Jitbit HelpDesk README

PLEASE READ this readme-file, which will guide through the basics of installation and operation of Jitbit HelpDesk. Thank you.

Contents:
1. OVERVIEW
2. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
3. INSTALLING HELPDESK
4. QUICKSTART
5. Windows-integrated authentication and Autologin-feature
6. UNINSTALLING HELPDESK

1. OVERVIEW

Thank you for choosing Jitbit HelpDesk - customer support and knowledge-base software from Jitbit Software. Jitbit HelpDesk is a web based help desk solution ("ticket system"), designed to assist help desks to deliver outstanding customer service. Jitbit HelpDesk is an ASP.NET 2.0 web-application with access from client computers via a web browser.

1.1. Issues and Categories

Issues (aka "tickets") are the main entities in the helpdesk system. Issues are submitted by users and are organized into categories for convenience.

1.2. User roles

Jitbit Help-Desk has three user roles:

User - is a regular user who submits support issues to the system.

Technician - is a user who is permitted (by an administrator) to handle issues in one or more categories. A technician receives email notifications about every new issue in a category.

Administrator - changes system settings, assigns users to categories (thus making them technicians), creates categories, adds/deletes users etc. NOTE: administrator doe snot get notified of new issues in the helpdesk system, unless he is assigned as a technician to some category.

2. JITBIT HELPDESK SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

2.1. PLATFORMS

Jitbit HelpDesk requires a server running one of the following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 or later
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP1 or later
• Microsoft Windows Server 2000 SP4 or later

Since Jitbit HelpDesk is browser based, there is no particular requirement for the client operating system. A variety of popular browsers can be used for client access to Jitbit HelpDesk including:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later.
• Mozilla Firefox 1.0 or later.
• Opera 8.0 or later.
• etc

2.2. PREREQUISITES

The following components are required to be installed on the server hosting Jitbit HelpDesk:

• Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
• Internet Information Services (IIS) web-server
• Microsoft SQL Server 2000/2005 (or Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine - MSDE) configured to accept both Windows and SQL authentication (so called "Mixed Mode")

Microsoft .NET Framework, Internet Information Services (IIS) and SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (or MSDE) are all available at no charge from Microsoft if you do not already have the required components installed.

How to setup MSDE 2000:
MS SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000) is a free edition of MS SQL Server 2000. It is available for download from the Microsoft web site. Jitbit HelpDesk uses SQL-authentication, so MSDE has to be installed with the "Mixed Mode" authentication mode, and SA-password specified ("SA" is a built-in "system administrator" user, whos password must be specified explicitly during installation). So, here is the format of the setup command you have to use to install MSDE:

setup.exe SAPWD="StrongPassword" SECURITYMODE=SQL

3. INSTALLING HELPDESK read carefully

Jitbit HelpDesk can be installed in TWO WAYS:

• automatically by launching the installer file "setup.exe" (recommended, if you are installing on a local server, you have access to)
• manually (for administrator professionals or, for example, if you want to upload Jitbit HelpDesk to a hosting environment)

3.1. INSTALLING via "setup.exe"

• unzip
• launch "setup.exe"
• proceed with the wizard until you see a "Jitbit HelpDesk Database setup" dialog
• If you select "Create a new database from scratch on the local computer" setup will:
  1. setup will prompt you for the SQL-Server name. If you are using SQL Server Express Edition, please note that by default, the SQL Server Express edition is installed as a named instance (SQLEXPRESS). This means that you need to specify "(local)\SQLEXPRESS" as a server name.
  2. setup will create the "JitbitHelpDesk" database on the specified server
  3. setup will create the "JitbitHelpDeskUser" SQL-user with a randomly generated password (this password will be saved to the web.config file).
  4. Note that the above steps require SQL-administrator privileges for your windows account.
• If you select "Upgrade an existing database from an older version" setup will:
  1. setup will prompt you for the SQL-Server name. If you are using SQL Server Express Edition, please note that by default, the SQL Server Express edition is installed as a named instance (SQLEXPRESS). This means that you need to specify "(local)\SQLEXPRESS" as a server name.
  2. setup will find a database named "JitbitHelpDesk" and try to upgrade it to the latest version (preserving the existing data)
  3. setup will generate a new password for the "JitbitHelpDeskUser" user, update it and save it to the web.config file.
  4. Note that the above steps require SQL-administrator privileges for your windows account.
• If you click "Manual setup or already installed" setup will skip the database creation. Proceed to section 3.2.2 of this manual to manually set up a database.
• that's it. Start using Jitbit HelpDesk. Default login is "admin/admin" (CHANGE THAT)

3.2. MANUAL INSTALLATION

3.2.1. Web-application install

• unzip
• copy the contents of the "ManualSetup" folder to your web-server virtual directory (e.g. "c:\inetpub\wwwroot\mywebsite\HelpDesk"), or upload it to your hosting environment
• configure this virtual directory as an application in IIS
• by using IIS Manager, ensure this virtual directory uses ASP.NET 2.0

3.2.2. Database install

• create a new database on your SQL-server, OR choose an existing database
• locate the "sql" folder within the installation folder (e.g. "c:\inetpub\wwwroot\HelpDesk\sql") and find the script file "CreateTables.sql" (or "UpgradeFromOlderVersions.sql" if you are upgrading).
• run the script against the database using SQL Query Analyser of SQL Server Management Studio
• edit the web.config with any plain-text editor to change the connection string to the appropriate value

4. QUICKSTART

4.1. Quickstart

After Jitbit HelpDesk has been successfully installed, open your web-browser and navigate to the location where Jitbit HelpDesk is installed (e.g. "http://localhost/HelpDesk").

Unless you changed the installation scripts, Jitbit Help Desk installs with two predefined users: admin (password "admin") and client (password "client"). CHANGE THESE DEFAULT PASSWORDS BEFORE USING HelpDesk. Use these default users only to login for the first time and start using it.

4.2. Getting help

Most pages in Jitbit HelpDesk web application have a link "get help for this page" at the bottom of the page. Clicking this link provides the most relevant in-depth information about the current page.

5. Windows-integrated authentication and Autologin-feature

5.1. AutoLogin (configuring single sign-on with your existing Web-apps)

Jitbit HelpDesk supports "autologin" feature which allows users to be pre-authenticated automatically (by your parent website for example) without entering their username and password. The "autologin" feature is targeted at developers and administrators, who integrate HelpDesk into their exisitng SQL-powered websites and applications. If the user is already authenticated on your parent website (for instance), he can be redirected to the link of this kind: "AutoLogin.aspx?username=XXXXXX&pswHash=XXXXX". Where "username" is the user's login name, and "pswHash" is a MD5-hash of the user's HelpDesk-password.

5.2. Windows-integrated authentication

Starting from version 1.9 Jitbit HelpDesk supports Windows-integrated authentication and inegrating with your existing Active Directory (AD) user's catalog. To enable Windows-integrated authentication edit the web.config file and un-comment this two lines:

<authentication mode="Windows"></authentication>
<identity impersonate="true"/>

PLEASE NOTE: that when Windows-authentiction is enabled, Jitbit HelpDesk automatically adds a domain-user into HelpDesk database when logged in for the first time, if he is properly authenticated with his Windows-account. Also HelpDesk will try to connect to your domain-controller and populate the user's email from Active Directory.

6. UNINSTALLING HELPDESK

Automatic uninstallation is available only if you have installed Jitbit HelpDesk using the automated "setup.exe" installer. If you have installed the application manually - you have to manually uninstall it.

To uninstall Jitbit HelpDesk select "Start - All Programs - Jitbit HelpDesk - Uninstall Jitbit HelpDesk". The application will be removed from your system.

PLEASE NOTE: the database is NOT uninstalled during the automated uninstallation procedure.