Installation Details

If we host your copy of HelpDesk Pro:
That is, we host your copy of the HelpDesk solution on our servers, in our secure hosting environment. In this case there is nothing you need to install or do.
Following receipt of your purchase details we prepare your copy of the HelpDesk Pro application, including the eight integrated databases, and install it on our servers. We then test the application and notify you that the install is complete and you and your staff can login and begin using it.

A word about Proxy Servers If your organization has deployed one or more proxy servers within your IT infrastructure, these can cause problems for web applications. With HelpDesk Pro we want all page requests to go back to the origin server, and so you should ensure that the config file for any proxy/caching server is set for NOPROXY NOCACHE for our server domain[http://www.helpdesksoftware.net   OR   http://www.tdserver2.com] to achieve this. Ensure the settings are correct for your particular proxy server and setup.

 

If you host your copy of HelpDesk Pro:
That is, your copy of the HelpDesk Pro application is installed onto your web server, maybe a shared account with your current hosting company where you currently have your web site, or installed onto your own dedicated web server at a hosting company. You can also start out with our doing the hosting and then move the application to your servers at some later time if you wish.

If you choose to host the HelpDesk Pro 'engine' e.g. installed at your hosting provider's facility then the following information will be of interest - note that we will do the actual file install process for you to avoid any complications, and there is a once-off set-up fee regardless of whether we do the install ('engine' license fees) and so it is preferable for us to do it.

HelpDesk Pro needs to be installed on an active CGI 1.1 compliant web server (Such as Apache, IIS, Netscape Enterprise, etc..) with:

  1. A live CGI-BIN, and permissions on the server need to be set so that it executes ".exe" programs in the cgi-bin folder. For installation, cgi programs need to have modify access to the document root folder.
    If it is a MS IIS server, the cgi folder needs "Execute, Including Scripts" or "Executables" permissions.

  2. An out-going mail server. For example, if it is a linux server, then the "sendmail" mail server software might well be installed. There are other mail servers for Windows servers. As long as it is an out-going mail server it should work - check with us if you have any queries. The mail server does not have to be on the same computer as HelpDesk Pro, as long as the mail server is configured to accept outgoing mail from the web-server computer HelpDesk Pro is installed on.

We recommend at least 20 MB of free space be allowed on the server - and more may be required as the databases grow in size with product use.

The installation instructions are different for each server platform. We will send you the instructions for your particular server at the time of purchase.

We strongly reccommend that you have us carry out the installation for you, and there is no additional cost for us to do this. In order for us to do the installation for you we need to be provided with FTP access to your web server to upload and install the files.

We also need to know what domain name (an IP address is not suitable for registration purposes) to license the software to i.e. what will be the domain name URL your users will type in to reach the helpdesk e.g. it might be http://itsupport.yourcompany.com or maybe something like http://intranet.yourcompany.com
Please take care when advising us of this URL because if an error is made, or you change your mind, the application needs to be re-registered and re-installed!

A word about Proxy/Caching Servers If your organization has deployed one or more proxy servers within your IT infrastructure, these can cause problems for web applications. With HelpDesk Pro we want all page requests to go back to the origin server, and so you should ensure that the config file for any proxy/caching server is set for NOPROXY NOCACHE relevant to the specific address for the HelpDesk application to achieve this. Ensure the settings are correct for your particular proxy server and setup.


Operates on UNIX, LINUX, Windows and Macintosh platforms, and runs with all web servers including Apache, Microsoft IIS, MS Personal Server, Netscape Enterprise, IBM Websphere and Lotus Domino (Novell Netware is not supported).
Supporting the following server platforms:

Linux (Intel Platforms)
Supporting all popular versions of LINUX e.g. Red Hat and Fedora

Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP

Supporting all version of Windows.


SGI (Silicon Graphics)
Supporting the IRIX operating system. Also supporting the Sun Solaris emulation on SGI.


Sun Microsystems - Cobalt Servers
Supporting MIPs-based and Intel-based Cobalt product lines.


Sun Microsystems - Solaris-based Servers
Supporting Solaris on Intel and Sparc processors.


Apple MacOS X
Supporting Apple's next-generation Operation System.

Apple MacOS 7-9
Supporting Macintoshes with OS versions 7 through 9. Runs under the award-winning server from Tenon that makes a Macintosh a viable Web server. Requires installation of Web10. (See http://www.tenon.com).


Berkeley Systems Design
Supporting the BSDI and FreeBSD product lines.


Compaq Alpha Servers (formerly DEC Alpha)
Supporting both the Linux and DEC-UNIX operating systems.


Hewlett Packard
Supporting HP-UX 10 for HP 9000 series hardware.


Note, that HelpDesk Pro operating kernel is not suitable to run under Novell Netware.



And is supported by all of the popular browsers:

AOL
Supporting the browsers used by America On-line


Microsoft Interent Explorer
Supporting all version of MSIE


Mozilla/FireFox
Mozilla Supporting Mozilla, Camino, Firefox, and all Mozilla-based browsers.


Netscape
Supporting all popular versions of Netscape


Opera
Supporting the Opera browser