:" and click OK.
#Click Reply All on the modified email.
#Change the subject to a relevant one.
#Delete old unrelated content from the email body.

In the email reply, include a comment like "PS Please don't forward old emails for new issues, start a new email with a new subject so that emails can be traced easily."

Sometimes the client does not bother putting the correct subject line for new issues (e.g. blank subject, or "Error"). Then support should add a meaningful subject line in order to make the email easy to search for.

=== Handling emails with poor screenshots ===
Sometimes Thunderbird shows full sized screenshots in a compact format that is not easy to read. These can be resized to make them more legible. To do this, make the email editable by hitting the "Reply" button, then click and drag to resize the screenshot as desired.

If the screenshot sent by the user is genuinely small and hard to read, reply to the mail and request for a full size, clear screenshot.

=== Handling support-request emails sent to anywhere than support@neosys.com ===
Client emails anywhere than support@neosys.com MUST be ignored. This is because ALL support must be recorded in support inbox without exception so that the whole support team is aware of the issue and action taken. If client complains about the delay in support then they can be told this is because they used the wrong email address.

=== Handling users who do not act upon standard messages ===
When users do not bother to read and act on standard NEOSYS-generated messages and instead ask for help, Support staff MUST delay response time and thereafter send them an email which is the same as the message so they get the point that in future they should read the messages and handle issues themselves.

=== Handling Requests to do Client work ===
NEOSYS Support staff must not agree or offer to do work on behalf of the client.

This is because doing client work while logged in as NEOSYS breaks security rules. Support uses the NEOSYS username which has unrestricted access, so when a user requests Support to do some work which they don’t have access to, and if Support agrees to do the work, the client has successfully defeated the security rules by accessing features that they are unauthorised to access.

Client work also includes [[Procedures#Handling_issues_with_totals_on_reports|Handling issues with totals on reports]].

====Requests for colour and font changes====

Support should not be spending lots of time on colour and font changes. Clients can make as many changes as they want until they are happy with a selection. Clients MUST send a screenshot of their required color/font settings (not sample screen/reports) for Support to copy and setup for all users. If Support sees them doing something bad or poor then give comments or better suggestions.

=== Handling Requests that require Approval from Higher Authority ===

The following is a list of user requests that must be handled by NEOSYS support staff only if they are approved by or come from a higher authority (manager/admin). The LIST is '''NOT''' a complete list so there may be other things which might require approval so use good judgement and/or ASK if in doubt.

*Opening new financial year
*Adding new company/dataset
*Editing alert/backup email receiver addresses
*Customising Authorisation File ({{SensitiveSecurity }})
**Adding or removing accesses for existing users in Authorisation file
**Adding new user(s) to Authorisation file
**Expiring a user
**[[Procedures#For_HTTPS_access| Allowing HTTPS/outside office access from any IP number]]

If an unauthorized user sends one of these requests to support staff, support staff must immediately instruct the user to get the request approved by the higher authority.

===Handling User Requests to add an IP or range of IPs to access NEOSYS===

Support staff must identify if the IP or range of IPs is for http or https access.
{{SensitiveSecurity }}

====For HTTP access====
Support staff can add local IP or range of local IPs when requested by the client. Top management approval is not needed to add local IP numbers. Listed below are the IP address ranges reserved for local network.

10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

====For HTTPS access====
Any request for https access from any IP address or range of IP addresses (eg. 123.456.* or just *), or in other words any use of an asterisk in the IP restrictions, MUST have TOP management i.e. the company's decision makers approval. The Staff and their Managers are not the best decision makers in this affair because they usually ignore the risks and it is not really their decision. Security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled. It is completely pointless to inform the staff who want the access about these risks because only their top managers could really decide that this is NOT going to be allowed. Hence the Top Management MUST be asked for approvals and at the same time WARN them about the security risks/threats behind the no IP restrictions.

=====For clients with static IP=====
Any request to add a specific IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses MUST have management approval.

=====For clients with dynamic IP=====
For clients with dynamic IP, support MUST NOT add their public IP to the allowed list as this will encourage the client to again request for access from new IP numbers every time their public IP changes. Instead, support MUST force the client to either install VPN or get the Top Management i.e. the company's decision maker's approval to enable access from any IP after explaining the security risks in doing so, as mentioned above.

Support MUST also mention that installation of VPN by the Company is the industry standard way of providing access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER. Installation of VPN is to be done by their own IT support. Refer to [[Procedures#Using_VPN_to_enable_secure_access_from_outside_the_office|Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office]]

Sample Email:
<pre>
Dear XXX,

I do not recommend allowing access from all IPs because security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc. can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled.

I strongly recommend that you keep IP restrictions for XYZ dataset.

If you want to provide access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER, then installation of VPN is the industry standard of achieving this. Installation of VPN is to be done by your own IT support.

If you still wish to allow access from all IPs, kindly confirm that you acknowledge the security threats of doing so.

</pre>

=== Handling repeated request to allow users to access from all IPs ===

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

If the client wants temporary access from outside for some staff twice in say a six months period then support should send the below email. The real reason is because we don't have the time to be doing this on a regular basis. If at all the client asks why we no longer support the provision of temporary outside access then we can say this is because of the frequency of such requests.

Dear XXX

We have given you temporary outside access this time, as requested. Please note that we can no longer support the provision of temporary outside access. So in the future, you will have to choose between either permanent or no outside access. Alternatively, you can ask your management to install a VPN (which is the industry standard of achieving outside access to a corporate asset in a secure manner), so that you can log in to NEOSYS from outside.

=== Handling requests to create a new feature or modifying existing features ===

Many issues are small and not important but can still be considered for development because they may be easy and neatly added to NEOSYS. The aim here is to avoid development on hard issues for little benefit, or little issues that make NEOSYS more complex for little benefit.

When a client requests to create a new feature or modify an existing feature, a workaround must be given to the user, which is either a permanent solution, for example if the issue is a rare case and not commonly faced by other clients (and the workaround is acceptable to the client), or a temporary solution until some better solution is discovered or can be developed.

Any request to create a new feature or modify an existing feature MUST be discussed with other clients before forwarding it to the programmer because the other clients might not be comfortable with the change as it may not be in accordance with their workflow. If other clients agree to the proposed change then support should go ahead and request the programmer to implement it.

Therefore before escalating a request to the programmer to modify a feature in NEOSYS, the approval for the same from other clients must be taken into account.

When escalating the request to the programmer, support MUST avoid using "Is it possible..?" because the obvious answer to that is "Anything is possible" and because this question is only a way to avoid doing the real work of deciding whether the new feature/modification should be implemented.

=== Updating Clients about unresolved issues ===
Support should proactively inform clients if an issue is not solved within the same day it was raised, after judging the urgency of the issue and the time it was raised. An email to the client who raised the issue, before the end of each day, is a best practice that keeps the client updated and other support staff too. This email should be sent regardless of the degree to which the issue has been resolved or if the issue is unresolved. If the issue is unresolved, the email should explain why and also explain the cause of delay.

=== Handling new USER creation ===
Support staff should create new USERS for clients ONLY when requested by an authorised person.

If the request comes from an unauthorised person, then support MUST reply to the same person informing them that this request must come from an authorised person. Support MUST NOT directly contact the authorised person asking for approval/confirmation because that is client work.

Clients should not be discouraged to create new users. Clients are billed as per user usage which is reviewed periodically. Over time old USERS are replaced with new USERS.

The USER code is the first name of a user.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

Support team MUST NOT discuss billings with clients unless authorised to do so. Also see [[Procedures#Discussing_Pricing|Discussing Pricing]]

Support team MUST NOT proceed with creating new users until the following details have been clearly provided by the client, otherwise the user may end up with more than the required authorisation, which can lead to problems in future.

New user requirements :-
*Full name
*Email address
*Group level / User with similar authorisation

After the new user has been created, Support Staff must send an email to the person who requested the creation of new user, confirming that the new user has been created along with a screenshot of that part of the authorisation table where the new user was created so that the new user's usercode and email id is visible. This is done so that in case there is some error in the usercode or email id, it is easily visible in the screenshot and also so that the person who requested the creation of the new user is informed about the usercode of the new user.

=== Handling letterhead change requests ===

Support staff should reject any requests that require the letterhead to be setup on the TESTING dataset before it is setup in the MAIN dataset.This is to reduce double work for support staff and to ensure that clients have a clear understanding of their requirements and also send the correct logo image.
The MAIN dataset can be copied to the TEST dataset for any kind of testing.

See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Configuring_Letterhead#Changing_the_letterhead_for_printed_documents How to change letterhead]

=== Handling error messages ===

'''Important:''' Before Attempting to resolve client issues, please ensure that we have secure access to the NEOSYS server.

#The very first step is understanding client problem. Ask questions to the client until you CLEARLY understand the problem.
#If the error is familiar and does not require a screenshot, resolve the problem immediately.
#If the error is unfamiliar and/or requires a screenshot and the user has not sent a screenshot, IMMEDIATELY ask the user to send a screenshot of the problem, along with the options used (basically you need to know HOW to replicate the error and the screenshot MUST show WHAT the error is).
#If the user says "nothing happens, so no screenshot of the error", then IMMEDIATELY request for screenshots again with the exact steps to reproduce the problem using mouse and keyboard.
#Upon receipt of the error and steps to reproduce the error, follow the steps and reproduce the error. Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues|Addressing Browser related issues]]
#If the issue is unknown or you don’t understand it clearly, with the users acknowledgement use remote support to gain access to the users desktop to view how to replicate the error.
{{Handling errors}}

=== Addressing Browser related issues ===

When resolving random browsing issues that seem to be on one user computer only, support MUST send the below email asking the user to check if the same issue occurs on other user computers. Rapidly convincing the user that the problem is only on their computer gains their willingness to sort the problem out at their end, using IT people if necessary and available.

Handling random issues that appear to be on one computer is very very common and it is important to deal with it effectively, not requiring stages of "denial" by the users until they accept something has to be done at their end, and not by NEOSYS. Speeding up this process gains the confidence and appreciation of the users.

<pre>Hi xxxx

Is this error happening only on your computer? If that is the case, it may be due to an issue in your browser cache. Please clear your browser cache with assistance from your IT team if required. Then restart the browser and try again.

If clearing browser cache does not fix the issue, I recommend a full browser reset to ensure that everything works fine.

Follow these instructions for clearing browser cache and resetting browser:
http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers

Please let us know if you face the issue again.</pre>

Also refer to [[Procedures#Handling_Browser_related_issues_in_NEOSYS| Handling Browser related issues]]

=== Addressing Technical support emails ===

In the case of technical support issues, address emails to the IT person and cc the complete group of recipients of backup emails and other NEOSYS alert emails. This allows both NEOSYS and client IT staff to take credit for resolving issues that NEOSYS raises instead of working in the background unacknowledged.

Technical support issues include backup failure, server failure, missing alert email, server connectivity issues and port forwarding issues and many other issues.

For technical issues like browser configuration, clear cache, etc. support must send the user a link to the appropriate wiki article to help the user fix the problem. In some cases the user may be helpless and unable to follow the steps to fix the problem. In such cases, support MUST NOT waste time trying to help the user fix the problem, instead support MUST ask the user to get help from the IT person.

=== Acceptable report format when handling issues in NEOSYS reports ===

NEOSYS Support must only resolve issues in NEOSYS output first. This is because only NEOSYS outputs can be trusted and user versions in Excel or PDF could be copied wrongly or edited by the user.

In case users send reports in excel or other formats, get them to send the original NEOSYS HTML report as an attachment or copy-pasted in email.

=== Handling requests to create new charts or control accounts===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_and_Configuring_NEOSYS_Finance_System#Creating_New_Charts_or_Control_Accounts Refer here]

=== Handling issues with totals on reports ===

If a client has a problem with any total output by NEOSYS software then NEOSYS support will advise them which other NEOSYS report or reports provide a complete breakdown of the total (if necessary, to individual transactions) and ask the client to locate any offending transactions themselves.

NEOSYS support staff will handle any issues where the total on the breakdown report does not add up to the total on the summary report.

Reconciling totals can be hard if there are many transactions involved. Regardless of how hard it may be, reconciliation is an operational task for users not for support staff since NEOSYS support staff will not get involved in understanding client transactions or data.

==== Trial Balance and Financial Statements ====

NEOSYS support staff do not have to prove or trace any figures in NEOSYS Trial Balance Reports or any financial reports. If a figure is stated to be wrong by the user, then NEOSYS support staff should ask for proof or say NEOSYS is confident that the figures are correct unless proved otherwise.

NEOSYS support staff should point out reports in NEOSYS which will support the figures in question but not actually run the reports. Support staff can suggest the users to refer to detailed ledger accounts to prove balances.

== Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office ==
There are two ways in which a user can use VPN:
*User connects to the their office router and makes the PC act like it is on the office LAN.
*User connects to a VPN service that provides a static IP number and can therefore be authorised by NEOSYS to login.

If the client intends to use VPN to connect to their office router and make the PC act like it is on the office LAN, then it depends on what VPN protocols the client's office router supports.

The alternative is to use a paid VPN service that provides a static IP number. Getting a dynamic IP number on VPN is very cheap and there are many suppliers, but getting a static IP number on VPN services seems to be more expensive.

Internally in NEOSYS we use PFSENSE routers which support OPENVPN which is extremely flexible.

==Handling issues with Office PBX phones==

Support should check their respective Office PBX phones every morning to find out if the phone is up and working. In case Support finds any issue with their phone, immediately fix it so that clients do not lose contact with the Support team via phone. Next send an email to Support inbox mentioning the fault, cause and solution for records/future prevention.

== Running undocumented commands on Maintenance mode==

Support Staff MUST not run undocumented commands on ***LIVE*** database. Some commands are not documented for a reason, it could be because the commands might give an undesired output or because there is no clarity on what else could be effected by the command.

Even if the command is tested in TESTING database and the output looks okay, support staff MUST get the programmer's approval before going ahead and running the command in ***LIVE** database as there is no guaranty that the command is properly programmed and will do no damage.

==Configuring Browsers to show Javascript errors in NEOSYS==
NEOSYS Support MUST ensure the following Settings for browsers because if NEOSYS generates any javascript error message, the same would appear in the bottom left corner of a window, which in turn helps the programmer to fix the error. This must be done after every Factory Reset.

===Internet Explorer===
Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Browsing - the items Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer) and Disable script debugging (Other) are '''UNTICKED'''.

===Chrome===
Chrome Menu > More Tools > Extensions > Get More Extensions, search for '''Javascript Errors Notifier'''. Add the extension to Chrome.

[[image:Chrome.png]]

[[image:Chrome1.png]]
===Firefox===
Firebug add-on is used to NOTIFY about script errors because we have no other method to get any warning on screen but you should use the main firefox developer tools to investigate any errors as firebug is essentially replaced by built in developer tools.

For developer tools, go to Tools > Web Console

To enable notifications for script errors, download the add-on Firebug from [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/ here]. When a Javascript error is encountered, the firebug icon will report the number of errors.

Set your firebug as per the second screen shot and select "Enable All Panels" as well, the tick will not appear like the other options but the option will get selected. If you miss out on any one of these steps, you will not be able to capture script errors.

[[file:firebug1.jpg|1200px]]

[[File:Firebug.png]]

==Handling Browser related issues in NEOSYS==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Technical_/_Hardware_requirements#NEOSYS_Software_Browser_and_OS_Requirements NEOSYS browser requirements]

Clients frequently ask [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#Why_doesnt_NEOSYS_support_my_XYZ_browser.3F Why NEOSYS doesn't support other browsers]

To avoid browser errors, all new users must follow the steps given in [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#Getting_started_with_NEOSYS Getting started with NEOSYS] before logging in to NEOSYS for the first time.

To troubleshoot browser related errors see [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers Troubleshooting Web Browsers]

Users must clear browser cache after every NEOSYS Upgrade to avoid errors. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS#Sample_email_to_be_sent_to_clients_who_face_issues_due_to_failure_in_clearing_browser_cache Sample email to clients who face issues due to failure in clearing browser cache]

Pop-up blockers and any 3rd party toolbars must be deactivated/switched off or else certain pages and alert messages while using NEOSYS do not appear as a result of blocking from either the pop-up blocker or toolbars with built-in pop-up blockers.

NEOSYS support must ask users to Reset browser (See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Reset_Browser Reset browser]) if they notice any user browsers which have pop-up blockers or 3rd party toolbars installed.

Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues| Addressing Browser related issues]]

== Handling NEOSYS Upgrade==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS Upgrading NEOSYS]

==Handling auto-reply emails like Out of Office etc.==

From 28th May 2017 version, emails sent out by the NEOSYS system now contain headers that in effect request recipient email systems not to auto-reply for things like Out of Office. This is to reduce unnecessary chatter by silencing unnecessary automatic replies. There is no guarantee that recipient email systems will comply. The headers added are:
*X-Auto-Response-Suppress: RN, NRN, OOF
*Precedence: bulk

Support team should notify SB of any auto-responses that come despite their installation being patched.

In NEOSYS versions after 10th Jun 2017, emails sent by NEOSYS from the NEOSYS Help menu, i.e. manually triggered emails, do NOT indicate that OOF replies are not wanted, since if you are sending emails to people using NEOSYS, you will want to know if they are OOF.

== Using Support Tools ==
=== Website Live Support ===
www.neosys.com is equipped with a Live Support software and clients can visit the website, click on this link and chat with any of our support staff, without the need for any installation. The client has to fill in their name and enter their questions to connect to an available support personnel. During non-working hours, the Live Support icon on the website automatically displays "offline".

NEOSYS Support personnel who are authorised to provide such support, need to login to Live helper chat in Firefox using the link given below:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin

Support personnel should enter the account details as provided by their Manager.

Enable notifications for Live helper chat so that whenever there is a visitor trying to contact Support team, the Support personnel will get the notifications on his screen. Set the Live helper chat login page as your home page in firefox.

Use the link below to enable notifications:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin/chat/listchatconfig

After setting up Live helper chat if you sign in to a new profile in firefox, you might have to re enable the notifications after your firefox is synced to the new profile.

=== Teamviewer ===
Since Teamviewer allows no restriction on access once a fixed pass is installed, Support must not install fixed pass on teamviewer however convenient it might be.

RULE: NO FIXED PASS TO BE INSTALLED ON TEAMVIEWER IN ANY NEOSYS OR NEOSYS CLIENT COMPUTER

Running teamviewer live from a web link is fine because it does not allow installation of a permanent password

For certain tasks that require temporary install of Teamviewer on the client servers (e.g. upgrading Cygwin remotely), use Teamviewer 7 on the server as well as Support staff computer. Contact NEOSYS IT for commercial license of Teamviewer 7. Teamviewer MUST be uninstalled after usage, otherwise it creates an additional unnecessary security risk.

To support client users who use the latest version of Teamviewer, support staff must also install the latest Teamviewer version available alongside Teamviewer 7.

== Documenting Processes in Wiki ==
NEOSYS Support staff must be in continual learning mode. This is mandatory for support staff and is not an option. Support must read, learn and understand everything in the support emails and ask questions if they don't understand. This understanding must be transferred into wiki in the form of new articles and improvements to existing articles.

For all articles related to formatting and editing in Wiki, see [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Documenting_NEOSYS_systems Documenting NEOSYS systems]

===Avoiding duplication of text in wiki===

Duplication of text in wiki is to be avoided almost at any cost. Duplication has the problem that when one copy is changed or improved in future then it is highly likely the editor will fail to update the other copy or copies and wiki will over time become an inconsistent mess.

There are several ways to avoid duplication:

#Two or more procedures which have significant areas of duplication can be rewritten as a single procedure with alternatives in the middle of the procedure
#Wiki Templates- Templates reproduce the same text in all places and editing one place edits all places. See [[How to create templates in wiki]]
#Wiki links- Only put the text in one place and put links to that in all the other places that it is appropriate.
#Place a note in all copies something to the effect that "This is similar to x, y and z". This alerts any future editor of all other places in wiki that might also have to be updated.

Future modifications in one place may or may not be appropriate to other places. The editor must decide whether to change one or all places

===Highlighting information in wiki===

To highlight particular instructions or info in wiki do NOT invent new styles which are not the way the rest of wiki is done. Instead, follow the USUAL STYLE or open a DISCUSSION with any recommendations you have BEFORE USING THEM.

Instead of using various kinds of highlighting styles like bolding and words like "Note:", use the following words IN CAPITALS especially the word MUST.

The use of the following words IN CAPITALS indicates that you are using them in a special way with formally defined meaning as explained below. Use of the words in lower case indicates that you are using the word in an ordinary commonsense meaning.

*MAY - means optional
*SHOULD - means recommended and you need GOOD reason (not just any weak excuse) to not follow to follow this recommendation
*MUST - mandatory

Only in the rare cases where the consequences of doing or not doing something are irreversible or take a lot of work to reverse then you can use your own additional highlighting methods, eg ALL CAPS, stars, color red etc.

==== Explain WHY ====

Any sentence which uses the word "MUST" in capitals, MUST be followed by a SPECIFIC REASON explaining exactly why is the instruction is mandatory; the reason MUST not be vague and non-specific meaning no more than "or bad things will happen".

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules.

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise it will cause problems in future.

CORRECT way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise the deleted schedules' ads will still show in all media-diary like reports and screens

The Wrong way above gives a general reason "it will cause problems in future" which is vague and a reader may even go ahead and ignore "MUST" because there is no objective or proper side effect mentioned for not following the MUST statement. Basically he doesn't understand the point behind following a certain rule.

Whereas the Correct way gives a SPECIFIC reason for "deleting ads while deleting schedules", so reader will exactly know the trouble that will be caused if ads are not deleted. Therefore "SPECIFIC REASON" behind using the word MUST must be to the point and very informative.

==== Why explain WHY ====
The information contained in the WHY phrase is often '''extremely informative''' to the reader about things that you may otherwise not have considered saying.

The most valuable information is usually contained in the "WHY" of something. There is an apocryphal story of a company where managers could be fired if they gave instructions to their staff without providing explanation. In almost all cases it is better for the efficiency of a team of people that any instructions they follow contain the "WHY" of something. Only in few cases should staff be expected to follow instructions without being well or fully informed.

== Email Retention Policy ==

=== Generally ===

Emails are retained permanently to allow old issues to be discovered in email searches.

=== Account: backups@neosys.com ===

Only the last 365 days of emails to backups@neosys.com are kept in general to reduce the burden on servers and clients due to the heavy number of emails.

For the backups/neosys folder, only 31 days is kept due to the very high numbers of emails ~250/day.

Deletions are configured in and done by a thunderbird client in NEOSYS IT so may not be continuous.

== Use of personal email addresses by NEOSYS support staff ==

NEOSYS support staff MUST NOT use any personal email addresses for NEOSYS business.

The xxxx.neosys@gmail.com addresses that are created by support staff for themselves on joining are also considered personal email addresses and must not be used for NEOSYS business. These email addresses might be linked to NEOSYS wiki accounts but that doesn't matter because wiki is not confidential.

== Accessing NEOSYS accounts on personal devices ==

NEOSYS staff MUST NOT install NEOSYS accounts on skype/dropbox/gmail (or any other external tool) on their personal devices without written permission from NEOSYS management

== Support Staff work-in-progress documents/files ==

Support Staff must not save working files hidden on their computer. Work that is not visible is not work .
Support work should not be done privately and should be shared to all.

ALL personal working files however trivial MUST be stored in Dropbox and MUST NOT be stored anywhere in personal computer (My Documents/Desktop etc.)

The personal encrypted pass file MUST be stored somewhere in personal folder under SB NEOSYS staff in Dropbox. This is because if there is a loss of OS/Computer, it should not lead to loss of access as all the passwords saved in the file will be lost.

== Handling CLIENT/NEOSYS Servers ==

NEOSYS support staff must exercise extreme caution when working on CLIENT and NEOSYS servers. Do not risk making changes without due care and attention to the fact that the consequences of errors can be serious on working production servers.

=== Handling Javascript Files in NEOSYS ===

All the files in NEOSYS installation folder with .JS and .JSE extension are the executable javascript files which startup NEOSYS processes (in a usual DOS window). Their default program is 'Microsoft Windows Based Script Host' (wscript.exe). If a JavaScript file is opened using a notepad, the default program may change to notepad resulting in all NEOSYS processes to open up in a notepad.

Hence be very CAREFUL when accessing a .JS and .JSE file and double check that the default program remains wscript.exe. Refer to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Fixing 'NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (i.e. DOS window)'|Fixing NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host]] in case this issue comes up.

== Handling "List of Open Ports" reports ==

This email comes to NEOSYS support team once a day showing only those client's servers which appear to have changed what TCP ports are open to the internet since yesterday. It will also come once a week showing all clients servers open ports.

NEOSYS support team should work patiently with client IT staff, over time if necessary, to close all ports that are not absolutely mandatory to be open.

Clients with highly skilled IT staff may have a variety of ports open to various non-NEOSYS servers inside their organisation. In this case, NEOSYS plays little or no role other than getting their confirmation of exactly what ports are acceptable. Any new ports that appear over time should be handled in the same way.

For clients without such staff, NEOSYS is their only real line of defence and since NEOSYS requested opening some ports, we should get all other ports closed by patiently following up until action is taken. Involving management may be the only way to get IT to act.

In particular, port 80 and 443 controlling internal or external routers should be closed. It is NOT acceptable except in HIGH IT EXPERTISE environments that critical routers should be exposed to the internet and they MUST NOT be accessible from the internet because routers that do not have their software updated can be hacked using known defects. Even updated routers can be hacked. Making it easy for client IT staff to access the router configuration from outside is NOT a good enough excuse to break this rule. Professional IT does not allow access to critical routers from the internet.

Likewise, any port 80 (unencrypted web access) and port 3389 (RDP remote desktop) open to the NEOSYS server MUST be closed otherwise logins can be monitored and there is no way to guarantee server security.

If a port is definitely required and properly approved to be open by client IT support, please let NEOSYS IT (SB) know and it will be put in the "known" column so that ports in the "unknown" column are all pending action.

The report does not attempt to detect UDP ports since UDP ports can receive information from the internet without responding in any way so there is no way to detect them reliably.

Green color shows ports that have opened since the last report run. Open ports can sometimes not be detected accurately so a port may appear to disappear in one report and reappear in the next report.

=== Why should HTTP port 80 not be open on my router? ===

It is not advisable to expose any HTTP server for any private service on your computer network or router because HTTP is unencrypted and this means that all information regarding that service, including passwords, can be observed by any malware on your LAN and internet connection. This information can then be used to install horrible software on your internal PCs.

What to do?

Use https for any internal services - and advisably on a non-standard port, not the standard https port of 443.

For example, NEOSYS service is exposed as HTTPS (not HTTP) usually on port 4430 - not the standard https port of 443.

Commercial hacking is getting really common with things like FIREBALL and CRYPTOLOCKER causing a lot of damage.

It is advisable to take basic precautions pro-actively before any attack exposes weaknesses.

== Handling Nagios Client Monitoring system ==

NEOSYS support staff on duty MUST follow the procedures outlined below in case Nagios Checker shows a critical or warning message for any service. Failure to schedule appropriate downtime will lead to REDUNDANT ALERTS from NAGIOS every hour.

# Nagios is required to be checked first thing in the morning and any critical or warning messages need to be dealt with to resolve the same at the earliest.
# Some of the messages could be related to backup failures and the usual procedure as stated in [[Backup_and_Restore#Handling_failure_and_warning_messages_on_nightly_backup_alerts|Handling failure and warning messages on nightly backup alerts]] needs to be followed. In case the backup issue isn't resolved by 9:30 am, the Nagios service needs to be scheduled with downtime for a minimum of 2 hours and maximum until 1 am next day if the issue cannot be solved.
# In case any HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host is down, immediate action is required and the relevant IT people at the client side needs to be contacted to get this resolved. A downtime of 2 hours is required to be scheduled with further intervals of 2 hours in case this is not resolved. Support staff shouldn't schedule downtime till 1 am next day, just to get rid of the alerts for the day. Proactive follow up with the client is required to get this resolved before the business day - more so, if there is a weekend ahead.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host goes down during the day, a grace period of 20 minutes is given before the issue is reported to the client IT. This helps in case there is any temporary internet connection issue at the client or along the internet route.
# In case of "Backup not changed" warning status which occurs if the client has not interchanged the USB before 12 noon on that day, no action is required from the support staff and a downtime until 1 am next day needs to be scheduled.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH PING service or Host is down for more than 1 day, client IT should acknowledge the problem and give NEOSYS support staff an approximate time frame before which the issue will be resolved. Set an appropriate downtime for such events.
# In case Host is down for more than 2 days and there is no progress with the fix from client IT, the client management should be notified about the seriousness of not having access to server and their acknowledgement is mandatory.
#Support should check Nagios quite frequently during the day to look for any new alerts so that issues are fixed as soon as possible.

To summarise, any red alert left in Nagios Checker means that there is an issue that has not been attended to properly, and "attended to" does not mean solved. Support staff MUST solve the problem immediately if possible, or downtime/acknowledge and comment on the Nagios alert.

== Handling lack of remote access to NEOSYS server located in client’s premises ==

If access to the NEOSYS server is lost then we must determine the root cause by:
# Checking if the server is UP and running
# If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server
# If there is connectivity, please check the router for connectivity issues

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

Please note that we have currently lost access to the NEOSYS server. The server seems to be down at the moment and it seems that
NEOSYS processes are not running on the server.
Kindly check if the server is UP and running. If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server.
Do keep us posted on the server status so we can test connectivity from our side as well.

Best Regards,
</pre>
== New Router (Port Forwarding) ==

If you have changed your router then you may notice that external access to NEOSYS is unavailable.

'''Solution:'''

Setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to the NEOSYS Server as follows:
# Port 19580 > 19580 for SSH
# Port 4430 > 4430 for HTTPS

You can see [http://portforward.com/ Set Up Port Forwarding] to learn how to configure your Router.

To see how to test/ troubleshoot port forwarding settings, go to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_remote_support_port_forwarding|Troubleshooting Port Forwarding]].

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

You are requested to kindly setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to
the NEOSYS Server,i.e. port 19580 for SSH and port 4430 for HTTPS.

Once this is complete, kindly send me an email to confirm the same so that we could test connectivity from our end as well.

Best Regards
</pre>
== Creating and Handling passwords ==
Passwords made out of a pass phrase should be at least 10 characters since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts.

=== Creating a password ===
Passwords are generated from a pass phrase and it is important to create a very difficult to guess pass phrase.

For example, a good pass phrase would be: '''Today is a good day and it is the best time to go for a holiday'''

The password for this would be '''Tiagd&iitbt2g4ah'''

The important instructions for the above are:
#You have to take the first letter of each word and that makes your password (i.e. by using initials)
#Wherever any word starts with a capital, then you have to take first letter as a capital (eg. For Today you will take T)
#Replace '''and''' with '''&'''
#Replace '''to''' with '''2'''
#Replace '''for''' with '''4'''

=== Handling passwords ===
#Never send the actual password - always send the pass phrase
#Make sure that the password created out of the pass phrase is at least 10 characters long since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts
#Pass phrases are never to be sent by email, whatever the case maybe.
#Pass phrases can be sent by chat - however they have to be broken down in two parts and sent separately over two different messengers or if you are using Gtalk then use the 'off the record' mode.
#Using SMS to send pass phrases is the best known way as of now.
#If you save the passwords on your system in an file then:
#*Ensure that you only store pass phrases in the excel file
#*Ensure that the excel file is encrypted with a master password

== NEOSYS Maintenance Window ==

The NEOSYS server is functional from 6am – 1am. There is a 5hr window gap for the system to perform updates & backups.

The 5hr maintenance window:-

1. At 1am – The server performs a data backup on a USB (for the respective clients) & once the backup has been completed, the system automatically generates an email addressed to the neosys staff & the respective clients.

2. At 2:45am – The main data over writes the test data on the server.

3. At 3:00am – The server by itself performs an update for Windows.

4. At 4:00am – The server performs a backup to the headquarters for clients, and then automatically generates an email addressed to the NEOSYS staff & the respective clients.

5. At 6:00am – The server starts up NEOSYS.

== Using NEOSYS Terminology while communicating with Clients ==

NEOSYS support must communicate in correct language to clients on finance issues in order to ensure that our records exactly represent reality. Conversely NEOSYS must not use other terminology because it can cause considerable confusion and poor quality results. In case client is new and still in training, use client terminology optionally as long as
#It is only an addition to NEOSYS standard terminology
#Only if clear that it is client terminology by putting in brackets like this "Sales Invoices (called PI by you)", where "you" means the client you are talking to or you can put the client company name instead perhaps.

The objective is over time to avoid having the support team to have to know the terminology of the client. NEOSYS support team cannot possibly know and remember it for each client therefore the client MUST over time learn and use NEOSYS terminology. The initial period is one of relearning and translation for the client not for NEOSYS.

Many users operating NEOSYS finance module do not know proper financial procedures and may not appreciate how doing something in a wrong or unusual way now may not be correctable in the future.

NEOSYS staff must follow NEOSYS procedures only. If NEOSYS procedures need to be updated then this must be agreed in advance and not AFTER the fact.

== Amending/Reposting Journal Entries ==
In certain exceptional cases, amending/reposting of journal entries is allowed for a brief period of time to enable clients to present reports in an alternative manner. This would be subject to NEOSYS would requiring a written LETTER OF APPROVAL duly signed and stamped by the highest management of the company.

In case the client management decides to allow editing/reposting of journal entries, the following procedure is to be followed:
# Client must de-allocate vouchers which need to be amended
# NEOSYS support staff must wait for a day so that de-allocated vouchers are copied into Test database
# Authorise required users to amend and repost (without record) '''in Test database only''' ( While reposting, we have 2 options i.e. with record and without record. The 'with record' option causes the system to maintain a history of edits made. Hence, we want to repost without record so that there is no trace of the edit in the system)
# Amend a substantial number of vouchers in Test and verify them. To verify if the edits made are reflected:
# *Print all ledgers for the whole year
# *Cross-check all balances
# Once you verify the balances are correct in Test database, grant users permission to amend and repost in the Live database.
# Ask users to amend and repost vouchers in the Live database.
# Cross-check all balances for the current year.
# If you successfully verify the balances, revoke permissions immediately. Else, wait for 24 hours and revoke permissions irrespectively.

== Removal of unauthorized third-party software on client servers ==

Rule: Any third party software that is discovered by NEOSYS support staff on client servers that has been installed without the agreement of NEOSYS should be uninstalled immediately on discovery.

However purposeful a software is, NEOSYS is contractually responsible for support and there are too many opportunities for poorly installed software to cause unpredictable damage to the NEOSYS database so NEOSYS has to have a clear and safe and simple policy to ensure the integrity of client data. Installing software without prior discussion with NEOSYS by itself indicates that insufficient care and consideration as been given to possible issues.

Any software required by client IT for some purpose may only be installed after discussion and agreement from NEOSYS support staff concerning the configuration and operation of the software.

The NEOSYS Software Licence and Support agreement requires that where NEOSYS software is installed on client servers that a dedicated server is provided and dedicated implies that no other software may be installed without the agreement of NEOSYS support.

== Configuring tunnelier to autologin on opening tlp files ==
If you have many tunnelier tlp files in a directory and connect by opening the desired tlp file the, instead of opening the file and then clicking Login you can also right click the file and select Connect.

Alternatively, you can configure tunnelier to login (connect) automatically by following the procedure mentioned below. (Even if you configure automatic login, you can still open and not login by right clicking and choosing Open)

=== Windows 8 ===

Cannot be done using standard Windows UI. Some download utilities can do it. TODO put a safe one in neosys.com/support

=== Windows XP/Vista/7/2008 ===

#Go to My Computer
#Click on Tools -> Folder Options [[image:tunnauto-1.jpg]] 
#Click on File Types
#*Select TLP (Bitvise Tunnelier Profile) [Type "TLP" to find it quickly]
#*Click on Advanced [[image:tunnauto-2.jpg]] 
#Click on Connect and Click on Set Default [[image:tunnauto-3.jpg]] 

== International v/s Indian English ==

There are some words which have completely different meanings in International and Indian English. NEOSYS Staff should follow International English only. Below are the examples of few of those words:

Word: '''Doubt'''

In the English language word "doubt" means to distrust an alleged fact on the basis of a reason, depending on the strength of the reason which may be anything from factual to feeling e.g "I have no reason to doubt him".
This usage is followed worldwide.

Some people especially from Indian origin use "doubt" when they are unaware about a fact. e.g "I want to clear my doubts about this procedure". This is incorrect. The word must be used when you do not agree on something on the basis of a reason and not when you do not have knowledge about it.

==[[ New Employee Training Checklist]]==

==[[ New Client Training Notes]]==

==[[ General Office Procedures]]==

Handling Nagios Client Monitoring System

2017-08-14T08:02:21Z

Priyanka: /* The NEOSYS process is running on the server but still cannot connect to NAGIOS */

= Procedure to handle Nagios =

The procedure that support staff need to follow while handling Nagios is documented under [[Procedures#Handling_Nagios_Client_Monitoring_system| Procedures: Handling Nagios Client Monitoring System]]

Nagios is accessed via this link: http://monitor.neosys.com/nagios3

= Nagios services =

Nagios is configured to display information pertaining to all NEOSYS client's server statuses which include multiple services such as:
# HTTPS: Most of NEOSYS clients are configured to have external web access via secure HTTP protocol (port 4430) from outside office. Nagios is configured to check port 4430 on a regular interval of 10 minutes and display any issues in accessing the same.
# SSH: As part of the support contract, NEOSYS should have external secure access to the client server usually over port 19580. Nagios is configured to check this port on a regular interval of 10 minutes and display any issues in accessing the same.
# Ping: Nagios is also configured to ping the client router as a measure to check if router responds incase the NEOSYS server is down.
# NEOSYS: This service works in a reverse direction, and the NEOSYS installation on the client server sends information such as databases running, current backup status, internal and internet IP addressess etc to Nagios on a regular interval of 10 minutes.

Some key information about Nagios is as follows:
* Nagios is also configured to display information related to internal servers.
* Clients hosted on a NEOSYS cloud server might not have services such as SSH or PING as this is monitored as part of the internal server service.
* Nagios sends out email alerts to support2@neosys.com (which is forwarded to support@neosys.com) from 8 am to 12 midnight on all Dubai working days (Sun-Thu). No alerts are sent out on Fri and Sat, unless they are for NEOSYS internal servers.

= How to handle a service error =
# Nagios Service Info - get there via various routes eg from Service Problems - then click on the service name (not the host name)
# Service Commands, Acknowledge this service problem (only services with status Warning or Critical have this option)
# Enter a note - explaining to yourself and your co-workers explaining how the problem is being handled and when to follow up

Notifications will be automatically resumed once the service becomes OK again.

The "Disable notifications" is not quite the same and shows as red on tactical summary screen.

===[[Backup_and_Restore#Updating_Nagios_incase_of_failures| Updating Nagios in case of backup failures]]===

=== How to stop ALL notifications ===

Useful to stop a massive number of alerts due to various causes.

#Nagios Process Info
#Enable/Disable notifications

=== Speeding up Nagios web interface ===

The usual F5 to refresh before the automatic 90 second refresh works but Ctrl+F5 doesnt.

=== Speeding up NEOSYS process checkins ===

You can force a neosys service checkin from NEOSYS maintenance mode (any process/database) press F5

MONITOR2

=== [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_monitoring_in_Nagios#Adding_a_new_NEOSYS_installation_.28new_client.29 Adding the client to Nagios] ===

= Troubleshooting NAGIOS generally =
==Fixing “CRITICAL – Socket timeout after 10 secs” error message on NAGIOS==

===Error Message===

[[image:Vm3nagios.jpg]]

===Problem===

NAGIOS is not updating services like CPU Load, Drive Space C:, Drive Save D:,Explorer, Memory Usage etc.

=== Solution ===

Open Windows Task Manager and kill any nscp.exe process. Then, restart NSClient++ from the desktop or by going to Start> Programs> NSClient++
These steps can be carried out even when users are active.

== Fixing “NEOSYS has not checked in” error message==

=== Error Message Explained ===
You notice a problem on NAGIOS indicating that '''''NEOSYS not checked in''' on a particular client server. This happens because NEOSYS is not updating NAGIOS.

=== Possible Causes & Solutions ===
#The maintenance window is left open. Make sure the maintenance window has not been left open in the server.
#Hung process on server. e.g.:- Fatal Error in Rev Restart. Follow steps in troubleshooting [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Hung_processes| hung process]].
====The NEOSYS process is '''NOT''' running on the server====

Start the NEOSYS process and wait for 10 mins for NEOSYS to check into NAGIOS.
 

====The NEOSYS process '''is''' running on the server but still cannot connect to NAGIOS====

NEOSYS connects to NAGIOS using http. NEOSYS automatically detects and uses any http proxy configuration configured in Internet Explorer. If the Internet Explorer in the server can reach the internet then NEOSYS should be able to update to NAGIOS via the same proxy.

First check if Internet Explorer in the server can reach NAGIOS. Type the following link into the Internet Explorer in the server:

New versions of NEOSYS (since 25/7/217) need the server to be able reach.

https://monitor.hosts.neosys.com:4428/monitor.php

Older versions of NEOSYS need the server to be able to reach.

http://monitor.hosts.neosys.com/monitor.php

i.e. outbound port 4428 is required instead of port 80 on later versions on NEOSYS.

If you are asked to login then the Internet Explorer is working OK. You do not need to login. Just cancel and move on to the next step.

If Internet Explorer CANNOT connect to NAGIOS then resolving that fundamental issue will probably solve the NAGIOS connection issue too.

View the Internet Explorer proxy configuration as follows:

[[image:ieproxy.png]]

If Internet Explorer CAN connect to NAGIOS then check if there is an issue with NEOSYS's http proxy server configuration as follows:

#Search for '''UPDATE.$WG''' file located in the neosys\neosys. folder and open it using notepad or wordpad.
#You should find a message similar to the following:
<pre>
Connecting to 192.168.100.145:8080 failed: No such file or directory.
</pre>
Where the above appears to be some non-functional http proxy server ip/port number and is not the expected nagios server ip number.
'''A windows proxy command shows the same ip and port:'''

On Windows 2003/XP

proxycfg

On Windows 2008/Win7

NetSH WinHTTP import Proxy ie

Output:

<pre>
Microsoft (R) WinHTTP Default Proxy Configuration Tool
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Current WinHTTP proxy settings under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Connections\
WinHttpSettings :

Proxy Server(s) : 192.168.100.145:8080
Bypass List : 192.168.*.*;localhost;<local>

</pre>

'''Solution 1 - Remove the above setting to create a direct connection'''

#To remove the registry entries that ProxyCfg.exe creates,you must delete the WinHttpSettings value from the following registry key: <PRE>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Connections\WinHttpSettings</PRE>
#After you do the above, confirm that the proxy details are deleted by running the proxycfg command 
#Next, restart the NEOSYS processes for the changes to be affected
 

'''Solution 2 - Configure a functioning proxy ip/port number'''
#Use the proxycfg command to enter a working proxy ip/port number/exclusion list: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384069%28VS.85%29.aspx
#After you do the above, confirm that the new proxy details are working by running the proxycfg command again
#Next, restart the NEOSYS processes for the changes to be affected
 

 Note: Please refer to the link before you restart NEOSYS processes [[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Closing_NEOSYS_Services|Closing NEOSYS Services]] 

On the client server, look at the text of UPDATE.$WG and other UPDATE.* files in the client's NEOSYS installation neosys/neosys folder for clues.

==== There is a problem with the USB media inserted for backup====
Refer [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Error_message:_.E2.80.9CAbort.2C_Retry.2C_Fail.E2.80.9D|here]]

==== NEOSYS thinks it sees a new neosys2.exe upgrade file on the location http://www.neosys.com/support/neosys2.exe and attempts to download it ====

Refer [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#NEOSYS_process_window_displays_message_.22Upgrade_Downloading.22 | here]]

== Fixing "Cannot make SSL connection" error==
===Error Message===
[[File:SSL.jpg]]

Users get the message "This page cannot be displayed" when they try to access the HTTPS website.
TODO Add screenshot

===Cause===
When there are multiple HTTPS sites on one server, any subsequent SSL self certifications seems to destroy all other sites with self certification where the export/REMOVE/import step is not done for some reason. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_HTTPS#Export.2C_Remove_and_Import_Certificates Export, Remove and Import Step]

This issue is only evident after the server restart.

===Solution===
Re-install certificates. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_HTTPS#Re-installing_Certificates Re-installing Certificates]

== Fixing "check_ssl_certificates" error==

===Cause===
This error appears when the current ssl certificate to which website binding is done is no longer valid.

===Solution===
Use the latest valid ssl certificate and redo website binding. Refer to link [[Setting_up_HTTPS|Setting up HTTPS]]

== Backup -> Impossible alert ==
===Possible Causes and Solutions===
If there is an error "Backup->Impossible" on Nagios check if the USB is properly inserted and schedule downtime to Nagios for 2 hours.

==[[Backup_and_Restore#Interchange_backup_USB_mail_reminder| "Change Backup" alert]] ==

== Troubleshooting Network Outages reflected in Nagios due to reassigning of router name or IP address ==
Nagios displays errors if a router name or the ip address it is monitoring have been reassigned.

We can resolve this issue by trying to find the ISP router ip address just before the NEOSYS server.

Steps:-
#Login to Nagios
#Click on Tactical Overview -> Network Outages and click on Blocking Outages to view [[image:tracert-00.jpg]] 
#You will now see the host/ISP which is down. Click on the status map icon to identify the host associated with the ISP, as shown below: [[image:tracert-01.jpg]] 
#From the Network Map displayed, identify the host associated with the ISP. [[image:tracert-02.jpg]] 
#If you already know the ip address of the host then skip to next step else, in Nagios, click on Host Detail, then on the hostname identified earlier and From the Host Details shown, save the host url. [[image:tracert-03.jpg]] [[image:tracert-04.jpg]] 
#Log onto www.network-tools.com:
#*Select Trace
#*Enter the host's ip address if already known or host url
#*Click on Go [[image:tracert-05.jpg]] 
#The trace route should complete successfully revealing the IP address of the ISP just before the NEOSYS server. [[image:tracert-06.jpg]] 
#You can now login to zoneedit and update the ip address of the host.
#Check Nagios.
== Nagios reports a hung process ==
===Possible Causes and Solutions===
Refer link [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Error_message:_.22Read_error_in_the_operating_system_file.22|here]]

==Explorer.exe not running ==
Nagios will display this error for only Win3 at the moment.

===Possible Causes and Solutions===
This error means that the server has (for whatever reasons) rebooted and stuck at the Windows login prompt for someone to enter the username & password. (More info on explorer.exe is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer.exe)

Solution to this problem would be to login via Tunnelier and open up Remote Desktop Connection.

=Configuring Sonicwall firewall to allow NEOSYS to update Nagios=
=== Configuring Sonicwall firewall to allow NEOSYS to update Nagios ===

This is documented at [[Sonicwall_Firewall_Configuration#Configuring_Sonicwall_firewall_to_allow_NEOSYS_to_update_Nagios|Configuring Sonicwall firewall to allow NEOSYS to update Nagios]]

Handling Nagios Client Monitoring System

2017-08-14T07:59:38Z

Priyanka: /* The NEOSYS process is running on the server but still cannot connect to NAGIOS */

= Procedure to handle Nagios =

The procedure that support staff need to follow while handling Nagios is documented under [[Procedures#Handling_Nagios_Client_Monitoring_system| Procedures: Handling Nagios Client Monitoring System]]

Nagios is accessed via this link: http://monitor.neosys.com/nagios3

= Nagios services =

Nagios is configured to display information pertaining to all NEOSYS client's server statuses which include multiple services such as:
# HTTPS: Most of NEOSYS clients are configured to have external web access via secure HTTP protocol (port 4430) from outside office. Nagios is configured to check port 4430 on a regular interval of 10 minutes and display any issues in accessing the same.
# SSH: As part of the support contract, NEOSYS should have external secure access to the client server usually over port 19580. Nagios is configured to check this port on a regular interval of 10 minutes and display any issues in accessing the same.
# Ping: Nagios is also configured to ping the client router as a measure to check if router responds incase the NEOSYS server is down.
# NEOSYS: This service works in a reverse direction, and the NEOSYS installation on the client server sends information such as databases running, current backup status, internal and internet IP addressess etc to Nagios on a regular interval of 10 minutes.

Some key information about Nagios is as follows:
* Nagios is also configured to display information related to internal servers.
* Clients hosted on a NEOSYS cloud server might not have services such as SSH or PING as this is monitored as part of the internal server service.
* Nagios sends out email alerts to support2@neosys.com (which is forwarded to support@neosys.com) from 8 am to 12 midnight on all Dubai working days (Sun-Thu). No alerts are sent out on Fri and Sat, unless they are for NEOSYS internal servers.

= How to handle a service error =
# Nagios Service Info - get there via various routes eg from Service Problems - then click on the service name (not the host name)
# Service Commands, Acknowledge this service problem (only services with status Warning or Critical have this option)
# Enter a note - explaining to yourself and your co-workers explaining how the problem is being handled and when to follow up

Notifications will be automatically resumed once the service becomes OK again.

The "Disable notifications" is not quite the same and shows as red on tactical summary screen.

===[[Backup_and_Restore#Updating_Nagios_incase_of_failures| Updating Nagios in case of backup failures]]===

=== How to stop ALL notifications ===

Useful to stop a massive number of alerts due to various causes.

#Nagios Process Info
#Enable/Disable notifications

=== Speeding up Nagios web interface ===

The usual F5 to refresh before the automatic 90 second refresh works but Ctrl+F5 doesnt.

=== Speeding up NEOSYS process checkins ===

You can force a neosys service checkin from NEOSYS maintenance mode (any process/database) press F5

MONITOR2

=== [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_monitoring_in_Nagios#Adding_a_new_NEOSYS_installation_.28new_client.29 Adding the client to Nagios] ===

= Troubleshooting NAGIOS generally =
==Fixing “CRITICAL – Socket timeout after 10 secs” error message on NAGIOS==

===Error Message===

[[image:Vm3nagios.jpg]]

===Problem===

NAGIOS is not updating services like CPU Load, Drive Space C:, Drive Save D:,Explorer, Memory Usage etc.

=== Solution ===

Open Windows Task Manager and kill any nscp.exe process. Then, restart NSClient++ from the desktop or by going to Start> Programs> NSClient++
These steps can be carried out even when users are active.

== Fixing “NEOSYS has not checked in” error message==

=== Error Message Explained ===
You notice a problem on NAGIOS indicating that '''''NEOSYS not checked in''' on a particular client server. This happens because NEOSYS is not updating NAGIOS.

=== Possible Causes & Solutions ===
#The maintenance window is left open. Make sure the maintenance window has not been left open in the server.
#Hung process on server. e.g.:- Fatal Error in Rev Restart. Follow steps in troubleshooting [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Hung_processes| hung process]].
====The NEOSYS process is '''NOT''' running on the server====

Start the NEOSYS process and wait for 10 mins for NEOSYS to check into NAGIOS.
 

====The NEOSYS process '''is''' running on the server but still cannot connect to NAGIOS====

NEOSYS connects to NAGIOS using http. NEOSYS automatically detects and uses any http proxy configuration configured in Internet Explorer. If the Internet Explorer in the server can reach the internet then NEOSYS should be able to update to NAGIOS via the same proxy.

First check if Internet Explorer in the server can reach NAGIOS. Type the following link into the Internet Explorer in the server:

New versions of NEOSYS (since 25/7/217) need the server to be able reach

https://monitor.hosts.neosys.com:4428/monitor.php

older versions of NEOSYS need the server to be able to reach

http://monitor.hosts.neosys.com/monitor.php

ie outbound port 4428 instead of 80 is required on later versions on NEOSYS

If you are asked to login then the Internet Explorer is working OK. You do not need to login. Just cancel and move on to the next step.

If Internet Explorer CANNOT connect to NAGIOS then resolving that fundamental issue will probably solve the NAGIOS connection issue too.

View the Internet Explorer proxy configuration as follows:

[[image:ieproxy.png]]

If Internet Explorer CAN connect to NAGIOS then check if there is an issue with NEOSYS's http proxy server configuration as follows:

#Search for '''UPDATE.$WG''' file located in the neosys\neosys. folder and open it using notepad or wordpad.
#You should find a message similar to the following:
<pre>
Connecting to 192.168.100.145:8080 failed: No such file or directory.
</pre>
Where the above appears to be some non-functional http proxy server ip/port number and is not the expected nagios server ip number.
'''A windows proxy command shows the same ip and port:'''

On Windows 2003/XP

proxycfg

On Windows 2008/Win7

NetSH WinHTTP import Proxy ie

Output:

<pre>
Microsoft (R) WinHTTP Default Proxy Configuration Tool
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Current WinHTTP proxy settings under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Connections\
WinHttpSettings :

Proxy Server(s) : 192.168.100.145:8080
Bypass List : 192.168.*.*;localhost;<local>

</pre>

'''Solution 1 - Remove the above setting to create a direct connection'''

#To remove the registry entries that ProxyCfg.exe creates,you must delete the WinHttpSettings value from the following registry key: <PRE>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Connections\WinHttpSettings</PRE>
#After you do the above, confirm that the proxy details are deleted by running the proxycfg command 
#Next, restart the NEOSYS processes for the changes to be affected
 

'''Solution 2 - Configure a functioning proxy ip/port number'''
#Use the proxycfg command to enter a working proxy ip/port number/exclusion list: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384069%28VS.85%29.aspx
#After you do the above, confirm that the new proxy details are working by running the proxycfg command again
#Next, restart the NEOSYS processes for the changes to be affected
 

 Note: Please refer to the link before you restart NEOSYS processes [[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Closing_NEOSYS_Services|Closing NEOSYS Services]] 

On the client server, look at the text of UPDATE.$WG and other UPDATE.* files in the client's NEOSYS installation neosys/neosys folder for clues.

==== There is a problem with the USB media inserted for backup====
Refer [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Error_message:_.E2.80.9CAbort.2C_Retry.2C_Fail.E2.80.9D|here]]

==== NEOSYS thinks it sees a new neosys2.exe upgrade file on the location http://www.neosys.com/support/neosys2.exe and attempts to download it ====

Refer [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#NEOSYS_process_window_displays_message_.22Upgrade_Downloading.22 | here]]

== Fixing "Cannot make SSL connection" error==
===Error Message===
[[File:SSL.jpg]]

Users get the message "This page cannot be displayed" when they try to access the HTTPS website.
TODO Add screenshot

===Cause===
When there are multiple HTTPS sites on one server, any subsequent SSL self certifications seems to destroy all other sites with self certification where the export/REMOVE/import step is not done for some reason. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_HTTPS#Export.2C_Remove_and_Import_Certificates Export, Remove and Import Step]

This issue is only evident after the server restart.

===Solution===
Re-install certificates. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_HTTPS#Re-installing_Certificates Re-installing Certificates]

== Fixing "check_ssl_certificates" error==

===Cause===
This error appears when the current ssl certificate to which website binding is done is no longer valid.

===Solution===
Use the latest valid ssl certificate and redo website binding. Refer to link [[Setting_up_HTTPS|Setting up HTTPS]]

== Backup -> Impossible alert ==
===Possible Causes and Solutions===
If there is an error "Backup->Impossible" on Nagios check if the USB is properly inserted and schedule downtime to Nagios for 2 hours.

==[[Backup_and_Restore#Interchange_backup_USB_mail_reminder| "Change Backup" alert]] ==

== Troubleshooting Network Outages reflected in Nagios due to reassigning of router name or IP address ==
Nagios displays errors if a router name or the ip address it is monitoring have been reassigned.

We can resolve this issue by trying to find the ISP router ip address just before the NEOSYS server.

Steps:-
#Login to Nagios
#Click on Tactical Overview -> Network Outages and click on Blocking Outages to view [[image:tracert-00.jpg]] 
#You will now see the host/ISP which is down. Click on the status map icon to identify the host associated with the ISP, as shown below: [[image:tracert-01.jpg]] 
#From the Network Map displayed, identify the host associated with the ISP. [[image:tracert-02.jpg]] 
#If you already know the ip address of the host then skip to next step else, in Nagios, click on Host Detail, then on the hostname identified earlier and From the Host Details shown, save the host url. [[image:tracert-03.jpg]] [[image:tracert-04.jpg]] 
#Log onto www.network-tools.com:
#*Select Trace
#*Enter the host's ip address if already known or host url
#*Click on Go [[image:tracert-05.jpg]] 
#The trace route should complete successfully revealing the IP address of the ISP just before the NEOSYS server. [[image:tracert-06.jpg]] 
#You can now login to zoneedit and update the ip address of the host.
#Check Nagios.
== Nagios reports a hung process ==
===Possible Causes and Solutions===
Refer link [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Error_message:_.22Read_error_in_the_operating_system_file.22|here]]

==Explorer.exe not running ==
Nagios will display this error for only Win3 at the moment.

===Possible Causes and Solutions===
This error means that the server has (for whatever reasons) rebooted and stuck at the Windows login prompt for someone to enter the username & password. (More info on explorer.exe is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer.exe)

Solution to this problem would be to login via Tunnelier and open up Remote Desktop Connection.

=Configuring Sonicwall firewall to allow NEOSYS to update Nagios=
=== Configuring Sonicwall firewall to allow NEOSYS to update Nagios ===

This is documented at [[Sonicwall_Firewall_Configuration#Configuring_Sonicwall_firewall_to_allow_NEOSYS_to_update_Nagios|Configuring Sonicwall firewall to allow NEOSYS to update Nagios]]

Backup and Restore

2017-08-13T08:57:57Z

Priyanka:

== Description of Backup Procedure for the Client Hosted NEOSYS Server ==

3 USBs must be maintained and rotated on a weekly basis.

Every night, the NEOSYS process stops serving users at around 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM (local time of the client's main office) and performs the following procedure:

*All the database files are checked for physical corruption.
*All the database files are zipped into a file on the USB who's path would be something like F:\DATA.BAK\CLIENTX\MONDAY\BACKUP.ZIP file.
*The file having the same name as that of the corresponding day of the week as that of 3 weeks back is overwritten.A "backup alert" email indicating success or failure is sent to senior managers at the client, the client’s IT manager and backups@neosys.com.
*An internal log (accessible on each database's Support Menu) is maintained as a record and in case the emails cannot be sent out for some reason.
*NEOSYS support staff in Dubai check the emails every morning Sunday through Thursday.
*In the case of failure, NEOSYS support staff in Dubai take appropriate action and send an email (to the same people who receive the automated backup alert emails) indicating what action has been taken.
*Additionally offsite backup can be set up on NEOSYS server

== Description of Backup Procedure for the NEOSYS Client Hosting Server ==

NEOSYS backup is a two phase process. It is mandatory that both phases are complete for the process to be considered a backup.

1. On the main NEOSYS server host(Schuberg Philis in Amsterdam as of Dec 2010),Every night, the NEOSYS process for selected databases stops serving users at around 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM (local time of the client's main office) and performs the following procedure:
*All the database files are checked for physical corruption.
*All the database files are zipped into a file who's path would be something like C:\DATA.BAK\CLIENTX\MONDAY\BACKUP.ZIP file.
*The file having the same name as that of the corresponding day of the week as last week is overwritten.A "backup alert" email indicating success or failure is sent to senior managers at the client, the client’s IT manager and backups@neosys.com.
*An internal log (accessible on each database's Support Menu) is maintained as a record and in case the emails cannot be sent out for some reason.
*NEOSYS support staff in Dubai check the emails every morning Sunday through Thursday.
*In the case of failure, NEOSYS support staff in Dubai take appropriate action and send an email (to the same people who receive the automated backup alert emails) indicating what action has been taken.
*The above does not by itself constitute a proper backup because the backup is stored on the same server and physical disk as the actual data.

2. On the NEOSYS backup server host (in NEOSYS Dubai Office as of Dec 2010 but could be changed without notice to EvoSwitch in Amsterdam).
*At around 02:00-02:30 AM GMT daily, NEOSYS's backup server copies (replicates) all the BACKUP.ZIP files from the main NEOSYS server host to itself.
*An email indicating success or failure is sent to NEOSYS support staff (only) who deal with it in a similar way to phase 1, except that only NEOSYS management are updated.

== Backup Procedures ==
=== Preparing nightly backup report ===
# Note the success, failure and other error of the clients backup mail in an excel sheet and forward the same to your manager.
# If there is a backup failure or backup is not available, check wiki to take necessary steps.
# If there is any unknown error, forward the same to your manager.
Send the backup report after every quarter to all the Clients having consolidated backups.

=== Updating Nagios incase of failures ===
# If the backup failure is unsolved, schedule downtime Neosys service in Nagios till 01 am.
# If the backup did not happen because of server down. Call the IT person; ask him to re-boot the server and check wiki to do necessary step ahead and schedule downtime to Nagios for 2hours.
# If there is an error "Backup->Impossible" on Nagios, check if the USB is properly inserted. If no USB is found, send a mail to the user asking to ensure that the backup USB is inserted properly. Schedule downtime to Nagios for 2hours.

=== Interchange backup USB mail reminder ===
Basically all the clients have different days to change their backup USB. All the notification can be seen on Nagios at 12.00 pm every day.

On the USB change day, at 6:00 am, when the processes start up, the system automatically sends the following email to everyone in the backup email receiver list:

It is time to change the NEOSYS backup media (e.g. USB Flash Drive)

Please change it before 12:00 midday today.

Additional emails reminding IT staff to change backup media are sent out at 11:30am and 5pm if the backup media is not changed according schedule.

Since the system automatically sends a USB change reminder email to the client, support staff do not have to send them any instructions about changing unless they have failed to change the USB on the scheduled day or the scheduled day needs to be moved to another day.

==== Importance of interchanging backup USBs ====
If the backup USB is not interchanged on the scheduled day then the NEOSYS automated backup fails. This happens because traditionally, each USB holds backup of 7 days and using 3 different USBs we can store backups for the last 21 days enabling us to restore the system unto a time period beginning 21 days prior.
If the USB is not changed then the first backup on the current USB is replaced with the new or latest backup leading to inconsistencies within the backups. Hence we must interchange the USB on schedule to avoid a backup failure the next morning.

The reasons for using multiple USBs for backup are:
*We can keep other USBs out of the office for safety purposes since theft or office fire/water hazards could damage the computer and the USB keys if they are all in
the same place.
*Having multiple USBs provide safety against corrupt USBs which cannot be used to restore any backup data.

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>The NEOSYS backup has failed today as the USB was not interchanged on the scheduled day.
Please interchange the USB immediately today to avoid a backup failure tomorrow morning.
Also note that your scheduled day to interchange the USB next week and hence forth remains unchanged to '''(Scheduled Day)'''.</pre>

=== Finding out which USB is inserted into the server ===
As we ask the client to have 3 USB's and interchange them weekly, we also need to sometimes track which one of these 3 USB's are inserted into the server. USB's can be tracked using their volume serial number in most cases. To find this out either go to the command prompt and type VOL <drive letter> where drive letter is the USB drive letter OR in the nightly backup message check for the 2nd line (which looks like this - 14/12/2009 2:45pm Media: 705B-5B5F). However serial numbers can be the same even for different USB's. One of the reasons for this could be that the USBs were imaged from one single USB which caused their volume serial numbers to be the same. However, such a situation is very rare.

=== Interchanging USB when scheduled USB change day falls on a holiday ===
When clients ask support which day to interchange USBs when their scheduled USB change day falls on a holidays, send them the below email.

Hi XXX,

Kindly interchange the USB on the last working day before the holiday i.e XXXday DD/MM/YY and then interchange with the next scheduled USB on first working day after the holiday i.e. XXXday DD/MM/YY. Continue to change the USBs as usual on XXXday.
==Manual Backup==
See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#How_to_do_a_manual_backup.3F How to do a manual backup in NEOSYS]

Manual backups can be triggered on the server process screen by pressing the lower case letter b key. After the backup is complete the process will resume and restart the child processes. Pressing capital B will result in the process closing on completion of the backup and the child processes will not be restarted. This is useful if you want to trigger a backup and leave without waiting for it to complete.

==Configuring NEOSYS automated backup==

NEOSYS is designed to do an automated backup of the data (not the program files). The configuration for the automated backup rests in the System Configuration File

under Menu > Support.

First step is to configure the automated email settings. After every backup attempt NEOSYS will send out a mail with the status of the backup (either success or

failed). You have to configure the SMTP details here along with the list of recipients to the backup email. Ensure to have atleast 1 person from the client management

and 1 person from the client IT, besides the mandatory backups@neosys.com address

Always use the NEOSYS SMTP server details as follows and put in a fictitious client address so that NEOSYS staff can quickly identify which client this mail came from.

[[image:backup1.jpg]]

Do not configure the backup time unless instructed by your manager. The system will automatically start the backup at 1 am if there is nothing configured in the Backup

time.

Type in the backup location (USB/other media) drive letter in the Backup Drive field and the Uploads fields. Putting a 0 in the Uploads field will disable the backup of the Uploaded files, else by default the uploaded files will be backed up to the drive mentioned in the backup drive field.

The scheduled days of backup can be configured using the checkboxes. If none of the days are checked, backup will be done on all days by default.

Next setup the auto-start of the databases and enter how many processes should be started and which all databases should be backed up. In the example below DEMO

database has been configured to start 3 processes and also do the automated backup, whereas the DEMOTEST database is configured to start 1 process and no automated

backup.

[[image:backup2.jpg]]

=== Non-Liability for Backup ===

{{Non-Liability For Backup}}

=== Backing up the Images folder ===

The Images folder under the NEOSYS installation is used to upload images/artworks/files from the Job File section and hence needs to be backed up. NEOSYS will

automatically backup this Images folder to the USB drive or other location (specified for the usual data backup) once a week. To configure this backup, RSYNC needs to

have been installed during the initial installation.

In case we need to configure the Images folder backup at another location other than the usual nightly backup location than we need to edit:

line 12 - and specify the Drive of the location to be backed up to. eg. E or F

== Backup to other media (i.e. not to USB)==

If the backup is going to '''non-removable media''' (even if it is a shared folder on another computer) then the NEOSYS user/client/licensee (NOT the NEOSYS support team) can, at their own responsibility, arrange to '''move''' (NOT COPY) the NEOSYS backup files from the USB location to a backup location of their choice and avoid the

WARNING message : "Backup media not changed. Overwriting last weeks backup"

=== Sample alternative response to client requests for additional backups ===

The existing NEOSYS backup must continue to take place for safety because it is the only well understood standard, controlled and checked procedure in use for all NEOSYS clients.

You are free to setup and operate any additional backup procedure you like but NEOSYS cannot take any responsibility in setting up, monitoring or approving your additional backup procedure because it is beyond our sphere of control, expertise and trust.

What you can backup is the NEOSYS backups on the USB drive. These are readily available online at all times on the NEOSYS server for you to access and copy as you choose.

You can backup the usb anytime using anything you like, but you must not backup anything on any hard disk eg: C or D at any time.

== Backup in virtual server ==

=== Virtual servers that allow USB passthrough ===
If NEOSYS is installed on a virtual server that allows USB passthrough (e.g. VMWare vSphere version 4.1 and above), then NEOSYS can be configured to backup onto the inserted external USB drive.

3 USBs should be maintained and rotated on a weekly basis as done by clients installed on physical servers.

VMware website says that when changing the USB, the VMware window must be the active window so that the USB reflects in the virtual machine and not on the host machine.
https://www.vmware.com/support/ws45/doc/devices_usb_ws.html

=== Virtual servers that do not allow USB passthrough ===
If NEOSYS is installed on a virtual server that DOES NOT allow USB passthrough, then below are the various cases:

==== Case 1: BACKUP.ZIP file CAN be created on an external removable backup media ====
The backups can be done onto an USB drive if it is connected to the host machine and configured to appear on the virtual server. The virtual server MUST be restarted for the inserted USB to reflect each time the USB is changed i.e. every week.

Support Staff MUST train the IT person to stop the processes properly i.e. use global.end file and rename it to global.end.temp to allow processes to start after reboot. Support Staff can send a follow up email as mentioned below

=====Email to IT person after training =====

Kindly confirm that you will close the NEOSYS processes properly before shutting down the virtual server, i.e. by renaming "global.end" to "global.end.temp" and making sure that no ntvdm.exe processes are running in the task manager. As discussed during the training, this can cause damaged files in NEOSYS if the server is shutdown without closing the NEOSYS processes.

Also please confirm that you will rename "global.end" back to "global.end.temp" before shutting down the virtual server so that the NEOSYS processes start up automatically when the virtual server is restarted.

==== Case 2: BACKUP.ZIP file CANNOT be created on an external removable backup media ====
The Client must *at their own responsibility* agree to arrange copy of the backup files to an external backup location every day if the server cannot be restarted every week. In this case, NEOSYS Support staff must send the client below email:

===== Email for new clients with/old clients moving to virtual servers that do not allow BACKUP.ZIP file to be created on an external removable backup media =====

If we install NEOSYS on a virtual server, the backups cannot be done onto an external removable backup media as confirmed by your IT. NEOSYS considers backups to be done only if BACKUP.ZIP file is created on an external removable backup media.

Instead, NEOSYS will be configured to create the BACKUP.ZIP files on the C drive of the virtual server. Your IT team can, at your own responsibility, arrange to move (NOT COPY) these backup files to an external backup location every day. We recommend that the backup location should be removable media (e.g. external hard disk) and not non-removable media (e.g. shared folder on another computer).

If any damage happens to the NEOSYS server, the backup files on C drive will not be accessible and will therefore be useless. So, kindly confirm that your IT team will arrange to move the backup files as mentioned above.

In addition to this, offsite backups of your virtual server can be setup by us if required, with an additional cost.

==Backup Messages==

==== Interpreting backup alerts messages ====

Success messages come with a blank body

Failure messages should come with the errors in the body

Both success and failure messages come with an attachment containing a list of files copied (or supposed to be copied but failed) and a summary of the volume and speed of data transferred

==== Cause and Solution of Backup Warning Messages ====

NEOSYS gives a backup WARNING message whenever it discovers that it is overwriting backups a week old. It does this because NEOSYS only deems backups completely successful if the backup media is rotated at least on a weekly basis.

If the backup media is removable then it should be changed weekly and the same media not used repeatedly on successive weeks.

If the backup is going to non-removable media (even if it is a shared folder on another computer) then the NEOSYS user/client/licencee (not the NEOSYS support team) can, at their own responsibility, arrange to move (not copy) the NEOSYS backup files from that location to a backup location of their choice and avoid this WARNING message.

==Handling failure and warning messages on nightly USB backup alerts==

=== Backup mail not received ===

[[Troubleshooting_email_not_received#Troubleshooting_email_not_received|Troubleshooting email not received]]

=== Handling Change Backup message if the client does not use a USB backup device ===

IF THE CLIENT IS BACKING UP TO A NON-REMOVABLE DESTINATION THEN EITHER 1. LIVE WITH THE FAILURE MESSAGE OR 2. SUPPRESS THE BACKUP ENTIRELY IN WHICH CASE NO BACKUPS ARE BEING DONE AND PROBABLY THIS WILL SHOW ON NEOSYS PROACTIVE WARNING SYSTEMS LIKE NAGIOS.

Nagios warnings can be acknowledged.

DO *NOT* FOLLOW BELOW PROCEDURE SINCE IS IT IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE FOR NEOSYS TO SEND OUT A "BACKUP SUCCESS" MESSAGE WHEN THE BACKUP IS NOT BEING DONE PROPERLY. IN GENERAL, TAKING SHORT CUTS THAT MAKE THINGS APPEAR SATISFACTORY WHEN THEY ARE NOT IS VERY POOR POLICY.

# Basically most of the client use USB for Neosys server but there are some clients who do not use USB. They could be on virtual server or just saving their backups in hard drive.
# As we know that backup take place in Data.bak folder but it does a backup only for a week in a single USB. Over here client do not use USB but save their backup in hard drive/virtual server location in Data.bak folder, once the week is over it will again give Change backup message.
# In this case rename the Data.bak folder to Data1.bak this is done because system read only Data.bak folder as it is configured in the system. When you rename Data.bak to Data1.bak it automatically create a new folder Data.bak in Backup drive.
# This process is done so that the backup does not fail next day morning and backup is done in Data.bak folder along with successful backup email.
# In the third week we will again see the same message Chang backup USB message, so you need to rename Data.bak folder to Data2.bak
# But in fourth week you rename the Data1.bak to Data.bak and change the Data2.bak to Data1.bak and Data.bak to Data2.bak
# Keep only three folders and Data.bak, Data1.bak, Data2.bak and keep on renaming these folders every week as shown above.

AS MENTIONED EARLIER *DO NOT FOLLOW* THE ABOVE PROCEDURE ON ANY CLIENT THAT DOES NOT USE A USB BACKUP DEVICE.

=== Warning Message: Backup media not changed. Overwriting last weeks backup ===

NEOSYS gives a backup WARNING message whenever it discovers that it is overwriting backups a week old. It does this because NEOSYS only deems backups completely successful if the backup media is rotated at least on a weekly basis.

If the backup media is removable then it should be changed daily or weekly and the same media not used repeatedly on successive weeks.

If the backup is going to non-removable media (even if it is a shared folder on another computer) then the NEOSYS user/client/licensee (not the NEOSYS support team) can, at their own responsibility, arrange to move (not copy) the NEOSYS backup files from that location to a backup location of their choice and avoid this WARNING message. Also refer to [[Backup_and_Restore#Handling_Change_Backup_message_if_the_client_does_not_use_a_USB_backup_device|Handling Change Backup message if the client does not use a USB backup device]]

=== Error Message: Somebody else was using the dataset ===

Server=NEOSYS
Client=NEOSYS
User=ADAGENCY
NEOSYS Ver:18:02:13 30 MAY 2006

Backup started at 19/11/2006 2:00am

TEST DATA TESTDATA

To E:\DATA.BAK\TESTDATA\Sunday\BACKUP.ZIP
!!! THE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!

(because one or more files were not backed up
- somebody else was using them)

==== Error Explained ====

Despite the error message which shows that 'somebody else was using them', it is definitely not correct as NEOSYS shuts down automatically at 2 am (time of the

backup). The actual problem might be that a NEOSYS process must have got stuck and failed to shutdown or a maintenance process was left open by accident.

==== Action to be taken ====

Close any maintenance processes that should not have been left open in the first place.

Try to exit normally or kill any other [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#How_to_kill_hung_NEOSYS_processes|"hung"]] processes, taking screenshots of any error messages in order to try and prevent the problem happening again.

If not inconvenient to the users consider initiating a manual backup or just check that the next automatic backup works ok.

=== Error Message: Size Lock ===

Server=NEOSYS-SERVER
Client=NEOSYS-SERVER
User=NETSERVICE
NEOSYS Ver:19:57:50 08 NOV 2006

Backup started at 19/11/2006 2:00am

ADLINE ADLINE

To F:\DATA.BAK\ADLINE\Sunday\BACKUP.ZIP
The following files had a size lock but have been fixed SHADOW Warning! Process
U79068
Other Network Stations are Active!
This utility was designed to be run in a single-user mode!

Potential Errors Could Occur, If You Proceed to fix the sizelock Values with Other Stations
Active. These Errors Include;

Invalid SELECT results, Degredation in Network Performance, and other Problems/Concerns which
may be specific to your Installation/Application.

IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT ALL NETWORK STATIONS BE LOGGED OUT BEFORE PROCEEDING!

Do you wish to Proceed at this time?%B%
!!! THE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!

(because one or more files were not backed up
- somebody else was using them)

==== Error Explained ====

Sizelock errors are not critical and do not stop the backup from being performed. Sizelocks are cleared automatically during backup but the backup alert becomes a

warning that the backup was not quite perfect.

Sizelocks during database checking indicate that some files were not properly closed in normal processing but do not indicate corrupt files. Sizelock means that a file

is prevented from expanding and contracting. Expanding and contracting is necessary in order to speed up access to larger numbers of records. Therefore if sizelocks

were to be left uncleared then the file would become slower and slower to access over time.

In the above example the backup was not completed because of another error "files in use".

==== Action to be taken ====

If this is an automatic backup then no action is required since the sizelocks are automatically cleared.

During a manual backup then you should press F9 on the sizelock warning screen to confirm that the sizelocks should be cleared.

Sizelocks can only be cleared if no other process is open.

=== Failure Message : Backup file is 0 ===

16/4/2009 9:43am Creating zip

16/4/2009 9:45am !!! THE DATABASE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!

BECAUSE BACKUP FILE SIZE IS 0

==== Error Explanation 1 ====
This happens when there is no adequate storage space on the hard-disk which houses the NEOSYS application and data files. When the automated backup is initiated, the

NEOSYS application checks all the data files and creates a zipped file of it which is the databasename.zip (in the above case IMDUB.ZIP). During this zip file

creation, NEOSYS needs additional disk space temporarily and if this is not available then the backup would fail. The IMDUB.ZIP file is created and backed up (as

BACKUP.ZIP under the respective day of the week) to the USB or any other drive specified and is automatically deleted from the drive that it was created in.

====Error Explanation 2====

This could be due lack of EMSMAGIC.

In case of a Windows Server 2003 installation: [[Troubleshooting NEOSYS Generally#Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003|Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003]]

In case of a Windows Server 2008 installation: [[Installing EMS Magic|Installing EMS Magic on Windows 2008]]

==== Actions to be taken ====
#In this case, you need to clear up the hard-disk and create some space. In the above scenario at Initiative there was a folder of 52 GB in the same drive that houses NEOSYS and the available disk space was just 40 MB. So the un-necessary folder was moved out to make space.
#If there is sufficient space available on the hard disk which houses NEOSYS, then consider checking the anti-virus settings and escalate the issue to NEOSYS programmer for debugging.

This is another reason why NEOSYS personnel should put their foot down on getting dedicated servers for NEOSYS as it restrains the client IT staff from using the

NEOSYS server to house data or any other applications besides NEOSYS.

=== Error Message: Inadequate Storage Space on USB ===

==== Error 1 ====
<pre>
Server=SERVER2
Client=SERVER2
User=ACCOUNTS
NEOSYS Ver:11:26:27 26 JUL 2010

7/2/2012 2:00 Backup started F: BASIC
7/2/2012 2:00 Media: FADE-0001

7/2/2012 2:00 Checking for damaged database files
7/2/2012 2:01 Checked OK 1.92MB (+1.00KB)

7/2/2012 2:01 Creating zip
7/2/2012 2:01 Created OK BASIC.ZIP 251KB

7/2/2012 2:02 Copying to F:\DATA.BAK\Tuesday\BACKUP.ZIP
7/2/2012 2:02 Copied OK

7/2/2012 2:02 Verifying zip OK
7/2/2012 2:02 Verified OK

7/2/2012 2:02 Started backup of uploaded files in /cygdrive/E/ to F:
7/2/2012 2:04 neosys/DATA/ACCOUNTS/REV20050.LK
neosys/DATA/ACCOUNTS/REV20052.LK
7/2/2012 2:04 rsync: writefd_unbuffered failed to write 4092 bytes [sender]: Connection reset by peer (104)
rsync: write failed on "/cygdrive/F/E/neosys/DATA/ACCOUNTS/BATCHES.LK": No space left on device (28)
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (9077 bytes received so far) [sender]
rsync error: error in rsync protocol data stream (code 12) at /home/lapo/packaging/rsync-3.0.4-1/src/rsync-3.0.4/io.c(632) [sender=3.0.4]
7/2/2012 2:04 Finished backup of uploaded files

7/2/2012 2:04 !!! THE DATABASE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!
</pre>

==== Error Explained ====
In the above error log we notice the line:
rsync: write failed on "/cygdrive/F/E/neosys/DATA/PT0011A/ACCOUNTS/BATCHES.LK": No space left on device (28)

This is an indication that the USB being used to store backups does not have adequate storage space to save further backups.

This particular message only comes when using rsync to copy all IMAGES (ie files uploaded to NEOSYS) to the USB.

Sometimes, image backup is used to configured to backup the whole of a disk or the whole of data folder for example if there are hundreds of databases that are not all

used everyday.

==== Error 2 ====
<pre>
Server=SERVER2
Client=SERVER2
User=ACCOUNTS
NEOSYS Ver:11:26:27 26 JUL 2010
7/2/2012 2:00 Backup started F: PT0621 - GABANG HOLDINGS LIMITED
7/2/2012 2:00 Media: FADE-0001
7/2/2012 2:00 Checking for damaged database files
7/2/2012 2:02 Checked OK 2.25MB (+20.0KB)
7/2/2012 2:02 Creating zip
7/2/2012 2:02 Created OK PT0621.ZIP 462KB
7/2/2012 2:02 !!! THE DATABASE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!
BECAUSE NOT ENOUGH FREE SPACE ON BACKUP MEDIA.
462KB REQUIRED BUT ONLY 452KB AVAILABLE
</pre>

==== Error Explained ====
As the last line of the above error log clearly states, there is not adequate free space available on the USB to perform a backup.

In the above case, 462KB is required space while only 452KB is available.

==== Action to be taken ====
The simple solution is to purchase a new USB with greater storage space than the existing USB.

Sample Email to be sent to clients:

The automated NEOSYS backup has failed due to insufficient storage space on the USB.
Currently you are using a 4GB USB, which is insufficient for storing backups.
I recommend that you use a USB with 8 GB or more storage space.

''Note -'' We may also solve this issue by checking the USB for unnecessary files and move/delete them.

=== Error Message: "Cannot backup/restore because PROCESS1 PROCESS2 (etc) is/are online" message ===

This can happen for a variety of reasons if any the NEOSYS processes fail to close down at backup time. One could be because NEOSYS processes hang due to software error.

== Fixing Network Connectivity Errors for consolidated Backups ==
There could be multiple reasons why the backup server might not be able to connect with the backed up server.

Error
<pre>
[Receiver] io timeout after 600 seconds -- exiting rsync error: timeout in data send/receive (code 30) at /home/lapo/package/rsync-3.0.8-1/src/rsync-3.0.8/io.c(140) [Receiver=3.0.8] [Receiver] io timeout after 600 seconds -- exiting rsync error: timeout in data send/receive (code 30) at /home/lapo/package/rsync-3.0.8-1/src/rsync-3.0.8/io.c(140) [Receiver=3.0.8] tried via hostname.support.neosys.com now trying via hostname2.support.neosys.com
ssh: Could not resolve hostname hostname2.support.neosys.com: hostname nor servname provided, or not known
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (0 bytes received so far) [Receiver] rsync error: error in rsync protocol data stream (code 12) at /home/lapo/package/rsync-3.0.8-1/src/rsync-3.0.8/io.c(601)
</pre>

The following tests help in checking why the connectivity was lost between the backup server and the backed up server:

===Check whether the server was up===
If either of the servers were down, that could be the reason why connectivity was lost between the backup server and the backed up server. If this test fails, proceed to the next step.

===Telnet check===
<pre> telnet <hostname> 19580 </pre>

<hostname> is the name or IP address of the remote server to connect to.

If telnet is not able to connect to the remote host specified in <hostname> or establish a connection on the <port> specified, it will report an error similar to the following:

<pre>
C:> telnet fred.plus.com <CR>
Connecting To fred.plus.com...Could not open connection to the host, on port 23: Connect failed
C:> telnet mail.plus.net 60 <CR>
Connecting To mail.plus.com...Could not open connection to the host, on port 60: Connect failed.
C:> telnet 60.92.12.56 74 <CR>
Connecting To 60.92.12.56...Could not open connection to the host, on port 74: Connect failed.
</pre>

===Autologin===

====Error====
<pre>

rsync: failed to connect to 127.0.0.1: Connection refused (111) rsync error: error in socket IO (code 10) at
/home/lapo/packaging/rsync-3.0.7-1/src/rsync-

3.0.7/clientserver.c(122) [Receiver=3.0.7]

tried via hostname.neosys.com

now trying via hostname2.neosys.com

rsync: failed to connect to 127.0.0.1: Connection refused (111) rsync error: error in socket IO (code 10) at
/home/lapo/packaging/rsync-3.0.7-1/src/rsync-

3.0.7/clientserver.c(122) [Receiver=3.0.7]

</pre>

===== Error Explained=====
The automated backup cannot use autologin to access the server being backed up and so the backup fails.

===== Solution =====

[[Backup_and_Restore#Checking_if_autologin_is_configured_correctly_and_working_or_not| Check autologin]] and [[Backup_and_Restore#Running_..2Fautologin.sh|Run autologin]]

==== Error Message: "WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!" message ====

'''Error'''
<pre>
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@ WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that a host key has just been changed.
The fingerprint for the ED25519 key sent by the remote host is
SHA256:9i9JH5xh11rEMIgrsax8A7bEKXfKVRiJr9nZllWXdFg.
Please contact your system administrator.
Add correct host key in /home/administrator/.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this message.
Offending ECDSA key in /home/administrator/.ssh/known_hosts:208
ED25519 host key for [192.168.10.1]:19580 has changed and you have requested strict checking.
Host key verification failed.
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (0 bytes received so far) [Receiver]
rsync error: unexplained error (code 255) at io.c(226) [Receiver=3.1.1]
</pre>

Solution to the problem is to remove the host key for the host mentioned in the error message in the known_hosts file.

Run the following command in Cygwin terminal.
<pre> ssh-keygen -R [host ip]:port </pre>

e.g in the above message for host ip 192.168.10.1 and port 19580 the command is
<pre> ssh-keygen -R [192.168.10.1]:19580 </pre>
Next re run autologin for the host, see [[Backup_and_Restore#Running_..2Fautologin.sh | Running autologin ]]

===Check Scheduled Tasks on the Server===
Check if logs of Scheduled Tasks on the server, to see if the remote backup task executed and completed successfully. It is possible that the remote backup scheduled task hung due to some reason and a new instance of the task fails to start up the next day due to the existing instance. To avoid this situation, in Properties of the task, under Settings tab, check "Stop the task if it runs for:" and configure it to less than 24 hours.

== Enabling backup servers to access backed-up servers ==

This relates to a common procedure used by NEOSYS to provide automatic nightly synchronisation/backups between servers for multi-office configurations. For more information see
http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_remote_backup

Αccording to this procedure, backup processes are actually initiated and run on a "backup server" using a "pull" concept. The "backed-up server" serves the data (usually using an rsync service) to the backup server on request. They do not use a "push" concept.
This means that backup servers need to be able to automatically login to the backed-up servers. On most backup servers a NEOSYS cygwin script called autologin.sh has been installed. This helps you configure the backup server and backed-up server.
NEOSYS processes on a target server can sometimes reset/ lose autologin codes (particularly when NEOSYS is upgraded) on the target server when it should not actually. This enforces rerunning autologin.sh. You only need to run autologin.sh once per pair of backup and backed-up servers, in the backup server.
==== Checking if autologin is configured correctly and working or not ====
On the source system, in cygwin console, type the following, changing port number, administrator and clientname to suit the case.
ssh –p 19580 administrator@clientname.neosys.com
After a few seconds, if it is working properly, it should give you a command prompt on the target system. This indicates that autologin was successful. You may exit using the command:
exit
Otherwise, if it gives some error and in particular if it asks you anything at all, for example “confirm fingerprint?” or “password?” then autologin is not working.
You can then type in the following command in cygwin to configure or reconfigure autologin:
./autologin.sh

=== Running ./autologin.sh ===
In cygwin on the backup server, you can use any of the following syntax depending on your configuration:

Syntax

./autologin.sh targethostname targetusername sshport

*host and user will be prompted for if omitted
*port will be 19580 if omitted

Example using prompting for parameters

./autologin.sh

Example using default user and port (administrator/19580)

./autologin.sh examplehost.neosys.com

Example with different user (port will be 19580)

./autologin.sh examplehost.neosys.com Administrator

Example with different user and port

./autologin.sh examplehost.neosys.com Administrator 19580

The username is usually administrator for windows server targets.

The hostname can be found in backup email logs or in the CONFIG.CMD file in the backup server.

There are often two alternative hostnames. Try the first one first. If you succeed with the first then there is no need to try the second.

Sometimes one of the host names is based on alternative network access methods like hamachi which uses ip addresses starting with "5." and requires hamachi service to be running in both servers and this sometimes is dependent on being logged in and correct setup of hamachi. You can ping the host names to discover the ip numbers of course.

If Autologin is configured successfully, it logs you in to the backed up server's cygwin/bash command line. YOU should NOT be required to enter a password. YOU type "exit" to quit the backed up server's command line.

If Autologin is not configured successfully, you might be required to enter a password. In that case, enter the password and follow instructions on screen.
The system asks for the password to the target server to transfer an identity file and once again to access the command line of the target server from where you must follow a set of instructions in order to load the identity file properly.
Follow the instructions on the screen VERY carefully.

=== Setting up autologin.sh ===

#Asks you for the username and hostname
#Copies an identity file from the backup server to the backed up server. This requires you to enter the administrator or root password.
#Logs you in to the backed up server's cygwin/bash command line. This requires you to enter the password again.
#YOU then type a series of commands to install the identity file and finally exit the command console. The series of commands that you must type are shown on screen
=== The edit step ===

The last step will enter the nano editor where you should do the following:

If present, delete the word neosys near the end of the last line of the file. The last bit of the last line will refer to some user and host that you are enabling

access FROM

BE CAREFUL NOT TO TRIGGER THE AUTOMATIC LINE BREAKING IN NANO because line breaking into two or more lines is automatically triggered when you add characters to long

lines. it is not triggered if you just delete characters. If you do cause a line break then quit the editor WITHOUT saving and try again or then use the editor to

rejoin the two lines. Note that pressing Alt+L will turn long line breaking off and on which avoids the problem in the first place.

Press Ctrl+X to exit the editor

=== Creating/Upgrading autologin.sh if it doesn’t exist or is out of date ===

nano autologin.sh
chmod +x autologin.sh

<pre>
#!/bin/bash

set -e

REMOTEHOST=$1
REMOTEUSER=$2
PORT=$3

test $REMOTEUSER || REMOTEUSER=administrator
test $PORT || PORT=19580

if [ ! $REMOTEUSER ]; then
echo -n "Remote User (blank=administrator)/root?"
read REMOTEUSER
if [ "$REMOTEUSER" == "" ] ; then REMOTEUSER=administrator ; fi
fi

if [ ! REMOTEHOST ]; then
echo -n "Remote Host? "
read REMOTEHOST
if [ "$REMOTEHOST" == "" ] ; then exit; fi
fi

echo PASSPHRASE MUST BE BLANK IF YOU GET ASKED FOR IT!
#Generate priv/pub keys in .ssh if not already done
#Priv key mustnt be accessible except to owner otherwise wont work.
test -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa || \
ssh-keygen -t rsa && \
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa

echo
echo "Logging in to the remote server (enter the pass again)"
sed 's/neosys//' ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | \
ssh -p $PORT $REMOTEUSER@$REMOTEHOST \
"mkdir -p .ssh ; chmod 700 .ssh ;\
cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys ;\
chmod 644 .ssh/authorized_keys"

echo
echo "Test automatic login to the remote server"
echo " SHOULD NO LONGER ASK FOR PASSWORD."
echo " IF SUCCESSFULL, TYPE exit"
ssh -p $PORT $REMOTEUSER@$REMOTEHOST

</pre>

==Switching to a backup server==

As NEOSYS provides clients with option of backing up their data to a remote NEOSYS server in case of emergencies or server problems, it is crucial you understand the below procedure on how to switch to a backup server in the event of such a situation. Extreme care must be taken when switching over to using a backup server otherwise unnecessary data loss is very likely.

Backup servers are normally switched off and should not be started automatically otherwise there is a serious risk of the client’s staff working on two systems. It is not possible to merge two databases into one database. Before the backup server is enabled the main server must be disabled, and before the main server is re-enabled, the backup server must be disabled again. This can be managed technically without requiring any decision from senior non-technical staff.

However, there are also some potentially hard decisions about unavoidable loss of data versus continued system availability. *** Backup servers should therefore only be started with the written approval of the clients senior staff. A suitable email requesting approval follows.

The following case assumes that the main server has gone down sometime during the working day and that therefore the data on the backup server is out of date. Allowing them to use the backup server therefore implies some loss of data. They may wish to lose the data. They may wish to work on the backup server data and then try to redo the work on the main server once it is restored. There are a variety of options depending on the situation.

If the main server is still functioning AND you are reasonably sure that the database is not damaged (which is perhaps an unlikely situation if you need to use the backup server!), it may be sensible to trigger an additional “backup/sync” process to bring the backup server database up to date with the main server. Before you do this, it is advisable that you take a backup copy of the backup system on the backup server. In this case there would be no data loss in using the backup.

An additional option of providing usage of the backup server in read-only mode so that people can at least access some data is being developed. The backup server could be available continuously at any time in read-only mode. This article would then be related to switching a backup server into main operational mode.

Dear {senior staff} cc {IT staff}

Please note that we can enable the backup server if you wish.

However the data on the backup server is out of date since it is a copy of your main database as at 11/22/33 99:99.

If you wish to allow work to be done on the backup server then any data entered on your main server since the above date will be lost if we
subsequently copy the data on the backup server to the main server.

If, after using the backup server, we do NOT copy the data on the back server to the main server then any data you have entered on the backup
server/database will be lost.

Please confirm a) you want to work on HOSTS2 database and that we should therefore enable it and b) you have disconnected your main server
for the duration.

Best Regards,
xxxxxx xxxxxxx
NEOSYS Support

==How to Restore NEOSYS from Backup==

#Log into Maintenance Mode
#Go to General > Backup & Data Management
#Select (the 4th option) Restore from disk or diskette
#Select the drive where the latest successful backup.zip file is present and follow the prompts ahead.

==While Moving NEOSYS to a new server, after copying D drive the Maintenance does not contain all data sets==

After copying D drive, when you open Maintenance if the data sets are not present as in the old server you MUST restore Backup as restore is a verified/quick method of creating data sets. While restoring last night's Backup for missing data sets, the system gives a warning message "Dataset is already on the computer" as shown below. You MUST select the 2nd option "Overwrite the existing dataset" from the options in the warning message. In this way, all data sets will be created/saved on the new server.

<pre>
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ *** WARNING *** ║
║ TEST /TEST ║
║ IS ALREADY ON THE COMPUTER ║
║ IF YOU CONTINUE, THE EXISTING FILES WILL BE DELETED. ║
║ ║
║ What do you want to do? ║
║───┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────║
║ 1│Cancel the restore process ║
║ 2>Overwrite the existing data set ║
║ 3│Restore and make a new dataset ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
</pre>

== Accessing historical snapshots of NEOSYS hosted clients data ==

The main NEOSYS backup server nl13 contains backups of NEOSYS hosted clients along with all NEOSYS internal servers.

It also contains historical snapshots of the backups going back six months.

NEOSYS SUPPORT TEAM *MUST* AVOID COPYING, MOVING OR RENAMING FOLDERS ON NEOSYS WINDOWS SERVERS because this causes severe duplication and consumption of valuable resources for up to six months on nl13. Any exception to this rule must be discussed with NEOSYS IT *before* implementation.

=== How to restore? ===

nl13 is only accessible by NEOSYS IT so recovery of any data cannot be done directly by NEOSYS support team and is not a routine procedure.

The secondary NEOSYS backup server hosts2 is accessible to NEOSYS support team but contains only the latest snapshot of the current NEOSYS hosted clients as at last night. No historical versions are available.

=== What snapshots are available? ===

As of 2017/05/25 the NEOSYS backup server nl13 takes snapshots (of the backups listed in Nagios) as follows using crontab:

* 120 historical hourly backups done at **:10 every hour (5x24 hours)
* 8 historical daily backups done at 01:11 every night
* 5 historical weekly backups done at 01:12 every Saturday
* 6 historical monthly backups done at 01:13 on the 1st of every month

=== What is backed up? ===

Inspecting Nagios shows daily backups of NEOSYS hosted clients to nl13 of win3/d. Complete hourly backup is not possible due to limitations of Windows and/or the backup software used. However, there are hourly backups of win3/d/DATA.BAK so NEOSYS process "backups" to win3/d/DATA.BAK (on the same server and disk and therefore not a proper backup) do get properly backed up to a different server once an hour.

=== Historical/Lapsed Clients? ===

For more info see [[Uninstalling_clients_hosted_on_NEOSYS_Server|Uninstalling clients hosted on NEOSYS server ]]

A single copy of lapsed clients last BACKUP.ZIP will be kept for as long as possible along with the active client's data and backed up identically.

Long lapsed clients should be removed periodically from the normal DATA.BAK folder only when space runs out on win3 but a copy should be moved to D:\DATA2.BAK folder on hosts2 which is itself backed up nightly to nl13 which keeps backups for approx six months.

Backup and Restore

2017-08-13T08:56:37Z

Priyanka: /* Description of Backup Procedure for the NEOSYS Client Hosting Server */

== Backup Procedures ==
=== Preparing nightly backup report ===
# Note the success, failure and other error of the clients backup mail in an excel sheet and forward the same to your manager.
# If there is a backup failure or backup is not available, check wiki to take necessary steps.
# If there is any unknown error, forward the same to your manager.
Send the backup report after every quarter to all the Clients having consolidated backups.

=== Updating Nagios incase of failures ===
# If the backup failure is unsolved, schedule downtime Neosys service in Nagios till 01 am.
# If the backup did not happen because of server down. Call the IT person; ask him to re-boot the server and check wiki to do necessary step ahead and schedule downtime to Nagios for 2hours.
# If there is an error "Backup->Impossible" on Nagios, check if the USB is properly inserted. If no USB is found, send a mail to the user asking to ensure that the backup USB is inserted properly. Schedule downtime to Nagios for 2hours.

=== Interchange backup USB mail reminder ===
Basically all the clients have different days to change their backup USB. All the notification can be seen on Nagios at 12.00 pm every day.

On the USB change day, at 6:00 am, when the processes start up, the system automatically sends the following email to everyone in the backup email receiver list:

It is time to change the NEOSYS backup media (e.g. USB Flash Drive)

Please change it before 12:00 midday today.

Additional emails reminding IT staff to change backup media are sent out at 11:30am and 5pm if the backup media is not changed according schedule.

Since the system automatically sends a USB change reminder email to the client, support staff do not have to send them any instructions about changing unless they have failed to change the USB on the scheduled day or the scheduled day needs to be moved to another day.

==== Importance of interchanging backup USBs ====
If the backup USB is not interchanged on the scheduled day then the NEOSYS automated backup fails. This happens because traditionally, each USB holds backup of 7 days and using 3 different USBs we can store backups for the last 21 days enabling us to restore the system unto a time period beginning 21 days prior.
If the USB is not changed then the first backup on the current USB is replaced with the new or latest backup leading to inconsistencies within the backups. Hence we must interchange the USB on schedule to avoid a backup failure the next morning.

The reasons for using multiple USBs for backup are:
*We can keep other USBs out of the office for safety purposes since theft or office fire/water hazards could damage the computer and the USB keys if they are all in
the same place.
*Having multiple USBs provide safety against corrupt USBs which cannot be used to restore any backup data.

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>The NEOSYS backup has failed today as the USB was not interchanged on the scheduled day.
Please interchange the USB immediately today to avoid a backup failure tomorrow morning.
Also note that your scheduled day to interchange the USB next week and hence forth remains unchanged to '''(Scheduled Day)'''.</pre>

=== Finding out which USB is inserted into the server ===
As we ask the client to have 3 USB's and interchange them weekly, we also need to sometimes track which one of these 3 USB's are inserted into the server. USB's can be tracked using their volume serial number in most cases. To find this out either go to the command prompt and type VOL <drive letter> where drive letter is the USB drive letter OR in the nightly backup message check for the 2nd line (which looks like this - 14/12/2009 2:45pm Media: 705B-5B5F). However serial numbers can be the same even for different USB's. One of the reasons for this could be that the USBs were imaged from one single USB which caused their volume serial numbers to be the same. However, such a situation is very rare.

=== Interchanging USB when scheduled USB change day falls on a holiday ===
When clients ask support which day to interchange USBs when their scheduled USB change day falls on a holidays, send them the below email.

Hi XXX,

Kindly interchange the USB on the last working day before the holiday i.e XXXday DD/MM/YY and then interchange with the next scheduled USB on first working day after the holiday i.e. XXXday DD/MM/YY. Continue to change the USBs as usual on XXXday.

== Description of Backup Procedure for the Client Hosted NEOSYS Server ==

3 USBs must be maintained and rotated on a weekly basis.

Every night, the NEOSYS process stops serving users at around 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM (local time of the client's main office) and performs the following procedure:

*All the database files are checked for physical corruption.
*All the database files are zipped into a file on the USB who's path would be something like F:\DATA.BAK\CLIENTX\MONDAY\BACKUP.ZIP file.
*The file having the same name as that of the corresponding day of the week as that of 3 weeks back is overwritten.A "backup alert" email indicating success or failure is sent to senior managers at the client, the client’s IT manager and backups@neosys.com.
*An internal log (accessible on each database's Support Menu) is maintained as a record and in case the emails cannot be sent out for some reason.
*NEOSYS support staff in Dubai check the emails every morning Sunday through Thursday.
*In the case of failure, NEOSYS support staff in Dubai take appropriate action and send an email (to the same people who receive the automated backup alert emails) indicating what action has been taken.
*Additionally offsite backup can be set up on NEOSYS server

== Description of Backup Procedure for the NEOSYS Client Hosting Server ==

NEOSYS backup is a two phase process. It is mandatory that both phases are complete for the process to be considered a backup.

1. On the main NEOSYS server host(Schuberg Philis in Amsterdam as of Dec 2010),Every night, the NEOSYS process for selected databases stops serving users at around 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM (local time of the client's main office) and performs the following procedure:
*All the database files are checked for physical corruption.
*All the database files are zipped into a file who's path would be something like C:\DATA.BAK\CLIENTX\MONDAY\BACKUP.ZIP file.
*The file having the same name as that of the corresponding day of the week as last week is overwritten.A "backup alert" email indicating success or failure is sent to senior managers at the client, the client’s IT manager and backups@neosys.com.
*An internal log (accessible on each database's Support Menu) is maintained as a record and in case the emails cannot be sent out for some reason.
*NEOSYS support staff in Dubai check the emails every morning Sunday through Thursday.
*In the case of failure, NEOSYS support staff in Dubai take appropriate action and send an email (to the same people who receive the automated backup alert emails) indicating what action has been taken.
*The above does not by itself constitute a proper backup because the backup is stored on the same server and physical disk as the actual data.

2. On the NEOSYS backup server host (in NEOSYS Dubai Office as of Dec 2010 but could be changed without notice to EvoSwitch in Amsterdam).
*At around 02:00-02:30 AM GMT daily, NEOSYS's backup server copies (replicates) all the BACKUP.ZIP files from the main NEOSYS server host to itself.
*An email indicating success or failure is sent to NEOSYS support staff (only) who deal with it in a similar way to phase 1, except that only NEOSYS management are updated.

==Manual Backup==
See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#How_to_do_a_manual_backup.3F How to do a manual backup in NEOSYS]

Manual backups can be triggered on the server process screen by pressing the lower case letter b key. After the backup is complete the process will resume and restart the child processes. Pressing capital B will result in the process closing on completion of the backup and the child processes will not be restarted. This is useful if you want to trigger a backup and leave without waiting for it to complete.

==Configuring NEOSYS automated backup==

NEOSYS is designed to do an automated backup of the data (not the program files). The configuration for the automated backup rests in the System Configuration File

under Menu > Support.

First step is to configure the automated email settings. After every backup attempt NEOSYS will send out a mail with the status of the backup (either success or

failed). You have to configure the SMTP details here along with the list of recipients to the backup email. Ensure to have atleast 1 person from the client management

and 1 person from the client IT, besides the mandatory backups@neosys.com address

Always use the NEOSYS SMTP server details as follows and put in a fictitious client address so that NEOSYS staff can quickly identify which client this mail came from.

[[image:backup1.jpg]]

Do not configure the backup time unless instructed by your manager. The system will automatically start the backup at 1 am if there is nothing configured in the Backup

time.

Type in the backup location (USB/other media) drive letter in the Backup Drive field and the Uploads fields. Putting a 0 in the Uploads field will disable the backup of the Uploaded files, else by default the uploaded files will be backed up to the drive mentioned in the backup drive field.

The scheduled days of backup can be configured using the checkboxes. If none of the days are checked, backup will be done on all days by default.

Next setup the auto-start of the databases and enter how many processes should be started and which all databases should be backed up. In the example below DEMO

database has been configured to start 3 processes and also do the automated backup, whereas the DEMOTEST database is configured to start 1 process and no automated

backup.

[[image:backup2.jpg]]

=== Non-Liability for Backup ===

{{Non-Liability For Backup}}

=== Backing up the Images folder ===

The Images folder under the NEOSYS installation is used to upload images/artworks/files from the Job File section and hence needs to be backed up. NEOSYS will

automatically backup this Images folder to the USB drive or other location (specified for the usual data backup) once a week. To configure this backup, RSYNC needs to

have been installed during the initial installation.

In case we need to configure the Images folder backup at another location other than the usual nightly backup location than we need to edit:

line 12 - and specify the Drive of the location to be backed up to. eg. E or F

== Backup to other media (i.e. not to USB)==

If the backup is going to '''non-removable media''' (even if it is a shared folder on another computer) then the NEOSYS user/client/licensee (NOT the NEOSYS support team) can, at their own responsibility, arrange to '''move''' (NOT COPY) the NEOSYS backup files from the USB location to a backup location of their choice and avoid the

WARNING message : "Backup media not changed. Overwriting last weeks backup"

=== Sample alternative response to client requests for additional backups ===

The existing NEOSYS backup must continue to take place for safety because it is the only well understood standard, controlled and checked procedure in use for all NEOSYS clients.

You are free to setup and operate any additional backup procedure you like but NEOSYS cannot take any responsibility in setting up, monitoring or approving your additional backup procedure because it is beyond our sphere of control, expertise and trust.

What you can backup is the NEOSYS backups on the USB drive. These are readily available online at all times on the NEOSYS server for you to access and copy as you choose.

You can backup the usb anytime using anything you like, but you must not backup anything on any hard disk eg: C or D at any time.

== Backup in virtual server ==

=== Virtual servers that allow USB passthrough ===
If NEOSYS is installed on a virtual server that allows USB passthrough (e.g. VMWare vSphere version 4.1 and above), then NEOSYS can be configured to backup onto the inserted external USB drive.

3 USBs should be maintained and rotated on a weekly basis as done by clients installed on physical servers.

VMware website says that when changing the USB, the VMware window must be the active window so that the USB reflects in the virtual machine and not on the host machine.
https://www.vmware.com/support/ws45/doc/devices_usb_ws.html

=== Virtual servers that do not allow USB passthrough ===
If NEOSYS is installed on a virtual server that DOES NOT allow USB passthrough, then below are the various cases:

==== Case 1: BACKUP.ZIP file CAN be created on an external removable backup media ====
The backups can be done onto an USB drive if it is connected to the host machine and configured to appear on the virtual server. The virtual server MUST be restarted for the inserted USB to reflect each time the USB is changed i.e. every week.

Support Staff MUST train the IT person to stop the processes properly i.e. use global.end file and rename it to global.end.temp to allow processes to start after reboot. Support Staff can send a follow up email as mentioned below

=====Email to IT person after training =====

Kindly confirm that you will close the NEOSYS processes properly before shutting down the virtual server, i.e. by renaming "global.end" to "global.end.temp" and making sure that no ntvdm.exe processes are running in the task manager. As discussed during the training, this can cause damaged files in NEOSYS if the server is shutdown without closing the NEOSYS processes.

Also please confirm that you will rename "global.end" back to "global.end.temp" before shutting down the virtual server so that the NEOSYS processes start up automatically when the virtual server is restarted.

==== Case 2: BACKUP.ZIP file CANNOT be created on an external removable backup media ====
The Client must *at their own responsibility* agree to arrange copy of the backup files to an external backup location every day if the server cannot be restarted every week. In this case, NEOSYS Support staff must send the client below email:

===== Email for new clients with/old clients moving to virtual servers that do not allow BACKUP.ZIP file to be created on an external removable backup media =====

If we install NEOSYS on a virtual server, the backups cannot be done onto an external removable backup media as confirmed by your IT. NEOSYS considers backups to be done only if BACKUP.ZIP file is created on an external removable backup media.

Instead, NEOSYS will be configured to create the BACKUP.ZIP files on the C drive of the virtual server. Your IT team can, at your own responsibility, arrange to move (NOT COPY) these backup files to an external backup location every day. We recommend that the backup location should be removable media (e.g. external hard disk) and not non-removable media (e.g. shared folder on another computer).

If any damage happens to the NEOSYS server, the backup files on C drive will not be accessible and will therefore be useless. So, kindly confirm that your IT team will arrange to move the backup files as mentioned above.

In addition to this, offsite backups of your virtual server can be setup by us if required, with an additional cost.

==Backup Messages==

==== Interpreting backup alerts messages ====

Success messages come with a blank body

Failure messages should come with the errors in the body

Both success and failure messages come with an attachment containing a list of files copied (or supposed to be copied but failed) and a summary of the volume and speed of data transferred

==== Cause and Solution of Backup Warning Messages ====

NEOSYS gives a backup WARNING message whenever it discovers that it is overwriting backups a week old. It does this because NEOSYS only deems backups completely successful if the backup media is rotated at least on a weekly basis.

If the backup media is removable then it should be changed weekly and the same media not used repeatedly on successive weeks.

If the backup is going to non-removable media (even if it is a shared folder on another computer) then the NEOSYS user/client/licencee (not the NEOSYS support team) can, at their own responsibility, arrange to move (not copy) the NEOSYS backup files from that location to a backup location of their choice and avoid this WARNING message.

==Handling failure and warning messages on nightly USB backup alerts==

=== Backup mail not received ===

[[Troubleshooting_email_not_received#Troubleshooting_email_not_received|Troubleshooting email not received]]

=== Handling Change Backup message if the client does not use a USB backup device ===

IF THE CLIENT IS BACKING UP TO A NON-REMOVABLE DESTINATION THEN EITHER 1. LIVE WITH THE FAILURE MESSAGE OR 2. SUPPRESS THE BACKUP ENTIRELY IN WHICH CASE NO BACKUPS ARE BEING DONE AND PROBABLY THIS WILL SHOW ON NEOSYS PROACTIVE WARNING SYSTEMS LIKE NAGIOS.

Nagios warnings can be acknowledged.

DO *NOT* FOLLOW BELOW PROCEDURE SINCE IS IT IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE FOR NEOSYS TO SEND OUT A "BACKUP SUCCESS" MESSAGE WHEN THE BACKUP IS NOT BEING DONE PROPERLY. IN GENERAL, TAKING SHORT CUTS THAT MAKE THINGS APPEAR SATISFACTORY WHEN THEY ARE NOT IS VERY POOR POLICY.

# Basically most of the client use USB for Neosys server but there are some clients who do not use USB. They could be on virtual server or just saving their backups in hard drive.
# As we know that backup take place in Data.bak folder but it does a backup only for a week in a single USB. Over here client do not use USB but save their backup in hard drive/virtual server location in Data.bak folder, once the week is over it will again give Change backup message.
# In this case rename the Data.bak folder to Data1.bak this is done because system read only Data.bak folder as it is configured in the system. When you rename Data.bak to Data1.bak it automatically create a new folder Data.bak in Backup drive.
# This process is done so that the backup does not fail next day morning and backup is done in Data.bak folder along with successful backup email.
# In the third week we will again see the same message Chang backup USB message, so you need to rename Data.bak folder to Data2.bak
# But in fourth week you rename the Data1.bak to Data.bak and change the Data2.bak to Data1.bak and Data.bak to Data2.bak
# Keep only three folders and Data.bak, Data1.bak, Data2.bak and keep on renaming these folders every week as shown above.

AS MENTIONED EARLIER *DO NOT FOLLOW* THE ABOVE PROCEDURE ON ANY CLIENT THAT DOES NOT USE A USB BACKUP DEVICE.

=== Warning Message: Backup media not changed. Overwriting last weeks backup ===

NEOSYS gives a backup WARNING message whenever it discovers that it is overwriting backups a week old. It does this because NEOSYS only deems backups completely successful if the backup media is rotated at least on a weekly basis.

If the backup media is removable then it should be changed daily or weekly and the same media not used repeatedly on successive weeks.

If the backup is going to non-removable media (even if it is a shared folder on another computer) then the NEOSYS user/client/licensee (not the NEOSYS support team) can, at their own responsibility, arrange to move (not copy) the NEOSYS backup files from that location to a backup location of their choice and avoid this WARNING message. Also refer to [[Backup_and_Restore#Handling_Change_Backup_message_if_the_client_does_not_use_a_USB_backup_device|Handling Change Backup message if the client does not use a USB backup device]]

=== Error Message: Somebody else was using the dataset ===

Server=NEOSYS
Client=NEOSYS
User=ADAGENCY
NEOSYS Ver:18:02:13 30 MAY 2006

Backup started at 19/11/2006 2:00am

TEST DATA TESTDATA

To E:\DATA.BAK\TESTDATA\Sunday\BACKUP.ZIP
!!! THE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!

(because one or more files were not backed up
- somebody else was using them)

==== Error Explained ====

Despite the error message which shows that 'somebody else was using them', it is definitely not correct as NEOSYS shuts down automatically at 2 am (time of the

backup). The actual problem might be that a NEOSYS process must have got stuck and failed to shutdown or a maintenance process was left open by accident.

==== Action to be taken ====

Close any maintenance processes that should not have been left open in the first place.

Try to exit normally or kill any other [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#How_to_kill_hung_NEOSYS_processes|"hung"]] processes, taking screenshots of any error messages in order to try and prevent the problem happening again.

If not inconvenient to the users consider initiating a manual backup or just check that the next automatic backup works ok.

=== Error Message: Size Lock ===

Server=NEOSYS-SERVER
Client=NEOSYS-SERVER
User=NETSERVICE
NEOSYS Ver:19:57:50 08 NOV 2006

Backup started at 19/11/2006 2:00am

ADLINE ADLINE

To F:\DATA.BAK\ADLINE\Sunday\BACKUP.ZIP
The following files had a size lock but have been fixed SHADOW Warning! Process
U79068
Other Network Stations are Active!
This utility was designed to be run in a single-user mode!

Potential Errors Could Occur, If You Proceed to fix the sizelock Values with Other Stations
Active. These Errors Include;

Invalid SELECT results, Degredation in Network Performance, and other Problems/Concerns which
may be specific to your Installation/Application.

IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT ALL NETWORK STATIONS BE LOGGED OUT BEFORE PROCEEDING!

Do you wish to Proceed at this time?%B%
!!! THE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!

(because one or more files were not backed up
- somebody else was using them)

==== Error Explained ====

Sizelock errors are not critical and do not stop the backup from being performed. Sizelocks are cleared automatically during backup but the backup alert becomes a

warning that the backup was not quite perfect.

Sizelocks during database checking indicate that some files were not properly closed in normal processing but do not indicate corrupt files. Sizelock means that a file

is prevented from expanding and contracting. Expanding and contracting is necessary in order to speed up access to larger numbers of records. Therefore if sizelocks

were to be left uncleared then the file would become slower and slower to access over time.

In the above example the backup was not completed because of another error "files in use".

==== Action to be taken ====

If this is an automatic backup then no action is required since the sizelocks are automatically cleared.

During a manual backup then you should press F9 on the sizelock warning screen to confirm that the sizelocks should be cleared.

Sizelocks can only be cleared if no other process is open.

=== Failure Message : Backup file is 0 ===

16/4/2009 9:43am Creating zip

16/4/2009 9:45am !!! THE DATABASE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!

BECAUSE BACKUP FILE SIZE IS 0

==== Error Explanation 1 ====
This happens when there is no adequate storage space on the hard-disk which houses the NEOSYS application and data files. When the automated backup is initiated, the

NEOSYS application checks all the data files and creates a zipped file of it which is the databasename.zip (in the above case IMDUB.ZIP). During this zip file

creation, NEOSYS needs additional disk space temporarily and if this is not available then the backup would fail. The IMDUB.ZIP file is created and backed up (as

BACKUP.ZIP under the respective day of the week) to the USB or any other drive specified and is automatically deleted from the drive that it was created in.

====Error Explanation 2====

This could be due lack of EMSMAGIC.

In case of a Windows Server 2003 installation: [[Troubleshooting NEOSYS Generally#Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003|Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003]]

In case of a Windows Server 2008 installation: [[Installing EMS Magic|Installing EMS Magic on Windows 2008]]

==== Actions to be taken ====
#In this case, you need to clear up the hard-disk and create some space. In the above scenario at Initiative there was a folder of 52 GB in the same drive that houses NEOSYS and the available disk space was just 40 MB. So the un-necessary folder was moved out to make space.
#If there is sufficient space available on the hard disk which houses NEOSYS, then consider checking the anti-virus settings and escalate the issue to NEOSYS programmer for debugging.

This is another reason why NEOSYS personnel should put their foot down on getting dedicated servers for NEOSYS as it restrains the client IT staff from using the

NEOSYS server to house data or any other applications besides NEOSYS.

=== Error Message: Inadequate Storage Space on USB ===

==== Error 1 ====
<pre>
Server=SERVER2
Client=SERVER2
User=ACCOUNTS
NEOSYS Ver:11:26:27 26 JUL 2010

7/2/2012 2:00 Backup started F: BASIC
7/2/2012 2:00 Media: FADE-0001

7/2/2012 2:00 Checking for damaged database files
7/2/2012 2:01 Checked OK 1.92MB (+1.00KB)

7/2/2012 2:01 Creating zip
7/2/2012 2:01 Created OK BASIC.ZIP 251KB

7/2/2012 2:02 Copying to F:\DATA.BAK\Tuesday\BACKUP.ZIP
7/2/2012 2:02 Copied OK

7/2/2012 2:02 Verifying zip OK
7/2/2012 2:02 Verified OK

7/2/2012 2:02 Started backup of uploaded files in /cygdrive/E/ to F:
7/2/2012 2:04 neosys/DATA/ACCOUNTS/REV20050.LK
neosys/DATA/ACCOUNTS/REV20052.LK
7/2/2012 2:04 rsync: writefd_unbuffered failed to write 4092 bytes [sender]: Connection reset by peer (104)
rsync: write failed on "/cygdrive/F/E/neosys/DATA/ACCOUNTS/BATCHES.LK": No space left on device (28)
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (9077 bytes received so far) [sender]
rsync error: error in rsync protocol data stream (code 12) at /home/lapo/packaging/rsync-3.0.4-1/src/rsync-3.0.4/io.c(632) [sender=3.0.4]
7/2/2012 2:04 Finished backup of uploaded files

7/2/2012 2:04 !!! THE DATABASE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!
</pre>

==== Error Explained ====
In the above error log we notice the line:
rsync: write failed on "/cygdrive/F/E/neosys/DATA/PT0011A/ACCOUNTS/BATCHES.LK": No space left on device (28)

This is an indication that the USB being used to store backups does not have adequate storage space to save further backups.

This particular message only comes when using rsync to copy all IMAGES (ie files uploaded to NEOSYS) to the USB.

Sometimes, image backup is used to configured to backup the whole of a disk or the whole of data folder for example if there are hundreds of databases that are not all

used everyday.

==== Error 2 ====
<pre>
Server=SERVER2
Client=SERVER2
User=ACCOUNTS
NEOSYS Ver:11:26:27 26 JUL 2010
7/2/2012 2:00 Backup started F: PT0621 - GABANG HOLDINGS LIMITED
7/2/2012 2:00 Media: FADE-0001
7/2/2012 2:00 Checking for damaged database files
7/2/2012 2:02 Checked OK 2.25MB (+20.0KB)
7/2/2012 2:02 Creating zip
7/2/2012 2:02 Created OK PT0621.ZIP 462KB
7/2/2012 2:02 !!! THE DATABASE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!
BECAUSE NOT ENOUGH FREE SPACE ON BACKUP MEDIA.
462KB REQUIRED BUT ONLY 452KB AVAILABLE
</pre>

==== Error Explained ====
As the last line of the above error log clearly states, there is not adequate free space available on the USB to perform a backup.

In the above case, 462KB is required space while only 452KB is available.

==== Action to be taken ====
The simple solution is to purchase a new USB with greater storage space than the existing USB.

Sample Email to be sent to clients:

The automated NEOSYS backup has failed due to insufficient storage space on the USB.
Currently you are using a 4GB USB, which is insufficient for storing backups.
I recommend that you use a USB with 8 GB or more storage space.

''Note -'' We may also solve this issue by checking the USB for unnecessary files and move/delete them.

=== Error Message: "Cannot backup/restore because PROCESS1 PROCESS2 (etc) is/are online" message ===

This can happen for a variety of reasons if any the NEOSYS processes fail to close down at backup time. One could be because NEOSYS processes hang due to software error.

== Fixing Network Connectivity Errors for consolidated Backups ==
There could be multiple reasons why the backup server might not be able to connect with the backed up server.

Error
<pre>
[Receiver] io timeout after 600 seconds -- exiting rsync error: timeout in data send/receive (code 30) at /home/lapo/package/rsync-3.0.8-1/src/rsync-3.0.8/io.c(140) [Receiver=3.0.8] [Receiver] io timeout after 600 seconds -- exiting rsync error: timeout in data send/receive (code 30) at /home/lapo/package/rsync-3.0.8-1/src/rsync-3.0.8/io.c(140) [Receiver=3.0.8] tried via hostname.support.neosys.com now trying via hostname2.support.neosys.com
ssh: Could not resolve hostname hostname2.support.neosys.com: hostname nor servname provided, or not known
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (0 bytes received so far) [Receiver] rsync error: error in rsync protocol data stream (code 12) at /home/lapo/package/rsync-3.0.8-1/src/rsync-3.0.8/io.c(601)
</pre>

The following tests help in checking why the connectivity was lost between the backup server and the backed up server:

===Check whether the server was up===
If either of the servers were down, that could be the reason why connectivity was lost between the backup server and the backed up server. If this test fails, proceed to the next step.

===Telnet check===
<pre> telnet <hostname> 19580 </pre>

<hostname> is the name or IP address of the remote server to connect to.

If telnet is not able to connect to the remote host specified in <hostname> or establish a connection on the <port> specified, it will report an error similar to the following:

<pre>
C:> telnet fred.plus.com <CR>
Connecting To fred.plus.com...Could not open connection to the host, on port 23: Connect failed
C:> telnet mail.plus.net 60 <CR>
Connecting To mail.plus.com...Could not open connection to the host, on port 60: Connect failed.
C:> telnet 60.92.12.56 74 <CR>
Connecting To 60.92.12.56...Could not open connection to the host, on port 74: Connect failed.
</pre>

===Autologin===

====Error====
<pre>

rsync: failed to connect to 127.0.0.1: Connection refused (111) rsync error: error in socket IO (code 10) at
/home/lapo/packaging/rsync-3.0.7-1/src/rsync-

3.0.7/clientserver.c(122) [Receiver=3.0.7]

tried via hostname.neosys.com

now trying via hostname2.neosys.com

rsync: failed to connect to 127.0.0.1: Connection refused (111) rsync error: error in socket IO (code 10) at
/home/lapo/packaging/rsync-3.0.7-1/src/rsync-

3.0.7/clientserver.c(122) [Receiver=3.0.7]

</pre>

===== Error Explained=====
The automated backup cannot use autologin to access the server being backed up and so the backup fails.

===== Solution =====

[[Backup_and_Restore#Checking_if_autologin_is_configured_correctly_and_working_or_not| Check autologin]] and [[Backup_and_Restore#Running_..2Fautologin.sh|Run autologin]]

==== Error Message: "WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!" message ====

'''Error'''
<pre>
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@ WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that a host key has just been changed.
The fingerprint for the ED25519 key sent by the remote host is
SHA256:9i9JH5xh11rEMIgrsax8A7bEKXfKVRiJr9nZllWXdFg.
Please contact your system administrator.
Add correct host key in /home/administrator/.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this message.
Offending ECDSA key in /home/administrator/.ssh/known_hosts:208
ED25519 host key for [192.168.10.1]:19580 has changed and you have requested strict checking.
Host key verification failed.
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (0 bytes received so far) [Receiver]
rsync error: unexplained error (code 255) at io.c(226) [Receiver=3.1.1]
</pre>

Solution to the problem is to remove the host key for the host mentioned in the error message in the known_hosts file.

Run the following command in Cygwin terminal.
<pre> ssh-keygen -R [host ip]:port </pre>

e.g in the above message for host ip 192.168.10.1 and port 19580 the command is
<pre> ssh-keygen -R [192.168.10.1]:19580 </pre>
Next re run autologin for the host, see [[Backup_and_Restore#Running_..2Fautologin.sh | Running autologin ]]

===Check Scheduled Tasks on the Server===
Check if logs of Scheduled Tasks on the server, to see if the remote backup task executed and completed successfully. It is possible that the remote backup scheduled task hung due to some reason and a new instance of the task fails to start up the next day due to the existing instance. To avoid this situation, in Properties of the task, under Settings tab, check "Stop the task if it runs for:" and configure it to less than 24 hours.

== Enabling backup servers to access backed-up servers ==

This relates to a common procedure used by NEOSYS to provide automatic nightly synchronisation/backups between servers for multi-office configurations. For more information see
http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_remote_backup

Αccording to this procedure, backup processes are actually initiated and run on a "backup server" using a "pull" concept. The "backed-up server" serves the data (usually using an rsync service) to the backup server on request. They do not use a "push" concept.
This means that backup servers need to be able to automatically login to the backed-up servers. On most backup servers a NEOSYS cygwin script called autologin.sh has been installed. This helps you configure the backup server and backed-up server.
NEOSYS processes on a target server can sometimes reset/ lose autologin codes (particularly when NEOSYS is upgraded) on the target server when it should not actually. This enforces rerunning autologin.sh. You only need to run autologin.sh once per pair of backup and backed-up servers, in the backup server.
==== Checking if autologin is configured correctly and working or not ====
On the source system, in cygwin console, type the following, changing port number, administrator and clientname to suit the case.
ssh –p 19580 administrator@clientname.neosys.com
After a few seconds, if it is working properly, it should give you a command prompt on the target system. This indicates that autologin was successful. You may exit using the command:
exit
Otherwise, if it gives some error and in particular if it asks you anything at all, for example “confirm fingerprint?” or “password?” then autologin is not working.
You can then type in the following command in cygwin to configure or reconfigure autologin:
./autologin.sh

=== Running ./autologin.sh ===
In cygwin on the backup server, you can use any of the following syntax depending on your configuration:

Syntax

./autologin.sh targethostname targetusername sshport

*host and user will be prompted for if omitted
*port will be 19580 if omitted

Example using prompting for parameters

./autologin.sh

Example using default user and port (administrator/19580)

./autologin.sh examplehost.neosys.com

Example with different user (port will be 19580)

./autologin.sh examplehost.neosys.com Administrator

Example with different user and port

./autologin.sh examplehost.neosys.com Administrator 19580

The username is usually administrator for windows server targets.

The hostname can be found in backup email logs or in the CONFIG.CMD file in the backup server.

There are often two alternative hostnames. Try the first one first. If you succeed with the first then there is no need to try the second.

Sometimes one of the host names is based on alternative network access methods like hamachi which uses ip addresses starting with "5." and requires hamachi service to be running in both servers and this sometimes is dependent on being logged in and correct setup of hamachi. You can ping the host names to discover the ip numbers of course.

If Autologin is configured successfully, it logs you in to the backed up server's cygwin/bash command line. YOU should NOT be required to enter a password. YOU type "exit" to quit the backed up server's command line.

If Autologin is not configured successfully, you might be required to enter a password. In that case, enter the password and follow instructions on screen.
The system asks for the password to the target server to transfer an identity file and once again to access the command line of the target server from where you must follow a set of instructions in order to load the identity file properly.
Follow the instructions on the screen VERY carefully.

=== Setting up autologin.sh ===

#Asks you for the username and hostname
#Copies an identity file from the backup server to the backed up server. This requires you to enter the administrator or root password.
#Logs you in to the backed up server's cygwin/bash command line. This requires you to enter the password again.
#YOU then type a series of commands to install the identity file and finally exit the command console. The series of commands that you must type are shown on screen
=== The edit step ===

The last step will enter the nano editor where you should do the following:

If present, delete the word neosys near the end of the last line of the file. The last bit of the last line will refer to some user and host that you are enabling

access FROM

BE CAREFUL NOT TO TRIGGER THE AUTOMATIC LINE BREAKING IN NANO because line breaking into two or more lines is automatically triggered when you add characters to long

lines. it is not triggered if you just delete characters. If you do cause a line break then quit the editor WITHOUT saving and try again or then use the editor to

rejoin the two lines. Note that pressing Alt+L will turn long line breaking off and on which avoids the problem in the first place.

Press Ctrl+X to exit the editor

=== Creating/Upgrading autologin.sh if it doesn’t exist or is out of date ===

nano autologin.sh
chmod +x autologin.sh

<pre>
#!/bin/bash

set -e

REMOTEHOST=$1
REMOTEUSER=$2
PORT=$3

test $REMOTEUSER || REMOTEUSER=administrator
test $PORT || PORT=19580

if [ ! $REMOTEUSER ]; then
echo -n "Remote User (blank=administrator)/root?"
read REMOTEUSER
if [ "$REMOTEUSER" == "" ] ; then REMOTEUSER=administrator ; fi
fi

if [ ! REMOTEHOST ]; then
echo -n "Remote Host? "
read REMOTEHOST
if [ "$REMOTEHOST" == "" ] ; then exit; fi
fi

echo PASSPHRASE MUST BE BLANK IF YOU GET ASKED FOR IT!
#Generate priv/pub keys in .ssh if not already done
#Priv key mustnt be accessible except to owner otherwise wont work.
test -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa || \
ssh-keygen -t rsa && \
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa

echo
echo "Logging in to the remote server (enter the pass again)"
sed 's/neosys//' ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | \
ssh -p $PORT $REMOTEUSER@$REMOTEHOST \
"mkdir -p .ssh ; chmod 700 .ssh ;\
cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys ;\
chmod 644 .ssh/authorized_keys"

echo
echo "Test automatic login to the remote server"
echo " SHOULD NO LONGER ASK FOR PASSWORD."
echo " IF SUCCESSFULL, TYPE exit"
ssh -p $PORT $REMOTEUSER@$REMOTEHOST

</pre>

==Switching to a backup server==

As NEOSYS provides clients with option of backing up their data to a remote NEOSYS server in case of emergencies or server problems, it is crucial you understand the below procedure on how to switch to a backup server in the event of such a situation. Extreme care must be taken when switching over to using a backup server otherwise unnecessary data loss is very likely.

Backup servers are normally switched off and should not be started automatically otherwise there is a serious risk of the client’s staff working on two systems. It is not possible to merge two databases into one database. Before the backup server is enabled the main server must be disabled, and before the main server is re-enabled, the backup server must be disabled again. This can be managed technically without requiring any decision from senior non-technical staff.

However, there are also some potentially hard decisions about unavoidable loss of data versus continued system availability. *** Backup servers should therefore only be started with the written approval of the clients senior staff. A suitable email requesting approval follows.

The following case assumes that the main server has gone down sometime during the working day and that therefore the data on the backup server is out of date. Allowing them to use the backup server therefore implies some loss of data. They may wish to lose the data. They may wish to work on the backup server data and then try to redo the work on the main server once it is restored. There are a variety of options depending on the situation.

If the main server is still functioning AND you are reasonably sure that the database is not damaged (which is perhaps an unlikely situation if you need to use the backup server!), it may be sensible to trigger an additional “backup/sync” process to bring the backup server database up to date with the main server. Before you do this, it is advisable that you take a backup copy of the backup system on the backup server. In this case there would be no data loss in using the backup.

An additional option of providing usage of the backup server in read-only mode so that people can at least access some data is being developed. The backup server could be available continuously at any time in read-only mode. This article would then be related to switching a backup server into main operational mode.

Dear {senior staff} cc {IT staff}

Please note that we can enable the backup server if you wish.

However the data on the backup server is out of date since it is a copy of your main database as at 11/22/33 99:99.

If you wish to allow work to be done on the backup server then any data entered on your main server since the above date will be lost if we
subsequently copy the data on the backup server to the main server.

If, after using the backup server, we do NOT copy the data on the back server to the main server then any data you have entered on the backup
server/database will be lost.

Please confirm a) you want to work on HOSTS2 database and that we should therefore enable it and b) you have disconnected your main server
for the duration.

Best Regards,
xxxxxx xxxxxxx
NEOSYS Support

==How to Restore NEOSYS from Backup==

#Log into Maintenance Mode
#Go to General > Backup & Data Management
#Select (the 4th option) Restore from disk or diskette
#Select the drive where the latest successful backup.zip file is present and follow the prompts ahead.

==While Moving NEOSYS to a new server, after copying D drive the Maintenance does not contain all data sets==

After copying D drive, when you open Maintenance if the data sets are not present as in the old server you MUST restore Backup as restore is a verified/quick method of creating data sets. While restoring last night's Backup for missing data sets, the system gives a warning message "Dataset is already on the computer" as shown below. You MUST select the 2nd option "Overwrite the existing dataset" from the options in the warning message. In this way, all data sets will be created/saved on the new server.

<pre>
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ *** WARNING *** ║
║ TEST /TEST ║
║ IS ALREADY ON THE COMPUTER ║
║ IF YOU CONTINUE, THE EXISTING FILES WILL BE DELETED. ║
║ ║
║ What do you want to do? ║
║───┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────║
║ 1│Cancel the restore process ║
║ 2>Overwrite the existing data set ║
║ 3│Restore and make a new dataset ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
</pre>

== Accessing historical snapshots of NEOSYS hosted clients data ==

The main NEOSYS backup server nl13 contains backups of NEOSYS hosted clients along with all NEOSYS internal servers.

It also contains historical snapshots of the backups going back six months.

NEOSYS SUPPORT TEAM *MUST* AVOID COPYING, MOVING OR RENAMING FOLDERS ON NEOSYS WINDOWS SERVERS because this causes severe duplication and consumption of valuable resources for up to six months on nl13. Any exception to this rule must be discussed with NEOSYS IT *before* implementation.

=== How to restore? ===

nl13 is only accessible by NEOSYS IT so recovery of any data cannot be done directly by NEOSYS support team and is not a routine procedure.

The secondary NEOSYS backup server hosts2 is accessible to NEOSYS support team but contains only the latest snapshot of the current NEOSYS hosted clients as at last night. No historical versions are available.

=== What snapshots are available? ===

As of 2017/05/25 the NEOSYS backup server nl13 takes snapshots (of the backups listed in Nagios) as follows using crontab:

* 120 historical hourly backups done at **:10 every hour (5x24 hours)
* 8 historical daily backups done at 01:11 every night
* 5 historical weekly backups done at 01:12 every Saturday
* 6 historical monthly backups done at 01:13 on the 1st of every month

=== What is backed up? ===

Inspecting Nagios shows daily backups of NEOSYS hosted clients to nl13 of win3/d. Complete hourly backup is not possible due to limitations of Windows and/or the backup software used. However, there are hourly backups of win3/d/DATA.BAK so NEOSYS process "backups" to win3/d/DATA.BAK (on the same server and disk and therefore not a proper backup) do get properly backed up to a different server once an hour.

=== Historical/Lapsed Clients? ===

For more info see [[Uninstalling_clients_hosted_on_NEOSYS_Server|Uninstalling clients hosted on NEOSYS server ]]

A single copy of lapsed clients last BACKUP.ZIP will be kept for as long as possible along with the active client's data and backed up identically.

Long lapsed clients should be removed periodically from the normal DATA.BAK folder only when space runs out on win3 but a copy should be moved to D:\DATA2.BAK folder on hosts2 which is itself backed up nightly to nl13 which keeps backups for approx six months.

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Agency System

2017-08-07T10:57:49Z

Priyanka: /* Handling B703 error in Index files */

== Handling B703 error in Index files ==

Same error message comes for any B703 error in index files. The solution depends on the file.

"ERROR NO: B703 IN ! AT 1"

===Error in Client File:===

NEOSYS XXXXXX 2
An internal error has occurred. Please press
Shift+PrintScreen to copy this screen then
paste it into an email to support@neosys.com

ERROR NO: B703 IN ! AT 1
Variable exceeds maximum length.0

Server=NEOSYS-SERVER
Install=D:\NEOSYS\NEOSYS\
Version=08:01:33 09 MAR 2017
Database=1D68EE63 XXXXXX
Process=2
Client=192_168_0_1
IP No=192.168.0.x
User=XYZ
Browser=Win10-64; IE11
Request=WRITE^CLIENTS^ADK^^BC4A6543
@Id=
Data=
Duration=0.83 secs

====Problem====
This error comes when the Client and Brand file has exceed the maximum number of brands for one client. In this case the client is ADK.

====Solution====

#Create a new client with name "ADK (OLD)" with code ADKO.
#Move a significant number of old, out of use, brands FROM ADK to ADKO.
#Create a new client ADK (New) with code ADKN and move active brands from ADK to ADKN and create all new brands in ADKN henceforth.

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Agency System

2017-08-07T10:57:18Z

Priyanka: /* Error in Client File: */

=== Handling B703 error in Index files ===

Same error message comes for any B703 error in index files. The solution depends on the file.

"ERROR NO: B703 IN ! AT 1"

===Error in Client File:===

NEOSYS XXXXXX 2
An internal error has occurred. Please press
Shift+PrintScreen to copy this screen then
paste it into an email to support@neosys.com

ERROR NO: B703 IN ! AT 1
Variable exceeds maximum length.0

Server=NEOSYS-SERVER
Install=D:\NEOSYS\NEOSYS\
Version=08:01:33 09 MAR 2017
Database=1D68EE63 XXXXXX
Process=2
Client=192_168_0_1
IP No=192.168.0.x
User=XYZ
Browser=Win10-64; IE11
Request=WRITE^CLIENTS^ADK^^BC4A6543
@Id=
Data=
Duration=0.83 secs

====Problem====
This error comes when the Client and Brand file has exceed the maximum number of brands for one client. In this case the client is ADK.

====Solution====

#Create a new client with name "ADK (OLD)" with code ADKO.
#Move a significant number of old, out of use, brands FROM ADK to ADKO.
#Create a new client ADK (New) with code ADKN and move active brands from ADK to ADKN and create all new brands in ADKN henceforth.

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Agency System

2017-08-07T10:55:24Z

Priyanka: /* Solution */

=== Handling B703 error in Index files ===

Same error message comes for any B703 error in index files. The solution depends on the file.

"ERROR NO: B703 IN ! AT 1"

====Error in Client File:====

NEOSYS XXXXXX 2
An internal error has occurred. Please press
Shift+PrintScreen to copy this screen then
paste it into an email to support@neosys.com

ERROR NO: B703 IN ! AT 1
Variable exceeds maximum length.0

Server=NEOSYS-SERVER
Install=D:\NEOSYS\NEOSYS\
Version=08:01:33 09 MAR 2017
Database=1D68EE63 XXXXXX
Process=2
Client=192_168_0_1
IP No=192.168.0.x
User=XYZ
Browser=Win10-64; IE11
Request=WRITE^CLIENTS^ADK^^BC4A6543
@Id=
Data=
Duration=0.83 secs

====Problem====
This error comes when the Client and Brand file has exceed the maximum number of brands for one client. In this case the client is ADK.

====Solution====

#Create a new client with name "ADK (OLD)" with code ADKO.
#Move a significant number of old, out of use, brands FROM ADK to ADKO.
#Create a new client ADK (New) with code ADKN and move active brands from ADK to ADKN and create all new brands in ADKN henceforth.

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Media System

2017-08-07T10:46:45Z

Priyanka: /* Solution 3 */

== Run CREATEADS==

CREATEADS can be implemented in several ways. Make sure after implementing CREATEADS, that it has successfully completed by

#Checking for a "CREATEADS finished" email
#Checking for an entry in the log which says "CREATEADS finished"

CREATEADS will completely rebuild !ADS index file so it is a solution for fixing damaged !ADS index file *but* REINDEXADS may be a better solution for this problem if there is a lot of data since it will not waste time recreating all the ads.

For NEOSYS versions before 15th May 2016, CREATEADS crashes during morning (recovery method 1 below) and even other times when handling large numbers of ads.

===Recovery method 1: Media configuration file ===

Ads can be scheduled to recreate overnight in media configurations file. This setting in the configuration file runs CREATEADS overnight. CREATEADS will recreate ads from the current year plus the number of years prior to the current year.

E.g. If the current year is 2013 and you would like CREATEADS to recreate ads from 2012, configure number of years as 1. This means CREATEADS will recreate ads from 2012 to the current period.

[[file:createads.jpg]]

After requesting this, the first NEOSYS process to startup before 7am on the next day will first perform CREATEADS before starting up the other processes. CREATEADS will run only on the LIVE database.

CREATEADS will not run unless system time is less than 7am. This is to ensure that CREATEADS is scheduled early and does not extend long enough to encroach on the users' working hours the next day.

===Recovery method 2: Maintenance mode ===

This can take a long time on a large database and requires all users/NEOSYS processes for the same database to be shut down.

It will fix damaged ADS and !ADS files and recreate indexes.

F5
CREATEADS

===Recovery method 3: Re-save schedules ===

It will not fix damaged files or recreate indexes.

Re-save the schedule(s) that show the problem. This is identical to CREATEADS but is much quicker and doesn't require all users to log off. Of course if there are many errors then this isn't a practical solution.

===Recovery Method 4: Using Selective CREATEADS===

The following recovery methods can be followed when users are online. They are slower and take more time. Any schedule open by users is not affected by CREATEADS, but the ads get created anyway when the schedule is saved. Avoid starting long running selective CREATEADS on a busy system. The following methods will not fix damaged files or recreate indexes.

====All schedules====

To run CREATEADS for all schedules while users are online, you can follow the procedure mentioned below:

SELECT SCHEDULES
CREATEADS

====Specific schedules only====

The following method can be used for selected schedules instead of re-saving them:

SELECT SCHEDULES “XYZ1201R” “XYZ1201T”
CREATEADS

====For selected years only ====

The following method can be used to select schedules in selected years:

SELECT SCHEDULES WITH YEAR_PERIOD STARTING '10.' '11.'
CREATEADS

===Recovery method 5: Selective REINDEXADS using Selective CREATEADS===

Selective CREATEADS alone does not do a selective REINDEX. But it can be forced to do so by initially deleting all the ads of a particular schedule. Selecting on SCHEDULE_NO0, as shown below, results in a slow but complete search of all ads without using the index on SCHEDULE_NO

SELECT ADS WITH SCHEDULE_NO0 "XYZ1234A"
DELETE ADS
SELECT SCHEDULES "XYZ1234A"
CREATEADS

==PLAN.SUB UPD.ADS subject mails ==

System generated email with subject PLAN.SUB UPD.ADS XYZ (XYZ is the schedule number) contains the below message. This email is an indication that schedule XYZ is very big and if steps are not taken to control the size then schedule XYZ will eventually lead to B703 error. Solutions to handle this schedule are same as [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Media_System#B703_Errors | B703 Errors]].

The key list has exceeded the maximum allowed length.
The list will be truncated.
Do you want to continue? [Y/N]

== B703 Errors ==

The B703 error is usually always related to something too big for NEOSYS to handle. It occurs when the user puts in too many ads in one schedule without setting up the vehicle to allow the same.

e.g In digital or radio/tv media there are hundred thousand impressions and hundreds of ads to be placed by the Clients. If a user puts these many ads in the schedule without checking the "Bulk Ad" option in the vehicle/Schedule file or putting all ads in a package, B703 errors will occur in NEOSYS. In the old version of NEOSYS, certification option is present in the Vehicle file instead of "Bulk Ad". If Bulk Ad is not enabled then no user will be able to add unlimited ads for a vehicle.

An example of this error is as follows :

ERROR NO: B703 IN BOOKING.SUBS3 AT 1264
Variable exceeds maximum length.0

Various solutions are explained in detail below:

=== Solution 1 ===

'''For mass advertising like Digital, Radio or any Media where you do not want to certify individual ads one by one'''

# Go to the respective vehicle file which has the too many Ads in the schedule and check the "Bulk Ad" option and save the file. You can also [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Schedule_file#Bulk_Ad check "Bulk Ad" option using the schedule file]
#Make sure Refresh the schedule screen to avoid getting cached old versions of the vehicle, either using the NEOSYS refresh button or reload the page
#Copy the schedule to a new schedule record (perhaps XXXB to keep the number where XXX is the previous schedule no)
#Delete the remainder of the ads (unbooked/uninvoiced) from the old schedule and delete the already booked and invoiced ads from the new one.
#Do not forget to check "Bulk Ad" on the new schedule if you are going to enable it using the schedule file.
#Save both the schedules.
#You might face problems and need NEOSYS Programmer's help to save the Old Schedule even after deleting a lot of things but deleting the old ads is less time critical perhaps (unless Client is invoicing them) than getting the new ads booked.
#Check that the new schedule has indeed switched to SUMMARY as follows:

In maintenance mode type

LIST SCHEDULES "16xxx" VEHICLE_CODE MASS_AD_FLAG

where 16xxx is the schedule code

and check that there is a 1 next to EVERY vehicle (not just the 1st few as in the following screenshot)

[[File:ScheduleAds.jpg]]

[[File:Advehicle.jpg]]

=== Solution 2 ===

'''The package solution'''

This is the simplest solution. The idea is to put the ads as a package of ONE ad and put the gross unit price as the TOTAL price. 
The ONE ad for many ads is great for packages

[[File:Impressions.jpg]]

=== Solution 3 ===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Media_FAQ#How_to_split_large_schedules.3F Split the Schedule] for below errors

"ERROR NO: B703 IN PRINTPLANS6" when printing schedules.

"ERROR NO: B703 IN UPD.ADS" when saving schedules

"ERROR NO: B703 IN PRINTPLANS" when creating invoices.

=== [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Agency_System#Handling_B703_error_in_Index_files| Other B703 errors]] ===

== Deleting Schedules using the Maintenance Window in NEOSYS ==

There can be a situation where Support may need to delete a Schedule via Maintenance with prior approval from the Client users. e.g. When users are not be able to access a schedule on NEOSYS and they want to delete it and create a new one. One reason for not being able to access a Schedule may be an [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Handling_Error_.22Following_Characters_are_not_Allowed_here.22_while_opening_a_document_in_NEOSYS Error saying Following Characters not allowed].If even after following the steps given in the link Support is not able to access the schedule, then follow the commands below to delete it.

Support MUST make sure before Deleting that no Ad is booked/certified/invoiced because in such cases there will be associated records saved in the database which also need to be removed, therefore Support MUST never go ahead with the steps below.

SELECT ADS WITH SCHEDULE_NO "XXXXXXXX"
DELETE ADS
FLUSH.INDEX
DELETE SCHEDULES "XXXXXXXX"

Support MUST run Media Diary Reports to make sure the Schedule and all its Ads are deleted.

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :select ads with schedule_no "BCOCO0115K-PD9011ب-FB" │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :delete ads │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :FLUSH.INDEX │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :delete schedules "BCOCO0115K-PD9011ب-FB" │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

== Deleting empty Booking Order using the Maintenance Window in NEOSYS ==

An empty booking order may appear in the list of booking orders if some error occurs when creating a booking order.

This empty order can be deleted in Maintenance mode as shown below.

In maintenance mode type

ED BOOKING.ORDERS <nowiki>''</nowiki> 1

This will open the problematic booking order file as below.

Pressing Alt+D twice on the order <nowiki>' '</nowiki>

[[File:Boempty.jpg]]

Then press ESC on order 1

The problematic booking order will no longer appear in List of Booking Orders.

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Agency System

2017-08-07T10:46:12Z

Priyanka: /* Handling B703 error in Index files */

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Agency System

2017-08-07T10:45:55Z

Priyanka: Created page with "== Handling B703 error in Index files == Same error message comes for any B703 error in index files. The solution depends on the file. "ERROR NO: B703 IN ! AT 1" ====Er..."

== Handling B703 error in Index files ==

Same error message comes for any B703 error in index files. The solution depends on the file.

"ERROR NO: B703 IN ! AT 1"

====Error in Client File:====

NEOSYS XXXXXX 2
An internal error has occurred. Please press
Shift+PrintScreen to copy this screen then
paste it into an email to support@neosys.com

ERROR NO: B703 IN ! AT 1
Variable exceeds maximum length.0

Server=NEOSYS-SERVER
Install=D:\NEOSYS\NEOSYS\
Version=08:01:33 09 MAR 2017
Database=1D68EE63 XXXXXX
Process=2
Client=192_168_0_1
IP No=192.168.0.x
User=XYZ
Browser=Win10-64; IE11
Request=WRITE^CLIENTS^ADK^^BC4A6543
@Id=
Data=
Duration=0.83 secs

====Solution====

Main Page

2017-08-07T10:37:26Z

Priyanka: /* Technical */

<big>'''This is the Technical Support NEOSYS Wiki.'''</big>

== Technical ==
[[Installing NEOSYS]]

[[Upgrading NEOSYS]]

[[Testing NEOSYS]]

[[Configuring NEOSYS Generally]]

[[Configuring NEOSYS Finance System]]

[[Administering NEOSYS Server]]

[[Troubleshooting NEOSYS Generally]]

[[Troubleshooting NEOSYS Agency System]]

[[Troubleshooting NEOSYS Media System]]

[[Troubleshooting NEOSYS Finance System]]

[[Troubleshooting NEOSYS Jobs System]]

[[Moving and Uninstalling NEOSYS]]

[[Handling Nagios Client Monitoring System]]

[[Backup and Restore]]

[[Procedures]]

[[Checklists]]

[[Solution Unknown]]

[[NEOSYS DDNS Service]]

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Media System

2017-08-07T10:29:28Z

Priyanka: /* Solution 4 */

== Run CREATEADS==

CREATEADS can be implemented in several ways. Make sure after implementing CREATEADS, that it has successfully completed by

#Checking for a "CREATEADS finished" email
#Checking for an entry in the log which says "CREATEADS finished"

CREATEADS will completely rebuild !ADS index file so it is a solution for fixing damaged !ADS index file *but* REINDEXADS may be a better solution for this problem if there is a lot of data since it will not waste time recreating all the ads.

For NEOSYS versions before 15th May 2016, CREATEADS crashes during morning (recovery method 1 below) and even other times when handling large numbers of ads.

===Recovery method 1: Media configuration file ===

Ads can be scheduled to recreate overnight in media configurations file. This setting in the configuration file runs CREATEADS overnight. CREATEADS will recreate ads from the current year plus the number of years prior to the current year.

E.g. If the current year is 2013 and you would like CREATEADS to recreate ads from 2012, configure number of years as 1. This means CREATEADS will recreate ads from 2012 to the current period.

[[file:createads.jpg]]

After requesting this, the first NEOSYS process to startup before 7am on the next day will first perform CREATEADS before starting up the other processes. CREATEADS will run only on the LIVE database.

CREATEADS will not run unless system time is less than 7am. This is to ensure that CREATEADS is scheduled early and does not extend long enough to encroach on the users' working hours the next day.

===Recovery method 2: Maintenance mode ===

This can take a long time on a large database and requires all users/NEOSYS processes for the same database to be shut down.

It will fix damaged ADS and !ADS files and recreate indexes.

F5
CREATEADS

===Recovery method 3: Re-save schedules ===

It will not fix damaged files or recreate indexes.

Re-save the schedule(s) that show the problem. This is identical to CREATEADS but is much quicker and doesn't require all users to log off. Of course if there are many errors then this isn't a practical solution.

===Recovery Method 4: Using Selective CREATEADS===

The following recovery methods can be followed when users are online. They are slower and take more time. Any schedule open by users is not affected by CREATEADS, but the ads get created anyway when the schedule is saved. Avoid starting long running selective CREATEADS on a busy system. The following methods will not fix damaged files or recreate indexes.

====All schedules====

To run CREATEADS for all schedules while users are online, you can follow the procedure mentioned below:

SELECT SCHEDULES
CREATEADS

====Specific schedules only====

The following method can be used for selected schedules instead of re-saving them:

SELECT SCHEDULES “XYZ1201R” “XYZ1201T”
CREATEADS

====For selected years only ====

The following method can be used to select schedules in selected years:

SELECT SCHEDULES WITH YEAR_PERIOD STARTING '10.' '11.'
CREATEADS

===Recovery method 5: Selective REINDEXADS using Selective CREATEADS===

Selective CREATEADS alone does not do a selective REINDEX. But it can be forced to do so by initially deleting all the ads of a particular schedule. Selecting on SCHEDULE_NO0, as shown below, results in a slow but complete search of all ads without using the index on SCHEDULE_NO

SELECT ADS WITH SCHEDULE_NO0 "XYZ1234A"
DELETE ADS
SELECT SCHEDULES "XYZ1234A"
CREATEADS

==PLAN.SUB UPD.ADS subject mails ==

System generated email with subject PLAN.SUB UPD.ADS XYZ (XYZ is the schedule number) contains the below message. This email is an indication that schedule XYZ is very big and if steps are not taken to control the size then schedule XYZ will eventually lead to B703 error. Solutions to handle this schedule are same as [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Media_System#B703_Errors | B703 Errors]].

The key list has exceeded the maximum allowed length.
The list will be truncated.
Do you want to continue? [Y/N]

== B703 Errors ==

The B703 error is usually always related to something too big for NEOSYS to handle. It occurs when the user puts in too many ads in one schedule without setting up the vehicle to allow the same.

e.g In digital or radio/tv media there are hundred thousand impressions and hundreds of ads to be placed by the Clients. If a user puts these many ads in the schedule without checking the "Bulk Ad" option in the vehicle/Schedule file or putting all ads in a package, B703 errors will occur in NEOSYS. In the old version of NEOSYS, certification option is present in the Vehicle file instead of "Bulk Ad". If Bulk Ad is not enabled then no user will be able to add unlimited ads for a vehicle.

An example of this error is as follows :

ERROR NO: B703 IN BOOKING.SUBS3 AT 1264
Variable exceeds maximum length.0

Various solutions are explained in detail below:

=== Solution 1 ===

'''For mass advertising like Digital, Radio or any Media where you do not want to certify individual ads one by one'''

# Go to the respective vehicle file which has the too many Ads in the schedule and check the "Bulk Ad" option and save the file. You can also [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Schedule_file#Bulk_Ad check "Bulk Ad" option using the schedule file]
#Make sure Refresh the schedule screen to avoid getting cached old versions of the vehicle, either using the NEOSYS refresh button or reload the page
#Copy the schedule to a new schedule record (perhaps XXXB to keep the number where XXX is the previous schedule no)
#Delete the remainder of the ads (unbooked/uninvoiced) from the old schedule and delete the already booked and invoiced ads from the new one.
#Do not forget to check "Bulk Ad" on the new schedule if you are going to enable it using the schedule file.
#Save both the schedules.
#You might face problems and need NEOSYS Programmer's help to save the Old Schedule even after deleting a lot of things but deleting the old ads is less time critical perhaps (unless Client is invoicing them) than getting the new ads booked.
#Check that the new schedule has indeed switched to SUMMARY as follows:

In maintenance mode type

LIST SCHEDULES "16xxx" VEHICLE_CODE MASS_AD_FLAG

where 16xxx is the schedule code

and check that there is a 1 next to EVERY vehicle (not just the 1st few as in the following screenshot)

[[File:ScheduleAds.jpg]]

[[File:Advehicle.jpg]]

=== Solution 2 ===

'''The package solution'''

This is the simplest solution. The idea is to put the ads as a package of ONE ad and put the gross unit price as the TOTAL price. 
The ONE ad for many ads is great for packages

[[File:Impressions.jpg]]

=== Solution 3 ===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Media_FAQ#How_to_split_large_schedules.3F Split the Schedule] for below errors

"ERROR NO: B703 IN PRINTPLANS6" when printing schedules.

"ERROR NO: B703 IN UPD.ADS" when saving schedules

"ERROR NO: B703 IN PRINTPLANS" when creating invoices.

== Deleting Schedules using the Maintenance Window in NEOSYS ==

There can be a situation where Support may need to delete a Schedule via Maintenance with prior approval from the Client users. e.g. When users are not be able to access a schedule on NEOSYS and they want to delete it and create a new one. One reason for not being able to access a Schedule may be an [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Handling_Error_.22Following_Characters_are_not_Allowed_here.22_while_opening_a_document_in_NEOSYS Error saying Following Characters not allowed].If even after following the steps given in the link Support is not able to access the schedule, then follow the commands below to delete it.

Support MUST make sure before Deleting that no Ad is booked/certified/invoiced because in such cases there will be associated records saved in the database which also need to be removed, therefore Support MUST never go ahead with the steps below.

SELECT ADS WITH SCHEDULE_NO "XXXXXXXX"
DELETE ADS
FLUSH.INDEX
DELETE SCHEDULES "XXXXXXXX"

Support MUST run Media Diary Reports to make sure the Schedule and all its Ads are deleted.

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :select ads with schedule_no "BCOCO0115K-PD9011ب-FB" │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :delete ads │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :FLUSH.INDEX │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :delete schedules "BCOCO0115K-PD9011ب-FB" │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

== Deleting empty Booking Order using the Maintenance Window in NEOSYS ==

An empty booking order may appear in the list of booking orders if some error occurs when creating a booking order.

This empty order can be deleted in Maintenance mode as shown below.

In maintenance mode type

ED BOOKING.ORDERS <nowiki>''</nowiki> 1

This will open the problematic booking order file as below.

Pressing Alt+D twice on the order <nowiki>' '</nowiki>

[[File:Boempty.jpg]]

Then press ESC on order 1

The problematic booking order will no longer appear in List of Booking Orders.

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Media System

2017-08-07T10:09:51Z

Priyanka: /* Solution 3 */

== Run CREATEADS==

CREATEADS can be implemented in several ways. Make sure after implementing CREATEADS, that it has successfully completed by

#Checking for a "CREATEADS finished" email
#Checking for an entry in the log which says "CREATEADS finished"

CREATEADS will completely rebuild !ADS index file so it is a solution for fixing damaged !ADS index file *but* REINDEXADS may be a better solution for this problem if there is a lot of data since it will not waste time recreating all the ads.

For NEOSYS versions before 15th May 2016, CREATEADS crashes during morning (recovery method 1 below) and even other times when handling large numbers of ads.

===Recovery method 1: Media configuration file ===

Ads can be scheduled to recreate overnight in media configurations file. This setting in the configuration file runs CREATEADS overnight. CREATEADS will recreate ads from the current year plus the number of years prior to the current year.

E.g. If the current year is 2013 and you would like CREATEADS to recreate ads from 2012, configure number of years as 1. This means CREATEADS will recreate ads from 2012 to the current period.

[[file:createads.jpg]]

After requesting this, the first NEOSYS process to startup before 7am on the next day will first perform CREATEADS before starting up the other processes. CREATEADS will run only on the LIVE database.

CREATEADS will not run unless system time is less than 7am. This is to ensure that CREATEADS is scheduled early and does not extend long enough to encroach on the users' working hours the next day.

===Recovery method 2: Maintenance mode ===

This can take a long time on a large database and requires all users/NEOSYS processes for the same database to be shut down.

It will fix damaged ADS and !ADS files and recreate indexes.

F5
CREATEADS

===Recovery method 3: Re-save schedules ===

It will not fix damaged files or recreate indexes.

Re-save the schedule(s) that show the problem. This is identical to CREATEADS but is much quicker and doesn't require all users to log off. Of course if there are many errors then this isn't a practical solution.

===Recovery Method 4: Using Selective CREATEADS===

The following recovery methods can be followed when users are online. They are slower and take more time. Any schedule open by users is not affected by CREATEADS, but the ads get created anyway when the schedule is saved. Avoid starting long running selective CREATEADS on a busy system. The following methods will not fix damaged files or recreate indexes.

====All schedules====

To run CREATEADS for all schedules while users are online, you can follow the procedure mentioned below:

SELECT SCHEDULES
CREATEADS

====Specific schedules only====

The following method can be used for selected schedules instead of re-saving them:

SELECT SCHEDULES “XYZ1201R” “XYZ1201T”
CREATEADS

====For selected years only ====

The following method can be used to select schedules in selected years:

SELECT SCHEDULES WITH YEAR_PERIOD STARTING '10.' '11.'
CREATEADS

===Recovery method 5: Selective REINDEXADS using Selective CREATEADS===

Selective CREATEADS alone does not do a selective REINDEX. But it can be forced to do so by initially deleting all the ads of a particular schedule. Selecting on SCHEDULE_NO0, as shown below, results in a slow but complete search of all ads without using the index on SCHEDULE_NO

SELECT ADS WITH SCHEDULE_NO0 "XYZ1234A"
DELETE ADS
SELECT SCHEDULES "XYZ1234A"
CREATEADS

==PLAN.SUB UPD.ADS subject mails ==

System generated email with subject PLAN.SUB UPD.ADS XYZ (XYZ is the schedule number) contains the below message. This email is an indication that schedule XYZ is very big and if steps are not taken to control the size then schedule XYZ will eventually lead to B703 error. Solutions to handle this schedule are same as [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Media_System#B703_Errors | B703 Errors]].

The key list has exceeded the maximum allowed length.
The list will be truncated.
Do you want to continue? [Y/N]

== B703 Errors ==

The B703 error is usually always related to something too big for NEOSYS to handle. It occurs when the user puts in too many ads in one schedule without setting up the vehicle to allow the same.

e.g In digital or radio/tv media there are hundred thousand impressions and hundreds of ads to be placed by the Clients. If a user puts these many ads in the schedule without checking the "Bulk Ad" option in the vehicle/Schedule file or putting all ads in a package, B703 errors will occur in NEOSYS. In the old version of NEOSYS, certification option is present in the Vehicle file instead of "Bulk Ad". If Bulk Ad is not enabled then no user will be able to add unlimited ads for a vehicle.

An example of this error is as follows :

ERROR NO: B703 IN BOOKING.SUBS3 AT 1264
Variable exceeds maximum length.0

Various solutions are explained in detail below:

=== Solution 1 ===

'''For mass advertising like Digital, Radio or any Media where you do not want to certify individual ads one by one'''

# Go to the respective vehicle file which has the too many Ads in the schedule and check the "Bulk Ad" option and save the file. You can also [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Schedule_file#Bulk_Ad check "Bulk Ad" option using the schedule file]
#Make sure Refresh the schedule screen to avoid getting cached old versions of the vehicle, either using the NEOSYS refresh button or reload the page
#Copy the schedule to a new schedule record (perhaps XXXB to keep the number where XXX is the previous schedule no)
#Delete the remainder of the ads (unbooked/uninvoiced) from the old schedule and delete the already booked and invoiced ads from the new one.
#Do not forget to check "Bulk Ad" on the new schedule if you are going to enable it using the schedule file.
#Save both the schedules.
#You might face problems and need NEOSYS Programmer's help to save the Old Schedule even after deleting a lot of things but deleting the old ads is less time critical perhaps (unless Client is invoicing them) than getting the new ads booked.
#Check that the new schedule has indeed switched to SUMMARY as follows:

In maintenance mode type

LIST SCHEDULES "16xxx" VEHICLE_CODE MASS_AD_FLAG

where 16xxx is the schedule code

and check that there is a 1 next to EVERY vehicle (not just the 1st few as in the following screenshot)

[[File:ScheduleAds.jpg]]

[[File:Advehicle.jpg]]

=== Solution 2 ===

'''The package solution'''

This is the simplest solution. The idea is to put the ads as a package of ONE ad and put the gross unit price as the TOTAL price. 
The ONE ad for many ads is great for packages

[[File:Impressions.jpg]]

=== Solution 3 ===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Media_FAQ#How_to_split_large_schedules.3F Split the Schedule] for below errors

"ERROR NO: B703 IN PRINTPLANS6" when printing schedules.

"ERROR NO: B703 IN UPD.ADS" when saving schedules

"ERROR NO: B703 IN PRINTPLANS" when creating invoices.

=== Solution 4 ===

Split Files for below error

== Deleting Schedules using the Maintenance Window in NEOSYS ==

There can be a situation where Support may need to delete a Schedule via Maintenance with prior approval from the Client users. e.g. When users are not be able to access a schedule on NEOSYS and they want to delete it and create a new one. One reason for not being able to access a Schedule may be an [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Handling_Error_.22Following_Characters_are_not_Allowed_here.22_while_opening_a_document_in_NEOSYS Error saying Following Characters not allowed].If even after following the steps given in the link Support is not able to access the schedule, then follow the commands below to delete it.

Support MUST make sure before Deleting that no Ad is booked/certified/invoiced because in such cases there will be associated records saved in the database which also need to be removed, therefore Support MUST never go ahead with the steps below.

SELECT ADS WITH SCHEDULE_NO "XXXXXXXX"
DELETE ADS
FLUSH.INDEX
DELETE SCHEDULES "XXXXXXXX"

Support MUST run Media Diary Reports to make sure the Schedule and all its Ads are deleted.

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :select ads with schedule_no "BCOCO0115K-PD9011ب-FB" │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :delete ads │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :FLUSH.INDEX │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :delete schedules "BCOCO0115K-PD9011ب-FB" │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

== Deleting empty Booking Order using the Maintenance Window in NEOSYS ==

An empty booking order may appear in the list of booking orders if some error occurs when creating a booking order.

This empty order can be deleted in Maintenance mode as shown below.

In maintenance mode type

ED BOOKING.ORDERS <nowiki>''</nowiki> 1

This will open the problematic booking order file as below.

Pressing Alt+D twice on the order <nowiki>' '</nowiki>

[[File:Boempty.jpg]]

Then press ESC on order 1

The problematic booking order will no longer appear in List of Booking Orders.

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Media System

2017-08-07T10:08:49Z

Priyanka: /* B703 Errors */

== Run CREATEADS==

CREATEADS can be implemented in several ways. Make sure after implementing CREATEADS, that it has successfully completed by

#Checking for a "CREATEADS finished" email
#Checking for an entry in the log which says "CREATEADS finished"

CREATEADS will completely rebuild !ADS index file so it is a solution for fixing damaged !ADS index file *but* REINDEXADS may be a better solution for this problem if there is a lot of data since it will not waste time recreating all the ads.

For NEOSYS versions before 15th May 2016, CREATEADS crashes during morning (recovery method 1 below) and even other times when handling large numbers of ads.

===Recovery method 1: Media configuration file ===

Ads can be scheduled to recreate overnight in media configurations file. This setting in the configuration file runs CREATEADS overnight. CREATEADS will recreate ads from the current year plus the number of years prior to the current year.

E.g. If the current year is 2013 and you would like CREATEADS to recreate ads from 2012, configure number of years as 1. This means CREATEADS will recreate ads from 2012 to the current period.

[[file:createads.jpg]]

After requesting this, the first NEOSYS process to startup before 7am on the next day will first perform CREATEADS before starting up the other processes. CREATEADS will run only on the LIVE database.

CREATEADS will not run unless system time is less than 7am. This is to ensure that CREATEADS is scheduled early and does not extend long enough to encroach on the users' working hours the next day.

===Recovery method 2: Maintenance mode ===

This can take a long time on a large database and requires all users/NEOSYS processes for the same database to be shut down.

It will fix damaged ADS and !ADS files and recreate indexes.

F5
CREATEADS

===Recovery method 3: Re-save schedules ===

It will not fix damaged files or recreate indexes.

Re-save the schedule(s) that show the problem. This is identical to CREATEADS but is much quicker and doesn't require all users to log off. Of course if there are many errors then this isn't a practical solution.

===Recovery Method 4: Using Selective CREATEADS===

The following recovery methods can be followed when users are online. They are slower and take more time. Any schedule open by users is not affected by CREATEADS, but the ads get created anyway when the schedule is saved. Avoid starting long running selective CREATEADS on a busy system. The following methods will not fix damaged files or recreate indexes.

====All schedules====

To run CREATEADS for all schedules while users are online, you can follow the procedure mentioned below:

SELECT SCHEDULES
CREATEADS

====Specific schedules only====

The following method can be used for selected schedules instead of re-saving them:

SELECT SCHEDULES “XYZ1201R” “XYZ1201T”
CREATEADS

====For selected years only ====

The following method can be used to select schedules in selected years:

SELECT SCHEDULES WITH YEAR_PERIOD STARTING '10.' '11.'
CREATEADS

===Recovery method 5: Selective REINDEXADS using Selective CREATEADS===

Selective CREATEADS alone does not do a selective REINDEX. But it can be forced to do so by initially deleting all the ads of a particular schedule. Selecting on SCHEDULE_NO0, as shown below, results in a slow but complete search of all ads without using the index on SCHEDULE_NO

SELECT ADS WITH SCHEDULE_NO0 "XYZ1234A"
DELETE ADS
SELECT SCHEDULES "XYZ1234A"
CREATEADS

==PLAN.SUB UPD.ADS subject mails ==

System generated email with subject PLAN.SUB UPD.ADS XYZ (XYZ is the schedule number) contains the below message. This email is an indication that schedule XYZ is very big and if steps are not taken to control the size then schedule XYZ will eventually lead to B703 error. Solutions to handle this schedule are same as [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Media_System#B703_Errors | B703 Errors]].

The key list has exceeded the maximum allowed length.
The list will be truncated.
Do you want to continue? [Y/N]

== B703 Errors ==

The B703 error is usually always related to something too big for NEOSYS to handle. It occurs when the user puts in too many ads in one schedule without setting up the vehicle to allow the same.

e.g In digital or radio/tv media there are hundred thousand impressions and hundreds of ads to be placed by the Clients. If a user puts these many ads in the schedule without checking the "Bulk Ad" option in the vehicle/Schedule file or putting all ads in a package, B703 errors will occur in NEOSYS. In the old version of NEOSYS, certification option is present in the Vehicle file instead of "Bulk Ad". If Bulk Ad is not enabled then no user will be able to add unlimited ads for a vehicle.

An example of this error is as follows :

ERROR NO: B703 IN BOOKING.SUBS3 AT 1264
Variable exceeds maximum length.0

Various solutions are explained in detail below:

=== Solution 1 ===

'''For mass advertising like Digital, Radio or any Media where you do not want to certify individual ads one by one'''

# Go to the respective vehicle file which has the too many Ads in the schedule and check the "Bulk Ad" option and save the file. You can also [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Schedule_file#Bulk_Ad check "Bulk Ad" option using the schedule file]
#Make sure Refresh the schedule screen to avoid getting cached old versions of the vehicle, either using the NEOSYS refresh button or reload the page
#Copy the schedule to a new schedule record (perhaps XXXB to keep the number where XXX is the previous schedule no)
#Delete the remainder of the ads (unbooked/uninvoiced) from the old schedule and delete the already booked and invoiced ads from the new one.
#Do not forget to check "Bulk Ad" on the new schedule if you are going to enable it using the schedule file.
#Save both the schedules.
#You might face problems and need NEOSYS Programmer's help to save the Old Schedule even after deleting a lot of things but deleting the old ads is less time critical perhaps (unless Client is invoicing them) than getting the new ads booked.
#Check that the new schedule has indeed switched to SUMMARY as follows:

In maintenance mode type

LIST SCHEDULES "16xxx" VEHICLE_CODE MASS_AD_FLAG

where 16xxx is the schedule code

and check that there is a 1 next to EVERY vehicle (not just the 1st few as in the following screenshot)

[[File:ScheduleAds.jpg]]

[[File:Advehicle.jpg]]

=== Solution 2 ===

'''The package solution'''

This is the simplest solution. The idea is to put the ads as a package of ONE ad and put the gross unit price as the TOTAL price. 
The ONE ad for many ads is great for packages

[[File:Impressions.jpg]]

=== Solution 3 ===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Media_FAQ#How_to_split_large_schedules.3F Split Schedules] for below errors

"ERROR NO: B703 IN PRINTPLANS6" when printing schedules.

"ERROR NO: B703 IN UPD.ADS" when saving schedules

"ERROR NO: B703 IN PRINTPLANS" when creating invoices.

=== Solution 4 ===

Split Files for below error

== Deleting Schedules using the Maintenance Window in NEOSYS ==

There can be a situation where Support may need to delete a Schedule via Maintenance with prior approval from the Client users. e.g. When users are not be able to access a schedule on NEOSYS and they want to delete it and create a new one. One reason for not being able to access a Schedule may be an [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Handling_Error_.22Following_Characters_are_not_Allowed_here.22_while_opening_a_document_in_NEOSYS Error saying Following Characters not allowed].If even after following the steps given in the link Support is not able to access the schedule, then follow the commands below to delete it.

Support MUST make sure before Deleting that no Ad is booked/certified/invoiced because in such cases there will be associated records saved in the database which also need to be removed, therefore Support MUST never go ahead with the steps below.

SELECT ADS WITH SCHEDULE_NO "XXXXXXXX"
DELETE ADS
FLUSH.INDEX
DELETE SCHEDULES "XXXXXXXX"

Support MUST run Media Diary Reports to make sure the Schedule and all its Ads are deleted.

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :select ads with schedule_no "BCOCO0115K-PD9011ب-FB" │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :delete ads │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :FLUSH.INDEX │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :delete schedules "BCOCO0115K-PD9011ب-FB" │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

== Deleting empty Booking Order using the Maintenance Window in NEOSYS ==

An empty booking order may appear in the list of booking orders if some error occurs when creating a booking order.

This empty order can be deleted in Maintenance mode as shown below.

In maintenance mode type

ED BOOKING.ORDERS <nowiki>''</nowiki> 1

This will open the problematic booking order file as below.

Pressing Alt+D twice on the order <nowiki>' '</nowiki>

[[File:Boempty.jpg]]

Then press ESC on order 1

The problematic booking order will no longer appear in List of Booking Orders.

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Media System

2017-08-07T09:02:20Z

Priyanka: /* Solution 2 */

== Run CREATEADS==

CREATEADS can be implemented in several ways. Make sure after implementing CREATEADS, that it has successfully completed by

#Checking for a "CREATEADS finished" email
#Checking for an entry in the log which says "CREATEADS finished"

CREATEADS will completely rebuild !ADS index file so it is a solution for fixing damaged !ADS index file *but* REINDEXADS may be a better solution for this problem if there is a lot of data since it will not waste time recreating all the ads.

For NEOSYS versions before 15th May 2016, CREATEADS crashes during morning (recovery method 1 below) and even other times when handling large numbers of ads.

===Recovery method 1: Media configuration file ===

Ads can be scheduled to recreate overnight in media configurations file. This setting in the configuration file runs CREATEADS overnight. CREATEADS will recreate ads from the current year plus the number of years prior to the current year.

E.g. If the current year is 2013 and you would like CREATEADS to recreate ads from 2012, configure number of years as 1. This means CREATEADS will recreate ads from 2012 to the current period.

[[file:createads.jpg]]

After requesting this, the first NEOSYS process to startup before 7am on the next day will first perform CREATEADS before starting up the other processes. CREATEADS will run only on the LIVE database.

CREATEADS will not run unless system time is less than 7am. This is to ensure that CREATEADS is scheduled early and does not extend long enough to encroach on the users' working hours the next day.

===Recovery method 2: Maintenance mode ===

This can take a long time on a large database and requires all users/NEOSYS processes for the same database to be shut down.

It will fix damaged ADS and !ADS files and recreate indexes.

F5
CREATEADS

===Recovery method 3: Re-save schedules ===

It will not fix damaged files or recreate indexes.

Re-save the schedule(s) that show the problem. This is identical to CREATEADS but is much quicker and doesn't require all users to log off. Of course if there are many errors then this isn't a practical solution.

===Recovery Method 4: Using Selective CREATEADS===

The following recovery methods can be followed when users are online. They are slower and take more time. Any schedule open by users is not affected by CREATEADS, but the ads get created anyway when the schedule is saved. Avoid starting long running selective CREATEADS on a busy system. The following methods will not fix damaged files or recreate indexes.

====All schedules====

To run CREATEADS for all schedules while users are online, you can follow the procedure mentioned below:

SELECT SCHEDULES
CREATEADS

====Specific schedules only====

The following method can be used for selected schedules instead of re-saving them:

SELECT SCHEDULES “XYZ1201R” “XYZ1201T”
CREATEADS

====For selected years only ====

The following method can be used to select schedules in selected years:

SELECT SCHEDULES WITH YEAR_PERIOD STARTING '10.' '11.'
CREATEADS

===Recovery method 5: Selective REINDEXADS using Selective CREATEADS===

Selective CREATEADS alone does not do a selective REINDEX. But it can be forced to do so by initially deleting all the ads of a particular schedule. Selecting on SCHEDULE_NO0, as shown below, results in a slow but complete search of all ads without using the index on SCHEDULE_NO

SELECT ADS WITH SCHEDULE_NO0 "XYZ1234A"
DELETE ADS
SELECT SCHEDULES "XYZ1234A"
CREATEADS

==PLAN.SUB UPD.ADS subject mails ==

System generated email with subject PLAN.SUB UPD.ADS XYZ (XYZ is the schedule number) contains the below message. This email is an indication that schedule XYZ is very big and if steps are not taken to control the size then schedule XYZ will eventually lead to B703 error. Solutions to handle this schedule are same as [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Media_System#B703_Errors | B703 Errors]].

The key list has exceeded the maximum allowed length.
The list will be truncated.
Do you want to continue? [Y/N]

== B703 Errors ==

The B703 error is usually always related to something too big for NEOSYS to handle. It occurs when the user puts in too many ads in one schedule without setting up the vehicle to allow the same.

e.g In digital or radio/tv media there are hundred thousand impressions and hundreds of ads to be placed by the Clients. If a user puts these many ads in the schedule without checking the "Bulk Ad" option in the vehicle/Schedule file or putting all ads in a package, B703 errors will occur in NEOSYS. In the old version of NEOSYS, certification option is present in the Vehicle file instead of "Bulk Ad". If Bulk Ad is not enabled then no user will be able to add unlimited ads for a vehicle.

An example of this error is as follows :

ERROR NO: B703 IN BOOKING.SUBS3 AT 1264
Variable exceeds maximum length.0

The two solutions are explained in detail below:

=== Solution 1 ===

'''For mass advertising like Digital, Radio or any Media where you do not want to certify individual ads one by one'''

# Go to the respective vehicle file which has the too many Ads in the schedule and check the "Bulk Ad" option and save the file. You can also [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Schedule_file#Bulk_Ad check "Bulk Ad" option using the schedule file]
#Make sure Refresh the schedule screen to avoid getting cached old versions of the vehicle, either using the NEOSYS refresh button or reload the page
#Copy the schedule to a new schedule record (perhaps XXXB to keep the number where XXX is the previous schedule no)
#Delete the remainder of the ads (unbooked/uninvoiced) from the old schedule and delete the already booked and invoiced ads from the new one.
#Do not forget to check "Bulk Ad" on the new schedule if you are going to enable it using the schedule file.
#Save both the schedules.
#You might face problems and need NEOSYS Programmer's help to save the Old Schedule even after deleting a lot of things but deleting the old ads is less time critical perhaps (unless Client is invoicing them) than getting the new ads booked.
#Check that the new schedule has indeed switched to SUMMARY as follows:

In maintenance mode type

LIST SCHEDULES "16xxx" VEHICLE_CODE MASS_AD_FLAG

where 16xxx is the schedule code

and check that there is a 1 next to EVERY vehicle (not just the 1st few as in the following screenshot)

[[File:ScheduleAds.jpg]]

[[File:Advehicle.jpg]]

=== Solution 2 ===

'''The package solution'''

This is the simplest solution. The idea is to put the ads as a package of ONE ad and put the gross unit price as the TOTAL price. 
The ONE ad for many ads is great for packages

[[File:Impressions.jpg]]

=== Solution 3 ===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Media_FAQ#How_to_split_large_schedules.3F Split Schedules] for below errors

"ERROR NO: B703 IN PRINTPLANS6" when printing schedules.

"ERROR NO: B703 IN UPD.ADS" when saving schedules

"ERROR NO: B703 IN PRINTPLANS" when creating invoices.

=== Solution 4 ===

Split Files for below error

== Deleting Schedules using the Maintenance Window in NEOSYS ==

There can be a situation where Support may need to delete a Schedule via Maintenance with prior approval from the Client users. e.g. When users are not be able to access a schedule on NEOSYS and they want to delete it and create a new one. One reason for not being able to access a Schedule may be an [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Handling_Error_.22Following_Characters_are_not_Allowed_here.22_while_opening_a_document_in_NEOSYS Error saying Following Characters not allowed].If even after following the steps given in the link Support is not able to access the schedule, then follow the commands below to delete it.

Support MUST make sure before Deleting that no Ad is booked/certified/invoiced because in such cases there will be associated records saved in the database which also need to be removed, therefore Support MUST never go ahead with the steps below.

SELECT ADS WITH SCHEDULE_NO "XXXXXXXX"
DELETE ADS
FLUSH.INDEX
DELETE SCHEDULES "XXXXXXXX"

Support MUST run Media Diary Reports to make sure the Schedule and all its Ads are deleted.

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :select ads with schedule_no "BCOCO0115K-PD9011ب-FB" │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :delete ads │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :FLUSH.INDEX │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :delete schedules "BCOCO0115K-PD9011ب-FB" │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

== Deleting empty Booking Order using the Maintenance Window in NEOSYS ==

An empty booking order may appear in the list of booking orders if some error occurs when creating a booking order.

This empty order can be deleted in Maintenance mode as shown below.

In maintenance mode type

ED BOOKING.ORDERS <nowiki>''</nowiki> 1

This will open the problematic booking order file as below.

Pressing Alt+D twice on the order <nowiki>' '</nowiki>

[[File:Boempty.jpg]]

Then press ESC on order 1

The problematic booking order will no longer appear in List of Booking Orders.

Restricting usage of NEOSYS to licence period

2017-07-23T06:42:19Z

Priyanka: /* Step 1 - Generate the licence deletion text */

=== Restricting usage of NEOSYS to licence period ===
*A NEOSYS software licence key is granted depending on the last paid up invoice licence period plus optional grace days.
*The NEOSYS software prevents, after the grace period, creation of new documents not dated within the licence period.
*The NEOSYS software does not at any time place any limitation whatsoever on the use of documents already created in the system or the creation of new documents dated within the licence period.
*The intention of NEOSYS licence expiry is to allow the user to continue using the NEOSYS system normally for documents that apply to valid licence periods while at the same time, after a grace period after the expiry of the licence, to prevent them from entering new documents that are related to periods outside the valid licence periods.
*Once a licence has been entered in a database, then usage of that database is thereafter subject to licensing restrictions. (Currently there are no usage restrictions prior to entering any licence, however this may change in later versions of the NEOSYS software and no database may be used without valid licensing in place)

'''Example:'''

The last paid up invoice for software support and licence covered a licence period of one month from '''1 Oct 2009''' to '''31 Oct 2009'''.

A licence key has been installed in the database for the same period and with a grace period of 7 days.

Up to '''7th Nov 2009''' users can create documents without restriction.

From the '''8th Nov 2009''' onwards:
*Users can view and amend any document already created
*Users can create documents dated up to '''31 Oct 2009'''
*Users *cannot* create any new document dated '''1st Nov 2009''' or later

When a user tries to save a new document that 
*does not fall within a valid licence period and
*the current date is more than the number of grace days after the licence expiry date
the user will get the following message:

[[image:licence_period.jpg]]

=== Entering NEOSYS licensing information ===

If adding more than one licence to cover historical years, especially when adding licences for the first time, be careful to add the licences in reverse order (i.e. latest first then the older licences backwards in date order). This way users are less likely to be briefly locked out of current periods, which may happen as soon as the first licence is entered.

Use the following code in maintenance mode to view the licences already entered in the database.

CHKLIC

The list of licences is generated as shown below

[[image:licence_list.png]]

The Following steps are done in NEOSYS maintenance mode (F5).

==== Step 1 – Generate “licencetext” ====

Depending on what licence you want to grant, enter the following command. It will show a line of “licencetext” including the computerid and databaseid.

ADDLIC ''modulenames fromdate uptodate daygrace''

All parameters are required and must appear in the order shown.

Generally support should just renew the licence similar to the previous licence unless otherwise instructed. All the required parameters (i.e. modulenames, licence period and days grace) are available in the list of licences report (CHKLIC) mentioned in the previous section.

If the prior licence allows more than 7 days grace, then the days grace for the new licence MUST be determined by NEOSYS accounts team (or whoever asked for the licence to be added).

If there are no prior licences, then the module names, licence period and days grace MUST all be decided by NEOSYS accounts team (or whoever asked for the licence to be added).

''modulenames'' can be any combination of the following, separated by commas with NO spaces, or a single * to allow all modules.

*MEDIA
*JOBS
*FINANCE
*TIMESHEETS

''daygrace'' is how many days after the licence expiry before NEOSYS starts restricting creation of new documents to dates within the licence period.

Example:

ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7

The output for the above code appears as shown below:

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 │
│ │
╘═══════╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗══════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ PLEASE GIVE THE FOLLOWING TEXT TO YOUR NEOSYS SUPPORT STAFF ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ "MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 084505 225FAB0E" ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ What is the verification code? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║< >║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

==== Step 2 – Request “licencecode” from NEOSYS ====

Give the complete “licencetext” (shown in the above output) to NEOSYS Admin, who will provide the corresponding “licencecode” which is a 1-6 digit number.

==== Step 3 – Enter the licencetext and licencecode ====

Either enter the same command as in step 1 and enter the licencecode when prompted, or enter the following command. The format of the command is almost identical to step 1 but adds computerid databaseid licencecode.

ADDLIC ''modulenames fromdate uptodate daysgrace computerid databaseid licencecode''

Example:

ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 542684 1D63A3AC 13193

==== Step 4 – Verify that the licence has been added successfully ====

Run CHKLIC in maintenance mode to generate the list of existing licences and verify that the new licence information has been added to this list.

=== Removing NEOSYS Licences ===
If users are allowed to create new documents outside the license period then delete the license. All licences installed in that database gets removed/deleted once the below commands are followed. .

====Step 1 - Generate the licence deletion text====
In maintenance mode, enter the following command
DELLIC

Select Yes.

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :DELLIC │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╔════════════════════════════════╗▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ Delete all NEOSYS Licences? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║───┬────────────────────────────║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ 1>Yes ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ 2│No ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

Output:

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :DELLIC │
│ │
╘═══════╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗══════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ PLEASE GIVE THE FOLLOWING TEXT TO YOUR NEOSYS SUPPORT STAFF ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ "DELETE 741701 2996420B" ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ What is the verification code? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║< >║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

====Step 2 - Request for verification code from NEOSYS====
Give the complete “text” (shown in the above output) to NEOSYS Admin, who will provide the corresponding verification code, which is a 1-6 digit number.

====Step 3 - Enter the verification code====
Enter the following command in maintenance mode

DELLIC ''verificationcode''

Example

DELLIC 915036

====Step 4 - Verify that all licences have been removed successfully====
Run CHKLIC in maintenance mode to generate the list of existing licences. The NEOSYS licences report should show "0 records".

Restricting usage of NEOSYS to licence period

2017-07-23T06:31:26Z

Priyanka: /* Step 1 - Generate the licence deletion text */

=== Restricting usage of NEOSYS to licence period ===
*A NEOSYS software licence key is granted depending on the last paid up invoice licence period plus optional grace days.
*The NEOSYS software prevents, after the grace period, creation of new documents not dated within the licence period.
*The NEOSYS software does not at any time place any limitation whatsoever on the use of documents already created in the system or the creation of new documents dated within the licence period.
*The intention of NEOSYS licence expiry is to allow the user to continue using the NEOSYS system normally for documents that apply to valid licence periods while at the same time, after a grace period after the expiry of the licence, to prevent them from entering new documents that are related to periods outside the valid licence periods.
*Once a licence has been entered in a database, then usage of that database is thereafter subject to licensing restrictions. (Currently there are no usage restrictions prior to entering any licence, however this may change in later versions of the NEOSYS software and no database may be used without valid licensing in place)

'''Example:'''

The last paid up invoice for software support and licence covered a licence period of one month from '''1 Oct 2009''' to '''31 Oct 2009'''.

A licence key has been installed in the database for the same period and with a grace period of 7 days.

Up to '''7th Nov 2009''' users can create documents without restriction.

From the '''8th Nov 2009''' onwards:
*Users can view and amend any document already created
*Users can create documents dated up to '''31 Oct 2009'''
*Users *cannot* create any new document dated '''1st Nov 2009''' or later

When a user tries to save a new document that 
*does not fall within a valid licence period and
*the current date is more than the number of grace days after the licence expiry date
the user will get the following message:

[[image:licence_period.jpg]]

=== Entering NEOSYS licensing information ===

If adding more than one licence to cover historical years, especially when adding licences for the first time, be careful to add the licences in reverse order (i.e. latest first then the older licences backwards in date order). This way users are less likely to be briefly locked out of current periods, which may happen as soon as the first licence is entered.

Use the following code in maintenance mode to view the licences already entered in the database.

CHKLIC

The list of licences is generated as shown below

[[image:licence_list.png]]

The Following steps are done in NEOSYS maintenance mode (F5).

==== Step 1 – Generate “licencetext” ====

Depending on what licence you want to grant, enter the following command. It will show a line of “licencetext” including the computerid and databaseid.

ADDLIC ''modulenames fromdate uptodate daygrace''

All parameters are required and must appear in the order shown.

Generally support should just renew the licence similar to the previous licence unless otherwise instructed. All the required parameters (i.e. modulenames, licence period and days grace) are available in the list of licences report (CHKLIC) mentioned in the previous section.

If the prior licence allows more than 7 days grace, then the days grace for the new licence MUST be determined by NEOSYS accounts team (or whoever asked for the licence to be added).

If there are no prior licences, then the module names, licence period and days grace MUST all be decided by NEOSYS accounts team (or whoever asked for the licence to be added).

''modulenames'' can be any combination of the following, separated by commas with NO spaces, or a single * to allow all modules.

*MEDIA
*JOBS
*FINANCE
*TIMESHEETS

''daygrace'' is how many days after the licence expiry before NEOSYS starts restricting creation of new documents to dates within the licence period.

Example:

ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7

The output for the above code appears as shown below:

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 │
│ │
╘═══════╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗══════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ PLEASE GIVE THE FOLLOWING TEXT TO YOUR NEOSYS SUPPORT STAFF ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ "MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 084505 225FAB0E" ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ What is the verification code? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║< >║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

==== Step 2 – Request “licencecode” from NEOSYS ====

Give the complete “licencetext” (shown in the above output) to NEOSYS Admin, who will provide the corresponding “licencecode” which is a 1-6 digit number.

==== Step 3 – Enter the licencetext and licencecode ====

Either enter the same command as in step 1 and enter the licencecode when prompted, or enter the following command. The format of the command is almost identical to step 1 but adds computerid databaseid licencecode.

ADDLIC ''modulenames fromdate uptodate daysgrace computerid databaseid licencecode''

Example:

ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 542684 1D63A3AC 13193

==== Step 4 – Verify that the licence has been added successfully ====

Run CHKLIC in maintenance mode to generate the list of existing licences and verify that the new licence information has been added to this list.

=== Removing NEOSYS Licences ===
If users are allowed to create new documents outside the license period then delete the license. All licences installed in that database gets removed/deleted once the below commands are followed. .

====Step 1 - Generate the licence deletion text====
In maintenance mode, enter the following command
DELLIC

Select Yes.

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :DELLIC │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╔════════════════════════════════╗▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ Delete all NEOSYS Licences? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║───┬────────────────────────────║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ 1>Yes ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ 2│No ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

The output:

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :DELLIC │
│ │
╘═══════╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗══════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ PLEASE GIVE THE FOLLOWING TEXT TO YOUR NEOSYS SUPPORT STAFF ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ "DELETE 741701 2996420B" ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ What is the verification code? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║< >║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

====Step 2 - Request for verification code from NEOSYS====
Give the complete “text” (shown in the above output) to NEOSYS Admin, who will provide the corresponding verification code, which is a 1-6 digit number.

====Step 3 - Enter the verification code====
Enter the following command in maintenance mode

DELLIC ''verificationcode''

Example

DELLIC 915036

====Step 4 - Verify that all licences have been removed successfully====
Run CHKLIC in maintenance mode to generate the list of existing licences. The NEOSYS licences report should show "0 records".

Restricting usage of NEOSYS to licence period

2017-07-23T06:29:07Z

Priyanka: /* Step 1 - Generate the licence deletion text */

=== Restricting usage of NEOSYS to licence period ===
*A NEOSYS software licence key is granted depending on the last paid up invoice licence period plus optional grace days.
*The NEOSYS software prevents, after the grace period, creation of new documents not dated within the licence period.
*The NEOSYS software does not at any time place any limitation whatsoever on the use of documents already created in the system or the creation of new documents dated within the licence period.
*The intention of NEOSYS licence expiry is to allow the user to continue using the NEOSYS system normally for documents that apply to valid licence periods while at the same time, after a grace period after the expiry of the licence, to prevent them from entering new documents that are related to periods outside the valid licence periods.
*Once a licence has been entered in a database, then usage of that database is thereafter subject to licensing restrictions. (Currently there are no usage restrictions prior to entering any licence, however this may change in later versions of the NEOSYS software and no database may be used without valid licensing in place)

'''Example:'''

The last paid up invoice for software support and licence covered a licence period of one month from '''1 Oct 2009''' to '''31 Oct 2009'''.

A licence key has been installed in the database for the same period and with a grace period of 7 days.

Up to '''7th Nov 2009''' users can create documents without restriction.

From the '''8th Nov 2009''' onwards:
*Users can view and amend any document already created
*Users can create documents dated up to '''31 Oct 2009'''
*Users *cannot* create any new document dated '''1st Nov 2009''' or later

When a user tries to save a new document that 
*does not fall within a valid licence period and
*the current date is more than the number of grace days after the licence expiry date
the user will get the following message:

[[image:licence_period.jpg]]

=== Entering NEOSYS licensing information ===

If adding more than one licence to cover historical years, especially when adding licences for the first time, be careful to add the licences in reverse order (i.e. latest first then the older licences backwards in date order). This way users are less likely to be briefly locked out of current periods, which may happen as soon as the first licence is entered.

Use the following code in maintenance mode to view the licences already entered in the database.

CHKLIC

The list of licences is generated as shown below

[[image:licence_list.png]]

The Following steps are done in NEOSYS maintenance mode (F5).

==== Step 1 – Generate “licencetext” ====

Depending on what licence you want to grant, enter the following command. It will show a line of “licencetext” including the computerid and databaseid.

ADDLIC ''modulenames fromdate uptodate daygrace''

All parameters are required and must appear in the order shown.

Generally support should just renew the licence similar to the previous licence unless otherwise instructed. All the required parameters (i.e. modulenames, licence period and days grace) are available in the list of licences report (CHKLIC) mentioned in the previous section.

If the prior licence allows more than 7 days grace, then the days grace for the new licence MUST be determined by NEOSYS accounts team (or whoever asked for the licence to be added).

If there are no prior licences, then the module names, licence period and days grace MUST all be decided by NEOSYS accounts team (or whoever asked for the licence to be added).

''modulenames'' can be any combination of the following, separated by commas with NO spaces, or a single * to allow all modules.

*MEDIA
*JOBS
*FINANCE
*TIMESHEETS

''daygrace'' is how many days after the licence expiry before NEOSYS starts restricting creation of new documents to dates within the licence period.

Example:

ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7

The output for the above code appears as shown below:

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 │
│ │
╘═══════╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗══════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ PLEASE GIVE THE FOLLOWING TEXT TO YOUR NEOSYS SUPPORT STAFF ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ "MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 084505 225FAB0E" ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ What is the verification code? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║< >║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

==== Step 2 – Request “licencecode” from NEOSYS ====

Give the complete “licencetext” (shown in the above output) to NEOSYS Admin, who will provide the corresponding “licencecode” which is a 1-6 digit number.

==== Step 3 – Enter the licencetext and licencecode ====

Either enter the same command as in step 1 and enter the licencecode when prompted, or enter the following command. The format of the command is almost identical to step 1 but adds computerid databaseid licencecode.

ADDLIC ''modulenames fromdate uptodate daysgrace computerid databaseid licencecode''

Example:

ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 542684 1D63A3AC 13193

==== Step 4 – Verify that the licence has been added successfully ====

Run CHKLIC in maintenance mode to generate the list of existing licences and verify that the new licence information has been added to this list.

=== Removing NEOSYS Licences ===
If users are allowed to create new documents outside the license period then delete the license. All licences installed in that database gets removed/deleted once the below commands are followed. .

====Step 1 - Generate the licence deletion text====
In maintenance mode, enter the following command
DELLIC

Select Yes.

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :DELLIC │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╔════════════════════════════════╗▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ Delete all NEOSYS Licences? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║───┬────────────────────────────║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ 1>Yes ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ 2│No ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

The output for this appears as shown below

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :DELLIC │
│ │
╘═══════╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗══════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ PLEASE GIVE THE FOLLOWING TEXT TO YOUR NEOSYS SUPPORT STAFF ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ "DELETE 741701 2996420B" ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ What is the verification code? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║< >║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

====Step 2 - Request for verification code from NEOSYS====
Give the complete “text” (shown in the above output) to NEOSYS Admin, who will provide the corresponding verification code, which is a 1-6 digit number.

====Step 3 - Enter the verification code====
Enter the following command in maintenance mode

DELLIC ''verificationcode''

Example

DELLIC 915036

====Step 4 - Verify that all licences have been removed successfully====
Run CHKLIC in maintenance mode to generate the list of existing licences. The NEOSYS licences report should show "0 records".

Restricting usage of NEOSYS to licence period

2017-07-23T06:27:31Z

Priyanka: /* Removing NEOSYS Licences */

=== Restricting usage of NEOSYS to licence period ===
*A NEOSYS software licence key is granted depending on the last paid up invoice licence period plus optional grace days.
*The NEOSYS software prevents, after the grace period, creation of new documents not dated within the licence period.
*The NEOSYS software does not at any time place any limitation whatsoever on the use of documents already created in the system or the creation of new documents dated within the licence period.
*The intention of NEOSYS licence expiry is to allow the user to continue using the NEOSYS system normally for documents that apply to valid licence periods while at the same time, after a grace period after the expiry of the licence, to prevent them from entering new documents that are related to periods outside the valid licence periods.
*Once a licence has been entered in a database, then usage of that database is thereafter subject to licensing restrictions. (Currently there are no usage restrictions prior to entering any licence, however this may change in later versions of the NEOSYS software and no database may be used without valid licensing in place)

'''Example:'''

The last paid up invoice for software support and licence covered a licence period of one month from '''1 Oct 2009''' to '''31 Oct 2009'''.

A licence key has been installed in the database for the same period and with a grace period of 7 days.

Up to '''7th Nov 2009''' users can create documents without restriction.

From the '''8th Nov 2009''' onwards:
*Users can view and amend any document already created
*Users can create documents dated up to '''31 Oct 2009'''
*Users *cannot* create any new document dated '''1st Nov 2009''' or later

When a user tries to save a new document that 
*does not fall within a valid licence period and
*the current date is more than the number of grace days after the licence expiry date
the user will get the following message:

[[image:licence_period.jpg]]

=== Entering NEOSYS licensing information ===

If adding more than one licence to cover historical years, especially when adding licences for the first time, be careful to add the licences in reverse order (i.e. latest first then the older licences backwards in date order). This way users are less likely to be briefly locked out of current periods, which may happen as soon as the first licence is entered.

Use the following code in maintenance mode to view the licences already entered in the database.

CHKLIC

The list of licences is generated as shown below

[[image:licence_list.png]]

The Following steps are done in NEOSYS maintenance mode (F5).

==== Step 1 – Generate “licencetext” ====

Depending on what licence you want to grant, enter the following command. It will show a line of “licencetext” including the computerid and databaseid.

ADDLIC ''modulenames fromdate uptodate daygrace''

All parameters are required and must appear in the order shown.

Generally support should just renew the licence similar to the previous licence unless otherwise instructed. All the required parameters (i.e. modulenames, licence period and days grace) are available in the list of licences report (CHKLIC) mentioned in the previous section.

If the prior licence allows more than 7 days grace, then the days grace for the new licence MUST be determined by NEOSYS accounts team (or whoever asked for the licence to be added).

If there are no prior licences, then the module names, licence period and days grace MUST all be decided by NEOSYS accounts team (or whoever asked for the licence to be added).

''modulenames'' can be any combination of the following, separated by commas with NO spaces, or a single * to allow all modules.

*MEDIA
*JOBS
*FINANCE
*TIMESHEETS

''daygrace'' is how many days after the licence expiry before NEOSYS starts restricting creation of new documents to dates within the licence period.

Example:

ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7

The output for the above code appears as shown below:

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 │
│ │
╘═══════╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗══════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ PLEASE GIVE THE FOLLOWING TEXT TO YOUR NEOSYS SUPPORT STAFF ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ "MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 084505 225FAB0E" ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ What is the verification code? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║< >║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

==== Step 2 – Request “licencecode” from NEOSYS ====

Give the complete “licencetext” (shown in the above output) to NEOSYS Admin, who will provide the corresponding “licencecode” which is a 1-6 digit number.

==== Step 3 – Enter the licencetext and licencecode ====

Either enter the same command as in step 1 and enter the licencecode when prompted, or enter the following command. The format of the command is almost identical to step 1 but adds computerid databaseid licencecode.

ADDLIC ''modulenames fromdate uptodate daysgrace computerid databaseid licencecode''

Example:

ADDLIC MEDIA,FINANCE 1/4/2016 30/6/2016 7 542684 1D63A3AC 13193

==== Step 4 – Verify that the licence has been added successfully ====

Run CHKLIC in maintenance mode to generate the list of existing licences and verify that the new licence information has been added to this list.

=== Removing NEOSYS Licences ===
If users are allowed to create new documents outside the license period then delete the license. All licences installed in that database gets removed/deleted once the below commands are followed. .

====Step 1 - Generate the licence deletion text====
In maintenance mode, enter the following command
DELLIC

In the below screen, select Yes

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :DELLIC │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╔════════════════════════════════╗▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ Delete all NEOSYS Licences? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║───┬────────────────────────────║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ 1>Yes ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ 2│No ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

The output for this appears as shown below

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :DELLIC │
│ │
╘═══════╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗══════╛
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ PLEASE GIVE THE FOLLOWING TEXT TO YOUR NEOSYS SUPPORT STAFF ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ "DELETE 741701 2996420B" ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║ What is the verification code? ║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒║< >║▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
</pre>

====Step 2 - Request for verification code from NEOSYS====
Give the complete “text” (shown in the above output) to NEOSYS Admin, who will provide the corresponding verification code, which is a 1-6 digit number.

====Step 3 - Enter the verification code====
Enter the following command in maintenance mode

DELLIC ''verificationcode''

Example

DELLIC 915036

====Step 4 - Verify that all licences have been removed successfully====
Run CHKLIC in maintenance mode to generate the list of existing licences. The NEOSYS licences report should show "0 records".

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Generally

2017-07-18T09:13:04Z

Priyanka: /* Fixing " You do not have sufficient privilege to access this file " */

== Solving failure to start a NEOSYS server due to disk failure message ==
=== Problem ===
During a reboot process (which maybe due to a Windows update or even done by a support personnel) the NEOSYS server gets hung on the startup and shows a message "Boot Failure - Abort, Retry".

=== Temporary solution ===
This typically happens due to the USB being plugged into the server and the boot sequence being wrong - i.e. the server trying to boot from the USB first and fails. The immediate solution would be to unplug the USB and ask the client to reboot the server again and upon successfully rebooting the system, plug the USB back again.

=== Permanent solution ===
The above problem will occur every time the computer is rebooted, so you need to immediately talk to the IT Administrator of the client and ask them to rectify the boot sequence to make it boot first from the CD ROM, then the HDD and last the USB.
 Allowing "Boot from USB" causes a severe risk of infection by boot sector viruses since the first infected USB device inserted WILL infect the server immediately as anti-virus programs are not active during boot.

==[[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Clearing_File_Locks| Troubleshooting "Document is being updated" message]]==

== Troubleshooting the "Database not available" error message ==
=== Problem explained ===
This error appears when you try to login to NEOSYS after you enter your username and password and click the Login button.

[[image:database_unavailable.jpg]]

Error message :

Cannot login because :
Error : The (database code) database is not available right now.

If the error message appears post login i.e. when users are working on the system then check if processes are free to run user request.

[[image:not_available.jpg]]

=== Solution explained ===
# Determine if the processes are running. If they are running and you still get the same message that means that either the processes have [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Hung_processes|hung]] and need to be [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#How_to_kill_hung_NEOSYS_processes|killed]]. Or the processes are busy to run user requests and a new process needs to be started.
# If the processes are not visible on the destop, it is possible that they are running in the background and have hung for some reason. Check the windows task manager to see if any ‘ntvdm’ process is running and [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#If_NEOSYS_processes_are_not_visible_on_the_server_desktop|fix hung processes]].
# If there is no trace of any process running, that means the process probably did not start at the scheduled time. Refer to the 'Hung Process Reports' to verify this claim.
# If the process had not hung, then the server might have restarted due to a power failure or a windows update and the administrator user had not logged in post the scheduled startup time of 6AM. To determine this cause, investigate in the Windows Event Viewer Log file.
# You can now start up the process by clicking on the respective desktop icons.
# Also check if the backup took place successfully or not. If not take a manual backup.
# Look into the logs at the date/time stated for the last transaction processed to investigate why process got hung.See [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Inspecting_Database_LOGS_Folder| Inspecting logs]] for more information on logs

== Troubleshooting "user not authorised to login from a location" error message ==
[[image:IPerror.jpg]]

'''Error message:'''
xxx is not authorised to login form the location (IP Number. xx.xx.xx.xx)

'''Solution Explained:'''

Check the URL used and follow the steps below to check if it is correct and email the user accordingly.
#If the Client installation is hosted on NEOSYS server then users can use only https link to access NEOSYS.
#*Check with the client's management if this particular IP is their public IP.
#*Add IP on management confirmation (Refer to [[Procedures#Handling_User_Requests_to_add_an_IP_or_range_of_IPs_to_access_NEOSYS|Handling User Requests to add IP/IPs ]] )
#In case of Client hosted server, users should access NEOSYS via LAN using the http link.
#*There can be exceptional cases where user needs to access NEOSYS outside the office Network e.g a client installation with two companies at different locations and NEOSYS installed at one. In this case Support will have to add the IP number of the second company so that users can access NEOSYS. But before you even suggest to add the IP, get the request from their management saying that the IP number is another office location and needs to be added. (Refer to [[Procedures#Handling_User_Requests_to_add_an_IP_or_range_of_IPs_to_access_NEOSYS|Handling User Requests to add IP/IPs ]] )

== Handling damaged files ==

[[Handling damaged files]]

=== Checking for corrupt database files ===
Login to NEOSYS Maintenance. This can be done when users are online.

Press F5

CHK.FILES

or

CHK.FILES filename

''' Sizelock while performing chk.files '''

Fixing sizelock errors should not be done while other users are online to the same database.

Sizelock errors are not critical and will be fixed automatically during the nightly backup.

Sizelock errors occur if a program or process that is selecting records from a file is aborted in some abnormal way.

Error message:

These Files/Tables have a Sizelock Value of 2 or greater.
Tag/Select the Files/Tables to be Fixed.
Press F9 to fix selected files

Press F9 to proceed with fixing the selected files or press ESC to continue with chk.files without fixing sizelock as it gets automatically fixed during the nightly backup.

Refer to the [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Backup_and_Restore#Error_Message:_Size_Lock Sizelock errors in backup emails] for more information.

[[file:sizelock.jpg]]

=== Determining Database File Name from Operating System File Name ===

To assess the potential damage and possible remedial measures you need to know the database file name. If the message only refers to the operating system file name you need to follow this procedure to determine the database file name.

Once you have the database file name you can use CHK.FILES XXXXXXX to check if corrupt or not and various other procedures to fix the corruption.

Remember that fixing the corrupt data does not solve the overall problem. The *cause* of the corruption must be identified and eliminated otherwise the problem may reoccur and in a more serious form perhaps with unrecoverable loss of data.

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :list FILES WITH ALL CONTAINING 'REV76481' │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

[[File:DBfilenamefromOSfilename.jpg]]

== Finding out when and by whom a record was deleted ==

In most cases, NEOSYS does not allow users to delete records and instead keeps a record of everything. In some cases however, things are deleted and the only way to get full details about the deletion is to search the logs. This is cumbersome, but there is a quick way to find out when, and by whom, a record was deleted. Prior to NEOSYS software versions dated Mar 2014, and deletions done before the same date, this procedure will only tell you when the record was deleted - but not who deleted it. Knowing exactly when it was deleted will nevertheless help you to search the logs for full details.

In maintenance mode F5

ED SHADOW DELETED*filename*key

For example:

ED SHADOW DELETED*BATCHES*L*JOU*2*U

Journals are stored in the BATCHES file. The key of an unposted batch is x*y*999*U where x is the company code, y is the journal type code, 999 is UNPOSTED batch number and U is just U to indicate unposted batches. Note that unposted batches are normally deleted at the time they are posted - ie converted to posted batches.
<pre>
╔══════════════════════════┤DELETED*BATCHES*L*JOU*2*U├═════════════════════════╗
║16831.60706 ║
║BRUCEL ║
║╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 6══════════════════════════════════╕║
║│ │║
║│ :EVAL PRINT 16831.60706 '[DATETIME]' │║
║│ │║
║╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛║
║ ║
║ ║
</pre>

Once you see the number (in this case 16831.60706) you can convert it to a time and date by typing something like

PRINT 16831.60706 '[DATETIME]'

Using this date and time you can search the logs more effectively to find out who did the deletion and in what circumstances.

== Assessing Database Size per File ==
In NEOSYS maintenance mode

LIST FILES BY BY-DSND SIZE VOLUME.NAME SIZE

This will include all files not just those in the actual dataset in DATA\* folders.

== Fixing slow speed ==
=== [[Benchmarking NEOSYS]] ===
=== Investigating slow response in NEOSYS using NEOSYS logs ===
If users complain about slow speed, but the server CPU performance looks normal, then support MUST investigate NEOSYS logs to find out why NEOSYS was slow at the time when the client complained about slow response.

Search NEOSYS log entries around the time that the user complained about slow response and look for log entries with high response time. Make a note of what requests took long to respond. If multiple users were simultaneously requesting long reports from NEOSYS, then NEOSYS can be expected to respond slowly for other smaller requests that were processed at that time.

Also refer to [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#Why_is_NEOSYS_taking_a_long_time_to_generate_a_report.3F why is NEOSYS taking a long time to generate a report].

=== Investigating CPU 100% using Windows Task Manager ===
Email, to support, a screen-shot of task manager APPLICATIONS, PROCESSES and PERFORMANCE screens MAXIMIZED TO SHOW AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

(Sort the processes to show ntvdm, waiting.exe and high cpu% processes clearly)

'''Steps:'''
#Right Click on Windows Taskbar and click on Start Task Manager [[image:starttaskmanager.jpg]] 
#Click on Processes and then click on CPU '''Note - The HIGH cpu% processes which should usually be the "process" called "System Idle Process" ''' [[image:cpu100percent1.jpg]] 
#Click on the Performance Tab '''Note - PF Usage should typically be much less than Physical Memory otherwise there is insufficient real memory in the server to handle the load''' [[image:cpu100percent3.jpg]] 
#Click on Application Tab then Right Click on a NEOSYS Process and Click on Bring to Front '''See what the NEOSYS Process is doing [[image:cpu100percent2.jpg]] 
#Right Click on a NEOSYS Process and Click on Go to Processes '''Note the cpu% ntvdm process [[image:cpu100percent2_2.jpg]] 
#Normally NEOSYS application screens say "LISTENING" in the bottom line and those applications should have very low cpu% [[image:normalneosysprocess.jpg]] 
#Look at the difference between the screen of running NEOSYS processes (applications actually) which are idle (listening for requests) and active (processing a request from a user)
#Note the number of cpus or cpu threads in the server from the performance screen graphics [[image:performance-taskmgr-cputhread.jpg]] 
#Take screen-shots of any and ALL hung or long running processes (NEOSYS application screens) and email them to support. Even small details on the screens and user names, the user names may give clues to what problem caused the hanging.A Typical Hung NEOSYS process will look like this: [[image:hungneosysprocess.jpg]] 
#Once all hung/long processes are closed then CPU should be low and not near 100%. If it is still 100% then check all high cpu% processes and send a screen-shot of processes sorted to show the high cpu% process names to support.

=== Solving server CPU% is 100 and all users are extremely slow/stopped ===

Get the screenshots of Task Manager and ALL processes on the server, the objective is to assess the true issue. No need to get the screens not in use obviously but you can send a parallel screen shot for them if you want to be pedantic or even a comment will do.

==== Too few CPUs/threads for the number of users ====
In Windows task manager normally, you should see one ntvdm.exe and one waiting.exe process per NEOSYS process (application). A standard installation has three NEOSYS processes per main database and plus one per test database. This is configured in Support Menu, Configuration File.

If there are MORE ntvdm processes than you expect from the configuration file, then perhaps NEOSYS is auto starting new NEOSYS processes to try and cater for a high number of concurrent users.

If the number of concurrent NEOSYS processes significantly exceeds the number of cpus/hyperthreads available in the server then processing for everybody can become so slow for everybody and almost no work gets done.

==== Solution ====
Stop NEOSYS creating new NEOSYS processes automatically. Create a text file with the first and only line as AUTOSTART=NO in the neosys\neosys folder something like this.

notepad d:\neosys\neosys\NET.CFG

AUTOSTART=NO

== How do I troubleshoot email not received? ==

[[Troubleshooting email not received]]

== Fixing permissions errors while logging in ==

=== Problem ===

While logging in, you get the following error message:
[[Image:login_error_message.jpg]]

=== Solution ===

Add the internet guest account to the security list of the data folder with the default permission of list/read/write

Make sure the read&execute permission is removed
[[Image:permissions_on_data.jpg]]

== Fixing the 'HTTP Error 500.0 - Internal Server Error' while logging in on IE on a Windows Vista system ==

=== Problem ===
After configuring IIS on Windows Vista you will get this error message while trying to login into NEOSYS from Internet Explorer:

HTTP Error 500.0 - Internal Server Error
Description: This application is running in an application pool that uses the Integrated .NET
mode. This is the preferred mode for running ASP.NET applications on the current and future
version of IIS.

In this mode, the application using client impersonation configured with <identity
impersonate="true" /> may not behave correctly. Client impersonation is not available in early
ASP.NET request processing stages and may lead modules in those stages to execute with process
identity instead.

=== Solution ===

You can move the application to an application pool that uses the Classic .NET mode by using the following from a command line window (the window must be running as Administrator)

%systemroot%\system32\inetsrv\APPCMD.EXE set app "Default Web Site/neosys" /applicationPool:"Classic .NET AppPool"

Alternatively, you can use any other application pool on your system that is running in the Classic .NET mode. You can also use the IIS Administration tool to move this application to another application pool.

== Fixing the 'Class Not Registered' error message while logging in ==

=== Problem ===
While logging into NEOSYS, you will get a popup window giving an error message saying 'Class Not Registered - Server Error'. Typically, you will encounter this error with XP Pro IIS 5.1. As usual, there's way to solve it, however the root cause of this is still unknown.

Anyway, you will get the proper message in the event log:

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: W3SVC
Event Category: None
Event ID: 36
Description: The server failed to load application '/LM/W3SVC/1/ROOT/NEOSYS.
The error was 'Class not registered'.

=== Solution ===
So, what do you do ? This problem is related to Component Services, and when you open Component Services MMC, you will most probably get Error Code 8004E00F COM + was unable to talk to Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator. So, fix the COM+ services first by using the following KB from Microsoft (PRB: Cannot Expand "My Computer" in Component Services MMC Snap-In http://support.microsoft.com/?id=301919):

To resolve this problem, reinstall Component Services as follows: WARNING:
# Open registry editor, locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\COM3, and then delete this key.
# From the Start menu, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then click Add/Remove Programs.
# Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
# Proceed through the wizard, and accept all of the defaults (including IIS)
# Restart the computer.

If the above didn't solve it, and you still receive the 'Class not registered' error message, then you need to recreate the IIS packages in COM+, try

# Delete IIS related package in Component Services MMC
# IIS In-Process Applications
# IIS Out-of-Process Pooled Applications
# IIS Utilities

Next, if you still get the message, try following before re-install IIS if you can't find Distributed Transaction Coordinator in your Services console.

Launch command prompt and run the following command.
# msdtc -install
# net start msdtc

Then try re-install IIS.

This should solve the problem

== Enabling File Security option on Win XP Professional ==

=== Problem ===

In the Properties of any folders, the Security option does not show, hence you cannot modify the Read, Write options.

=== Solution ===

The solution would be to untick the 'Simple File Sharing' option from Tools > Folder Options > View:
[[Image:simplefilesharingoff.jpg]]

== %00%00%00%00 Errors ==

=== Error Message ===
<pre>
SYSTEM ERROR in line 162. Amount "-2698.00AED" or base "%00%00%00%00" has been wrongly generated
GET NEOSYS SUPPORT. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CORRECT MANUALLY
</pre>
=== Solution ===
%00%00%00%00 indicates an internal error that NEOSYS programmer has to fix. It is usually random and can be hard to replicate unlike almost all other NEOSYS errors which usually replicate reliably once you find the cause.

== B703 Errors ==

The B703 error is usually always related to something too big for NEOSYS to handle.

These are the only B errors that NEOSYS cant always permanently prevent by fixing the software.

== Internet Explorer Menu, View, Text Size doesnt change font size as expected ==

Cause: This is because the font size is now user definable in NEOSYS and View, Text Size does not override predefined font sizes.

Solution: If you are using Internet Explorer 7 you can scale the screen (including the font size using ctrl + and ctrl - keyboard shortcuts or the font size button on the bottom right hand side of the window.

You can adjust the font size on the User Details form when you login although this permanently applies to all forms not just the one that you are on.

== Uploaded jpg files fail to display in internet explorer ==

Some large jpg files > 2Mb cannot be viewed in internet explorer despite being viewable in image preview, ms paint and other viewers/editors. It is not an issue caused by uploading or downloading the files.

These file appear to have been created on Photoshop CS Macintosh and may be a special type of uncompressed jpg used for production quality files.

=== Partial solution ===
Before uploading the files, open them in some editor like MS Paint (right click, edit) and save them. However this results in a loss of quality. Perhaps there is some program that can convert these files to a format understandable by Internet explorer without any loss of quality.

== "This document is currently read only" ==

=== Cause ===
The user attempting to modify this document does not have the authorization key to do so.

=== Solution ===
Inform the user that he is not authorised to modify the document and give him the list of users within his company who are authorised to do so.

== "You have attempted to write to a read-only file" ==

=== Message ===

Error while writing data.
You have attempted to write to a read-only file.
- or -
access to the file has been denied by the operating system.
(operating system file name: "..\DATA\ADLINEC\ADAGENCY\REV76467.OV00012618")

=== Cause ===

It is almost certainly due to some third party backup or other maintenance software opening the NEOSYS database files when it shouldn't e.g. badly configured third party backup scheduled to backup NEOSYS while NEOSYS is still running. Note that the exact filename varies each time.

=== Solution ===

This can be a serious error that causes damaged files in NEOSYS especially if the filename ends in .OV. Use the usual methods of checking for damaged files e.g. do a backup which also looks for damaged files BUT DO NOT OVERWRITE THE LATEST BACKUP SINCE IT MAY BE REQUIRED for restoration. Then fix the damaged files using the usual methods e.g. by rebuilding/using
FIXFILE or restoring databases. For more info check [[Handling damaged files|Handling damaged files]]

=== Prevention ===

Remove the third party backup or other maintenance software or reschedule it to run at a time that NEOSYS is shutdown. Removal of software may require hunting through the windows process list for unexpected programs running.

==Troubleshooting Hung processes==

=== Investigating hung NEOSYS processes ===

To find out some information about what the hung processes are suffering from, do the following:

When no important clients working (eg first thing in the morning) then request a shutdown of all NEOSYS processes. This should will leave only the hung processes open.

Then find what NEOSYS files are open as follows:

run Sysinternal's "Process Explorer" (from Start, Programs or procexp.exe from desktop)

find, handle

d:\

submit the complete list (maybe more than one page) to support for records

[[Image:invhungprocess.jpg]]

=== [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Investigating_CPU_100.25_using_Windows_Task_Manager|Investigating CPU 100% using Windows Task Manager]] ===

===[[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Solving_server_CPU.25_is_100_and_all_users_are_extremely_slow.2Fstopped|Solving server CPU% is 100 and all users are extremely slow/stopped]] ===

=== Error message: "Fatal Error in Rev Restart"===

[[image:fatal.jpg]]

=== Error message: “Abort, Retry, Fail” ===
==== Problem ====
The following messages may come on older versions of NEOSYS if there is a problem with the USB media inserted for backup.

[[image:usberror.jpg]]

This results in “NEOSYS has not checked in” message on Nagios since it hangs during the monitoring update and locks all other processes from monitoring too.

General failure writing drive F
Abort, Retry, Fail?

Not read reading drive F
Abort, Retry, Fail?

Pressing A or F results in the problem happening again in about a minute, perhaps on a different process.

==== Solution ====
Temporary solution is to do “Safely remove hardware” from the windows notification area. Using “Eject” from My Computer will not work.

Permanent solution is to replace the defective USB memory stick. Sometime reformatting is sufficient.

Upgrading NEOSYS will probably stop the defective media from causing NEOSYS to hang but the USB will still be useless for backup.

=== Error message: "Read error in the operating system file" ===
==== Problem ====
Nagios reports a hung process and on the server a process has the following message popup.

Read error in the operating system file "..\DATA\PT0833\ACCOUNTS\REV20049
The file does not exist or the filename is
not valid for the operating system.

[[Image:readerrorintheoperatingsystemfile.png]]

==== Cause ====
Some non-NEOSYS program is directly accessing the NEOSYS database files while NEOSYS processes are running and using the files as well.

*Client IT staff using a backup program to perform backup without ensuring that NEOSYS processes are shutdown.
*A NEOSYS rsync process taking longer than expected due to new USB.

==== Solution ====
Kill the NEOSYS process eg with the X button. It is advisable NOT to let it run further while it cannot properly access one of its files.

==== Prevention ====
Remove the third party program or arrange for it to operate only while NEOSYS processes are shutdown eg from 3am-6am.

=== Error message: "Not enough string space - Out of Memory" ===

==== Message ====

‘RTP27’ Line 1. [B29] Not enough string space – Out of Memory.

Not enough memory to execute Debugger; current program aborted.
Press any key to continue

[[Image:out_of_memory.jpg]]

==== Cause ====
Unknown perhaps related to some large document or report

==== Solution ====
Ask users for any hanging transactions.
None other than closing and starting another process.

Also refer [[Troubleshooting NEOSYS Generally#Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003|Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003]]

=== Error message: B521 ===

[[Image:B521.jpg]]

Another user is currently updating indexes.
Waiting to make your updates...
If you interrupt this process,
you may have to rebuild all the indexes

B521 message is usually temporary and goes away by itself. If it does not then, as the text of the B521 message makes clear, some OTHER process is holding up the system, preventing the process with B521 message from continuing.

B521 message is a symptom of other problem so it does not itself have some one simple solution. You must find which other process or issue is causing the hold up and solve whatever problem is causing the hold up, which could be anything.

=== Error message: " NTVDM encountered a hard error " ===

The following error message appears:

[[Image:ntvdm.jpg]]

NTVDM encountered a hard error

==== Solution ====

This error is caused by missing or corrupt Windows system files (i.e. command.com, autoexec.nt and config.nt). The solution is to run a program called XP FIX which will reinstall these missing files. You can download it form http://www.visualtour.com/downloads/xp_fix.exe

Sometimes even after running the XP FIX program the error still appears. Then you need to copy all the files under C:/windows/repair to C:/windows/system32 and in the autoexec.nt and config.nt put REM before any lines there which don't have it.

====Possible fix for some NTVDM errors ====

===== Error message =====

[[Image:Ntvdm1.jpg]]

NTVDM has encountered a System error.
The system cannot find the file specified.
Choose close to terminate the application.

=====Possible solution=====

#Change the TEMP and TMP environment variables to C:\WINDOWS\TEMP. This should be for the user that runs NEOSYS processes - normally administrator.
#Close all NEOSYS processes
#Logout/Login again
#Restart NEOSYS processes

[[image:Ntvdmsoln.png]]

===== Check solution done properly =====

You can check that by typing ECHO %TEMP% and ECHO %TMP% at a console prompt after logging out and in again.

Note that windows will actually set the windows environment variables to something like C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\2 for some unknown reason.

<pre>
d:\hosts>ECHO %temp%
C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\2

d:\hosts>ECHO %tmp%
C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\2
</pre>

=== Error message: [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_the_.22Database_not_available.22_error_message|"Database not available" post login]] ===

=== Error message: [[Backup_and_Restore#Error_Message:_.22Cannot_backup.2Frestore_because_PROCESS1_PROCESS2_.28etc.29_is.2Fare_online.22_message|"Cannot backup/restore because PROCESS1 PROCESS2 (etc) is/are online"]] ===

=== How to kill hung NEOSYS processes ===

NOTE WELL: If you kill actively working NEOSYS processes (those which are "listening" and not hung/crashed) there is a reasonable chance that the database will be damaged and might need a restore losing possibly large amounts of work.

==== If NEOSYS processes are visible on the server desktop ====

Look for processes which don't have "Listening ..." on the last but one line. The times on the left hand side are frozen as at the time of the hang.

You can then click the X to kill the process and confirm that this is OK.

Example of a NEOSYS process that has hung due to a software error resulting in a failure to handle a complex query with a lot of brand codes.

[[Image:hungprocess.jpg]]

==== If NEOSYS processes are not visible on the server desktop ====

NEOSYS processes are most of the time visible on the desktop (i.e. the black dos windows) in Windows 2003 OS, except in the case that the process has been scheduled to start on computer restart and no one has logged into the server. In this case it would be running in the background. TODO

You can check if there are any hung processes from the NEOSYS Support Menu, List of Database Processes.
[[Image:databaseprocesseslist.jpg]]

In this case you should follow the below instructions - however all of them need to be done within 30 seconds of starting the first instruction to avoid inconvenience to the users. It is recommend that you keep relevant windows open before proceeding with the same:

#Shutdown NEOSYS by TEMPORARILY putting a file called GLOBAL.END in the parent directory of NEOSYS (if there is already a GLOBAL.END.TEMP file then rename it to GLOBAL.END). Leaving the file there would prevent NEOSYS from starting up again. Shutting down NEOSYS from the Support menu will not work because of the hung processes.
#Use Windows Task Manager to kill all the NTVDM processes - assuming that you have closed all the visible NEOSYS processes, then the NTVDM processes in the task manager would be the hung one.
#Delete GLOBAL.END or rename it to GLOBAL.END.TEMP
#Restart the processes back again. If there are many datasets then you need to restart them all well within the 30 seconds period.
#*Restarting a process is not noticed by users.

In case of Patsalides, where we have a thousand datasets which start "on demand" i.e. usually on login; all you need to do is start one dataset which will restart all the other datasets "on demand". If there is no response within 30 seconds then one of the running datasets will start it up so there appears to be a 30 second delay when you login to one of the thousand datasets the first time on any one day.

=== Temporary workarounds for hung NEOSYS processes ===
Until the error in the software is fixed users can often get their results by simplifying their requirements. For example select individual clients instead of selecting all the brands for a particular client. If the user has repeated his request (in forlorn hope that it would work finally) then the number of working NEOSYS processes will drop causing severe slowdown for other users and complete stop if all the NEOSYS processes hang.

== Fixing " You do not have sufficient privilege to access this file " ==

This error message may come up while NEOSYS processes start up at the same time.

Error message on:
16 bit MS-DOS Subsystem
D:\hosts\Client_nam\NEOSYS\AREV.EXE
C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\CONFIG.NT. Error Code 0x20. You do not have sufficient privilige to access this file. See your system administrator. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

Close the error message window and look for NEOSYS processes for that client. In case there is no process, start the NEOSYS process.

[[image:Errormsg.jpg]]

== Fixing 'NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (i.e. DOS window)'==

The NEOSYS process (cmd file) might open up in a notepad, instead of the usual black colour DOS window. This may happen if a JavaScript file is opened using a notepad. Please be very CAREFUL when accessing a .JS and .JSE file and double check that the default program remains wscript.exe. The issue can be fixed by the following:

# Check if Windows Script 5.6/5.7 is installed, IF NOT download and install it from the Microsoft Website.
# Go to Control Panel -> Default Programs -> Associate a file type or protocol with a program and then change the default program for .JS and .JSE to "Microsoft Windows Based Script Host"

== Fixing a 'Could not start' error on Scheduled Tasks in Windows Server 2000 SP4 ==

This error occurs because of a change that is made to the data that is stored in the credentials database when you install Windows 2000 SP4. Hence installing SP4 causes the the data that is stored in the credentials database to get converted to an SP4-compatible format. A registry key is configured to indicate that the data has been converted to the SP4 format.

Hence the Scheduled Tasks do not work sometimes. However the Scheduled Tasks works fine sometimes, but when you uninstall SP4, it does not work.

The best solution is to:

# Incase Scheduled Tasks do not work after installing SP4, then uninstall SP4 and it should be fine.
# Incase Scheduled Tasks works after installing SP4, and later after uninstalling SP4, it does not work, then install SP4 and it should be fine.

== Checking for server or NEOSYS crashes ==

#NEOSYS Maintenance Mode
#General Menu, Setup, Processes
#Select the dates and the option Detailed

This report shows a list of dates and times that NEOSYS logged in but did not log out properly.

Ignore the very latest entries since they represent the current NEOSYS processes. For example, if you have four NEOSYS processes running at the time that you get the report (including any in maintenance mode) then you can ignore the last four entries.

The date and time shows for each process that has failed to shutdown correctly when the process logged in. Versions of NEOSYS from January 2008 will also show the date and time that each crashed NEOSYS process was last active (heartbeat) so that the time of failure can be known.

If you see a bunch of NEOSYS processes all started up at around the same time but all failed to shutdown correctly then the cause will be a server failure - usually power failure.

Isolated one-off failures will be related to individual NEOSYS process crashes - most commonly caused by one of the following:

#NEOSYS hanging to due to software failure
#Manually exiting a NEOSYS process on the server either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del or clicking the "X" close icon/box and ignoring the warning
#Random server failures eg memory, disk etc

Example:

LOGIN 22/12/2007 06:02 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 06:00 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 06:01 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 06:02 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 08:52 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 08:52 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 08:53 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 8/1/2008 06:00 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 8/1/2008 06:01 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 8/1/2008 06:02 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 8/1/2008 13:51 NEOSYS SERVER NEOSYS Current user session

Interpretation:

The first four entries indicate that all four NEOSYS processes started at 06am were suddenly killed probably by power failure

The next four entries indicate that NEOSYS was restarted at around 08:52 and all these processes were AGAIN killed probably by power failure

The last four entries can be ignored because there were four NEOSYS processes running at the time that the report was generated

== Searching for word/number in the database files using maintenance mode ==

You can search for any word/number in the database files of NEOSYS, using the following command line:

F5
FIND FILENAME WORDWITHOUTANYSPACES

For eg:
FIND CURRENCIES 1.1
(here you are searching for the number 1.1 in the currencies file) You CANNOT search for a phrase ie include spaces like this.

Or you can also type:
FIND FILENAME <enter>
and it will ask you what you want do to search. You can enter an exact phrase with spaces.

Incase you do not know the filenames, you can enter the following command to see all the filenames in the system:

F5
LF

== Troubleshooting a Service Unavailable message on Internet Explorer when opening up NEOSYS ==

=== Error Message ===

The following error message appears in Internet Explorer when you try to open up NEOSYS:

Service Unavailable

=== Solution ===

Open the IIS Manager, right click Web Sites and select properties:
[[Image:serviceunavailable1.jpg]]

Switch to the Service Tab and tick the "Run WWW Service in IIS 5.0 Isolation Mode".
[[Image:serviceunavailable2.jpg]]

You will be asked for Restart of IIS. Click yes to restart IIS. If you are not asked just restart IIS.

== Inspecting IIS log files ==

At a windows command prompt:

c:
cd \Windows\system32\LogFiles\W3SVC1

or

%SystemDrive%
cd %SystemRoot%
cd system32\LogFiles\W3SVC1

then (substituting the ip number you are interested in)

find "192.168.1.55" *|sort>temp.log

Open temp.log in Excel and use Tools, Data, Text to Columns to split into columns using options "Delimited" and check split on Space.

Autowidth all columns by clicking on the top left box just outside the data to the left of column A and above column 1 then double click the column separator to the right of column "A"

Note that times and dates are in UTC/GMT so you have to add/subtract your timezone offset to get local times.

==Inspecting Database LOGS Folder==
LOGS folder in NEOSYS installation folder carries records of all changes done in the database which includes adding and removal of data.

Log file is an XML document which should be viewed in Notepad. Each XML document represents commands executed by each NEOSYS process started each day.

The NEOSYS log files e.g. 15123103.xml are created by the database processes. If the database is not available according to the website then no entry will appear in that log. The request will appear in the IIS website log but that log is nothing to do with database processes.

=== Understanding Log Entries ===
Inspecting and searching through Logs file allows NEOSYS staff to answer clients queries like "Who deleted schedule XXXX" etc.

While going through the log file you may come across a request "EXECUTE GENERAL GETTASKS NOT", this request is concerned with getting a list of tasks that the user is *not* allowed to do.

To read and understand the log file with more ease, copy the portion of the log file required to be analyzed into another text editor.

The text that appears as %FE, %FE1, %FE2, etc. are basically separators.
*First replace FE0%, FE1%, FE2%, etc. with a separator like "--". There can be occurrences of "%FE" along with some valuable information like "17290", so replacing "%FE1" in "%FE17290" would lead to loss of information.
*Then replace %FE with a bigger separator like "===".
*Replace other entries like %FCB and then %FC and so on with similar separators.
*In the end there may be few "FE" remaining, replace these with a separator like "-".
*The remaining "%" characters MUST be intelligently replaced with a separator like " " (space), because it can either be an actual "%" or it can be a residue from "%FE", "%FE1", etc.

Once replacing all these characters is done, the log file will be more easily readable and vital information will be clearer.

In the log file, you may find numbers like 17290, 17195, etc. These numbers denote dates selected or entered by the NEOSYS user. These are basically the number of days from 31st December 1967 till the date chosen by the user. For example, to convert 17290 to actual date, 31/12/1967 + 17290 = 3/5/2015. So the actual date is 3rd May 2015.

To convert these numbers to dates using maintenance mode, refer to the article [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Finding_out_when_and_by_whom_a_record_was_deleted Finding out when and by whom a record was deleted]

[[image:NEOSYS Logs.jpg]]

== Fixing NEOSYS processes that do not auto start / Recovering from incorrect advanced date or time ==
This solution is applicable to live database processes only. Test database processes don’t auto-start any other processes.

=== Problem explained ===
After starting up the 1st process, the rest of the processes don't start up.

=== Solution ===

The possible cause for this could be that the system date/time might have been changed - either manually or by the auto synchronization. Do the following checks in the sequence of order:

# Check for any *.$* files (* after dollar sign should show a number, the highest being the latest one). If it shows OK, then proceed ahead.
# Check for any .end files and delete it to rename to .end.temp
# Check the System Event Viewer log for any 520 or 577 error message (refer http://128.175.24.251/forensics/timechange.htm). Also check for any out of sequence / ahead of today date or time.
# In case of no 520 or 577 error message, go to Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Local Policies > Audit Policy > Audit Privilege use - make sure that Success and Failure are selected under this (this will ensure that future changes to the date/time are recorded in the System Log).
# In NEOSYS maintenance mode - F5 ED PROCESSES %UPDATE% - and see what it says, incase of any text (only text, not numbers) there, that means that for sure the system date has been changed. To fix this, exit the editor by pressing the ESCAPE key and then type DELETE PROCESSES "%UPDATE%"

== Fixing NEOSYS maintenance mode not starting up ==

Problem :- While trying to start maintenance mode, the maintenance window closes automatically within a split second.

Solution :- Delete the read-only file REVBOOT file (under d:/neosys/neosys folder). REVBOOT file is recreated when you start maintenance mode.

== Recognising and Solving Low Memory Problems ==

Quick Note: Installing a server class operating system on a workstation class computer with the intention of NEOSYS serving a heavy load is likely to cause problems with low memory.

Quick Fix: Disable *ALL* non-essential features in the power-on setup menu.

=== Effects ===

It is speculated but not proven that low memory may cause NEOSYS to fail by hanging, causing damaged files etc.

=== Checking ===

F5
MEMORY

On server class machines it should say somewhere around 350Kb to 370Kb Free

Some server class machines have around 330Kb and sometimes even less with no reported problems

The actual effect of low memory is supposed to make NEOSYS slower and perhaps cause hanging and damaged files however this has not been proven in an specific case so far.

On workstation class machines it may often say around 280Kb to 300Kb.

=== Cause ===

Although there is plenty of real memory in virtually all computers now, NEOSYS runs in the legacy 16 bit virtual memory space of a windows mode called NTVDM. This is limited to 1Mb plus 4Mb of EMS memory.

The 1Mb memory space is shared with:

#Various non-essential windows drivers which NEOSYS automatically disables them in autoexec.nt
#Various plug and play hardware device drivers for the various adapters in the computer like video, network adapters and various other items that NEOSYS is unable to disable.

In a server class computer the hardware device drivers are usually minimally present in the 1Mb base memory and do not therefore DOESNT a low memory situation for NEOSYS.

In workstation class computers there are often many hardware device drivers present in the 1Mb base memory and this DOES causes a low memory situation for NEOSYS.

When NEOSYS is installed on workstation class computers with XP there is usually not a heavy load expectation and therefore the low memory does not cause a problem.

If Windows Server OS is installed on a workstation class computer NEOSYS may well be expected to serve a heavy load with limited amounts of memory.

Workstation class computers: hardware drivers present and EMS is installed in low memory (0000-9FFF) causing low memory for NEOSYS and possible inability to

Server class computers: Usually few hardware drivers are present in high part (A000-FFFF) of the 1Mb base memory and EMS is able to occupy the high memory leaving the low part (0000-9FFFF) of the 1Mb memory free for NEOSYS. You can find out how much memory is available to NEOSYS and whether EMS is occuping high or low memory using the following sections.

=== Fixing Low Memory ===

Start, Run, notepad c:\windows\system32\autoexec.nt

Every time NEOSYS starts it tries to make some changes as follow:

#replaces all lines in C:/WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/AUTOEXEC.NT starting with 'lh ' to start with 'rem NEOSYS LH ' instead.
#changes the line in C:/WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/CONFIG.NT "files=..." to "FILES=200"

The replacement is case sensitive triggered on 'lh' and 'files' so if you manually edit the files and remove the rem or change the number of files and leave the LH and FILES in uppercase then NEOSYS will NOT make further changes. This allows you to do manual amendments to the files without NEOSYS overwriting them.

Check that NEOSYS has successfully disabled all the drivers in the lines starting with LH.

They should be commented out (prefixed) with REM or REM NEOSYS as follows.

After making changes reopen NEOSYS in maintenance mode to use the MEMORY and WHO commands again.

<pre>
REM Install CD ROM extensions
REM NEOSYS LH %SystemRoot%\system32\mscdexnt.exe

REM Install network redirector (load before dosx.exe)
REM NEOSYS LH %SystemRoot%\system32\redir

REM Install DPMI support
REM NEOSYS LH %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\DOSX
</pre>

Low Memory Issues in Windows 2003 server can be fixed using instructions mentioned at [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Enabling_EMS_memory_on_Window_2003 Fixing Low Memory in Windows 2003 Server]

=== Allowing DOS programs that require DOSX to run on the same computer as NEOSYS ===

The automatic commenting out DOSX by NEOSYS will prevent some other DOS-like programs from running. If NEOSYS is on dedicated server then there should be no other such programs to fail. However, if you must allow DOS-like programs to work as well as NEOSYS you can do the following configuration:

#leave or restore the original AUTOEXEC.NT and CONFIG.NT files where they are
#copy them to another folder eg neosys folder
#make the necessary REM changes there by hand
#right click the NEOSYS\NEOSYS\AREV.PIF and select properties
#change the location of the AUTOEXEC.NT and CONFIG.NT files in the following location

[[image:pifsettings.jpg]]

=== Checking EMS Memory Configuration ===

==== Inspection ====

F5
WHO

press the up arrow to get to the last part/page

===== Example of Typical Server EMS Memory =====
[[image:serveremm.jpg]]

===== Example of Typical Workstation EMS Memory =====
[[image:workstationemm.jpg]]

====Correction====

No easy way

Removal of hardware adapters designed for workstations instead of servers eg graphics cards and network cards.

Many of the devices may be located on the motherboard and not relocatable except possibly by BIOS configuration or special manufacturer information.

Use windows device manager, View: Resources by Connection, Open the Memory item and look for items between 000A0000 up to 000FFFFF that might give you a clue as to what hardware could be removed or reconfigured. Actually only 000C0000 to 000FFFFF is candidate for EMS memory since 000A000-000BFFFF is mandatory video memory in all systems.

[[image:devicemanager.jpg]]

== Fixing issue where NEOSYS processes do not start-up at all or start-up and close immediately ==

# Find if a file with the name global.end exists in the root directory of the NEOSYS installation. Eg D:\global.end . If you find such a file, rename it to global.end.temp - for more information on global.end and what it does refer to [[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Closing_NEOSYS_Services|Closing NEOSYS Services]]
# If the above didn't fix the problem and NEOSYS still does not start, do a windows search for the entire NEOSYS folder for *.end (i.e. any file ending with .end extension). You may find a (databasecode).end file in D:\neosys\neosys folder which is created by the NEOSYS program during backup at 1 am and later on removed automatically. In this case NEOSYS program might have crashed during the backup and left this file behind. (databasecode).end files prevent other other NEOSYS processes starting up on the database while exclusive processes (like backup) are being done.

In case the above didn't fix the problem then escalate to the programmer immediately.

=== Solving "Control Record" error in maintenance mode ===

If processes dont start after you log into maintenance mode and you get an error message
<pre>
╔════[FS152]═══════════════════════════════════════╗
║ The control record "RECORDS" ║
║ is too long to be saved. ║
║ The current record length is 65539 characters. ║
║ ║
║ < Press any key > ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
</pre>
[[File:Record1.jpg]]

'''1'''. Press space to get rid of the error message and you should then get this menu

[[File:Record2.jpg]]

'''2'''. Press F5 and run this command (case sensitive)

DICT DEFINITIONS

or Press Alt+S and run this command (case sensitive)

EXECUTE DICT DEFINITIONS

[[File:Record3.jpg]]

'''3'''. Press Shift+F3 to get the following message
<pre>
╔══[B202]══════════════════════════════════╗
║ "DEFINITIONS" has ║
║ "QUICKDEX" installed ║
║ ║
║ Do you want to remove "QUICKDEX"? [Y/N] ║
║ ║
║ <Y >║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════╝
</pre>

Do you want to remove "QUICKDEX"? [Y/N]

'''4'''. Press Enter to choose Yes.

[[File:Record4.jpg]]

'''5.'''Restart NEOSYS to see if the problem has been solved

== Solving “page not found” or "HTTP Error 404.3 - Not Found" when downloading some file types after uploading them successfully ==

A user gets this error message when trying to download a file that has been uploaded into NEOSYS.

Windows web server will not download file types that it is unaware of. You can enable the download of new file types.

===Adding Mime Types in Windows Sever 2003===

==== One by One ====

Follow below steps to enable the download of new file types one by one.

This process is tedious and error-prone if you have to add many types.

#Computer Management
#Services and Applications
#IIS properties
#Mime Types
#Add

==== Many ====

Window Server 2003 is unaware of all the Office 2007+ file types. To add all Office 2007+ file types at once do the following:

Stop IIS

iisreset /stop

Open the list of mime types

*Start, Run, notepad C:\WINDOWS\system32\inetsrv\MetaBase.xml

Search the file for “xlsx” and quit the editor if already inserted.

Otherwise, find the following line,

.xml,text/xml

and insert after that line the following lines. They do not need to be indented.

<pre>
.docm,application/vnd.ms-word.document.macroEnabled.12
.docx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
.dotm,application/vnd.ms-word.template.macroEnabled.12
.dotx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.template
.potm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.template.macroEnabled.12
.potx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.template
.ppam,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.addin.macroEnabled.12
.ppsm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.slideshow.macroEnabled.12
.ppsx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.slideshow
.pptm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.presentation.macroEnabled.12
.pptx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation
.xlam,application/vnd.ms-excel.addin.macroEnabled.12
.xlsb,application/vnd.ms-excel.sheet.binary.macroEnabled.12
.xlsm,application/vnd.ms-excel.sheet.macroEnabled.12
.xlsx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
.xltm,application/vnd.ms-excel.template.macroEnabled.12
.xltx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.template
</pre>

Save the file with File and Exit

Restart IIS

=== Adding Mime Types in Windows Server 2008===

"The page you are requesting cannot be served because of the extension configuration. If the page is a script, add a handler. If the file should be downloaded, add a MIME map."

[[file:mime2008.jpg]]

This message shows when a user attempts to download a file that has been uploaded into NEOSYS and the file extension is not configured in IIS server Mime Maps.

The user may also get the below error message:

"The resource you are looking for has been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable."

[[file:mimetype.jpg]]

Solution:

Add mime mappings in IIS. Use the GUI or the servers command line.
The exact solution depends on the file type. Example for .msg files:

C:\windows\System32\inetsrv\appcmd set config /section:staticContent /+"[fileExtension='.msg',mimeType='application/vnd.ms-outlook']"

The bit that varies in the above example is:

*.msg

*application/vnd.ms-outlook

Other mime types can be found on the web eg https://www.thoughtco.com/file-extensions-and-mime-types-3469109

Getting the 2nd part right enables the user to have the downloaded file open automatically in the right application for the file extension, but only if they have the right application installed.

== Handling Neosys Automatic Upgrade Error Messages ==

=== Error Message ===
We will receive an email from the NEOSYS client installation with the following message:

'''"UPGRADEN.EXE" does not have expected exe MZ signature'''

=== Solution ===
This message is a note that the NEOSYS automatic update procedure failed to download an upgrade file correctly.
This happens sometimes due to network issues but can be ignored because the file will be probably be correctly downloaded on the next automatic update check.

'''Note:''' This message is only informative to help with any problem with the automatic upgrade procedure and may be removed in a later version of neosys (currently Oct 2012)

== Testing https connection ==

The following procedure tests that the https server is operational and not blocked by firewall etc. It does not detect certificate errors.

From a windows command prompt use the following telnet command:
<pre>
telnet clientname.hosts.neosys.com 4430
</pre>
#4430 is the usual NEOSYS http port but replace it by whatever port is actually used for NEOSYS https on the system being tested. If there are multiple https installations on a particular server then different ports are probably used
#Replace clientname.hosts.neosys.com with the normal https login domain name of the client for whom we want to check the https service

Normal behavior is that it should open a black screen. Pressing Enter or any key returns the _ character. (Close the window using the [X] since there is no keyboard command to do so)

Hanging means that there is some connectivity issue (firewall/ip/server not running/https not installed etc)

== Troubleshooting "page not found" error while using https ==

'''Problem:'''

#The https service stops working and gives "Page not found" error.
#The https connection tests fine using telnet (see article above)

'''Solution:'''

#Reinstall https using the usual procedure (currently using selfssl)
#Email clients, requesting to reinstall the new security certificate by following the instructions for [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_and_Configuring_NEOSYS_Generally#Fixing_HTTPS_certificate_error_when_logging_in_from_an_external_link_using_IE8.2C_IE9_and_IE10 Internet Explorer] or [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Configuring_Safari_for_MAC_OS#Fixing_HTTPS_certificate_error_when_logging_in_using_an_external_link_using_MAC_Operating_System Safari] browser.

== Installing "QUICKDEX" on some files ==
"Quickdex" is a type of index that keeps an alphabetical order on small files. In some maintenance procedures you may be asked to "install Quickdex".

For example to add a quickdex to the UNITS file.

Maintenance mode press F5

DICT UNITS

<pre>
г=================Dictionary=================┐
│ │
│ File name UNITS │
│ Field name ......................... │
│ │
│ Dict type │
│ Single/Multi │
│ Data type │
│ Output format │
│ Validation patterns │
│ │
│ Position Key part │
│ │
│ Column heading │
│ │
│ │
│ Justification Display length │
│ Description │
│ │
│ │
L============================================-
</pre>

Press Shift+F3.

If it says "Do you want to remove ..." then Quickdex has already been installed and you should not continue. Press Esc to cancel, then Esc to quit.

<pre>
г=[B202]==================================┐
│ │
│ "UNITS" has │
│ "QUICKDEX" installed. │
│ │
│ Do you want to remove "QUICKDEX"? [Y/N] │
│ │
│<Y >│
L=========================================-
</pre>

Otherwise it should say "Do you want to install ...". Press Enter to accept.

<pre>
г=[W963]============================┐
│ │
│ Do you want to install a │
│ Quickdex or Rightdex index? [Q/R] │
│ │
│<Q >│
L===================================-
</pre>

It should then say "Do you want to update ...". Press Enter to accept.

<pre>
г=[W901]========================================┐
│ │
│ The "UNITS" file has had │
│ the "QUICKDEX" modifying filing system added. │
│ There are 0 records in "UNITS". │
│ │
│ Do you want to update "QUICKDEX"? [Y/N] │
│ │
│<Y >│
L===============================================-
</pre>

Afterwards it should return to the initial screen. Press Esc to quit.

== Solving NEOSYS smtp server failure ==
In case the neosys smtp server fails then we can just use the client's smtp server.

The following information is required from the client's smtp server configuration:
#hostname
#username
#password
#port no. (most likely = 25)

These details should be entered in the '''System Configuration File''':

[[image:SYSCFGFILE-SMTP.jpg]]

== Strange characters in maintenance mode ==
While in Maintenance mode, pressing keys on keyboard gives strange characters. Even Enter and Esc don’t work.

This problem has been seen using RDP on:
*Window Server 2003 Web Edition
*Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2

[[image:strangecharmaint.jpg]]

Solution:
#Go to Windows -> control panel
#Go to Regional and Language Options
#Click on Languages tab then click on Details [[image:lang1.jpg]] 
#Click on Settings Tab and Change default input language to English (United States) (or perhaps something else depending on rdp keyboard) [[image:lang2.jpg]] 

== NEOSYS processes do not start after Windows Update ==

===Problem===
Scheduled Task to start the NEOSYS processes fail on Servers with Windows 2008 after Windows update. Support will have to log into the server to start the processes manually
Message on the Schedule Task displays " The operation being requested was not performed because the user has not logged on to the network. The specified service does not exit ".

[[image:sti.jpg]]

===Solution===

For clients who cannot tolerate manual intervention after server reboots for any reason (e.g.need to start work before NEOSYS support is available or on NEOSYS support weekends), tick "highest privileges" and "run whether the user is logged in or not". This approach means that NEOSYS processes which are started by the windows scheduled task are not visible on the desktop and run hidden in the background and only listed in task manager, so avoid this approach on small clients (only few users). Avoiding this approach will also serve to act as an indicator of server restarts.

== Troubleshooting NEOSYS remote support port forwarding ==
This assumes that you have already “port forwarded” tcp port 19580 from your public internet router to the NEOSYS server.

=== Tst 0 - Check if SSH is working on the NEOSYS Server ===
Type in the following command in command prompt:
telnet 127.0.0.1 19580

IF ALL OK you will see the following:

[[image:tr-pf-03.jpg]]

=== Test 1 - Check if SSH is basically working on NEOSYS server over the LAN ===
You must know and use the NEOSYS SERVER LAN IP to do this.

telnet ???.???.???.??? 19580

[[image:tr-pf-01.jpg]]

If you have the WRONG SERVER LAN IP or NEOSYS server SSH is NOT working then it will hang for about 15 seconds and then say “Could not open connection to host …”

[[image:tr-pf-02.jpg]]

OR IF ALL OK you will see the following:

[[image:tr-pf-03.jpg]]

Press Enter to Exit

[[image:tr-pf-04.jpg]]

=== Test 2 - Check if can connect to the NEOSYS ssh from OUTSIDE the office ===
From any internet connected computer OUTSIDE the office test if you can connect to NEOSYS ssh service. You cannot do this test from inside the office.

You need to know the public ip or domain name of the router. If the router IP is dynamic then NEOSYS sets up dynamic name server so instead of a static ip number you will have a domain name something like clientxyz.redirectme.net.

Enter the command .. using YOUR public internet IP number (NOT the LAN ip number) or the dynamic domain name.

[[image:tr-pf-05.jpg]]

If everything is working OK you will get a black screen as follows. You will NOT get the “SSH-2.0-OpenSSH-4.7” banner” because NEOSYS ssh remote support is restricted to connect ONLY from LAN ip nos and NEOSYS office ip nos.

[[image:tr-pf-06.jpg]]

If you press Enter a few times then the cursor will just go down. You have click the [X] to close the window.

[[image:tr-pf-07.jpg]]

=== Test 3 - Check that the ssh connection from step 2 was rejected ===
On the NEOSYS server, check the Windows Application log to verify that an SSH connection was rejected.

The rejected ip number will be of the system outside the office that you performed the test from.

[[image:tr-pf-08.jpg]]

=== Sample Email: Solving port 19580 port forwarding issues ===

Some IT people know how to troubleshoot port forwarding issues but others are mostly just power users who can configure a home router. If the IT person is in the second category then it is quicker for NEOSYS support to offer to configure their router from the NEOSYS server using Teamviewer. Ideally NEOSYS should not be doing client IT work but if client IT allows NEOSYS access to their router then NEOSYS support can make a brief attempt to do the configuration. If the issue is still unresolved then request the client to get a professional IT network expert to do the job and inform them that NEOSYS will not be able to provide them any support till connectivity is fixed. Below is a letter advising a more skilled person to check connections using telnet which is a low level test.

You can usually determine the NEOSYS server LAN IP number from Nagios. If so then adjust the email text appropriately.
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

It is highly critical to fix the connectivity with the NEOSYS server because NEOSYS will not be able to provide any support until connectivity is fixed. User support issues will be delayed and remain unresolved if you do not fix this issue URGENTLY.

At the moment there is no connection from the internet via your router to the NEOSYS server and when we do the following, we get no connection.

telnet CLIENTNAME.hosts.neosys.com 19580

Normally it should connect and presents a black screen (saying SSH something after pressing Enter) which we close.

Please check that you can connect to the NEOSYS server internally by using the NEOSYS server IP address in the following command on any computer in your LAN.

telnet 192.168.?.? 19580

If you can connect to the NEOSYS server internally then please check port forwarding.

Additionally check the following:
1. Has your router IP changed? The IP we have is x.x.x.x
2. Has your server’s LAN IP changed and are you forwarding to the correct LAN IP?
3. Is the configuration really correct?
4. Check router logs for clues
5. Check NAT settings in the router

If you still cannot see the problem, do "telnet CLIENTNAME.hosts.neosys.com 19580" command from OUTSIDE your network to replicate the problem we are facing.

For troubleshooting steps refer Troubleshooting NEOSYS remote support
http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_remote_support_port_forwarding

If the problem still persists, please get a professional IT network expert to fix the issue.

Best Regards,

</pre>

=== Port mapping restricted by Source IP ===

On NEOSYS router, port forwarding has been setup only for specific source IP addresses. This means you will not be able to establish a TCP connection to NEOSYS server unless your server's outbound IP is mapped to the NEOSYS router. In other words unless the outbound i.e source IP/port of your server has been granted access on the NEOSYS router for all incoming connections you will not be able to make connections to NEOSYS server.

Outbound IP is used whenever a server tries to make a connection to another server outside its network. On the other hand a server receives all incoming connections using it's Inbound IP.

Therefore to setup ssh connection from a new Client server to NEOSYS server we need to grant access to its outbound IP on the NEOSYS router. See [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#If_Telnet_does_not_work | link]] to find the outbound server IP/ports of the server.

== Solving “Cant login … INVALID DATA PATH … permission denied” ==
=== Error Message ===

[[image:error-invalid-data-path-1.jpg]]

'''Error Text:'''

Cannot login because:
ERROR: INVALID DATA PATH
“D:\HOSTS\HOSTNAME\DATA\HOSTNAME\~8746345.1$” Permission Denied

=== Problem Explained ===
When installing NEOSYS on an existing “non-clean” Windows installation, the standard NEOSYS installation procedure can result in failure to login if the standard windows folder permissions have been modified.

=== Solution ===
The solution is to grant IIS permission to write in the \neosys\DATA folder and subfolders as follows:
#First add the IUSR_XXXXXXX user to the list of users. (XXXXXXXX is the server name and therefore varies per server) as follows:
#*Right Click on DATA Folder and click on Properties
#*Click on Security Tab -> Add -> Advanced
#*Click on Find Now, Select the IUSR_XXXXXXX user and Click on OK [[image:error-invalid-data-path-2.jpg]] [[image:error-invalid-data-path-3.jpg]] 
#Second, for the newly added IUSR (IIS user) change the permissions as follows:
#*'''REMOVE''' the read and execute permission (for security, IIS should be unable to execute things that it might have uploaded)
#*'''ADD''' the write permission [[image:error-invalid-data-path-4.jpg]] 
#Login should now be possible.

== NEOSYS process window displays message "Upgrade Downloading" ==

[[image:upgradedownloading.jpg]]

=== Problem Explained ===
NEOSYS thinks it sees an new neosys2.exe upgrade file on the location http://www.neosys.com/support/neosys2.exe which is accessed by http so attempts to download it.

Http proxies and various internet issues can cause incorrect info to be sent and there is actually no upgrade available. In this case, eventually it realizes that it cant find an appropriate and it stops.

You don’t have to worry about this case.

==Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003 ==

Normally EMS memory is provided by Windows 2003 but this can vary depending on the server hardware/bios configuration

If you get the following messages on Windows 2003

#Backup File Size is 0
#RTP27. [B28] Not enough String Space – Out of Memory

=== Cause ===

On servers that had no problem previously, the problem is caused by a windows update in Oct 2012 that disables standard Windows EMS memory.

The patch is issued by Microsoft on 9 Oct 2012 but the installation date in the server depends on when the update was actually installed.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2724197

=== Solution 1 - maximum performance ===

To re-enable standard windows EMS on older slower servers or servers where NEOSYS performance must be maximized.

The following link contains instructions how to remove the offending windows update

It also shows how to prevent it being reinstalled automatically by Windows.

http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/emsxp.html

Don't forget to prevent it being reinstalled again automatically

=== Solution 2 – ease of installation ===

This option can also be used if Window 2003 is unable to provide EMS memory for example when the server hardware/bios configuration prevents it.

Install EMSMAGIC in the same way as for Windows server 2008

EMSMAGIC has higher memory consumption and makes NEOSYS processes slower so it is better to use Solution 1 above if NEOSYS performance is an issue.

== Fixing no output file in XXX YYY Issue ==

===Error Message===

[[File:Nooutputfile.jpg]]

===Problem Explained===

The message “No output file in XXX YYY” can appear at several instances in NEOSYS, most often when generating reports or documents.

This problem is usually caused by software error and it indicates that the NEOSYS server responded without any output and without any message.

===Solution===
1) Find proof to check if the data required for the report actually exists. This way we can eliminate lack of data as a cause for this error.

2) Check to see if a similar issue has been fixed in latest version of NEOSYS.

3) Document HOW and WHERE the problem can be duplicated by NEOSYS programmers to identify and correct the software.

An example of this error can be found at [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Media_System#Error:_No_output_file_in_MEDIAPROXY_SCHEDULEPRINT|No Output File in MEDIAPROXY SCHEDULEPRINT]]

== Troubleshooting Internet Connections ==

===Cannot Connect===

While investigating as to why users are not able to access NEOSYS or http://www.neosys.com/ , you can check which ISP the connection issue is on.

<pre>whois ipno</pre>

Inspect very carefully to get clues as to which ISP and which AREA of the ISP the problematic ip numbers are and which do NOT have problems

Doing tracert on windows command prompt on the user's computer may help locate which point on the route between the user and the server is blocking access

tracert xxxx.hosts.neosys.com

where "xxxx" is the client name. In this example, the output will be something like shown below:

<pre>Tracing route to xxxx.hosts.neosys.com [37.48.81.101]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 2 ms 1 ms 3 ms ukr.sb.com [192.168.2.1]
2 10 ms 10 ms 11 ms losubs.subs.bng2.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.21]
3 12 ms 10 ms 67 ms ae1-182.cr1.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.86.80]
4 10 ms 11 ms 11 ms ae0-0.br2.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.42]
5 13 ms 14 ms 14 ms peering.thn.lon.leaseweb.net [195.66.225.56]
6 23 ms 23 ms 24 ms te-0-10-0-19.bb01.ams-01.leaseweb.net [31.31.32.71]
7 22 ms 22 ms 23 ms xe-11-2-3.br01.ams-01.nl.leaseweb.net [31.31.38.89]
8 25 ms 28 ms 26 ms be-10.cr02.ams-01.nl.leaseweb.net [81.17.34.21]
9 24 ms 20 ms 25 ms po-1002.ce02.ams-01.nl.leaseweb.net [37.48.95.195]
10 24 ms 22 ms 22 ms nl10r.neosys.com [37.48.81.101]</pre>

=== Troubleshooting TCP/IP Connections ===

====Telnet check====
<pre> telnet <hostname> 19580 </pre>

====If Telnet does not work====
In case telnet does not work, login to the remote host server to investigate the issue. Run the following command simultaneously while doing Telnet from client server to the remote host to check if the TCP packets are reaching the Remote server.
<pre>
tcpdump -v 'src host client-domain-name/ip'
tcpdump -v portno
</pre>

To check if packets are sent from the client server to the remote host, you can run the following command simultaneously while trying to ssh to the remote server.
<pre>netstat -an </pre>

You can also check if the outbound ports are open from which you are trying to establish the TCP connection to the remote server.
<pre>telnet portquiz.net portno </pre>

The outbound IP addresses at times can be different from the public IP of the Client server so be sure that the public IP of the client server is the same as its source IP (which represents an incoming connection from Client to Remote server). One way to find the source IP of the Client server is sending an email from Client server to "support@neosys.com". On receiving the email in Thunderbird, select the email and press Ctrl+u. A new window Opens giving full details of the email received. The third "Received :from" gives the IP of the source.

=== Troubleshooting DNS failure ===

NEOSYS clients routers are usually configured to use their ISP DNS service and the ISP DNS service is supposed to contact one of NEOSYS's DNS servers to convert server names like hosts.neosys.com into IP numbers. Misconfiguration of clients routers or problems in the ISP DNS server may cause CANNOT CONNECT problems. Often the connect fails quickly and immediately since if a name cannot be converted to an ip number then the connection cannot even be attempted and therefore there is little or no timeout to wait through.

NEOSYS.COM name servers are listed publically and obtained by whois command.

whois neosys.com

Name Server: DNS1.EASYDNS.COM
Name Server: DNS2.EASYDNS.NET
Name Server: DNS3.EASYDNS.ORG
Name Server: NS12.ZONEEDIT.COM
Name Server: NS18.ZONEEDIT.COM

In order to contact NEOSYS DNS servers the ISP's have to use a global DNS to obtain the ip addresses of NEOSYS DNS servers given the host names of NEOSYS DNS servers given in the whois info

Here is an example of DU testing NEOSYS DNS servers. The NEOSYS DNS server ip addresses are listed in the Destination column.

[[File:internet.png]]

If one DNS server is down or unreachable REGARDLESS OF REASON, the ISP is supposed to use the other DNS servers. It is impossible for all NEOSYS DNS servers to be unreachable except in gross disconnection from the internet of the ISP since it is effectively impossible that all NEOSYS DNS servers which are carefully spread around the internet, to be unreachable.

In the above test one of the NEOSYS DNS servers is unreachable but all the others are reachable therefore DU should have no problem providing DNS service to its clients.

ISP are often worse at providing DNS server than the famous GOOGLE DNS servers, so re configuring client router to use GOOGLE DNS servers is a way to prove that the problem lies with the ISP's DNS service

=== Additional test for troubleshooting problems with uploading ===

====Verifying that upload.dll can run====

This isnt a complete test of everything. It just checks if the upload program can be run by the web server. It doesnt check if uploads work or the image directory is correctly configured with the right permissions and uploads can actually be done.

===== Error Message =====

... to be added when discovered ...

===== Test =====

Test HTTP if accessible by LAN; Test HTTPS is accessible by Internet; Test both if both are available.

On the server type the following into a browser

LAN/HTTP:

http://localhost/neosys/neosys/dll/upload.dll

WAN/HTTPS:

https://localhost:9999/neosys/dll/upload.dll

===== Expected Result =====

<pre>
Upload Error. !
Please call me from a form !!!
The first param must be Filename= name of the uploaded file, TYPE=TEXT
The second param must be Filedata= uploaded file, TYPE=FILE
The third param is optional PathData= path to uploaded file, default c:\temp\, TYPE=HIDDEN
The forth param is optional RedirectPage= name of asp who receive the results, TYPE=HIDDEN
Add others params at the end with INPUT tag.
</pre>

[[image:Uerror.jpg]]

== Patching a NEOSYS program ==

The patch provided will tell you the program name and contain either a whole replacement program text or just some changed lines which you will have to find and edit.

You will need to know the file name which may be provided along with the patch or you can find it using the following code in maintenance mode:

ED VOC programname

ED VOC XYZ tells you what program name is executed and from what file, when you type the command XYZ. Normally the program name is the same as the command.

The file name will normally be BP for agency programs, GBP for general programs or ABP for finance programs.

NEOSYS programs are stored in files just like records of ordinary database files. You can edit either with "ED filename programname" or "TED filename programname". TED is better for editing source code as it opens the the code in a text editor, whereas ED opens the code in the same maintenance window.

===Installing patch in live database===

In the rare case that the programmer asks Support to install the patch directly on LIVE dataset, start by typing the following command in maintenance mode before commencing:

UTIL

Follow the instructions mentioned in the [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Installing_patch_in_test_database| next section]], but skip the instruction to TEST the patched program in test dataset.

The instruction to INSTALL the patched program MUST be followed BEFORE testing the patch in live dataset. Otherwise the changes will not get reflected.

===Installing patch in test database===

1. EDIT the program source code.

TED programname

If you have to edit or patch a program that starts with the word DICT. and the remainder of the program name is the same as a real file name e.g DICT.INVOICES, then you cannot omit and must type the actual source file name - in this case, "BP".

Otherwise, if you just type "ED DICT.INVOICES" hoping to edit the DICT.INVOICES program in the BP file, then you will end up editing the dictionary of INVOICES, which is not what you are trying to do. Use the command below to edit such type of programs:

ED BP DICT.INVOICES

Next either cut and paste to modify the whole program or edit the program text according to the patch/instructions provided.

Save and close the program source code.

2. COMPILE it. If you get errors then check your edits are correct and recompile otherwise return the patch to programming.

COMPILE filename programname

3. TEST it. Ensure the patched program now works in TEST database.

4. INSTALL the patched program in the LIVE database by typing one of the following command depending on the filename that you patched.

COPYGBP programname
COPYABP programname
COPYBP programname

== Patching NEOSYS dictionaries ==

A patch to a dictionary applies immediately when you save it and to all datasets regardless of which dataset you work in.

You need:

#the file name eg INVOICES
#the item name (column name) eg DATETIME_AMENDED
#10 lines of data similar to the example below.
#if the item is an S type dictionary, then either the whole, or only the amended part, of the source code of the dictionary.

ED DICT INVOICES DATETIME_AMENDED

TYPE everything below exactly on the corresponding line numbers except lines 3 and very commonly line 8, as these lines may contain multiple values separated by a superscript 2 (²). Line numbers in the below screen are only for illustrative purpose.

<pre>
╔═══════════════════════════┤DATETIME_AMENDED├═════════════════════════╗
1║S ║
2║ ║
3║DateTime²Amended ║
4║S ║
5║ ║
6║ ║
7║[DATETIME] ║
8║updated=@record<28>²created=@record<31,1>²@ans=''²if created and num(c║..actually this line continues off the screen to the right
9║R ║
10║10 ║
11║ ║
: :
: :
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
</pre>

Press Ctrl+E on lines 3 or 8 in order to enter sub-lines.

The multiple values (on line 3 and 8) separated by a superscript 2 (²) automatically appear when sub-lines are entered.

For line 8, you will need to cut and paste the lines of below program to the Ctrl+E screen:

<pre>
╔═════════════════════════┤Field 8 of DATETIME_AMENDED├════════════════════════╗
║updated=@record<28> ║
║created=@record<31,1> ║
║@ans='' ║
║if created and num(created) and num(updated) then ║
║ createdsecs=field(created,'.',1)*86400+field(created,'.',2) ║
║ updatedsecs=field(updated,'.',1)*86400+field(updated,'.',2) ║
║ if abs(updatedsecs-createdsecs)>120 then ║
║ @ans=updated ║
║ end ║
║ end ║
║ ║
║ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
</pre>

After you save and exit the Ctrl+E screen, you will see the sublines separated by superscript 2 appear in one line in the ED screen.

Similarly, for line 3, you need to enter its sub-lines in Ctrl+E screen.

To ensure indenting remains nice (although indenting is not important and can be messed up without causing any problem) then copy the double bars at the front of the lines (if available, otherwise insert some char in position 1 of each line perhaps) and then remove them after you paste ... or just edit until the indenting is correct if you really want to.

Press F9 and/or Esc to save and/or exit from Ctrl+E screen

Press F9 and/or Esc to save and/or exit from ED

== Searching for strings in files using grep ==

Use the grep command in Cygwin terminal to search files especially when you are investigating the NEOSYS Logs.

Use the following command to search for a string in any file or directory

grep string path/file

grep -i -a string path/file (use -i to ignore upper/lower case characters in the string and -a to treat the file type=text and display the matching text)

where "string" is the text to be searched, "file" is the type of file you are looking for and "path" is the path of the directory you are looking into. Use "" when having spaces in your string.

e.g when searching in NEOSYS logs the year/month/date is specified in the file name, so if you are looking for a file in year 2016 in the month of Feb, use

grep XXXX path/1602*

In the above command *(asterisk) is a wildcard used to search all files whose file names with "1602".

Sample below of grep command and its output where it is searching for "Dior" in 2016 march logs.
$ grep -i Dior /cygdrive/d/hosts/test/logs/test/2016/1603*
Binary file path/16030301.XML matches

Using *(asterisk), a string can also be searched globally across all installations on the server.

Below example will search all files whose file names begin with "NEOS00", in all client installation folders inside the "hosts" folder, for log entries containing text "5th June 2016".
$ grep -a "2016 JUN 05" /cygdrive/d/hosts/*/logs/NEOS00*|less

Use the commands below to display the search string and required number of lines that come either after or before the search string, depending on what you enter in your command. It helps to get more information from files especially when you only know few words and the other information around the searched string also gets displayed.

grep -A NUM string file (NUM lines after the searched text get displayed)

grep -B NUM string file (NUM lines before the searched text get displayed)

See the examples and their respective outputs below, (Note: there is no space between -A and NUM):

$ grep -A2 -i "Dior" 1603*
Binary file 16022101.XML matches
Binary file 16022901.XML matches

$ grep -A2 -a "Dior" 1603*
16030301.XML:<DataOut>DIOR%FEPOI%FE'''Dior''' Poison%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEDubai, UAE%FE%FE%FE%FEN%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEN%FE%FE%FE17584.43592%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE1%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FENEOSYS%FE17584.43592%FE94_200_49_146%FE1%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEpaulson</DataOut></Message>
--
16030301.XML:<DataOut>DIOR%FEPOI%FE'''Dior''' Poison%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEDubai, UAE%FE%FE%FE%FEN%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEN%FE%FE%FE17584.43592%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE1%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FENEOSYS%FE17584.43592%FE94_200_49_146%FE1%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEpaulson</DataOut></Message>

Some more examples of grep below:

Use the command below when searching for more than one string 
grep -a string1 *|grep string2

Use the below command to omit the lines containing specific strings in your search:
grep -B2 -a Processing 160329*|grep -v DataIn|grep -v Message|less 
where user wants the output to show lines containing string "Processing" and exclude lines containing string "DataIn" and "Message", |less displays the output in a new screen.

Use "zgrep" command to search in zip files:
zgrep string1 /path |zgrep string2 |less

== Managing the queue of reports being delivered by email ==

In maintenance mode.

=== Listing ===

LIST DOCUMENTS WITH SCHEDULED_ONCE

=== Clearing ===

SELECT DOCUMENTS WITH SCHEDULED_ONCE
DELETE DOCUMENTS

== Removing non essential files on win3 ==
Non essential files getting accumulated over time can take up a lot of space on the hard disk resulting in low free space on the server. NEOSYS Client Monitoring system alerts about low free space for win3 server as it monitors the Disk Space of both C & D drive. To fix it Support team will have to create free space on the server.

Making space on the server is time taking and requires patience as you need to go through all the files/folders looking for non-essential files. Do not make any assumptions for not looking into a folder.

Non-essential files are the ones without which we can work properly and will continue to work in future.

Support team should keep in mind the below points while creating space on the server:

#Look into the drive for which nagios is alerting and dig into all the folders.
#Right click Folder > Properties > Size on Disk, to find out the size of a folder.
#On d drive majority of the space is taken by d:\hosts and d:\data.bak folder and on c drive it's taken up by the important windows/cygwin folders.
#The space distribution will give you an idea about which folders to target that can free up a good amount of space on clean up.
#Following are the non essential files/folders which can create a lot of space on removal. Use your intelligence and presence of mind while deleting files/folders because once deleted the information is lost forever.
#*Folder: d\data.bak. Check for stopped clients' backups and delete if present.
#*Folder: d\hosts\clientname\logs (where clientname stands for all the client folders in hosts) Look into logs prior to the current year and the year before and delete them. In the recent versions of NEOSYS, log folders are compressed and take up a lot less space on disk than presented as their size. You can see the difference in their properties.
#*Folder: d\hosts\clientname\downloads. This folder might contain lot of old versions of neosys.exe files. Keep the two latest versions and delete the rest. Do this for all client folders except test installation because Support maintains all the old versions of neosys.exe in it.
#*Folder: d\hosts\old. In this folder, delete all client folders that are older than 1 year.
#*Apart from above folders look for random backup.zip files present in c/d drive. This happens when Support restores data from a zip file and forgets to delete it after the restore.

== Troubleshooting Scripting Disabled error message on browser ==
Error: NEOSYS requires You have
1. Internet Explorer 6+
or Safari 3.1+
or Firefox 3+
or Chrome 8.0+
2. Scripting enabled Scripting disabled
3. Cookies enabled Unknown

[[image:IEtrb1.jpg]]

Follow steps in given link to fix Script disable error on browsers : https://wmich.edu/helpdesk/internetenablecookies

==[[Configuring_IIS#Solving_.22Service_unavailable.22_error_due_to_disabled_application_pool | Handling 'Service Unavailable' on browser due to IIS issue]]==

== Searching for users with a particular email address ==

In maintenance mode

FIND USERS XX@YY.COM

Installing NEOSYS

2017-06-13T10:03:01Z

Priyanka:

[[Technical / Hardware requirements]]

[[Preliminary Check-list and other Misc items]]

[[Setting up TCP/IP filtering|Setting up TCP/IP filtering (for Windows Server 2003)]]

[[Setting up Windows Firewall|Setting up Windows Firewall (for Windows Server 2008)]]

[[Setting up and using remote support]]

[[Installing NEOSYS Service]]

[[Configuring Antivirus for NEOSYS]]

[[Configuring IIS]]

[[Setting up Host Name]]

[[Setting up HTTPS]]

[[Benchmarking NEOSYS]]

[[Installing IE7 & IE8 Download Blocker]] ** not required for Windows 2008

[[Handling backup in Virtual Server]]

[[Backup and Restore#Configuring NEOSYS automated backup|Configuring NEOSYS automated backup]]

[[Installing EMS Magic]]

[[Establishing Emergency Support Procedures]]

[[Setting up for non-latin characters]]

[[Configuring and Administering Multi-site Installations]]

[[Installing on Windows 7]]

[[Restricting usage of NEOSYS to licence period]]

[[Configuring NEOSYS for various language character sets]]

[[Configuring NEOSYS to display local time]]

[http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_monitoring_in_Nagios#Adding_a_new_NEOSYS_installation_.28new_client.29 Setting up Monitoring from Nagios]

[[Implementing NEOSYS]]

Installing NEOSYS Service

2017-06-13T07:32:09Z

Priyanka: /* If NEOSYS is installed on NEOSYS Server (win3) */

= INSTALLING NEOSYS SERVICE =

Reference to X:\ in the notes below denotes the actual drive letter and needs to be replaced (eg D:\)

== Main installation: ==

Make sure NOT TO COPY an existing NEOSYS installation to another location and ONLY do a
completely new install with a fresh database, because copying a folder will copy a variety of
hidden configurations.

=== Installing NEOSYS on partitions ===
Good server management practice is to have separate partitions for operating system (C:) and data partitions (D:)

In the case of operating system reinstallation (which causes the loss of the C: partition) if NEOSYS programs and data were installed on D: can be preserved. If there is only one partition then NEOSYS programs and data will have to be backed up and restored.

==== Multiple Partitions ====
NEOSYS MUST be installed on a different partition rather than the C drive for reasons already explained above (eg. D drive)

==== Single Partition ====
If there is only one partition then you have to inform the client to take the effort to reinstall the operating system or using third party repartitioning tools to create separate partitions.

=== Downloading and running installation files ===
# http://www.neosys.com/support/neosys.exe ... and unzip/install to X:\neosys (or to X:\hosts\client for multi-installation on one server where "client" is the client folder name which MUST be same as the main database code planned to be used, to reduce the number of codes that are in use. This folder name MUST also be in lower case to maintain consistency and be able to see deviations easily.)
# http://www.neosys.com/support/neosys2.exe ... and install same as previous step.

=== Creating shortcuts ===
In x:\neosys (or x:\hosts\client), make a shortcut called ‘Maintenance’ and link it to

x:\neosys\neosys\adagency.bat (for Adagency install)

or

x:\neosys\neosys\accounts.bat (for Accounts install)

=== Activating NEOSYS using authorization number ===

Start NEOSYS Maintenance, select Initial Backup and it will give a “Computer Number” and ask for an “Authorisation No”

Send the computer number to NEOSYS admin, email: admin@neosys.com to get the authorisation no. Do not leave the authorisation no. promt page open for a long time. This will cause the CPU usage to go to 100%.

If you cannot get the authorisation number immediately then you can close NEOSYS and when you reopen NEOSYS it will still give the same computer number and accept the same authorisation number.

=== Installing initial Database ===
For standard NEOSYS Installations, copy the BACKUP.ZIP file from WIN3 server (D:\DATA.BAK\STARTUP1\"Day of week") and place it on the D drive of the server where we wish to install NEOSYS. You may choose any other drive also but make sure that this file exists in the root folder e.g. D:\BACKUP.ZIP
 

Follow the steps below:
#Click on the Maintenance icon.
#Select BASIC DATA SET and type in the NEOSYS username and password. (If the system does not prompt for a username and password,then go to Quit > Quit to next user and type the same in. If you do not enter with a username and password then NEOSYS will not allow you to restore the database). The first time when you enter maintenance you will get a command box (like when you do F5). If you do not get a command box, hit the F5 key and get it on the screen and hit ESC after you get it.
#Now restore the BACKUP.ZIP (STARTUP DATABASE), to do so go to General > Backup & Data Management, select (the 4th option) Restore from disk or diskette. select D drive (or whichever drive you put the backup.zip file in) and follow the prompts ahead.
#On every successful restore or creation of dataset, system will give you a message to switch to new database always '''say NO''' to this,because the switch to database option brings you back to the BASIC DATA SET. Hence press the ESC button, type EXIT on the F5 prompt.
#Now startup maintenance again and you will find a new database "STARTUP DATABASE" select it and login with NEOSYS username and password. Once you enter you may find a prompt "TASK ADDED" follow the prompt and continue.
#After you have logged in, go to General > Backup & Data Management > Delete a dataset and select the "BASIC DATASET" to delete, to confirm the delete system will ask you to enter the dataset code. Enter the code and delete the basis dataset.
#Now create a new dataset for the client, go to general > Backup & Data management> Create a new dataset, select (6th option) and follow the instruction on how to setup database code from the following link [[Installing_NEOSYS_Service#Assigning_database_codes|Assigning database codes]]
#Once the client dataset is created,login to the clientdataset and follow the steps in above point6 and delete the STARTUP DATABASE. (while logging in to the client dataset, it asks " This database has been copied or the database name or code has been changed. Is this going to be a unique new master database?" select first option YES - Going to be a new independent database.
#To check the list of dataset on the computer, go to go to General > Backup & Data Management > See a list of dataset in the computer(8th option).

Note:
#Sometimes it may tell you that you cannot use FILEMAN as you are logged in as MASTER. Hence you need to hit the ESC key, go to General > Backup & Data Management > Restore from disk or diskette, select C drive or whichever drive you put the backup.zip file in and follow the prompts ahead.
#While doing the step no.2 if you get a message as below just hit enter or space and continue.

[[File:Message while installing.jpg]]

==== Assigning database codes ====
It is necessary to make sure that the following guidelines are met while creating database codes:

#The code MUST be within 8 letters
#The client MUST be instantly recognisable or as recognisable as possible from the main database code
#The test database code MUST END with the word "TEST" and it is not necessary that it must be recognisable. The system needs to know if a database is "test" or not. Otherwise test documents like invoices appear like real live documents potentially causing serious confusion. Many other internal problems will also occur.
#The test database code MUST sort alphabetically after the main database code at login. Prefixing the code with the letter X may achieve this.

Examples of wrong and right database codes:

ALTO VISTA ADVERTISING
ALTOVIST and XALTTEST - right AVISTA and AVTEST - wrong (AVISTA not "as recognisable as possible")

CONTEXTURE ASSOCIATES
CONTEXT and XCONTEST - right CONTEXT and CONTEST - wrong (CONTEST alphabetically first in the login screen database drop down)

=== Creating a .CMD file to start NEOSYS Service: ===
(Note: change x to the correct drive you have installed NEOSYS on)

In x:\neosys create a file start MAIN-DATABASE-CODE.cmd (eg start ALTOVIST.cmd)

x:
cd \neosys\neosys
Start neosys.js /system ADAGENCY /database databasecode

(where databasecode is the code of the database)
(also you need to replace ADAGENCY with ACCOUNTS if this is an accounts only installation)

In x:\neosys create a file start TEST-DATABASE-CODE.cmd (eg start AVTEST.cmd)

x:
cd \neosys\neosys
Start neosys.js /system ADAGENCY /database testdatabasecode

(where testdatabasecode is the code of the testdatabase)
(also you need to replace ADAGENCY with ACCOUNTS if this is an accounts only installation)

TEST THAT THE FILES YOU HAVE CREATED CAN RUN SUCCESSFULLY

ENSURE THAT YOU DO NOT CLOSE THE PROCESS WINDOWS BY USING THE X BUTTON. HIT ESC 3 TIMES ON EACH WINDOW.

=== Differences for Pure Accounts Module Only Installations ===
Accounts module only has a slightly different startup command. In the above, replace '''/system adagency''' with '''/system accounts''' to startup a service and use '''accounts.bat''' instead of '''adagency.bat''' to start up maintenance. Other than that, accounts module setup is identical. Pure accounts clients are very few and tend not to upgrade often so care needs to be taken when upgrading. Upgrade is done using the usual neosys2.exe file.

=== Setting up daily scheduled tasks ===
NEOSYS is normally configured to backup and shutdown at 1 am. All the processes shutdown except one which performs the backup and then closes.

==== If NEOSYS is installed on NEOSYS Server (win3) ====
Edit d:/hosts/STARTXXX.cmd (XXX could be MEA, USA etc. depending on the time zones of these clients) to configure the client's live and test processes to start up automatically. As of 2016 TEST process is set to start first followed by LIVE processes for all clients in STARTXXX.cmd

The number of live and test processes configured to startup in STARTMEA.cmd MUST be exactly the same as the number of processes configured in the client's system configuration file. Otherwise, if a client's required number of processes are not started up by STARTMEA.cmd, then that client's remaining required processes will automatically startup after a few minutes and may interfere with startups of other clients' processes, thus ruining the desired sequential startup of client processes.

==== If NEOSYS is installed on client server ====
A Windows Scheduled Task MUST be created to startup NEOSYS every day typically at 6 am. It can startup one live database process and that process will startup all other required database processes. Test databases will not startup other database processes automatically unless configured to do so from the System Configuration File.

On Windows 2008 Standard, untick highest privileges and untick run whether user is logged in or not. This means that NEOSYS processes will be visible on the desktop when you login BUT the windows scheduled tasks to startup NEOSYS will FAIL to run if the server is rebooted for any reason including power failure or when the monthly Windows Update procedure reboots.

Alternatively, for clients which cannot tolerate manual intervention after server reboots for any reason (e.g.need to start work before NEOSYS support is available or on NEOSYS support weekends), tick "highest privileges" and "run whether the user is logged in or not". This approach means that NEOSYS processes which are started by the windows scheduled task are not visible on the desktop and run hidden in the background and only listed in task manager, so avoid this approach on small clients (only a few users). Windows Update is a common cause for server reboots so configure Updates to install at 3 AM on any day between Sunday to Wednesday since on these days Support will be available to manually restart NEOSYS processes after a server restart.

Create a task to start one Main database process at 6:00 am daily.

[[File:start1.jpg]] 
[[File:start2.jpg]] 
[[File:start3.jpg]] 

(For multiple sites on the same computer put the second site starting five minutes later at 6:05 am, the third site starting five minutes earlier at 5:55 am, the fourth site starting five minutes later at 6:10 am and so on.)

Once created, test them to see that they are working correctly by running them directly using right click- Run. There is no problem testing the “daily 6 am startup task” at any time since it will just add an additional process.

[[File:task1.jpg]] 

Use web access and go to Support Menu, System Configuration File to request 3 processes for main database and 1 for test database. Also, set up an automatic copy of the main database to test database as below. The copy is done immediately after the backup. Test running “Copy now” SHOULD be avoided while users are online.

[[File:autocopy.jpg]] 

=== Configuring NEOSYS to start automatically on server start-up / reboot ===
We no longer configure NEOSYS processes to start on reboot as we would like to know of the failures at the client side and hence whenever the server reboots we expect the client to inform us and we will start the process - or NEOSYS will start automatically next day at 6 am

Unfortunately using this method the NEOSYS processes are not visible when you login as a user.

[[Image:win_sch_task.jpg]]

Schedule a task to run the main database file whenever the computer starts. In Windows 2008 you need to tick the options - Run whether user logged in or not and Run with highest privilege.

Additional in Windows 2008: Tick Highest Priviledges and Run whether user logged in or not

== Installing and upgrading NEOSYS pure accounting systems ==

Basic installation using NEOSYS.EXE and upgrades using NEOSYS2.EXE are identical to the normal adagency installation process.

Differences are as follows:

# Maintenance shortcut to ACCOUNTS.BAT
# Process startup file contains "/system ACCOUNTS" instead of "/system ADAGENCY"
# Internet address is http://server/neosys/accounts.htm although it auto converts to http://server/neosys/default.htm??ACCOUNTS. Although not to be relied upon, the login page stores a cookie so even plain http://server/neosys or http://server/neosys/default.htm works thereafter until the cookie is lost. To get back to adagency login you use http://server/neosys/default.htm??ADAGENCY
# BACKUP.ZIP files created by ADAGENCY systems and ACCOUNTS systems are slightly incompatible with the result that restoring one in the other type of system will not work. NEOSYS programmers can convert from one type to the other but it is almost never required since any ad agency that only requires accounts only module is given the adagency version of NEOSYS and accounting only clients becoming ad agencies never happened.

Procedures

2017-06-12T06:49:10Z

Priyanka: /* Handling NEOSYS Upgrade */

Here are procedures to be followed by Support Staff in respect to various technical matters in day to day operations of client issues.

== Handling Clients with Overdue Invoice ==
In order to maintain good payment speed by clients NEOSYS needs to restrict support to clients that dont pay their bills on time, however the degree of restriction needs to depend on an intimate knowledge of the client which cannot be expected from all NEOSYS support staff. Therefore we will use a simple escalation policy as follows:

=== Overdue Support List ===
NEOSYS SUPPORT MANAGERS WILL maintain an overdue list on a whiteboard visible to all support staff. Generally, clients will go on the list immediately when their invoice is overdue and come off only after satisfactory commitment to pay have been obtained.

The latest overdue list email MUST always be starred until there are no clients left on the overdue list (apart from the permanently overdue clients). This way support team will know that there are still clients on the overdue list and will not mistakenly provide support to those clients.

For the first week of each quarter of the year, normal support should be provided for server failures and backup failures (including hung processes as it could eventually lead to backup failures). NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any other support requests from overdue clients, with the following letter (where XYZ is the overdue client):

Dear ABC,
There is an issue with your company's account. We have requested our Accounts team for approval in order to provide support to you and other XYZ users.

Support staff must then provide the required support to the overdue client only after 4 working hours. Support Staff need not actually contact the Accounts team for approval, although that is what is mentioned in the letter. This delay in support is to encourage clients to settle their payments on time.

After the first week of each quarter of the year, NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any support requests from overdue clients with the above letter but MUST NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT even after 4 working hours. Instead, NEOSYS Support Staff must refer the support request to NEOSYS Support Manager.

Managers may well instruct support to provide support on a case by case basis even if clients are on the overdue list. Being on the overdue list does not necessarily indicate a major issue with accounts.

== Handling Frozen NEOSYS Installations and Databases ==

Some clients retain fully operational NEOSYS installations or just particular databases even after they stop using them for some reason, either because they move to some other software, or because they terminate an operational division, or other reasons, and this can either be on NEOSYS or their own servers.

In this case, various NEOSYS upgrade and maintenance processes may be suspended, downgraded or completely skipped especially if instant access to the server is no longer available. This does not mean that it should never be done, and pros and cons need to be assessed and documented in support emails on a case by case basis.

*Upgrading NEOSYS version
*Upgrading/standardising NEOSYS database configuration and other files for consistency, security or other issues
*Patching Windows/IIS configuration for consistency, security or other issues

== Handling Links and Email Attachments ==

'''DO NOT TRUST ANY LINK OR ATTACHMENT IN ANY EMAIL EVEN FROM HIGHLY TRUSTED PEOPLE OR ORGANISATIONS'''

These days you can no longer trust links or attachments in emails from anybody - even emails from highly trusted people like your bank.

If a personal computer or intermediate email server is hacked then even genuine emails sent out from it can be infected and modified in a hidden way that can result in the recipient being infected if they click or open anything in the email.

Therefore you should know and understand how to avoid, as far as possible, getting tricked and infected via emails.

Malware authors generally rely on the fact that most people devote no time at all to security precautions so a moderate cautious approach, slowing down a little to spending some time on security, even where it is apparently not required, is enough to defeat most attacks.

=== Links ===

Do NOT click on links, especially in emails that you are not expecting, but also anywhere else that you see links, without taking various precautions. The links in an email, even from someone you know and trust, can LIE to you about what website they will open and they can lead you to websites that mere browsing can infect your computer and then others inside our network.

WHAT LINK/WEBSITE WILL BE OPENED MAY NOT BE WHAT IT SAYS IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL!

Therefore, to use a link in any and all emails, first hover your cursor over it and check the status bar at the bottom of the screen where you can see exactly what website will be opened, or, to be more sure exactly what website you are opening DO NOT click links in emails at all. COPY/PASTE the link to your browser, AFTER following the below points.

*Make sure you know and trust the website being opened.
*Carefully inspect the spelling of the domain name to avoid tricky look-alike fraudulent links eg hcsb.com instead of hsbc.com
*If you trust the sender but you do not personally know the website then get independent confirmation from the sender. Reply to the email so that the sender can check the link you received has not been tampered with.

In the following case, hovering over the first two links seem to go to real UPS website, BUT this is NOT sufficient to be sure since slight misspellings and other tricks can lead you to a totally different website.

However, hovering over the third "link" shows that clicking the apparent link would go to some website http://behappy.vn (Vietnam) so clearly this is a DECEPTION.

[[image:Scamscreenshot.png]]

=== Attachments ===

There is no way to determine if an attachment, even from someone you know, has not been infected and is therefore dangerous. The only protection is to rely on anti-virus/anti-malware software on your computer.

You can check the names and file types/extensions of attached files to spot any obviously strange or unexpected attachments but this is not very effective. Don't open attachments ending in .jar or any others without SB's permission.

Be careful that if there are a lot of attached files not to assume that all are safe because the majority are unsafe.

== Handling junk email ==
Any email identified as junk should be manually marked as Junk so that they automatically go into the Junk folder. The spam filter in the server will use the emails in the Junk folder to decide what is moved into the spam folder.

== Avoid burdening email servers with excessive graphics ==

Support MUST install the "Auto Resize Image" addon in Thunderbird to reduce the size of images in emails resulting in a significant reduction in email size. See [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Configure_Auto_Resize_Image| setting up auto resize image]] for details.

It reduces the burden on NEOSYS and NEOSYS client's email servers. This is especially important on long conversations about subjects that include many screenshots, since for just a simple one line reply, the email can consume many MB of space. It massively wastes the email server space and makes backups massive and generally a total waste of resources and time.

To be able to refer back to graphics in previous emails, add the SIZE column to your email program so that you can locate large emails with graphics rapidly without searching back one by one.

==Client Communication Policies==
===Client Meeting Report Policy===

After every Client meeting online or otherwise Support MUST send a Follow-Up email to the Client which is open and fully informative and not brief, stating the events during the meet and any action required by either or both parties. The email to the client must not shrink from discussing contentious issues due to a false sense of politeness or timidity to address issues face on. Obviously one should not be rude but it is not rude to address issues openly.(cc Client managers and NEOSYS Managers)

The follow-up email MUST be sent within 24 hours of completion of the meeting so that the points discussed during the meeting are fresh in all the meeting participants' minds. This means that reports for meetings on the day before the weekend MUST be sent on the SAME day.

In addition to above email if there is some information that needs to be shared internally and cannot be said in public to the client then send a Client Meeting report to Support.

Support must also update the Client Contact Record file in Google Drive immediately after sending out the follow-up email.

===Follow Up of Support Issues===

All voice/chat communication MUST also be followed up with an email confirming at least the gist of the communication to keep the whole support team updated on the issue.

If not possible to contact for any reason, then an email MUST be sent stating so and suggesting or requesting a time to connect.

cc Client managers (and/or BCC NEOSYS Managers) MAY be done if thought to be useful and/or appropriate.

===Handling Contentious Emails from Clients===

If emails requesting support become contentious, then voice, phone call or chat is REQUIRED to save time. However, client support via phone call should be done only on local or low-cost calls. High-cost international calls should not be used except in extreme circumstances.

If clients become deliberately combative or uncooperative then Support team is supposed to kick back a little but still emphasise the point. Perhaps it could be done better with a little ironic humour or a smiley. Avoid using !! while responding to contentious emails.

=== Discussing Pricing ===
All discussions about pricing must be done only in Sales inbox. If clients bring up pricing discussion in support emails, NEOSYS staff must respond to the client by starting a new thread in the Sales Inbox.

==NEOSYS Support Response Time Policy==

NEOSYS contracts, in the few cases where we have a written contract with the client, specifies that maximum response time is one business day generally and one business hour for complete stoppages of the system. Obviously we have to do far better than this in practice.

Support staff must inform clients of the progress of the issue if it is not resolved the same day but only if they contact at least 1 hour before office closing.

Deciding to wait on issues is fine (also refer to: [[Procedures#Handling_users_who_do_not_act_upon_standard_messages|Response to standard messages]]), but support MUST at least spend up to 5 minutes on issues to see if they can be handled quickly.

For routine requests for service where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client then no need to send rapid reply.

==Handling errors discovered by support staff ==
{{Handling errors}}

==Handling Cheques from Clients==

NEOSYS staff are not to accept deliveries from clients that might be cheques without prior instructions to accept the same. They can ask courier to wait a few minutes until NEOSYS accounts or management agrees but they may not be available and probably will not agree anyway. NEOSYS payment terms do not accept cheques although clients are free to deposit cheques by themselves.

== Client Password Policy ==
All client user passwords, including their initial one, are to be obtained via the user's email address using the password reminder/reset button on the login screen. [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#What_is_NEOSYS_password_policy.3F (NEOSYS password policy)]

NEOSYS staff should never know users passwords therefore NEOSYS will not obtain and grant user passwords. The reason for this is that in the event that users lose their passwords to other people who then login unauthorised then suspicion could fall on the NEOSYS staff who know their password.

All parties concerned, including client management, client users and NEOSYS support staff, benefit greatly from trusting that if something in a NEOSYS database is registered as having been done by a particular user then it was not in fact somehow done by NEOSYS support staff. Nothing should be done that would break such fundamental trust. To achieve this, NEOSYS support staff must never log in as particular users, never ask for users passwords and generally enforce the idea that all work logged as being done by users IS done by users.

Very limited amounts of work by NEOSYS support staff either in person or remotely using teamviewer is acceptable while a user is logged as long as the user login was performed by the user themselves, the user is present and the user specifically agrees with the work being done.

=== Support requests from ordinary client users ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords will be forwarded to known skilled users on the client staff since this is the most efficient (not fastest) way to handle such issues.

=== Support requests from senior client management ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords by senior client management users shall be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bearing in mind that NEOSYS staff should never know user's passwords this will probably involve NEOSYS staff using the Password Reminder/Reset button to send a new password to the user.

=== User Defined Passwords ===
NEOSYS will provide user defined passwords in very special cases which must be pre-approved case by case by NEOSYS management. NEOSYS will not approve this due to the reasons mentioned [[Procedures#Client_Password_Policy|here]].

If the user login gets blocked due to multiple login failures and the user requests support team to reset the password to the user defined password again, support MUST delay the response to this request by at least 1 hour in order to force the user to be more careful when typing the password.

Currently permission for user defined password has only been granted to one NEOSYS client with several hundreds of databases.

== Handling client issues and requests==

All support issues must be dealt with through phone/email/chat. Support Staff can schedule client visits for User Training but should not schedule client visits solely for providing support for petty issues.

ALL Support staff should check the all the previous day's inbound emails for reply flags once in the morning. All Support staff will therefore be held responsible for any unreplied inbound email.

Support staff should NOT waste time and delay support by investigating issues WITHOUT having sufficient information.

Support staff should look for similar issues when solving a particular problem to avoid similar issues in future. This saves the time and energy of Support as well as the Client.

When sending screenshots to clients, support team should economise on space by minimising to the minimum that will show the problem clearly. This is because not every user will be viewing their emails on large wide screens like NEOSYS support team. Browser windows reformat their contents to suit the width available so this is particularly effective in most NEOSYS screens.

Support team MUST be cautious while sending screenshots so that no private/unnecessary information is sent to Client. If you cant avoid taking the screenshot without unnecessary information then you should hide it in the screenshot.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

=== Handling new emails in Support inbox===
Support MUST spend up to 5 minutes on new emails and send a quick reply to the client, to acknowledge the request or give a quick solution in case its a petty issue or has a documented solution in wiki. This should probably be done on priority, interrupting existing work and not wait for one hour and be dealt with quickly.

For routine service requests where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client, Support does not need to send a rapid reply.

=== Handling client call back requests===

Clients who ask us to call them should be given our phone number asked to call us unless there is some GOOD reason why we should make the effort and pay phone charges.

=== Handling login failure issues===

Users often get login failure issues due to typing wrong password and they simply won't read and act according to the error message they get. In this case, Support must send the below email to the user.

<pre>
Dear XYZ,

If you have trouble resetting password, please ask for assistance from your manager/IT Manager/Timesheet Administrator/NEOSYS-expert colleague.

Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

Local support users (TA or IT manager etc) have the LS key using which they can see the User Details page of all users. They should check all the information (usercode, registered email id, last login attempts etc) in the User Details page to find out what is the issue.

This procedure will reduce the endless mails sent back and forth to solve petty issues which could easily be solved by the client's local support.

=== Handling requests or demands for "URGENT" or "PRIORITY" support ===

Any request for prioritised action *without giving any reason for the prioritisation* should be disregarded and the request handled with normal priority. If a reason is given then you may at your discretion prioritise a response but there is no obligation to do so.

=== Handling users who login with other people's NEOSYS usercodes ===
This can cause a lot of confusion in both the client and NEOSYS support. It may also indicate that the correct NEOSYS monthly licensing fee is not being paid. There is no valid reason for anonymous logins or sharing logins between multiple users.

Therefore if NEOSYS support team get requests for support about using NEOSYS from users who are not registered properly in NEOSYS with an personally identifiable user code, name and email then the following email should be sent cc admin@neosys.com.

No exception should be granted to clients without NEOSYS management approval.

<pre>
Dear NEOSYSUSER,

Please note that in order to receive support from NEOSYS you must personally have an identifiable user code, name and email address registered
in NEOSYS.

We can create new user account for you with your management approval. This may or may not have an impact on the NEOSYS monthly licensing fee
depending on the agreement in force.

Please let us know what you would like us to do.

Best Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

=== Handling support requests from expired users ===

If expired users call for any reason including not being able to login, they must not be given any support. They should only be told that their account is expired without any reason being offered because employers sometimes do not want any information at all being passed to expired users.

===Handling support request from senior management===

Any support requests from senior client management users concerning report generations should be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bear in mind that NEOSYS staff should not agree or offer to do client work. Support staff can advise senior management to contact a skilled user to help them with basic NEOSYS reporting. Support staff can also send screenshots of step by step procedure on how to take reports. Depending on the situation and reasons provided by senior management, support staff can at their discretion provide reports but after informing them that this is an exception and no more reports will be sent out as this is against NEOSYS procedures.

=== Handling emails with unrelated subject line ===
At times, clients forward old emails, with new issues, resulting in completely unrelated subject line. In such situations, support should create a new email, copy the new issue from the old email and paste it into the new email. This way, unrelated emails will not appear in the same conversation group when viewing emails in conversation mode.

In the new email, include a comment like "PS Please don't forward old emails for new issues, start a new email with a new subject so that emails can be traced easily."

Sometimes the client does not bother putting the correct subject line for new issues (eg. blank subject, or "Error"). Then support should add a meaningful subject line in order to make the email easy to search for.

=== Handling emails with poor screenshots ===
Sometimes Thunderbird shows full sized screenshots in a compact format that is not easy to read. These can be resized to make them more legible. To do this, make the email editable by hitting the "Reply" button, then click and drag to resize the screenshot as desired.

If the screenshot sent by the user is genuinely small and hard to read, reply to the mail and request for a full size, clear screenshot.

=== Handling support-request emails sent to anywhere than support@neosys.com ===
Client emails anywhere than support@neosys.com MUST be ignored. This is because ALL support must be recorded in support inbox without exception so that the whole support team is aware of the issue and action taken. If client complains about the delay in support then they can be told this is because they used the wrong email address.

=== Handling users who do not act upon standard messages ===
When users do not bother to read and act on standard NEOSYS-generated messages and instead ask for help, Support staff MUST delay response time and thereafter send them an email which is the same as the message so they get the point that in future they should read the messages and handle issues themselves.

=== Handling Requests to do Client work ===
NEOSYS Support staff must not agree or offer to do work on behalf of the client.

This is because doing client work while logged in as NEOSYS breaks security rules. Support uses the NEOSYS username which has unrestricted access, so when a user requests Support to do some work which they don’t have access to, and if Support agrees to do the work, the client has successfully defeated the security rules by accessing features that they are unauthorised to access.

Client work also includes [[Procedures#Handling_issues_with_totals_on_reports|Handling issues with totals on reports]].

====Requests for colour and font changes====

Support should not be spending lots of time on colour and font changes. Clients can make as many changes as they want until they are happy with a selection. Clients MUST send a screenshot of their required color/font settings (not sample screen/reports) for Support to copy and setup for all users. If Support sees them doing something bad or poor then give comments or better suggestions.

=== Handling Requests that require Approval from Higher Authority ===

The following is a list of user requests that must be handled by NEOSYS support staff only if they are approved by or come from a higher authority (manager/admin). The LIST is '''NOT''' a complete list so there may be other things which might require approval so use good judgement and/or ASK if in doubt.

*Opening new financial year
*Adding new company/dataset
*Editing alert/backup email receiver addresses
*Customising Authorisation File ({{SensitiveSecurity }})
**Adding or removing accesses for existing users in Authorisation file
**Adding new user(s) to Authorisation file
**Expiring a user
**[[Procedures#For_HTTPS_access| Allowing HTTPS/outside office access from any IP number]]

If an unauthorized user sends one of these requests to support staff, support staff must immediately instruct the user to get the request approved by the higher authority.

===Handling User Requests to add an IP or range of IPs to access NEOSYS===

Support staff must identify if the IP or range of IPs is for http or https access.
{{SensitiveSecurity }}

====For HTTP access====
Support staff can add local IP or range of local IPs when requested by the client. Top management approval is not needed to add local IP numbers. Listed below are the IP address ranges reserved for local network.

10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

====For HTTPS access====
Any request for https access from any IP address or range of IP addresses (eg. 123.456.* or just *), or in other words any use of an asterisk in the IP restrictions, MUST have TOP management i.e. the company's decision makers approval. The Staff and their Managers are not the best decision makers in this affair because they usually ignore the risks and it is not really their decision. Security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled. It is completely pointless to inform the staff who want the access about these risks because only their top managers could really decide that this is NOT going to be allowed. Hence the Top Management MUST be asked for approvals and at the same time WARN them about the security risks/threats behind the no IP restrictions.

=====For clients with static IP=====
Any request to add a specific IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses MUST have management approval.

=====For clients with dynamic IP=====
For clients with dynamic IP, support MUST NOT add their public IP to the allowed list as this will encourage the client to again request for access from new IP numbers every time their public IP changes. Instead, support MUST force the client to either install VPN or get the Top Management i.e. the company's decision maker's approval to enable access from any IP after explaining the security risks in doing so, as mentioned above.

Support MUST also mention that installation of VPN by the Company is the industry standard way of providing access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER. Installation of VPN is to be done by their own IT support. Refer to [[Procedures#Using_VPN_to_enable_secure_access_from_outside_the_office|Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office]]

Sample Email:
<pre>
Dear XXX,

I do not recommend allowing access from all IPs because security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc. can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled.

I strongly recommend that you keep IP restrictions for XYZ dataset.

If you want to provide access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER, then installation of VPN is the industry standard of achieving this. Installation of VPN is to be done by your own IT support.

If you still wish to allow access from all IPs, kindly confirm that you acknowledge the security threats of doing so.

</pre>

=== Handling repeated request to allow users to access from all IPs ===

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

If the client wants temporary access from outside for some staff twice in say a six months period then support should send the below email. The real reason is because we don't have the time to be doing this on a regular basis. If at all the client asks why we no longer support the provision of temporary outside access then we can say this is because of the frequency of such requests.

Dear XXX

We have given you temporary outside access this time, as requested. Please note that we can no longer support the provision of temporary outside access. So in the future, you will have to choose between either permanent or no outside access. Alternatively, you can ask your management to install a VPN (which is the industry standard of achieving outside access to a corporate asset in a secure manner), so that you can log in to NEOSYS from outside.

=== Handling requests to create a new feature or modifying existing features ===

Many issues are small and not important but can still be considered for development because they may be easy and neatly added to NEOSYS. The aim here is to avoid development on hard issues for little benefit, or little issues that make NEOSYS more complex for little benefit.

When a client requests to create a new feature or modify an existing feature, a workaround must be given to the user, which is either a permanent solution, for example if the issue is a rare case and not commonly faced by other clients (and the workaround is acceptable to the client), or a temporary solution until some better solution is discovered or can be developed.

Any request to create a new feature or modify an existing feature MUST be discussed with other clients before forwarding it to the programmer because the other clients might not be comfortable with the change as it may not be in accordance with their workflow. If other clients agree to the proposed change then support should go ahead and request the programmer to implement it.

Therefore before escalating a request to the programmer to modify a feature in NEOSYS, the approval for the same from other clients must be taken into account.

When escalating the request to the programmer, support MUST avoid using "Is it possible..?" because the obvious answer to that is "Anything is possible" and because this question is only a way to avoid doing the real work of deciding whether the new feature/modification should be implemented.

=== Updating Clients about unresolved issues ===
Support should proactively inform clients if an issue is not solved within the same day it was raised, after judging the urgency of the issue and the time it was raised. An email to the client who raised the issue, before the end of each day, is a best practice that keeps the client updated and other support staff too. This email should be sent regardless of the degree to which the issue has been resolved or if the issue is unresolved. If the issue is unresolved, the email should explain why and also explain the cause of delay.

=== Handling new USER creation ===
Support staff should create new USERS for clients ONLY when requested by an authorised person.

If the request comes from an unauthorised person, then support MUST reply to the same person informing them that this request must come from an authorised person. Support MUST NOT directly contact the authorised person asking for approval/confirmation because that is client work.

Clients should not be discouraged to create new users. Clients are billed as per user usage which is reviewed periodically. Over time old USERS are replaced with new USERS.

The USER code is the first name of a user.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

Support team MUST NOT discuss billings with clients unless authorised to do so. Also see [[Procedures#Discussing_Pricing|Discussing Pricing]]

Support team MUST NOT proceed with creating new users until the following details have been clearly provided by the client, otherwise the user may end up with more than the required authorisation, which can lead to problems in future.

New user requirements :-
*Full name
*Email address
*Group level / User with similar authorisation

After the new user has been created, Support Staff must send an email to the person who requested the creation of new user, confirming that the new user has been created along with a screenshot of that part of the authorisation table where the new user was created so that the new user's usercode and email id is visible. This is done so that in case there is some error in the usercode or email id, it is easily visible in the screenshot and also so that the person who requested the creation of the new user is informed about the usercode of the new user.

=== Handling letterhead change requests ===

Support staff should reject any requests that require the letterhead to be setup on the TESTING dataset before it is setup in the MAIN dataset.This is to reduce double work for support staff and to ensure that clients have a clear understanding of their requirements and also send the correct logo image.
The MAIN dataset can be copied to the TEST dataset for any kind of testing.

See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Configuring_Letterhead#Changing_the_letterhead_for_printed_documents How to change letterhead]

=== Handling error messages ===

'''Important:''' Before Attempting to resolve client issues, please ensure that we have secure access to the NEOSYS server.

#The very first step is understanding client problem. Ask questions to the client until you CLEARLY understand the problem.
#If the error is familiar and does not require a screenshot, resolve the problem immediately.
#If the error is unfamiliar and/or requires a screenshot and the user has not sent a screenshot, IMMEDIATELY ask the user to send a screenshot of the problem, along with the options used (basically you need to know HOW to replicate the error and the screenshot MUST show WHAT the error is).
#If the user says "nothing happens, so no screenshot of the error", then IMMEDIATELY request for screenshots again with the exact steps to reproduce the problem using mouse and keyboard.
#Upon receipt of the error and steps to reproduce the error, follow the steps and reproduce the error. Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues|Addressing Browser related issues]]
#If the issue is unknown or you don’t understand it clearly, with the users acknowledgement use remote support to gain access to the users desktop to view how to replicate the error.
{{Handling errors}}

=== Addressing Browser related issues ===

When resolving random browsing issues that seem to be on one user computer only, support MUST send the below email asking the user to check if the same issue occurs on other user computers. Rapidly convincing the user that the problem is only on their computer gains their willingness to sort the problem out at their end, using IT people if necessary and available.

Handling random issues that appear to be on one computer is very very common and it is important to deal with it effectively, not requiring stages of "denial" by the users until they accept something has to be done at their end, and not by NEOSYS. Speeding up this process gains the confidence and appreciation of the users.

<pre>Hi xxxx

Is this error happening only on your computer? If that is the case, it may be due to an issue in your browser cache. Please clear your browser cache with assistance from your IT team if required. Then restart the browser and try again.

If clearing browser cache does not fix the issue, I recommend a full browser reset to ensure that everything works fine.

Follow these instructions for clearing browser cache and resetting browser:
http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers

Please let us know if you face the issue again.</pre>

Also refer to [[Procedures#Handling_Browser_related_issues_in_NEOSYS| Handling Browser related issues]]

=== Addressing Technical support emails ===

In the case of technical support issues, address emails to the IT person and cc the complete group of recipients of backup emails and other NEOSYS alert emails. This allows both NEOSYS and client IT staff to take credit for resolving issues that NEOSYS raises instead of working in the background unacknowledged.

Technical support issues include backup failure, server failure, missing alert email, server connectivity issues and port forwarding issues and many other issues.

For technical issues like browser configuration, clear cache, etc. support must send the user a link to the appropriate wiki article to help the user fix the problem. In some cases the user may be helpless and unable to follow the steps to fix the problem. In such cases, support MUST NOT waste time trying to help the user fix the problem, instead support MUST ask the user to get help from the IT person.

=== Acceptable report format when handling issues in NEOSYS reports ===

NEOSYS Support must only resolve issues in NEOSYS output first. This is because only NEOSYS outputs can be trusted and user versions in Excel or PDF could be copied wrongly or edited by the user.

In case users send reports in excel or other formats, get them to send the original NEOSYS HTML report as an attachment or copy-pasted in email.

=== Handling requests to create new charts or control accounts===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_and_Configuring_NEOSYS_Finance_System#Creating_New_Charts_or_Control_Accounts Refer here]

=== Handling issues with totals on reports ===

If a client has a problem with any total output by NEOSYS software then NEOSYS support will advise them which other NEOSYS report or reports provide a complete breakdown of the total (if necessary, to individual transactions) and ask the client to locate any offending transactions themselves.

NEOSYS support staff will handle any issues where the total on the breakdown report does not add up to the total on the summary report.

Reconciling totals can be hard if there are many transactions involved. Regardless of how hard it may be, reconciliation is an operational task for users not for support staff since NEOSYS support staff will not get involved in understanding client transactions or data.

==== Trial Balance and Financial Statements ====

NEOSYS support staff do not have to prove or trace any figures in NEOSYS Trial Balance Reports or any financial reports. If a figure is stated to be wrong by the user, then NEOSYS support staff should ask for proof or say NEOSYS is confident that the figures are correct unless proved otherwise.

NEOSYS support staff should point out reports in NEOSYS which will support the figures in question but not actually run the reports. Support staff can suggest the users to refer to detailed ledger accounts to prove balances.

== Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office ==
There are two ways in which a user can use VPN:
*User connects to the their office router and makes the PC act like it is on the office LAN.
*User connects to a VPN service that provides a static IP number and can therefore be authorised by NEOSYS to login.

If the client intends to use VPN to connect to their office router and make the PC act like it is on the office LAN, then it depends on what VPN protocols the client's office router supports.

The alternative is to use a paid VPN service that provides a static IP number. Getting a dynamic IP number on VPN is very cheap and there are many suppliers, but getting a static IP number on VPN services seems to be more expensive.

Internally in NEOSYS we use PFSENSE routers which support OPENVPN which is extremely flexible.

==Handling issues with Office PBX phones==

Support should check their respective Office PBX phones every morning to find out if the phone is up and working. In case Support finds any issue with their phone, immediately fix it so that clients do not lose contact with the Support team via phone. Next send an email to Support inbox mentioning the fault, cause and solution for records/future prevention.

==Configuring Browsers to show Javascript errors in NEOSYS==
NEOSYS Support MUST ensure the following Settings for browsers because if NEOSYS generates any javascript error message, the same would appear in the bottom left corner of a window, which in turn helps the programmer to fix the error. This must be done after every Factory Reset.

===Internet Explorer===
Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Browsing - the items Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer) and Disable script debugging (Other) are '''UNTICKED'''.

===Chrome===
Chrome Menu > More Tools > Extensions > Get More Extensions, search for '''Javascript Errors Notifier'''. Add the extension to Chrome.

[[image:Chrome.png]]

[[image:Chrome1.png]]
===Firefox===
Firebug add-on is used to NOTIFY about script errors because we have no other method to get any warning on screen but you should use the main firefox developer tools to investigate any errors as firebug is essentially replaced by built in developer tools.

For developer tools, go to Tools > Web Console

To enable notifications for script errors, download the add-on Firebug from [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/ here]. When a Javascript error is encountered, the firebug icon will report the number of errors.

Set your firebug as per the second screen shot and select "Enable All Panels" as well, the tick will not appear like the other options but the option will get selected. If you miss out on any one of these steps, you will not be able to capture script errors.

[[file:firebug1.jpg|1200px]]

[[File:Firebug.png]]

==Handling Browser related issues in NEOSYS==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Technical_/_Hardware_requirements#NEOSYS_Software_Browser_and_OS_Requirements NEOSYS browser requirements]

Clients frequently ask [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#Why_doesnt_NEOSYS_support_my_XYZ_browser.3F Why NEOSYS doesn't support other browsers]

To avoid browser errors, all new users must follow the steps given in [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#Getting_started_with_NEOSYS Getting started with NEOSYS] before logging in to NEOSYS for the first time.

To troubleshoot browser related errors see [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers Troubleshooting Web Browsers]

Users must clear browser cache after every NEOSYS Upgrade to avoid errors. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS#Sample_email_to_be_sent_to_clients_who_face_issues_due_to_failure_in_clearing_browser_cache Sample email to clients who face issues due to failure in clearing browser cache]

Pop-up blockers and any 3rd party toolbars must be deactivated/switched off or else certain pages and alert messages while using NEOSYS do not appear as a result of blocking from either the pop-up blocker or toolbars with built-in pop-up blockers.

NEOSYS support must ask users to Reset browser (See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Reset_Browser Reset browser]) if they notice any user browsers which have pop-up blockers or 3rd party toolbars installed.

Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues| Addressing Browser related issues]]

== Handling NEOSYS Upgrade==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS Upgrading NEOSYS]

==Handling auto-reply emails like Out of Office etc.==

From 28th May 2017 version, emails sent out by the NEOSYS system now contain headers that in effect request recipient email systems not to auto-reply for things like Out of Office. This is to reduce unnecessary chatter by silencing unnecessary automatic replies. There is no guarantee that recipient emails systems will comply. The headers added are
1. X-Auto-Response-Suppress: RN, NRN, OOF
2. Precedence: bulk

Notify SB of any auto-responses that come despite their installation being patched.

== Using Support Tools ==
=== Website Live Support ===
www.neosys.com is equipped with a Live Support software and clients can visit the website, click on this link and chat with any of our support staff, without the need for any installation. The client has to fill in their name and enter their questions to connect to an available support personnel. During non-working hours, the Live Support icon on the website automatically displays "offline".

NEOSYS Support personnel who are authorised to provide such support, need to login to Live helper chat in Firefox using the link given below:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin

Support personnel should enter the account details as provided by their Manager.

Enable notifications for Live helper chat so that whenever there is a visitor trying to contact Support team, the Support personnel will get the notifications on his screen. Set the Live helper chat login page as your home page in firefox.

Use the link below to enable notifications:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin/chat/listchatconfig

After setting up Live helper chat if you sign in to a new profile in firefox, you might have to re enable the notifications after your firefox is synced to the new profile.

=== Teamviewer ===
Since Teamviewer allows no restriction on access once a fixed pass is installed, Support must not install fixed pass on teamviewer however convenient it might be.

RULE: NO FIXED PASS TO BE INSTALLED ON TEAMVIEWER IN ANY NEOSYS OR NEOSYS CLIENT COMPUTER

Running teamviewer live from a web link is fine because it does not allow installation of a permanent password

For certain tasks that require temporary install of Teamviewer on the client servers (e.g. upgrading Cygwin remotely), use Teamviewer 7 on the server as well as Support staff computer. Contact NEOSYS IT for commercial license of Teamviewer 7. Teamviewer MUST be uninstalled after usage, otherwise it creates an additional unnecessary security risk.

To support client users who use the latest version of Teamviewer, support staff must also install the latest Teamviewer version available alongside Teamviewer 7.

== Documenting Processes in Wiki ==
NEOSYS Support staff must be in continual learning mode. This is mandatory for support staff and is not an option. Support must read, learn and understand everything in the support emails and ask questions if they don't understand. This understanding must be transferred into wiki in the form of new articles and improvements to existing articles.

For all articles related to formatting and editing in Wiki, see [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Documenting_NEOSYS_systems Documenting NEOSYS systems]

===Avoiding duplication of text in wiki===

Duplication of text in wiki is to be avoided almost at any cost. Duplication has the problem that when one copy is changed or improved in future then it is highly likely the editor will fail to update the other copy or copies and wiki will over time become an inconsistent mess.

There are several ways to avoid duplication:

#Two or more procedures which have significant areas of duplication can be rewritten as a single procedure with alternatives in the middle of the procedure
#Wiki Templates- Templates reproduce the same text in all places and editing one place edits all places. See [[How to create templates in wiki]]
#Wiki links- Only put the text in one place and put links to that in all the other places that it is appropriate.
#Place a note in all copies something to the effect that "This is similar to x, y and z". This alerts any future editor of all other places in wiki that might also have to be updated.

Future modifications in one place may or may not be appropriate to other places. The editor must decide whether to change one or all places

===Highlighting information in wiki===

To highlight particular instructions or info in wiki do NOT invent new styles which are not the way the rest of wiki is done. Instead, follow the USUAL STYLE or open a DISCUSSION with any recommendations you have BEFORE USING THEM.

Instead of using various kinds of highlighting styles like bolding and words like "Note:", use the following words IN CAPITALS especially the word MUST.

The use of the following words IN CAPITALS indicates that you are using them in a special way with formally defined meaning as explained below. Use of the words in lower case indicates that you are using the word in an ordinary commonsense meaning.

*MAY - means optional
*SHOULD - means recommended and you need GOOD reason (not just any weak excuse) to not follow to follow this recommendation
*MUST - mandatory

Only in the rare cases where the consequences of doing or not doing something are irreversible or take a lot of work to reverse then you can use your own additional highlighting methods, eg ALL CAPS, stars, color red etc.

==== Explain WHY ====

Any sentence which uses the word "MUST" in capitals, MUST be followed by a SPECIFIC REASON explaining exactly why is the instruction is mandatory; the reason MUST not be vague and non-specific meaning no more than "or bad things will happen".

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules.

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise it will cause problems in future.

CORRECT way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise the deleted schedules' ads will still show in all media-diary like reports and screens

The Wrong way above gives a general reason "it will cause problems in future" which is vague and a reader may even go ahead and ignore "MUST" because there is no objective or proper side effect mentioned for not following the MUST statement. Basically he doesn't understand the point behind following a certain rule.

Whereas the Correct way gives a SPECIFIC reason for "deleting ads while deleting schedules", so reader will exactly know the trouble that will be caused if ads are not deleted. Therefore "SPECIFIC REASON" behind using the word MUST must be to the point and very informative.

==== Why explain WHY ====
The information contained in the WHY phrase is often '''extremely informative''' to the reader about things that you may otherwise not have considered saying.

The most valuable information is usually contained in the "WHY" of something. There is an apocryphal story of a company where managers could be fired if they gave instructions to their staff without providing explanation. In almost all cases it is better for the efficiency of a team of people that any instructions they follow contain the "WHY" of something. Only in few cases should staff be expected to follow instructions without being well or fully informed.

== Email Retention Policy ==

=== Generally ===

Emails are retained permanently to allow old issues to be discovered in email searches.

=== Account: backups@neosys.com ===

Only the last 365 days of emails to backups@neosys.com are kept in general to reduce the burden on servers and clients due to the heavy number of emails.

For the backups/neosys folder, only 31 days is kept due to the very high numbers of emails ~250/day.

Deletions are configured in and done by a thunderbird client in NEOSYS IT so may not be continuous.

== Use of personal email addresses by NEOSYS support staff ==

NEOSYS support staff MUST NOT use any personal email addresses for NEOSYS business.

The xxxx.neosys@gmail.com addresses that are created by support staff for themselves on joining are also considered personal email addresses and must not be used for NEOSYS business. These email addresses might be linked to NEOSYS wiki accounts but that doesn't matter because wiki is not confidential.

== Accessing NEOSYS accounts on personal devices ==

NEOSYS staff MUST NOT install NEOSYS accounts on skype/dropbox/gmail (or any other external tool) on their personal devices without written permission from NEOSYS management

== Support Staff work-in-progress documents/files ==

Support Staff must not save working files hidden on their computer. Work that is not visible is not work .
Support work should not be done privately and should be shared to all.

ALL personal working files however trivial MUST be stored in Dropbox and MUST NOT be stored anywhere in personal computer (My Documents/Desktop etc.)

The personal encrypted pass file MUST be stored somewhere in personal folder under SB NEOSYS staff in Dropbox. This is because if there is a loss of OS/Computer, it should not lead to loss of access as all the passwords saved in the file will be lost.

== Handling CLIENT/NEOSYS Servers ==

NEOSYS support staff must exercise extreme caution when working on CLIENT and NEOSYS servers. Do not risk making changes without due care and attention to the fact that the consequences of errors can be serious on working production servers.

=== Handling Javascript Files in NEOSYS ===

All the files in NEOSYS installation folder with .JS and .JSE extension are the executable javascript files which startup NEOSYS processes (in a usual DOS window). Their default program is 'Microsoft Windows Based Script Host' (wscript.exe). If a JavaScript file is opened using a notepad, the default program may change to notepad resulting in all NEOSYS processes to open up in a notepad.

Hence be very CAREFUL when accessing a .JS and .JSE file and double check that the default program remains wscript.exe. Refer to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Fixing 'NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (i.e. DOS window)'|Fixing NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host]] in case this issue comes up.

== Handling "List of Open Ports" reports ==

This email comes to NEOSYS support team once a day showing only those client's servers which appear to have changed what TCP ports are open to the internet since yesterday. It will also come once a week showing all clients servers open ports.

NEOSYS support team should work patiently with client IT staff, over time if necessary, to close all ports that are not absolutely mandatory to be open.

Clients with highly skilled IT staff may have a variety of ports open to various non-NEOSYS servers inside their organisation. In this case, NEOSYS plays little or no role other than getting their confirmation of exactly what ports are acceptable. Any new ports that appear over time should be handled in the same way.

For clients without such staff, NEOSYS is their only real line of defence and since NEOSYS requested opening some ports, we should get all other ports closed by patiently following up until action is taken. Involving management may be the only way to get IT to act.

In particular, port 80 and 443 controlling internal or external routers should be closed. It is NOT acceptable except in HIGH IT EXPERTISE environments that critical routers should be exposed to the internet and they MUST NOT be accessible from the internet because routers that do not have their software updated can be hacked using known defects. Even updated routers can be hacked. Making it easy for client IT staff to access the router configuration from outside is NOT a good enough excuse to break this rule. Professional IT does not allow access to critical routers from the internet.

Likewise, any port 80 (unencrypted web access) and port 3389 (RDP remote desktop) open to the NEOSYS server MUST be closed otherwise logins can be monitored and there is no way to guarantee server security.

If a port is definitely required and properly approved to be open by client IT support, please let NEOSYS IT (SB) know and it will be put in the "known" column so that ports in the "unknown" column are all pending action.

The report does not attempt to detect UDP ports since UDP ports can receive information from the internet without responding in any way so there is no way to detect them reliably.

Green color shows ports that have opened since the last report run. Open ports can sometimes not be detected accurately so a port may appear to disappear in one report and reappear in the next report.

=== Why should HTTP port 80 not be open on my router? ===

It is not advisable to expose any HTTP server for any private service on your computer network or router because HTTP is unencrypted and this means that all information regarding that service, including passwords, can be observed by any malware on your LAN and internet connection. This information can then be used to install horrible software on your internal PCs.

What to do?

Use https for any internal services - and advisably on a non-standard port, not the standard https port of 443.

For example, NEOSYS service is exposed as HTTPS (not HTTP) usually on port 4430 - not the standard https port of 443.

Commercial hacking is getting really common with things like FIREBALL and CRYPTOLOCKER causing a lot of damage.

It is advisable to take basic precautions pro-actively before any attack exposes weaknesses.

== Handling Nagios Client Monitoring system ==

NEOSYS support staff on duty MUST follow the procedures outlined below in case Nagios Checker shows a critical or warning message for any service. Failure to schedule appropriate downtime will lead to REDUNDANT ALERTS from NAGIOS every hour.

# Nagios is required to be checked first thing in the morning and any critical or warning messages need to be dealt with to resolve the same at the earliest.
# Some of the messages could be related to backup failures and the usual procedure as stated in [[Backup_and_Restore#Handling_failure_and_warning_messages_on_nightly_backup_alerts|Handling failure and warning messages on nightly backup alerts]] needs to be followed. In case the backup issue isn't resolved by 9:30 am, the Nagios service needs to be scheduled with downtime for a minimum of 2 hours and maximum until 1 am next day if the issue cannot be solved.
# In case any HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host is down, immediate action is required and the relevant IT people at the client side needs to be contacted to get this resolved. A downtime of 2 hours is required to be scheduled with further intervals of 2 hours in case this is not resolved. Support staff shouldn't schedule downtime till 1 am next day, just to get rid of the alerts for the day. Proactive follow up with the client is required to get this resolved before the business day - more so, if there is a weekend ahead.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host goes down during the day, a grace period of 20 minutes is given before the issue is reported to the client IT. This helps in case there is any temporary internet connection issue at the client or along the internet route.
# In case of "Backup not changed" warning status which occurs if the client has not interchanged the USB before 12 noon on that day, no action is required from the support staff and a downtime until 1 am next day needs to be scheduled.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH PING service or Host is down for more than 1 day, client IT should acknowledge the problem and give NEOSYS support staff an approximate time frame before which the issue will be resolved. Set an appropriate downtime for such events.
# In case Host is down for more than 2 days and there is no progress with the fix from client IT, the client management should be notified about the seriousness of not having access to server and their acknowledgement is mandatory.
#Support should check Nagios quite frequently during the day to look for any new alerts so that issues are fixed as soon as possible.

To summarise, any red alert left in Nagios Checker means that there is an issue that has not been attended to properly, and "attended to" does not mean solved. Support staff MUST solve the problem immediately if possible, or downtime/acknowledge and comment on the Nagios alert.

== Handling lack of remote access to NEOSYS server located in client’s premises ==

If access to the NEOSYS server is lost then we must determine the root cause by:
# Checking if the server is UP and running
# If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server
# If there is connectivity, please check the router for connectivity issues

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

Please note that we have currently lost access to the NEOSYS server. The server seems to be down at the moment and it seems that
NEOSYS processes are not running on the server.
Kindly check if the server is UP and running. If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server.
Do keep us posted on the server status so we can test connectivity from our side as well.

Best Regards,
</pre>
== New Router (Port Forwarding) ==

If you have changed your router then you may notice that external access to NEOSYS is unavailable.

'''Solution:'''

Setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to the NEOSYS Server as follows:
# Port 19580 > 19580 for SSH
# Port 4430 > 4430 for HTTPS

You can see [http://portforward.com/ Set Up Port Forwarding] to learn how to configure your Router.

To see how to test/ troubleshoot port forwarding settings, go to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_remote_support_port_forwarding|Troubleshooting Port Forwarding]].

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

You are requested to kindly setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to
the NEOSYS Server,i.e. port 19580 for SSH and port 4430 for HTTPS.

Once this is complete, kindly send me an email to confirm the same so that we could test connectivity from our end as well.

Best Regards
</pre>
== Creating and Handling passwords ==
Passwords made out of a pass phrase should be at least 10 characters since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts.

=== Creating a password ===
Passwords are generated from a pass phrase and it is important to create a very difficult to guess pass phrase.

For example, a good pass phrase would be: '''Today is a good day and it is the best time to go for a holiday'''

The password for this would be '''Tiagd&iitbt2g4ah'''

The important instructions for the above are:
#You have to take the first letter of each word and that makes your password (i.e. by using initials)
#Wherever any word starts with a capital, then you have to take first letter as a capital (eg. For Today you will take T)
#Replace '''and''' with '''&'''
#Replace '''to''' with '''2'''
#Replace '''for''' with '''4'''

=== Handling passwords ===
#Never send the actual password - always send the pass phrase
#Make sure that the password created out of the pass phrase is at least 10 characters long since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts
#Pass phrases are never to be sent by email, whatever the case maybe.
#Pass phrases can be sent by chat - however they have to be broken down in two parts and sent separately over two different messengers or if you are using Gtalk then use the 'off the record' mode.
#Using SMS to send pass phrases is the best known way as of now.
#If you save the passwords on your system in an file then:
#*Ensure that you only store pass phrases in the excel file
#*Ensure that the excel file is encrypted with a master password

== NEOSYS Maintenance Window ==

The NEOSYS server is functional from 6am – 1am. There is a 5hr window gap for the system to perform updates & backups.

The 5hr maintenance window:-

1. At 1am – The server performs a data backup on a USB (for the respective clients) & once the backup has been completed, the system automatically generates an email addressed to the neosys staff & the respective clients.

2. At 2:45am – The main data over writes the test data on the server.

3. At 3:00am – The server by itself performs an update for Windows.

4. At 4:00am – The server performs a backup to the headquarters for clients, and then automatically generates an email addressed to the NEOSYS staff & the respective clients.

5. At 6:00am – The server starts up NEOSYS.

== Using NEOSYS Terminology while communicating with Clients ==

NEOSYS support must communicate in correct language to clients on finance issues in order to ensure that our records exactly represent reality. Conversely NEOSYS must not use other terminology because it can cause considerable confusion and poor quality results. In case client is new and still in training, use client terminology optionally as long as
#It is only an addition to NEOSYS standard terminology
#Only if clear that it is client terminology by putting in brackets like this "Sales Invoices (called PI by you)", where "you" means the client you are talking to or you can put the client company name instead perhaps.

The objective is over time to avoid having the support team to have to know the terminology of the client. NEOSYS support team cannot possibly know and remember it for each client therefore the client MUST over time learn and use NEOSYS terminology. The initial period is one of relearning and translation for the client not for NEOSYS.

Many users operating NEOSYS finance module do not know proper financial procedures and may not appreciate how doing something in a wrong or unusual way now may not be correctable in the future.

NEOSYS staff must follow NEOSYS procedures only. If NEOSYS procedures need to be updated then this must be agreed in advance and not AFTER the fact.

== Amending/Reposting Journal Entries ==
In certain exceptional cases, amending/reposting of journal entries is allowed for a brief period of time to enable clients to present reports in an alternative manner. This would be subject to NEOSYS would requiring a written LETTER OF APPROVAL duly signed and stamped by the highest management of the company.

In case the client management decides to allow editing/reposting of journal entries, the following procedure is to be followed:
# Client must de-allocate vouchers which need to be amended
# NEOSYS support staff must wait for a day so that de-allocated vouchers are copied into Test database
# Authorise required users to amend and repost (without record) '''in Test database only''' ( While reposting, we have 2 options i.e. with record and without record. The 'with record' option causes the system to maintain a history of edits made. Hence, we want to repost without record so that there is no trace of the edit in the system)
# Amend a substantial number of vouchers in Test and verify them. To verify if the edits made are reflected:
# *Print all ledgers for the whole year
# *Cross-check all balances
# Once you verify the balances are correct in Test database, grant users permission to amend and repost in the Live database.
# Ask users to amend and repost vouchers in the Live database.
# Cross-check all balances for the current year.
# If you successfully verify the balances, revoke permissions immediately. Else, wait for 24 hours and revoke permissions irrespectively.

== Removal of unauthorized third-party software on client servers ==

Rule: Any third party software that is discovered by NEOSYS support staff on client servers that has been installed without the agreement of NEOSYS should be uninstalled immediately on discovery.

However purposeful a software is, NEOSYS is contractually responsible for support and there are too many opportunities for poorly installed software to cause unpredictable damage to the NEOSYS database so NEOSYS has to have a clear and safe and simple policy to ensure the integrity of client data. Installing software without prior discussion with NEOSYS by itself indicates that insufficient care and consideration as been given to possible issues.

Any software required by client IT for some purpose may only be installed after discussion and agreement from NEOSYS support staff concerning the configuration and operation of the software.

The NEOSYS Software Licence and Support agreement requires that where NEOSYS software is installed on client servers that a dedicated server is provided and dedicated implies that no other software may be installed without the agreement of NEOSYS support.

== Configuring tunnelier to autologin on opening tlp files ==
If you have many tunnelier tlp files in a directory and connect by opening the desired tlp file the, instead of opening the file and then clicking Login you can also right click the file and select Connect.

Alternatively, you can configure tunnelier to login (connect) automatically by following the procedure mentioned below. (Even if you configure automatic login, you can still open and not login by right clicking and choosing Open)

=== Windows 8 ===

Cannot be done using standard Windows UI. Some download utilities can do it. TODO put a safe one in neosys.com/support

=== Windows XP/Vista/7/2008 ===

#Go to My Computer
#Click on Tools -> Folder Options [[image:tunnauto-1.jpg]] 
#Click on File Types
#*Select TLP (Bitvise Tunnelier Profile) [Type "TLP" to find it quickly]
#*Click on Advanced [[image:tunnauto-2.jpg]] 
#Click on Connect and Click on Set Default [[image:tunnauto-3.jpg]] 

== International v/s Indian English ==

There are some words which have completely different meanings in International and Indian English. NEOSYS Staff should follow International English only. Below are the examples of few of those words:

Word: '''Doubt'''

In the English language word "doubt" means to distrust an alleged fact on the basis of a reason, depending on the strength of the reason which may be anything from factual to feeling e.g "I have no reason to doubt him".
This usage is followed worldwide.

Some people especially from Indian origin use "doubt" when they are unaware about a fact. e.g "I want to clear my doubts about this procedure". This is incorrect. The word must be used when you do not agree on something on the basis of a reason and not when you do not have knowledge about it.

==[[ New Employee Training Checklist]]==

==[[ New Client Training Notes]]==

==[[ General Office Procedures]]==

Uninstalling clients hosted on NEOSYS Server

2017-06-11T11:54:18Z

Priyanka: /* Stage 1. Disabling */

This must be done in the following circumstances:

# Reinstallation on other servers
# Reinstallation on clients own server
# Termination of contract
# Any other reason

NEOSYS needs to:

# Ensure that the installations can no longer be used by accident or design
# Ensure that for a reasonable period of time that NEOSYS can be re-enabled in case of error or change in circumstances

==== Stage 1. Disabling ====

1. Ensure that the NEOSYS processes, for the installation that is being moved, have been shutdown. This includes checking that no ntvdm process is running for the installation being moved, in procexp.exe (Find, Handle, D:)

2. Stop the associated web in IIS

3. Edit the process startup cmd file, which is scheduled to run daily in the task scheduler and comment out the stopped installation from it

4.Do not amend the client folder name or location, leave the client folder name as it is.

The old procedure to Capitalise the client folder name or MOVING this folder to the "OLD" folder leads to backups doubling up on capacity on the backup server. Hence, these procedures must be stopped. The historical snapshots retain the old folders on the backup server.

5. Place a copy of the latest backup.zip file as mentioned in [[Backup_and_Restore#Historical.2FLapsed_Clients.3F| Handling backup for historical clients]]

6. Comment the lines for the stopped installation in the Nagios config file so that Nagios stops alerting for it

7. Strike-through the terminated client's link on support home page (support.htm).

==== Stage 2. Permanent Deletion ====

Any installation found in the hosts\OLD folder which is older than one year may be deleted to free up storage and backup resources as follows:

1. Delete the associated web in IIS

2. Delete the associated folders in hosts\OLD folder

3. Remove the terminated client's link from support home page (support.htm).

Uninstalling clients hosted on NEOSYS Server

2017-06-08T10:22:52Z

Priyanka: /* Stage 1. Disabling */

This must be done in the following circumstances:

# Reinstallation on other servers
# Reinstallation on clients own server
# Termination of contract
# Any other reason

NEOSYS needs to:

# Ensure that the installations can no longer be used by accident or design
# Ensure that for a reasonable period of time that NEOSYS can be re-enabled in case of error or change in circumstances

==== Stage 1. Disabling ====

1. Ensure that the NEOSYS processes, for the installation that is being moved, have been shutdown. This includes checking that no ntvdm process is running for the installation being moved, in procexp.exe (Find, Handle, D:)

2. Stop the associated web in IIS

3. Edit the process startup cmd file, which is scheduled to run daily in the task scheduler and comment out the stopped installation from it

4. Capitalise the client folder name. In Windows, capitalisation has no effect other than visual. This makes it possible to differentiate between active and terminated clients.

The old procedure of MOVING this folder to the "OLD" folder leads to backups doubling up on capacity. i.e. on the backup server, the terminated Client's folder will be present both in the old location (where all active client folders are) and the new location ("OLD" folder).

Capitalising the folder name instead of moving the folder will prevent the backups from doubling up while still allowing us to identify which clients are live and which ones are terminated.

5. Place a copy of the latest backup.zip file as mentioned in [[Backup_and_Restore#Historical.2FLapsed_Clients.3F| Handling backup for historical clients]]

6. Comment the lines for the stopped installation in the Nagios config file so that Nagios stops alerting for it

7. Strike-through the terminated client's link on support home page (support.htm).

==== Stage 2. Permanent Deletion ====

Any installation found in the hosts\OLD folder which is older than one year may be deleted to free up storage and backup resources as follows:

1. Delete the associated web in IIS

2. Delete the associated folders in hosts\OLD folder

3. Remove the terminated client's link from support home page (support.htm).

Backup and Restore

2017-06-08T10:08:10Z

Priyanka: /* While Moving NEOSYS to a new server, after copying D drive the Maintenance does not contain all data sets */

== Backup Procedures ==
=== Preparing nightly backup report ===
# Note the success, failure and other error of the clients backup mail in an excel sheet and forward the same to your manager.
# If there is a backup failure or backup is not available, check wiki to take necessary steps.
# If there is any unknown error, forward the same to your manager.
Send the backup report after every quarter to all the Clients having consolidated backups.

=== Updating Nagios incase of failures ===
# If the backup failure is unsolved, schedule downtime Neosys service in Nagios till 01 am.
# If the backup did not happen because of server down. Call the IT person; ask him to re-boot the server and check wiki to do necessary step ahead and schedule downtime to Nagios for 2hours.
# If there is an error "Backup->Impossible" on Nagios, check if the USB is properly inserted. If no USB is found, send a mail to the user asking to ensure that the backup USB is inserted properly. Schedule downtime to Nagios for 2hours.

=== Interchange backup USB mail reminder ===
Basically all the clients have different days to change their backup USB. All the notification can be seen on Nagios at 12.00 pm every day.

On the USB change day, at 6:00 am, when the processes start up, the system automatically sends the following email to everyone in the backup email receiver list:

It is time to change the NEOSYS backup media (e.g. USB Flash Drive)

Please change it before 12:00 midday today.

Additional emails reminding IT staff to change backup media are sent out at 11:30am and 5pm if the backup media is not changed according schedule.

Since the system automatically sends a USB change reminder email to the client, support staff do not have to send them any instructions about changing unless they have failed to change the USB on the scheduled day or the scheduled day needs to be moved to another day.

==== Importance of interchanging backup USBs ====
If the backup USB is not interchanged on the scheduled day then the NEOSYS automated backup fails. This happens because traditionally, each USB holds backup of 7 days and using 3 different USBs we can store backups for the last 21 days enabling us to restore the system unto a time period beginning 21 days prior.
If the USB is not changed then the first backup on the current USB is replaced with the new or latest backup leading to inconsistencies within the backups. Hence we must interchange the USB on schedule to avoid a backup failure the next morning.

The reasons for using multiple USBs for backup are:
*We can keep other USBs out of the office for safety purposes since theft or office fire/water hazards could damage the computer and the USB keys if they are all in
the same place.
*Having multiple USBs provide safety against corrupt USBs which cannot be used to restore any backup data.

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>The NEOSYS backup has failed today as the USB was not interchanged on the scheduled day.
Please interchange the USB immediately today to avoid a backup failure tomorrow morning.
Also note that your scheduled day to interchange the USB next week and hence forth remains unchanged to '''(Scheduled Day)'''.</pre>

=== Finding out which USB is inserted into the server ===
As we ask the client to have 3 USB's and interchange them weekly, we also need to sometimes track which one of these 3 USB's are inserted into the server. USB's can be tracked using their volume serial number in most cases. To find this out either go to the command prompt and type VOL <drive letter> where drive letter is the USB drive letter OR in the nightly backup message check for the 2nd line (which looks like this - 14/12/2009 2:45pm Media: 705B-5B5F). However serial numbers can be the same even for different USB's. One of the reasons for this could be that the USBs were imaged from one single USB which caused their volume serial numbers to be the same. However, such a situation is very rare.

=== Interchanging USB when scheduled USB change day falls on a holiday ===
When clients ask support which day to interchange USBs when their scheduled USB change day falls on a holidays, send them the below email.

Hi XXX,

Kindly interchange the USB on the last working day before the holiday i.e XXXday DD/MM/YY and then interchange with the next scheduled USB on first working day after the holiday i.e. XXXday DD/MM/YY. Continue to change the USBs as usual on XXXday.

== Description of Backup Procedure for the NEOSYS Client Hosting Server ==

NEOSYS backup is a two phase process. It is mandatory that both phases are complete for the process to be considered a backup. 
#On the main NEOSYS server host(Schuberg Philis in Amsterdam as of Dec 2010) Every night, the NEOSYS process for selected databases stops serving users at around 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM (local time of the client's main office) and performs the following procedure: - All the database files are checked for physical corruption. - All the database files are zipped into a file who's path would be something like C:\DATA.BAK\CLIENTX\MONDAY\BACKUP.ZIP file. - The file having the same name as that of the corresponding day of the week as last week is overwritten.A "backup alert" email indicating success or failure is sent to senior managers at the client, the client’s IT manager and backups@neosys.com. - An internal log (accessible on each database's Support Menu) is maintained as a record and in case the emails cannot be sent out for some reason. - NEOSYS support staff in Dubai check the emails every morning Sunday through Thursday. - In the case of failure, NEOSYS support staff in Dubai take appropriate action and send an email (to the same people who receive the automated backup alert emails) indicating what action has been taken. - The above does not by itself constitute a proper backup because the backup is stored on the same server and physical disk as the actual data. 
#On the NEOSYS backup server host (in NEOSYS Dubai Office as of Dec 2010 but could be changed without notice to EvoSwitch in Amsterdam). - At around 02:00-02:30 AM GMT daily, NEOSYS's backup server copies (replicates) all the BACKUP.ZIP files from the main NEOSYS server host to itself. - An email indicating success or failure is sent to NEOSYS support staff (only) who deal with it in a similar way to phase 1, except that only NEOSYS management are updated.

==Manual Backup==
See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#How_to_do_a_manual_backup.3F How to do a manual backup in NEOSYS]

Manual backups can be triggered on the server process screen by pressing the lower case letter b key. After the backup is complete the process will resume and restart the child processes. Pressing capital B will result in the process closing on completion of the backup and the child processes will not be restarted. This is useful if you want to trigger a backup and leave without waiting for it to complete.

==Configuring NEOSYS automated backup==

NEOSYS is designed to do an automated backup of the data (not the program files). The configuration for the automated backup rests in the System Configuration File

under Menu > Support.

First step is to configure the automated email settings. After every backup attempt NEOSYS will send out a mail with the status of the backup (either success or

failed). You have to configure the SMTP details here along with the list of recipients to the backup email. Ensure to have atleast 1 person from the client management

and 1 person from the client IT, besides the mandatory backups@neosys.com address

Always use the NEOSYS SMTP server details as follows and put in a fictitious client address so that NEOSYS staff can quickly identify which client this mail came from.

[[image:backup1.jpg]]

Do not configure the backup time unless instructed by your manager. The system will automatically start the backup at 1 am if there is nothing configured in the Backup

time.

Type in the backup location (USB/other media) drive letter in the Backup Drive field and the Uploads fields. Putting a 0 in the Uploads field will disable the backup of the Uploaded files, else by default the uploaded files will be backed up to the drive mentioned in the backup drive field.

The scheduled days of backup can be configured using the checkboxes. If none of the days are checked, backup will be done on all days by default.

Next setup the auto-start of the databases and enter how many processes should be started and which all databases should be backed up. In the example below DEMO

database has been configured to start 3 processes and also do the automated backup, whereas the DEMOTEST database is configured to start 1 process and no automated

backup.

[[image:backup2.jpg]]

=== Non-Liability for Backup ===

{{Non-Liability For Backup}}

=== Backing up the Images folder ===

The Images folder under the NEOSYS installation is used to upload images/artworks/files from the Job File section and hence needs to be backed up. NEOSYS will

automatically backup this Images folder to the USB drive or other location (specified for the usual data backup) once a week. To configure this backup, RSYNC needs to

have been installed during the initial installation.

In case we need to configure the Images folder backup at another location other than the usual nightly backup location than we need to edit:

line 12 - and specify the Drive of the location to be backed up to. eg. E or F

== Backup to other media (i.e. not to USB)==

If the backup is going to '''non-removable media''' (even if it is a shared folder on another computer) then the NEOSYS user/client/licensee (NOT the NEOSYS support team) can, at their own responsibility, arrange to '''move''' (NOT COPY) the NEOSYS backup files from the USB location to a backup location of their choice and avoid the

WARNING message : "Backup media not changed. Overwriting last weeks backup"

=== Sample alternative response to client requests for additional backups ===

The existing NEOSYS backup must continue to take place for safety because it is the only well understood standard, controlled and checked procedure in use for all NEOSYS clients.

You are free to setup and operate any additional backup procedure you like but NEOSYS cannot take any responsibility in setting up, monitoring or approving your additional backup procedure because it is beyond our sphere of control, expertise and trust.

What you can backup is the NEOSYS backups on the USB drive. These are readily available online at all times on the NEOSYS server for you to access and copy as you choose.

You can backup the usb anytime using anything you like, but you must not backup anything on any hard disk eg: C or D at any time.

== Backup in virtual server ==

=== Virtual servers that allow USB passthrough ===
If NEOSYS is installed on a virtual server that allows USB passthrough (e.g. VMWare vSphere version 4.1 and above), then NEOSYS can be configured to backup onto the inserted external USB drive.

3 USBs should be maintained and rotated on a weekly basis as done by clients installed on physical servers.

VMware website says that when changing the USB, the VMware window must be the active window so that the USB reflects in the virtual machine and not on the host machine.
https://www.vmware.com/support/ws45/doc/devices_usb_ws.html

=== Virtual servers that do not allow USB passthrough ===
If NEOSYS is installed on a virtual server that DOES NOT allow USB passthrough, then below are the various cases:

==== Case 1: BACKUP.ZIP file CAN be created on an external removable backup media ====
The backups can be done onto an USB drive if it is connected to the host machine and configured to appear on the virtual server. The virtual server MUST be restarted for the inserted USB to reflect each time the USB is changed i.e. every week.

Support Staff MUST train the IT person to stop the processes properly i.e. use global.end file and rename it to global.end.temp to allow processes to start after reboot. Support Staff can send a follow up email as mentioned below

=====Email to IT person after training =====

Kindly confirm that you will close the NEOSYS processes properly before shutting down the virtual server, i.e. by renaming "global.end" to "global.end.temp" and making sure that no ntvdm.exe processes are running in the task manager. As discussed during the training, this can cause damaged files in NEOSYS if the server is shutdown without closing the NEOSYS processes.

Also please confirm that you will rename "global.end" back to "global.end.temp" before shutting down the virtual server so that the NEOSYS processes start up automatically when the virtual server is restarted.

==== Case 2: BACKUP.ZIP file CANNOT be created on an external removable backup media ====
The Client must *at their own responsibility* agree to arrange copy of the backup files to an external backup location every day if the server cannot be restarted every week. In this case, NEOSYS Support staff must send the client below email:

===== Email for new clients with/old clients moving to virtual servers that do not allow BACKUP.ZIP file to be created on an external removable backup media =====

If we install NEOSYS on a virtual server, the backups cannot be done onto an external removable backup media as confirmed by your IT. NEOSYS considers backups to be done only if BACKUP.ZIP file is created on an external removable backup media.

Instead, NEOSYS will be configured to create the BACKUP.ZIP files on the C drive of the virtual server. Your IT team can, at your own responsibility, arrange to move (NOT COPY) these backup files to an external backup location every day. We recommend that the backup location should be removable media (e.g. external hard disk) and not non-removable media (e.g. shared folder on another computer).

If any damage happens to the NEOSYS server, the backup files on C drive will not be accessible and will therefore be useless. So, kindly confirm that your IT team will arrange to move the backup files as mentioned above.

In addition to this, offsite backups of your virtual server can be setup by us if required, with an additional cost.

==Backup Messages==

==== Interpreting backup alerts messages ====

Success messages come with a blank body

Failure messages should come with the errors in the body

Both success and failure messages come with an attachment containing a list of files copied (or supposed to be copied but failed) and a summary of the volume and speed of data transferred

==== Cause and Solution of Backup Warning Messages ====

NEOSYS gives a backup WARNING message whenever it discovers that it is overwriting backups a week old. It does this because NEOSYS only deems backups completely successful if the backup media is rotated at least on a weekly basis.

If the backup media is removable then it should be changed weekly and the same media not used repeatedly on successive weeks.

If the backup is going to non-removable media (even if it is a shared folder on another computer) then the NEOSYS user/client/licencee (not the NEOSYS support team) can, at their own responsibility, arrange to move (not copy) the NEOSYS backup files from that location to a backup location of their choice and avoid this WARNING message.

==Handling failure and warning messages on nightly USB backup alerts==

=== Backup mail not received ===

[[Troubleshooting_email_not_received#Troubleshooting_email_not_received|Troubleshooting email not received]]

=== Handling Change Backup message if the client does not use a USB backup device ===

IF THE CLIENT IS BACKING UP TO A NON-REMOVABLE DESTINATION THEN EITHER 1. LIVE WITH THE FAILURE MESSAGE OR 2. SUPPRESS THE BACKUP ENTIRELY IN WHICH CASE NO BACKUPS ARE BEING DONE AND PROBABLY THIS WILL SHOW ON NEOSYS PROACTIVE WARNING SYSTEMS LIKE NAGIOS.

Nagios warnings can be acknowledged.

DO *NOT* FOLLOW BELOW PROCEDURE SINCE IS IT IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE FOR NEOSYS TO SEND OUT A "BACKUP SUCCESS" MESSAGE WHEN THE BACKUP IS NOT BEING DONE PROPERLY. IN GENERAL, TAKING SHORT CUTS THAT MAKE THINGS APPEAR SATISFACTORY WHEN THEY ARE NOT IS VERY POOR POLICY.

# Basically most of the client use USB for Neosys server but there are some clients who do not use USB. They could be on virtual server or just saving their backups in hard drive.
# As we know that backup take place in Data.bak folder but it does a backup only for a week in a single USB. Over here client do not use USB but save their backup in hard drive/virtual server location in Data.bak folder, once the week is over it will again give Change backup message.
# In this case rename the Data.bak folder to Data1.bak this is done because system read only Data.bak folder as it is configured in the system. When you rename Data.bak to Data1.bak it automatically create a new folder Data.bak in Backup drive.
# This process is done so that the backup does not fail next day morning and backup is done in Data.bak folder along with successful backup email.
# In the third week we will again see the same message Chang backup USB message, so you need to rename Data.bak folder to Data2.bak
# But in fourth week you rename the Data1.bak to Data.bak and change the Data2.bak to Data1.bak and Data.bak to Data2.bak
# Keep only three folders and Data.bak, Data1.bak, Data2.bak and keep on renaming these folders every week as shown above.

AS MENTIONED EARLIER *DO NOT FOLLOW* THE ABOVE PROCEDURE ON ANY CLIENT THAT DOES NOT USE A USB BACKUP DEVICE.

=== Warning Message: Backup media not changed. Overwriting last weeks backup ===

NEOSYS gives a backup WARNING message whenever it discovers that it is overwriting backups a week old. It does this because NEOSYS only deems backups completely successful if the backup media is rotated at least on a weekly basis.

If the backup media is removable then it should be changed daily or weekly and the same media not used repeatedly on successive weeks.

If the backup is going to non-removable media (even if it is a shared folder on another computer) then the NEOSYS user/client/licensee (not the NEOSYS support team) can, at their own responsibility, arrange to move (not copy) the NEOSYS backup files from that location to a backup location of their choice and avoid this WARNING message. Also refer to [[Backup_and_Restore#Handling_Change_Backup_message_if_the_client_does_not_use_a_USB_backup_device|Handling Change Backup message if the client does not use a USB backup device]]

=== Error Message: Somebody else was using the dataset ===

Server=NEOSYS
Client=NEOSYS
User=ADAGENCY
NEOSYS Ver:18:02:13 30 MAY 2006

Backup started at 19/11/2006 2:00am

TEST DATA TESTDATA

To E:\DATA.BAK\TESTDATA\Sunday\BACKUP.ZIP
!!! THE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!

(because one or more files were not backed up
- somebody else was using them)

==== Error Explained ====

Despite the error message which shows that 'somebody else was using them', it is definitely not correct as NEOSYS shuts down automatically at 2 am (time of the

backup). The actual problem might be that a NEOSYS process must have got stuck and failed to shutdown or a maintenance process was left open by accident.

==== Action to be taken ====

Close any maintenance processes that should not have been left open in the first place.

Try to exit normally or kill any other [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#How_to_kill_hung_NEOSYS_processes|"hung"]] processes, taking screenshots of any error messages in order to try and prevent the problem happening again.

If not inconvenient to the users consider initiating a manual backup or just check that the next automatic backup works ok.

=== Error Message: Size Lock ===

Server=NEOSYS-SERVER
Client=NEOSYS-SERVER
User=NETSERVICE
NEOSYS Ver:19:57:50 08 NOV 2006

Backup started at 19/11/2006 2:00am

ADLINE ADLINE

To F:\DATA.BAK\ADLINE\Sunday\BACKUP.ZIP
The following files had a size lock but have been fixed SHADOW Warning! Process
U79068
Other Network Stations are Active!
This utility was designed to be run in a single-user mode!

Potential Errors Could Occur, If You Proceed to fix the sizelock Values with Other Stations
Active. These Errors Include;

Invalid SELECT results, Degredation in Network Performance, and other Problems/Concerns which
may be specific to your Installation/Application.

IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT ALL NETWORK STATIONS BE LOGGED OUT BEFORE PROCEEDING!

Do you wish to Proceed at this time?%B%
!!! THE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!

(because one or more files were not backed up
- somebody else was using them)

==== Error Explained ====

Sizelock errors are not critical and do not stop the backup from being performed. Sizelocks are cleared automatically during backup but the backup alert becomes a

warning that the backup was not quite perfect.

Sizelocks during database checking indicate that some files were not properly closed in normal processing but do not indicate corrupt files. Sizelock means that a file

is prevented from expanding and contracting. Expanding and contracting is necessary in order to speed up access to larger numbers of records. Therefore if sizelocks

were to be left uncleared then the file would become slower and slower to access over time.

In the above example the backup was not completed because of another error "files in use".

==== Action to be taken ====

If this is an automatic backup then no action is required since the sizelocks are automatically cleared.

During a manual backup then you should press F9 on the sizelock warning screen to confirm that the sizelocks should be cleared.

Sizelocks can only be cleared if no other process is open.

=== Failure Message : Backup file is 0 ===

16/4/2009 9:43am Creating zip

16/4/2009 9:45am !!! THE DATABASE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!

BECAUSE BACKUP FILE SIZE IS 0

==== Error Explanation 1 ====
This happens when there is no adequate storage space on the hard-disk which houses the NEOSYS application and data files. When the automated backup is initiated, the

NEOSYS application checks all the data files and creates a zipped file of it which is the databasename.zip (in the above case IMDUB.ZIP). During this zip file

creation, NEOSYS needs additional disk space temporarily and if this is not available then the backup would fail. The IMDUB.ZIP file is created and backed up (as

BACKUP.ZIP under the respective day of the week) to the USB or any other drive specified and is automatically deleted from the drive that it was created in.

====Error Explanation 2====

This could be due lack of EMSMAGIC.

In case of a Windows Server 2003 installation: [[Troubleshooting NEOSYS Generally#Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003|Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003]]

In case of a Windows Server 2008 installation: [[Installing EMS Magic|Installing EMS Magic on Windows 2008]]

==== Actions to be taken ====
#In this case, you need to clear up the hard-disk and create some space. In the above scenario at Initiative there was a folder of 52 GB in the same drive that houses NEOSYS and the available disk space was just 40 MB. So the un-necessary folder was moved out to make space.
#If there is sufficient space available on the hard disk which houses NEOSYS, then consider checking the anti-virus settings and escalate the issue to NEOSYS programmer for debugging.

This is another reason why NEOSYS personnel should put their foot down on getting dedicated servers for NEOSYS as it restrains the client IT staff from using the

NEOSYS server to house data or any other applications besides NEOSYS.

=== Error Message: Inadequate Storage Space on USB ===

==== Error 1 ====
<pre>
Server=SERVER2
Client=SERVER2
User=ACCOUNTS
NEOSYS Ver:11:26:27 26 JUL 2010

7/2/2012 2:00 Backup started F: BASIC
7/2/2012 2:00 Media: FADE-0001

7/2/2012 2:00 Checking for damaged database files
7/2/2012 2:01 Checked OK 1.92MB (+1.00KB)

7/2/2012 2:01 Creating zip
7/2/2012 2:01 Created OK BASIC.ZIP 251KB

7/2/2012 2:02 Copying to F:\DATA.BAK\Tuesday\BACKUP.ZIP
7/2/2012 2:02 Copied OK

7/2/2012 2:02 Verifying zip OK
7/2/2012 2:02 Verified OK

7/2/2012 2:02 Started backup of uploaded files in /cygdrive/E/ to F:
7/2/2012 2:04 neosys/DATA/ACCOUNTS/REV20050.LK
neosys/DATA/ACCOUNTS/REV20052.LK
7/2/2012 2:04 rsync: writefd_unbuffered failed to write 4092 bytes [sender]: Connection reset by peer (104)
rsync: write failed on "/cygdrive/F/E/neosys/DATA/ACCOUNTS/BATCHES.LK": No space left on device (28)
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (9077 bytes received so far) [sender]
rsync error: error in rsync protocol data stream (code 12) at /home/lapo/packaging/rsync-3.0.4-1/src/rsync-3.0.4/io.c(632) [sender=3.0.4]
7/2/2012 2:04 Finished backup of uploaded files

7/2/2012 2:04 !!! THE DATABASE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!
</pre>

==== Error Explained ====
In the above error log we notice the line:
rsync: write failed on "/cygdrive/F/E/neosys/DATA/PT0011A/ACCOUNTS/BATCHES.LK": No space left on device (28)

This is an indication that the USB being used to store backups does not have adequate storage space to save further backups.

This particular message only comes when using rsync to copy all IMAGES (ie files uploaded to NEOSYS) to the USB.

Sometimes, image backup is used to configured to backup the whole of a disk or the whole of data folder for example if there are hundreds of databases that are not all

used everyday.

==== Error 2 ====
<pre>
Server=SERVER2
Client=SERVER2
User=ACCOUNTS
NEOSYS Ver:11:26:27 26 JUL 2010
7/2/2012 2:00 Backup started F: PT0621 - GABANG HOLDINGS LIMITED
7/2/2012 2:00 Media: FADE-0001
7/2/2012 2:00 Checking for damaged database files
7/2/2012 2:02 Checked OK 2.25MB (+20.0KB)
7/2/2012 2:02 Creating zip
7/2/2012 2:02 Created OK PT0621.ZIP 462KB
7/2/2012 2:02 !!! THE DATABASE BACKUP HAS FAILED !!!
BECAUSE NOT ENOUGH FREE SPACE ON BACKUP MEDIA.
462KB REQUIRED BUT ONLY 452KB AVAILABLE
</pre>

==== Error Explained ====
As the last line of the above error log clearly states, there is not adequate free space available on the USB to perform a backup.

In the above case, 462KB is required space while only 452KB is available.

==== Action to be taken ====
The simple solution is to purchase a new USB with greater storage space than the existing USB.

Sample Email to be sent to clients:

The automated NEOSYS backup has failed due to insufficient storage space on the USB.
Currently you are using a 4GB USB, which is insufficient for storing backups.
I recommend that you use a USB with 8 GB or more storage space.

''Note -'' We may also solve this issue by checking the USB for unnecessary files and move/delete them.

=== Error Message: "Cannot backup/restore because PROCESS1 PROCESS2 (etc) is/are online" message ===

This can happen for a variety of reasons if any the NEOSYS processes fail to close down at backup time. One could be because NEOSYS processes hang due to software error.

== Fixing Network Connectivity Errors for consolidated Backups ==
There could be multiple reasons why the backup server might not be able to connect with the backed up server.

Error
<pre>
[Receiver] io timeout after 600 seconds -- exiting rsync error: timeout in data send/receive (code 30) at /home/lapo/package/rsync-3.0.8-1/src/rsync-3.0.8/io.c(140) [Receiver=3.0.8] [Receiver] io timeout after 600 seconds -- exiting rsync error: timeout in data send/receive (code 30) at /home/lapo/package/rsync-3.0.8-1/src/rsync-3.0.8/io.c(140) [Receiver=3.0.8] tried via hostname.support.neosys.com now trying via hostname2.support.neosys.com
ssh: Could not resolve hostname hostname2.support.neosys.com: hostname nor servname provided, or not known
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (0 bytes received so far) [Receiver] rsync error: error in rsync protocol data stream (code 12) at /home/lapo/package/rsync-3.0.8-1/src/rsync-3.0.8/io.c(601)
</pre>

The following tests help in checking why the connectivity was lost between the backup server and the backed up server:

===Check whether the server was up===
If either of the servers were down, that could be the reason why connectivity was lost between the backup server and the backed up server. If this test fails, proceed to the next step.

===Telnet check===
<pre> telnet <hostname> 19580 </pre>

<hostname> is the name or IP address of the remote server to connect to.

If telnet is not able to connect to the remote host specified in <hostname> or establish a connection on the <port> specified, it will report an error similar to the following:

<pre>
C:> telnet fred.plus.com <CR>
Connecting To fred.plus.com...Could not open connection to the host, on port 23: Connect failed
C:> telnet mail.plus.net 60 <CR>
Connecting To mail.plus.com...Could not open connection to the host, on port 60: Connect failed.
C:> telnet 60.92.12.56 74 <CR>
Connecting To 60.92.12.56...Could not open connection to the host, on port 74: Connect failed.
</pre>

===Autologin===

====Error====
<pre>

rsync: failed to connect to 127.0.0.1: Connection refused (111) rsync error: error in socket IO (code 10) at
/home/lapo/packaging/rsync-3.0.7-1/src/rsync-

3.0.7/clientserver.c(122) [Receiver=3.0.7]

tried via hostname.neosys.com

now trying via hostname2.neosys.com

rsync: failed to connect to 127.0.0.1: Connection refused (111) rsync error: error in socket IO (code 10) at
/home/lapo/packaging/rsync-3.0.7-1/src/rsync-

3.0.7/clientserver.c(122) [Receiver=3.0.7]

</pre>

===== Error Explained=====
The automated backup cannot use autologin to access the server being backed up and so the backup fails.

===== Solution =====

[[Backup_and_Restore#Checking_if_autologin_is_configured_correctly_and_working_or_not| Check autologin]] and [[Backup_and_Restore#Running_..2Fautologin.sh|Run autologin]]

==== Error Message: "WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!" message ====

'''Error'''
<pre>
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@ WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that a host key has just been changed.
The fingerprint for the ED25519 key sent by the remote host is
SHA256:9i9JH5xh11rEMIgrsax8A7bEKXfKVRiJr9nZllWXdFg.
Please contact your system administrator.
Add correct host key in /home/administrator/.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this message.
Offending ECDSA key in /home/administrator/.ssh/known_hosts:208
ED25519 host key for [192.168.10.1]:19580 has changed and you have requested strict checking.
Host key verification failed.
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (0 bytes received so far) [Receiver]
rsync error: unexplained error (code 255) at io.c(226) [Receiver=3.1.1]
</pre>

Solution to the problem is to remove the host key for the host mentioned in the error message in the known_hosts file.

Run the following command in Cygwin terminal.
<pre> ssh-keygen -R [host ip]:port </pre>

e.g in the above message for host ip 192.168.10.1 and port 19580 the command is
<pre> ssh-keygen -R [192.168.10.1]:19580 </pre>
Next re run autologin for the host, see [[Backup_and_Restore#Running_..2Fautologin.sh | Running autologin ]]

===Check Scheduled Tasks on the Server===
Check if logs of Scheduled Tasks on the server, to see if the remote backup task executed and completed successfully. It is possible that the remote backup scheduled task hung due to some reason and a new instance of the task fails to start up the next day due to the existing instance. To avoid this situation, in Properties of the task, under Settings tab, check "Stop the task if it runs for:" and configure it to less than 24 hours.

== Enabling backup servers to access backed-up servers ==

This relates to a common procedure used by NEOSYS to provide automatic nightly synchronisation/backups between servers for multi-office configurations. For more information see
http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_remote_backup

Αccording to this procedure, backup processes are actually initiated and run on a "backup server" using a "pull" concept. The "backed-up server" serves the data (usually using an rsync service) to the backup server on request. They do not use a "push" concept.
This means that backup servers need to be able to automatically login to the backed-up servers. On most backup servers a NEOSYS cygwin script called autologin.sh has been installed. This helps you configure the backup server and backed-up server.
NEOSYS processes on a target server can sometimes reset/ lose autologin codes (particularly when NEOSYS is upgraded) on the target server when it should not actually. This enforces rerunning autologin.sh. You only need to run autologin.sh once per pair of backup and backed-up servers, in the backup server.
==== Checking if autologin is configured correctly and working or not ====
On the source system, in cygwin console, type the following, changing port number, administrator and clientname to suit the case.
ssh –p 19580 administrator@clientname.neosys.com
After a few seconds, if it is working properly, it should give you a command prompt on the target system. This indicates that autologin was successful. You may exit using the command:
exit
Otherwise, if it gives some error and in particular if it asks you anything at all, for example “confirm fingerprint?” or “password?” then autologin is not working.
You can then type in the following command in cygwin to configure or reconfigure autologin:
./autologin.sh

=== Running ./autologin.sh ===
In cygwin on the backup server, you can use any of the following syntax depending on your configuration:

Syntax

./autologin.sh targethostname targetusername sshport

*host and user will be prompted for if omitted
*port will be 19580 if omitted

Example using prompting for parameters

./autologin.sh

Example using default user and port (administrator/19580)

./autologin.sh examplehost.neosys.com

Example with different user (port will be 19580)

./autologin.sh examplehost.neosys.com Administrator

Example with different user and port

./autologin.sh examplehost.neosys.com Administrator 19580

The username is usually administrator for windows server targets.

The hostname can be found in backup email logs or in the CONFIG.CMD file in the backup server.

There are often two alternative hostnames. Try the first one first. If you succeed with the first then there is no need to try the second.

Sometimes one of the host names is based on alternative network access methods like hamachi which uses ip addresses starting with "5." and requires hamachi service to be running in both servers and this sometimes is dependent on being logged in and correct setup of hamachi. You can ping the host names to discover the ip numbers of course.

If Autologin is configured successfully, it logs you in to the backed up server's cygwin/bash command line. YOU should NOT be required to enter a password. YOU type "exit" to quit the backed up server's command line.

If Autologin is not configured successfully, you might be required to enter a password. In that case, enter the password and follow instructions on screen.
The system asks for the password to the target server to transfer an identity file and once again to access the command line of the target server from where you must follow a set of instructions in order to load the identity file properly.
Follow the instructions on the screen VERY carefully.

=== Setting up autologin.sh ===

#Asks you for the username and hostname
#Copies an identity file from the backup server to the backed up server. This requires you to enter the administrator or root password.
#Logs you in to the backed up server's cygwin/bash command line. This requires you to enter the password again.
#YOU then type a series of commands to install the identity file and finally exit the command console. The series of commands that you must type are shown on screen
=== The edit step ===

The last step will enter the nano editor where you should do the following:

If present, delete the word neosys near the end of the last line of the file. The last bit of the last line will refer to some user and host that you are enabling

access FROM

BE CAREFUL NOT TO TRIGGER THE AUTOMATIC LINE BREAKING IN NANO because line breaking into two or more lines is automatically triggered when you add characters to long

lines. it is not triggered if you just delete characters. If you do cause a line break then quit the editor WITHOUT saving and try again or then use the editor to

rejoin the two lines. Note that pressing Alt+L will turn long line breaking off and on which avoids the problem in the first place.

Press Ctrl+X to exit the editor

=== Creating/Upgrading autologin.sh if it doesn’t exist or is out of date ===

nano autologin.sh
chmod +x autologin.sh

<pre>
#!/bin/bash

set -e

REMOTEHOST=$1
REMOTEUSER=$2
PORT=$3

test $REMOTEUSER || REMOTEUSER=administrator
test $PORT || PORT=19580

if [ ! $REMOTEUSER ]; then
echo -n "Remote User (blank=administrator)/root?"
read REMOTEUSER
if [ "$REMOTEUSER" == "" ] ; then REMOTEUSER=administrator ; fi
fi

if [ ! REMOTEHOST ]; then
echo -n "Remote Host? "
read REMOTEHOST
if [ "$REMOTEHOST" == "" ] ; then exit; fi
fi

echo PASSPHRASE MUST BE BLANK IF YOU GET ASKED FOR IT!
#Generate priv/pub keys in .ssh if not already done
#Priv key mustnt be accessible except to owner otherwise wont work.
test -f ~/.ssh/id_rsa || \
ssh-keygen -t rsa && \
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa

echo
echo "Logging in to the remote server (enter the pass again)"
sed 's/neosys//' ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | \
ssh -p $PORT $REMOTEUSER@$REMOTEHOST \
"mkdir -p .ssh ; chmod 700 .ssh ;\
cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys ;\
chmod 644 .ssh/authorized_keys"

echo
echo "Test automatic login to the remote server"
echo " SHOULD NO LONGER ASK FOR PASSWORD."
echo " IF SUCCESSFULL, TYPE exit"
ssh -p $PORT $REMOTEUSER@$REMOTEHOST

</pre>

==Switching to a backup server==

As NEOSYS provides clients with option of backing up their data to a remote NEOSYS server in case of emergencies or server problems, it is crucial you understand the below procedure on how to switch to a backup server in the event of such a situation. Extreme care must be taken when switching over to using a backup server otherwise unnecessary data loss is very likely.

Backup servers are normally switched off and should not be started automatically otherwise there is a serious risk of the client’s staff working on two systems. It is not possible to merge two databases into one database. Before the backup server is enabled the main server must be disabled, and before the main server is re-enabled, the backup server must be disabled again. This can be managed technically without requiring any decision from senior non-technical staff.

However, there are also some potentially hard decisions about unavoidable loss of data versus continued system availability. *** Backup servers should therefore only be started with the written approval of the clients senior staff. A suitable email requesting approval follows.

The following case assumes that the main server has gone down sometime during the working day and that therefore the data on the backup server is out of date. Allowing them to use the backup server therefore implies some loss of data. They may wish to lose the data. They may wish to work on the backup server data and then try to redo the work on the main server once it is restored. There are a variety of options depending on the situation.

If the main server is still functioning AND you are reasonably sure that the database is not damaged (which is perhaps an unlikely situation if you need to use the backup server!), it may be sensible to trigger an additional “backup/sync” process to bring the backup server database up to date with the main server. Before you do this, it is advisable that you take a backup copy of the backup system on the backup server. In this case there would be no data loss in using the backup.

An additional option of providing usage of the backup server in read-only mode so that people can at least access some data is being developed. The backup server could be available continuously at any time in read-only mode. This article would then be related to switching a backup server into main operational mode.

Dear {senior staff} cc {IT staff}

Please note that we can enable the backup server if you wish.

However the data on the backup server is out of date since it is a copy of your main database as at 11/22/33 99:99.

If you wish to allow work to be done on the backup server then any data entered on your main server since the above date will be lost if we
subsequently copy the data on the backup server to the main server.

If, after using the backup server, we do NOT copy the data on the back server to the main server then any data you have entered on the backup
server/database will be lost.

Please confirm a) you want to work on HOSTS2 database and that we should therefore enable it and b) you have disconnected your main server
for the duration.

Best Regards,
xxxxxx xxxxxxx
NEOSYS Support

==How to Restore NEOSYS from Backup==

#Log into Maintenance Mode
#Go to General > Backup & Data Management
#Select (the 4th option) Restore from disk or diskette
#Select the drive where the latest successful backup.zip file is present and follow the prompts ahead.

==While Moving NEOSYS to a new server, after copying D drive the Maintenance does not contain all data sets==

After copying D drive, when you open Maintenance if the data sets are not present as in the old server you MUST restore Backup as restore is a verified/quick method of creating data sets. While restoring last night's Backup for missing data sets, the system gives a warning message "Dataset is already on the computer" as shown below. You MUST select the 2nd option "Overwrite the existing dataset" from the options in the warning message. In this way, all data sets will be created/saved on the new server.

<pre>
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ *** WARNING *** ║
║ TEST /TEST ║
║ IS ALREADY ON THE COMPUTER ║
║ IF YOU CONTINUE, THE EXISTING FILES WILL BE DELETED. ║
║ ║
║ What do you want to do? ║
║───┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────║
║ 1│Cancel the restore process ║
║ 2>Overwrite the existing data set ║
║ 3│Restore and make a new dataset ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
</pre>

== Accessing historical snapshots of NEOSYS hosted clients data ==

The main NEOSYS backup server nl13 contains backups of NEOSYS hosted clients along with all NEOSYS internal servers.

It also contains historical snapshots of the backups going back six months.

NEOSYS SUPPORT TEAM *MUST* AVOID COPYING, MOVING OR RENAMING FOLDERS ON NEOSYS WINDOWS SERVERS because this causes severe duplication and consumption of valuable resources for up to six months on nl13. Any exception to this rule must be discussed with NEOSYS IT *before* implementation.

=== How to restore? ===

nl13 is only accessible by NEOSYS IT so recovery of any data cannot be done directly by NEOSYS support team and is not a routine procedure.

The secondary NEOSYS backup server hosts2 is accessible to NEOSYS support team but contains only the latest snapshot of the current NEOSYS hosted clients as at last night. No historical versions are available.

=== What snapshots are available? ===

As of 2017/05/25 the NEOSYS backup server nl13 takes snapshots (of the backups listed in Nagios) as follows using crontab:

* 120 historical hourly backups done at **:10 every hour (5x24 hours)
* 8 historical daily backups done at 01:11 every night
* 5 historical weekly backups done at 01:12 every Saturday
* 6 historical monthly backups done at 01:13 on the 1st of every month

=== What is backed up? ===

Inspecting Nagios shows daily backups of NEOSYS hosted clients to nl13 of win3/d. Complete hourly backup is not possible due to limitations of Windows and/or the backup software used. However, there are hourly backups of win3/d/DATA.BAK so NEOSYS process "backups" to win3/d/DATA.BAK (on the same server and disk and therefore not a proper backup) do get properly backed up to a different server once an hour.

=== Historical/Lapsed Clients? ===

For more info see [[Uninstalling_clients_hosted_on_NEOSYS_Server|Uninstalling clients hosted on NEOSYS server ]]

A single copy of lapsed clients last BACKUP.ZIP will be kept for as long as possible along with the active client's data and backed up identically.

Long lapsed clients should be removed periodically from the normal DATA.BAK folder only when space runs out on win3 but a copy should be moved to D:\DATA2.BAK folder on hosts2 which is itself backed up nightly to nl13 which keeps backups for approx six months.

Procedures

2017-06-07T11:00:46Z

Priyanka: /* Handling "List of Open Ports" reports */

Here are procedures to be followed by Support Staff in respect to various technical matters in day to day operations of client issues.

== Handling Clients with Overdue Invoice ==
In order to maintain good payment speed by clients NEOSYS needs to restrict support to clients that dont pay their bills on time, however the degree of restriction needs to depend on an intimate knowledge of the client which cannot be expected from all NEOSYS support staff. Therefore we will use a simple escalation policy as follows:

=== Overdue Support List ===
NEOSYS SUPPORT MANAGERS WILL maintain an overdue list on a whiteboard visible to all support staff. Generally, clients will go on the list immediately when their invoice is overdue and come off only after satisfactory commitment to pay have been obtained.

The latest overdue list email MUST always be starred until there are no clients left on the overdue list (apart from the permanently overdue clients). This way support team will know that there are still clients on the overdue list and will not mistakenly provide support to those clients.

For the first week of each quarter of the year, normal support should be provided for server failures and backup failures (including hung processes as it could eventually lead to backup failures). NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any other support requests from overdue clients, with the following letter (where XYZ is the overdue client):

Dear ABC,
There is an issue with your company's account. We have requested our Accounts team for approval in order to provide support to you and other XYZ users.

Support staff must then provide the required support to the overdue client only after 4 working hours. Support Staff need not actually contact the Accounts team for approval, although that is what is mentioned in the letter. This delay in support is to encourage clients to settle their payments on time.

After the first week of each quarter of the year, NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any support requests from overdue clients with the above letter but MUST NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT even after 4 working hours. Instead, NEOSYS Support Staff must refer the support request to NEOSYS Support Manager.

Managers may well instruct support to provide support on a case by case basis even if clients are on the overdue list. Being on the overdue list does not necessarily indicate a major issue with accounts.

== Handling Frozen NEOSYS Installations and Databases ==

Some clients retain fully operational NEOSYS installations or just particular databases even after they stop using them for some reason, either because they move to some other software, or because they terminate an operational division, or other reasons, and this can either be on NEOSYS or their own servers.

In this case, various NEOSYS upgrade and maintenance processes may be suspended, downgraded or completely skipped especially if instant access to the server is no longer available. This does not mean that it should never be done, and pros and cons need to be assessed and documented in support emails on a case by case basis.

*Upgrading NEOSYS version
*Upgrading/standardising NEOSYS database configuration and other files for consistency, security or other issues
*Patching Windows/IIS configuration for consistency, security or other issues

== Handling Links and Email Attachments ==

'''DO NOT TRUST ANY LINK OR ATTACHMENT IN ANY EMAIL EVEN FROM HIGHLY TRUSTED PEOPLE OR ORGANISATIONS'''

These days you can no longer trust links or attachments in emails from anybody - even emails from highly trusted people like your bank.

If a personal computer or intermediate email server is hacked then even genuine emails sent out from it can be infected and modified in a hidden way that can result in the recipient being infected if they click or open anything in the email.

Therefore you should know and understand how to avoid, as far as possible, getting tricked and infected via emails.

Malware authors generally rely on the fact that most people devote no time at all to security precautions so a moderate cautious approach, slowing down a little to spending some time on security, even where it is apparently not required, is enough to defeat most attacks.

=== Links ===

Do NOT click on links, especially in emails that you are not expecting, but also anywhere else that you see links, without taking various precautions. The links in an email, even from someone you know and trust, can LIE to you about what website they will open and they can lead you to websites that mere browsing can infect your computer and then others inside our network.

WHAT LINK/WEBSITE WILL BE OPENED MAY NOT BE WHAT IT SAYS IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL!

Therefore, to use a link in any and all emails, first hover your cursor over it and check the status bar at the bottom of the screen where you can see exactly what website will be opened, or, to be more sure exactly what website you are opening DO NOT click links in emails at all. COPY/PASTE the link to your browser, AFTER following the below points.

*Make sure you know and trust the website being opened.
*Carefully inspect the spelling of the domain name to avoid tricky look-alike fraudulent links eg hcsb.com instead of hsbc.com
*If you trust the sender but you do not personally know the website then get independent confirmation from the sender. Reply to the email so that the sender can check the link you received has not been tampered with.

In the following case, hovering over the first two links seem to go to real UPS website, BUT this is NOT sufficient to be sure since slight misspellings and other tricks can lead you to a totally different website.

However, hovering over the third "link" shows that clicking the apparent link would go to some website http://behappy.vn (Vietnam) so clearly this is a DECEPTION.

[[image:Scamscreenshot.png]]

=== Attachments ===

There is no way to determine if an attachment, even from someone you know, has not been infected and is therefore dangerous. The only protection is to rely on anti-virus/anti-malware software on your computer.

You can check the names and file types/extensions of attached files to spot any obviously strange or unexpected attachments but this is not very effective. Don't open attachments ending in .jar or any others without SB's permission.

Be careful that if there are a lot of attached files not to assume that all are safe because the majority are unsafe.

== Handling junk email ==
Any email identified as junk should be manually marked as Junk so that they automatically go into the Junk folder. The spam filter in the server will use the emails in the Junk folder to decide what is moved into the spam folder.

== Avoid burdening email servers with excessive graphics ==

Support MUST install the "Auto Resize Image" addon in Thunderbird to reduce the size of images in emails resulting in a significant reduction in email size. See [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Configure_Auto_Resize_Image| setting up auto resize image]] for details.

It reduces the burden on NEOSYS and NEOSYS client's email servers. This is especially important on long conversations about subjects that include many screenshots, since for just a simple one line reply, the email can consume many MB of space. It massively wastes the email server space and makes backups massive and generally a total waste of resources and time.

To be able to refer back to graphics in previous emails, add the SIZE column to your email program so that you can locate large emails with graphics rapidly without searching back one by one.

==Client Communication Policies==
===Client Meeting Report Policy===

After every Client meeting online or otherwise Support MUST send a Follow-Up email to the Client which is open and fully informative and not brief, stating the events during the meet and any action required by either or both parties. The email to the client must not shrink from discussing contentious issues due to a false sense of politeness or timidity to address issues face on. Obviously one should not be rude but it is not rude to address issues openly.(cc Client managers and NEOSYS Managers)

The follow-up email MUST be sent within 24 hours of completion of the meeting so that the points discussed during the meeting are fresh in all the meeting participants' minds. This means that reports for meetings on the day before the weekend MUST be sent on the SAME day.

In addition to above email if there is some information that needs to be shared internally and cannot be said in public to the client then send a Client Meeting report to Support.

Support must also update the Client Contact Record file in Google Drive immediately after sending out the follow-up email.

===Follow Up of Support Issues===

All voice/chat communication MUST also be followed up with an email confirming at least the gist of the communication to keep the whole support team updated on the issue.

If not possible to contact for any reason, then an email MUST be sent stating so and suggesting or requesting a time to connect.

cc Client managers (and/or BCC NEOSYS Managers) MAY be done if thought to be useful and/or appropriate.

===Handling Contentious Emails from Clients===

If emails requesting support become contentious, then voice, phone call or chat is REQUIRED to save time. However, client support via phone call should be done only on local or low-cost calls. High-cost international calls should not be used except in extreme circumstances.

If clients become deliberately combative or uncooperative then Support team is supposed to kick back a little but still emphasise the point. Perhaps it could be done better with a little ironic humour or a smiley. Avoid using !! while responding to contentious emails.

=== Discussing Pricing ===
All discussions about pricing must be done only in Sales inbox. If clients bring up pricing discussion in support emails, NEOSYS staff must respond to the client by starting a new thread in the Sales Inbox.

==NEOSYS Support Response Time Policy==

NEOSYS contracts, in the few cases where we have a written contract with the client, specifies that maximum response time is one business day generally and one business hour for complete stoppages of the system. Obviously we have to do far better than this in practice.

Support staff must inform clients of the progress of the issue if it is not resolved the same day but only if they contact at least 1 hour before office closing.

Deciding to wait on issues is fine (also refer to: [[Procedures#Handling_users_who_do_not_act_upon_standard_messages|Response to standard messages]]), but support MUST at least spend up to 5 minutes on issues to see if they can be handled quickly.

For routine requests for service where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client then no need to send rapid reply.

==Handling errors discovered by support staff ==
{{Handling errors}}

==Handling Cheques from Clients==

NEOSYS staff are not to accept deliveries from clients that might be cheques without prior instructions to accept the same. They can ask courier to wait a few minutes until NEOSYS accounts or management agrees but they may not be available and probably will not agree anyway. NEOSYS payment terms do not accept cheques although clients are free to deposit cheques by themselves.

== Client Password Policy ==
All client user passwords, including their initial one, are to be obtained via the user's email address using the password reminder/reset button on the login screen. [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#What_is_NEOSYS_password_policy.3F (NEOSYS password policy)]

NEOSYS staff should never know users passwords therefore NEOSYS will not obtain and grant user passwords. The reason for this is that in the event that users lose their passwords to other people who then login unauthorised then suspicion could fall on the NEOSYS staff who know their password.

All parties concerned, including client management, client users and NEOSYS support staff, benefit greatly from trusting that if something in a NEOSYS database is registered as having been done by a particular user then it was not in fact somehow done by NEOSYS support staff. Nothing should be done that would break such fundamental trust. To achieve this, NEOSYS support staff must never log in as particular users, never ask for users passwords and generally enforce the idea that all work logged as being done by users IS done by users.

Very limited amounts of work by NEOSYS support staff either in person or remotely using teamviewer is acceptable while a user is logged as long as the user login was performed by the user themselves, the user is present and the user specifically agrees with the work being done.

=== Support requests from ordinary client users ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords will be forwarded to known skilled users on the client staff since this is the most efficient (not fastest) way to handle such issues.

=== Support requests from senior client management ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords by senior client management users shall be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bearing in mind that NEOSYS staff should never know user's passwords this will probably involve NEOSYS staff using the Password Reminder/Reset button to send a new password to the user.

=== User Defined Passwords ===
NEOSYS will provide user defined passwords in very special cases which must be pre-approved case by case by NEOSYS management. NEOSYS will not approve this due to the reasons mentioned [[Procedures#Client_Password_Policy|here]].

If the user login gets blocked due to multiple login failures and the user requests support team to reset the password to the user defined password again, support MUST delay the response to this request by at least 1 hour in order to force the user to be more careful when typing the password.

Currently permission for user defined password has only been granted to one NEOSYS client with several hundreds of databases.

== Handling client issues and requests==

All support issues must be dealt with through phone/email/chat. Support Staff can schedule client visits for User Training but should not schedule client visits solely for providing support for petty issues.

ALL Support staff should check the all the previous day's inbound emails for reply flags once in the morning. All Support staff will therefore be held responsible for any unreplied inbound email.

Support staff should NOT waste time and delay support by investigating issues WITHOUT having sufficient information.

Support staff should look for similar issues when solving a particular problem to avoid similar issues in future. This saves the time and energy of Support as well as the Client.

When sending screenshots to clients, support team should economise on space by minimising to the minimum that will show the problem clearly. This is because not every user will be viewing their emails on large wide screens like NEOSYS support team. Browser windows reformat their contents to suit the width available so this is particularly effective in most NEOSYS screens.

Support team MUST be cautious while sending screenshots so that no private/unnecessary information is sent to Client. If you cant avoid taking the screenshot without unnecessary information then you should hide it in the screenshot.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

=== Handling new emails in Support inbox===
Support MUST spend up to 5 minutes on new emails and send a quick reply to the client, to acknowledge the request or give a quick solution in case its a petty issue or has a documented solution in wiki. This should probably be done on priority, interrupting existing work and not wait for one hour and be dealt with quickly.

For routine service requests where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client, Support does not need to send a rapid reply.

=== Handling client call back requests===

Clients who ask us to call them should be given our phone number asked to call us unless there is some GOOD reason why we should make the effort and pay phone charges.

=== Handling login failure issues===

Users often get login failure issues due to typing wrong password and they simply won't read and act according to the error message they get. In this case, Support must send the below email to the user.

<pre>
Dear XYZ,

If you have trouble resetting password, please ask for assistance from your manager/IT Manager/Timesheet Administrator/NEOSYS-expert colleague.

Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

Local support users (TA or IT manager etc) have the LS key using which they can see the User Details page of all users. They should check all the information (usercode, registered email id, last login attempts etc) in the User Details page to find out what is the issue.

This procedure will reduce the endless mails sent back and forth to solve petty issues which could easily be solved by the client's local support.

=== Handling requests or demands for "URGENT" or "PRIORITY" support ===

Any request for prioritised action *without giving any reason for the prioritisation* should be disregarded and the request handled with normal priority. If a reason is given then you may at your discretion prioritise a response but there is no obligation to do so.

=== Handling users who login with other people's NEOSYS usercodes ===
This can cause a lot of confusion in both the client and NEOSYS support. It may also indicate that the correct NEOSYS monthly licensing fee is not being paid. There is no valid reason for anonymous logins or sharing logins between multiple users.

Therefore if NEOSYS support team get requests for support about using NEOSYS from users who are not registered properly in NEOSYS with an personally identifiable user code, name and email then the following email should be sent cc admin@neosys.com.

No exception should be granted to clients without NEOSYS management approval.

<pre>
Dear NEOSYSUSER,

Please note that in order to receive support from NEOSYS you must personally have an identifiable user code, name and email address registered
in NEOSYS.

We can create new user account for you with your management approval. This may or may not have an impact on the NEOSYS monthly licensing fee
depending on the agreement in force.

Please let us know what you would like us to do.

Best Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

=== Handling support requests from expired users ===

If expired users call for any reason including not being able to login, they must not be given any support. They should only be told that their account is expired without any reason being offered because employers sometimes do not want any information at all being passed to expired users.

===Handling support request from senior management===

Any support requests from senior client management users concerning report generations should be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bear in mind that NEOSYS staff should not agree or offer to do client work. Support staff can advise senior management to contact a skilled user to help them with basic NEOSYS reporting. Support staff can also send screenshots of step by step procedure on how to take reports. Depending on the situation and reasons provided by senior management, support staff can at their discretion provide reports but after informing them that this is an exception and no more reports will be sent out as this is against NEOSYS procedures.

=== Handling emails with unrelated subject line ===
At times, clients forward old emails, with new issues, resulting in completely unrelated subject line. In such situations, support should create a new email, copy the new issue from the old email and paste it into the new email. This way, unrelated emails will not appear in the same conversation group when viewing emails in conversation mode.

In the new email, include a comment like "PS Please don't forward old emails for new issues, start a new email with a new subject so that emails can be traced easily."

Sometimes the client does not bother putting the correct subject line for new issues (eg. blank subject, or "Error"). Then support should add a meaningful subject line in order to make the email easy to search for.

=== Handling emails with poor screenshots ===
Sometimes Thunderbird shows full sized screenshots in a compact format that is not easy to read. These can be resized to make them more legible. To do this, make the email editable by hitting the "Reply" button, then click and drag to resize the screenshot as desired.

If the screenshot sent by the user is genuinely small and hard to read, reply to the mail and request for a full size, clear screenshot.

=== Handling support-request emails sent to anywhere than support@neosys.com ===
Client emails anywhere than support@neosys.com MUST be ignored. This is because ALL support must be recorded in support inbox without exception so that the whole support team is aware of the issue and action taken. If client complains about the delay in support then they can be told this is because they used the wrong email address.

=== Handling users who do not act upon standard messages ===
When users do not bother to read and act on standard NEOSYS-generated messages and instead ask for help, Support staff MUST delay response time and thereafter send them an email which is the same as the message so they get the point that in future they should read the messages and handle issues themselves.

=== Handling Requests to do Client work ===
NEOSYS Support staff must not agree or offer to do work on behalf of the client.

This is because doing client work while logged in as NEOSYS breaks security rules. Support uses the NEOSYS username which has unrestricted access, so when a user requests Support to do some work which they don’t have access to, and if Support agrees to do the work, the client has successfully defeated the security rules by accessing features that they are unauthorized to access.

'''Requests for colour and font changes'''

Support should not be spending lots of time on colour and font changes. Clients can make as many changes as they want until they are happy with a selection. Clients MUST send screenshot of their required color/font settings (not sample screen/reports) for Support to copy and setup for all users. If Support sees them doing something bad or poor then give comments or better suggestions.

=== Handling Requests that require Approval from Higher Authority ===

The following is a list of user requests that must be handled by NEOSYS support staff only if they are approved by or come from a higher authority (manager/admin). The LIST is '''NOT''' a complete list so there may be other things which might require approval so use good judgement and/or ASK if in doubt.

*Opening new financial year
*Adding new company/dataset
*Editing alert/backup email receiver addresses
*Customising Authorisation File ({{SensitiveSecurity }})
**Adding or removing accesses for existing users in Authorisation file
**Adding new user(s) to Authorisation file
**Expiring a user
**[[Procedures#For_HTTPS_access| Allowing HTTPS/outside office access from any IP number]]

If an unauthorized user sends one of these requests to support staff, support staff must immediately instruct the user to get the request approved by the higher authority.

===Handling User Requests to add an IP or range of IPs to access NEOSYS===

Support staff must identify if the IP or range of IPs is for http or https access.
{{SensitiveSecurity }}

====For HTTP access====
Support staff can add local IP or range of local IPs when requested by the client. Top management approval is not needed to add local IP numbers. Listed below are the IP address ranges reserved for local network.

10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

====For HTTPS access====
Any request for https access from any IP address or range of IP addresses (eg. 123.456.* or just *), or in other words any use of an asterisk in the IP restrictions, MUST have TOP management i.e. the company's decision makers approval. The Staff and their Managers are not the best decision makers in this affair because they usually ignore the risks and it is not really their decision. Security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled. It is completely pointless to inform the staff who want the access about these risks because only their top managers could really decide that this is NOT going to be allowed. Hence the Top Management MUST be asked for approvals and at the same time WARN them about the security risks/threats behind the no IP restrictions.

=====For clients with static IP=====
Any request to add a specific IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses MUST have management approval.

=====For clients with dynamic IP=====
For clients with dynamic IP, support MUST NOT add their public IP to the allowed list as this will encourage the client to again request for access from new IP numbers every time their public IP changes. Instead, support MUST force the client to either install VPN or get the Top Management i.e. the company's decision maker's approval to enable access from any IP after explaining the security risks in doing so, as mentioned above.

Support MUST also mention that installation of VPN by the Company is the industry standard way of providing access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER. Installation of VPN is to be done by their own IT support. Refer to [[Procedures#Using_VPN_to_enable_secure_access_from_outside_the_office|Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office]]

Sample Email:
<pre>
Dear XXX,

I do not recommend allowing access from all IPs because security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc. can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled.

I strongly recommend that you keep IP restrictions for XYZ dataset.

If you want to provide access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER, then installation of VPN is the industry standard of achieving this. Installation of VPN is to be done by your own IT support.

If you still wish to allow access from all IPs, kindly confirm that you acknowledge the security threats of doing so.

</pre>

=== Handling repeated request to allow users to access from all IPs ===

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

If the client wants temporary access from outside for some staff twice in say a six months period then support should send the below email. The real reason is because we don't have the time to be doing this on a regular basis. If at all the client asks why we no longer support the provision of temporary outside access then we can say this is because of the frequency of such requests.

Dear XXX

We have given you temporary outside access this time, as requested. Please note that we can no longer support the provision of temporary outside access. So in the future, you will have to choose between either permanent or no outside access. Alternatively, you can ask your management to install a VPN (which is the industry standard of achieving outside access to a corporate asset in a secure manner), so that you can log in to NEOSYS from outside.

=== Handling requests to create a new feature or modifying existing features ===

Many issues are small and not important but can still be considered for development because they may be easy and neatly added to NEOSYS. The aim here is to avoid development on hard issues for little benefit, or little issues that make NEOSYS more complex for little benefit.

When a client requests to create a new feature or modify an existing feature, a workaround must be given to the user, which is either a permanent solution, for example if the issue is a rare case and not commonly faced by other clients (and the workaround is acceptable to the client), or a temporary solution until some better solution is discovered or can be developed.

Any request to create a new feature or modify an existing feature MUST be discussed with other clients before forwarding it to the programmer because the other clients might not be comfortable with the change as it may not be in accordance with their workflow. If other clients agree to the proposed change then support should go ahead and request the programmer to implement it.

Therefore before escalating a request to the programmer to modify a feature in NEOSYS, the approval for the same from other clients must be taken into account.

When escalating the request to the programmer, support MUST avoid using "Is it possible..?" because the obvious answer to that is "Anything is possible" and because this question is only a way to avoid doing the real work of deciding whether the new feature/modification should be implemented.

=== Updating Clients about unresolved issues ===
Support should proactively inform clients if an issue is not solved within the same day it was raised, after judging the urgency of the issue and the time it was raised. An email to the client who raised the issue, before the end of each day, is a best practice that keeps the client updated and other support staff too. This email should be sent regardless of the degree to which the issue has been resolved or if the issue is unresolved. If the issue is unresolved, the email should explain why and also explain the cause of delay.

=== Handling new USER creation ===
Support staff should create new USERS for clients ONLY when requested by an authorised person.

If the request comes from an unauthorised person, then support MUST reply to the same person informing them that this request must come from an authorised person. Support MUST NOT directly contact the authorised person asking for approval/confirmation because that is client work.

Clients should not be discouraged to create new users. Clients are billed as per user usage which is reviewed periodically. Over time old USERS are replaced with new USERS.

The USER code is the first name of a user.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

Support team MUST NOT discuss billings with clients unless authorised to do so. Also see [[Procedures#Discussing_Pricing|Discussing Pricing]]

Support team MUST NOT proceed with creating new users until the following details have been clearly provided by the client, otherwise the user may end up with more than the required authorisation, which can lead to problems in future.

New user requirements :-
*Full name
*Email address
*Group level / User with similar authorisation

After the new user has been created, Support Staff must send an email to the person who requested the creation of new user, confirming that the new user has been created along with a screenshot of that part of the authorisation table where the new user was created so that the new user's usercode and email id is visible. This is done so that in case there is some error in the usercode or email id, it is easily visible in the screenshot and also so that the person who requested the creation of the new user is informed about the usercode of the new user.

=== Handling letterhead change requests ===

Support staff should reject any requests that require the letterhead to be setup on the TESTING dataset before it is setup in the MAIN dataset.This is to reduce double work for support staff and to ensure that clients have a clear understanding of their requirements and also send the correct logo image.
The MAIN dataset can be copied to the TEST dataset for any kind of testing.

See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Configuring_Letterhead#Changing_the_letterhead_for_printed_documents How to change letterhead]

=== Handling error messages ===

'''Important:''' Before Attempting to resolve client issues, please ensure that we have secure access to the NEOSYS server.

#The very first step is understanding client problem. Ask questions to the client until you CLEARLY understand the problem.
#If the error is familiar and does not require a screenshot, resolve the problem immediately.
#If the error is unfamiliar and/or requires a screenshot and the user has not sent a screenshot, IMMEDIATELY ask the user to send a screenshot of the problem, along with the options used (basically you need to know HOW to replicate the error and the screenshot MUST show WHAT the error is).
#If the user says "nothing happens, so no screenshot of the error", then IMMEDIATELY request for screenshots again with the exact steps to reproduce the problem using mouse and keyboard.
#Upon receipt of the error and steps to reproduce the error, follow the steps and reproduce the error. Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues|Addressing Browser related issues]]
#If the issue is unknown or you don’t understand it clearly, with the users acknowledgement use remote support to gain access to the users desktop to view how to replicate the error.
{{Handling errors}}

=== Addressing Browser related issues ===

When resolving random browsing issues that seem to be on one user computer only, support MUST send the below email asking the user to check if the same issue occurs on other user computers. Rapidly convincing the user that the problem is only on their computer gains their willingness to sort the problem out at their end, using IT people if necessary and available.

Handling random issues that appear to be on one computer is very very common and it is important to deal with it effectively, not requiring stages of "denial" by the users until they accept something has to be done at their end, and not by NEOSYS. Speeding up this process gains the confidence and appreciation of the users.

<pre>Hi xxxx

Is this error happening only on your computer? If that is the case, it may be due to an issue in your browser cache. Please clear your browser cache with assistance from your IT team if required. Then restart the browser and try again.

If clearing browser cache does not fix the issue, I recommend a full browser reset to ensure that everything works fine.

Follow these instructions for clearing browser cache and resetting browser:
http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers

Please let us know if you face the issue again.</pre>

Also refer to [[Procedures#Handling_Browser_related_issues_in_NEOSYS| Handling Browser related issues]]

=== Addressing Technical support emails ===

In the case of technical support issues, address emails to the IT person and cc the complete group of recipients of backup emails and other NEOSYS alert emails. This allows both NEOSYS and client IT staff to take credit for resolving issues that NEOSYS raises instead of working in the background unacknowledged.

Technical support issues include backup failure, server failure, missing alert email, server connectivity issues and port forwarding issues and many other issues.

For technical issues like browser configuration, clear cache, etc. support must send the user a link to the appropriate wiki article to help the user fix the problem. In some cases the user may be helpless and unable to follow the steps to fix the problem. In such cases, support MUST NOT waste time trying to help the user fix the problem, instead support MUST ask the user to get help from the IT person.

=== Acceptable report format when handling issues in NEOSYS reports ===

NEOSYS Support must only resolve issues in NEOSYS output first. This is because only NEOSYS outputs can be trusted and user versions in Excel or PDF could be copied wrongly or edited by the user.

In case users send reports in excel or other formats, get them to send the original NEOSYS HTML report as an attachment or copy-pasted in email.

=== Handling requests to create new charts or control accounts===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_and_Configuring_NEOSYS_Finance_System#Creating_New_Charts_or_Control_Accounts Refer here]

=== Handling issues with totals on reports ===

If a client has a problem with any total output by NEOSYS software then NEOSYS support will advise them which other NEOSYS report or reports provide a complete breakdown of the total (if necessary, to individual transactions) and ask the client to locate any offending transactions themselves.

NEOSYS support staff will handle any issues where the total on the breakdown report does not add up to the total on the summary report.

Reconciling totals can be hard if there are many transactions involved. Regardless of how hard it may be, reconciliation is an operational task for users not for support staff since NEOSYS support staff will not get involved in understanding client transactions or data.

==== Trial Balance and Financial Statements ====

NEOSYS support staff do not have to prove or trace any figures in NEOSYS Trial Balance Reports or any financial reports. If a figure is stated to be wrong by the user, then NEOSYS support staff should ask for proof or say NEOSYS is confident that the figures are correct unless proved otherwise.

NEOSYS support staff should point out reports in NEOSYS which will support the figures in question but not actually run the reports. Support staff can suggest the users to refer to detailed ledger accounts to prove balances.

== Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office ==
There are two ways in which a user can use VPN:
*User connects to the their office router and makes the PC act like it is on the office LAN.
*User connects to a VPN service that provides a static IP number and can therefore be authorised by NEOSYS to login.

If the client intends to use VPN to connect to their office router and make the PC act like it is on the office LAN, then it depends on what VPN protocols the client's office router supports.

The alternative is to use a paid VPN service that provides a static IP number. Getting a dynamic IP number on VPN is very cheap and there are many suppliers, but getting a static IP number on VPN services seems to be more expensive.

Internally in NEOSYS we use PFSENSE routers which support OPENVPN which is extremely flexible.

==Handling issues with Office PBX phones==

Support should check their respective Office PBX phones every morning to find out if the phone is up and working. In case Support finds any issue with their phone, immediately fix it so that clients do not lose contact with the Support team via phone. Next send an email to Support inbox mentioning the fault, cause and solution for records/future prevention.

==Configuring Browsers to show Javascript errors in NEOSYS==
NEOSYS Support MUST ensure the following Settings for browsers because if NEOSYS generates any javascript error message, the same would appear in the bottom left corner of a window, which in turn helps the programmer to fix the error. This must be done after every Factory Reset.

===Internet Explorer===
Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Browsing - the items Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer) and Disable script debugging (Other) are '''UNTICKED'''.

===Chrome===
Chrome Menu > More Tools > Extensions > Get More Extensions, search for '''Javascript Errors Notifier'''. Add the extension to Chrome.

[[image:Chrome.png]]

[[image:Chrome1.png]]
===Firefox===
Firebug add-on is used to NOTIFY about script errors because we have no other method to get any warning on screen but you should use the main firefox developer tools to investigate any errors as firebug is essentially replaced by built in developer tools.

For developer tools, go to Tools > Web Console

To enable notifications for script errors, download the add-on Firebug from [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/ here]. When a Javascript error is encountered, the firebug icon will report the number of errors.

Set your firebug as per the second screen shot and select "Enable All Panels" as well, the tick will not appear like the other options but the option will get selected. If you miss out on any one of these steps, you will not be able to capture script errors.

[[file:firebug1.jpg|1200px]]

[[File:Firebug.png]]

==Handling Browser related issues in NEOSYS==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Technical_/_Hardware_requirements#NEOSYS_Software_Browser_and_OS_Requirements NEOSYS browser requirements]

Clients frequently ask [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#Why_doesnt_NEOSYS_support_my_XYZ_browser.3F Why NEOSYS doesn't support other browsers]

To avoid browser errors, all new users must follow the steps given in [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#Getting_started_with_NEOSYS Getting started with NEOSYS] before logging in to NEOSYS for the first time.

To troubleshoot browser related errors see [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers Troubleshooting Web Browsers]

Users must clear browser cache after every NEOSYS Upgrade to avoid errors. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS#Sample_email_to_be_sent_to_clients_who_face_issues_due_to_failure_in_clearing_browser_cache Sample email to clients who face issues due to failure in clearing browser cache]

Pop-up blockers and any 3rd party toolbars must be deactivated/switched off or else certain pages and alert messages while using NEOSYS do not appear as a result of blocking from either the pop-up blocker or toolbars with built-in pop-up blockers.

NEOSYS support must ask users to Reset browser (See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Reset_Browser Reset browser]) if they notice any user browsers which have pop-up blockers or 3rd party toolbars installed.

Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues| Addressing Browser related issues]]

== Handling NEOSYS Upgrade==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS Upgrading NEOSYS]

== Using Support Tools ==
=== Website Live Support ===
www.neosys.com is equipped with a Live Support software and clients can visit the website, click on this link and chat with any of our support staff, without the need for any installation. The client has to fill in their name and enter their questions to connect to an available support personnel. During non-working hours, the Live Support icon on the website automatically displays "offline".

NEOSYS Support personnel who are authorised to provide such support, need to login to Live helper chat in Firefox using the link given below:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin

Support personnel should enter the account details as provided by their Manager.

Enable notifications for Live helper chat so that whenever there is a visitor trying to contact Support team, the Support personnel will get the notifications on his screen. Set the Live helper chat login page as your home page in firefox.

Use the link below to enable notifications:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin/chat/listchatconfig

After setting up Live helper chat if you sign in to a new profile in firefox, you might have to re enable the notifications after your firefox is synced to the new profile.

=== Teamviewer ===
Since Teamviewer allows no restriction on access once a fixed pass is installed, Support must not install fixed pass on teamviewer however convenient it might be.

RULE: NO FIXED PASS TO BE INSTALLED ON TEAMVIEWER IN ANY NEOSYS OR NEOSYS CLIENT COMPUTER

Running teamviewer live from a web link is fine because it does not allow installation of a permanent password

For certain tasks that require temporary install of Teamviewer on the client servers (e.g. upgrading Cygwin remotely), use Teamviewer 7 on the server as well as Support staff computer. Contact NEOSYS IT for commercial license of Teamviewer 7. Teamviewer MUST be uninstalled after usage, otherwise it creates an additional unnecessary security risk.

To support client users who use the latest version of Teamviewer, support staff must also install the latest Teamviewer version available alongside Teamviewer 7.

== Documenting Processes in Wiki ==
NEOSYS Support staff must be in continual learning mode. This is mandatory for support staff and is not an option. Support must read, learn and understand everything in the support emails and ask questions if they don't understand. This understanding must be transferred into wiki in the form of new articles and improvements to existing articles.

For all articles related to formatting and editing in Wiki, see [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Documenting_NEOSYS_systems Documenting NEOSYS systems]

===Avoiding duplication of text in wiki===

Duplication of text in wiki is to be avoided almost at any cost. Duplication has the problem that when one copy is changed or improved in future then it is highly likely the editor will fail to update the other copy or copies and wiki will over time become an inconsistent mess.

There are several ways to avoid duplication:

#Two or more procedures which have significant areas of duplication can be rewritten as a single procedure with alternatives in the middle of the procedure
#Wiki Templates- Templates reproduce the same text in all places and editing one place edits all places. See [[How to create templates in wiki]]
#Wiki links- Only put the text in one place and put links to that in all the other places that it is appropriate.
#Place a note in all copies something to the effect that "This is similar to x, y and z". This alerts any future editor of all other places in wiki that might also have to be updated.

Future modifications in one place may or may not be appropriate to other places. The editor must decide whether to change one or all places

===Highlighting information in wiki===

To highlight particular instructions or info in wiki do NOT invent new styles which are not the way the rest of wiki is done. Instead, follow the USUAL STYLE or open a DISCUSSION with any recommendations you have BEFORE USING THEM.

Instead of using various kinds of highlighting styles like bolding and words like "Note:", use the following words IN CAPITALS especially the word MUST.

The use of the following words IN CAPITALS indicates that you are using them in a special way with formally defined meaning as explained below. Use of the words in lower case indicates that you are using the word in an ordinary commonsense meaning.

*MAY - means optional
*SHOULD - means recommended and you need GOOD reason (not just any weak excuse) to not follow to follow this recommendation
*MUST - mandatory

Only in the rare cases where the consequences of doing or not doing something are irreversible or take a lot of work to reverse then you can use your own additional highlighting methods, eg ALL CAPS, stars, color red etc.

==== Explain WHY ====

Any sentence which uses the word "MUST" in capitals, MUST be followed by a SPECIFIC REASON explaining exactly why is the instruction is mandatory; the reason MUST not be vague and non-specific meaning no more than "or bad things will happen".

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules.

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise it will cause problems in future.

CORRECT way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise the deleted schedules' ads will still show in all media-diary like reports and screens

The Wrong way above gives a general reason "it will cause problems in future" which is vague and a reader may even go ahead and ignore "MUST" because there is no objective or proper side effect mentioned for not following the MUST statement. Basically he doesn't understand the point behind following a certain rule.

Whereas the Correct way gives a SPECIFIC reason for "deleting ads while deleting schedules", so reader will exactly know the trouble that will be caused if ads are not deleted. Therefore "SPECIFIC REASON" behind using the word MUST must be to the point and very informative.

==== Why explain WHY ====
The information contained in the WHY phrase is often '''extremely informative''' to the reader about things that you may otherwise not have considered saying.

The most valuable information is usually contained in the "WHY" of something. There is an apocryphal story of a company where managers could be fired if they gave instructions to their staff without providing explanation. In almost all cases it is better for the efficiency of a team of people that any instructions they follow contain the "WHY" of something. Only in few cases should staff be expected to follow instructions without being well or fully informed.

== Email Retention Policy ==

=== Generally ===

Emails are retained permanently to allow old issues to be discovered in email searches.

=== Account: backups@neosys.com ===

Only the last 365 days of emails to backups@neosys.com are kept in general to reduce the burden on servers and clients due to the heavy number of emails.

For the backups/neosys folder, only 31 days is kept due to the very high numbers of emails ~250/day.

Deletions are configured in and done by a thunderbird client in NEOSYS IT so may not be continuous.

== Use of personal email addresses by NEOSYS support staff ==

NEOSYS support staff MUST NOT use any personal email addresses for NEOSYS business.

The xxxx.neosys@gmail.com addresses that are created by support staff for themselves on joining are also considered personal email addresses and must not be used for NEOSYS business. These email addresses might be linked to NEOSYS wiki accounts but that doesn't matter because wiki is not confidential.

== Accessing NEOSYS accounts on personal devices ==

NEOSYS staff MUST NOT install NEOSYS accounts on skype/dropbox/gmail (or any other external tool) on their personal devices without written permission from NEOSYS management

== Support Staff work-in-progress documents/files ==

Support Staff must not save working files hidden on their computer. Work that is not visible is not work .
Support work should not be done privately and should be shared to all.

ALL personal working files however trivial MUST be stored in Dropbox and MUST NOT be stored anywhere in personal computer (My Documents/Desktop etc.)

The personal encrypted pass file MUST be stored somewhere in personal folder under SB NEOSYS staff in Dropbox. This is because if there is a loss of OS/Computer, it should not lead to loss of access as all the passwords saved in the file will be lost.

== Handling CLIENT/NEOSYS Servers ==

NEOSYS support staff must exercise extreme caution when working on CLIENT and NEOSYS servers. Do not risk making changes without due care and attention to the fact that the consequences of errors can be serious on working production servers.

=== Handling Javascript Files in NEOSYS ===

All the files in NEOSYS installation folder with .JS and .JSE extension are the executable javascript files which startup NEOSYS processes (in a usual DOS window). Their default program is 'Microsoft Windows Based Script Host' (wscript.exe). If a JavaScript file is opened using a notepad, the default program may change to notepad resulting in all NEOSYS processes to open up in a notepad.

Hence be very CAREFUL when accessing a .JS and .JSE file and double check that the default program remains wscript.exe. Refer to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Fixing 'NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (i.e. DOS window)'|Fixing NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host]] in case this issue comes up.

== Handling "List of Open Ports" reports ==

This email comes to NEOSYS support team once a day showing only those client's servers which appear to have changed what TCP ports are open to the internet since yesterday. It will also come once a week showing all clients servers open ports.

NEOSYS support team should work patiently with client IT staff, over time if necessary, to close all ports that are not absolutely mandatory to be open.

Clients with highly skilled IT staff may have a variety of ports open to various non-NEOSYS servers inside their organisation. In this case, NEOSYS plays little role other than getting their confirmation of exactly what ports are acceptable. Any new ports that appear over time should be handled in the same way.

For clients without such staff, NEOSYS is their only real line of defence and since NEOSYS requested opening some ports, we should get all other ports closed by patiently following up until action is taken. Involving management may be the only way to get IT to act.

In particular, port 80 and 443 controlling internal or external routers should be closed. It is NOT acceptable except in HIGH IT EXPERTISE environments that critical routers should be exposed to the internet and they MUST NOT be accessible from the internet because routers that do not have their software updated can be hacked using known defects. Even updated routers can be hacked. Making it easy for client IT staff to access the router configuration from outside is NOT a good enough excuse to break this rule. Professional IT does not allow access to critical routers from the internet.

Likewise, any port 80 (unencrypted web access) and port 3389 (RDP remote desktop) open to the NEOSYS server MUST be closed otherwise logins can be monitored and there is no way to guarantee server security.

If a port is definitely required and properly approved to be open by client IT support, please let NEOSYS IT (SB) know and it will be put in the "known" column so that ports in the "unknown" column are all pending action.

The report does not attempt to detect UDP ports since UDP ports can receive information from the internet without responding in any way so there is no way to detect them reliably.

Green color shows ports that have opened since the last report run. Open ports can sometimes not be detected accurately so a port may appear to disappear in one report and reappear in the next report.

Also refer to [[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Why_should_HTTP_port_80_not_be_open_on_my_router.3F| Why should http port 80 not be open on my router?]]

== Handling Nagios Client Monitoring system ==

NEOSYS support staff on duty MUST follow the procedures outlined below in case Nagios Checker shows a critical or warning message for any service. Failure to schedule appropriate downtime will lead to REDUNDANT ALERTS from NAGIOS every hour.

# Nagios is required to be checked first thing in the morning and any critical or warning messages need to be dealt with to resolve the same at the earliest.
# Some of the messages could be related to backup failures and the usual procedure as stated in [[Backup_and_Restore#Handling_failure_and_warning_messages_on_nightly_backup_alerts|Handling failure and warning messages on nightly backup alerts]] needs to be followed. In case the backup issue isn't resolved by 9:30 am, the Nagios service needs to be scheduled with downtime for a minimum of 2 hours and maximum until 1 am next day if the issue cannot be solved.
# In case any HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host is down, immediate action is required and the relevant IT people at the client side needs to be contacted to get this resolved. A downtime of 2 hours is required to be scheduled with further intervals of 2 hours in case this is not resolved. Support staff shouldn't schedule downtime till 1 am next day, just to get rid of the alerts for the day. Proactive follow up with the client is required to get this resolved before the business day - more so, if there is a weekend ahead.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host goes down during the day, a grace period of 20 minutes is given before the issue is reported to the client IT. This helps in case there is any temporary internet connection issue at the client or along the internet route.
# In case of "Backup not changed" warning status which occurs if the client has not interchanged the USB before 12 noon on that day, no action is required from the support staff and a downtime until 1 am next day needs to be scheduled.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH PING service or Host is down for more than 1 day, client IT should acknowledge the problem and give NEOSYS support staff an approximate time frame before which the issue will be resolved. Set an appropriate downtime for such events.
# In case Host is down for more than 2 days and there is no progress with the fix from client IT, the client management should be notified about the seriousness of not having access to server and their acknowledgement is mandatory.
#Support should check Nagios quite frequently during the day to look for any new alerts so that issues are fixed as soon as possible.

To summarise, any red alert left in Nagios Checker means that there is an issue that has not been attended to properly, and "attended to" does not mean solved. Support staff MUST solve the problem immediately if possible, or downtime/acknowledge and comment on the Nagios alert.

== Handling lack of remote access to NEOSYS server located in client’s premises ==

If access to the NEOSYS server is lost then we must determine the root cause by:
# Checking if the server is UP and running
# If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server
# If there is connectivity, please check the router for connectivity issues

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

Please note that we have currently lost access to the NEOSYS server. The server seems to be down at the moment and it seems that
NEOSYS processes are not running on the server.
Kindly check if the server is UP and running. If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server.
Do keep us posted on the server status so we can test connectivity from our side as well.

Best Regards,
</pre>
== New Router (Port Forwarding) ==

If you have changed your router then you may notice that external access to NEOSYS is unavailable.

'''Solution:'''

Setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to the NEOSYS Server as follows:
# Port 19580 > 19580 for SSH
# Port 4430 > 4430 for HTTPS

You can see [http://portforward.com/ Set Up Port Forwarding] to learn how to configure your Router.

To see how to test/ troubleshoot port forwarding settings, go to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_remote_support_port_forwarding|Troubleshooting Port Forwarding]].

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

You are requested to kindly setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to
the NEOSYS Server,i.e. port 19580 for SSH and port 4430 for HTTPS.

Once this is complete, kindly send me an email to confirm the same so that we could test connectivity from our end as well.

Best Regards
</pre>
== Creating and Handling passwords ==
Passwords made out of a pass phrase should be at least 10 characters since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts.

=== Creating a password ===
Passwords are generated from a pass phrase and it is important to create a very difficult to guess pass phrase.

For example, a good pass phrase would be: '''Today is a good day and it is the best time to go for a holiday'''

The password for this would be '''Tiagd&iitbt2g4ah'''

The important instructions for the above are:
#You have to take the first letter of each word and that makes your password (i.e. by using initials)
#Wherever any word starts with a capital, then you have to take first letter as a capital (eg. For Today you will take T)
#Replace '''and''' with '''&'''
#Replace '''to''' with '''2'''
#Replace '''for''' with '''4'''

=== Handling passwords ===
#Never send the actual password - always send the pass phrase
#Make sure that the password created out of the pass phrase is at least 10 characters long since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts
#Pass phrases are never to be sent by email, whatever the case maybe.
#Pass phrases can be sent by chat - however they have to be broken down in two parts and sent separately over two different messengers or if you are using Gtalk then use the 'off the record' mode.
#Using SMS to send pass phrases is the best known way as of now.
#If you save the passwords on your system in an file then:
#*Ensure that you only store pass phrases in the excel file
#*Ensure that the excel file is encrypted with a master password

== NEOSYS Maintenance Window ==

The NEOSYS server is functional from 6am – 1am. There is a 5hr window gap for the system to perform updates & backups.

The 5hr maintenance window:-

1. At 1am – The server performs a data backup on a USB (for the respective clients) & once the backup has been completed, the system automatically generates an email addressed to the neosys staff & the respective clients.

2. At 2:45am – The main data over writes the test data on the server.

3. At 3:00am – The server by itself performs an update for Windows.

4. At 4:00am – The server performs a backup to the headquarters for clients, and then automatically generates an email addressed to the NEOSYS staff & the respective clients.

5. At 6:00am – The server starts up NEOSYS.

== Using NEOSYS Terminology while communicating with Clients ==

NEOSYS support must communicate in correct language to clients on finance issues in order to ensure that our records exactly represent reality. Conversely NEOSYS must not use other terminology because it can cause considerable confusion and poor quality results. In case client is new and still in training, use client terminology optionally as long as
#It is only an addition to NEOSYS standard terminology
#Only if clear that it is client terminology by putting in brackets like this "Sales Invoices (called PI by you)", where "you" means the client you are talking to or you can put the client company name instead perhaps.

The objective is over time to avoid having the support team to have to know the terminology of the client. NEOSYS support team cannot possibly know and remember it for each client therefore the client MUST over time learn and use NEOSYS terminology. The initial period is one of relearning and translation for the client not for NEOSYS.

Many users operating NEOSYS finance module do not know proper financial procedures and may not appreciate how doing something in a wrong or unusual way now may not be correctable in the future.

NEOSYS staff must follow NEOSYS procedures only. If NEOSYS procedures need to be updated then this must be agreed in advance and not AFTER the fact.

== Amending/Reposting Journal Entries ==
In certain exceptional cases, amending/reposting of journal entries is allowed for a brief period of time to enable clients to present reports in an alternative manner. This would be subject to NEOSYS would requiring a written LETTER OF APPROVAL duly signed and stamped by the highest management of the company.

In case the client management decides to allow editing/reposting of journal entries, the following procedure is to be followed:
# Client must de-allocate vouchers which need to be amended
# NEOSYS support staff must wait for a day so that de-allocated vouchers are copied into Test database
# Authorise required users to amend and repost (without record) '''in Test database only''' ( While reposting, we have 2 options i.e. with record and without record. The 'with record' option causes the system to maintain a history of edits made. Hence, we want to repost without record so that there is no trace of the edit in the system)
# Amend a substantial number of vouchers in Test and verify them. To verify if the edits made are reflected:
# *Print all ledgers for the whole year
# *Cross-check all balances
# Once you verify the balances are correct in Test database, grant users permission to amend and repost in the Live database.
# Ask users to amend and repost vouchers in the Live database.
# Cross-check all balances for the current year.
# If you successfully verify the balances, revoke permissions immediately. Else, wait for 24 hours and revoke permissions irrespectively.

== Removal of unauthorized third-party software on client servers ==

Rule: Any third party software that is discovered by NEOSYS support staff on client servers that has been installed without the agreement of NEOSYS should be uninstalled immediately on discovery.

However purposeful a software is, NEOSYS is contractually responsible for support and there are too many opportunities for poorly installed software to cause unpredictable damage to the NEOSYS database so NEOSYS has to have a clear and safe and simple policy to ensure the integrity of client data. Installing software without prior discussion with NEOSYS by itself indicates that insufficient care and consideration as been given to possible issues.

Any software required by client IT for some purpose may only be installed after discussion and agreement from NEOSYS support staff concerning the configuration and operation of the software.

The NEOSYS Software Licence and Support agreement requires that where NEOSYS software is installed on client servers that a dedicated server is provided and dedicated implies that no other software may be installed without the agreement of NEOSYS support.

== Configuring tunnelier to autologin on opening tlp files ==
If you have many tunnelier tlp files in a directory and connect by opening the desired tlp file the, instead of opening the file and then clicking Login you can also right click the file and select Connect.

Alternatively, you can configure tunnelier to login (connect) automatically by following the procedure mentioned below. (Even if you configure automatic login, you can still open and not login by right clicking and choosing Open)

=== Windows 8 ===

Cannot be done using standard Windows UI. Some download utilities can do it. TODO put a safe one in neosys.com/support

=== Windows XP/Vista/7/2008 ===

#Go to My Computer
#Click on Tools -> Folder Options [[image:tunnauto-1.jpg]] 
#Click on File Types
#*Select TLP (Bitvise Tunnelier Profile) [Type "TLP" to find it quickly]
#*Click on Advanced [[image:tunnauto-2.jpg]] 
#Click on Connect and Click on Set Default [[image:tunnauto-3.jpg]] 

== International v/s Indian English ==

There are some words which have completely different meanings in International and Indian English. NEOSYS Staff should follow International English only. Below are the examples of few of those words:

Word: '''Doubt'''

In the English language word "doubt" means to distrust an alleged fact on the basis of a reason, depending on the strength of the reason which may be anything from factual to feeling e.g "I have no reason to doubt him".
This usage is followed worldwide.

Some people especially from Indian origin use "doubt" when they are unaware about a fact. e.g "I want to clear my doubts about this procedure". This is incorrect. The word must be used when you do not agree on something on the basis of a reason and not when you do not have knowledge about it.

==[[ New Employee Training Checklist]]==

==[[ New Client Training Notes]]==

==[[ General Office Procedures]]==

Administering NEOSYS Server

2017-06-07T10:29:42Z

Priyanka: /* Why should http port 80 not be open on my router? */

== Starting NEOSYS Services ==
=== Automatic Ways ===
NEOSYS processes are configured to start early in the morning when the server restarts after a windows upgrade.
We also schedule the process to start at windows startup in case of any unforseeable server restarts.
Depending on which datasets and how many processes of that dataset are to be started are configured in the System Configuration File of NEOSYS, the appropriate number of processes will be automatically started once the initial dataset is started.

=== Manual Ways ===
Run the Schedule task which is configured to start the dataset required.
Directly double click on the STARTDATASET.cmd file to start the required dataset.

== Closing NEOSYS Services ==
=== Two automatic ways ===
*NEOSYS services will automatically initiate a database integrity check, “backup” and close down at 2am by default.

To change the time of the automatic process do

F5 ED DEFINITIONS

*line 3 is the minimum time to start the backup and shutdown (default 7500 ie 02:00)
*line 4 is the maximum time to start the backup and shutdown (default 7800 ie 02:05)
*both times must be in seconds past midnight

Press F5 and type
PRINT ICONV(’02:00’,’MTH’) to calculate this easily

*NEOSYS will automatically close down during the upgrade procedure.

=== Three manual ways ===
Warning: NEOSYS services do not shutdown automatically on server shutdown so you need to use one of these methods before shutting down or rebooting a server.
#To close individual services, press Esc three times on a service and then ctrl+C once or twice. Repeat for each service that you want to close. This can only be done if you can actually see the services on the screen but the services will not be visible if they were started by scheduled tasks while administrator was not logged in to the server … unless you login as /console with remote desktop. 
#To close all services for one site/neosys installation, use the NEOSYS Support Menu – Stop/Restart NEOSYS Currently this has no option to stop the services for any other neosys sites/installations on the same server 
#To close all services for all sites and installations of NEOSYS under a particular folder, use NEOSYS maintenance (or any other program) to create and then delete a GLOBAL.END file in the parent folder of all the neosys installations. eg if the installations are located in x:\hosts\clientcode\neosys etc then create and delete a file called x:\hosts\GLOBAL.END ''Procedure'':
#*In NEOSYS Maintenance press F5 to get a NEOSYS command prompt
#*Type ED DOS ..\..\GLOBAL.END and press Enter (use ED DOS GLOBAL.END instead if you only want to close the services of the current site)
#*Press F9 to create the GLOBAL.END file
#*Wait until the processes close. Should be almost immediate.
#*Press alt+D twice to delete the GLOBAL.END file otherwise Neosys services will refuse to start

== Restarting NEOSYS Services ==
To Restart NEOSYS services you should:
#First STOP the NEOSYS services on the server [[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Closing_NEOSYS_Services|Stopping NEOSYS Services]]
#Then START the services again using instructions at [[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Starting_NEOSYS_Services| Starting NEOSYS Services]]

''Note -'' Restarting of Processes can be done when the users are logged into NEOSYS as it is not noticed by the user.

== Handling unauthorised 3rd party software ==

See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Procedures#Removal_of_unauthorized_third-party_software_on_client_servers Removal of unauthorised 3rd party software]

==Clearing File Locks==
Due to many reasons, while a user is working on a document in NEOSYS, the window/system may hang and he might close the window. However, NEOSYS doesn't know when the user has closed the window and locks the file and will automatically release it after 5 minutes of not getting a response. The user meanwhile would get a message "Document is being updated by XXXX. Open for viewing only?".

If the document was being created and the user closed the window without saving the document, then the message would be "<document name> is being created by XXXX. You cannot view or update it until they have finished or cancel."

Sometimes, a user might keep a document open in a window and might lock & leave his workstation, and as such the file is locked by NEOSYS, till he releases the document. Even in this case, the user gets the message mentioned above.

Instead of going ahead with directly clearing the file locks, Support should follow the below procedure:

NEOSYS Support should avoid doing manual work of checking and clearing locks until at least 30 mins after the original event. This is because locks have a 5 minute AUTOMATIC expiry time and therefore cannot remain locked unless some window (perhaps hidden or lost on some workstation) is extending the lock time or there is an error with the server clock.

# Do not address the issue until at least 30 minutes have passed since the original issue
# Get a second screenshot from the user if the problem continues
# IF all workstations have been REBOOTED to ensure no hidden or lost windows holding the record open.
# Get the List of Documents in Use
# Check the Date and Time of the report to see what the server clock thinks the time is and if wrong, ensure that the server clock is updated from the internet automatically.
# Check the "Date Time Locked" and "Date TimeLock Expires" columns for the offending record. This will tell you when the lock will expire and also indicate if it is being relocked by some hidden or lost window.
# Draw some conclusion about why the lock APPEARS to remain in place from the above.
# Do NOT clear locks if you can find nothing wrong;send info to and let programmers look at the issue

Commands to release the filelock/s are stated below:
===To clear ALL file locks===

F5
CLEARFILE LOCKS

===To clear selective file locks===

#NEOSYS Menu, Support, List of Documents in Use
#Maintenance mode (F5)
#Type the following command but replace "filename" and "key" with corresponding values from the List of Documents in Use

DELETE LOCKS filename*key

===Sample email to send to users who face "Document is being updated" message===
<pre>
This message means that the user is already editing this document on another window/tab of their browser.

If this document is not open on any browser window/tab of the user, then this message will appear if the user had closed the browser window/tab without Saving and Releasing/Closing the document he was editing. This lock gets automatically removed after 5 minutes, and the user will be able to edit the document again.

To prevent documents from getting locked, we always recommend that users periodically Save the document they are editing and click the "Release" button, or the Close button (or simply press Esc button on the keyboard), before closing the browser tab/window.
</pre>

== Scheduling a reboot of the server ==

=== Prior to scheduling reboot ===

Send an email to the Client IT as well as NEOSYS Support staff, informing when the server is scheduled to reboot and the reason for the reboot.

=== How to schedule reboot of the server ===

Add a new scheduled task called "shutdown and restart" to run "one time
only" at 3:30am the next day.

The program is called c:\windows\system32\shutdown.exe but you have to add
the -r option in advanced properties to make the system restart as well.

This is useful for rebooting when software such as AVG antivirus requires a
reboot.

[[Image:reboot1.jpg]]

[[Image:reboot2.jpg]]

[[Image:reboot3.jpg]]

[[Image:reboot4.jpg]]

== Renaming a database name or code ==

A request to rename a database name or code may come from a client when they change their company name or break off an existing merger/partnership and if the old name exists in the database name or code which needs to be changed due to legal issues.

A database name is a non-unique identifier in a NEOSYS installation and is an antonym for the database code and is usually the legal name of the client. Renaming a database name involves compulsorily renaming the database code too. There isn't an escape from renaming the database code, however you can rename the database code back to the original one after you have done the procedure below.

A database code is a unique identifier per installation of NEOSYS. A complete note about database codes is available at [[Installing NEOSYS Service#Assigning database codes|Assigning database codes]]

#Renaming of a database has to be done when users have logged out of NEOSYS
#Take a backup of the database prior to the below steps
#Close all processes using the global.end method and do not rename until all steps are completed
#Open up Maintenance mode and login to the database you want to rename
#Go to General > Backup & Data Management > Create a new data set - from the drop down select the database you want to rename i.e. original database
#On the disk space requirements message, select YES
#Enter the name of the new database incase you are renaming the database name or else just type the original name here and hit enter
#Enter the new database code on the next screen and hit enter
#Select YES to start - it will start copying the existing database files to the new one
#Once complete, it will prompt you to login/switch to the new database, select Yes and from the dropdown select the new database and hit enter and login
#Once you have successfully logged in into the new database, go to General > Backup & Data Management > Delete a dataset - and select the old one and follow the instructions to delete it
#If you want to restore the database code to the original one, then follow steps 5 to 10 to create a new database with the original code.
#You can follow the same instructions if you want to rename the test database code as well
#Rename the global.end file to ensure that the processes will start again

After you have done the above steps to rename the database, ensure the following are completed (if you have renamed the database code back to the original one then you do not have to do the below steps):

#Rename the "start maindatabasecode.cmd" and "copy maindatabasecode to testdatabasecode.cmd" files to reflect the new database codes and test that they open up
#Delete the existing desktop shortcuts and re-create new one and test that they open up
#Reconfigure the Scheduled Tasks to reflect the new processes and test that they open up

==Handling unexpected server shutdowns==

Client servers might experience unexpected shutdowns due to power failure, faulty UPS or other reasons at client site.

Unexpected shutdowns are noticed in the server System Logs usually after a failed backup or frequent server down trends on Nagios.

To view all the times that the server has unexpectedly shutdown (as shown in the screenshot below), in System Logs click Filter Current Log and enter event ID "6008".

[[File:Unexpected shutdown.png]]

Support staff MUST proactively escalate this issue to Client IT immediately so that they take action and fix the issue that caused the unexpected shutdown. Email them the sample mail below along with screenshots as proof. CC every one from nightly backup list, so that client IT feels the pressure to fix things. Ensure that client IT confirms that the issue is resolved.

As soon as Support re gains access to the server, do not start any processes on the server and make the Client wait until a proper check is carried out for any damage done.

Proper checking MUST be done to look for any damaged files in the software by doing a [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Checking_for_corrupt_database_files|chk.files]] and [[Handling_damaged_files|fix it]] in case of any damaged files.

Email the users about the downtime due to unexpected shutdown on the server and mention that Support needs to do maintenance on it to fix issues. This will force the users to get their IT fix this issue permanently so that next time their work does not get effected.

You need not mention the period of downtime so that Client also knows that the situation is serious and requires time to assess the damage. Start NEOSYS processes only after Support has tested for no damaged files in the software.

Sample Email to client IT
<pre>
Dear Team,

There was an unexpected shutdown on the NEOSYS server. Unexpected shutdown is a very serious issue and can cause IRREPARABLE DAMAGE to
files in NEOSYS. Fixing damaged files can be tedious, result in USER DOWNTIME and in the worst case force us to restore from backup, which
can result in LOSS OF UP TO A DAY'S WORK BY USERS.

If power failure is the issue, then the only solution is to buy a UPS with a CABLE and software that shuts down the server AUTOMATICALLY
when the UPS runs out of battery. This is the only correct and proper solution which everybody with sophisticated computer systems MUST use
since power cuts are unavoidable.

Is there a UPS in place? Is the software that schedules shutdowns working properly?
Please update us on this issue.

Best Regards,
XXXX

</pre>

==[[Procedures#Handling_.22List_of_Open_Ports.22_reports| Handling list of open ports report]]==

=== Why should HTTP port 80 not be open on my router? ===

It is not advisable to expose any HTTP server for any private service on your computer network or router because HTTP is unencrypted and this means that all information regarding that service, including passwords can be observed by any malware on your LAN and internet connection. This information can then be used to install horrible software on your internal PCs.

What to do?

Use https for any internal services - and advisably on a non-standard port, not the standard port https port of 443.

For example, NEOSYS service is exposed as HTTPS (not HTTP) usually on port 4430 - not the standard https port of 443.

Commercial hacking is getting really common with things like FIREBALL and CRYPTOLOCKER causing a lot of damage.

It is advisable to take basic precautions pro-actively before any attack exposes weaknesses.

Procedures

2017-06-07T10:21:45Z

Priyanka: /* Handling "List of Open Ports" reports */

Here are procedures to be followed by Support Staff in respect to various technical matters in day to day operations of client issues.

== Handling Clients with Overdue Invoice ==
In order to maintain good payment speed by clients NEOSYS needs to restrict support to clients that dont pay their bills on time, however the degree of restriction needs to depend on an intimate knowledge of the client which cannot be expected from all NEOSYS support staff. Therefore we will use a simple escalation policy as follows:

=== Overdue Support List ===
NEOSYS SUPPORT MANAGERS WILL maintain an overdue list on a whiteboard visible to all support staff. Generally, clients will go on the list immediately when their invoice is overdue and come off only after satisfactory commitment to pay have been obtained.

The latest overdue list email MUST always be starred until there are no clients left on the overdue list (apart from the permanently overdue clients). This way support team will know that there are still clients on the overdue list and will not mistakenly provide support to those clients.

For the first week of each quarter of the year, normal support should be provided for server failures and backup failures (including hung processes as it could eventually lead to backup failures). NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any other support requests from overdue clients, with the following letter (where XYZ is the overdue client):

Dear ABC,
There is an issue with your company's account. We have requested our Accounts team for approval in order to provide support to you and other XYZ users.

Support staff must then provide the required support to the overdue client only after 4 working hours. Support Staff need not actually contact the Accounts team for approval, although that is what is mentioned in the letter. This delay in support is to encourage clients to settle their payments on time.

After the first week of each quarter of the year, NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any support requests from overdue clients with the above letter but MUST NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT even after 4 working hours. Instead, NEOSYS Support Staff must refer the support request to NEOSYS Support Manager.

Managers may well instruct support to provide support on a case by case basis even if clients are on the overdue list. Being on the overdue list does not necessarily indicate a major issue with accounts.

== Handling Frozen NEOSYS Installations and Databases ==

Some clients retain fully operational NEOSYS installations or just particular databases even after they stop using them for some reason, either because they move to some other software, or because they terminate an operational division, or other reasons, and this can either be on NEOSYS or their own servers.

In this case, various NEOSYS upgrade and maintenance processes may be suspended, downgraded or completely skipped especially if instant access to the server is no longer available. This does not mean that it should never be done, and pros and cons need to be assessed and documented in support emails on a case by case basis.

*Upgrading NEOSYS version
*Upgrading/standardising NEOSYS database configuration and other files for consistency, security or other issues
*Patching Windows/IIS configuration for consistency, security or other issues

== Handling Links and Email Attachments ==

'''DO NOT TRUST ANY LINK OR ATTACHMENT IN ANY EMAIL EVEN FROM HIGHLY TRUSTED PEOPLE OR ORGANISATIONS'''

These days you can no longer trust links or attachments in emails from anybody - even emails from highly trusted people like your bank.

If a personal computer or intermediate email server is hacked then even genuine emails sent out from it can be infected and modified in a hidden way that can result in the recipient being infected if they click or open anything in the email.

Therefore you should know and understand how to avoid, as far as possible, getting tricked and infected via emails.

Malware authors generally rely on the fact that most people devote no time at all to security precautions so a moderate cautious approach, slowing down a little to spending some time on security, even where it is apparently not required, is enough to defeat most attacks.

=== Links ===

Do NOT click on links, especially in emails that you are not expecting, but also anywhere else that you see links, without taking various precautions. The links in an email, even from someone you know and trust, can LIE to you about what website they will open and they can lead you to websites that mere browsing can infect your computer and then others inside our network.

WHAT LINK/WEBSITE WILL BE OPENED MAY NOT BE WHAT IT SAYS IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL!

Therefore, to use a link in any and all emails, first hover your cursor over it and check the status bar at the bottom of the screen where you can see exactly what website will be opened, or, to be more sure exactly what website you are opening DO NOT click links in emails at all. COPY/PASTE the link to your browser, AFTER following the below points.

*Make sure you know and trust the website being opened.
*Carefully inspect the spelling of the domain name to avoid tricky look-alike fraudulent links eg hcsb.com instead of hsbc.com
*If you trust the sender but you do not personally know the website then get independent confirmation from the sender. Reply to the email so that the sender can check the link you received has not been tampered with.

In the following case, hovering over the first two links seem to go to real UPS website, BUT this is NOT sufficient to be sure since slight misspellings and other tricks can lead you to a totally different website.

However, hovering over the third "link" shows that clicking the apparent link would go to some website http://behappy.vn (Vietnam) so clearly this is a DECEPTION.

[[image:Scamscreenshot.png]]

=== Attachments ===

There is no way to determine if an attachment, even from someone you know, has not been infected and is therefore dangerous. The only protection is to rely on anti-virus/anti-malware software on your computer.

You can check the names and file types/extensions of attached files to spot any obviously strange or unexpected attachments but this is not very effective. Don't open attachments ending in .jar or any others without SB's permission.

Be careful that if there are a lot of attached files not to assume that all are safe because the majority are unsafe.

== Handling junk email ==
Any email identified as junk should be manually marked as Junk so that they automatically go into the Junk folder. The spam filter in the server will use the emails in the Junk folder to decide what is moved into the spam folder.

== Avoid burdening email servers with excessive graphics ==

Support MUST install the "Auto Resize Image" addon in Thunderbird to reduce the size of images in emails resulting in a significant reduction in email size. See [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Configure_Auto_Resize_Image| setting up auto resize image]] for details.

It reduces the burden on NEOSYS and NEOSYS client's email servers. This is especially important on long conversations about subjects that include many screenshots, since for just a simple one line reply, the email can consume many MB of space. It massively wastes the email server space and makes backups massive and generally a total waste of resources and time.

To be able to refer back to graphics in previous emails, add the SIZE column to your email program so that you can locate large emails with graphics rapidly without searching back one by one.

==Client Communication Policies==
===Client Meeting Report Policy===

After every Client meeting online or otherwise Support MUST send a Follow-Up email to the Client which is open and fully informative and not brief, stating the events during the meet and any action required by either or both parties. The email to the client must not shrink from discussing contentious issues due to a false sense of politeness or timidity to address issues face on. Obviously one should not be rude but it is not rude to address issues openly.(cc Client managers and NEOSYS Managers)

The follow-up email MUST be sent within 24 hours of completion of the meeting so that the points discussed during the meeting are fresh in all the meeting participants' minds. This means that reports for meetings on the day before the weekend MUST be sent on the SAME day.

In addition to above email if there is some information that needs to be shared internally and cannot be said in public to the client then send a Client Meeting report to Support.

Support must also update the Client Contact Record file in Google Drive immediately after sending out the follow-up email.

===Follow Up of Support Issues===

All voice/chat communication MUST also be followed up with an email confirming at least the gist of the communication to keep the whole support team updated on the issue.

If not possible to contact for any reason, then an email MUST be sent stating so and suggesting or requesting a time to connect.

cc Client managers (and/or BCC NEOSYS Managers) MAY be done if thought to be useful and/or appropriate.

===Handling Contentious Emails from Clients===

If emails requesting support become contentious, then voice, phone call or chat is REQUIRED to save time. However, client support via phone call should be done only on local or low-cost calls. High-cost international calls should not be used except in extreme circumstances.

If clients become deliberately combative or uncooperative then Support team is supposed to kick back a little but still emphasise the point. Perhaps it could be done better with a little ironic humour or a smiley. Avoid using !! while responding to contentious emails.

=== Discussing Pricing ===
All discussions about pricing must be done only in Sales inbox. If clients bring up pricing discussion in support emails, NEOSYS staff must respond to the client by starting a new thread in the Sales Inbox.

==NEOSYS Support Response Time Policy==

NEOSYS contracts, in the few cases where we have a written contract with the client, specifies that maximum response time is one business day generally and one business hour for complete stoppages of the system. Obviously we have to do far better than this in practice.

Support staff must inform clients of the progress of the issue if it is not resolved the same day but only if they contact at least 1 hour before office closing.

Deciding to wait on issues is fine (also refer to: [[Procedures#Handling_users_who_do_not_act_upon_standard_messages|Response to standard messages]]), but support MUST at least spend up to 5 minutes on issues to see if they can be handled quickly.

For routine requests for service where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client then no need to send rapid reply.

==Handling errors discovered by support staff ==
{{Handling errors}}

==Handling Cheques from Clients==

NEOSYS staff are not to accept deliveries from clients that might be cheques without prior instructions to accept the same. They can ask courier to wait a few minutes until NEOSYS accounts or management agrees but they may not be available and probably will not agree anyway. NEOSYS payment terms do not accept cheques although clients are free to deposit cheques by themselves.

== Client Password Policy ==
All client user passwords, including their initial one, are to be obtained via the user's email address using the password reminder/reset button on the login screen. [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#What_is_NEOSYS_password_policy.3F (NEOSYS password policy)]

NEOSYS staff should never know users passwords therefore NEOSYS will not obtain and grant user passwords. The reason for this is that in the event that users lose their passwords to other people who then login unauthorised then suspicion could fall on the NEOSYS staff who know their password.

All parties concerned, including client management, client users and NEOSYS support staff, benefit greatly from trusting that if something in a NEOSYS database is registered as having been done by a particular user then it was not in fact somehow done by NEOSYS support staff. Nothing should be done that would break such fundamental trust. To achieve this, NEOSYS support staff must never log in as particular users, never ask for users passwords and generally enforce the idea that all work logged as being done by users IS done by users.

Very limited amounts of work by NEOSYS support staff either in person or remotely using teamviewer is acceptable while a user is logged as long as the user login was performed by the user themselves, the user is present and the user specifically agrees with the work being done.

=== Support requests from ordinary client users ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords will be forwarded to known skilled users on the client staff since this is the most efficient (not fastest) way to handle such issues.

=== Support requests from senior client management ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords by senior client management users shall be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bearing in mind that NEOSYS staff should never know user's passwords this will probably involve NEOSYS staff using the Password Reminder/Reset button to send a new password to the user.

=== User Defined Passwords ===
NEOSYS will provide user defined passwords in very special cases which must be pre-approved case by case by NEOSYS management. NEOSYS will not approve this due to the reasons mentioned [[Procedures#Client_Password_Policy|here]].

If the user login gets blocked due to multiple login failures and the user requests support team to reset the password to the user defined password again, support MUST delay the response to this request by at least 1 hour in order to force the user to be more careful when typing the password.

Currently permission for user defined password has only been granted to one NEOSYS client with several hundreds of databases.

== Handling client issues and requests==

All support issues must be dealt with through phone/email/chat. Support Staff can schedule client visits for User Training but should not schedule client visits solely for providing support for petty issues.

ALL Support staff should check the all the previous day's inbound emails for reply flags once in the morning. All Support staff will therefore be held responsible for any unreplied inbound email.

Support staff should NOT waste time and delay support by investigating issues WITHOUT having sufficient information.

Support staff should look for similar issues when solving a particular problem to avoid similar issues in future. This saves the time and energy of Support as well as the Client.

When sending screenshots to clients, support team should economise on space by minimising to the minimum that will show the problem clearly. This is because not every user will be viewing their emails on large wide screens like NEOSYS support team. Browser windows reformat their contents to suit the width available so this is particularly effective in most NEOSYS screens.

Support team MUST be cautious while sending screenshots so that no private/unnecessary information is sent to Client. If you cant avoid taking the screenshot without unnecessary information then you should hide it in the screenshot.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

=== Handling new emails in Support inbox===
Support MUST spend up to 5 minutes on new emails and send a quick reply to the client, to acknowledge the request or give a quick solution in case its a petty issue or has a documented solution in wiki. This should probably be done on priority, interrupting existing work and not wait for one hour and be dealt with quickly.

For routine service requests where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client, Support does not need to send a rapid reply.

=== Handling client call back requests===

Clients who ask us to call them should be given our phone number asked to call us unless there is some GOOD reason why we should make the effort and pay phone charges.

=== Handling login failure issues===

Users often get login failure issues due to typing wrong password and they simply won't read and act according to the error message they get. In this case, Support must send the below email to the user.

<pre>
Dear XYZ,

If you have trouble resetting password, please ask for assistance from your manager/IT Manager/Timesheet Administrator/NEOSYS-expert colleague.

Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

Local support users (TA or IT manager etc) have the LS key using which they can see the User Details page of all users. They should check all the information (usercode, registered email id, last login attempts etc) in the User Details page to find out what is the issue.

This procedure will reduce the endless mails sent back and forth to solve petty issues which could easily be solved by the client's local support.

=== Handling requests or demands for "URGENT" or "PRIORITY" support ===

Any request for prioritised action *without giving any reason for the prioritisation* should be disregarded and the request handled with normal priority. If a reason is given then you may at your discretion prioritise a response but there is no obligation to do so.

=== Handling users who login with other people's NEOSYS usercodes ===
This can cause a lot of confusion in both the client and NEOSYS support. It may also indicate that the correct NEOSYS monthly licensing fee is not being paid. There is no valid reason for anonymous logins or sharing logins between multiple users.

Therefore if NEOSYS support team get requests for support about using NEOSYS from users who are not registered properly in NEOSYS with an personally identifiable user code, name and email then the following email should be sent cc admin@neosys.com.

No exception should be granted to clients without NEOSYS management approval.

<pre>
Dear NEOSYSUSER,

Please note that in order to receive support from NEOSYS you must personally have an identifiable user code, name and email address registered
in NEOSYS.

We can create new user account for you with your management approval. This may or may not have an impact on the NEOSYS monthly licensing fee
depending on the agreement in force.

Please let us know what you would like us to do.

Best Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

=== Handling support requests from expired users ===

If expired users call for any reason including not being able to login, they must not be given any support. They should only be told that their account is expired without any reason being offered because employers sometimes do not want any information at all being passed to expired users.

===Handling support request from senior management===

Any support requests from senior client management users concerning report generations should be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bear in mind that NEOSYS staff should not agree or offer to do client work. Support staff can advise senior management to contact a skilled user to help them with basic NEOSYS reporting. Support staff can also send screenshots of step by step procedure on how to take reports. Depending on the situation and reasons provided by senior management, support staff can at their discretion provide reports but after informing them that this is an exception and no more reports will be sent out as this is against NEOSYS procedures.

=== Handling emails with unrelated subject line ===
At times, clients forward old emails, with new issues, resulting in completely unrelated subject line. In such situations, support should create a new email, copy the new issue from the old email and paste it into the new email. This way, unrelated emails will not appear in the same conversation group when viewing emails in conversation mode.

In the new email, include a comment like "PS Please don't forward old emails for new issues, start a new email with a new subject so that emails can be traced easily."

Sometimes the client does not bother putting the correct subject line for new issues (eg. blank subject, or "Error"). Then support should add a meaningful subject line in order to make the email easy to search for.

=== Handling emails with poor screenshots ===
Sometimes Thunderbird shows full sized screenshots in a compact format that is not easy to read. These can be resized to make them more legible. To do this, make the email editable by hitting the "Reply" button, then click and drag to resize the screenshot as desired.

If the screenshot sent by the user is genuinely small and hard to read, reply to the mail and request for a full size, clear screenshot.

=== Handling support-request emails sent to anywhere than support@neosys.com ===
Client emails anywhere than support@neosys.com MUST be ignored. This is because ALL support must be recorded in support inbox without exception so that the whole support team is aware of the issue and action taken. If client complains about the delay in support then they can be told this is because they used the wrong email address.

=== Handling users who do not act upon standard messages ===
When users do not bother to read and act on standard NEOSYS-generated messages and instead ask for help, Support staff MUST delay response time and thereafter send them an email which is the same as the message so they get the point that in future they should read the messages and handle issues themselves.

=== Handling Requests to do Client work ===
NEOSYS Support staff must not agree or offer to do work on behalf of the client.

This is because doing client work while logged in as NEOSYS breaks security rules. Support uses the NEOSYS username which has unrestricted access, so when a user requests Support to do some work which they don’t have access to, and if Support agrees to do the work, the client has successfully defeated the security rules by accessing features that they are unauthorized to access.

'''Requests for colour and font changes'''

Support should not be spending lots of time on colour and font changes. Clients can make as many changes as they want until they are happy with a selection. Clients MUST send screenshot of their required color/font settings (not sample screen/reports) for Support to copy and setup for all users. If Support sees them doing something bad or poor then give comments or better suggestions.

=== Handling Requests that require Approval from Higher Authority ===

The following is a list of user requests that must be handled by NEOSYS support staff only if they are approved by or come from a higher authority (manager/admin). The LIST is '''NOT''' a complete list so there may be other things which might require approval so use good judgement and/or ASK if in doubt.

*Opening new financial year
*Adding new company/dataset
*Editing alert/backup email receiver addresses
*Customising Authorisation File ({{SensitiveSecurity }})
**Adding or removing accesses for existing users in Authorisation file
**Adding new user(s) to Authorisation file
**Expiring a user
**[[Procedures#For_HTTPS_access| Allowing HTTPS/outside office access from any IP number]]

If an unauthorized user sends one of these requests to support staff, support staff must immediately instruct the user to get the request approved by the higher authority.

===Handling User Requests to add an IP or range of IPs to access NEOSYS===

Support staff must identify if the IP or range of IPs is for http or https access.
{{SensitiveSecurity }}

====For HTTP access====
Support staff can add local IP or range of local IPs when requested by the client. Top management approval is not needed to add local IP numbers. Listed below are the IP address ranges reserved for local network.

10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

====For HTTPS access====
Any request for https access from any IP address or range of IP addresses (eg. 123.456.* or just *), or in other words any use of an asterisk in the IP restrictions, MUST have TOP management i.e. the company's decision makers approval. The Staff and their Managers are not the best decision makers in this affair because they usually ignore the risks and it is not really their decision. Security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled. It is completely pointless to inform the staff who want the access about these risks because only their top managers could really decide that this is NOT going to be allowed. Hence the Top Management MUST be asked for approvals and at the same time WARN them about the security risks/threats behind the no IP restrictions.

=====For clients with static IP=====
Any request to add a specific IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses MUST have management approval.

=====For clients with dynamic IP=====
For clients with dynamic IP, support MUST NOT add their public IP to the allowed list as this will encourage the client to again request for access from new IP numbers every time their public IP changes. Instead, support MUST force the client to either install VPN or get the Top Management i.e. the company's decision maker's approval to enable access from any IP after explaining the security risks in doing so, as mentioned above.

Support MUST also mention that installation of VPN by the Company is the industry standard way of providing access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER. Installation of VPN is to be done by their own IT support. Refer to [[Procedures#Using_VPN_to_enable_secure_access_from_outside_the_office|Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office]]

Sample Email:
<pre>
Dear XXX,

I do not recommend allowing access from all IPs because security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc. can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled.

I strongly recommend that you keep IP restrictions for XYZ dataset.

If you want to provide access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER, then installation of VPN is the industry standard of achieving this. Installation of VPN is to be done by your own IT support.

If you still wish to allow access from all IPs, kindly confirm that you acknowledge the security threats of doing so.

</pre>

=== Handling repeated request to allow users to access from all IPs ===

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

If the client wants temporary access from outside for some staff twice in say a six months period then support should send the below email. The real reason is because we don't have the time to be doing this on a regular basis. If at all the client asks why we no longer support the provision of temporary outside access then we can say this is because of the frequency of such requests.

Dear XXX

We have given you temporary outside access this time, as requested. Please note that we can no longer support the provision of temporary outside access. So in the future, you will have to choose between either permanent or no outside access. Alternatively, you can ask your management to install a VPN (which is the industry standard of achieving outside access to a corporate asset in a secure manner), so that you can log in to NEOSYS from outside.

=== Handling requests to create a new feature or modifying existing features ===

Many issues are small and not important but can still be considered for development because they may be easy and neatly added to NEOSYS. The aim here is to avoid development on hard issues for little benefit, or little issues that make NEOSYS more complex for little benefit.

When a client requests to create a new feature or modify an existing feature, a workaround must be given to the user, which is either a permanent solution, for example if the issue is a rare case and not commonly faced by other clients (and the workaround is acceptable to the client), or a temporary solution until some better solution is discovered or can be developed.

Any request to create a new feature or modify an existing feature MUST be discussed with other clients before forwarding it to the programmer because the other clients might not be comfortable with the change as it may not be in accordance with their workflow. If other clients agree to the proposed change then support should go ahead and request the programmer to implement it.

Therefore before escalating a request to the programmer to modify a feature in NEOSYS, the approval for the same from other clients must be taken into account.

When escalating the request to the programmer, support MUST avoid using "Is it possible..?" because the obvious answer to that is "Anything is possible" and because this question is only a way to avoid doing the real work of deciding whether the new feature/modification should be implemented.

=== Updating Clients about unresolved issues ===
Support should proactively inform clients if an issue is not solved within the same day it was raised, after judging the urgency of the issue and the time it was raised. An email to the client who raised the issue, before the end of each day, is a best practice that keeps the client updated and other support staff too. This email should be sent regardless of the degree to which the issue has been resolved or if the issue is unresolved. If the issue is unresolved, the email should explain why and also explain the cause of delay.

=== Handling new USER creation ===
Support staff should create new USERS for clients ONLY when requested by an authorised person.

If the request comes from an unauthorised person, then support MUST reply to the same person informing them that this request must come from an authorised person. Support MUST NOT directly contact the authorised person asking for approval/confirmation because that is client work.

Clients should not be discouraged to create new users. Clients are billed as per user usage which is reviewed periodically. Over time old USERS are replaced with new USERS.

The USER code is the first name of a user.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

Support team MUST NOT discuss billings with clients unless authorised to do so. Also see [[Procedures#Discussing_Pricing|Discussing Pricing]]

Support team MUST NOT proceed with creating new users until the following details have been clearly provided by the client, otherwise the user may end up with more than the required authorisation, which can lead to problems in future.

New user requirements :-
*Full name
*Email address
*Group level / User with similar authorisation

After the new user has been created, Support Staff must send an email to the person who requested the creation of new user, confirming that the new user has been created along with a screenshot of that part of the authorisation table where the new user was created so that the new user's usercode and email id is visible. This is done so that in case there is some error in the usercode or email id, it is easily visible in the screenshot and also so that the person who requested the creation of the new user is informed about the usercode of the new user.

=== Handling letterhead change requests ===

Support staff should reject any requests that require the letterhead to be setup on the TESTING dataset before it is setup in the MAIN dataset.This is to reduce double work for support staff and to ensure that clients have a clear understanding of their requirements and also send the correct logo image.
The MAIN dataset can be copied to the TEST dataset for any kind of testing.

See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Configuring_Letterhead#Changing_the_letterhead_for_printed_documents How to change letterhead]

=== Handling error messages ===

'''Important:''' Before Attempting to resolve client issues, please ensure that we have secure access to the NEOSYS server.

#The very first step is understanding client problem. Ask questions to the client until you CLEARLY understand the problem.
#If the error is familiar and does not require a screenshot, resolve the problem immediately.
#If the error is unfamiliar and/or requires a screenshot and the user has not sent a screenshot, IMMEDIATELY ask the user to send a screenshot of the problem, along with the options used (basically you need to know HOW to replicate the error and the screenshot MUST show WHAT the error is).
#If the user says "nothing happens, so no screenshot of the error", then IMMEDIATELY request for screenshots again with the exact steps to reproduce the problem using mouse and keyboard.
#Upon receipt of the error and steps to reproduce the error, follow the steps and reproduce the error. Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues|Addressing Browser related issues]]
#If the issue is unknown or you don’t understand it clearly, with the users acknowledgement use remote support to gain access to the users desktop to view how to replicate the error.
{{Handling errors}}

=== Addressing Browser related issues ===

When resolving random browsing issues that seem to be on one user computer only, support MUST send the below email asking the user to check if the same issue occurs on other user computers. Rapidly convincing the user that the problem is only on their computer gains their willingness to sort the problem out at their end, using IT people if necessary and available.

Handling random issues that appear to be on one computer is very very common and it is important to deal with it effectively, not requiring stages of "denial" by the users until they accept something has to be done at their end, and not by NEOSYS. Speeding up this process gains the confidence and appreciation of the users.

<pre>Hi xxxx

Is this error happening only on your computer? If that is the case, it may be due to an issue in your browser cache. Please clear your browser cache with assistance from your IT team if required. Then restart the browser and try again.

If clearing browser cache does not fix the issue, I recommend a full browser reset to ensure that everything works fine.

Follow these instructions for clearing browser cache and resetting browser:
http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers

Please let us know if you face the issue again.</pre>

Also refer to [[Procedures#Handling_Browser_related_issues_in_NEOSYS| Handling Browser related issues]]

=== Addressing Technical support emails ===

In the case of technical support issues, address emails to the IT person and cc the complete group of recipients of backup emails and other NEOSYS alert emails. This allows both NEOSYS and client IT staff to take credit for resolving issues that NEOSYS raises instead of working in the background unacknowledged.

Technical support issues include backup failure, server failure, missing alert email, server connectivity issues and port forwarding issues and many other issues.

For technical issues like browser configuration, clear cache, etc. support must send the user a link to the appropriate wiki article to help the user fix the problem. In some cases the user may be helpless and unable to follow the steps to fix the problem. In such cases, support MUST NOT waste time trying to help the user fix the problem, instead support MUST ask the user to get help from the IT person.

=== Acceptable report format when handling issues in NEOSYS reports ===

NEOSYS Support must only resolve issues in NEOSYS output first. This is because only NEOSYS outputs can be trusted and user versions in Excel or PDF could be copied wrongly or edited by the user.

In case users send reports in excel or other formats, get them to send the original NEOSYS HTML report as an attachment or copy-pasted in email.

=== Handling requests to create new charts or control accounts===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_and_Configuring_NEOSYS_Finance_System#Creating_New_Charts_or_Control_Accounts Refer here]

=== Handling issues with totals on reports ===

If a client has a problem with any total output by NEOSYS software then NEOSYS support will advise them which other NEOSYS report or reports provide a complete breakdown of the total (if necessary, to individual transactions) and ask the client to locate any offending transactions themselves.

NEOSYS support staff will handle any issues where the total on the breakdown report does not add up to the total on the summary report.

Reconciling totals can be hard if there are many transactions involved. Regardless of how hard it may be, reconciliation is an operational task for users not for support staff since NEOSYS support staff will not get involved in understanding client transactions or data.

==== Trial Balance and Financial Statements ====

NEOSYS support staff do not have to prove or trace any figures in NEOSYS Trial Balance Reports or any financial reports. If a figure is stated to be wrong by the user, then NEOSYS support staff should ask for proof or say NEOSYS is confident that the figures are correct unless proved otherwise.

NEOSYS support staff should point out reports in NEOSYS which will support the figures in question but not actually run the reports. Support staff can suggest the users to refer to detailed ledger accounts to prove balances.

== Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office ==
There are two ways in which a user can use VPN:
*User connects to the their office router and makes the PC act like it is on the office LAN.
*User connects to a VPN service that provides a static IP number and can therefore be authorised by NEOSYS to login.

If the client intends to use VPN to connect to their office router and make the PC act like it is on the office LAN, then it depends on what VPN protocols the client's office router supports.

The alternative is to use a paid VPN service that provides a static IP number. Getting a dynamic IP number on VPN is very cheap and there are many suppliers, but getting a static IP number on VPN services seems to be more expensive.

Internally in NEOSYS we use PFSENSE routers which support OPENVPN which is extremely flexible.

==Handling issues with Office PBX phones==

Support should check their respective Office PBX phones every morning to find out if the phone is up and working. In case Support finds any issue with their phone, immediately fix it so that clients do not lose contact with the Support team via phone. Next send an email to Support inbox mentioning the fault, cause and solution for records/future prevention.

==Configuring Browsers to show Javascript errors in NEOSYS==
NEOSYS Support MUST ensure the following Settings for browsers because if NEOSYS generates any javascript error message, the same would appear in the bottom left corner of a window, which in turn helps the programmer to fix the error. This must be done after every Factory Reset.

===Internet Explorer===
Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Browsing - the items Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer) and Disable script debugging (Other) are '''UNTICKED'''.

===Chrome===
Chrome Menu > More Tools > Extensions > Get More Extensions, search for '''Javascript Errors Notifier'''. Add the extension to Chrome.

[[image:Chrome.png]]

[[image:Chrome1.png]]
===Firefox===
Firebug add-on is used to NOTIFY about script errors because we have no other method to get any warning on screen but you should use the main firefox developer tools to investigate any errors as firebug is essentially replaced by built in developer tools.

For developer tools, go to Tools > Web Console

To enable notifications for script errors, download the add-on Firebug from [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/ here]. When a Javascript error is encountered, the firebug icon will report the number of errors.

Set your firebug as per the second screen shot and select "Enable All Panels" as well, the tick will not appear like the other options but the option will get selected. If you miss out on any one of these steps, you will not be able to capture script errors.

[[file:firebug1.jpg|1200px]]

[[File:Firebug.png]]

==Handling Browser related issues in NEOSYS==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Technical_/_Hardware_requirements#NEOSYS_Software_Browser_and_OS_Requirements NEOSYS browser requirements]

Clients frequently ask [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#Why_doesnt_NEOSYS_support_my_XYZ_browser.3F Why NEOSYS doesn't support other browsers]

To avoid browser errors, all new users must follow the steps given in [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#Getting_started_with_NEOSYS Getting started with NEOSYS] before logging in to NEOSYS for the first time.

To troubleshoot browser related errors see [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers Troubleshooting Web Browsers]

Users must clear browser cache after every NEOSYS Upgrade to avoid errors. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS#Sample_email_to_be_sent_to_clients_who_face_issues_due_to_failure_in_clearing_browser_cache Sample email to clients who face issues due to failure in clearing browser cache]

Pop-up blockers and any 3rd party toolbars must be deactivated/switched off or else certain pages and alert messages while using NEOSYS do not appear as a result of blocking from either the pop-up blocker or toolbars with built-in pop-up blockers.

NEOSYS support must ask users to Reset browser (See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Reset_Browser Reset browser]) if they notice any user browsers which have pop-up blockers or 3rd party toolbars installed.

Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues| Addressing Browser related issues]]

== Handling NEOSYS Upgrade==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS Upgrading NEOSYS]

== Using Support Tools ==
=== Website Live Support ===
www.neosys.com is equipped with a Live Support software and clients can visit the website, click on this link and chat with any of our support staff, without the need for any installation. The client has to fill in their name and enter their questions to connect to an available support personnel. During non-working hours, the Live Support icon on the website automatically displays "offline".

NEOSYS Support personnel who are authorised to provide such support, need to login to Live helper chat in Firefox using the link given below:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin

Support personnel should enter the account details as provided by their Manager.

Enable notifications for Live helper chat so that whenever there is a visitor trying to contact Support team, the Support personnel will get the notifications on his screen. Set the Live helper chat login page as your home page in firefox.

Use the link below to enable notifications:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin/chat/listchatconfig

After setting up Live helper chat if you sign in to a new profile in firefox, you might have to re enable the notifications after your firefox is synced to the new profile.

=== Teamviewer ===
Since Teamviewer allows no restriction on access once a fixed pass is installed, Support must not install fixed pass on teamviewer however convenient it might be.

RULE: NO FIXED PASS TO BE INSTALLED ON TEAMVIEWER IN ANY NEOSYS OR NEOSYS CLIENT COMPUTER

Running teamviewer live from a web link is fine because it does not allow installation of a permanent password

For certain tasks that require temporary install of Teamviewer on the client servers (e.g. upgrading Cygwin remotely), use Teamviewer 7 on the server as well as Support staff computer. Contact NEOSYS IT for commercial license of Teamviewer 7. Teamviewer MUST be uninstalled after usage, otherwise it creates an additional unnecessary security risk.

To support client users who use the latest version of Teamviewer, support staff must also install the latest Teamviewer version available alongside Teamviewer 7.

== Documenting Processes in Wiki ==
NEOSYS Support staff must be in continual learning mode. This is mandatory for support staff and is not an option. Support must read, learn and understand everything in the support emails and ask questions if they don't understand. This understanding must be transferred into wiki in the form of new articles and improvements to existing articles.

For all articles related to formatting and editing in Wiki, see [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Documenting_NEOSYS_systems Documenting NEOSYS systems]

===Avoiding duplication of text in wiki===

Duplication of text in wiki is to be avoided almost at any cost. Duplication has the problem that when one copy is changed or improved in future then it is highly likely the editor will fail to update the other copy or copies and wiki will over time become an inconsistent mess.

There are several ways to avoid duplication:

#Two or more procedures which have significant areas of duplication can be rewritten as a single procedure with alternatives in the middle of the procedure
#Wiki Templates- Templates reproduce the same text in all places and editing one place edits all places. See [[How to create templates in wiki]]
#Wiki links- Only put the text in one place and put links to that in all the other places that it is appropriate.
#Place a note in all copies something to the effect that "This is similar to x, y and z". This alerts any future editor of all other places in wiki that might also have to be updated.

Future modifications in one place may or may not be appropriate to other places. The editor must decide whether to change one or all places

===Highlighting information in wiki===

To highlight particular instructions or info in wiki do NOT invent new styles which are not the way the rest of wiki is done. Instead, follow the USUAL STYLE or open a DISCUSSION with any recommendations you have BEFORE USING THEM.

Instead of using various kinds of highlighting styles like bolding and words like "Note:", use the following words IN CAPITALS especially the word MUST.

The use of the following words IN CAPITALS indicates that you are using them in a special way with formally defined meaning as explained below. Use of the words in lower case indicates that you are using the word in an ordinary commonsense meaning.

*MAY - means optional
*SHOULD - means recommended and you need GOOD reason (not just any weak excuse) to not follow to follow this recommendation
*MUST - mandatory

Only in the rare cases where the consequences of doing or not doing something are irreversible or take a lot of work to reverse then you can use your own additional highlighting methods, eg ALL CAPS, stars, color red etc.

==== Explain WHY ====

Any sentence which uses the word "MUST" in capitals, MUST be followed by a SPECIFIC REASON explaining exactly why is the instruction is mandatory; the reason MUST not be vague and non-specific meaning no more than "or bad things will happen".

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules.

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise it will cause problems in future.

CORRECT way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise the deleted schedules' ads will still show in all media-diary like reports and screens

The Wrong way above gives a general reason "it will cause problems in future" which is vague and a reader may even go ahead and ignore "MUST" because there is no objective or proper side effect mentioned for not following the MUST statement. Basically he doesn't understand the point behind following a certain rule.

Whereas the Correct way gives a SPECIFIC reason for "deleting ads while deleting schedules", so reader will exactly know the trouble that will be caused if ads are not deleted. Therefore "SPECIFIC REASON" behind using the word MUST must be to the point and very informative.

==== Why explain WHY ====
The information contained in the WHY phrase is often '''extremely informative''' to the reader about things that you may otherwise not have considered saying.

The most valuable information is usually contained in the "WHY" of something. There is an apocryphal story of a company where managers could be fired if they gave instructions to their staff without providing explanation. In almost all cases it is better for the efficiency of a team of people that any instructions they follow contain the "WHY" of something. Only in few cases should staff be expected to follow instructions without being well or fully informed.

== Email Retention Policy ==

=== Generally ===

Emails are retained permanently to allow old issues to be discovered in email searches.

=== Account: backups@neosys.com ===

Only the last 365 days of emails to backups@neosys.com are kept in general to reduce the burden on servers and clients due to the heavy number of emails.

For the backups/neosys folder, only 31 days is kept due to the very high numbers of emails ~250/day.

Deletions are configured in and done by a thunderbird client in NEOSYS IT so may not be continuous.

== Use of personal email addresses by NEOSYS support staff ==

NEOSYS support staff MUST NOT use any personal email addresses for NEOSYS business.

The xxxx.neosys@gmail.com addresses that are created by support staff for themselves on joining are also considered personal email addresses and must not be used for NEOSYS business. These email addresses might be linked to NEOSYS wiki accounts but that doesn't matter because wiki is not confidential.

== Accessing NEOSYS accounts on personal devices ==

NEOSYS staff MUST NOT install NEOSYS accounts on skype/dropbox/gmail (or any other external tool) on their personal devices without written permission from NEOSYS management

== Support Staff work-in-progress documents/files ==

Support Staff must not save working files hidden on their computer. Work that is not visible is not work .
Support work should not be done privately and should be shared to all.

ALL personal working files however trivial MUST be stored in Dropbox and MUST NOT be stored anywhere in personal computer (My Documents/Desktop etc.)

The personal encrypted pass file MUST be stored somewhere in personal folder under SB NEOSYS staff in Dropbox. This is because if there is a loss of OS/Computer, it should not lead to loss of access as all the passwords saved in the file will be lost.

== Handling CLIENT/NEOSYS Servers ==

NEOSYS support staff must exercise extreme caution when working on CLIENT and NEOSYS servers. Do not risk making changes without due care and attention to the fact that the consequences of errors can be serious on working production servers.

=== Handling Javascript Files in NEOSYS ===

All the files in NEOSYS installation folder with .JS and .JSE extension are the executable javascript files which startup NEOSYS processes (in a usual DOS window). Their default program is 'Microsoft Windows Based Script Host' (wscript.exe). If a JavaScript file is opened using a notepad, the default program may change to notepad resulting in all NEOSYS processes to open up in a notepad.

Hence be very CAREFUL when accessing a .JS and .JSE file and double check that the default program remains wscript.exe. Refer to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Fixing 'NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (i.e. DOS window)'|Fixing NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host]] in case this issue comes up.

== Handling "List of Open Ports" reports ==

This email comes to NEOSYS support team once a day showing only those client's servers which appear to have changed what TCP ports are open to the internet since yesterday. It will also come once a week showing all clients servers open ports.

NEOSYS support team should work patiently with client IT staff, over time if necessary, to close all ports that are not absolutely mandatory to be open.

Clients with highly skilled IT staff may have a variety of ports open to various non-NEOSYS servers inside their organisation. In this case, NEOSYS plays little role other than getting their confirmation of exactly what ports are acceptable. Any new ports that appear over time should be handled in the same way.

For clients without such staff, NEOSYS is their only real line of defence and since NEOSYS requested opening some ports, we should get all other ports closed by patiently following up until action is taken. Involving management may be the only way to get IT to act.

In particular, port 80 and 443 controlling internal or external routers should be closed. It is NOT acceptable except in HIGH IT EXPERTISE environments that critical routers should be exposed to the internet and they MUST NOT be accessible from the internet because routers that do not have their software updated can be hacked using known defects. Even updated routers can be hacked. Making it easy for client IT staff to access the router configuration from outside is NOT a good enough excuse to break this rule. Professional IT does not allow access to critical routers from the internet.

Likewise, any port 80 (unencrypted web access) and port 3389 (RDP remote desktop) open to the NEOSYS server MUST be closed otherwise logins can be monitored and there is no way to guarantee server security.

If a port is definitely required and properly approved to be open by client IT support, please let NEOSYS IT (SB) know and it will be put in the "known" column so that ports in the "unknown" column are all pending action.

The report does not attempt to detect UDP ports since UDP ports can receive information from the internet without responding in any way so there is no way to detect them reliably.

Green color shows ports that have opened since the last report run. Open ports can sometimes not be detected accurately so a port may appear to disappear in one report and reappear in the next report.

Also refer to [[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Why_should_http_port_80_not_be_open_on_my_router.3F| Why should http port 80 not be open on my router?]]

== Handling Nagios Client Monitoring system ==

NEOSYS support staff on duty MUST follow the procedures outlined below in case Nagios Checker shows a critical or warning message for any service. Failure to schedule appropriate downtime will lead to REDUNDANT ALERTS from NAGIOS every hour.

# Nagios is required to be checked first thing in the morning and any critical or warning messages need to be dealt with to resolve the same at the earliest.
# Some of the messages could be related to backup failures and the usual procedure as stated in [[Backup_and_Restore#Handling_failure_and_warning_messages_on_nightly_backup_alerts|Handling failure and warning messages on nightly backup alerts]] needs to be followed. In case the backup issue isn't resolved by 9:30 am, the Nagios service needs to be scheduled with downtime for a minimum of 2 hours and maximum until 1 am next day if the issue cannot be solved.
# In case any HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host is down, immediate action is required and the relevant IT people at the client side needs to be contacted to get this resolved. A downtime of 2 hours is required to be scheduled with further intervals of 2 hours in case this is not resolved. Support staff shouldn't schedule downtime till 1 am next day, just to get rid of the alerts for the day. Proactive follow up with the client is required to get this resolved before the business day - more so, if there is a weekend ahead.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host goes down during the day, a grace period of 20 minutes is given before the issue is reported to the client IT. This helps in case there is any temporary internet connection issue at the client or along the internet route.
# In case of "Backup not changed" warning status which occurs if the client has not interchanged the USB before 12 noon on that day, no action is required from the support staff and a downtime until 1 am next day needs to be scheduled.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH PING service or Host is down for more than 1 day, client IT should acknowledge the problem and give NEOSYS support staff an approximate time frame before which the issue will be resolved. Set an appropriate downtime for such events.
# In case Host is down for more than 2 days and there is no progress with the fix from client IT, the client management should be notified about the seriousness of not having access to server and their acknowledgement is mandatory.
#Support should check Nagios quite frequently during the day to look for any new alerts so that issues are fixed as soon as possible.

To summarise, any red alert left in Nagios Checker means that there is an issue that has not been attended to properly, and "attended to" does not mean solved. Support staff MUST solve the problem immediately if possible, or downtime/acknowledge and comment on the Nagios alert.

== Handling lack of remote access to NEOSYS server located in client’s premises ==

If access to the NEOSYS server is lost then we must determine the root cause by:
# Checking if the server is UP and running
# If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server
# If there is connectivity, please check the router for connectivity issues

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

Please note that we have currently lost access to the NEOSYS server. The server seems to be down at the moment and it seems that
NEOSYS processes are not running on the server.
Kindly check if the server is UP and running. If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server.
Do keep us posted on the server status so we can test connectivity from our side as well.

Best Regards,
</pre>
== New Router (Port Forwarding) ==

If you have changed your router then you may notice that external access to NEOSYS is unavailable.

'''Solution:'''

Setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to the NEOSYS Server as follows:
# Port 19580 > 19580 for SSH
# Port 4430 > 4430 for HTTPS

You can see [http://portforward.com/ Set Up Port Forwarding] to learn how to configure your Router.

To see how to test/ troubleshoot port forwarding settings, go to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_remote_support_port_forwarding|Troubleshooting Port Forwarding]].

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

You are requested to kindly setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to
the NEOSYS Server,i.e. port 19580 for SSH and port 4430 for HTTPS.

Once this is complete, kindly send me an email to confirm the same so that we could test connectivity from our end as well.

Best Regards
</pre>
== Creating and Handling passwords ==
Passwords made out of a pass phrase should be at least 10 characters since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts.

=== Creating a password ===
Passwords are generated from a pass phrase and it is important to create a very difficult to guess pass phrase.

For example, a good pass phrase would be: '''Today is a good day and it is the best time to go for a holiday'''

The password for this would be '''Tiagd&iitbt2g4ah'''

The important instructions for the above are:
#You have to take the first letter of each word and that makes your password (i.e. by using initials)
#Wherever any word starts with a capital, then you have to take first letter as a capital (eg. For Today you will take T)
#Replace '''and''' with '''&'''
#Replace '''to''' with '''2'''
#Replace '''for''' with '''4'''

=== Handling passwords ===
#Never send the actual password - always send the pass phrase
#Make sure that the password created out of the pass phrase is at least 10 characters long since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts
#Pass phrases are never to be sent by email, whatever the case maybe.
#Pass phrases can be sent by chat - however they have to be broken down in two parts and sent separately over two different messengers or if you are using Gtalk then use the 'off the record' mode.
#Using SMS to send pass phrases is the best known way as of now.
#If you save the passwords on your system in an file then:
#*Ensure that you only store pass phrases in the excel file
#*Ensure that the excel file is encrypted with a master password

== NEOSYS Maintenance Window ==

The NEOSYS server is functional from 6am – 1am. There is a 5hr window gap for the system to perform updates & backups.

The 5hr maintenance window:-

1. At 1am – The server performs a data backup on a USB (for the respective clients) & once the backup has been completed, the system automatically generates an email addressed to the neosys staff & the respective clients.

2. At 2:45am – The main data over writes the test data on the server.

3. At 3:00am – The server by itself performs an update for Windows.

4. At 4:00am – The server performs a backup to the headquarters for clients, and then automatically generates an email addressed to the NEOSYS staff & the respective clients.

5. At 6:00am – The server starts up NEOSYS.

== Using NEOSYS Terminology while communicating with Clients ==

NEOSYS support must communicate in correct language to clients on finance issues in order to ensure that our records exactly represent reality. Conversely NEOSYS must not use other terminology because it can cause considerable confusion and poor quality results. In case client is new and still in training, use client terminology optionally as long as
#It is only an addition to NEOSYS standard terminology
#Only if clear that it is client terminology by putting in brackets like this "Sales Invoices (called PI by you)", where "you" means the client you are talking to or you can put the client company name instead perhaps.

The objective is over time to avoid having the support team to have to know the terminology of the client. NEOSYS support team cannot possibly know and remember it for each client therefore the client MUST over time learn and use NEOSYS terminology. The initial period is one of relearning and translation for the client not for NEOSYS.

Many users operating NEOSYS finance module do not know proper financial procedures and may not appreciate how doing something in a wrong or unusual way now may not be correctable in the future.

NEOSYS staff must follow NEOSYS procedures only. If NEOSYS procedures need to be updated then this must be agreed in advance and not AFTER the fact.

== Amending/Reposting Journal Entries ==
In certain exceptional cases, amending/reposting of journal entries is allowed for a brief period of time to enable clients to present reports in an alternative manner. This would be subject to NEOSYS would requiring a written LETTER OF APPROVAL duly signed and stamped by the highest management of the company.

In case the client management decides to allow editing/reposting of journal entries, the following procedure is to be followed:
# Client must de-allocate vouchers which need to be amended
# NEOSYS support staff must wait for a day so that de-allocated vouchers are copied into Test database
# Authorise required users to amend and repost (without record) '''in Test database only''' ( While reposting, we have 2 options i.e. with record and without record. The 'with record' option causes the system to maintain a history of edits made. Hence, we want to repost without record so that there is no trace of the edit in the system)
# Amend a substantial number of vouchers in Test and verify them. To verify if the edits made are reflected:
# *Print all ledgers for the whole year
# *Cross-check all balances
# Once you verify the balances are correct in Test database, grant users permission to amend and repost in the Live database.
# Ask users to amend and repost vouchers in the Live database.
# Cross-check all balances for the current year.
# If you successfully verify the balances, revoke permissions immediately. Else, wait for 24 hours and revoke permissions irrespectively.

== Removal of unauthorized third-party software on client servers ==

Rule: Any third party software that is discovered by NEOSYS support staff on client servers that has been installed without the agreement of NEOSYS should be uninstalled immediately on discovery.

However purposeful a software is, NEOSYS is contractually responsible for support and there are too many opportunities for poorly installed software to cause unpredictable damage to the NEOSYS database so NEOSYS has to have a clear and safe and simple policy to ensure the integrity of client data. Installing software without prior discussion with NEOSYS by itself indicates that insufficient care and consideration as been given to possible issues.

Any software required by client IT for some purpose may only be installed after discussion and agreement from NEOSYS support staff concerning the configuration and operation of the software.

The NEOSYS Software Licence and Support agreement requires that where NEOSYS software is installed on client servers that a dedicated server is provided and dedicated implies that no other software may be installed without the agreement of NEOSYS support.

== Configuring tunnelier to autologin on opening tlp files ==
If you have many tunnelier tlp files in a directory and connect by opening the desired tlp file the, instead of opening the file and then clicking Login you can also right click the file and select Connect.

Alternatively, you can configure tunnelier to login (connect) automatically by following the procedure mentioned below. (Even if you configure automatic login, you can still open and not login by right clicking and choosing Open)

=== Windows 8 ===

Cannot be done using standard Windows UI. Some download utilities can do it. TODO put a safe one in neosys.com/support

=== Windows XP/Vista/7/2008 ===

#Go to My Computer
#Click on Tools -> Folder Options [[image:tunnauto-1.jpg]] 
#Click on File Types
#*Select TLP (Bitvise Tunnelier Profile) [Type "TLP" to find it quickly]
#*Click on Advanced [[image:tunnauto-2.jpg]] 
#Click on Connect and Click on Set Default [[image:tunnauto-3.jpg]] 

== International v/s Indian English ==

There are some words which have completely different meanings in International and Indian English. NEOSYS Staff should follow International English only. Below are the examples of few of those words:

Word: '''Doubt'''

In the English language word "doubt" means to distrust an alleged fact on the basis of a reason, depending on the strength of the reason which may be anything from factual to feeling e.g "I have no reason to doubt him".
This usage is followed worldwide.

Some people especially from Indian origin use "doubt" when they are unaware about a fact. e.g "I want to clear my doubts about this procedure". This is incorrect. The word must be used when you do not agree on something on the basis of a reason and not when you do not have knowledge about it.

==[[ New Employee Training Checklist]]==

==[[ New Client Training Notes]]==

==[[ General Office Procedures]]==

Administering NEOSYS Server

2017-06-07T10:20:53Z

Priyanka: /* Handling unexpected server shutdowns */

== Starting NEOSYS Services ==
=== Automatic Ways ===
NEOSYS processes are configured to start early in the morning when the server restarts after a windows upgrade.
We also schedule the process to start at windows startup in case of any unforseeable server restarts.
Depending on which datasets and how many processes of that dataset are to be started are configured in the System Configuration File of NEOSYS, the appropriate number of processes will be automatically started once the initial dataset is started.

=== Manual Ways ===
Run the Schedule task which is configured to start the dataset required.
Directly double click on the STARTDATASET.cmd file to start the required dataset.

== Closing NEOSYS Services ==
=== Two automatic ways ===
*NEOSYS services will automatically initiate a database integrity check, “backup” and close down at 2am by default.

To change the time of the automatic process do

F5 ED DEFINITIONS

*line 3 is the minimum time to start the backup and shutdown (default 7500 ie 02:00)
*line 4 is the maximum time to start the backup and shutdown (default 7800 ie 02:05)
*both times must be in seconds past midnight

Press F5 and type
PRINT ICONV(’02:00’,’MTH’) to calculate this easily

*NEOSYS will automatically close down during the upgrade procedure.

=== Three manual ways ===
Warning: NEOSYS services do not shutdown automatically on server shutdown so you need to use one of these methods before shutting down or rebooting a server.
#To close individual services, press Esc three times on a service and then ctrl+C once or twice. Repeat for each service that you want to close. This can only be done if you can actually see the services on the screen but the services will not be visible if they were started by scheduled tasks while administrator was not logged in to the server … unless you login as /console with remote desktop. 
#To close all services for one site/neosys installation, use the NEOSYS Support Menu – Stop/Restart NEOSYS Currently this has no option to stop the services for any other neosys sites/installations on the same server 
#To close all services for all sites and installations of NEOSYS under a particular folder, use NEOSYS maintenance (or any other program) to create and then delete a GLOBAL.END file in the parent folder of all the neosys installations. eg if the installations are located in x:\hosts\clientcode\neosys etc then create and delete a file called x:\hosts\GLOBAL.END ''Procedure'':
#*In NEOSYS Maintenance press F5 to get a NEOSYS command prompt
#*Type ED DOS ..\..\GLOBAL.END and press Enter (use ED DOS GLOBAL.END instead if you only want to close the services of the current site)
#*Press F9 to create the GLOBAL.END file
#*Wait until the processes close. Should be almost immediate.
#*Press alt+D twice to delete the GLOBAL.END file otherwise Neosys services will refuse to start

== Restarting NEOSYS Services ==
To Restart NEOSYS services you should:
#First STOP the NEOSYS services on the server [[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Closing_NEOSYS_Services|Stopping NEOSYS Services]]
#Then START the services again using instructions at [[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Starting_NEOSYS_Services| Starting NEOSYS Services]]

''Note -'' Restarting of Processes can be done when the users are logged into NEOSYS as it is not noticed by the user.

== Handling unauthorised 3rd party software ==

See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Procedures#Removal_of_unauthorized_third-party_software_on_client_servers Removal of unauthorised 3rd party software]

==Clearing File Locks==
Due to many reasons, while a user is working on a document in NEOSYS, the window/system may hang and he might close the window. However, NEOSYS doesn't know when the user has closed the window and locks the file and will automatically release it after 5 minutes of not getting a response. The user meanwhile would get a message "Document is being updated by XXXX. Open for viewing only?".

If the document was being created and the user closed the window without saving the document, then the message would be "<document name> is being created by XXXX. You cannot view or update it until they have finished or cancel."

Sometimes, a user might keep a document open in a window and might lock & leave his workstation, and as such the file is locked by NEOSYS, till he releases the document. Even in this case, the user gets the message mentioned above.

Instead of going ahead with directly clearing the file locks, Support should follow the below procedure:

NEOSYS Support should avoid doing manual work of checking and clearing locks until at least 30 mins after the original event. This is because locks have a 5 minute AUTOMATIC expiry time and therefore cannot remain locked unless some window (perhaps hidden or lost on some workstation) is extending the lock time or there is an error with the server clock.

# Do not address the issue until at least 30 minutes have passed since the original issue
# Get a second screenshot from the user if the problem continues
# IF all workstations have been REBOOTED to ensure no hidden or lost windows holding the record open.
# Get the List of Documents in Use
# Check the Date and Time of the report to see what the server clock thinks the time is and if wrong, ensure that the server clock is updated from the internet automatically.
# Check the "Date Time Locked" and "Date TimeLock Expires" columns for the offending record. This will tell you when the lock will expire and also indicate if it is being relocked by some hidden or lost window.
# Draw some conclusion about why the lock APPEARS to remain in place from the above.
# Do NOT clear locks if you can find nothing wrong;send info to and let programmers look at the issue

Commands to release the filelock/s are stated below:
===To clear ALL file locks===

F5
CLEARFILE LOCKS

===To clear selective file locks===

#NEOSYS Menu, Support, List of Documents in Use
#Maintenance mode (F5)
#Type the following command but replace "filename" and "key" with corresponding values from the List of Documents in Use

DELETE LOCKS filename*key

===Sample email to send to users who face "Document is being updated" message===
<pre>
This message means that the user is already editing this document on another window/tab of their browser.

If this document is not open on any browser window/tab of the user, then this message will appear if the user had closed the browser window/tab without Saving and Releasing/Closing the document he was editing. This lock gets automatically removed after 5 minutes, and the user will be able to edit the document again.

To prevent documents from getting locked, we always recommend that users periodically Save the document they are editing and click the "Release" button, or the Close button (or simply press Esc button on the keyboard), before closing the browser tab/window.
</pre>

== Scheduling a reboot of the server ==

=== Prior to scheduling reboot ===

Send an email to the Client IT as well as NEOSYS Support staff, informing when the server is scheduled to reboot and the reason for the reboot.

=== How to schedule reboot of the server ===

Add a new scheduled task called "shutdown and restart" to run "one time
only" at 3:30am the next day.

The program is called c:\windows\system32\shutdown.exe but you have to add
the -r option in advanced properties to make the system restart as well.

This is useful for rebooting when software such as AVG antivirus requires a
reboot.

[[Image:reboot1.jpg]]

[[Image:reboot2.jpg]]

[[Image:reboot3.jpg]]

[[Image:reboot4.jpg]]

== Renaming a database name or code ==

A request to rename a database name or code may come from a client when they change their company name or break off an existing merger/partnership and if the old name exists in the database name or code which needs to be changed due to legal issues.

A database name is a non-unique identifier in a NEOSYS installation and is an antonym for the database code and is usually the legal name of the client. Renaming a database name involves compulsorily renaming the database code too. There isn't an escape from renaming the database code, however you can rename the database code back to the original one after you have done the procedure below.

A database code is a unique identifier per installation of NEOSYS. A complete note about database codes is available at [[Installing NEOSYS Service#Assigning database codes|Assigning database codes]]

#Renaming of a database has to be done when users have logged out of NEOSYS
#Take a backup of the database prior to the below steps
#Close all processes using the global.end method and do not rename until all steps are completed
#Open up Maintenance mode and login to the database you want to rename
#Go to General > Backup & Data Management > Create a new data set - from the drop down select the database you want to rename i.e. original database
#On the disk space requirements message, select YES
#Enter the name of the new database incase you are renaming the database name or else just type the original name here and hit enter
#Enter the new database code on the next screen and hit enter
#Select YES to start - it will start copying the existing database files to the new one
#Once complete, it will prompt you to login/switch to the new database, select Yes and from the dropdown select the new database and hit enter and login
#Once you have successfully logged in into the new database, go to General > Backup & Data Management > Delete a dataset - and select the old one and follow the instructions to delete it
#If you want to restore the database code to the original one, then follow steps 5 to 10 to create a new database with the original code.
#You can follow the same instructions if you want to rename the test database code as well
#Rename the global.end file to ensure that the processes will start again

After you have done the above steps to rename the database, ensure the following are completed (if you have renamed the database code back to the original one then you do not have to do the below steps):

#Rename the "start maindatabasecode.cmd" and "copy maindatabasecode to testdatabasecode.cmd" files to reflect the new database codes and test that they open up
#Delete the existing desktop shortcuts and re-create new one and test that they open up
#Reconfigure the Scheduled Tasks to reflect the new processes and test that they open up

==Handling unexpected server shutdowns==

Client servers might experience unexpected shutdowns due to power failure, faulty UPS or other reasons at client site.

Unexpected shutdowns are noticed in the server System Logs usually after a failed backup or frequent server down trends on Nagios.

To view all the times that the server has unexpectedly shutdown (as shown in the screenshot below), in System Logs click Filter Current Log and enter event ID "6008".

[[File:Unexpected shutdown.png]]

Support staff MUST proactively escalate this issue to Client IT immediately so that they take action and fix the issue that caused the unexpected shutdown. Email them the sample mail below along with screenshots as proof. CC every one from nightly backup list, so that client IT feels the pressure to fix things. Ensure that client IT confirms that the issue is resolved.

As soon as Support re gains access to the server, do not start any processes on the server and make the Client wait until a proper check is carried out for any damage done.

Proper checking MUST be done to look for any damaged files in the software by doing a [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Checking_for_corrupt_database_files|chk.files]] and [[Handling_damaged_files|fix it]] in case of any damaged files.

Email the users about the downtime due to unexpected shutdown on the server and mention that Support needs to do maintenance on it to fix issues. This will force the users to get their IT fix this issue permanently so that next time their work does not get effected.

You need not mention the period of downtime so that Client also knows that the situation is serious and requires time to assess the damage. Start NEOSYS processes only after Support has tested for no damaged files in the software.

Sample Email to client IT
<pre>
Dear Team,

There was an unexpected shutdown on the NEOSYS server. Unexpected shutdown is a very serious issue and can cause IRREPARABLE DAMAGE to
files in NEOSYS. Fixing damaged files can be tedious, result in USER DOWNTIME and in the worst case force us to restore from backup, which
can result in LOSS OF UP TO A DAY'S WORK BY USERS.

If power failure is the issue, then the only solution is to buy a UPS with a CABLE and software that shuts down the server AUTOMATICALLY
when the UPS runs out of battery. This is the only correct and proper solution which everybody with sophisticated computer systems MUST use
since power cuts are unavoidable.

Is there a UPS in place? Is the software that schedules shutdowns working properly?
Please update us on this issue.

Best Regards,
XXXX

</pre>

==[[Procedures#Handling_.22List_of_Open_Ports.22_reports| Handling list of open ports report]]==

=== Why should http port 80 not be open on my router? ===

It is not advisable to expose any http server for any private service on your computer network or router because http is unencrypted and this means that all information regarding that service, including passwords can be observed by any malware on your LAN and internet connection. This information can then be used to install horrible software on your internal PCs.

What to do?

Use https for any internal services - and advisably on a non-standard port, not the standard port https port of 443.

For example NEOSYS service is exposed as https (not http) usually on port 4430 - not the standard https port of 443.

Commercial hacking is getting really common with things like FIREBALL and CRYPTOLOCKER causing a lot of damage.

It is advisable to take basic precautions pro-actively before any attack exposes weaknesses.

Moving NEOSYS

2017-06-06T10:15:46Z

Priyanka: /* Moving NEOSYS server to a new/another client office location */

=== Moving NEOSYS to new servers ===

Moving NEOSYS to a new server is a risky job in terms of maintaining DATA Consistency, so each and every step MUST be followed with precision otherwise it can lead to loss of DATA and connectivity for both Support and Users.These negative results are explained in more detail in the following steps with every step explaining the disaster behind not following an instruction.

Before you start following the steps for the MOVE, keep the following points in mind:

*Make sure you disable the old system BEFORE you enable new system.

*Do NOT count on users to pay attention to WHICH system they are using so its up to you to prevent access to the old system PRIOR to opening a new system for them.

*Failure to follow this procedure results in chaos in the clients procedures like missing invoices, schedules, estimates etc.

====Procedure to move NEOSYS to a new server====

#Provide the technical/hardware [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Technical_/_Hardware_requirements requirements] to the Client so that Client can provide the new server accordingly.
#Check and verify that all technical/hardware requirements are met.
#Inform the Client that setting up of the new server has begun and give an estimated time period to complete the setup (sample email '''(1)''' below).
#*The Client MUST give support staff at least two working day's notice to move the server as Shift involves crucial steps which can sometimes take longer than usual .
#Follow the steps mentioned in the [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Checklists checklists]. Follow both New Installation Checklist and Shifting Server Checklist simultaneously.
#Configure autologin if the Client requires Consolidated Backups.
#After verifying that NEOSYS installation on the new server is complete, email the users to confirm the date and time of the move (sample email '''(2)''' below).
#*Support staff MUST agree to move NEOSYS on a particular date ONLY IF they know for a fact that NEOSYS CAN be moved to the new server by that date. This is because if NEOSYS fails to move to the new server on time, then Support will look unprofessional and will not be able to maintain its reputation in front of the Client.
#Support MUST email all users that they will face a downtime for 1 hr to complete the move on the approved date (sample email '''(3)''' below) so that they will be prepared for the move and will not try to access NEOSYS during the move.
#On the day before the move, support MUST disable the Scheduled Task to startup processes so that there is NO chance of data loss as no one will be able to access the system after Backups.
#*Alternatively for small databases it might not be necessary to disable the startup task. Instead, take a manual backup after closing down the old system on the day of the move. Check the recent backup time duration to see if this option is feasible.

'''Continue with the following steps on the day of the Move'''

#You MUST look for zero neosys process i.e ntvdm.exe in the task manager to make sure no process started after backup. This will stop Users to enter fresh DATA on old server and eventually prevent loss of the DATA when new server is provided to them.
#*In case there is a process on server, create a global.end and then perform a manual backup to get the latest DATA. Do this only if the backup time duration is 5-10 minutes otherwise postpone the shift to next day in case of huge databases.
#You MUST create global.end file on old server so that no one can access Neosys for same reason as above.
#You MUST disable IIS on old server so that no one can access Neosys because of the reasons mentioned in the above two points.
#You MUST copy the latest backup.zip files from the old server's USB to the new server to restore the DATA on the new server.
#You MUST restore the backup.zip files to the new server so that users have access to the latest DATA.
#You MUST start neosys processes on new server for NEOSYS to start working.
#You MUST log in as NEOSYS to make sure everything is working properly.
#You MUST ask IT to switch the ports as per the Shifting Servers Checklist since new server will now have to be accessed on port used by old server.
#You MUST check the connectivity to both servers, to go ahead with the move on the new server and also maintain access to the old system in case of any issues.
#You MUST ask a user from Client side to access NEOSYS and log in so that it can be verified that Neosys can be accessed properly by the Client.
#You MUST email all users the url to access NEOSYS and browser configuration instructions so that they start working on NEOSYS on the new server (sample email '''(4)''' below).
#You MUST create scheduled tasks for consolidated backups in case required by the client otherwise it will lead to failure of Consolidated Backups.
#You MUST configure system configuration file to configure the drive for nightly backup otherwise Backup will happen on the drive where NEOSYS is installed.
#Finally, setup a reminder to switch off the old server one week after the final switch over to the new server if the old server is no longer required.

Sample email '''(1)'''
<pre>
Dear XXXX,

We have started setting up the new server for the move.

The setup will be complete within <x> working days.

Once the setup is complete, we will confirm the date and time to shift NEOSYS.

</pre>
Sample email '''(2)'''
<pre>
Dear XXXX,

The new server is now setup and we are ready to move NEOSYS. Please give us a date as per the team's convenience for the move.

The move should happen first thing in the morning after the nightly backup. On that day users will face a downtime of 1 hour.

We will contact your IT early in the morning on the day of the move to switch the server LAN IPs of both servers.
(Add this line if switch is required as per the Shifting Servers Checklist)

</pre>
Sample email '''(3)'''
<pre>
Dear Users,

We need to shift NEOSYS to a new Server. We will move between 9 am - 10 am on (approved date).

The move should be done first thing in the morning after the nightly backup, to complete the move in a short time.

* Please inform all users that they should be logged off during the move.

Please contact NEOSYS support immediately if you have any concerns about the move.
</pre>

Sample email '''(4)'''
<pre>
Dear Users,

NEOSYS has been successfully moved to the new server. You can log in and start using NEOSYS. The url to access NEOSYS is as follows.

(mention the url to access NEOSYS)

Kindly contact Support in case of any issues.
</pre>

====Moving by "Copying the old installation to new Server"====

In case of large and very old systems we may want use the old system as it is by copying the whole installation drive to the new system. In such cases instead of doing a fresh installation follow the steps below, after which you can proceed with "Steps to be followed on the day of Move" stated above:
#Get access to the new server and schedule copy of D drive from old server to new server. Skip the DATA folder which can be created later by restoring it from the Backups. The idea of copying DATA is slow and unchecked and requires unnecessary huge downtime of users whereas copying and restoring a backup is small, verified with known date/time.
#Verify the copy on the new server is accurate by checking file size and comparing. In case of any difference, drill down to folders and files to investigate
#While Restoring the Backup.zip files of all the data sets in the old system to the new server, you may come across an error explained in this link [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Backup_and_Restore#While_Moving_NEOSYS_to_a_new_server.2C_after_copying_D_drive_the_Maintenance_does_not_contain_all_data_sets Maintenance does not contain all data sets]
#Ensure that all datasets in the DATA folder are moved over to the new server somehow either by NEOSYS backup/restore, windows copying or some other method unless it is absolutely clear that they are not required or you get confirmation from the client senior management that they are no longer required

==== Changing drive letter to match old drive letter ====

[[Image:changepartitiondriveletter.png]]

==== Backup and restore of IIS configuration ====

[[Image:backupiis.png]]

Refer to this article for [[Backing up and Restoring IIS configuration| Backing up and Restoring IIS configuration with large numbers of web sites ]]

==== How to deauthorise a NEOSYS installation ====

Deauthorisation removes the authorisation and gives a pair of "authorisation numbers" that can be run through a check to prove that deauthorisation has been done.

After deauthorisation you cannot use NEOSYS. If you try then it will ask for authorisation again and you cannot use the original authorisation number to reauthorise it.

In NEOSYS Maintenance mode press F5 then type

DEAUTHORISE

Read the prompts that follow and answer all the questions accordingly.

In the final stage it will give you the "deauthorisation numbers" which consist of the original computer number plus another number. These numbers should not be lost and should be given to NEOSYS who will verify they are correct.

=== Reinstating live system from backup system and shifting back ===

This process should be done only when all the users are offline.

To move the data from live to backup server and to restore it back, follow the steps mentioned below:

Before restoring the data from live server to backup server and vice versa, do a manual backup (this will not be required if you are doing this procedure after the nightly backup has taken place; and before the users have logged in) and run the '''backup.hostname''' task on backup server.

====Steps to stop neosys process to start:====

# Un-tick automatic backup from the configuration file at host server.
# Rename Global.end.temp to Global.end
# Disable schedule task (Copy livedatatotest & start host)
# Disable backup.hostname task at backup server to avoid backup of host server > backup server
# After doing this start neosys processes at backup server and tick the automatic backup option in the configure file.
# Email client giving the new URL to access NEOSYS.
# Ask the IT guy to plug-in the backup USB to the server
# Configure the drive letter on the configuration file in neosys.

====Steps to restore backup dataset to Live server====

ATTENTION: Send a mail to the client staff, saying NEOSYS will be down from XXXX hours and they should logout from neosys before the mentioned time and save their work.

If possible co-ordinate with IT guy (or the person responsible) to follow up and make sure that users logout by the decided time. Once all the users are offline, Block all users from accessing NEOSYS.

# Take a manual backup of the dataset you want to move to a removable drive (Flash/USB drive)
# Once the backup is complete, go to the configuration file and un-tick the automatic backup from there.
# Now request the IT guy to unplug the USB from the backup server and plug it into the main server.
# Before doing a restore read the '''NOTE''' that follows very carefully.
# Now log in to maintenance process and go to '''General > Backup & Data Management''', select '''Restore from disk or diskette''' (i.e. option 4), select the backup drive and follow the prompts that follow.
# Now enable all the tasks that were disabled earlier on the live server and then enable the backup.hostname schedule task on backup server.

'''NOTE:'''

REMEMBER THAT RESTORE = first DELETE! and then RESTORE

'''Chat for reference:'''

DELETE MEANS YOU SHOULD BE FRIGHTENED >> AND THEREFORE TAKE A COPY

In this case you KNOW you have a good working copy of the data on the backup server so DELETING+RESTORE on the main server is not very frightening .. but STILL .. play SAFE .. take a COPY OF WHAT YOU DELETE DURING RESTORE

=== Moving NEOSYS server to a new/another client office location ===

This is done by the client IT responsible and we just have to provide this checklist for them to follow. Typically this needs to be emailed out to them.

Please ensure the following procedures are followed on the day of the move:

# Login to the NEOSYS server and shut down all the processes by hitting the ESC button on each of the window three times or until they close
# Take a backup of the D drive on another system or network / external drive
# Remove the USB plugged in and secure the same along with the other two USB’s in a safe location
# You can shut down the server now and move it to your new office

After the move is completed, please ensure the following immediately:

# Connect the server to your local network and complete all setup required for users to be able to access the system internally
# Configure the firewall and/or port settings to enable us to connect to the server externally (i.e. 19580 external to 19580 internal)
# Configure the firewall and/or port settings to your staff for external access (i.e. 4430 external to 4430 internal)
# Provide us with the new fixed IP address so that we can test the connection

== Copying BACKUP.ZIP and other files between servers ==

Using the CYGWIN/UNIX bash command line, the following example copies a file

FROM: another server at 100.100.100.243 (could be a host name eg xyz.hosts.neosys.com). The server can be accessed by ssh on port 19580.

FILE F:\data.bak\XXXXXXXX\Wednesda\BACKUP.ZIP

TO: the current server D:\ folder

scp -P 19580 administrator@100.100.100.243:/cygdrive/f/data.bak/XXXXXXXX/Wednesda/BACKUP.ZIP /cygdrive/d/

Troubleshooting NEOSYS Generally

2017-06-06T08:24:09Z

Priyanka:

== Solving failure to start a NEOSYS server due to disk failure message ==
=== Problem ===
During a reboot process (which maybe due to a Windows update or even done by a support personnel) the NEOSYS server gets hung on the startup and shows a message "Boot Failure - Abort, Retry".

=== Temporary solution ===
This typically happens due to the USB being plugged into the server and the boot sequence being wrong - i.e. the server trying to boot from the USB first and fails. The immediate solution would be to unplug the USB and ask the client to reboot the server again and upon successfully rebooting the system, plug the USB back again.

=== Permanent solution ===
The above problem will occur every time the computer is rebooted, so you need to immediately talk to the IT Administrator of the client and ask them to rectify the boot sequence to make it boot first from the CD ROM, then the HDD and last the USB.
 Allowing "Boot from USB" causes a severe risk of infection by boot sector viruses since the first infected USB device inserted WILL infect the server immediately as anti-virus programs are not active during boot.

==[[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Clearing_File_Locks| Troubleshooting "Document is being updated" message]]==

== Troubleshooting the "Database not available" error message ==
=== Problem explained ===
This error appears when you try to login to NEOSYS after you enter your username and password and click the Login button.

[[image:database_unavailable.jpg]]

Error message :

Cannot login because :
Error : The (database code) database is not available right now.

If the error message appears post login i.e. when users are working on the system then check if processes are free to run user request.

[[image:not_available.jpg]]

=== Solution explained ===
# Determine if the processes are running. If they are running and you still get the same message that means that either the processes have [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Hung_processes|hung]] and need to be [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#How_to_kill_hung_NEOSYS_processes|killed]]. Or the processes are busy to run user requests and a new process needs to be started.
# If the processes are not visible on the destop, it is possible that they are running in the background and have hung for some reason. Check the windows task manager to see if any ‘ntvdm’ process is running and [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#If_NEOSYS_processes_are_not_visible_on_the_server_desktop|fix hung processes]].
# If there is no trace of any process running, that means the process probably did not start at the scheduled time. Refer to the 'Hung Process Reports' to verify this claim.
# If the process had not hung, then the server might have restarted due to a power failure or a windows update and the administrator user had not logged in post the scheduled startup time of 6AM. To determine this cause, investigate in the Windows Event Viewer Log file.
# You can now start up the process by clicking on the respective desktop icons.
# Also check if the backup took place successfully or not. If not take a manual backup.
# Look into the logs at the date/time stated for the last transaction processed to investigate why process got hung.See [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Inspecting_Database_LOGS_Folder| Inspecting logs]] for more information on logs

== Troubleshooting "user not authorised to login from a location" error message ==
[[image:IPerror.jpg]]

'''Error message:'''
xxx is not authorised to login form the location (IP Number. xx.xx.xx.xx)

'''Solution Explained:'''

Check the URL used and follow the steps below to check if it is correct and email the user accordingly.
#If the Client installation is hosted on NEOSYS server then users can use only https link to access NEOSYS.
#*Check with the client's management if this particular IP is their public IP.
#*Add IP on management confirmation (Refer to [[Procedures#Handling_User_Requests_to_add_an_IP_or_range_of_IPs_to_access_NEOSYS|Handling User Requests to add IP/IPs ]] )
#In case of Client hosted server, users should access NEOSYS via LAN using the http link.
#*There can be exceptional cases where user needs to access NEOSYS outside the office Network e.g a client installation with two companies at different locations and NEOSYS installed at one. In this case Support will have to add the IP number of the second company so that users can access NEOSYS. But before you even suggest to add the IP, get the request from their management saying that the IP number is another office location and needs to be added. (Refer to [[Procedures#Handling_User_Requests_to_add_an_IP_or_range_of_IPs_to_access_NEOSYS|Handling User Requests to add IP/IPs ]] )

== Handling damaged files ==

[[Handling damaged files]]

=== Checking for corrupt database files ===
Login to NEOSYS Maintenance. This can be done when users are online.

Press F5

CHK.FILES

or

CHK.FILES filename

''' Sizelock while performing chk.files '''

Fixing sizelock errors should not be done while other users are online to the same database.

Sizelock errors are not critical and will be fixed automatically during the nightly backup.

Sizelock errors occur if a program or process that is selecting records from a file is aborted in some abnormal way.

Error message:

These Files/Tables have a Sizelock Value of 2 or greater.
Tag/Select the Files/Tables to be Fixed.
Press F9 to fix selected files

Press F9 to proceed with fixing the selected files or press ESC to continue with chk.files without fixing sizelock as it gets automatically fixed during the nightly backup.

Refer to the [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Backup_and_Restore#Error_Message:_Size_Lock Sizelock errors in backup emails] for more information.

[[file:sizelock.jpg]]

=== Determining Database File Name from Operating System File Name ===

To assess the potential damage and possible remedial measures you need to know the database file name. If the message only refers to the operating system file name you need to follow this procedure to determine the database file name.

Once you have the database file name you can use CHK.FILES XXXXXXX to check if corrupt or not and various other procedures to fix the corruption.

Remember that fixing the corrupt data does not solve the overall problem. The *cause* of the corruption must be identified and eliminated otherwise the problem may reoccur and in a more serious form perhaps with unrecoverable loss of data.

<pre>
╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 2══════════════════════════════════╕
│ │
│ :list FILES WITH ALL CONTAINING 'REV76481' │
│ │
╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
</pre>

[[File:DBfilenamefromOSfilename.jpg]]

== Finding out when and by whom a record was deleted ==

In most cases, NEOSYS does not allow users to delete records and instead keeps a record of everything. In some cases however, things are deleted and the only way to get full details about the deletion is to search the logs. This is cumbersome, but there is a quick way to find out when, and by whom, a record was deleted. Prior to NEOSYS software versions dated Mar 2014, and deletions done before the same date, this procedure will only tell you when the record was deleted - but not who deleted it. Knowing exactly when it was deleted will nevertheless help you to search the logs for full details.

In maintenance mode F5

ED SHADOW DELETED*filename*key

For example:

ED SHADOW DELETED*BATCHES*L*JOU*2*U

Journals are stored in the BATCHES file. The key of an unposted batch is x*y*999*U where x is the company code, y is the journal type code, 999 is UNPOSTED batch number and U is just U to indicate unposted batches. Note that unposted batches are normally deleted at the time they are posted - ie converted to posted batches.
<pre>
╔══════════════════════════┤DELETED*BATCHES*L*JOU*2*U├═════════════════════════╗
║16831.60706 ║
║BRUCEL ║
║╒═══════════════════════════════════TCL - 6══════════════════════════════════╕║
║│ │║
║│ :EVAL PRINT 16831.60706 '[DATETIME]' │║
║│ │║
║╘════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛║
║ ║
║ ║
</pre>

Once you see the number (in this case 16831.60706) you can convert it to a time and date by typing something like

PRINT 16831.60706 '[DATETIME]'

Using this date and time you can search the logs more effectively to find out who did the deletion and in what circumstances.

== Assessing Database Size per File ==
In NEOSYS maintenance mode

LIST FILES BY BY-DSND SIZE VOLUME.NAME SIZE

This will include all files not just those in the actual dataset in DATA\* folders.

== Fixing slow speed ==
=== [[Benchmarking NEOSYS]] ===
=== Investigating slow response in NEOSYS using NEOSYS logs ===
If users complain about slow speed, but the server CPU performance looks normal, then support MUST investigate NEOSYS logs to find out why NEOSYS was slow at the time when the client complained about slow response.

Search NEOSYS log entries around the time that the user complained about slow response and look for log entries with high response time. Make a note of what requests took long to respond. If multiple users were simultaneously requesting long reports from NEOSYS, then NEOSYS can be expected to respond slowly for other smaller requests that were processed at that time.

Also refer to [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#Why_is_NEOSYS_taking_a_long_time_to_generate_a_report.3F why is NEOSYS taking a long time to generate a report].

=== Investigating CPU 100% using Windows Task Manager ===
Email, to support, a screen-shot of task manager APPLICATIONS, PROCESSES and PERFORMANCE screens MAXIMIZED TO SHOW AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

(Sort the processes to show ntvdm, waiting.exe and high cpu% processes clearly)

'''Steps:'''
#Right Click on Windows Taskbar and click on Start Task Manager [[image:starttaskmanager.jpg]] 
#Click on Processes and then click on CPU '''Note - The HIGH cpu% processes which should usually be the "process" called "System Idle Process" ''' [[image:cpu100percent1.jpg]] 
#Click on the Performance Tab '''Note - PF Usage should typically be much less than Physical Memory otherwise there is insufficient real memory in the server to handle the load''' [[image:cpu100percent3.jpg]] 
#Click on Application Tab then Right Click on a NEOSYS Process and Click on Bring to Front '''See what the NEOSYS Process is doing [[image:cpu100percent2.jpg]] 
#Right Click on a NEOSYS Process and Click on Go to Processes '''Note the cpu% ntvdm process [[image:cpu100percent2_2.jpg]] 
#Normally NEOSYS application screens say "LISTENING" in the bottom line and those applications should have very low cpu% [[image:normalneosysprocess.jpg]] 
#Look at the difference between the screen of running NEOSYS processes (applications actually) which are idle (listening for requests) and active (processing a request from a user)
#Note the number of cpus or cpu threads in the server from the performance screen graphics [[image:performance-taskmgr-cputhread.jpg]] 
#Take screen-shots of any and ALL hung or long running processes (NEOSYS application screens) and email them to support. Even small details on the screens and user names, the user names may give clues to what problem caused the hanging.A Typical Hung NEOSYS process will look like this: [[image:hungneosysprocess.jpg]] 
#Once all hung/long processes are closed then CPU should be low and not near 100%. If it is still 100% then check all high cpu% processes and send a screen-shot of processes sorted to show the high cpu% process names to support.

=== Solving server CPU% is 100 and all users are extremely slow/stopped ===

Get the screenshots of Task Manager and ALL processes on the server, the objective is to assess the true issue. No need to get the screens not in use obviously but you can send a parallel screen shot for them if you want to be pedantic or even a comment will do.

==== Too few CPUs/threads for the number of users ====
In Windows task manager normally, you should see one ntvdm.exe and one waiting.exe process per NEOSYS process (application). A standard installation has three NEOSYS processes per main database and plus one per test database. This is configured in Support Menu, Configuration File.

If there are MORE ntvdm processes than you expect from the configuration file, then perhaps NEOSYS is auto starting new NEOSYS processes to try and cater for a high number of concurrent users.

If the number of concurrent NEOSYS processes significantly exceeds the number of cpus/hyperthreads available in the server then processing for everybody can become so slow for everybody and almost no work gets done.

==== Solution ====
Stop NEOSYS creating new NEOSYS processes automatically. Create a text file with the first and only line as AUTOSTART=NO in the neosys\neosys folder something like this.

notepad d:\neosys\neosys\NET.CFG

AUTOSTART=NO

== How do I troubleshoot email not received? ==

[[Troubleshooting email not received]]

== Fixing permissions errors while logging in ==

=== Problem ===

While logging in, you get the following error message:
[[Image:login_error_message.jpg]]

=== Solution ===

Add the internet guest account to the security list of the data folder with the default permission of list/read/write

Make sure the read&execute permission is removed
[[Image:permissions_on_data.jpg]]

== Fixing the 'HTTP Error 500.0 - Internal Server Error' while logging in on IE on a Windows Vista system ==

=== Problem ===
After configuring IIS on Windows Vista you will get this error message while trying to login into NEOSYS from Internet Explorer:

HTTP Error 500.0 - Internal Server Error
Description: This application is running in an application pool that uses the Integrated .NET
mode. This is the preferred mode for running ASP.NET applications on the current and future
version of IIS.

In this mode, the application using client impersonation configured with <identity
impersonate="true" /> may not behave correctly. Client impersonation is not available in early
ASP.NET request processing stages and may lead modules in those stages to execute with process
identity instead.

=== Solution ===

You can move the application to an application pool that uses the Classic .NET mode by using the following from a command line window (the window must be running as Administrator)

%systemroot%\system32\inetsrv\APPCMD.EXE set app "Default Web Site/neosys" /applicationPool:"Classic .NET AppPool"

Alternatively, you can use any other application pool on your system that is running in the Classic .NET mode. You can also use the IIS Administration tool to move this application to another application pool.

== Fixing the 'Class Not Registered' error message while logging in ==

=== Problem ===
While logging into NEOSYS, you will get a popup window giving an error message saying 'Class Not Registered - Server Error'. Typically, you will encounter this error with XP Pro IIS 5.1. As usual, there's way to solve it, however the root cause of this is still unknown.

Anyway, you will get the proper message in the event log:

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: W3SVC
Event Category: None
Event ID: 36
Description: The server failed to load application '/LM/W3SVC/1/ROOT/NEOSYS.
The error was 'Class not registered'.

=== Solution ===
So, what do you do ? This problem is related to Component Services, and when you open Component Services MMC, you will most probably get Error Code 8004E00F COM + was unable to talk to Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator. So, fix the COM+ services first by using the following KB from Microsoft (PRB: Cannot Expand "My Computer" in Component Services MMC Snap-In http://support.microsoft.com/?id=301919):

To resolve this problem, reinstall Component Services as follows: WARNING:
# Open registry editor, locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\COM3, and then delete this key.
# From the Start menu, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then click Add/Remove Programs.
# Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
# Proceed through the wizard, and accept all of the defaults (including IIS)
# Restart the computer.

If the above didn't solve it, and you still receive the 'Class not registered' error message, then you need to recreate the IIS packages in COM+, try

# Delete IIS related package in Component Services MMC
# IIS In-Process Applications
# IIS Out-of-Process Pooled Applications
# IIS Utilities

Next, if you still get the message, try following before re-install IIS if you can't find Distributed Transaction Coordinator in your Services console.

Launch command prompt and run the following command.
# msdtc -install
# net start msdtc

Then try re-install IIS.

This should solve the problem

== Enabling File Security option on Win XP Professional ==

=== Problem ===

In the Properties of any folders, the Security option does not show, hence you cannot modify the Read, Write options.

=== Solution ===

The solution would be to untick the 'Simple File Sharing' option from Tools > Folder Options > View:
[[Image:simplefilesharingoff.jpg]]

== %00%00%00%00 Errors ==

=== Error Message ===
<pre>
SYSTEM ERROR in line 162. Amount "-2698.00AED" or base "%00%00%00%00" has been wrongly generated
GET NEOSYS SUPPORT. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CORRECT MANUALLY
</pre>
=== Solution ===
%00%00%00%00 indicates an internal error that NEOSYS programmer has to fix. It is usually random and can be hard to replicate unlike almost all other NEOSYS errors which usually replicate reliably once you find the cause.

== B703 Errors ==

The B703 error is usually always related to something too big for NEOSYS to handle.

These are the only B errors that NEOSYS cant always permanently prevent by fixing the software.

== Internet Explorer Menu, View, Text Size doesnt change font size as expected ==

Cause: This is because the font size is now user definable in NEOSYS and View, Text Size does not override predefined font sizes.

Solution: If you are using Internet Explorer 7 you can scale the screen (including the font size using ctrl + and ctrl - keyboard shortcuts or the font size button on the bottom right hand side of the window.

You can adjust the font size on the User Details form when you login although this permanently applies to all forms not just the one that you are on.

== Uploaded jpg files fail to display in internet explorer ==

Some large jpg files > 2Mb cannot be viewed in internet explorer despite being viewable in image preview, ms paint and other viewers/editors. It is not an issue caused by uploading or downloading the files.

These file appear to have been created on Photoshop CS Macintosh and may be a special type of uncompressed jpg used for production quality files.

=== Partial solution ===
Before uploading the files, open them in some editor like MS Paint (right click, edit) and save them. However this results in a loss of quality. Perhaps there is some program that can convert these files to a format understandable by Internet explorer without any loss of quality.

== "This document is currently read only" ==

=== Cause ===
The user attempting to modify this document does not have the authorization key to do so.

=== Solution ===
Inform the user that he is not authorised to modify the document and give him the list of users within his company who are authorised to do so.

== "You have attempted to write to a read-only file" ==

=== Message ===

Error while writing data.
You have attempted to write to a read-only file.
- or -
access to the file has been denied by the operating system.
(operating system file name: "..\DATA\ADLINEC\ADAGENCY\REV76467.OV00012618")

=== Cause ===

It is almost certainly due to some third party backup or other maintenance software opening the NEOSYS database files when it shouldn't e.g. badly configured third party backup scheduled to backup NEOSYS while NEOSYS is still running. Note that the exact filename varies each time.

=== Solution ===

This can be a serious error that causes damaged files in NEOSYS especially if the filename ends in .OV. Use the usual methods of checking for damaged files e.g. do a backup which also looks for damaged files BUT DO NOT OVERWRITE THE LATEST BACKUP SINCE IT MAY BE REQUIRED for restoration. Then fix the damaged files using the usual methods e.g. by rebuilding/using
FIXFILE or restoring databases. For more info check [[Handling damaged files|Handling damaged files]]

=== Prevention ===

Remove the third party backup or other maintenance software or reschedule it to run at a time that NEOSYS is shutdown. Removal of software may require hunting through the windows process list for unexpected programs running.

==Troubleshooting Hung processes==

=== Investigating hung NEOSYS processes ===

To find out some information about what the hung processes are suffering from, do the following:

When no important clients working (eg first thing in the morning) then request a shutdown of all NEOSYS processes. This should will leave only the hung processes open.

Then find what NEOSYS files are open as follows:

run Sysinternal's "Process Explorer" (from Start, Programs or procexp.exe from desktop)

find, handle

d:\

submit the complete list (maybe more than one page) to support for records

[[Image:invhungprocess.jpg]]

=== [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Investigating_CPU_100.25_using_Windows_Task_Manager|Investigating CPU 100% using Windows Task Manager]] ===

===[[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Solving_server_CPU.25_is_100_and_all_users_are_extremely_slow.2Fstopped|Solving server CPU% is 100 and all users are extremely slow/stopped]] ===

=== Error message: "Fatal Error in Rev Restart"===

[[image:fatal.jpg]]

=== Error message: “Abort, Retry, Fail” ===
==== Problem ====
The following messages may come on older versions of NEOSYS if there is a problem with the USB media inserted for backup.

[[image:usberror.jpg]]

This results in “NEOSYS has not checked in” message on Nagios since it hangs during the monitoring update and locks all other processes from monitoring too.

General failure writing drive F
Abort, Retry, Fail?

Not read reading drive F
Abort, Retry, Fail?

Pressing A or F results in the problem happening again in about a minute, perhaps on a different process.

==== Solution ====
Temporary solution is to do “Safely remove hardware” from the windows notification area. Using “Eject” from My Computer will not work.

Permanent solution is to replace the defective USB memory stick. Sometime reformatting is sufficient.

Upgrading NEOSYS will probably stop the defective media from causing NEOSYS to hang but the USB will still be useless for backup.

=== Error message: "Read error in the operating system file" ===
==== Problem ====
Nagios reports a hung process and on the server a process has the following message popup.

Read error in the operating system file "..\DATA\PT0833\ACCOUNTS\REV20049
The file does not exist or the filename is
not valid for the operating system.

[[Image:readerrorintheoperatingsystemfile.png]]

==== Cause ====
Some non-NEOSYS program is directly accessing the NEOSYS database files while NEOSYS processes are running and using the files as well.

*Client IT staff using a backup program to perform backup without ensuring that NEOSYS processes are shutdown.
*A NEOSYS rsync process taking longer than expected due to new USB.

==== Solution ====
Kill the NEOSYS process eg with the X button. It is advisable NOT to let it run further while it cannot properly access one of its files.

==== Prevention ====
Remove the third party program or arrange for it to operate only while NEOSYS processes are shutdown eg from 3am-6am.

=== Error message: "Not enough string space - Out of Memory" ===

==== Message ====

‘RTP27’ Line 1. [B29] Not enough string space – Out of Memory.

Not enough memory to execute Debugger; current program aborted.
Press any key to continue

[[Image:out_of_memory.jpg]]

==== Cause ====
Unknown perhaps related to some large document or report

==== Solution ====
Ask users for any hanging transactions.
None other than closing and starting another process.

Also refer [[Troubleshooting NEOSYS Generally#Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003|Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003]]

=== Error message: B521 ===

[[Image:B521.jpg]]

Another user is currently updating indexes.
Waiting to make your updates...
If you interrupt this process,
you may have to rebuild all the indexes

B521 message is usually temporary and goes away by itself. If it does not then, as the text of the B521 message makes clear, some OTHER process is holding up the system, preventing the process with B521 message from continuing.

B521 message is a symptom of other problem so it does not itself have some one simple solution. You must find which other process or issue is causing the hold up and solve whatever problem is causing the hold up, which could be anything.

=== Error message: " NTVDM encountered a hard error " ===

The following error message appears:

[[Image:ntvdm.jpg]]

NTVDM encountered a hard error

==== Solution ====

This error is caused by missing or corrupt Windows system files (i.e. command.com, autoexec.nt and config.nt). The solution is to run a program called XP FIX which will reinstall these missing files. You can download it form http://www.visualtour.com/downloads/xp_fix.exe

Sometimes even after running the XP FIX program the error still appears. Then you need to copy all the files under C:/windows/repair to C:/windows/system32 and in the autoexec.nt and config.nt put REM before any lines there which don't have it.

====Possible fix for some NTVDM errors ====

===== Error message =====

[[Image:Ntvdm1.jpg]]

NTVDM has encountered a System error.
The system cannot find the file specified.
Choose close to terminate the application.

=====Possible solution=====

#Change the TEMP and TMP environment variables to C:\WINDOWS\TEMP. This should be for the user that runs NEOSYS processes - normally administrator.
#Close all NEOSYS processes
#Logout/Login again
#Restart NEOSYS processes

[[image:Ntvdmsoln.png]]

===== Check solution done properly =====

You can check that by typing ECHO %TEMP% and ECHO %TMP% at a console prompt after logging out and in again.

Note that windows will actually set the windows environment variables to something like C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\2 for some unknown reason.

<pre>
d:\hosts>ECHO %temp%
C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\2

d:\hosts>ECHO %tmp%
C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\2
</pre>

=== Error message: [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_the_.22Database_not_available.22_error_message|"Database not available" post login]] ===

=== Error message: [[Backup_and_Restore#Error_Message:_.22Cannot_backup.2Frestore_because_PROCESS1_PROCESS2_.28etc.29_is.2Fare_online.22_message|"Cannot backup/restore because PROCESS1 PROCESS2 (etc) is/are online"]] ===

=== How to kill hung NEOSYS processes ===

NOTE WELL: If you kill actively working NEOSYS processes (those which are "listening" and not hung/crashed) there is a reasonable chance that the database will be damaged and might need a restore losing possibly large amounts of work.

==== If NEOSYS processes are visible on the server desktop ====

Look for processes which don't have "Listening ..." on the last but one line. The times on the left hand side are frozen as at the time of the hang.

You can then click the X to kill the process and confirm that this is OK.

Example of a NEOSYS process that has hung due to a software error resulting in a failure to handle a complex query with a lot of brand codes.

[[Image:hungprocess.jpg]]

==== If NEOSYS processes are not visible on the server desktop ====

NEOSYS processes are most of the time visible on the desktop (i.e. the black dos windows) in Windows 2003 OS, except in the case that the process has been scheduled to start on computer restart and no one has logged into the server. In this case it would be running in the background. TODO

You can check if there are any hung processes from the NEOSYS Support Menu, List of Database Processes.
[[Image:databaseprocesseslist.jpg]]

In this case you should follow the below instructions - however all of them need to be done within 30 seconds of starting the first instruction to avoid inconvenience to the users. It is recommend that you keep relevant windows open before proceeding with the same:

#Shutdown NEOSYS by TEMPORARILY putting a file called GLOBAL.END in the parent directory of NEOSYS (if there is already a GLOBAL.END.TEMP file then rename it to GLOBAL.END). Leaving the file there would prevent NEOSYS from starting up again. Shutting down NEOSYS from the Support menu will not work because of the hung processes.
#Use Windows Task Manager to kill all the NTVDM processes - assuming that you have closed all the visible NEOSYS processes, then the NTVDM processes in the task manager would be the hung one.
#Delete GLOBAL.END or rename it to GLOBAL.END.TEMP
#Restart the processes back again. If there are many datasets then you need to restart them all well within the 30 seconds period.
#*Restarting a process is not noticed by users.

In case of Patsalides, where we have a thousand datasets which start "on demand" i.e. usually on login; all you need to do is start one dataset which will restart all the other datasets "on demand". If there is no response within 30 seconds then one of the running datasets will start it up so there appears to be a 30 second delay when you login to one of the thousand datasets the first time on any one day.

=== Temporary workarounds for hung NEOSYS processes ===
Until the error in the software is fixed users can often get their results by simplifying their requirements. For example select individual clients instead of selecting all the brands for a particular client. If the user has repeated his request (in forlorn hope that it would work finally) then the number of working NEOSYS processes will drop causing severe slowdown for other users and complete stop if all the NEOSYS processes hang.

== Fixing " You do not have sufficient privilege to access this file " ==

This error message may come up while NEOSYS process startup.

Solution: Close the window and look for NEOSYS processes. In case there is no process, start the NEOSYS process.

[[image:Errormsg.jpg]]

== Fixing 'NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (i.e. DOS window)'==

The NEOSYS process (cmd file) might open up in a notepad, instead of the usual black colour DOS window. This may happen if a JavaScript file is opened using a notepad. Please be very CAREFUL when accessing a .JS and .JSE file and double check that the default program remains wscript.exe. The issue can be fixed by the following:

# Check if Windows Script 5.6/5.7 is installed, IF NOT download and install it from the Microsoft Website.
# Go to Control Panel -> Default Programs -> Associate a file type or protocol with a program and then change the default program for .JS and .JSE to "Microsoft Windows Based Script Host"

== Fixing a 'Could not start' error on Scheduled Tasks in Windows Server 2000 SP4 ==

This error occurs because of a change that is made to the data that is stored in the credentials database when you install Windows 2000 SP4. Hence installing SP4 causes the the data that is stored in the credentials database to get converted to an SP4-compatible format. A registry key is configured to indicate that the data has been converted to the SP4 format.

Hence the Scheduled Tasks do not work sometimes. However the Scheduled Tasks works fine sometimes, but when you uninstall SP4, it does not work.

The best solution is to:

# Incase Scheduled Tasks do not work after installing SP4, then uninstall SP4 and it should be fine.
# Incase Scheduled Tasks works after installing SP4, and later after uninstalling SP4, it does not work, then install SP4 and it should be fine.

== Checking for server or NEOSYS crashes ==

#NEOSYS Maintenance Mode
#General Menu, Setup, Processes
#Select the dates and the option Detailed

This report shows a list of dates and times that NEOSYS logged in but did not log out properly.

Ignore the very latest entries since they represent the current NEOSYS processes. For example, if you have four NEOSYS processes running at the time that you get the report (including any in maintenance mode) then you can ignore the last four entries.

The date and time shows for each process that has failed to shutdown correctly when the process logged in. Versions of NEOSYS from January 2008 will also show the date and time that each crashed NEOSYS process was last active (heartbeat) so that the time of failure can be known.

If you see a bunch of NEOSYS processes all started up at around the same time but all failed to shutdown correctly then the cause will be a server failure - usually power failure.

Isolated one-off failures will be related to individual NEOSYS process crashes - most commonly caused by one of the following:

#NEOSYS hanging to due to software failure
#Manually exiting a NEOSYS process on the server either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del or clicking the "X" close icon/box and ignoring the warning
#Random server failures eg memory, disk etc

Example:

LOGIN 22/12/2007 06:02 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 06:00 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 06:01 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 06:02 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 08:52 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 08:52 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 23/12/2007 08:53 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 8/1/2008 06:00 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 8/1/2008 06:01 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 8/1/2008 06:02 NEOSYS SERVER ADAGENCY Current workstation
LOGIN 8/1/2008 13:51 NEOSYS SERVER NEOSYS Current user session

Interpretation:

The first four entries indicate that all four NEOSYS processes started at 06am were suddenly killed probably by power failure

The next four entries indicate that NEOSYS was restarted at around 08:52 and all these processes were AGAIN killed probably by power failure

The last four entries can be ignored because there were four NEOSYS processes running at the time that the report was generated

== Searching for word/number in the database files using maintenance mode ==

You can search for any word/number in the database files of NEOSYS, using the following command line:

F5
FIND FILENAME WORDWITHOUTANYSPACES

For eg:
FIND CURRENCIES 1.1
(here you are searching for the number 1.1 in the currencies file) You CANNOT search for a phrase ie include spaces like this.

Or you can also type:
FIND FILENAME <enter>
and it will ask you what you want do to search. You can enter an exact phrase with spaces.

Incase you do not know the filenames, you can enter the following command to see all the filenames in the system:

F5
LF

== Troubleshooting a Service Unavailable message on Internet Explorer when opening up NEOSYS ==

=== Error Message ===

The following error message appears in Internet Explorer when you try to open up NEOSYS:

Service Unavailable

=== Solution ===

Open the IIS Manager, right click Web Sites and select properties:
[[Image:serviceunavailable1.jpg]]

Switch to the Service Tab and tick the "Run WWW Service in IIS 5.0 Isolation Mode".
[[Image:serviceunavailable2.jpg]]

You will be asked for Restart of IIS. Click yes to restart IIS. If you are not asked just restart IIS.

== Inspecting IIS log files ==

At a windows command prompt:

c:
cd \Windows\system32\LogFiles\W3SVC1

or

%SystemDrive%
cd %SystemRoot%
cd system32\LogFiles\W3SVC1

then (substituting the ip number you are interested in)

find "192.168.1.55" *|sort>temp.log

Open temp.log in Excel and use Tools, Data, Text to Columns to split into columns using options "Delimited" and check split on Space.

Autowidth all columns by clicking on the top left box just outside the data to the left of column A and above column 1 then double click the column separator to the right of column "A"

Note that times and dates are in UTC/GMT so you have to add/subtract your timezone offset to get local times.

==Inspecting Database LOGS Folder==
LOGS folder in NEOSYS installation folder carries records of all changes done in the database which includes adding and removal of data.

Log file is an XML document which should be viewed in Notepad. Each XML document represents commands executed by each NEOSYS process started each day.

The NEOSYS log files e.g. 15123103.xml are created by the database processes. If the database is not available according to the website then no entry will appear in that log. The request will appear in the IIS website log but that log is nothing to do with database processes.

=== Understanding Log Entries ===
Inspecting and searching through Logs file allows NEOSYS staff to answer clients queries like "Who deleted schedule XXXX" etc.

While going through the log file you may come across a request "EXECUTE GENERAL GETTASKS NOT", this request is concerned with getting a list of tasks that the user is *not* allowed to do.

To read and understand the log file with more ease, copy the portion of the log file required to be analyzed into another text editor.

The text that appears as %FE, %FE1, %FE2, etc. are basically separators.
*First replace FE0%, FE1%, FE2%, etc. with a separator like "--". There can be occurrences of "%FE" along with some valuable information like "17290", so replacing "%FE1" in "%FE17290" would lead to loss of information.
*Then replace %FE with a bigger separator like "===".
*Replace other entries like %FCB and then %FC and so on with similar separators.
*In the end there may be few "FE" remaining, replace these with a separator like "-".
*The remaining "%" characters MUST be intelligently replaced with a separator like " " (space), because it can either be an actual "%" or it can be a residue from "%FE", "%FE1", etc.

Once replacing all these characters is done, the log file will be more easily readable and vital information will be clearer.

In the log file, you may find numbers like 17290, 17195, etc. These numbers denote dates selected or entered by the NEOSYS user. These are basically the number of days from 31st December 1967 till the date chosen by the user. For example, to convert 17290 to actual date, 31/12/1967 + 17290 = 3/5/2015. So the actual date is 3rd May 2015.

To convert these numbers to dates using maintenance mode, refer to the article [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Finding_out_when_and_by_whom_a_record_was_deleted Finding out when and by whom a record was deleted]

[[image:NEOSYS Logs.jpg]]

== Fixing NEOSYS processes that do not auto start / Recovering from incorrect advanced date or time ==
This solution is applicable to live database processes only. Test database processes don’t auto-start any other processes.

=== Problem explained ===
After starting up the 1st process, the rest of the processes don't start up.

=== Solution ===

The possible cause for this could be that the system date/time might have been changed - either manually or by the auto synchronization. Do the following checks in the sequence of order:

# Check for any *.$* files (* after dollar sign should show a number, the highest being the latest one). If it shows OK, then proceed ahead.
# Check for any .end files and delete it to rename to .end.temp
# Check the System Event Viewer log for any 520 or 577 error message (refer http://128.175.24.251/forensics/timechange.htm). Also check for any out of sequence / ahead of today date or time.
# In case of no 520 or 577 error message, go to Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > Local Policies > Audit Policy > Audit Privilege use - make sure that Success and Failure are selected under this (this will ensure that future changes to the date/time are recorded in the System Log).
# In NEOSYS maintenance mode - F5 ED PROCESSES %UPDATE% - and see what it says, incase of any text (only text, not numbers) there, that means that for sure the system date has been changed. To fix this, exit the editor by pressing the ESCAPE key and then type DELETE PROCESSES "%UPDATE%"

== Fixing NEOSYS maintenance mode not starting up ==

Problem :- While trying to start maintenance mode, the maintenance window closes automatically within a split second.

Solution :- Delete the read-only file REVBOOT file (under d:/neosys/neosys folder). REVBOOT file is recreated when you start maintenance mode.

== Recognising and Solving Low Memory Problems ==

Quick Note: Installing a server class operating system on a workstation class computer with the intention of NEOSYS serving a heavy load is likely to cause problems with low memory.

Quick Fix: Disable *ALL* non-essential features in the power-on setup menu.

=== Effects ===

It is speculated but not proven that low memory may cause NEOSYS to fail by hanging, causing damaged files etc.

=== Checking ===

F5
MEMORY

On server class machines it should say somewhere around 350Kb to 370Kb Free

Some server class machines have around 330Kb and sometimes even less with no reported problems

The actual effect of low memory is supposed to make NEOSYS slower and perhaps cause hanging and damaged files however this has not been proven in an specific case so far.

On workstation class machines it may often say around 280Kb to 300Kb.

=== Cause ===

Although there is plenty of real memory in virtually all computers now, NEOSYS runs in the legacy 16 bit virtual memory space of a windows mode called NTVDM. This is limited to 1Mb plus 4Mb of EMS memory.

The 1Mb memory space is shared with:

#Various non-essential windows drivers which NEOSYS automatically disables them in autoexec.nt
#Various plug and play hardware device drivers for the various adapters in the computer like video, network adapters and various other items that NEOSYS is unable to disable.

In a server class computer the hardware device drivers are usually minimally present in the 1Mb base memory and do not therefore DOESNT a low memory situation for NEOSYS.

In workstation class computers there are often many hardware device drivers present in the 1Mb base memory and this DOES causes a low memory situation for NEOSYS.

When NEOSYS is installed on workstation class computers with XP there is usually not a heavy load expectation and therefore the low memory does not cause a problem.

If Windows Server OS is installed on a workstation class computer NEOSYS may well be expected to serve a heavy load with limited amounts of memory.

Workstation class computers: hardware drivers present and EMS is installed in low memory (0000-9FFF) causing low memory for NEOSYS and possible inability to

Server class computers: Usually few hardware drivers are present in high part (A000-FFFF) of the 1Mb base memory and EMS is able to occupy the high memory leaving the low part (0000-9FFFF) of the 1Mb memory free for NEOSYS. You can find out how much memory is available to NEOSYS and whether EMS is occuping high or low memory using the following sections.

=== Fixing Low Memory ===

Start, Run, notepad c:\windows\system32\autoexec.nt

Every time NEOSYS starts it tries to make some changes as follow:

#replaces all lines in C:/WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/AUTOEXEC.NT starting with 'lh ' to start with 'rem NEOSYS LH ' instead.
#changes the line in C:/WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/CONFIG.NT "files=..." to "FILES=200"

The replacement is case sensitive triggered on 'lh' and 'files' so if you manually edit the files and remove the rem or change the number of files and leave the LH and FILES in uppercase then NEOSYS will NOT make further changes. This allows you to do manual amendments to the files without NEOSYS overwriting them.

Check that NEOSYS has successfully disabled all the drivers in the lines starting with LH.

They should be commented out (prefixed) with REM or REM NEOSYS as follows.

After making changes reopen NEOSYS in maintenance mode to use the MEMORY and WHO commands again.

<pre>
REM Install CD ROM extensions
REM NEOSYS LH %SystemRoot%\system32\mscdexnt.exe

REM Install network redirector (load before dosx.exe)
REM NEOSYS LH %SystemRoot%\system32\redir

REM Install DPMI support
REM NEOSYS LH %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\DOSX
</pre>

Low Memory Issues in Windows 2003 server can be fixed using instructions mentioned at [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Enabling_EMS_memory_on_Window_2003 Fixing Low Memory in Windows 2003 Server]

=== Allowing DOS programs that require DOSX to run on the same computer as NEOSYS ===

The automatic commenting out DOSX by NEOSYS will prevent some other DOS-like programs from running. If NEOSYS is on dedicated server then there should be no other such programs to fail. However, if you must allow DOS-like programs to work as well as NEOSYS you can do the following configuration:

#leave or restore the original AUTOEXEC.NT and CONFIG.NT files where they are
#copy them to another folder eg neosys folder
#make the necessary REM changes there by hand
#right click the NEOSYS\NEOSYS\AREV.PIF and select properties
#change the location of the AUTOEXEC.NT and CONFIG.NT files in the following location

[[image:pifsettings.jpg]]

=== Checking EMS Memory Configuration ===

==== Inspection ====

F5
WHO

press the up arrow to get to the last part/page

===== Example of Typical Server EMS Memory =====
[[image:serveremm.jpg]]

===== Example of Typical Workstation EMS Memory =====
[[image:workstationemm.jpg]]

====Correction====

No easy way

Removal of hardware adapters designed for workstations instead of servers eg graphics cards and network cards.

Many of the devices may be located on the motherboard and not relocatable except possibly by BIOS configuration or special manufacturer information.

Use windows device manager, View: Resources by Connection, Open the Memory item and look for items between 000A0000 up to 000FFFFF that might give you a clue as to what hardware could be removed or reconfigured. Actually only 000C0000 to 000FFFFF is candidate for EMS memory since 000A000-000BFFFF is mandatory video memory in all systems.

[[image:devicemanager.jpg]]

== Fixing issue where NEOSYS processes do not start-up at all or start-up and close immediately ==

# Find if a file with the name global.end exists in the root directory of the NEOSYS installation. Eg D:\global.end . If you find such a file, rename it to global.end.temp - for more information on global.end and what it does refer to [[Administering_NEOSYS_Server#Closing_NEOSYS_Services|Closing NEOSYS Services]]
# If the above didn't fix the problem and NEOSYS still does not start, do a windows search for the entire NEOSYS folder for *.end (i.e. any file ending with .end extension). You may find a (databasecode).end file in D:\neosys\neosys folder which is created by the NEOSYS program during backup at 1 am and later on removed automatically. In this case NEOSYS program might have crashed during the backup and left this file behind. (databasecode).end files prevent other other NEOSYS processes starting up on the database while exclusive processes (like backup) are being done.

In case the above didn't fix the problem then escalate to the programmer immediately.

=== Solving "Control Record" error in maintenance mode ===

If processes dont start after you log into maintenance mode and you get an error message
<pre>
╔════[FS152]═══════════════════════════════════════╗
║ The control record "RECORDS" ║
║ is too long to be saved. ║
║ The current record length is 65539 characters. ║
║ ║
║ < Press any key > ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
</pre>
[[File:Record1.jpg]]

'''1'''. Press space to get rid of the error message and you should then get this menu

[[File:Record2.jpg]]

'''2'''. Press F5 and run this command (case sensitive)

DICT DEFINITIONS

or Press Alt+S and run this command (case sensitive)

EXECUTE DICT DEFINITIONS

[[File:Record3.jpg]]

'''3'''. Press Shift+F3 to get the following message
<pre>
╔══[B202]══════════════════════════════════╗
║ "DEFINITIONS" has ║
║ "QUICKDEX" installed ║
║ ║
║ Do you want to remove "QUICKDEX"? [Y/N] ║
║ ║
║ <Y >║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════╝
</pre>

Do you want to remove "QUICKDEX"? [Y/N]

'''4'''. Press Enter to choose Yes.

[[File:Record4.jpg]]

'''5.'''Restart NEOSYS to see if the problem has been solved

== Solving “page not found” or "HTTP Error 404.3 - Not Found" when downloading some file types after uploading them successfully ==

A user gets this error message when trying to download a file that has been uploaded into NEOSYS.

Windows web server will not download file types that it is unaware of. You can enable the download of new file types.

===Adding Mime Types in Windows Sever 2003===

==== One by One ====

Follow below steps to enable the download of new file types one by one.

This process is tedious and error-prone if you have to add many types.

#Computer Management
#Services and Applications
#IIS properties
#Mime Types
#Add

==== Many ====

Window Server 2003 is unaware of all the Office 2007+ file types. To add all Office 2007+ file types at once do the following:

Stop IIS

iisreset /stop

Open the list of mime types

*Start, Run, notepad C:\WINDOWS\system32\inetsrv\MetaBase.xml

Search the file for “xlsx” and quit the editor if already inserted.

Otherwise, find the following line,

.xml,text/xml

and insert after that line the following lines. They do not need to be indented.

<pre>
.docm,application/vnd.ms-word.document.macroEnabled.12
.docx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
.dotm,application/vnd.ms-word.template.macroEnabled.12
.dotx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.template
.potm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.template.macroEnabled.12
.potx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.template
.ppam,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.addin.macroEnabled.12
.ppsm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.slideshow.macroEnabled.12
.ppsx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.slideshow
.pptm,application/vnd.ms-powerpoint.presentation.macroEnabled.12
.pptx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation
.xlam,application/vnd.ms-excel.addin.macroEnabled.12
.xlsb,application/vnd.ms-excel.sheet.binary.macroEnabled.12
.xlsm,application/vnd.ms-excel.sheet.macroEnabled.12
.xlsx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
.xltm,application/vnd.ms-excel.template.macroEnabled.12
.xltx,application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.template
</pre>

Save the file with File and Exit

Restart IIS

=== Adding Mime Types in Windows Server 2008===

"The page you are requesting cannot be served because of the extension configuration. If the page is a script, add a handler. If the file should be downloaded, add a MIME map."

[[file:mime2008.jpg]]

This message shows when a user attempts to download a file that has been uploaded into NEOSYS and the file extension is not configured in IIS server Mime Maps

Solution:

Add mime mappings in IIS. Use the GUI or the servers command line.
The exact solution depends on the file type. Example for .msg files:

C:\windows\System32\inetsrv\appcmd set config /section:staticContent /+"[fileExtension='.msg',mimeType='application/vnd.ms-outlook']"

The bit that varies in the above example is:

*.msg

*application/vnd.ms-outlook

Other mime types can be found on the web eg https://www.thoughtco.com/file-extensions-and-mime-types-3469109

Getting the 2nd part right enables the user to have the downloaded file open automatically in the right application for the file extension, but only if they have the right application installed.

== Handling Neosys Automatic Upgrade Error Messages ==

=== Error Message ===
We will receive an email from the NEOSYS client installation with the following message:

'''"UPGRADEN.EXE" does not have expected exe MZ signature'''

=== Solution ===
This message is a note that the NEOSYS automatic update procedure failed to download an upgrade file correctly.
This happens sometimes due to network issues but can be ignored because the file will be probably be correctly downloaded on the next automatic update check.

'''Note:''' This message is only informative to help with any problem with the automatic upgrade procedure and may be removed in a later version of neosys (currently Oct 2012)

== Testing https connection ==

The following procedure tests that the https server is operational and not blocked by firewall etc. It does not detect certificate errors.

From a windows command prompt use the following telnet command:
<pre>
telnet clientname.hosts.neosys.com 4430
</pre>
#4430 is the usual NEOSYS http port but replace it by whatever port is actually used for NEOSYS https on the system being tested. If there are multiple https installations on a particular server then different ports are probably used
#Replace clientname.hosts.neosys.com with the normal https login domain name of the client for whom we want to check the https service

Normal behavior is that it should open a black screen. Pressing Enter or any key returns the _ character. (Close the window using the [X] since there is no keyboard command to do so)

Hanging means that there is some connectivity issue (firewall/ip/server not running/https not installed etc)

== Troubleshooting "page not found" error while using https ==

'''Problem:'''

#The https service stops working and gives "Page not found" error.
#The https connection tests fine using telnet (see article above)

'''Solution:'''

#Reinstall https using the usual procedure (currently using selfssl)
#Email clients, requesting to reinstall the new security certificate by following the instructions for [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_and_Configuring_NEOSYS_Generally#Fixing_HTTPS_certificate_error_when_logging_in_from_an_external_link_using_IE8.2C_IE9_and_IE10 Internet Explorer] or [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Configuring_Safari_for_MAC_OS#Fixing_HTTPS_certificate_error_when_logging_in_using_an_external_link_using_MAC_Operating_System Safari] browser.

== Installing "QUICKDEX" on some files ==
"Quickdex" is a type of index that keeps an alphabetical order on small files. In some maintenance procedures you may be asked to "install Quickdex".

For example to add a quickdex to the UNITS file.

Maintenance mode press F5

DICT UNITS

<pre>
г=================Dictionary=================┐
│ │
│ File name UNITS │
│ Field name ......................... │
│ │
│ Dict type │
│ Single/Multi │
│ Data type │
│ Output format │
│ Validation patterns │
│ │
│ Position Key part │
│ │
│ Column heading │
│ │
│ │
│ Justification Display length │
│ Description │
│ │
│ │
L============================================-
</pre>

Press Shift+F3.

If it says "Do you want to remove ..." then Quickdex has already been installed and you should not continue. Press Esc to cancel, then Esc to quit.

<pre>
г=[B202]==================================┐
│ │
│ "UNITS" has │
│ "QUICKDEX" installed. │
│ │
│ Do you want to remove "QUICKDEX"? [Y/N] │
│ │
│<Y >│
L=========================================-
</pre>

Otherwise it should say "Do you want to install ...". Press Enter to accept.

<pre>
г=[W963]============================┐
│ │
│ Do you want to install a │
│ Quickdex or Rightdex index? [Q/R] │
│ │
│<Q >│
L===================================-
</pre>

It should then say "Do you want to update ...". Press Enter to accept.

<pre>
г=[W901]========================================┐
│ │
│ The "UNITS" file has had │
│ the "QUICKDEX" modifying filing system added. │
│ There are 0 records in "UNITS". │
│ │
│ Do you want to update "QUICKDEX"? [Y/N] │
│ │
│<Y >│
L===============================================-
</pre>

Afterwards it should return to the initial screen. Press Esc to quit.

== Solving NEOSYS smtp server failure ==
In case the neosys smtp server fails then we can just use the client's smtp server.

The following information is required from the client's smtp server configuration:
#hostname
#username
#password
#port no. (most likely = 25)

These details should be entered in the '''System Configuration File''':

[[image:SYSCFGFILE-SMTP.jpg]]

== Strange characters in maintenance mode ==
While in Maintenance mode, pressing keys on keyboard gives strange characters. Even Enter and Esc don’t work.

This problem has been seen using RDP on:
*Window Server 2003 Web Edition
*Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2

[[image:strangecharmaint.jpg]]

Solution:
#Go to Windows -> control panel
#Go to Regional and Language Options
#Click on Languages tab then click on Details [[image:lang1.jpg]] 
#Click on Settings Tab and Change default input language to English (United States) (or perhaps something else depending on rdp keyboard) [[image:lang2.jpg]] 

== NEOSYS processes do not start after Windows Update ==

===Problem===
Scheduled Task to start the NEOSYS processes fail on Servers with Windows 2008 after Windows update. Support will have to log into the server to start the processes manually
Message on the Schedule Task displays " The operation being requested was not performed because the user has not logged on to the network. The specified service does not exit ".

[[image:sti.jpg]]

===Solution===

For clients who cannot tolerate manual intervention after server reboots for any reason (e.g.need to start work before NEOSYS support is available or on NEOSYS support weekends), tick "highest privileges" and "run whether the user is logged in or not". This approach means that NEOSYS processes which are started by the windows scheduled task are not visible on the desktop and run hidden in the background and only listed in task manager, so avoid this approach on small clients (only few users). Avoiding this approach will also serve to act as an indicator of server restarts.

== Troubleshooting NEOSYS remote support port forwarding ==
This assumes that you have already “port forwarded” tcp port 19580 from your public internet router to the NEOSYS server.

=== Tst 0 - Check if SSH is working on the NEOSYS Server ===
Type in the following command in command prompt:
telnet 127.0.0.1 19580

IF ALL OK you will see the following:

[[image:tr-pf-03.jpg]]

=== Test 1 - Check if SSH is basically working on NEOSYS server over the LAN ===
You must know and use the NEOSYS SERVER LAN IP to do this.

telnet ???.???.???.??? 19580

[[image:tr-pf-01.jpg]]

If you have the WRONG SERVER LAN IP or NEOSYS server SSH is NOT working then it will hang for about 15 seconds and then say “Could not open connection to host …”

[[image:tr-pf-02.jpg]]

OR IF ALL OK you will see the following:

[[image:tr-pf-03.jpg]]

Press Enter to Exit

[[image:tr-pf-04.jpg]]

=== Test 2 - Check if can connect to the NEOSYS ssh from OUTSIDE the office ===
From any internet connected computer OUTSIDE the office test if you can connect to NEOSYS ssh service. You cannot do this test from inside the office.

You need to know the public ip or domain name of the router. If the router IP is dynamic then NEOSYS sets up dynamic name server so instead of a static ip number you will have a domain name something like clientxyz.redirectme.net.

Enter the command .. using YOUR public internet IP number (NOT the LAN ip number) or the dynamic domain name.

[[image:tr-pf-05.jpg]]

If everything is working OK you will get a black screen as follows. You will NOT get the “SSH-2.0-OpenSSH-4.7” banner” because NEOSYS ssh remote support is restricted to connect ONLY from LAN ip nos and NEOSYS office ip nos.

[[image:tr-pf-06.jpg]]

If you press Enter a few times then the cursor will just go down. You have click the [X] to close the window.

[[image:tr-pf-07.jpg]]

=== Test 3 - Check that the ssh connection from step 2 was rejected ===
On the NEOSYS server, check the Windows Application log to verify that an SSH connection was rejected.

The rejected ip number will be of the system outside the office that you performed the test from.

[[image:tr-pf-08.jpg]]

=== Sample Email: Solving port 19580 port forwarding issues ===

Some IT people know how to troubleshoot port forwarding issues but others are mostly just power users who can configure a home router. If the IT person is in the second category then it is quicker for NEOSYS support to offer to configure their router from the NEOSYS server using Teamviewer. Ideally NEOSYS should not be doing client IT work but if client IT allows NEOSYS access to their router then NEOSYS support can make a brief attempt to do the configuration. If the issue is still unresolved then request the client to get a professional IT network expert to do the job and inform them that NEOSYS will not be able to provide them any support till connectivity is fixed. Below is a letter advising a more skilled person to check connections using telnet which is a low level test.

You can usually determine the NEOSYS server LAN IP number from Nagios. If so then adjust the email text appropriately.
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

It is highly critical to fix the connectivity with the NEOSYS server because NEOSYS will not be able to provide any support until connectivity is fixed. User support issues will be delayed and remain unresolved if you do not fix this issue URGENTLY.

At the moment there is no connection from the internet via your router to the NEOSYS server and when we do the following, we get no connection.

telnet CLIENTNAME.hosts.neosys.com 19580

Normally it should connect and presents a black screen (saying SSH something after pressing Enter) which we close.

Please check that you can connect to the NEOSYS server internally by using the NEOSYS server IP address in the following command on any computer in your LAN.

telnet 192.168.?.? 19580

If you can connect to the NEOSYS server internally then please check port forwarding.

Additionally check the following:
1. Has your router IP changed? The IP we have is x.x.x.x
2. Has your server’s LAN IP changed and are you forwarding to the correct LAN IP?
3. Is the configuration really correct?
4. Check router logs for clues
5. Check NAT settings in the router

If you still cannot see the problem, do "telnet CLIENTNAME.hosts.neosys.com 19580" command from OUTSIDE your network to replicate the problem we are facing.

For troubleshooting steps refer Troubleshooting NEOSYS remote support
http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_remote_support_port_forwarding

If the problem still persists, please get a professional IT network expert to fix the issue.

Best Regards,

</pre>

=== Port mapping restricted by Source IP ===

On NEOSYS router, port forwarding has been setup only for specific source IP addresses. This means you will not be able to establish a TCP connection to NEOSYS server unless your server's outbound IP is mapped to the NEOSYS router. In other words unless the outbound i.e source IP/port of your server has been granted access on the NEOSYS router for all incoming connections you will not be able to make connections to NEOSYS server.

Outbound IP is used whenever a server tries to make a connection to another server outside its network. On the other hand a server receives all incoming connections using it's Inbound IP.

Therefore to setup ssh connection from a new Client server to NEOSYS server we need to grant access to its outbound IP on the NEOSYS router. See [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#If_Telnet_does_not_work | link]] to find the outbound server IP/ports of the server.

== Solving “Cant login … INVALID DATA PATH … permission denied” ==
=== Error Message ===

[[image:error-invalid-data-path-1.jpg]]

'''Error Text:'''

Cannot login because:
ERROR: INVALID DATA PATH
“D:\HOSTS\HOSTNAME\DATA\HOSTNAME\~8746345.1$” Permission Denied

=== Problem Explained ===
When installing NEOSYS on an existing “non-clean” Windows installation, the standard NEOSYS installation procedure can result in failure to login if the standard windows folder permissions have been modified.

=== Solution ===
The solution is to grant IIS permission to write in the \neosys\DATA folder and subfolders as follows:
#First add the IUSR_XXXXXXX user to the list of users. (XXXXXXXX is the server name and therefore varies per server) as follows:
#*Right Click on DATA Folder and click on Properties
#*Click on Security Tab -> Add -> Advanced
#*Click on Find Now, Select the IUSR_XXXXXXX user and Click on OK [[image:error-invalid-data-path-2.jpg]] [[image:error-invalid-data-path-3.jpg]] 
#Second, for the newly added IUSR (IIS user) change the permissions as follows:
#*'''REMOVE''' the read and execute permission (for security, IIS should be unable to execute things that it might have uploaded)
#*'''ADD''' the write permission [[image:error-invalid-data-path-4.jpg]] 
#Login should now be possible.

== NEOSYS process window displays message "Upgrade Downloading" ==

[[image:upgradedownloading.jpg]]

=== Problem Explained ===
NEOSYS thinks it sees an new neosys2.exe upgrade file on the location http://www.neosys.com/support/neosys2.exe which is accessed by http so attempts to download it.

Http proxies and various internet issues can cause incorrect info to be sent and there is actually no upgrade available. In this case, eventually it realizes that it cant find an appropriate and it stops.

You don’t have to worry about this case.

==Enabling EMS memory on Window 2003 ==

Normally EMS memory is provided by Windows 2003 but this can vary depending on the server hardware/bios configuration

If you get the following messages on Windows 2003

#Backup File Size is 0
#RTP27. [B28] Not enough String Space – Out of Memory

=== Cause ===

On servers that had no problem previously, the problem is caused by a windows update in Oct 2012 that disables standard Windows EMS memory.

The patch is issued by Microsoft on 9 Oct 2012 but the installation date in the server depends on when the update was actually installed.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2724197

=== Solution 1 - maximum performance ===

To re-enable standard windows EMS on older slower servers or servers where NEOSYS performance must be maximized.

The following link contains instructions how to remove the offending windows update

It also shows how to prevent it being reinstalled automatically by Windows.

http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/emsxp.html

Don't forget to prevent it being reinstalled again automatically

=== Solution 2 – ease of installation ===

This option can also be used if Window 2003 is unable to provide EMS memory for example when the server hardware/bios configuration prevents it.

Install EMSMAGIC in the same way as for Windows server 2008

EMSMAGIC has higher memory consumption and makes NEOSYS processes slower so it is better to use Solution 1 above if NEOSYS performance is an issue.

== Fixing no output file in XXX YYY Issue ==

===Error Message===

[[File:Nooutputfile.jpg]]

===Problem Explained===

The message “No output file in XXX YYY” can appear at several instances in NEOSYS, most often when generating reports or documents.

This problem is usually caused by software error and it indicates that the NEOSYS server responded without any output and without any message.

===Solution===
1) Find proof to check if the data required for the report actually exists. This way we can eliminate lack of data as a cause for this error.

2) Check to see if a similar issue has been fixed in latest version of NEOSYS.

3) Document HOW and WHERE the problem can be duplicated by NEOSYS programmers to identify and correct the software.

An example of this error can be found at [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Media_System#Error:_No_output_file_in_MEDIAPROXY_SCHEDULEPRINT|No Output File in MEDIAPROXY SCHEDULEPRINT]]

== Troubleshooting Internet Connections ==

===Cannot Connect===

While investigating as to why users are not able to access NEOSYS or http://www.neosys.com/ , you can check which ISP the connection issue is on.

<pre>whois ipno</pre>

Inspect very carefully to get clues as to which ISP and which AREA of the ISP the problematic ip numbers are and which do NOT have problems

Doing tracert on windows command prompt on the user's computer may help locate which point on the route between the user and the server is blocking access

tracert xxxx.hosts.neosys.com

where "xxxx" is the client name. In this example, the output will be something like shown below:

<pre>Tracing route to xxxx.hosts.neosys.com [37.48.81.101]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 2 ms 1 ms 3 ms ukr.sb.com [192.168.2.1]
2 10 ms 10 ms 11 ms losubs.subs.bng2.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.21]
3 12 ms 10 ms 67 ms ae1-182.cr1.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.86.80]
4 10 ms 11 ms 11 ms ae0-0.br2.th-lon.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.42]
5 13 ms 14 ms 14 ms peering.thn.lon.leaseweb.net [195.66.225.56]
6 23 ms 23 ms 24 ms te-0-10-0-19.bb01.ams-01.leaseweb.net [31.31.32.71]
7 22 ms 22 ms 23 ms xe-11-2-3.br01.ams-01.nl.leaseweb.net [31.31.38.89]
8 25 ms 28 ms 26 ms be-10.cr02.ams-01.nl.leaseweb.net [81.17.34.21]
9 24 ms 20 ms 25 ms po-1002.ce02.ams-01.nl.leaseweb.net [37.48.95.195]
10 24 ms 22 ms 22 ms nl10r.neosys.com [37.48.81.101]</pre>

=== Troubleshooting TCP/IP Connections ===

====Telnet check====
<pre> telnet <hostname> 19580 </pre>

====If Telnet does not work====
In case telnet does not work, login to the remote host server to investigate the issue. Run the following command simultaneously while doing Telnet from client server to the remote host to check if the TCP packets are reaching the Remote server.
<pre>
tcpdump -v 'src host client-domain-name/ip'
tcpdump -v portno
</pre>

To check if packets are sent from the client server to the remote host, you can run the following command simultaneously while trying to ssh to the remote server.
<pre>netstat -an </pre>

You can also check if the outbound ports are open from which you are trying to establish the TCP connection to the remote server.
<pre>telnet portquiz.net portno </pre>

The outbound IP addresses at times can be different from the public IP of the Client server so be sure that the public IP of the client server is the same as its source IP (which represents an incoming connection from Client to Remote server). One way to find the source IP of the Client server is sending an email from Client server to "support@neosys.com". On receiving the email in Thunderbird, select the email and press Ctrl+u. A new window Opens giving full details of the email received. The third "Received :from" gives the IP of the source.

=== Troubleshooting DNS failure ===

NEOSYS clients routers are usually configured to use their ISP DNS service and the ISP DNS service is supposed to contact one of NEOSYS's DNS servers to convert server names like hosts.neosys.com into IP numbers. Misconfiguration of clients routers or problems in the ISP DNS server may cause CANNOT CONNECT problems. Often the connect fails quickly and immediately since if a name cannot be converted to an ip number then the connection cannot even be attempted and therefore there is little or no timeout to wait through.

NEOSYS.COM name servers are listed publically and obtained by whois command.

whois neosys.com

Name Server: DNS1.EASYDNS.COM
Name Server: DNS2.EASYDNS.NET
Name Server: DNS3.EASYDNS.ORG
Name Server: NS12.ZONEEDIT.COM
Name Server: NS18.ZONEEDIT.COM

In order to contact NEOSYS DNS servers the ISP's have to use a global DNS to obtain the ip addresses of NEOSYS DNS servers given the host names of NEOSYS DNS servers given in the whois info

Here is an example of DU testing NEOSYS DNS servers. The NEOSYS DNS server ip addresses are listed in the Destination column.

[[File:internet.png]]

If one DNS server is down or unreachable REGARDLESS OF REASON, the ISP is supposed to use the other DNS servers. It is impossible for all NEOSYS DNS servers to be unreachable except in gross disconnection from the internet of the ISP since it is effectively impossible that all NEOSYS DNS servers which are carefully spread around the internet, to be unreachable.

In the above test one of the NEOSYS DNS servers is unreachable but all the others are reachable therefore DU should have no problem providing DNS service to its clients.

ISP are often worse at providing DNS server than the famous GOOGLE DNS servers, so re configuring client router to use GOOGLE DNS servers is a way to prove that the problem lies with the ISP's DNS service

=== Additional test for troubleshooting problems with uploading ===

====Verifying that upload.dll can run====

This isnt a complete test of everything. It just checks if the upload program can be run by the web server. It doesnt check if uploads work or the image directory is correctly configured with the right permissions and uploads can actually be done.

===== Error Message =====

... to be added when discovered ...

===== Test =====

Test HTTP if accessible by LAN; Test HTTPS is accessible by Internet; Test both if both are available.

On the server type the following into a browser

LAN/HTTP:

http://localhost/neosys/neosys/dll/upload.dll

WAN/HTTPS:

https://localhost:9999/neosys/dll/upload.dll

===== Expected Result =====

<pre>
Upload Error. !
Please call me from a form !!!
The first param must be Filename= name of the uploaded file, TYPE=TEXT
The second param must be Filedata= uploaded file, TYPE=FILE
The third param is optional PathData= path to uploaded file, default c:\temp\, TYPE=HIDDEN
The forth param is optional RedirectPage= name of asp who receive the results, TYPE=HIDDEN
Add others params at the end with INPUT tag.
</pre>

[[image:Uerror.jpg]]

== Patching a NEOSYS program ==

The patch provided will tell you the program name and contain either a whole replacement program text or just some changed lines which you will have to find and edit.

You will need to know the file name which may be provided along with the patch or you can find it using the following code in maintenance mode:

ED VOC programname

ED VOC XYZ tells you what program name is executed and from what file, when you type the command XYZ. Normally the program name is the same as the command.

The file name will normally be BP for agency programs, GBP for general programs or ABP for finance programs.

NEOSYS programs are stored in files just like records of ordinary database files. You can edit either with "ED filename programname" or "TED filename programname". TED is better for editing source code as it opens the the code in a text editor, whereas ED opens the code in the same maintenance window.

===Installing patch in live database===

In the rare case that the programmer asks Support to install the patch directly on LIVE dataset, start by typing the following command in maintenance mode before commencing:

UTIL

Follow the instructions mentioned in the [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Installing_patch_in_test_database| next section]], but skip the instruction to TEST the patched program in test dataset.

The instruction to INSTALL the patched program MUST be followed BEFORE testing the patch in live dataset. Otherwise the changes will not get reflected.

===Installing patch in test database===

1. EDIT the program source code.

TED programname

If you have to edit or patch a program that starts with the word DICT. and the remainder of the program name is the same as a real file name e.g DICT.INVOICES, then you cannot omit and must type the actual source file name - in this case, "BP".

Otherwise, if you just type "ED DICT.INVOICES" hoping to edit the DICT.INVOICES program in the BP file, then you will end up editing the dictionary of INVOICES, which is not what you are trying to do. Use the command below to edit such type of programs:

ED BP DICT.INVOICES

Next either cut and paste to modify the whole program or edit the program text according to the patch/instructions provided.

Save and close the program source code.

2. COMPILE it. If you get errors then check your edits are correct and recompile otherwise return the patch to programming.

COMPILE filename programname

3. TEST it. Ensure the patched program now works in TEST database.

4. INSTALL the patched program in the LIVE database by typing one of the following command depending on the filename that you patched.

COPYGBP programname
COPYABP programname
COPYBP programname

== Patching NEOSYS dictionaries ==

A patch to a dictionary applies immediately when you save it and to all datasets regardless of which dataset you work in.

You need:

#the file name eg INVOICES
#the item name (column name) eg DATETIME_AMENDED
#10 lines of data similar to the example below.
#if the item is an S type dictionary, then either the whole, or only the amended part, of the source code of the dictionary.

ED DICT INVOICES DATETIME_AMENDED

TYPE everything below exactly on the corresponding line numbers except lines 3 and very commonly line 8, as these lines may contain multiple values separated by a superscript 2 (²). Line numbers in the below screen are only for illustrative purpose.

<pre>
╔═══════════════════════════┤DATETIME_AMENDED├═════════════════════════╗
1║S ║
2║ ║
3║DateTime²Amended ║
4║S ║
5║ ║
6║ ║
7║[DATETIME] ║
8║updated=@record<28>²created=@record<31,1>²@ans=''²if created and num(c║..actually this line continues off the screen to the right
9║R ║
10║10 ║
11║ ║
: :
: :
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
</pre>

Press Ctrl+E on lines 3 or 8 in order to enter sub-lines.

The multiple values (on line 3 and 8) separated by a superscript 2 (²) automatically appear when sub-lines are entered.

For line 8, you will need to cut and paste the lines of below program to the Ctrl+E screen:

<pre>
╔═════════════════════════┤Field 8 of DATETIME_AMENDED├════════════════════════╗
║updated=@record<28> ║
║created=@record<31,1> ║
║@ans='' ║
║if created and num(created) and num(updated) then ║
║ createdsecs=field(created,'.',1)*86400+field(created,'.',2) ║
║ updatedsecs=field(updated,'.',1)*86400+field(updated,'.',2) ║
║ if abs(updatedsecs-createdsecs)>120 then ║
║ @ans=updated ║
║ end ║
║ end ║
║ ║
║ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
</pre>

After you save and exit the Ctrl+E screen, you will see the sublines separated by superscript 2 appear in one line in the ED screen.

Similarly, for line 3, you need to enter its sub-lines in Ctrl+E screen.

To ensure indenting remains nice (although indenting is not important and can be messed up without causing any problem) then copy the double bars at the front of the lines (if available, otherwise insert some char in position 1 of each line perhaps) and then remove them after you paste ... or just edit until the indenting is correct if you really want to.

Press F9 and/or Esc to save and/or exit from Ctrl+E screen

Press F9 and/or Esc to save and/or exit from ED

== Searching for strings in files using grep ==

Use the grep command in Cygwin terminal to search files especially when you are investigating the NEOSYS Logs.

Use the following command to search for a string in any file or directory

grep string path/file

grep -i -a string path/file (use -i to ignore upper/lower case characters in the string and -a to treat the file type=text and display the matching text)

where "string" is the text to be searched, "file" is the type of file you are looking for and "path" is the path of the directory you are looking into. Use "" when having spaces in your string.

e.g when searching in NEOSYS logs the year/month/date is specified in the file name, so if you are looking for a file in year 2016 in the month of Feb, use

grep XXXX path/1602*

In the above command *(asterisk) is a wildcard used to search all files whose file names with "1602".

Sample below of grep command and its output where it is searching for "Dior" in 2016 march logs.
$ grep -i Dior /cygdrive/d/hosts/test/logs/test/2016/1603*
Binary file path/16030301.XML matches

Using *(asterisk), a string can also be searched globally across all installations on the server.

Below example will search all files whose file names begin with "NEOS00", in all client installation folders inside the "hosts" folder, for log entries containing text "5th June 2016".
$ grep -a "2016 JUN 05" /cygdrive/d/hosts/*/logs/NEOS00*|less

Use the commands below to display the search string and required number of lines that come either after or before the search string, depending on what you enter in your command. It helps to get more information from files especially when you only know few words and the other information around the searched string also gets displayed.

grep -A NUM string file (NUM lines after the searched text get displayed)

grep -B NUM string file (NUM lines before the searched text get displayed)

See the examples and their respective outputs below, (Note: there is no space between -A and NUM):

$ grep -A2 -i "Dior" 1603*
Binary file 16022101.XML matches
Binary file 16022901.XML matches

$ grep -A2 -a "Dior" 1603*
16030301.XML:<DataOut>DIOR%FEPOI%FE'''Dior''' Poison%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEDubai, UAE%FE%FE%FE%FEN%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEN%FE%FE%FE17584.43592%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE1%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FENEOSYS%FE17584.43592%FE94_200_49_146%FE1%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEpaulson</DataOut></Message>
--
16030301.XML:<DataOut>DIOR%FEPOI%FE'''Dior''' Poison%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEDubai, UAE%FE%FE%FE%FEN%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEN%FE%FE%FE17584.43592%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE1%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FENEOSYS%FE17584.43592%FE94_200_49_146%FE1%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FE%FEpaulson</DataOut></Message>

Some more examples of grep below:

Use the command below when searching for more than one string 
grep -a string1 *|grep string2

Use the below command to omit the lines containing specific strings in your search:
grep -B2 -a Processing 160329*|grep -v DataIn|grep -v Message|less 
where user wants the output to show lines containing string "Processing" and exclude lines containing string "DataIn" and "Message", |less displays the output in a new screen.

Use "zgrep" command to search in zip files:
zgrep string1 /path |zgrep string2 |less

== Managing the queue of reports being delivered by email ==

In maintenance mode.

=== Listing ===

LIST DOCUMENTS WITH SCHEDULED_ONCE

=== Clearing ===

SELECT DOCUMENTS WITH SCHEDULED_ONCE
DELETE DOCUMENTS

== Removing non essential files on win3 ==
Non essential files getting accumulated over time can take up a lot of space on the hard disk resulting in low free space on the server. NEOSYS Client Monitoring system alerts about low free space for win3 server as it monitors the Disk Space of both C & D drive. To fix it Support team will have to create free space on the server.

Making space on the server is time taking and requires patience as you need to go through all the files/folders looking for non-essential files. Do not make any assumptions for not looking into a folder.

Non-essential files are the ones without which we can work properly and will continue to work in future.

Support team should keep in mind the below points while creating space on the server:

#Look into the drive for which nagios is alerting and dig into all the folders.
#Right click Folder > Properties > Size on Disk, to find out the size of a folder.
#On d drive majority of the space is taken by d:\hosts and d:\data.bak folder and on c drive it's taken up by the important windows/cygwin folders.
#The space distribution will give you an idea about which folders to target that can free up a good amount of space on clean up.
#Following are the non essential files/folders which can create a lot of space on removal. Use your intelligence and presence of mind while deleting files/folders because once deleted the information is lost forever.
#*Folder: d\data.bak. Check for stopped clients' backups and delete if present.
#*Folder: d\hosts\clientname\logs (where clientname stands for all the client folders in hosts) Look into logs prior to the current year and the year before and delete them. In the recent versions of NEOSYS, log folders are compressed and take up a lot less space on disk than presented as their size. You can see the difference in their properties.
#*Folder: d\hosts\clientname\downloads. This folder might contain lot of old versions of neosys.exe files. Keep the two latest versions and delete the rest. Do this for all client folders except test installation because Support maintains all the old versions of neosys.exe in it.
#*Folder: d\hosts\old. In this folder, delete all client folders that are older than 1 year.
#*Apart from above folders look for random backup.zip files present in c/d drive. This happens when Support restores data from a zip file and forgets to delete it after the restore.

== Troubleshooting Scripting Disabled error message on browser ==
Error: NEOSYS requires You have
1. Internet Explorer 6+
or Safari 3.1+
or Firefox 3+
or Chrome 8.0+
2. Scripting enabled Scripting disabled
3. Cookies enabled Unknown

[[image:IEtrb1.jpg]]

Follow steps in given link to fix Script disable error on browsers : https://wmich.edu/helpdesk/internetenablecookies

==[[Configuring_IIS#Solving_.22Service_unavailable.22_error_due_to_disabled_application_pool | Handling 'Service Unavailable' on browser due to IIS issue]]==

== Searching for users with a particular email address ==

In maintenance mode

FIND USERS XX@YY.COM

Procedures

2017-06-06T07:57:52Z

Priyanka: /* Handling Links and Email Attachments */

Here are procedures to be followed by Support Staff in respect to various technical matters in day to day operations of client issues.

== Handling Clients with Overdue Invoice ==
In order to maintain good payment speed by clients NEOSYS needs to restrict support to clients that dont pay their bills on time, however the degree of restriction needs to depend on an intimate knowledge of the client which cannot be expected from all NEOSYS support staff. Therefore we will use a simple escalation policy as follows:

=== Overdue Support List ===
NEOSYS SUPPORT MANAGERS WILL maintain an overdue list on a whiteboard visible to all support staff. Generally, clients will go on the list immediately when their invoice is overdue and come off only after satisfactory commitment to pay have been obtained.

The latest overdue list email MUST always be starred until there are no clients left on the overdue list (apart from the permanently overdue clients). This way support team will know that there are still clients on the overdue list and will not mistakenly provide support to those clients.

For the first week of each quarter of the year, normal support should be provided for server failures and backup failures (including hung processes as it could eventually lead to backup failures). NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any other support requests from overdue clients, with the following letter (where XYZ is the overdue client):

Dear ABC,
There is an issue with your company's account. We have requested our Accounts team for approval in order to provide support to you and other XYZ users.

Support staff must then provide the required support to the overdue client only after 4 working hours. Support Staff need not actually contact the Accounts team for approval, although that is what is mentioned in the letter. This delay in support is to encourage clients to settle their payments on time.

After the first week of each quarter of the year, NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any support requests from overdue clients with the above letter but MUST NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT even after 4 working hours. Instead, NEOSYS Support Staff must refer the support request to NEOSYS Support Manager.

Managers may well instruct support to provide support on a case by case basis even if clients are on the overdue list. Being on the overdue list does not necessarily indicate a major issue with accounts.

== Handling Frozen NEOSYS Installations and Databases ==

Some clients retain fully operational NEOSYS installations or just particular databases even after they stop using them for some reason, either because they move to some other software, or because they terminate an operational division, or other reasons, and this can either be on NEOSYS or their own servers.

In this case, various NEOSYS upgrade and maintenance processes may be suspended, downgraded or completely skipped especially if instant access to the server is no longer available. This does not mean that it should never be done, and pros and cons need to be assessed and documented in support emails on a case by case basis.

*Upgrading NEOSYS version
*Upgrading/standardising NEOSYS database configuration and other files for consistency, security or other issues
*Patching Windows/IIS configuration for consistency, security or other issues

== Handling Links and Email Attachments ==

'''DO NOT TRUST ANY LINK OR ATTACHMENT IN ANY EMAIL EVEN FROM HIGHLY TRUSTED PEOPLE OR ORGANISATIONS'''

These days you can no longer trust links or attachments in emails from anybody - even emails from highly trusted people like your bank.

If a personal computer or intermediate email server is hacked then even genuine emails sent out from it can be infected and modified in a hidden way that can result in the recipient being infected if they click or open anything in the email.

Therefore you should know and understand how to avoid, as far as possible, getting tricked and infected via emails.

Malware authors generally rely on the fact that most people devote no time at all to security precautions so a moderate cautious approach, slowing down a little to spending some time on security, even where it is apparently not required, is enough to defeat most attacks.

=== Links ===

Do NOT click on links, especially in emails that you are not expecting, but also anywhere else that you see links, without taking various precautions. The links in an email, even from someone you know and trust, can LIE to you about what website they will open and they can lead you to websites that mere browsing can infect your computer and then others inside our network.

WHAT LINK/WEBSITE WILL BE OPENED MAY NOT BE WHAT IT SAYS IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL!

Therefore, to use a link in any and all emails, first hover your cursor over it and check the status bar at the bottom of the screen where you can see exactly what website will be opened, or, to be more sure exactly what website you are opening DO NOT click links in emails at all. COPY/PASTE the link to your browser, AFTER following the below points.

*Make sure you know and trust the website being opened.
*Carefully inspect the spelling of the domain name to avoid tricky look-alike fraudulent links eg hcsb.com instead of hsbc.com
*If you trust the sender but you do not personally know the website then get independent confirmation from the sender. Reply to the email so that the sender can check the link you received has not been tampered with.

In the following case, hovering over the first two links seem to go to real UPS website, BUT this is NOT sufficient to be sure since slight misspellings and other tricks can lead you to a totally different website.

However, hovering over the third "link" shows that clicking the apparent link would go to some website http://behappy.vn (Vietnam) so clearly this is a DECEPTION.

[[image:Scamscreenshot.png]]

=== Attachments ===

There is no way to determine if an attachment, even from someone you know, has not been infected and is therefore dangerous. The only protection is to rely on anti-virus/anti-malware software on your computer.

You can check the names and file types/extensions of attached files to spot any obviously strange or unexpected attachments but this is not very effective. Don't open attachments ending in .jar or any others without NEOSYS admin's permission.

Be careful that if there are a lot of attached files not to assume that all are safe because the majority are unsafe.

== Handling junk email ==
Any email identified as junk should be manually marked as Junk so that they automatically go into the Junk folder. The spam filter in the server will use the emails in the Junk folder to decide what is moved into the spam folder.

== Avoid burdening email servers with excessive graphics ==

Support MUST install the "Auto Resize Image" addon in Thunderbird to reduce the size of images in emails resulting in a significant reduction in email size. See [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Configure_Auto_Resize_Image| setting up auto resize image]] for details.

It reduces the burden on NEOSYS and NEOSYS client's email servers. This is especially important on long conversations about subjects that include many screenshots, since for just a simple one line reply, the email can consume many MB of space. It massively wastes the email server space and makes backups massive and generally a total waste of resources and time.

To be able to refer back to graphics in previous emails, add the SIZE column to your email program so that you can locate large emails with graphics rapidly without searching back one by one.

==Client Communication Policies==
===Client Meeting Report Policy===

After every Client meeting online or otherwise Support MUST send a Follow-Up email to the Client which is open and fully informative and not brief, stating the events during the meet and any action required by either or both parties. The email to the client must not shrink from discussing contentious issues due to a false sense of politeness or timidity to address issues face on. Obviously one should not be rude but it is not rude to address issues openly.(cc Client managers and NEOSYS Managers)

The follow-up email MUST be sent within 24 hours of completion of the meeting so that the points discussed during the meeting are fresh in all the meeting participants' minds. This means that reports for meetings on the day before the weekend MUST be sent on the SAME day.

In addition to above email if there is some information that needs to be shared internally and cannot be said in public to the client then send a Client Meeting report to Support.

Support must also update the Client Contact Record file in Google Drive immediately after sending out the follow-up email.

===Follow Up of Support Issues===

All voice/chat communication MUST also be followed up with an email confirming at least the gist of the communication to keep the whole support team updated on the issue.

If not possible to contact for any reason, then an email MUST be sent stating so and suggesting or requesting a time to connect.

cc Client managers (and/or BCC NEOSYS Managers) MAY be done if thought to be useful and/or appropriate.

===Handling Contentious Emails from Clients===

If emails requesting support become contentious, then voice, phone call or chat is REQUIRED to save time. However, client support via phone call should be done only on local or low-cost calls. High-cost international calls should not be used except in extreme circumstances.

If clients become deliberately combative or uncooperative then Support team is supposed to kick back a little but still emphasise the point. Perhaps it could be done better with a little ironic humour or a smiley. Avoid using !! while responding to contentious emails.

=== Discussing Pricing ===
All discussions about pricing must be done only in Sales inbox. If clients bring up pricing discussion in support emails, NEOSYS staff must respond to the client by starting a new thread in the Sales Inbox.

==NEOSYS Support Response Time Policy==

NEOSYS contracts, in the few cases where we have a written contract with the client, specifies that maximum response time is one business day generally and one business hour for complete stoppages of the system. Obviously we have to do far better than this in practice.

Support staff must inform clients of the progress of the issue if it is not resolved the same day but only if they contact at least 1 hour before office closing.

Deciding to wait on issues is fine (also refer to: [[Procedures#Handling_users_who_do_not_act_upon_standard_messages|Response to standard messages]]), but support MUST at least spend up to 5 minutes on issues to see if they can be handled quickly.

For routine requests for service where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client then no need to send rapid reply.

==Handling errors discovered by support staff ==
{{Handling errors}}

==Handling Cheques from Clients==

NEOSYS staff are not to accept deliveries from clients that might be cheques without prior instructions to accept the same. They can ask courier to wait a few minutes until NEOSYS accounts or management agrees but they may not be available and probably will not agree anyway. NEOSYS payment terms do not accept cheques although clients are free to deposit cheques by themselves.

== Client Password Policy ==
All client user passwords, including their initial one, are to be obtained via the user's email address using the password reminder/reset button on the login screen. [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#What_is_NEOSYS_password_policy.3F (NEOSYS password policy)]

NEOSYS staff should never know users passwords therefore NEOSYS will not obtain and grant user passwords. The reason for this is that in the event that users lose their passwords to other people who then login unauthorised then suspicion could fall on the NEOSYS staff who know their password.

All parties concerned, including client management, client users and NEOSYS support staff, benefit greatly from trusting that if something in a NEOSYS database is registered as having been done by a particular user then it was not in fact somehow done by NEOSYS support staff. Nothing should be done that would break such fundamental trust. To achieve this, NEOSYS support staff must never log in as particular users, never ask for users passwords and generally enforce the idea that all work logged as being done by users IS done by users.

Very limited amounts of work by NEOSYS support staff either in person or remotely using teamviewer is acceptable while a user is logged as long as the user login was performed by the user themselves, the user is present and the user specifically agrees with the work being done.

=== Support requests from ordinary client users ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords will be forwarded to known skilled users on the client staff since this is the most efficient (not fastest) way to handle such issues.

=== Support requests from senior client management ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords by senior client management users shall be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bearing in mind that NEOSYS staff should never know user's passwords this will probably involve NEOSYS staff using the Password Reminder/Reset button to send a new password to the user.

=== User Defined Passwords ===
NEOSYS will provide user defined passwords in very special cases which must be pre-approved case by case by NEOSYS management. NEOSYS will not approve this due to the reasons mentioned [[Procedures#Client_Password_Policy|here]].

If the user login gets blocked due to multiple login failures and the user requests support team to reset the password to the user defined password again, support MUST delay the response to this request by at least 1 hour in order to force the user to be more careful when typing the password.

Currently permission for user defined password has only been granted to one NEOSYS client with several hundreds of databases.

== Handling client issues and requests==

All support issues must be dealt with through phone/email/chat. Support Staff can schedule client visits for User Training but should not schedule client visits solely for providing support for petty issues.

ALL Support staff should check the all the previous day's inbound emails for reply flags once in the morning. All Support staff will therefore be held responsible for any unreplied inbound email.

Support staff should NOT waste time and delay support by investigating issues WITHOUT having sufficient information.

Support staff should look for similar issues when solving a particular problem to avoid similar issues in future. This saves the time and energy of Support as well as the Client.

When sending screenshots to clients, support team should economise on space by minimising to the minimum that will show the problem clearly. This is because not every user will be viewing their emails on large wide screens like NEOSYS support team. Browser windows reformat their contents to suit the width available so this is particularly effective in most NEOSYS screens.

Support team MUST be cautious while sending screenshots so that no private/unnecessary information is sent to Client. If you cant avoid taking the screenshot without unnecessary information then you should hide it in the screenshot.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

=== Handling new emails in Support inbox===
Support MUST spend up to 5 minutes on new emails and send a quick reply to the client, to acknowledge the request or give a quick solution in case its a petty issue or has a documented solution in wiki. This should probably be done on priority, interrupting existing work and not wait for one hour and be dealt with quickly.

For routine service requests where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client, Support does not need to send a rapid reply.

=== Handling client call back requests===

Clients who ask us to call them should be given our phone number asked to call us unless there is some GOOD reason why we should make the effort and pay phone charges.

=== Handling login failure issues===

Users often get login failure issues due to typing wrong password and they simply won't read and act according to the error message they get. In this case, Support must send the below email to the user.

<pre>
Dear XYZ,

If you have trouble resetting password, please ask for assistance from your manager/IT Manager/Timesheet Administrator/NEOSYS-expert colleague.

Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

Local support users (TA or IT manager etc) have the LS key using which they can see the User Details page of all users. They should check all the information (usercode, registered email id, last login attempts etc) in the User Details page to find out what is the issue.

This procedure will reduce the endless mails sent back and forth to solve petty issues which could easily be solved by the client's local support.

=== Handling requests or demands for "URGENT" or "PRIORITY" support ===

Any request for prioritised action *without giving any reason for the prioritisation* should be disregarded and the request handled with normal priority. If a reason is given then you may at your discretion prioritise a response but there is no obligation to do so.

=== Handling users who login with other people's NEOSYS usercodes ===
This can cause a lot of confusion in both the client and NEOSYS support. It may also indicate that the correct NEOSYS monthly licensing fee is not being paid. There is no valid reason for anonymous logins or sharing logins between multiple users.

Therefore if NEOSYS support team get requests for support about using NEOSYS from users who are not registered properly in NEOSYS with an personally identifiable user code, name and email then the following email should be sent cc admin@neosys.com.

No exception should be granted to clients without NEOSYS management approval.

<pre>
Dear NEOSYSUSER,

Please note that in order to receive support from NEOSYS you must personally have an identifiable user code, name and email address registered
in NEOSYS.

We can create new user account for you with your management approval. This may or may not have an impact on the NEOSYS monthly licensing fee
depending on the agreement in force.

Please let us know what you would like us to do.

Best Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

=== Handling support requests from expired users ===

If expired users call for any reason including not being able to login, they must not be given any support. They should only be told that their account is expired without any reason being offered because employers sometimes do not want any information at all being passed to expired users.

===Handling support request from senior management===

Any support requests from senior client management users concerning report generations should be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bear in mind that NEOSYS staff should not agree or offer to do client work. Support staff can advise senior management to contact a skilled user to help them with basic NEOSYS reporting. Support staff can also send screenshots of step by step procedure on how to take reports. Depending on the situation and reasons provided by senior management, support staff can at their discretion provide reports but after informing them that this is an exception and no more reports will be sent out as this is against NEOSYS procedures.

=== Handling emails with unrelated subject line ===
At times, clients forward old emails, with new issues, resulting in completely unrelated subject line. In such situations, support should create a new email, copy the new issue from the old email and paste it into the new email. This way, unrelated emails will not appear in the same conversation group when viewing emails in conversation mode.

In the new email, include a comment like "PS Please don't forward old emails for new issues, start a new email with a new subject so that emails can be traced easily."

Sometimes the client does not bother putting the correct subject line for new issues (eg. blank subject, or "Error"). Then support should add a meaningful subject line in order to make the email easy to search for.

=== Handling emails with poor screenshots ===
Sometimes Thunderbird shows full sized screenshots in a compact format that is not easy to read. These can be resized to make them more legible. To do this, make the email editable by hitting the "Reply" button, then click and drag to resize the screenshot as desired.

If the screenshot sent by the user is genuinely small and hard to read, reply to the mail and request for a full size, clear screenshot.

=== Handling support-request emails sent to anywhere than support@neosys.com ===
Client emails anywhere than support@neosys.com MUST be ignored. This is because ALL support must be recorded in support inbox without exception so that the whole support team is aware of the issue and action taken. If client complains about the delay in support then they can be told this is because they used the wrong email address.

=== Handling users who do not act upon standard messages ===
When users do not bother to read and act on standard NEOSYS-generated messages and instead ask for help, Support staff MUST delay response time and thereafter send them an email which is the same as the message so they get the point that in future they should read the messages and handle issues themselves.

=== Handling Requests to do Client work ===
NEOSYS Support staff must not agree or offer to do work on behalf of the client.

This is because doing client work while logged in as NEOSYS breaks security rules. Support uses the NEOSYS username which has unrestricted access, so when a user requests Support to do some work which they don’t have access to, and if Support agrees to do the work, the client has successfully defeated the security rules by accessing features that they are unauthorized to access.

'''Requests for colour and font changes'''

Support should not be spending lots of time on colour and font changes. Clients can make as many changes as they want until they are happy with a selection. Clients MUST send screenshot of their required color/font settings (not sample screen/reports) for Support to copy and setup for all users. If Support sees them doing something bad or poor then give comments or better suggestions.

=== Handling Requests that require Approval from Higher Authority ===

The following is a list of user requests that must be handled by NEOSYS support staff only if they are approved by or come from a higher authority (manager/admin). The LIST is '''NOT''' a complete list so there may be other things which might require approval so use good judgement and/or ASK if in doubt.

*Opening new financial year
*Adding new company/dataset
*Editing alert/backup email receiver addresses
*Customising Authorisation File ({{SensitiveSecurity }})
**Adding or removing accesses for existing users in Authorisation file
**Adding new user(s) to Authorisation file
**Expiring a user
**[[Procedures#For_HTTPS_access| Allowing HTTPS/outside office access from any IP number]]

If an unauthorized user sends one of these requests to support staff, support staff must immediately instruct the user to get the request approved by the higher authority.

===Handling User Requests to add an IP or range of IPs to access NEOSYS===

Support staff must identify if the IP or range of IPs is for http or https access.
{{SensitiveSecurity }}

====For HTTP access====
Support staff can add local IP or range of local IPs when requested by the client. Top management approval is not needed to add local IP numbers. Listed below are the IP address ranges reserved for local network.

10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

====For HTTPS access====
Any request for https access from any IP address or range of IP addresses (eg. 123.456.* or just *), or in other words any use of an asterisk in the IP restrictions, MUST have TOP management i.e. the company's decision makers approval. The Staff and their Managers are not the best decision makers in this affair because they usually ignore the risks and it is not really their decision. Security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled. It is completely pointless to inform the staff who want the access about these risks because only their top managers could really decide that this is NOT going to be allowed. Hence the Top Management MUST be asked for approvals and at the same time WARN them about the security risks/threats behind the no IP restrictions.

=====For clients with static IP=====
Any request to add a specific IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses MUST have management approval.

=====For clients with dynamic IP=====
For clients with dynamic IP, support MUST NOT add their public IP to the allowed list as this will encourage the client to again request for access from new IP numbers every time their public IP changes. Instead, support MUST force the client to either install VPN or get the Top Management i.e. the company's decision maker's approval to enable access from any IP after explaining the security risks in doing so, as mentioned above.

Support MUST also mention that installation of VPN by the Company is the industry standard way of providing access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER. Installation of VPN is to be done by their own IT support. Refer to [[Procedures#Using_VPN_to_enable_secure_access_from_outside_the_office|Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office]]

Sample Email:
<pre>
Dear XXX,

I do not recommend allowing access from all IPs because security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc. can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled.

I strongly recommend that you keep IP restrictions for XYZ dataset.

If you want to provide access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER, then installation of VPN is the industry standard of achieving this. Installation of VPN is to be done by your own IT support.

If you still wish to allow access from all IPs, kindly confirm that you acknowledge the security threats of doing so.

</pre>

=== Handling repeated request to allow users to access from all IPs ===

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

If the client wants temporary access from outside for some staff twice in say a six months period then support should send the below email. The real reason is because we don't have the time to be doing this on a regular basis. If at all the client asks why we no longer support the provision of temporary outside access then we can say this is because of the frequency of such requests.

Dear XXX

We have given you temporary outside access this time, as requested. Please note that we can no longer support the provision of temporary outside access. So in the future, you will have to choose between either permanent or no outside access. Alternatively, you can ask your management to install a VPN (which is the industry standard of achieving outside access to a corporate asset in a secure manner), so that you can log in to NEOSYS from outside.

=== Handling requests to create a new feature or modifying existing features ===

Many issues are small and not important but can still be considered for development because they may be easy and neatly added to NEOSYS. The aim here is to avoid development on hard issues for little benefit, or little issues that make NEOSYS more complex for little benefit.

When a client requests to create a new feature or modify an existing feature, a workaround must be given to the user, which is either a permanent solution, for example if the issue is a rare case and not commonly faced by other clients (and the workaround is acceptable to the client), or a temporary solution until some better solution is discovered or can be developed.

Any request to create a new feature or modify an existing feature MUST be discussed with other clients before forwarding it to the programmer because the other clients might not be comfortable with the change as it may not be in accordance with their workflow. If other clients agree to the proposed change then support should go ahead and request the programmer to implement it.

Therefore before escalating a request to the programmer to modify a feature in NEOSYS, the approval for the same from other clients must be taken into account.

When escalating the request to the programmer, support MUST avoid using "Is it possible..?" because the obvious answer to that is "Anything is possible" and because this question is only a way to avoid doing the real work of deciding whether the new feature/modification should be implemented.

=== Updating Clients about unresolved issues ===
Support should proactively inform clients if an issue is not solved within the same day it was raised, after judging the urgency of the issue and the time it was raised. An email to the client who raised the issue, before the end of each day, is a best practice that keeps the client updated and other support staff too. This email should be sent regardless of the degree to which the issue has been resolved or if the issue is unresolved. If the issue is unresolved, the email should explain why and also explain the cause of delay.

=== Handling new USER creation ===
Support staff should create new USERS for clients ONLY when requested by an authorised person.

If the request comes from an unauthorised person, then support MUST reply to the same person informing them that this request must come from an authorised person. Support MUST NOT directly contact the authorised person asking for approval/confirmation because that is client work.

Clients should not be discouraged to create new users. Clients are billed as per user usage which is reviewed periodically. Over time old USERS are replaced with new USERS.

The USER code is the first name of a user.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

Support team MUST NOT discuss billings with clients unless authorised to do so. Also see [[Procedures#Discussing_Pricing|Discussing Pricing]]

Support team MUST NOT proceed with creating new users until the following details have been clearly provided by the client, otherwise the user may end up with more than the required authorisation, which can lead to problems in future.

New user requirements :-
*Full name
*Email address
*Group level / User with similar authorisation

After the new user has been created, Support Staff must send an email to the person who requested the creation of new user, confirming that the new user has been created along with a screenshot of that part of the authorisation table where the new user was created so that the new user's usercode and email id is visible. This is done so that in case there is some error in the usercode or email id, it is easily visible in the screenshot and also so that the person who requested the creation of the new user is informed about the usercode of the new user.

=== Handling letterhead change requests ===

Support staff should reject any requests that require the letterhead to be setup on the TESTING dataset before it is setup in the MAIN dataset.This is to reduce double work for support staff and to ensure that clients have a clear understanding of their requirements and also send the correct logo image.
The MAIN dataset can be copied to the TEST dataset for any kind of testing.

See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Configuring_Letterhead#Changing_the_letterhead_for_printed_documents How to change letterhead]

=== Handling error messages ===

'''Important:''' Before Attempting to resolve client issues, please ensure that we have secure access to the NEOSYS server.

#The very first step is understanding client problem. Ask questions to the client until you CLEARLY understand the problem.
#If the error is familiar and does not require a screenshot, resolve the problem immediately.
#If the error is unfamiliar and/or requires a screenshot and the user has not sent a screenshot, IMMEDIATELY ask the user to send a screenshot of the problem, along with the options used (basically you need to know HOW to replicate the error and the screenshot MUST show WHAT the error is).
#If the user says "nothing happens, so no screenshot of the error", then IMMEDIATELY request for screenshots again with the exact steps to reproduce the problem using mouse and keyboard.
#Upon receipt of the error and steps to reproduce the error, follow the steps and reproduce the error. Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues|Addressing Browser related issues]]
#If the issue is unknown or you don’t understand it clearly, with the users acknowledgement use remote support to gain access to the users desktop to view how to replicate the error.
{{Handling errors}}

=== Addressing Browser related issues ===

When resolving random browsing issues that seem to be on one user computer only, support MUST send the below email asking the user to check if the same issue occurs on other user computers. Rapidly convincing the user that the problem is only on their computer gains their willingness to sort the problem out at their end, using IT people if necessary and available.

Handling random issues that appear to be on one computer is very very common and it is important to deal with it effectively, not requiring stages of "denial" by the users until they accept something has to be done at their end, and not by NEOSYS. Speeding up this process gains the confidence and appreciation of the users.

<pre>Hi xxxx

Is this error happening only on your computer? If that is the case, it may be due to an issue in your browser cache. Please clear your browser cache with assistance from your IT team if required. Then restart the browser and try again.

If clearing browser cache does not fix the issue, I recommend a full browser reset to ensure that everything works fine.

Follow these instructions for clearing browser cache and resetting browser:
http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers

Please let us know if you face the issue again.</pre>

Also refer to [[Procedures#Handling_Browser_related_issues_in_NEOSYS| Handling Browser related issues]]

=== Addressing Technical support emails ===

In the case of technical support issues, address emails to the IT person and cc the complete group of recipients of backup emails and other NEOSYS alert emails. This allows both NEOSYS and client IT staff to take credit for resolving issues that NEOSYS raises instead of working in the background unacknowledged.

Technical support issues include backup failure, server failure, missing alert email, server connectivity issues and port forwarding issues and many other issues.

For technical issues like browser configuration, clear cache, etc. support must send the user a link to the appropriate wiki article to help the user fix the problem. In some cases the user may be helpless and unable to follow the steps to fix the problem. In such cases, support MUST NOT waste time trying to help the user fix the problem, instead support MUST ask the user to get help from the IT person.

=== Acceptable report format when handling issues in NEOSYS reports ===

NEOSYS Support must only resolve issues in NEOSYS output first. This is because only NEOSYS outputs can be trusted and user versions in Excel or PDF could be copied wrongly or edited by the user.

In case users send reports in excel or other formats, get them to send the original NEOSYS HTML report as an attachment or copy-pasted in email.

=== Handling requests to create new charts or control accounts===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_and_Configuring_NEOSYS_Finance_System#Creating_New_Charts_or_Control_Accounts Refer here]

=== Handling issues with totals on reports ===

If a client has a problem with any total output by NEOSYS software then NEOSYS support will advise them which other NEOSYS report or reports provide a complete breakdown of the total (if necessary, to individual transactions) and ask the client to locate any offending transactions themselves.

NEOSYS support staff will handle any issues where the total on the breakdown report does not add up to the total on the summary report.

Reconciling totals can be hard if there are many transactions involved. Regardless of how hard it may be, reconciliation is an operational task for users not for support staff since NEOSYS support staff will not get involved in understanding client transactions or data.

==== Trial Balance and Financial Statements ====

NEOSYS support staff do not have to prove or trace any figures in NEOSYS Trial Balance Reports or any financial reports. If a figure is stated to be wrong by the user, then NEOSYS support staff should ask for proof or say NEOSYS is confident that the figures are correct unless proved otherwise.

NEOSYS support staff should point out reports in NEOSYS which will support the figures in question but not actually run the reports. Support staff can suggest the users to refer to detailed ledger accounts to prove balances.

== Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office ==
There are two ways in which a user can use VPN:
*User connects to the their office router and makes the PC act like it is on the office LAN.
*User connects to a VPN service that provides a static IP number and can therefore be authorised by NEOSYS to login.

If the client intends to use VPN to connect to their office router and make the PC act like it is on the office LAN, then it depends on what VPN protocols the client's office router supports.

The alternative is to use a paid VPN service that provides a static IP number. Getting a dynamic IP number on VPN is very cheap and there are many suppliers, but getting a static IP number on VPN services seems to be more expensive.

Internally in NEOSYS we use PFSENSE routers which support OPENVPN which is extremely flexible.

==Handling issues with Office PBX phones==

Support should check their respective Office PBX phones every morning to find out if the phone is up and working. In case Support finds any issue with their phone, immediately fix it so that clients do not lose contact with the Support team via phone. Next send an email to Support inbox mentioning the fault, cause and solution for records/future prevention.

==Configuring Browsers to show Javascript errors in NEOSYS==
NEOSYS Support MUST ensure the following Settings for browsers because if NEOSYS generates any javascript error message, the same would appear in the bottom left corner of a window, which in turn helps the programmer to fix the error. This must be done after every Factory Reset.

===Internet Explorer===
Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Browsing - the items Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer) and Disable script debugging (Other) are '''UNTICKED'''.

===Chrome===
Chrome Menu > More Tools > Extensions > Get More Extensions, search for '''Javascript Errors Notifier'''. Add the extension to Chrome.

[[image:Chrome.png]]

[[image:Chrome1.png]]
===Firefox===
Firebug add-on is used to NOTIFY about script errors because we have no other method to get any warning on screen but you should use the main firefox developer tools to investigate any errors as firebug is essentially replaced by built in developer tools.

For developer tools, go to Tools > Web Console

To enable notifications for script errors, download the add-on Firebug from [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/ here]. When a Javascript error is encountered, the firebug icon will report the number of errors.

Set your firebug as per the second screen shot and select "Enable All Panels" as well, the tick will not appear like the other options but the option will get selected. If you miss out on any one of these steps, you will not be able to capture script errors.

[[file:firebug1.jpg|1200px]]

[[File:Firebug.png]]

==Handling Browser related issues in NEOSYS==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Technical_/_Hardware_requirements#NEOSYS_Software_Browser_and_OS_Requirements NEOSYS browser requirements]

Clients frequently ask [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#Why_doesnt_NEOSYS_support_my_XYZ_browser.3F Why NEOSYS doesn't support other browsers]

To avoid browser errors, all new users must follow the steps given in [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#Getting_started_with_NEOSYS Getting started with NEOSYS] before logging in to NEOSYS for the first time.

To troubleshoot browser related errors see [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers Troubleshooting Web Browsers]

Users must clear browser cache after every NEOSYS Upgrade to avoid errors. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS#Sample_email_to_be_sent_to_clients_who_face_issues_due_to_failure_in_clearing_browser_cache Sample email to clients who face issues due to failure in clearing browser cache]

Pop-up blockers and any 3rd party toolbars must be deactivated/switched off or else certain pages and alert messages while using NEOSYS do not appear as a result of blocking from either the pop-up blocker or toolbars with built-in pop-up blockers.

NEOSYS support must ask users to Reset browser (See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Reset_Browser Reset browser]) if they notice any user browsers which have pop-up blockers or 3rd party toolbars installed.

Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues| Addressing Browser related issues]]

== Handling NEOSYS Upgrade==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS Upgrading NEOSYS]

== Using Support Tools ==
=== Website Live Support ===
www.neosys.com is equipped with a Live Support software and clients can visit the website, click on this link and chat with any of our support staff, without the need for any installation. The client has to fill in their name and enter their questions to connect to an available support personnel. During non-working hours, the Live Support icon on the website automatically displays "offline".

NEOSYS Support personnel who are authorised to provide such support, need to login to Live helper chat in Firefox using the link given below:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin

Support personnel should enter the account details as provided by their Manager.

Enable notifications for Live helper chat so that whenever there is a visitor trying to contact Support team, the Support personnel will get the notifications on his screen. Set the Live helper chat login page as your home page in firefox.

Use the link below to enable notifications:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin/chat/listchatconfig

After setting up Live helper chat if you sign in to a new profile in firefox, you might have to re enable the notifications after your firefox is synced to the new profile.

=== Teamviewer ===
Since Teamviewer allows no restriction on access once a fixed pass is installed, Support must not install fixed pass on teamviewer however convenient it might be.

RULE: NO FIXED PASS TO BE INSTALLED ON TEAMVIEWER IN ANY NEOSYS OR NEOSYS CLIENT COMPUTER

Running teamviewer live from a web link is fine because it does not allow installation of a permanent password

For certain tasks that require temporary install of Teamviewer on the client servers (e.g. upgrading Cygwin remotely), use Teamviewer 7 on the server as well as Support staff computer. Contact NEOSYS IT for commercial license of Teamviewer 7. Teamviewer MUST be uninstalled after usage, otherwise it creates an additional unnecessary security risk.

To support client users who use the latest version of Teamviewer, support staff must also install the latest Teamviewer version available alongside Teamviewer 7.

== Documenting Processes in Wiki ==
NEOSYS Support staff must be in continual learning mode. This is mandatory for support staff and is not an option. Support must read, learn and understand everything in the support emails and ask questions if they don't understand. This understanding must be transferred into wiki in the form of new articles and improvements to existing articles.

For all articles related to formatting and editing in Wiki, see [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Documenting_NEOSYS_systems Documenting NEOSYS systems]

===Avoiding duplication of text in wiki===

Duplication of text in wiki is to be avoided almost at any cost. Duplication has the problem that when one copy is changed or improved in future then it is highly likely the editor will fail to update the other copy or copies and wiki will over time become an inconsistent mess.

There are several ways to avoid duplication:

#Two or more procedures which have significant areas of duplication can be rewritten as a single procedure with alternatives in the middle of the procedure
#Wiki Templates- Templates reproduce the same text in all places and editing one place edits all places. See [[How to create templates in wiki]]
#Wiki links- Only put the text in one place and put links to that in all the other places that it is appropriate.
#Place a note in all copies something to the effect that "This is similar to x, y and z". This alerts any future editor of all other places in wiki that might also have to be updated.

Future modifications in one place may or may not be appropriate to other places. The editor must decide whether to change one or all places

===Highlighting information in wiki===

To highlight particular instructions or info in wiki do NOT invent new styles which are not the way the rest of wiki is done. Instead, follow the USUAL STYLE or open a DISCUSSION with any recommendations you have BEFORE USING THEM.

Instead of using various kinds of highlighting styles like bolding and words like "Note:", use the following words IN CAPITALS especially the word MUST.

The use of the following words IN CAPITALS indicates that you are using them in a special way with formally defined meaning as explained below. Use of the words in lower case indicates that you are using the word in an ordinary commonsense meaning.

*MAY - means optional
*SHOULD - means recommended and you need GOOD reason (not just any weak excuse) to not follow to follow this recommendation
*MUST - mandatory

Only in the rare cases where the consequences of doing or not doing something are irreversible or take a lot of work to reverse then you can use your own additional highlighting methods, eg ALL CAPS, stars, color red etc.

==== Explain WHY ====

Any sentence which uses the word "MUST" in capitals, MUST be followed by a SPECIFIC REASON explaining exactly why is the instruction is mandatory; the reason MUST not be vague and non-specific meaning no more than "or bad things will happen".

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules.

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise it will cause problems in future.

CORRECT way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise the deleted schedules' ads will still show in all media-diary like reports and screens

The Wrong way above gives a general reason "it will cause problems in future" which is vague and a reader may even go ahead and ignore "MUST" because there is no objective or proper side effect mentioned for not following the MUST statement. Basically he doesn't understand the point behind following a certain rule.

Whereas the Correct way gives a SPECIFIC reason for "deleting ads while deleting schedules", so reader will exactly know the trouble that will be caused if ads are not deleted. Therefore "SPECIFIC REASON" behind using the word MUST must be to the point and very informative.

==== Why explain WHY ====
The information contained in the WHY phrase is often '''extremely informative''' to the reader about things that you may otherwise not have considered saying.

The most valuable information is usually contained in the "WHY" of something. There is an apocryphal story of a company where managers could be fired if they gave instructions to their staff without providing explanation. In almost all cases it is better for the efficiency of a team of people that any instructions they follow contain the "WHY" of something. Only in few cases should staff be expected to follow instructions without being well or fully informed.

== Email Retention Policy ==

=== Generally ===

Emails are retained permanently to allow old issues to be discovered in email searches.

=== Account: backups@neosys.com ===

Only the last 365 days of emails to backups@neosys.com are kept in general to reduce the burden on servers and clients due to the heavy number of emails.

For the backups/neosys folder, only 31 days is kept due to the very high numbers of emails ~250/day.

Deletions are configured in and done by a thunderbird client in NEOSYS IT so may not be continuous.

== Use of personal email addresses by NEOSYS support staff ==

NEOSYS support staff MUST NOT use any personal email addresses for NEOSYS business.

The xxxx.neosys@gmail.com addresses that are created by support staff for themselves on joining are also considered personal email addresses and must not be used for NEOSYS business. These email addresses might be linked to NEOSYS wiki accounts but that doesn't matter because wiki is not confidential.

== Accessing NEOSYS accounts on personal devices ==

NEOSYS staff MUST NOT install NEOSYS accounts on skype/dropbox/gmail (or any other external tool) on their personal devices without written permission from NEOSYS management

== Support Staff work-in-progress documents/files ==

Support Staff must not save working files hidden on their computer. Work that is not visible is not work .
Support work should not be done privately and should be shared to all.

ALL personal working files however trivial MUST be stored in Dropbox and MUST NOT be stored anywhere in personal computer (My Documents/Desktop etc.)

The personal encrypted pass file MUST be stored somewhere in personal folder under SB NEOSYS staff in Dropbox. This is because if there is a loss of OS/Computer, it should not lead to loss of access as all the passwords saved in the file will be lost.

== Handling CLIENT/NEOSYS Servers ==

NEOSYS support staff must exercise extreme caution when working on CLIENT and NEOSYS servers. Do not risk making changes without due care and attention to the fact that the consequences of errors can be serious on working production servers.

=== Handling Javascript Files in NEOSYS ===

All the files in NEOSYS installation folder with .JS and .JSE extension are the executable javascript files which startup NEOSYS processes (in a usual DOS window). Their default program is 'Microsoft Windows Based Script Host' (wscript.exe). If a JavaScript file is opened using a notepad, the default program may change to notepad resulting in all NEOSYS processes to open up in a notepad.

Hence be very CAREFUL when accessing a .JS and .JSE file and double check that the default program remains wscript.exe. Refer to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Fixing 'NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (i.e. DOS window)'|Fixing NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host]] in case this issue comes up.

== Handling "List of Open Ports" reports ==

This email comes to NEOSYS support team once a day showing only those client's servers which appear to have changed what TCP ports are open to the internet since yesterday. It will also come once a week showing all clients servers open ports.

NEOSYS support team should work patiently with client IT staff, over time if necessary, to close all ports that are not absolutely mandatory to be open.

Clients with highly skilled IT staff may have a variety of ports open to various non-NEOSYS servers inside their organisation. In this case, NEOSYS plays little role other than getting their confirmation of exactly what ports are acceptable. Any new ports that appear over time should be handled in the same way.

For clients without such staff, NEOSYS is their only real line of defence and since NEOSYS requested opening some ports, we should get all other ports closed by patiently following up until action is taken. Involving management may be the only way to get IT to act.

In particular, port 80 and 443 controlling internal or external routers should be closed. It is NOT acceptable except in HIGH IT EXPERTISE environments that critical routers should be exposed to the internet and they MUST NOT be accessible from the internet because routers that do not have their software updated can be hacked using known defects. Even updated routers can be hacked. Making it easy for client IT staff to access the router configuration from outside is NOT a good enough excuse to break this rule. Professional IT does not allow access to critical routers from the internet.

Likewise, any port 80 (unencrypted web access) and port 3389 (RDP remote desktop) open to the NEOSYS server MUST be closed otherwise logins can be monitored and there is no way to guarantee server security.

If a port is definitely required and properly approved to be open by client IT support, please let NEOSYS IT (SB) know and it will be put in the "known" column so that ports in the "unknown" column are all pending action.

The report does not attempt to detect UDP ports since UDP ports can receive information from the internet without responding in any way so there is no way to detect them reliably.

Green color shows ports that have opened since the last report run. Open ports can sometimes not be detected accurately so a port may appear to disappear in one report and reappear in the next report.

== Handling Nagios Client Monitoring system ==

NEOSYS support staff on duty MUST follow the procedures outlined below in case Nagios Checker shows a critical or warning message for any service. Failure to schedule appropriate downtime will lead to REDUNDANT ALERTS from NAGIOS every hour.

# Nagios is required to be checked first thing in the morning and any critical or warning messages need to be dealt with to resolve the same at the earliest.
# Some of the messages could be related to backup failures and the usual procedure as stated in [[Backup_and_Restore#Handling_failure_and_warning_messages_on_nightly_backup_alerts|Handling failure and warning messages on nightly backup alerts]] needs to be followed. In case the backup issue isn't resolved by 9:30 am, the Nagios service needs to be scheduled with downtime for a minimum of 2 hours and maximum until 1 am next day if the issue cannot be solved.
# In case any HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host is down, immediate action is required and the relevant IT people at the client side needs to be contacted to get this resolved. A downtime of 2 hours is required to be scheduled with further intervals of 2 hours in case this is not resolved. Support staff shouldn't schedule downtime till 1 am next day, just to get rid of the alerts for the day. Proactive follow up with the client is required to get this resolved before the business day - more so, if there is a weekend ahead.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host goes down during the day, a grace period of 20 minutes is given before the issue is reported to the client IT. This helps in case there is any temporary internet connection issue at the client or along the internet route.
# In case of "Backup not changed" warning status which occurs if the client has not interchanged the USB before 12 noon on that day, no action is required from the support staff and a downtime until 1 am next day needs to be scheduled.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH PING service or Host is down for more than 1 day, client IT should acknowledge the problem and give NEOSYS support staff an approximate time frame before which the issue will be resolved. Set an appropriate downtime for such events.
# In case Host is down for more than 2 days and there is no progress with the fix from client IT, the client management should be notified about the seriousness of not having access to server and their acknowledgement is mandatory.
#Support should check Nagios quite frequently during the day to look for any new alerts so that issues are fixed as soon as possible.

To summarise, any red alert left in Nagios Checker means that there is an issue that has not been attended to properly, and "attended to" does not mean solved. Support staff MUST solve the problem immediately if possible, or downtime/acknowledge and comment on the Nagios alert.

== Handling lack of remote access to NEOSYS server located in client’s premises ==

If access to the NEOSYS server is lost then we must determine the root cause by:
# Checking if the server is UP and running
# If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server
# If there is connectivity, please check the router for connectivity issues

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

Please note that we have currently lost access to the NEOSYS server. The server seems to be down at the moment and it seems that
NEOSYS processes are not running on the server.
Kindly check if the server is UP and running. If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server.
Do keep us posted on the server status so we can test connectivity from our side as well.

Best Regards,
</pre>
== New Router (Port Forwarding) ==

If you have changed your router then you may notice that external access to NEOSYS is unavailable.

'''Solution:'''

Setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to the NEOSYS Server as follows:
# Port 19580 > 19580 for SSH
# Port 4430 > 4430 for HTTPS

You can see [http://portforward.com/ Set Up Port Forwarding] to learn how to configure your Router.

To see how to test/ troubleshoot port forwarding settings, go to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_remote_support_port_forwarding|Troubleshooting Port Forwarding]].

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

You are requested to kindly setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to
the NEOSYS Server,i.e. port 19580 for SSH and port 4430 for HTTPS.

Once this is complete, kindly send me an email to confirm the same so that we could test connectivity from our end as well.

Best Regards
</pre>
== Creating and Handling passwords ==
Passwords made out of a pass phrase should be at least 10 characters since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts.

=== Creating a password ===
Passwords are generated from a pass phrase and it is important to create a very difficult to guess pass phrase.

For example, a good pass phrase would be: '''Today is a good day and it is the best time to go for a holiday'''

The password for this would be '''Tiagd&iitbt2g4ah'''

The important instructions for the above are:
#You have to take the first letter of each word and that makes your password (i.e. by using initials)
#Wherever any word starts with a capital, then you have to take first letter as a capital (eg. For Today you will take T)
#Replace '''and''' with '''&'''
#Replace '''to''' with '''2'''
#Replace '''for''' with '''4'''

=== Handling passwords ===
#Never send the actual password - always send the pass phrase
#Make sure that the password created out of the pass phrase is at least 10 characters long since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts
#Pass phrases are never to be sent by email, whatever the case maybe.
#Pass phrases can be sent by chat - however they have to be broken down in two parts and sent separately over two different messengers or if you are using Gtalk then use the 'off the record' mode.
#Using SMS to send pass phrases is the best known way as of now.
#If you save the passwords on your system in an file then:
#*Ensure that you only store pass phrases in the excel file
#*Ensure that the excel file is encrypted with a master password

== NEOSYS Maintenance Window ==

The NEOSYS server is functional from 6am – 1am. There is a 5hr window gap for the system to perform updates & backups.

The 5hr maintenance window:-

1. At 1am – The server performs a data backup on a USB (for the respective clients) & once the backup has been completed, the system automatically generates an email addressed to the neosys staff & the respective clients.

2. At 2:45am – The main data over writes the test data on the server.

3. At 3:00am – The server by itself performs an update for Windows.

4. At 4:00am – The server performs a backup to the headquarters for clients, and then automatically generates an email addressed to the NEOSYS staff & the respective clients.

5. At 6:00am – The server starts up NEOSYS.

== Using NEOSYS Terminology while communicating with Clients ==

NEOSYS support must communicate in correct language to clients on finance issues in order to ensure that our records exactly represent reality. Conversely NEOSYS must not use other terminology because it can cause considerable confusion and poor quality results. In case client is new and still in training, use client terminology optionally as long as
#It is only an addition to NEOSYS standard terminology
#Only if clear that it is client terminology by putting in brackets like this "Sales Invoices (called PI by you)", where "you" means the client you are talking to or you can put the client company name instead perhaps.

The objective is over time to avoid having the support team to have to know the terminology of the client. NEOSYS support team cannot possibly know and remember it for each client therefore the client MUST over time learn and use NEOSYS terminology. The initial period is one of relearning and translation for the client not for NEOSYS.

Many users operating NEOSYS finance module do not know proper financial procedures and may not appreciate how doing something in a wrong or unusual way now may not be correctable in the future.

NEOSYS staff must follow NEOSYS procedures only. If NEOSYS procedures need to be updated then this must be agreed in advance and not AFTER the fact.

== Amending/Reposting Journal Entries ==
In certain exceptional cases, amending/reposting of journal entries is allowed for a brief period of time to enable clients to present reports in an alternative manner. This would be subject to NEOSYS would requiring a written LETTER OF APPROVAL duly signed and stamped by the highest management of the company.

In case the client management decides to allow editing/reposting of journal entries, the following procedure is to be followed:
# Client must de-allocate vouchers which need to be amended
# NEOSYS support staff must wait for a day so that de-allocated vouchers are copied into Test database
# Authorise required users to amend and repost (without record) '''in Test database only''' ( While reposting, we have 2 options i.e. with record and without record. The 'with record' option causes the system to maintain a history of edits made. Hence, we want to repost without record so that there is no trace of the edit in the system)
# Amend a substantial number of vouchers in Test and verify them. To verify if the edits made are reflected:
# *Print all ledgers for the whole year
# *Cross-check all balances
# Once you verify the balances are correct in Test database, grant users permission to amend and repost in the Live database.
# Ask users to amend and repost vouchers in the Live database.
# Cross-check all balances for the current year.
# If you successfully verify the balances, revoke permissions immediately. Else, wait for 24 hours and revoke permissions irrespectively.

== Removal of unauthorized third-party software on client servers ==

Rule: Any third party software that is discovered by NEOSYS support staff on client servers that has been installed without the agreement of NEOSYS should be uninstalled immediately on discovery.

However purposeful a software is, NEOSYS is contractually responsible for support and there are too many opportunities for poorly installed software to cause unpredictable damage to the NEOSYS database so NEOSYS has to have a clear and safe and simple policy to ensure the integrity of client data. Installing software without prior discussion with NEOSYS by itself indicates that insufficient care and consideration as been given to possible issues.

Any software required by client IT for some purpose may only be installed after discussion and agreement from NEOSYS support staff concerning the configuration and operation of the software.

The NEOSYS Software Licence and Support agreement requires that where NEOSYS software is installed on client servers that a dedicated server is provided and dedicated implies that no other software may be installed without the agreement of NEOSYS support.

== Configuring tunnelier to autologin on opening tlp files ==
If you have many tunnelier tlp files in a directory and connect by opening the desired tlp file the, instead of opening the file and then clicking Login you can also right click the file and select Connect.

Alternatively, you can configure tunnelier to login (connect) automatically by following the procedure mentioned below. (Even if you configure automatic login, you can still open and not login by right clicking and choosing Open)

=== Windows 8 ===

Cannot be done using standard Windows UI. Some download utilities can do it. TODO put a safe one in neosys.com/support

=== Windows XP/Vista/7/2008 ===

#Go to My Computer
#Click on Tools -> Folder Options [[image:tunnauto-1.jpg]] 
#Click on File Types
#*Select TLP (Bitvise Tunnelier Profile) [Type "TLP" to find it quickly]
#*Click on Advanced [[image:tunnauto-2.jpg]] 
#Click on Connect and Click on Set Default [[image:tunnauto-3.jpg]] 

== International v/s Indian English ==

There are some words which have completely different meanings in International and Indian English. NEOSYS Staff should follow International English only. Below are the examples of few of those words:

Word: '''Doubt'''

In the English language word "doubt" means to distrust an alleged fact on the basis of a reason, depending on the strength of the reason which may be anything from factual to feeling e.g "I have no reason to doubt him".
This usage is followed worldwide.

Some people especially from Indian origin use "doubt" when they are unaware about a fact. e.g "I want to clear my doubts about this procedure". This is incorrect. The word must be used when you do not agree on something on the basis of a reason and not when you do not have knowledge about it.

==[[ New Employee Training Checklist]]==

==[[ New Client Training Notes]]==

==[[ General Office Procedures]]==

Procedures

2017-06-06T07:56:51Z

Priyanka: /* Attachments */

Here are procedures to be followed by Support Staff in respect to various technical matters in day to day operations of client issues.

== Handling Clients with Overdue Invoice ==
In order to maintain good payment speed by clients NEOSYS needs to restrict support to clients that dont pay their bills on time, however the degree of restriction needs to depend on an intimate knowledge of the client which cannot be expected from all NEOSYS support staff. Therefore we will use a simple escalation policy as follows:

=== Overdue Support List ===
NEOSYS SUPPORT MANAGERS WILL maintain an overdue list on a whiteboard visible to all support staff. Generally, clients will go on the list immediately when their invoice is overdue and come off only after satisfactory commitment to pay have been obtained.

The latest overdue list email MUST always be starred until there are no clients left on the overdue list (apart from the permanently overdue clients). This way support team will know that there are still clients on the overdue list and will not mistakenly provide support to those clients.

For the first week of each quarter of the year, normal support should be provided for server failures and backup failures (including hung processes as it could eventually lead to backup failures). NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any other support requests from overdue clients, with the following letter (where XYZ is the overdue client):

Dear ABC,
There is an issue with your company's account. We have requested our Accounts team for approval in order to provide support to you and other XYZ users.

Support staff must then provide the required support to the overdue client only after 4 working hours. Support Staff need not actually contact the Accounts team for approval, although that is what is mentioned in the letter. This delay in support is to encourage clients to settle their payments on time.

After the first week of each quarter of the year, NEOSYS Support Staff must respond to any support requests from overdue clients with the above letter but MUST NOT PROVIDE SUPPORT even after 4 working hours. Instead, NEOSYS Support Staff must refer the support request to NEOSYS Support Manager.

Managers may well instruct support to provide support on a case by case basis even if clients are on the overdue list. Being on the overdue list does not necessarily indicate a major issue with accounts.

== Handling Frozen NEOSYS Installations and Databases ==

Some clients retain fully operational NEOSYS installations or just particular databases even after they stop using them for some reason, either because they move to some other software, or because they terminate an operational division, or other reasons, and this can either be on NEOSYS or their own servers.

In this case, various NEOSYS upgrade and maintenance processes may be suspended, downgraded or completely skipped especially if instant access to the server is no longer available. This does not mean that it should never be done, and pros and cons need to be assessed and documented in support emails on a case by case basis.

*Upgrading NEOSYS version
*Upgrading/standardising NEOSYS database configuration and other files for consistency, security or other issues
*Patching Windows/IIS configuration for consistency, security or other issues

== Handling Links and Email Attachments ==

'''DO NOT TRUST ANY LINK OR ATTACHMENT IN ANY EMAIL EVEN FROM HIGHLY TRUSTED PEOPLE OR ORGANISATIONS'''

These days you can no longer trust links or attachments in emails from anybody - even emails from highly trusted people like your bank.

If a personal computer or intermediate email server is hacked then even genuine emails sent out from it can be infected and modified in a hidden way that can result in the recipient being infected if they click or open anything in the email.

Therefore you should know and understand how to avoid, as far as possible, getting tricked and infected via emails.

Malware authors generally rely on the fact that most people devote no time at all to security precautions so a moderate cautious approach, slowing down a little to spending some time on security, even where it is apparently not required, is enough to defeat most attacks.

=== Links ===

Do NOT click on links, especially in emails that you are not expecting, but also anywhere else that you see links, without taking various precautions. The links in an email, even from someone you know and trust, can LIE to you about what website they will open and they can lead you to websites that mere browsing can infect your computer and then others inside our network.

WHAT LINK/WEBSITE WILL BE OPENED MAY NOT BE WHAT IT SAYS IN THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL!

Therefore, to use a link in any and all emails, first hover your cursor over it and check the status bar at the bottom of the screen where you can see exactly what website will be opened, or, to be more sure exactly what website you are opening DO NOT click links in emails at all. COPY/PASTE the link to your browser, AFTER following the below points.

*Make sure you know and trust the website being opened.
*Carefully inspect the spelling of the domain name to avoid tricky look-alike fraudulent links eg hcsb.com instead of hsbc.com
*If you trust the sender but you do not personally know the website then get independent confirmation from the sender. Reply to the email so that the sender can check the link you received has not been tampered with.

In the following case, hovering over the first two links seem to go to real UPS website, BUT this is NOT sufficient to be sure since slight misspellings and other tricks can lead you to a totally different website.

However, hovering over the third "link" shows that clicking the apparent link would go to some website http://behappy.vn (Vietnam) so clearly this is a DECEPTION.

[[image:Scamscreenshot.png]]

=== Attachments ===

There is no way to determine if an attachment, even from someone you know, has not been infected and is therefore dangerous. The only protection is to rely on anti-virus/anti-malware software in your computer.

You can check the names and file types/extensions of attached files to spot any obviously strange or unexpected attachments but this is not very effective. Don't open attachments ending in .jar or any others without NEOSYS admin's permission.

Be careful that if there are a lot of attached files not to assume that all are safe because the majority are unsafe.

== Handling junk email ==
Any email identified as junk should be manually marked as Junk so that they automatically go into the Junk folder. The spam filter in the server will use the emails in the Junk folder to decide what is moved into the spam folder.

== Avoid burdening email servers with excessive graphics ==

Support MUST install the "Auto Resize Image" addon in Thunderbird to reduce the size of images in emails resulting in a significant reduction in email size. See [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Configure_Auto_Resize_Image| setting up auto resize image]] for details.

It reduces the burden on NEOSYS and NEOSYS client's email servers. This is especially important on long conversations about subjects that include many screenshots, since for just a simple one line reply, the email can consume many MB of space. It massively wastes the email server space and makes backups massive and generally a total waste of resources and time.

To be able to refer back to graphics in previous emails, add the SIZE column to your email program so that you can locate large emails with graphics rapidly without searching back one by one.

==Client Communication Policies==
===Client Meeting Report Policy===

After every Client meeting online or otherwise Support MUST send a Follow-Up email to the Client which is open and fully informative and not brief, stating the events during the meet and any action required by either or both parties. The email to the client must not shrink from discussing contentious issues due to a false sense of politeness or timidity to address issues face on. Obviously one should not be rude but it is not rude to address issues openly.(cc Client managers and NEOSYS Managers)

The follow-up email MUST be sent within 24 hours of completion of the meeting so that the points discussed during the meeting are fresh in all the meeting participants' minds. This means that reports for meetings on the day before the weekend MUST be sent on the SAME day.

In addition to above email if there is some information that needs to be shared internally and cannot be said in public to the client then send a Client Meeting report to Support.

Support must also update the Client Contact Record file in Google Drive immediately after sending out the follow-up email.

===Follow Up of Support Issues===

All voice/chat communication MUST also be followed up with an email confirming at least the gist of the communication to keep the whole support team updated on the issue.

If not possible to contact for any reason, then an email MUST be sent stating so and suggesting or requesting a time to connect.

cc Client managers (and/or BCC NEOSYS Managers) MAY be done if thought to be useful and/or appropriate.

===Handling Contentious Emails from Clients===

If emails requesting support become contentious, then voice, phone call or chat is REQUIRED to save time. However, client support via phone call should be done only on local or low-cost calls. High-cost international calls should not be used except in extreme circumstances.

If clients become deliberately combative or uncooperative then Support team is supposed to kick back a little but still emphasise the point. Perhaps it could be done better with a little ironic humour or a smiley. Avoid using !! while responding to contentious emails.

=== Discussing Pricing ===
All discussions about pricing must be done only in Sales inbox. If clients bring up pricing discussion in support emails, NEOSYS staff must respond to the client by starting a new thread in the Sales Inbox.

==NEOSYS Support Response Time Policy==

NEOSYS contracts, in the few cases where we have a written contract with the client, specifies that maximum response time is one business day generally and one business hour for complete stoppages of the system. Obviously we have to do far better than this in practice.

Support staff must inform clients of the progress of the issue if it is not resolved the same day but only if they contact at least 1 hour before office closing.

Deciding to wait on issues is fine (also refer to: [[Procedures#Handling_users_who_do_not_act_upon_standard_messages|Response to standard messages]]), but support MUST at least spend up to 5 minutes on issues to see if they can be handled quickly.

For routine requests for service where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client then no need to send rapid reply.

==Handling errors discovered by support staff ==
{{Handling errors}}

==Handling Cheques from Clients==

NEOSYS staff are not to accept deliveries from clients that might be cheques without prior instructions to accept the same. They can ask courier to wait a few minutes until NEOSYS accounts or management agrees but they may not be available and probably will not agree anyway. NEOSYS payment terms do not accept cheques although clients are free to deposit cheques by themselves.

== Client Password Policy ==
All client user passwords, including their initial one, are to be obtained via the user's email address using the password reminder/reset button on the login screen. [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#What_is_NEOSYS_password_policy.3F (NEOSYS password policy)]

NEOSYS staff should never know users passwords therefore NEOSYS will not obtain and grant user passwords. The reason for this is that in the event that users lose their passwords to other people who then login unauthorised then suspicion could fall on the NEOSYS staff who know their password.

All parties concerned, including client management, client users and NEOSYS support staff, benefit greatly from trusting that if something in a NEOSYS database is registered as having been done by a particular user then it was not in fact somehow done by NEOSYS support staff. Nothing should be done that would break such fundamental trust. To achieve this, NEOSYS support staff must never log in as particular users, never ask for users passwords and generally enforce the idea that all work logged as being done by users IS done by users.

Very limited amounts of work by NEOSYS support staff either in person or remotely using teamviewer is acceptable while a user is logged as long as the user login was performed by the user themselves, the user is present and the user specifically agrees with the work being done.

=== Support requests from ordinary client users ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords will be forwarded to known skilled users on the client staff since this is the most efficient (not fastest) way to handle such issues.

=== Support requests from senior client management ===
Any support requests concerning inability to obtain passwords by senior client management users shall be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bearing in mind that NEOSYS staff should never know user's passwords this will probably involve NEOSYS staff using the Password Reminder/Reset button to send a new password to the user.

=== User Defined Passwords ===
NEOSYS will provide user defined passwords in very special cases which must be pre-approved case by case by NEOSYS management. NEOSYS will not approve this due to the reasons mentioned [[Procedures#Client_Password_Policy|here]].

If the user login gets blocked due to multiple login failures and the user requests support team to reset the password to the user defined password again, support MUST delay the response to this request by at least 1 hour in order to force the user to be more careful when typing the password.

Currently permission for user defined password has only been granted to one NEOSYS client with several hundreds of databases.

== Handling client issues and requests==

All support issues must be dealt with through phone/email/chat. Support Staff can schedule client visits for User Training but should not schedule client visits solely for providing support for petty issues.

ALL Support staff should check the all the previous day's inbound emails for reply flags once in the morning. All Support staff will therefore be held responsible for any unreplied inbound email.

Support staff should NOT waste time and delay support by investigating issues WITHOUT having sufficient information.

Support staff should look for similar issues when solving a particular problem to avoid similar issues in future. This saves the time and energy of Support as well as the Client.

When sending screenshots to clients, support team should economise on space by minimising to the minimum that will show the problem clearly. This is because not every user will be viewing their emails on large wide screens like NEOSYS support team. Browser windows reformat their contents to suit the width available so this is particularly effective in most NEOSYS screens.

Support team MUST be cautious while sending screenshots so that no private/unnecessary information is sent to Client. If you cant avoid taking the screenshot without unnecessary information then you should hide it in the screenshot.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

=== Handling new emails in Support inbox===
Support MUST spend up to 5 minutes on new emails and send a quick reply to the client, to acknowledge the request or give a quick solution in case its a petty issue or has a documented solution in wiki. This should probably be done on priority, interrupting existing work and not wait for one hour and be dealt with quickly.

For routine service requests where there is a reasonable expectation of delay by the client, Support does not need to send a rapid reply.

=== Handling client call back requests===

Clients who ask us to call them should be given our phone number asked to call us unless there is some GOOD reason why we should make the effort and pay phone charges.

=== Handling login failure issues===

Users often get login failure issues due to typing wrong password and they simply won't read and act according to the error message they get. In this case, Support must send the below email to the user.

<pre>
Dear XYZ,

If you have trouble resetting password, please ask for assistance from your manager/IT Manager/Timesheet Administrator/NEOSYS-expert colleague.

Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

Local support users (TA or IT manager etc) have the LS key using which they can see the User Details page of all users. They should check all the information (usercode, registered email id, last login attempts etc) in the User Details page to find out what is the issue.

This procedure will reduce the endless mails sent back and forth to solve petty issues which could easily be solved by the client's local support.

=== Handling requests or demands for "URGENT" or "PRIORITY" support ===

Any request for prioritised action *without giving any reason for the prioritisation* should be disregarded and the request handled with normal priority. If a reason is given then you may at your discretion prioritise a response but there is no obligation to do so.

=== Handling users who login with other people's NEOSYS usercodes ===
This can cause a lot of confusion in both the client and NEOSYS support. It may also indicate that the correct NEOSYS monthly licensing fee is not being paid. There is no valid reason for anonymous logins or sharing logins between multiple users.

Therefore if NEOSYS support team get requests for support about using NEOSYS from users who are not registered properly in NEOSYS with an personally identifiable user code, name and email then the following email should be sent cc admin@neosys.com.

No exception should be granted to clients without NEOSYS management approval.

<pre>
Dear NEOSYSUSER,

Please note that in order to receive support from NEOSYS you must personally have an identifiable user code, name and email address registered
in NEOSYS.

We can create new user account for you with your management approval. This may or may not have an impact on the NEOSYS monthly licensing fee
depending on the agreement in force.

Please let us know what you would like us to do.

Best Regards,
NEOSYS Support
</pre>

=== Handling support requests from expired users ===

If expired users call for any reason including not being able to login, they must not be given any support. They should only be told that their account is expired without any reason being offered because employers sometimes do not want any information at all being passed to expired users.

===Handling support request from senior management===

Any support requests from senior client management users concerning report generations should be handled directly by NEOSYS support staff in any way convenient to resolve the issue in the quickest possible time rather than the most efficient.

Bear in mind that NEOSYS staff should not agree or offer to do client work. Support staff can advise senior management to contact a skilled user to help them with basic NEOSYS reporting. Support staff can also send screenshots of step by step procedure on how to take reports. Depending on the situation and reasons provided by senior management, support staff can at their discretion provide reports but after informing them that this is an exception and no more reports will be sent out as this is against NEOSYS procedures.

=== Handling emails with unrelated subject line ===
At times, clients forward old emails, with new issues, resulting in completely unrelated subject line. In such situations, support should create a new email, copy the new issue from the old email and paste it into the new email. This way, unrelated emails will not appear in the same conversation group when viewing emails in conversation mode.

In the new email, include a comment like "PS Please don't forward old emails for new issues, start a new email with a new subject so that emails can be traced easily."

Sometimes the client does not bother putting the correct subject line for new issues (eg. blank subject, or "Error"). Then support should add a meaningful subject line in order to make the email easy to search for.

=== Handling emails with poor screenshots ===
Sometimes Thunderbird shows full sized screenshots in a compact format that is not easy to read. These can be resized to make them more legible. To do this, make the email editable by hitting the "Reply" button, then click and drag to resize the screenshot as desired.

If the screenshot sent by the user is genuinely small and hard to read, reply to the mail and request for a full size, clear screenshot.

=== Handling support-request emails sent to anywhere than support@neosys.com ===
Client emails anywhere than support@neosys.com MUST be ignored. This is because ALL support must be recorded in support inbox without exception so that the whole support team is aware of the issue and action taken. If client complains about the delay in support then they can be told this is because they used the wrong email address.

=== Handling users who do not act upon standard messages ===
When users do not bother to read and act on standard NEOSYS-generated messages and instead ask for help, Support staff MUST delay response time and thereafter send them an email which is the same as the message so they get the point that in future they should read the messages and handle issues themselves.

=== Handling Requests to do Client work ===
NEOSYS Support staff must not agree or offer to do work on behalf of the client.

This is because doing client work while logged in as NEOSYS breaks security rules. Support uses the NEOSYS username which has unrestricted access, so when a user requests Support to do some work which they don’t have access to, and if Support agrees to do the work, the client has successfully defeated the security rules by accessing features that they are unauthorized to access.

'''Requests for colour and font changes'''

Support should not be spending lots of time on colour and font changes. Clients can make as many changes as they want until they are happy with a selection. Clients MUST send screenshot of their required color/font settings (not sample screen/reports) for Support to copy and setup for all users. If Support sees them doing something bad or poor then give comments or better suggestions.

=== Handling Requests that require Approval from Higher Authority ===

The following is a list of user requests that must be handled by NEOSYS support staff only if they are approved by or come from a higher authority (manager/admin). The LIST is '''NOT''' a complete list so there may be other things which might require approval so use good judgement and/or ASK if in doubt.

*Opening new financial year
*Adding new company/dataset
*Editing alert/backup email receiver addresses
*Customising Authorisation File ({{SensitiveSecurity }})
**Adding or removing accesses for existing users in Authorisation file
**Adding new user(s) to Authorisation file
**Expiring a user
**[[Procedures#For_HTTPS_access| Allowing HTTPS/outside office access from any IP number]]

If an unauthorized user sends one of these requests to support staff, support staff must immediately instruct the user to get the request approved by the higher authority.

===Handling User Requests to add an IP or range of IPs to access NEOSYS===

Support staff must identify if the IP or range of IPs is for http or https access.
{{SensitiveSecurity }}

====For HTTP access====
Support staff can add local IP or range of local IPs when requested by the client. Top management approval is not needed to add local IP numbers. Listed below are the IP address ranges reserved for local network.

10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

====For HTTPS access====
Any request for https access from any IP address or range of IP addresses (eg. 123.456.* or just *), or in other words any use of an asterisk in the IP restrictions, MUST have TOP management i.e. the company's decision makers approval. The Staff and their Managers are not the best decision makers in this affair because they usually ignore the risks and it is not really their decision. Security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled. It is completely pointless to inform the staff who want the access about these risks because only their top managers could really decide that this is NOT going to be allowed. Hence the Top Management MUST be asked for approvals and at the same time WARN them about the security risks/threats behind the no IP restrictions.

=====For clients with static IP=====
Any request to add a specific IP address to the list of allowed IP addresses MUST have management approval.

=====For clients with dynamic IP=====
For clients with dynamic IP, support MUST NOT add their public IP to the allowed list as this will encourage the client to again request for access from new IP numbers every time their public IP changes. Instead, support MUST force the client to either install VPN or get the Top Management i.e. the company's decision maker's approval to enable access from any IP after explaining the security risks in doing so, as mentioned above.

Support MUST also mention that installation of VPN by the Company is the industry standard way of providing access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER. Installation of VPN is to be done by their own IT support. Refer to [[Procedures#Using_VPN_to_enable_secure_access_from_outside_the_office|Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office]]

Sample Email:
<pre>
Dear XXX,

I do not recommend allowing access from all IPs because security threats like access of data by unauthorized persons or ex-employees, malicious hacking attempts etc. can be triggered if access from any IP is enabled.

I strongly recommend that you keep IP restrictions for XYZ dataset.

If you want to provide access to mobile staff (i.e. those on dynamic IP numbers from home or travelling) to corporate software assets like NEOSYS IN A SECURE MANNER, then installation of VPN is the industry standard of achieving this. Installation of VPN is to be done by your own IT support.

If you still wish to allow access from all IPs, kindly confirm that you acknowledge the security threats of doing so.

</pre>

=== Handling repeated request to allow users to access from all IPs ===

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

If the client wants temporary access from outside for some staff twice in say a six months period then support should send the below email. The real reason is because we don't have the time to be doing this on a regular basis. If at all the client asks why we no longer support the provision of temporary outside access then we can say this is because of the frequency of such requests.

Dear XXX

We have given you temporary outside access this time, as requested. Please note that we can no longer support the provision of temporary outside access. So in the future, you will have to choose between either permanent or no outside access. Alternatively, you can ask your management to install a VPN (which is the industry standard of achieving outside access to a corporate asset in a secure manner), so that you can log in to NEOSYS from outside.

=== Handling requests to create a new feature or modifying existing features ===

Many issues are small and not important but can still be considered for development because they may be easy and neatly added to NEOSYS. The aim here is to avoid development on hard issues for little benefit, or little issues that make NEOSYS more complex for little benefit.

When a client requests to create a new feature or modify an existing feature, a workaround must be given to the user, which is either a permanent solution, for example if the issue is a rare case and not commonly faced by other clients (and the workaround is acceptable to the client), or a temporary solution until some better solution is discovered or can be developed.

Any request to create a new feature or modify an existing feature MUST be discussed with other clients before forwarding it to the programmer because the other clients might not be comfortable with the change as it may not be in accordance with their workflow. If other clients agree to the proposed change then support should go ahead and request the programmer to implement it.

Therefore before escalating a request to the programmer to modify a feature in NEOSYS, the approval for the same from other clients must be taken into account.

When escalating the request to the programmer, support MUST avoid using "Is it possible..?" because the obvious answer to that is "Anything is possible" and because this question is only a way to avoid doing the real work of deciding whether the new feature/modification should be implemented.

=== Updating Clients about unresolved issues ===
Support should proactively inform clients if an issue is not solved within the same day it was raised, after judging the urgency of the issue and the time it was raised. An email to the client who raised the issue, before the end of each day, is a best practice that keeps the client updated and other support staff too. This email should be sent regardless of the degree to which the issue has been resolved or if the issue is unresolved. If the issue is unresolved, the email should explain why and also explain the cause of delay.

=== Handling new USER creation ===
Support staff should create new USERS for clients ONLY when requested by an authorised person.

If the request comes from an unauthorised person, then support MUST reply to the same person informing them that this request must come from an authorised person. Support MUST NOT directly contact the authorised person asking for approval/confirmation because that is client work.

Clients should not be discouraged to create new users. Clients are billed as per user usage which is reviewed periodically. Over time old USERS are replaced with new USERS.

The USER code is the first name of a user.

{{SensitiveSecurity }}

Support team MUST NOT discuss billings with clients unless authorised to do so. Also see [[Procedures#Discussing_Pricing|Discussing Pricing]]

Support team MUST NOT proceed with creating new users until the following details have been clearly provided by the client, otherwise the user may end up with more than the required authorisation, which can lead to problems in future.

New user requirements :-
*Full name
*Email address
*Group level / User with similar authorisation

After the new user has been created, Support Staff must send an email to the person who requested the creation of new user, confirming that the new user has been created along with a screenshot of that part of the authorisation table where the new user was created so that the new user's usercode and email id is visible. This is done so that in case there is some error in the usercode or email id, it is easily visible in the screenshot and also so that the person who requested the creation of the new user is informed about the usercode of the new user.

=== Handling letterhead change requests ===

Support staff should reject any requests that require the letterhead to be setup on the TESTING dataset before it is setup in the MAIN dataset.This is to reduce double work for support staff and to ensure that clients have a clear understanding of their requirements and also send the correct logo image.
The MAIN dataset can be copied to the TEST dataset for any kind of testing.

See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Configuring_Letterhead#Changing_the_letterhead_for_printed_documents How to change letterhead]

=== Handling error messages ===

'''Important:''' Before Attempting to resolve client issues, please ensure that we have secure access to the NEOSYS server.

#The very first step is understanding client problem. Ask questions to the client until you CLEARLY understand the problem.
#If the error is familiar and does not require a screenshot, resolve the problem immediately.
#If the error is unfamiliar and/or requires a screenshot and the user has not sent a screenshot, IMMEDIATELY ask the user to send a screenshot of the problem, along with the options used (basically you need to know HOW to replicate the error and the screenshot MUST show WHAT the error is).
#If the user says "nothing happens, so no screenshot of the error", then IMMEDIATELY request for screenshots again with the exact steps to reproduce the problem using mouse and keyboard.
#Upon receipt of the error and steps to reproduce the error, follow the steps and reproduce the error. Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues|Addressing Browser related issues]]
#If the issue is unknown or you don’t understand it clearly, with the users acknowledgement use remote support to gain access to the users desktop to view how to replicate the error.
{{Handling errors}}

=== Addressing Browser related issues ===

When resolving random browsing issues that seem to be on one user computer only, support MUST send the below email asking the user to check if the same issue occurs on other user computers. Rapidly convincing the user that the problem is only on their computer gains their willingness to sort the problem out at their end, using IT people if necessary and available.

Handling random issues that appear to be on one computer is very very common and it is important to deal with it effectively, not requiring stages of "denial" by the users until they accept something has to be done at their end, and not by NEOSYS. Speeding up this process gains the confidence and appreciation of the users.

<pre>Hi xxxx

Is this error happening only on your computer? If that is the case, it may be due to an issue in your browser cache. Please clear your browser cache with assistance from your IT team if required. Then restart the browser and try again.

If clearing browser cache does not fix the issue, I recommend a full browser reset to ensure that everything works fine.

Follow these instructions for clearing browser cache and resetting browser:
http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers

Please let us know if you face the issue again.</pre>

Also refer to [[Procedures#Handling_Browser_related_issues_in_NEOSYS| Handling Browser related issues]]

=== Addressing Technical support emails ===

In the case of technical support issues, address emails to the IT person and cc the complete group of recipients of backup emails and other NEOSYS alert emails. This allows both NEOSYS and client IT staff to take credit for resolving issues that NEOSYS raises instead of working in the background unacknowledged.

Technical support issues include backup failure, server failure, missing alert email, server connectivity issues and port forwarding issues and many other issues.

For technical issues like browser configuration, clear cache, etc. support must send the user a link to the appropriate wiki article to help the user fix the problem. In some cases the user may be helpless and unable to follow the steps to fix the problem. In such cases, support MUST NOT waste time trying to help the user fix the problem, instead support MUST ask the user to get help from the IT person.

=== Acceptable report format when handling issues in NEOSYS reports ===

NEOSYS Support must only resolve issues in NEOSYS output first. This is because only NEOSYS outputs can be trusted and user versions in Excel or PDF could be copied wrongly or edited by the user.

In case users send reports in excel or other formats, get them to send the original NEOSYS HTML report as an attachment or copy-pasted in email.

=== Handling requests to create new charts or control accounts===

[http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Setting_up_and_Configuring_NEOSYS_Finance_System#Creating_New_Charts_or_Control_Accounts Refer here]

=== Handling issues with totals on reports ===

If a client has a problem with any total output by NEOSYS software then NEOSYS support will advise them which other NEOSYS report or reports provide a complete breakdown of the total (if necessary, to individual transactions) and ask the client to locate any offending transactions themselves.

NEOSYS support staff will handle any issues where the total on the breakdown report does not add up to the total on the summary report.

Reconciling totals can be hard if there are many transactions involved. Regardless of how hard it may be, reconciliation is an operational task for users not for support staff since NEOSYS support staff will not get involved in understanding client transactions or data.

==== Trial Balance and Financial Statements ====

NEOSYS support staff do not have to prove or trace any figures in NEOSYS Trial Balance Reports or any financial reports. If a figure is stated to be wrong by the user, then NEOSYS support staff should ask for proof or say NEOSYS is confident that the figures are correct unless proved otherwise.

NEOSYS support staff should point out reports in NEOSYS which will support the figures in question but not actually run the reports. Support staff can suggest the users to refer to detailed ledger accounts to prove balances.

== Using VPN to enable secure access from outside the office ==
There are two ways in which a user can use VPN:
*User connects to the their office router and makes the PC act like it is on the office LAN.
*User connects to a VPN service that provides a static IP number and can therefore be authorised by NEOSYS to login.

If the client intends to use VPN to connect to their office router and make the PC act like it is on the office LAN, then it depends on what VPN protocols the client's office router supports.

The alternative is to use a paid VPN service that provides a static IP number. Getting a dynamic IP number on VPN is very cheap and there are many suppliers, but getting a static IP number on VPN services seems to be more expensive.

Internally in NEOSYS we use PFSENSE routers which support OPENVPN which is extremely flexible.

==Handling issues with Office PBX phones==

Support should check their respective Office PBX phones every morning to find out if the phone is up and working. In case Support finds any issue with their phone, immediately fix it so that clients do not lose contact with the Support team via phone. Next send an email to Support inbox mentioning the fault, cause and solution for records/future prevention.

==Configuring Browsers to show Javascript errors in NEOSYS==
NEOSYS Support MUST ensure the following Settings for browsers because if NEOSYS generates any javascript error message, the same would appear in the bottom left corner of a window, which in turn helps the programmer to fix the error. This must be done after every Factory Reset.

===Internet Explorer===
Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Browsing - the items Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer) and Disable script debugging (Other) are '''UNTICKED'''.

===Chrome===
Chrome Menu > More Tools > Extensions > Get More Extensions, search for '''Javascript Errors Notifier'''. Add the extension to Chrome.

[[image:Chrome.png]]

[[image:Chrome1.png]]
===Firefox===
Firebug add-on is used to NOTIFY about script errors because we have no other method to get any warning on screen but you should use the main firefox developer tools to investigate any errors as firebug is essentially replaced by built in developer tools.

For developer tools, go to Tools > Web Console

To enable notifications for script errors, download the add-on Firebug from [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/ here]. When a Javascript error is encountered, the firebug icon will report the number of errors.

Set your firebug as per the second screen shot and select "Enable All Panels" as well, the tick will not appear like the other options but the option will get selected. If you miss out on any one of these steps, you will not be able to capture script errors.

[[file:firebug1.jpg|1200px]]

[[File:Firebug.png]]

==Handling Browser related issues in NEOSYS==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Technical_/_Hardware_requirements#NEOSYS_Software_Browser_and_OS_Requirements NEOSYS browser requirements]

Clients frequently ask [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/General_FAQ#Why_doesnt_NEOSYS_support_my_XYZ_browser.3F Why NEOSYS doesn't support other browsers]

To avoid browser errors, all new users must follow the steps given in [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Using_NEOSYS_Generally#Getting_started_with_NEOSYS Getting started with NEOSYS] before logging in to NEOSYS for the first time.

To troubleshoot browser related errors see [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_Web_Browsers Troubleshooting Web Browsers]

Users must clear browser cache after every NEOSYS Upgrade to avoid errors. See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS#Sample_email_to_be_sent_to_clients_who_face_issues_due_to_failure_in_clearing_browser_cache Sample email to clients who face issues due to failure in clearing browser cache]

Pop-up blockers and any 3rd party toolbars must be deactivated/switched off or else certain pages and alert messages while using NEOSYS do not appear as a result of blocking from either the pop-up blocker or toolbars with built-in pop-up blockers.

NEOSYS support must ask users to Reset browser (See [http://userwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Reset_Browser Reset browser]) if they notice any user browsers which have pop-up blockers or 3rd party toolbars installed.

Also refer to [[Procedures#Addressing_Browser_related_issues| Addressing Browser related issues]]

== Handling NEOSYS Upgrade==
See [http://techwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Upgrading_NEOSYS Upgrading NEOSYS]

== Using Support Tools ==
=== Website Live Support ===
www.neosys.com is equipped with a Live Support software and clients can visit the website, click on this link and chat with any of our support staff, without the need for any installation. The client has to fill in their name and enter their questions to connect to an available support personnel. During non-working hours, the Live Support icon on the website automatically displays "offline".

NEOSYS Support personnel who are authorised to provide such support, need to login to Live helper chat in Firefox using the link given below:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin

Support personnel should enter the account details as provided by their Manager.

Enable notifications for Live helper chat so that whenever there is a visitor trying to contact Support team, the Support personnel will get the notifications on his screen. Set the Live helper chat login page as your home page in firefox.

Use the link below to enable notifications:

http://neosys.com/lhc/lhc_web/index.php/site_admin/chat/listchatconfig

After setting up Live helper chat if you sign in to a new profile in firefox, you might have to re enable the notifications after your firefox is synced to the new profile.

=== Teamviewer ===
Since Teamviewer allows no restriction on access once a fixed pass is installed, Support must not install fixed pass on teamviewer however convenient it might be.

RULE: NO FIXED PASS TO BE INSTALLED ON TEAMVIEWER IN ANY NEOSYS OR NEOSYS CLIENT COMPUTER

Running teamviewer live from a web link is fine because it does not allow installation of a permanent password

For certain tasks that require temporary install of Teamviewer on the client servers (e.g. upgrading Cygwin remotely), use Teamviewer 7 on the server as well as Support staff computer. Contact NEOSYS IT for commercial license of Teamviewer 7. Teamviewer MUST be uninstalled after usage, otherwise it creates an additional unnecessary security risk.

To support client users who use the latest version of Teamviewer, support staff must also install the latest Teamviewer version available alongside Teamviewer 7.

== Documenting Processes in Wiki ==
NEOSYS Support staff must be in continual learning mode. This is mandatory for support staff and is not an option. Support must read, learn and understand everything in the support emails and ask questions if they don't understand. This understanding must be transferred into wiki in the form of new articles and improvements to existing articles.

For all articles related to formatting and editing in Wiki, see [http://itwiki.neosys.com/index.php/Documenting_NEOSYS_systems Documenting NEOSYS systems]

===Avoiding duplication of text in wiki===

Duplication of text in wiki is to be avoided almost at any cost. Duplication has the problem that when one copy is changed or improved in future then it is highly likely the editor will fail to update the other copy or copies and wiki will over time become an inconsistent mess.

There are several ways to avoid duplication:

#Two or more procedures which have significant areas of duplication can be rewritten as a single procedure with alternatives in the middle of the procedure
#Wiki Templates- Templates reproduce the same text in all places and editing one place edits all places. See [[How to create templates in wiki]]
#Wiki links- Only put the text in one place and put links to that in all the other places that it is appropriate.
#Place a note in all copies something to the effect that "This is similar to x, y and z". This alerts any future editor of all other places in wiki that might also have to be updated.

Future modifications in one place may or may not be appropriate to other places. The editor must decide whether to change one or all places

===Highlighting information in wiki===

To highlight particular instructions or info in wiki do NOT invent new styles which are not the way the rest of wiki is done. Instead, follow the USUAL STYLE or open a DISCUSSION with any recommendations you have BEFORE USING THEM.

Instead of using various kinds of highlighting styles like bolding and words like "Note:", use the following words IN CAPITALS especially the word MUST.

The use of the following words IN CAPITALS indicates that you are using them in a special way with formally defined meaning as explained below. Use of the words in lower case indicates that you are using the word in an ordinary commonsense meaning.

*MAY - means optional
*SHOULD - means recommended and you need GOOD reason (not just any weak excuse) to not follow to follow this recommendation
*MUST - mandatory

Only in the rare cases where the consequences of doing or not doing something are irreversible or take a lot of work to reverse then you can use your own additional highlighting methods, eg ALL CAPS, stars, color red etc.

==== Explain WHY ====

Any sentence which uses the word "MUST" in capitals, MUST be followed by a SPECIFIC REASON explaining exactly why is the instruction is mandatory; the reason MUST not be vague and non-specific meaning no more than "or bad things will happen".

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules.

WRONG way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise it will cause problems in future.

CORRECT way: You MUST also delete ads if deleting schedules otherwise the deleted schedules' ads will still show in all media-diary like reports and screens

The Wrong way above gives a general reason "it will cause problems in future" which is vague and a reader may even go ahead and ignore "MUST" because there is no objective or proper side effect mentioned for not following the MUST statement. Basically he doesn't understand the point behind following a certain rule.

Whereas the Correct way gives a SPECIFIC reason for "deleting ads while deleting schedules", so reader will exactly know the trouble that will be caused if ads are not deleted. Therefore "SPECIFIC REASON" behind using the word MUST must be to the point and very informative.

==== Why explain WHY ====
The information contained in the WHY phrase is often '''extremely informative''' to the reader about things that you may otherwise not have considered saying.

The most valuable information is usually contained in the "WHY" of something. There is an apocryphal story of a company where managers could be fired if they gave instructions to their staff without providing explanation. In almost all cases it is better for the efficiency of a team of people that any instructions they follow contain the "WHY" of something. Only in few cases should staff be expected to follow instructions without being well or fully informed.

== Email Retention Policy ==

=== Generally ===

Emails are retained permanently to allow old issues to be discovered in email searches.

=== Account: backups@neosys.com ===

Only the last 365 days of emails to backups@neosys.com are kept in general to reduce the burden on servers and clients due to the heavy number of emails.

For the backups/neosys folder, only 31 days is kept due to the very high numbers of emails ~250/day.

Deletions are configured in and done by a thunderbird client in NEOSYS IT so may not be continuous.

== Use of personal email addresses by NEOSYS support staff ==

NEOSYS support staff MUST NOT use any personal email addresses for NEOSYS business.

The xxxx.neosys@gmail.com addresses that are created by support staff for themselves on joining are also considered personal email addresses and must not be used for NEOSYS business. These email addresses might be linked to NEOSYS wiki accounts but that doesn't matter because wiki is not confidential.

== Accessing NEOSYS accounts on personal devices ==

NEOSYS staff MUST NOT install NEOSYS accounts on skype/dropbox/gmail (or any other external tool) on their personal devices without written permission from NEOSYS management

== Support Staff work-in-progress documents/files ==

Support Staff must not save working files hidden on their computer. Work that is not visible is not work .
Support work should not be done privately and should be shared to all.

ALL personal working files however trivial MUST be stored in Dropbox and MUST NOT be stored anywhere in personal computer (My Documents/Desktop etc.)

The personal encrypted pass file MUST be stored somewhere in personal folder under SB NEOSYS staff in Dropbox. This is because if there is a loss of OS/Computer, it should not lead to loss of access as all the passwords saved in the file will be lost.

== Handling CLIENT/NEOSYS Servers ==

NEOSYS support staff must exercise extreme caution when working on CLIENT and NEOSYS servers. Do not risk making changes without due care and attention to the fact that the consequences of errors can be serious on working production servers.

=== Handling Javascript Files in NEOSYS ===

All the files in NEOSYS installation folder with .JS and .JSE extension are the executable javascript files which startup NEOSYS processes (in a usual DOS window). Their default program is 'Microsoft Windows Based Script Host' (wscript.exe). If a JavaScript file is opened using a notepad, the default program may change to notepad resulting in all NEOSYS processes to open up in a notepad.

Hence be very CAREFUL when accessing a .JS and .JSE file and double check that the default program remains wscript.exe. Refer to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Fixing 'NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (i.e. DOS window)'|Fixing NEOSYS process which opens up in a notepad instead of Microsoft Windows Based Script Host]] in case this issue comes up.

== Handling "List of Open Ports" reports ==

This email comes to NEOSYS support team once a day showing only those client's servers which appear to have changed what TCP ports are open to the internet since yesterday. It will also come once a week showing all clients servers open ports.

NEOSYS support team should work patiently with client IT staff, over time if necessary, to close all ports that are not absolutely mandatory to be open.

Clients with highly skilled IT staff may have a variety of ports open to various non-NEOSYS servers inside their organisation. In this case, NEOSYS plays little role other than getting their confirmation of exactly what ports are acceptable. Any new ports that appear over time should be handled in the same way.

For clients without such staff, NEOSYS is their only real line of defence and since NEOSYS requested opening some ports, we should get all other ports closed by patiently following up until action is taken. Involving management may be the only way to get IT to act.

In particular, port 80 and 443 controlling internal or external routers should be closed. It is NOT acceptable except in HIGH IT EXPERTISE environments that critical routers should be exposed to the internet and they MUST NOT be accessible from the internet because routers that do not have their software updated can be hacked using known defects. Even updated routers can be hacked. Making it easy for client IT staff to access the router configuration from outside is NOT a good enough excuse to break this rule. Professional IT does not allow access to critical routers from the internet.

Likewise, any port 80 (unencrypted web access) and port 3389 (RDP remote desktop) open to the NEOSYS server MUST be closed otherwise logins can be monitored and there is no way to guarantee server security.

If a port is definitely required and properly approved to be open by client IT support, please let NEOSYS IT (SB) know and it will be put in the "known" column so that ports in the "unknown" column are all pending action.

The report does not attempt to detect UDP ports since UDP ports can receive information from the internet without responding in any way so there is no way to detect them reliably.

Green color shows ports that have opened since the last report run. Open ports can sometimes not be detected accurately so a port may appear to disappear in one report and reappear in the next report.

== Handling Nagios Client Monitoring system ==

NEOSYS support staff on duty MUST follow the procedures outlined below in case Nagios Checker shows a critical or warning message for any service. Failure to schedule appropriate downtime will lead to REDUNDANT ALERTS from NAGIOS every hour.

# Nagios is required to be checked first thing in the morning and any critical or warning messages need to be dealt with to resolve the same at the earliest.
# Some of the messages could be related to backup failures and the usual procedure as stated in [[Backup_and_Restore#Handling_failure_and_warning_messages_on_nightly_backup_alerts|Handling failure and warning messages on nightly backup alerts]] needs to be followed. In case the backup issue isn't resolved by 9:30 am, the Nagios service needs to be scheduled with downtime for a minimum of 2 hours and maximum until 1 am next day if the issue cannot be solved.
# In case any HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host is down, immediate action is required and the relevant IT people at the client side needs to be contacted to get this resolved. A downtime of 2 hours is required to be scheduled with further intervals of 2 hours in case this is not resolved. Support staff shouldn't schedule downtime till 1 am next day, just to get rid of the alerts for the day. Proactive follow up with the client is required to get this resolved before the business day - more so, if there is a weekend ahead.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH, PING service or Host goes down during the day, a grace period of 20 minutes is given before the issue is reported to the client IT. This helps in case there is any temporary internet connection issue at the client or along the internet route.
# In case of "Backup not changed" warning status which occurs if the client has not interchanged the USB before 12 noon on that day, no action is required from the support staff and a downtime until 1 am next day needs to be scheduled.
# In case the HTTPS, SSH PING service or Host is down for more than 1 day, client IT should acknowledge the problem and give NEOSYS support staff an approximate time frame before which the issue will be resolved. Set an appropriate downtime for such events.
# In case Host is down for more than 2 days and there is no progress with the fix from client IT, the client management should be notified about the seriousness of not having access to server and their acknowledgement is mandatory.
#Support should check Nagios quite frequently during the day to look for any new alerts so that issues are fixed as soon as possible.

To summarise, any red alert left in Nagios Checker means that there is an issue that has not been attended to properly, and "attended to" does not mean solved. Support staff MUST solve the problem immediately if possible, or downtime/acknowledge and comment on the Nagios alert.

== Handling lack of remote access to NEOSYS server located in client’s premises ==

If access to the NEOSYS server is lost then we must determine the root cause by:
# Checking if the server is UP and running
# If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server
# If there is connectivity, please check the router for connectivity issues

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

Please note that we have currently lost access to the NEOSYS server. The server seems to be down at the moment and it seems that
NEOSYS processes are not running on the server.
Kindly check if the server is UP and running. If yes, please check internet connectivity on the server.
Do keep us posted on the server status so we can test connectivity from our side as well.

Best Regards,
</pre>
== New Router (Port Forwarding) ==

If you have changed your router then you may notice that external access to NEOSYS is unavailable.

'''Solution:'''

Setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to the NEOSYS Server as follows:
# Port 19580 > 19580 for SSH
# Port 4430 > 4430 for HTTPS

You can see [http://portforward.com/ Set Up Port Forwarding] to learn how to configure your Router.

To see how to test/ troubleshoot port forwarding settings, go to [[Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_Generally#Troubleshooting_NEOSYS_remote_support_port_forwarding|Troubleshooting Port Forwarding]].

'''Sample Response:'''
<pre>
Dear XYZ,

You are requested to kindly setup a permanent access for NEOSYS by reconfiguring the Router / Firewall for Port Forwarding from Router to
the NEOSYS Server,i.e. port 19580 for SSH and port 4430 for HTTPS.

Once this is complete, kindly send me an email to confirm the same so that we could test connectivity from our end as well.

Best Regards
</pre>
== Creating and Handling passwords ==
Passwords made out of a pass phrase should be at least 10 characters since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts.

=== Creating a password ===
Passwords are generated from a pass phrase and it is important to create a very difficult to guess pass phrase.

For example, a good pass phrase would be: '''Today is a good day and it is the best time to go for a holiday'''

The password for this would be '''Tiagd&iitbt2g4ah'''

The important instructions for the above are:
#You have to take the first letter of each word and that makes your password (i.e. by using initials)
#Wherever any word starts with a capital, then you have to take first letter as a capital (eg. For Today you will take T)
#Replace '''and''' with '''&'''
#Replace '''to''' with '''2'''
#Replace '''for''' with '''4'''

=== Handling passwords ===
#Never send the actual password - always send the pass phrase
#Make sure that the password created out of the pass phrase is at least 10 characters long since using initials results in a lot of i's and a's etc which reduces the effectiveness of the password and allows hacking via brute force guessing especially since windows doesnt slow down logins even if it sees thousands of password attempts
#Pass phrases are never to be sent by email, whatever the case maybe.
#Pass phrases can be sent by chat - however they have to be broken down in two parts and sent separately over two different messengers or if you are using Gtalk then use the 'off the record' mode.
#Using SMS to send pass phrases is the best known way as of now.
#If you save the passwords on your system in an file then:
#*Ensure that you only store pass phrases in the excel file
#*Ensure that the excel file is encrypted with a master password

== NEOSYS Maintenance Window ==

The NEOSYS server is functional from 6am – 1am. There is a 5hr window gap for the system to perform updates & backups.

The 5hr maintenance window:-

1. At 1am – The server performs a data backup on a USB (for the respective clients) & once the backup has been completed, the system automatically generates an email addressed to the neosys staff & the respective clients.

2. At 2:45am – The main data over writes the test data on the server.

3. At 3:00am – The server by itself performs an update for Windows.

4. At 4:00am – The server performs a backup to the headquarters for clients, and then automatically generates an email addressed to the NEOSYS staff & the respective clients.

5. At 6:00am – The server starts up NEOSYS.

== Using NEOSYS Terminology while communicating with Clients ==

NEOSYS support must communicate in correct language to clients on finance issues in order to ensure that our records exactly represent reality. Conversely NEOSYS must not use other terminology because it can cause considerable confusion and poor quality results. In case client is new and still in training, use client terminology optionally as long as
#It is only an addition to NEOSYS standard terminology
#Only if clear that it is client terminology by putting in brackets like this "Sales Invoices (called PI by you)", where "you" means the client you are talking to or you can put the client company name instead perhaps.

The objective is over time to avoid having the support team to have to know the terminology of the client. NEOSYS support team cannot possibly know and remember it for each client therefore the client MUST over time learn and use NEOSYS terminology. The initial period is one of relearning and translation for the client not for NEOSYS.

Many users operating NEOSYS finance module do not know proper financial procedures and may not appreciate how doing something in a wrong or unusual way now may not be correctable in the future.

NEOSYS staff must follow NEOSYS procedures only. If NEOSYS procedures need to be updated then this must be agreed in advance and not AFTER the fact.

== Amending/Reposting Journal Entries ==
In certain exceptional cases, amending/reposting of journal entries is allowed for a brief period of time to enable clients to present reports in an alternative manner. This would be subject to NEOSYS would requiring a written LETTER OF APPROVAL duly signed and stamped by the highest management of the company.

In case the client management decides to allow editing/reposting of journal entries, the following procedure is to be followed:
# Client must de-allocate vouchers which need to be amended
# NEOSYS support staff must wait for a day so that de-allocated vouchers are copied into Test database
# Authorise required users to amend and repost (without record) '''in Test database only''' ( While reposting, we have 2 options i.e. with record and without record. The 'with record' option causes the system to maintain a history of edits made. Hence, we want to repost without record so that there is no trace of the edit in the system)
# Amend a substantial number of vouchers in Test and verify them. To verify if the edits made are reflected:
# *Print all ledgers for the whole year
# *Cross-check all balances
# Once you verify the balances are correct in Test database, grant users permission to amend and repost in the Live database.
# Ask users to amend and repost vouchers in the Live database.
# Cross-check all balances for the current year.
# If you successfully verify the balances, revoke permissions immediately. Else, wait for 24 hours and revoke permissions irrespectively.

== Removal of unauthorized third-party software on client servers ==

Rule: Any third party software that is discovered by NEOSYS support staff on client servers that has been installed without the agreement of NEOSYS should be uninstalled immediately on discovery.

However purposeful a software is, NEOSYS is contractually responsible for support and there are too many opportunities for poorly installed software to cause unpredictable damage to the NEOSYS database so NEOSYS has to have a clear and safe and simple policy to ensure the integrity of client data. Installing software without prior discussion with NEOSYS by itself indicates that insufficient care and consideration as been given to possible issues.

Any software required by client IT for some purpose may only be installed after discussion and agreement from NEOSYS support staff concerning the configuration and operation of the software.

The NEOSYS Software Licence and Support agreement requires that where NEOSYS software is installed on client servers that a dedicated server is provided and dedicated implies that no other software may be installed without the agreement of NEOSYS support.

== Configuring tunnelier to autologin on opening tlp files ==
If you have many tunnelier tlp files in a directory and connect by opening the desired tlp file the, instead of opening the file and then clicking Login you can also right click the file and select Connect.

Alternatively, you can configure tunnelier to login (connect) automatically by following the procedure mentioned below. (Even if you configure automatic login, you can still open and not login by right clicking and choosing Open)

=== Windows 8 ===

Cannot be done using standard Windows UI. Some download utilities can do it. TODO put a safe one in neosys.com/support

=== Windows XP/Vista/7/2008 ===

#Go to My Computer
#Click on Tools -> Folder Options [[image:tunnauto-1.jpg]] 
#Click on File Types
#*Select TLP (Bitvise Tunnelier Profile) [Type "TLP" to find it quickly]
#*Click on Advanced [[image:tunnauto-2.jpg]] 
#Click on Connect and Click on Set Default [[image:tunnauto-3.jpg]] 

== International v/s Indian English ==

There are some words which have completely different meanings in International and Indian English. NEOSYS Staff should follow International English only. Below are the examples of few of those words:

Word: '''Doubt'''

In the English language word "doubt" means to distrust an alleged fact on the basis of a reason, depending on the strength of the reason which may be anything from factual to feeling e.g "I have no reason to doubt him".
This usage is followed worldwide.

Some people especially from Indian origin use "doubt" when they are unaware about a fact. e.g "I want to clear my doubts about this procedure". This is incorrect. The word must be used when you do not agree on something on the basis of a reason and not when you do not have knowledge about it.

==[[ New Employee Training Checklist]]==

==[[ New Client Training Notes]]==

==[[ General Office Procedures]]==

Configuring Thunderbird

2017-06-05T11:40:17Z

Priyanka: /* Clearing out old improperly deleted Thunderbird Accounts */

== Setting Up the Inbox Accounts ==

The instructions given below explain how to set up the "Support" account on Thunderbird.

1. Open Mozilla Thunderbird. Choose the "Create a new account" option. Click on "Skip this and use my existing email" option on the "Welcome to Thunderbird" window.

[[File:Thunderbird_1.jpg]]

2. In the Mail Account Setup window, enter "support@neosys.com" for Your Name, "support@neosys.com" for Email Address and the password provided by Neosys staff. Click on continue.

[[File:Thunderbird_2.jpg]]

3. Click on "Manual Config".

[[File:Thunderbird_3.jpg]]

4. Key in "imap.neosys.com" for incoming IMAP host name, server hostname "smtp.neosys.com" and port "587" for outgoing SMTP and "support.neosys" as username. For SMTP, change the SSL to "STARTTLS" and authentication to "No authentication". Click on the "Re-test" button and then click "Done".

[[File:Thunderbird_4.jpg]]

BEFORE clicking on inbox and BEFORE adding other inboxes, you MUST refer to [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Adding_email_accounts_with_large_numbers_of_emails | Adding email accounts with large numbers of emails]]. This is because if you add all the accounts together at once, they will all sync together and it will take 1-2 days for the sync to complete.

For backups@neosys.com, support2@neosys.com (Nagios), name.neosys@gmail.com repeat the steps mentioned above, with the below-mentioned replacements.

1. For backups@neosys.com, enter "backups@neosys.com" for Your Name, "backups@neosys.com" for Email address and enter the password provided by Neosys staff.
Enter the username as "backups.neosys".

2. For support2@neosys.com, enter "support2@neosys.com" for Your Name, "support2@neosys.com" for Email address and enter the password provided by Neosys staff.
Enter the username as "support2.neosys".

3. For name.neosys@gmail.com, enter your full name for Your Name, "name.neosys@gmail.com" for Email address and enter the password. You do not need to follow the steps for manual config as the settings will be automatically configured.

[[File:thunderbird_6.jpg]]

[[File:thunderbird_7.jpg]]

== Account Settings ==

Verify that the account settings for all the accounts are entered as shown below.

[[File:acsettings1.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings2.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings3.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings4.jpg]]

[[File:Account junk.jpg|500px]]

The Synchronisation & Storage settings should be changed to the settings shown below only at a convenient time, since downloading all the emails will take a lot of time for accounts with large number of emails. Also see [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Adding_email_accounts_with_large_numbers_of_emails |Adding email accounts with large number of emails ]]

[[File:acsettings6.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings7.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings8.jpg]]

The default outgoing mail server should have "smtp.neosys.com" as "Default" and an alternative way via mailout.neosys.com, port: 2500 MUST be added so that in case the main mail server goes down we can at least send emails.

You can add a new mail server using the Add button. Enter mailout server name/port, enter the account username and keep the "Security and Authentication" settings same as smtp.

[[File:acsettings9.jpg]]

=== Switching between the outgoing mail server settings ===

See the screenshot below to switch to a different outgoing mail server in Thunderbird. Set the server as default which you want to use as your outgoing mailout server.

[[File:Mailout.png]]

=== Adding email accounts with large numbers of emails ===

After adding email accounts with large numbers of emails, in order to avoid long wait while downloading all the emails, it is best to change the account settings - BEFORE clicking on INBOX, which triggers the download/sync - to download the bodies of only the last 30 days of emails. The email headings are always synced but that does not take long.

See Account Settings, Synchronisation and Storage.

Since searching of emails only works when the bodies of emails have been downloaded, if you need to text search all emails, then, at a convenient time, you can remove or increase the number of days in the setting and somehow trigger the full sync.

[[File:thla.jpg]]

== Viewing long running processes on Thunderbird ==
When setting up and configuring Thunderbird, using its Activity Manager (Tools > Activity Manager) and possibly using the header bar "Always on top" option on the Activity Manager window may be helpful to know what long running processes are being performed.

[[File:Activity manager.jpg]]

== Deleting Thunderbird accounts==
Check the option "Remove Message Data" when removing accounts from Thunderbird. Otherwise, the old messages stay forever taking space on the disk.

[[File:dt2.png]]

Select Remove Message Data option as shown below.

[[File:dt.png]]

== Add-ons ==

[[File:addon1.jpg]]

== Other configurations ==

===Configure inbox to display selected columns ===

The below options MUST be set in Support Inbox. To do so Right click on a column heading and select the below options:

#Thread
#Starred
#Attachment
#Suject
#Correspondents
#Received: You MUST add column RECEIVED which is the email date received to email inbox because the default Date seems to be the DATE SENT whereas we are primarily interested in the date we received the email. The difference is due to delays in email servers or spam tricks.

The below options MUST NOT be set in Support Inbox

#Junk status: Emails will automatically be moved to Junk folder if the junk icon in this column is clicked. Hence remove Junk Status column so that emails are not accidentally moved to junk. To remove, right-click on a column heading and untick "Junk Status".

=== Configure Mail Content ===

Preferences > Privacy > untick "Allow remote content in messages"

Support MUST set the "Allow remote content in messages" as blocked in Thunderbird without adding any exceptions for any email id. The reason is remote content i.e embedded images, stylesheets etc is a privacy concern as it sends your private information to the mail sender. We do not know the source of these embedded content in emails so cannot trust them as they can be web bugs.

=== Configure Layout View ===

Layout view should be set as Vertical view.

=== Thunderbird Preferences ===

#Preferences > Display > Advanced > untick " Automatically mark messages as read".
#Keep settings as below for Preferences > Security:

[[File:Globaljunk.jpg|500px]]

=== Configure MailAlert ===

Right click Inbox > Mailbox Alert > Edit Mailbox Alert alerts > Select Default message. Set as below. Once set Right click Inbox > Mailbox Alert > check Default message

[[file:thsh.jpg]]

=== Configure Auto Resize Image ===

Set the preferences for the Auto Resize Image add on as shown in the screenshot at the end of this section.

To handle different scenarios when resizing images in emails, follow the below steps:

*Resize all images in the email: Click "Send" followed by "Confirm" on the Auto resize screen.

*Skip resize all images in the email: Click "Send" followed by "Cancel Resizing" on the Auto resize screen.

*Resize Images only in the email trail and skip resizing new images: Click "Resize" on top of your screen and proceed with writing the email/adding new images. When ready to send the email, follow above step for skipping resize all images in the email.

[[File:Resize2.png]]

=== Applying filter for backup failure emails ===

In order to filter any backup failure emails as Important, go to Tools > Message Filters and create a new filter with settings as shown below:

[[File:Filter.jpg]]

==[[Procedures#Email_Retention_Policy| Email Retention Policy]] ==

==[[Procedures#Handling_junk_email| Handling junk emails]]==

== Clearing out old improperly deleted Thunderbird Accounts ==

If you delete Thunderbird accounts without checking the option "Remove Message Data" the old messages stay forever taking space on the disk.

To locate any such unnecessary files

ls -l -h /home/*/.thunderbird/*.default/ImapMail/*/INBOX

<PRE>

-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 16M May 25 16:36 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.gmail.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 668M Mar 29 08:54 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-1.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 242M May 28 14:45 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-2.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 755M May 25 12:39 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-3.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 420M Apr 24 10:27 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-4.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 13G May 28 14:37 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys.com/INBOX

</PRE>

Check the dates, which indicate the date of the last message received, to get a rough idea of what accounts are in use and not in use

Check which of the folders are currently in use by looking in Thunderbird settings for each account one by one, "Server Settings", "Local Directory"

Delete the folders and files which are no in use using whatever method you like.

".thunderbird", like all files and folders which start with a dot, is a hidden folder which you can make visible in Nautilus File Manager by pressing Ctrl+h

Configuring Thunderbird

2017-06-05T11:38:37Z

Priyanka: /* Deleting Thunderbird accounts */

== Setting Up the Inbox Accounts ==

The instructions given below explain how to set up the "Support" account on Thunderbird.

1. Open Mozilla Thunderbird. Choose the "Create a new account" option. Click on "Skip this and use my existing email" option on the "Welcome to Thunderbird" window.

[[File:Thunderbird_1.jpg]]

2. In the Mail Account Setup window, enter "support@neosys.com" for Your Name, "support@neosys.com" for Email Address and the password provided by Neosys staff. Click on continue.

[[File:Thunderbird_2.jpg]]

3. Click on "Manual Config".

[[File:Thunderbird_3.jpg]]

4. Key in "imap.neosys.com" for incoming IMAP host name, server hostname "smtp.neosys.com" and port "587" for outgoing SMTP and "support.neosys" as username. For SMTP, change the SSL to "STARTTLS" and authentication to "No authentication". Click on the "Re-test" button and then click "Done".

[[File:Thunderbird_4.jpg]]

BEFORE clicking on inbox and BEFORE adding other inboxes, you MUST refer to [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Adding_email_accounts_with_large_numbers_of_emails | Adding email accounts with large numbers of emails]]. This is because if you add all the accounts together at once, they will all sync together and it will take 1-2 days for the sync to complete.

For backups@neosys.com, support2@neosys.com (Nagios), name.neosys@gmail.com repeat the steps mentioned above, with the below-mentioned replacements.

1. For backups@neosys.com, enter "backups@neosys.com" for Your Name, "backups@neosys.com" for Email address and enter the password provided by Neosys staff.
Enter the username as "backups.neosys".

2. For support2@neosys.com, enter "support2@neosys.com" for Your Name, "support2@neosys.com" for Email address and enter the password provided by Neosys staff.
Enter the username as "support2.neosys".

3. For name.neosys@gmail.com, enter your full name for Your Name, "name.neosys@gmail.com" for Email address and enter the password. You do not need to follow the steps for manual config as the settings will be automatically configured.

[[File:thunderbird_6.jpg]]

[[File:thunderbird_7.jpg]]

== Account Settings ==

Verify that the account settings for all the accounts are entered as shown below.

[[File:acsettings1.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings2.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings3.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings4.jpg]]

[[File:Account junk.jpg|500px]]

The Synchronisation & Storage settings should be changed to the settings shown below only at a convenient time, since downloading all the emails will take a lot of time for accounts with large number of emails. Also see [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Adding_email_accounts_with_large_numbers_of_emails |Adding email accounts with large number of emails ]]

[[File:acsettings6.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings7.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings8.jpg]]

The default outgoing mail server should have "smtp.neosys.com" as "Default" and an alternative way via mailout.neosys.com, port: 2500 MUST be added so that in case the main mail server goes down we can at least send emails.

You can add a new mail server using the Add button. Enter mailout server name/port, enter the account username and keep the "Security and Authentication" settings same as smtp.

[[File:acsettings9.jpg]]

=== Switching between the outgoing mail server settings ===

See the screenshot below to switch to a different outgoing mail server in Thunderbird. Set the server as default which you want to use as your outgoing mailout server.

[[File:Mailout.png]]

=== Adding email accounts with large numbers of emails ===

After adding email accounts with large numbers of emails, in order to avoid long wait while downloading all the emails, it is best to change the account settings - BEFORE clicking on INBOX, which triggers the download/sync - to download the bodies of only the last 30 days of emails. The email headings are always synced but that does not take long.

See Account Settings, Synchronisation and Storage.

Since searching of emails only works when the bodies of emails have been downloaded, if you need to text search all emails, then, at a convenient time, you can remove or increase the number of days in the setting and somehow trigger the full sync.

[[File:thla.jpg]]

== Viewing long running processes on Thunderbird ==
When setting up and configuring Thunderbird, using its Activity Manager (Tools > Activity Manager) and possibly using the header bar "Always on top" option on the Activity Manager window may be helpful to know what long running processes are being performed.

[[File:Activity manager.jpg]]

== Deleting Thunderbird accounts==
Check the option "Remove Message Data" when removing accounts from Thunderbird. Otherwise, the old messages stay forever taking space on the disk.

[[File:dt2.png]]

Select Remove Message Data option as shown below.

[[File:dt.png]]

== Add-ons ==

[[File:addon1.jpg]]

== Other configurations ==

===Configure inbox to display selected columns ===

The below options MUST be set in Support Inbox. To do so Right click on a column heading and select the below options:

#Thread
#Starred
#Attachment
#Suject
#Correspondents
#Received: You MUST add column RECEIVED which is the email date received to email inbox because the default Date seems to be the DATE SENT whereas we are primarily interested in the date we received the email. The difference is due to delays in email servers or spam tricks.

The below options MUST NOT be set in Support Inbox

#Junk status: Emails will automatically be moved to Junk folder if the junk icon in this column is clicked. Hence remove Junk Status column so that emails are not accidentally moved to junk. To remove, right-click on a column heading and untick "Junk Status".

=== Configure Mail Content ===

Preferences > Privacy > untick "Allow remote content in messages"

Support MUST set the "Allow remote content in messages" as blocked in Thunderbird without adding any exceptions for any email id. The reason is remote content i.e embedded images, stylesheets etc is a privacy concern as it sends your private information to the mail sender. We do not know the source of these embedded content in emails so cannot trust them as they can be web bugs.

=== Configure Layout View ===

Layout view should be set as Vertical view.

=== Thunderbird Preferences ===

#Preferences > Display > Advanced > untick " Automatically mark messages as read".
#Keep settings as below for Preferences > Security:

[[File:Globaljunk.jpg|500px]]

=== Configure MailAlert ===

Right click Inbox > Mailbox Alert > Edit Mailbox Alert alerts > Select Default message. Set as below. Once set Right click Inbox > Mailbox Alert > check Default message

[[file:thsh.jpg]]

=== Configure Auto Resize Image ===

Set the preferences for the Auto Resize Image add on as shown in the screenshot at the end of this section.

To handle different scenarios when resizing images in emails, follow the below steps:

*Resize all images in the email: Click "Send" followed by "Confirm" on the Auto resize screen.

*Skip resize all images in the email: Click "Send" followed by "Cancel Resizing" on the Auto resize screen.

*Resize Images only in the email trail and skip resizing new images: Click "Resize" on top of your screen and proceed with writing the email/adding new images. When ready to send the email, follow above step for skipping resize all images in the email.

[[File:Resize2.png]]

=== Applying filter for backup failure emails ===

In order to filter any backup failure emails as Important, go to Tools > Message Filters and create a new filter with settings as shown below:

[[File:Filter.jpg]]

==[[Procedures#Email_Retention_Policy| Email Retention Policy]] ==

==[[Procedures#Handling_junk_email| Handling junk emails]]==

== Clearing out old improperly deleted Thunderbird Accounts ==

If you delete thunderbird accounts without checking the option "Remove Message Data" the old messages stay forever taking space on the disk.

To locate any such unnecessary files

ls -l -h /home/*/.thunderbird/*.default/ImapMail/*/INBOX

<PRE>

-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 16M May 25 16:36 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.gmail.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 668M Mar 29 08:54 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-1.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 242M May 28 14:45 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-2.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 755M May 25 12:39 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-3.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 420M Apr 24 10:27 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-4.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 13G May 28 14:37 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys.com/INBOX

</PRE>

Check the dates, which indicate the date of the last message received, to get a rough idea of what accounts are in use and not in use

Check which of the folders are currently in use by looking in Thunderbird settings for each account one by one, "Server Settings", "Local Directory"

Delete the folders and files which are no in use using whatever method you like.

".thunderbird", like all files and folders which start with a dot, is a hidden folder which you can make visible in Nautilus File Manager by pressing Ctrl+h

File:Dt.png

2017-06-05T11:37:47Z

Priyanka: Priyanka uploaded a new version of File:Dt.png

Configuring Thunderbird

2017-06-05T11:33:11Z

Priyanka: /* Viewing long running processes on Thunderbird */

== Setting Up the Inbox Accounts ==

The instructions given below explain how to set up the "Support" account on Thunderbird.

1. Open Mozilla Thunderbird. Choose the "Create a new account" option. Click on "Skip this and use my existing email" option on the "Welcome to Thunderbird" window.

[[File:Thunderbird_1.jpg]]

2. In the Mail Account Setup window, enter "support@neosys.com" for Your Name, "support@neosys.com" for Email Address and the password provided by Neosys staff. Click on continue.

[[File:Thunderbird_2.jpg]]

3. Click on "Manual Config".

[[File:Thunderbird_3.jpg]]

4. Key in "imap.neosys.com" for incoming IMAP host name, server hostname "smtp.neosys.com" and port "587" for outgoing SMTP and "support.neosys" as username. For SMTP, change the SSL to "STARTTLS" and authentication to "No authentication". Click on the "Re-test" button and then click "Done".

[[File:Thunderbird_4.jpg]]

BEFORE clicking on inbox and BEFORE adding other inboxes, you MUST refer to [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Adding_email_accounts_with_large_numbers_of_emails | Adding email accounts with large numbers of emails]]. This is because if you add all the accounts together at once, they will all sync together and it will take 1-2 days for the sync to complete.

For backups@neosys.com, support2@neosys.com (Nagios), name.neosys@gmail.com repeat the steps mentioned above, with the below-mentioned replacements.

1. For backups@neosys.com, enter "backups@neosys.com" for Your Name, "backups@neosys.com" for Email address and enter the password provided by Neosys staff.
Enter the username as "backups.neosys".

2. For support2@neosys.com, enter "support2@neosys.com" for Your Name, "support2@neosys.com" for Email address and enter the password provided by Neosys staff.
Enter the username as "support2.neosys".

3. For name.neosys@gmail.com, enter your full name for Your Name, "name.neosys@gmail.com" for Email address and enter the password. You do not need to follow the steps for manual config as the settings will be automatically configured.

[[File:thunderbird_6.jpg]]

[[File:thunderbird_7.jpg]]

== Account Settings ==

Verify that the account settings for all the accounts are entered as shown below.

[[File:acsettings1.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings2.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings3.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings4.jpg]]

[[File:Account junk.jpg|500px]]

The Synchronisation & Storage settings should be changed to the settings shown below only at a convenient time, since downloading all the emails will take a lot of time for accounts with large number of emails. Also see [[Configuring_Thunderbird#Adding_email_accounts_with_large_numbers_of_emails |Adding email accounts with large number of emails ]]

[[File:acsettings6.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings7.jpg]]

[[File:acsettings8.jpg]]

The default outgoing mail server should have "smtp.neosys.com" as "Default" and an alternative way via mailout.neosys.com, port: 2500 MUST be added so that in case the main mail server goes down we can at least send emails.

You can add a new mail server using the Add button. Enter mailout server name/port, enter the account username and keep the "Security and Authentication" settings same as smtp.

[[File:acsettings9.jpg]]

=== Switching between the outgoing mail server settings ===

See the screenshot below to switch to a different outgoing mail server in Thunderbird. Set the server as default which you want to use as your outgoing mailout server.

[[File:Mailout.png]]

=== Adding email accounts with large numbers of emails ===

After adding email accounts with large numbers of emails, in order to avoid long wait while downloading all the emails, it is best to change the account settings - BEFORE clicking on INBOX, which triggers the download/sync - to download the bodies of only the last 30 days of emails. The email headings are always synced but that does not take long.

See Account Settings, Synchronisation and Storage.

Since searching of emails only works when the bodies of emails have been downloaded, if you need to text search all emails, then, at a convenient time, you can remove or increase the number of days in the setting and somehow trigger the full sync.

[[File:thla.jpg]]

== Viewing long running processes on Thunderbird ==
When setting up and configuring Thunderbird, using its Activity Manager (Tools > Activity Manager) and possibly using the header bar "Always on top" option on the Activity Manager window may be helpful to know what long running processes are being performed.

[[File:Activity manager.jpg]]

== Deleting Thunderbird accounts==
checking the option "Remove Message Data" the old messages stay forever taking space on the disk.

[[File:dt2.png]]

[[File:dt.png]]

== Add-ons ==

[[File:addon1.jpg]]

== Other configurations ==

===Configure inbox to display selected columns ===

The below options MUST be set in Support Inbox. To do so Right click on a column heading and select the below options:

#Thread
#Starred
#Attachment
#Suject
#Correspondents
#Received: You MUST add column RECEIVED which is the email date received to email inbox because the default Date seems to be the DATE SENT whereas we are primarily interested in the date we received the email. The difference is due to delays in email servers or spam tricks.

The below options MUST NOT be set in Support Inbox

#Junk status: Emails will automatically be moved to Junk folder if the junk icon in this column is clicked. Hence remove Junk Status column so that emails are not accidentally moved to junk. To remove, right-click on a column heading and untick "Junk Status".

=== Configure Mail Content ===

Preferences > Privacy > untick "Allow remote content in messages"

Support MUST set the "Allow remote content in messages" as blocked in Thunderbird without adding any exceptions for any email id. The reason is remote content i.e embedded images, stylesheets etc is a privacy concern as it sends your private information to the mail sender. We do not know the source of these embedded content in emails so cannot trust them as they can be web bugs.

=== Configure Layout View ===

Layout view should be set as Vertical view.

=== Thunderbird Preferences ===

#Preferences > Display > Advanced > untick " Automatically mark messages as read".
#Keep settings as below for Preferences > Security:

[[File:Globaljunk.jpg|500px]]

=== Configure MailAlert ===

Right click Inbox > Mailbox Alert > Edit Mailbox Alert alerts > Select Default message. Set as below. Once set Right click Inbox > Mailbox Alert > check Default message

[[file:thsh.jpg]]

=== Configure Auto Resize Image ===

Set the preferences for the Auto Resize Image add on as shown in the screenshot at the end of this section.

To handle different scenarios when resizing images in emails, follow the below steps:

*Resize all images in the email: Click "Send" followed by "Confirm" on the Auto resize screen.

*Skip resize all images in the email: Click "Send" followed by "Cancel Resizing" on the Auto resize screen.

*Resize Images only in the email trail and skip resizing new images: Click "Resize" on top of your screen and proceed with writing the email/adding new images. When ready to send the email, follow above step for skipping resize all images in the email.

[[File:Resize2.png]]

=== Applying filter for backup failure emails ===

In order to filter any backup failure emails as Important, go to Tools > Message Filters and create a new filter with settings as shown below:

[[File:Filter.jpg]]

==[[Procedures#Email_Retention_Policy| Email Retention Policy]] ==

==[[Procedures#Handling_junk_email| Handling junk emails]]==

== Clearing out old improperly deleted Thunderbird Accounts ==

If you delete thunderbird accounts without checking the option "Remove Message Data" the old messages stay forever taking space on the disk.

To locate any such unnecessary files

ls -l -h /home/*/.thunderbird/*.default/ImapMail/*/INBOX

<PRE>

-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 16M May 25 16:36 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.gmail.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 668M Mar 29 08:54 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-1.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 242M May 28 14:45 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-2.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 755M May 25 12:39 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-3.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 420M Apr 24 10:27 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys-4.com/INBOX
-rw------- 1 arvind arvind 13G May 28 14:37 /home/arvind/.thunderbird/odi5mrka.default/ImapMail/imap.neosys.com/INBOX

</PRE>

Check the dates, which indicate the date of the last message received, to get a rough idea of what accounts are in use and not in use

Check which of the folders are currently in use by looking in Thunderbird settings for each account one by one, "Server Settings", "Local Directory"

Delete the folders and files which are no in use using whatever method you like.

".thunderbird", like all files and folders which start with a dot, is a hidden folder which you can make visible in Nautilus File Manager by pressing Ctrl+h

File:Dt.png

2017-06-05T11:32:05Z

Priyanka:

File:Dt2.png

2017-06-05T11:31:26Z

Priyanka: