Pulse Server Configuration

Pulse Server Configuration

AVAILABLE TO: Administrators only

After the Pulse server application is installed on the Pulse web server, use the desktop shortcut or the Programs menu in Windows to start the Pulse application.

How to Configure Pulse for First Time Use

After you install and activate the Pulse server application, the Welcome page of the MadCap Pulse Configuration Wizard appears so you can perform an initial configuration. You can also open the wizard by double-clicking the MadCap Pulse desktop shortcut.

1. Install and activate Pulse as described in Installing and Activating Pulse.
2. If the MadCap Pulse Configuration Wizard is not already open, double-click the MadCap Pulse desktop shortcut.
3. In the Welcome page of the MadCap Pulse Configuration Wizard, click Next.

4. In the Select Web Site page, do the following:

   1. Select the Website for the Pulse Services Select the website on the IIS Server that will be storing your Pulse data. By default, Pulse will use the "Default Web Site" in IIS. If you have added a different website in IIS, you can select it from the list.

   2. Pulse Server URL This is the Site URL for the Pulse dashboard. Typically, it will consist of the protocol (http:// or https://), the IP address (or the machine name), and the Pulse directory.

      Example  

      HTTP:

      http://<ipaddress>/pulse

      http://<servername>/pulse

      Secure HTTP:

      https://<ipaddress>/pulse

      https://<servername>/pulse

   3. Click Next.

5. In the Select SQL Server page, do the following:

   1. In the SQL Server drop-down list, select Get list of SQL Servers.

      If the SQL Server Browser service is turned on, the program looks for all available SQL Servers in the Windows domain.

      how to turn on the sql server browser

      If SQL Server Browser service is turned off, use these steps to turn it on:

      1. Start the SQL Server Configuration Manager.
      2. Select Start > Programs. Then point to your version of SQL in the menu and select Configuration Tools > SQL Server Configuration Manager.
      3. In the left pane, highlight SQL Server Services.
      4. Right-click SQL Server Browser and select Properties from the context menu.
      5. On the Service tab, set the start mode to Automatic and click OK.
      6. Right-click the SQL Server Browser again, and select Start.

   2. In the SQL Server drop-down list, select the desired server. If instead you enter a server manually, click Connect.

      Note You can alternatively enter the IP Address or Computer Name of the server in the SQL Server field. Use this format: <Server Name>\<SQL Instance> or <IP Address>\<SQL Instance>

      

      if you encounter a connection failure

      If the SQL Server is not local (i.e., it resides of a different server than the Pulse web server), it is common for users who might be less familiar with networking to experience failures when the following is true:

      • The SQL Server name and/or instance was entered incorrectly. You must enter the correct server name and instance.

        

      • The account that you are using to perform the installation does not have sysadmin permission on the SQL Server. See your SQL Server Administrator or Network Administrator for the appropriate account to use.

        

      • The SQL Server resides in an untrusted Windows domain. There must be a domain trust relationship between the Pulse web server and SQL server hosting the Pulse database. Make sure you selected the correct server.

        

   3. If necessary, complete the authentication fields at the bottom of the page.
   4. Click Next.

6. In the Database Options page, select one of the following options:

   • Create new This creates a new database instance with Pulse.

     OR

   • Use existing Select this option only if you have previously installed Pulse. You may click the Browse (…) button to open the Select Database dialog. Select the desired Pulse Database ID from the list. Then click Connect. Then click OK.

7. If necessary, in the Backup path for local SQL database field, you can click the browse button and choose a location to store a copy of the current database. This field is only enabled if the database has been using a previous version of Pulse. Also, it is not enabled if you are connecting to a database on a remote server.

8. In the PulseAdmin Password box, specify the password for the default Pulse Administrator account. Then click Next.

   

   Important Record this password in a safe place. This is the default PulseAdmin account. You will need this information to log into the Pulse dashboard for the first time.

   Note As you type, the program lets you know when your password meets the minimum password strength thresholds, such as Very Weak, Medium, Strong, Very Strong, and Excellent.

9. In the Configure SMTP page, enter your SMTP server settings:

   Note To get your SMTP server settings, see your Email or Network Administrator.

   • SMTP Server This is the IP address of the SMTP relay that accepts incoming requests which is the host that will send outbound emails for Pulse.

   • SMTP Port This is the port number of the SMTP server handing outbound emails. This is Port 25 (or the port number for your environment).
   • SMTP User Name This is the user name of a valid account on the SMTP relay.
   • SMTP Password This is the password for the valid account on the SMTP relay.
   • From Address This is the from address for emails sent by Pulse. You must have a valid address for this account. For example, type: PulseRegistration@example.com.
   • From Display Name This is the name that displays in email client applications for the email address. For example, type: Pulse Registration.
   • Enable SSL A check mark in this box enables Secure Socket Layers (SSL) encryption. It is recommended that you leave this box blank.

   

   Note  If you have content security requirements, purchasing an SSL certificate for your web domain is suggested. This lets you enable SSL transport security, so users can access your site via the https:// protocol. This ensures that the page content that a URL points to is encrypted while the data is being transmitted to your end user (so the content is not visible to others as it passes through the communication chain). See your Network Administrator for more information about SSL.

10. (Optional) Test your SMTP settings.

    1. In the Configure SMTP dialog, click Test.
    2. In the SMTP Test dialog, enter a valid address in the Email address box.
    3. Click Send Test Email.

    4. Depending on which message you see, do the following:

       • Test message has been sent Click OK. Then check the email account to ensure you received the test email.
       • Error sending message Click OK. Ensure that you entered the correct SMTP settings for your environment. Then try testing the settings again.
11. Click Next. The Verify Configuration page appears.
12. In the Verify Configuration page, review the components list. When you are ready to proceed, click Next. A progress indicator shows you the status of the installation.
13. When the Configuration Complete page appears, you can click View Log or Save Log if you want to see or save the results.
14. Click Finish.

How to Start the Pulse Server Application

When you start the Pulse server application, the system opens the Pulse Server Configuration window.

1. Log in to the Pulse web server as an administrator.

2. Start the Pulse application by selecting one of these options:

   • Desktop Shortcut On the Windows desktop, click the MadCap Pulse shortcut. This is automatically added to the desktop at the end of the installation process.
   • Start Menu In Windows, click Start > All Programs > MadCap Software > MadCap Pulse.

   • Program Files Double-click the program icon in the Program Files directory. If you installed the program using the default installation folder, it is located at one of these paths:

     • On 64-bit Platforms C:\Program Files\MadCap Software\MadCap Pulse\Pulse.app\Pulse.app
     • On 32-bit Platforms C:\Program Files (x86)\MadCap Software\MadCap Pulse\Pulse.app\Pulse.app

Here is the Pulse Server Configuration window:

How to Set the PulseAdmin Password

During the Pulse installation, you created a password for the default PulseAdmin account. You can reset that password at any time.

1. Log in to the Pulse web server as an administrator:

   • Username The user name is always "PulseAdmin" by default.
   • Password This is the password that you defined during when you installed the Pulse server application.
2. Start the Pulse server application.
3. Select File > Set Admin Password.
4. In the Set PulseAdmin Password box, type a new password. Then click OK.
5. In the configuration dialog, click OK to acknowledge that your password was updated.

Pulse Server Configuration Window

The Pulse Server Configuration window contains options that let you perform a variety of maintenance and management tasks.

Maintenance Tab

The controls in the Maintenance tab lets you manage the Pulseserver application's services. The options that are available in this dialog depend on the version of Microsoft SQL Server being used:

• If You are Using Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition with Advanced Services You have the ability to view and start the Pulse Server and RabbitMQ service (these are both services that run in Windows). You also have the ability to schedule database backups.

  

  To schedule a backup

  This feature is available only when the Pulse database is using Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition with Advanced Services.

  Use the Maintenance tab to schedule backups of your Pulse database, whether it resides on the local server or a different server on the network.

  You can schedule a backup of your Pulse database on the SQL server on a daily or weekly schedule. This saves your database information in a backup file (e.g., a file with the BAK file name extension).

  In the event that a database recovery is needed, your SQL Administrator can use SQL Server Management Studio to restore your Pulse database using the latest backup file.

  Important For a backup to take place at the scheduled time, the Pulse web server must be powered on and the MadCap Pulse Management Service and RabbitMQ service and must be running.

  1. Start the Pulse server application.
  2. In the Pulse Server Configuration window, select the Maintenance tab.

  3. In the Location field, click Browse. Then, navigate to the directory where you want to save the backup files. Important things to keep in mind:

     • Local Backup If you want to store the backup file (BAK) on the local system, the default backup folder is : C:\Databases. This is the recommended method.

     • Network Drive If you want to store the backup file (BAK) on a network drive, select the desired location.

       Note If you choose this method, the Pulse web server must have permission to write to the drive. In addition, the system drive must be powered on and connected to the network at the scheduled backup time.

  4. In the Day & Time fields, specify the desired backup schedule:

     • Daily or Weekly Select either Daily or Weekly.
     • Day of Week If you select a Weekly backup schedule, you can also select the desired day to perform the backup.
     • Time Select the time of day to perform the backup.

  5. As long as the listed Services are running, you will not need to click Start. In the event that services stop running,simply click Start to restart the services and backup schedule.

     Warning You do not have the ability to disable the MadCap Pulse Management Service or Rabbit MQ service. To function properly, the Pulse server application requires these Services to run in the background.

  6. Save your changes by selecting File > Save.

     Note If you do not save your changes, you will be prompted to save them when you exit the application.

• If You are Using a Different Edition of Microsoft SQL Server You have the ability to view the status of and start the Pulse Service and RabbitMQ service. However, backups are not supported by Pulse. This is because the full versions of SQL provide administrators with several options for creating full database backups.

  

  To backup and restore databases in sql server

  To learn how to backup and restore a database in SQL server, see the Microsoft SQL Server web site at:

  • For SQL Server 2012 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187048(v=sql.110).aspx

  • For SQL Server 2008 R2 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187048(v=sql.105).aspx
  • For SQL Server 2008 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187048(v=sql.100).aspx

Importing Feedback Data

If your company previously used the MadCap Feedback product, you can import information from your existing Feedback database into the Pulse database.

How to Update Pulse

You may periodically wish to check to see if there are updates for the Pulse server application to download.

1. Launch the Pulse server application.
2. In the toolbar, select Help > Check for Updates.

3. In the dialog that opens:

   • No Updates Available If not updates are available, simply click Close.
   • Updates Available If updates are available, highlight the update in the Download list. Then click Download Updates.

Uninstalling Pulse

You can uninstall the Pulse server and the application.