CCS HelpDesk 4.2 Upgrade Manual

Upgrade Manual for CCS HelpDesk 4.2

Moving to CCS HelpDesk 4.2 from

Outlook Help Desk 3.x, CCS HelpDesk 4.0 or 4.1

Crow Canyon Systems, Inc.

http://www.crowcanyon.com

Thank you for upgrading to CCS HelpDesk 4.2!

CCS HelpDesk 4.2 is a major upgrade to the Outlook Help Desk 3.x and CCS HelpDesk 4.x family of programs. (Note that the name “Outlook Help Desk” was changed in the 4.x versions to “CCS HelpDesk” to accord with Microsoft naming conventions.)

The upgrade package is a full-featured version of CCS HelpDesk 4.2 that includes a temporary license limited to 3 seats and good for 20-45 days. We will send you the license to turn it into a full version in a separate email as part of the upgrade process. That license will have the correct number of Seats, according to your purchase level. You will not lose any data and will only need to enter the new license to turn this into the full-fledged program.

Purchasing the Upgrade

The 4.2 release is available free of charge to customers with one of our Premium Annual Support Contracts (for those with customized versions, there may be charges for putting those same customizations into 4.2). Those without a Premium Support Contract can purchase one at the following link: http://www.crowcanyon.com/support/support_contract.asp. Otherwise, the Upgrade is available to existing Outlook Help Desk and CCS HelpDesk customers for 50% of the cost of a new license.

New Licensing By “Named Seats”

In 4.0, we introduced licensing by Named Seats. Names are entered in the License Utility. All users can open and create tickets (if the license is valid) and read Knowledge Base articles, but only Named Seats can assign and work on the tickets after submission. Also, only Named Seats can run reports and create KB articles. If you are on 4.0 or 4.1, you already have the Named Seats functionality in place.

New Features in 4.2

The list of new features for the general 4.x release is in the Administration Manual for 4.2. The specific features added in 4.2 over earlier 4.x versions are the following (see Admin Manual for details on these):

Export to Access or SQL – the new Export Utility provides a means to export all ticket data to a database for use in reporting, backing up, and troubleshooting
Specifying required and hidden fields – the new Field Manager Utility expands on the Required Fields utility in 4.x by providing the ability to require and hide an assortment of fields on each user screen.
Export of Utility settings – the new Utilities Import Export allows you to export out the settings of all the utilities to an XML file for backup, upgrading, and support purposes.
Bug fixes and code streamlining to make the install and usage of the program perform even better

Upgrade Process

NOTE: One option is to not upgrade the older tickets and just start with a fresh copy of 4.2. In that case, there is no need to run the Upgrade Utility or manually upgrade the tickets. Simply install the 4.2 version according to the Install Manual provided with the download.

To Upgrade:

1) Download the 4.2 Trial from the link we send in email for upgrading. This will become a full version upon entering the License Key. The trial is meanwhile is a full version good for 30 days and for 3 Named Seats. The License Key can be entered after the upgrade is completed.

2) Unzip the trial package and check the following prerequisites prior to installation:

Prerequisites for installation

· Extract the .ZIP file on your local drive (not on a network share).

· Move the CCSHelpDeskSetup.exe (only that file) to your local C: drive outside of the folder it was in and plan to run the file from there.

· Make sure you have a network share that can be accessed by all users that will be using the HelpDesk. This can be the same share as the one that may be in use for 4.1, if you are on 4.1 (Version 4.1 introduced the “Client On Demand” that uses a Network Share for client installation. Versions 3.x and 4.0 did not have this.)

· Make sure that .NET framework 2.0 is installed on the computer that will be running the Setup.

· Make sure you are a local administrator on the computer where you will be running the Setup.

FROM THIS POINT FORWARD, THE HELP DESK SHOULD NOT BE USED BY ANYONE UNTIL UPGRADE IS COMPLETE

3) If you plan to put the new 4.2 set of folders at the same location as the current 3.x or 4.x installation, the old system will have to have the Help Desk folder renamed to something like “Help Desk Old” because you cannot have two public folders with the same name at the same level. Go ahead and rename.

4) Run the new CCSHelpDeskSetup.exe. (See Appendix A for details, if needed. This is a portion of the Installation Manual for 4.2 placed in this manual for your convenience.)

5) For 3.X Users Only: Run the Upgrade Utility as in Appendix B. (Note: If you do not wish to move tickets from Outlook Help Desk and would rather start with a new system, you can skip this step). The Upgrade Utility is located in the “Upgrade Utility” folder under “Utilities” under the “Help Desk” folder (in the 4.2 system):

6) For 4.X Users Only:

You should now have the old Help Desk set of folders and the new one in place in the public folders. The next steps are to copy the tickets, KB articles, and Utilities settings from the old to the new. Follow the steps below to do this.

A. Highlight any tickets in the old Help Desk folder and copy them to the new one. Do the same for the Assigned Tickets, Completed Tickets, and Knowledge Base folders. Simply copy the items from the old folder to the corresponding folder in the new system.

B. To transfer Utilities, go to the new Utilities folder. Open the “Utilities Import Export” utility there. When it comes up, use it to export the old Utilities, then import into the new Utilities. It is very important to CHANGE the Utilities folder when going from the export to the import. The use of this Utility is explained in Appendix C, which is a portion of the Administration Manual for 4.2 placed in this manual for your convenience.

C. In 4.2, there is a new utility called “Field Manager Utility” (in “General Utilities” folder) that replaces the “Required Fields” utility that was in earlier 4.x versions. The settings of this utility, if any, are not set by the Utilities Import Export, so if you want to configure required and hidden fields, you would do that manually in this new utility.

For both 3.X and 4.X users:

7) Enter the License Key (we send this in a separate email) in the License Utility for 4.2 to make this a full release version. Also, add in the Named Seats as appropriate.

Running Your Existing Version Along with the New Version

We do not recommend running the older version of the program at the same time as the new one, except for the initial setup and during the upgrade. There would be forms and licensing conflicts if the older version is kept in usage. After the upgrade, we recommend that you either delete the old system (because all the data and settings are in the new one, so no need for it anymore) or archive it to a PST file that you can save. In either case, it should be removed from the Public Folders.

On individual clients, the old client DLLs can be left in place, as it will have no effect or function once the earlier version is no longer in use.

FURTHER NOTES:

Clients – the updated 4.2 client software should install automatically when clients go to access the new Help Desk. If not, we can provide a Client Install setup that will install the client DLLs.

Email Conversion (Event Sink) – If you use the Event Sink on the Exchange Server to convert emails to tickets in the Help Desk folder, you will need to run the CCS Event Sink installation program for 4.2. That program comes as a Zip in the standard Trial download package. You unzip it and run the Setup program there according to the instructions provided.

One note on the email addressing of the Help Desk folder: you will need to mail enable the new Help Desk folder. If you want it to have the same address as the old one, you must remove the address from the old one first, as you cannot have two entities in the Exchange system with the same email address. After removing from the old, you can put that address on the new one. However, when you do this, emails are not delivered to the new Help Desk folder until Exchange rebuilds the Address Book, which usually takes overnight. Users could get “undeliverables” until this rebuild takes place. For testing during this rebuild period, you can give the new Help Desk another email address that should deliver emails correctly, to see if those emails get converted to tickets properly.

Web Pages for CCS HelpDesk – If you use the Web Pages for the CCS HelpDesk system, you will need to delete the old Virtual Directory (and in 4.x, the Application Pool) for these files and then run the Setup installation for the new set of Web pages. That program comes as a Zip in the standard Trial download package. You unzip it and run the Setup program there according to the instructions provided.

For deleting the existing Virtual Directory, go to Internet Information Systems Manager and find the directory under the Default Web Site, then delete it. For 4.x users: In the same IIS Manager program, there is the Application Pool section. There is most likely a HelpDesk Application Pool there that also should be deleted before the new installation can be run.

Appendix A

Portion of InstallManual_42 on Installation of the Trial

1) Installation of the Help Desk folders

Run the installation setup EXE from a computer with Outlook client (2000 or above) installed and configured on it. The setup will copy the Help Desk set of folders to the Public Folders at the location you choose in the setup screens. It will also install the client components for the Help Desk on the PC where the install is being run.

During the setup, the client files are also placed on the Network Share for other clients to access when they first use the Help Desk system.

The setup only has to be run once, and then the public folders are available to anyone in the Exchange organization. (The folders can also be installed in a shared mailbox, where they would be available to anyone with access to that mailbox.) The client files will be automatically installed from the Network Share when a client first tries to open a ticket or otherwise use the system

The new Automated Installation is simple. Run the EXE and follow the screens. (For Windows Vista, run the Setup by right-clicking on it and choosing "Run as Administrator".)

This next screen requires some input as explained below:

Public Folder Path – choose this using the button on the right. This should be in a path such as \\Public Folders\All Public Folders\Help Desk. The Help Desk folders can sit anywhere in the Exchange Public Folder hierarchy (or a shared mailbox). You will need the rights to create new folders under whatever folder you will be placing the Help Desk folders. The best way to test if you have rights is to try to create a new folder at the location you want. If you cannot, you will need to get this permission from your Exchange administrator (or have the administrator do the installation).

File Directory – This is where the local client files will go. Usually the default is good to stick with.

Network Share – This is where the client setup files will be placed for other clients to access when they go to start using the Help Desk system. This share needs to be available to every user who will be using the Help Desk system. The users will need Read permission on this share.

Do you want to install CCS Toolbar Addin … ? – This checkbox will determine whether the client setup files that are placed on the Network Share should include the installation of the Outlook Toolbar button for a “New Help Desk Ticket” on each client.

After this screen, there is a confirmation screen, then the install takes place. The setup ends with a Finish screen.

Permissions on the Folders

Set permissions for the folders as follows (this can be done by a folder Owner in Outlook or by an Exchange Admin in Exchange System Manager (under Client Permissions of the folder):

Help Desk

Default = Author