Note: This document focuses on setting up Advanced Revelation in a WinFrame environment. The tips and instructions contained herein apply equally to running OpenInsight in a WinFrame environment with the exception of the instructions that pertain to setting up DOS batch files and printing parameters. Portions of the data contained in this document are based on customer input and have not been verified by Revelation Software. Revelation Software is not responsible for any problems that may result from following the instructions in this document.
WinFrame Server Requirements
| 1. | Use WinFrame version 1.7 from Citrix Numerous WinFrame-specific fixes are made through the normal service pack process. These service packs can be downloaded from Citrix at http://www.citrix.com. As always, have good backups of your WinFrame server. |
| 2. | Do not implement WinFrame load balancing Load balancing requires the use of UNC addressing rather than drive mapping for the application in question. Advanced Revelation does not support UNC addressing. Therefore, load balancing cannot he used at this time. |
| 3. | Be careful if you implement C2 security (Intranet) levels WinFrame 1.7 incorporates four C2 security levels (None, Low, Medium, High). Both the medium and high levels do not allow network drives to be mapped. As mentioned above, Advanced Revelation requires a mapped drive. Therefore, under medium or high security levels, the application can only be installed directly on the WinFrame server (substituting, using SUBST, local drives are allowed). Since this is the least desirable setup for performance and user count (see previous page), using the None or Low levels is strongly recommended. If greater Intranet security is needed, the WinFrame server should be brought inside the corporate firewall. |
| 4. | Format the volume space using NTFS This is NT's native filing system, and is the only file system that supports file level security. It is best to configure the WinFrame server from the outset using NTFS. We have had inconsistent results using the NT file system conversion utility (convert.exe) after configuring FAT partitions. This utility can lead to WinFrame server corruption that will require a reinstallation of the WinFrame software. |
| 5. | Configure the WinFrame box as a "Server", not a domain controller (primary or backup) Configuring the WinFrame server to perform domain level functions results in a drain on system resources. Estimates vary on how much the drain is, but it is measurable. Avoid it, or be prepared to add resources to the WinFrame server to compensate. Additionally, there are NT related security issues for WinFrame clients who are now running sessions on the domain controller. Most administrators would consider this a dangerous practice, we agree. |
| 6. | Use the appropriate WinFrame client Revelation Software recommends the WinFrame clients for Dos, Win95, and NT Workstation. The 16-bit WinFrame client for Windows 3.lx is not recommended due to unresolvable issues. If you have remote workstations using Windows 3.1 x, install and use the WinFrame Dos client, preferably in straight dos mode. |
| 7. | Create and assign each user account an explicit, unique home directory The HR/PR application generates temporary sort and rollout files under normal use. The application, by default, writes these files to the root of the local hard drive. The application specific setup below provides instruction to change this default environmental setting. However, this change is predicated on each user having access to a unique home directory. Creating unique home directories is essential to the process of configuring personal or mandatory profiles and running the Advanced Revelation application. Use the WinFrame standard\USERS\%USERNAME% convention for this path. |
| 8. | Use personal and/or mandatory profiles to manage user environments The levels and methods of NT user security have no bearing on the functionality or compatibility with the Advanced Revelation application. Therefore, we have no recommendations for NT user security in this document. However, support can become a nightmare if some degree of standardization is not maintained. NT profiles are a useful tool to achieve this standardization. NT profiles are also notoriously confusing and complicated for those unfamiliar to them. The party responsible for implementing the WinFrame solution should consider profile configuration and maintenance as mandatory to minimize support headaches in the future. Reference Microsoft or Citrix documentation for help with user profiles. Citrix maintains a nice step-by-step guide on their web site (www.citrix.com) for those new to profiles. |
| 9. | Preserve client drive mapping (typically drives A through D) Configure the WinFrame server so that its logical drives(s) begin at a drive letter higher than client workstation local drives. In other words, start the WinFrame drives at E: or higher. This allows your client workstations to have full access to their own local drives even when connected through WinFrame. |
| 10. | Follow the guidelines in the Application Specific Setup for WinFrame section below Configuring a Dos application to run in numerous Dos virtual sessions under NT is no small task. The Application Specific Setup guidelines provided in this document are designed to "get you started". Additional tuning may be required to get the most from your Citrix server. Be prepared to use the NT Performance Monitor to supplement the information given in this section. The Performance Monitor may point out specific performance or resource issues that need to be addressed. |
WinFrame User Setup
| 1. | Copy AREVC.INI to WFRAME.INI |
| 2. | Create a batch file that will be used to run Arev named AREV.BAT; in this batch file, include the following lines: subst p: m:%HOMEPATH% set arev=wframe.ini arevfix.com tame /I 5 lhipxtsr /p arev %1,%2 /x /m4096 lhipxtsr /u |
| 3. | Be sure to create or modify an icon that is used to start Arev so that it runs AREV.BAT and not AREV.EXE. |
| 4. | Start Arev, and log in. Be sure the user has administrative privileges, if privileges are built into the system. |
| 5. | At the TCL line, type RUNMENU HARDWARE. Select the Workstation menu item. Make the following changes: Rollout DOS file = P:\ROLLOUT.SUS (where P: is the drive on the SUBST line in AREV.BAT) Sort DOS path name = P:\ (where P: is the drive on the SUBST line in AREV.BAT) Delay before indexing = 0 Time between index checks = 0 Press F9 to save |
| 6. | Once again from the TCL, type RUNMENU ENVIRONMENT. Select the Indexes menu item. Make the following change: Update indexes before filter No Press F9 to save |
| 7. | After these changes have been made, log out of the application, it is now ready for use. |
WinFrame Printing Setup
Advanced Revelation is a straight Dos-based application. Under WinFrame, Windows-based printer drivers do not control Dos printing. Paths to the printer ports need to be set manually to properly route Dos-based print jobs such as those from Advanced Revelation.
A typical remote user will connect via a workstation using the appropriate WinFrame client. There will be a printer on the user's local LAN, or directly connected to their remote PC's LPT port. The remote user will perform work on the WinFrame server, but want print jobs locally (at their remote site).
To print successfully, the job must travel from the WinFrame server back to the client workstation and then on to the local printer. In other words, the Dos print job will need to be routed on the WinFrame server and then on the remote workstation. This is a two step process, let's look at each routing location.
To properly route Dos print jobs at the WinFrame server:
| > | The NET USE command must be used. Example: NET USE LPTl \\CLIENT\LPTl: /PERSISTENT:YES \\client is a WinFrame mapping that references the remote workstation. This command could be placed in the AREV.BAT file, or it could be added to the user or mandatory profile. In our tests we saved the mandatory profile with this setting, thereby automatically implementing it for all users. |
To properly route Dos Print jobs at the remote workstation:
| For Windows NT, the NET USE command must be used. Example: NET USE LPTl \\ServerName\PrinterName /PERSISTENT: YES Using the example pictured above, NET USE LPTl \\APPSRV\PRINT1 |
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| > | For Windows 95, this step can be configured automatically by specifying Dos-based printing parameters when creating the printer (or NET USE can be used). |
| > | For DOS-based workstations, the LPTl port would be mapped to a printer queue using Novell's capture command. |
Appendix A
Explanation of commands in AREV.BAT
| 1. | The SUBST command is used to create a temporary drive mapping directly to the user's home directory. For example, if a WinFrame server uses drives M, N, and 0; we would choose the next available drive letter P. Choose any drive letter you wish as long as it does not conflict with your setup. Environment settings for an application must be changed to reflect this path. The changes will be saved to CITRIX.INI (See 2 below). This should be done after AREV.BAT is in place from a WinFrame session that runs AREV.PIF. This will prevent changing the default settings for local users. |
| 2. | The SET command is used to define the internal environment to the AREY application. This setting ensures that WinFrame session logins will use the CITRIX.INI for their environment. The default environment settings are saved in AREVC.INI. |
| 3. | AREVFIX is a utility written by Citrix to handle keyboard polling for AREV based applications under WinFrame. Without this utility, theWinFrame server will attempt to allocate 100% processor time to an idle Advanced Revelation session. This will cause other users to lock up or temporarily freeze. This utility provides adequate performance for Advanced Revelation if the application is installed either locally on WinFrame or on an NT server. The utility is located in the \WINNT\SYSTEM32 directory and, since this directory is in the path, AREVFIX can be called from the AREV.BAT file with no path required. |
| 4. | TAME is a 3rd party utility to handle keyboard polling for Dos-based applications in multitasking environments. AREVFIX (See line 3 above) does not adequately control keyboard polling when Advanced Revelation resides on a Novell server. TAME is required when the application resides on a Novell server. TAME may also be useful if AREVFIX is not working well for NT implementations. TAME is shareware available at http://dgthomas.home.mindspring.com/tame.htm. The TAME utility has many tunable parameters. The parameter we found most beneficial in testing was the "'In" parameter. > The In parameter has a variable that can be set to 1, 5, or 9. Level 1 allows the most polling from the application and Level 9 allows the least amount of polling. > Experiment with these parameters depending on the configuration. Use Level I to get the best performance at the cost of user count. Use Level 9 to get the maximum number of WinFrame users per processor at the cost of application performance. > TAME is a highly customizable utility. There are many other parameters that can be used to tune application performance. The "best" solution will differ in each installation. Please consult the TAME documentation for further information and ideas on tuning. |
| 5. | LHIPXTSR is needed for the workstation communication with the Revelation NLM. This program is a Novell "watchdog" TSR. It must be loaded prior to launching AREV. The/P parameter is needed to provide each concurrent session with a private (non-shared) instance of the TSR. For more details and other NLM parameters please reference the Revelation NLM installation guide. |
| 6. | AREV %1 ,%2 /x /m4096 is the login to the application itself. %1 ,%2 represent Username, Password which can be passed into AREV.BAT. 4-MB of expanded memory is allocated to the application. |
| 7. | LHIPXTSR /U unloads the TSR upon completion of the session. |