Community Engagement

Information on our communities, training systems, and how to connect with us.

FileWave Knowledge Base

בס״ד

Welcome

Welcome to the FileWave Knowledge Base, where all documentation is published for FileWave. This page will load by default giving you helpful instructions, but you can always go to Shelves and bookmark that as your starting point. Information in the KB is organized as you would see in a library. Shelves contain Books. Books contain Chapters and Pages. You can use the search box at the top of the screen to find answers or our AI assistant on the bottom right, seen as a blue chat icon, to allow AI to find what you need. 

Some Books or Pages, may not be visible unless you log in. On the top right, you can log in, and once authenticated, you'll stay logged in for 7 days. You'll also need to be logged in to use Comments on the bottom of Pages. If you are new to FileWave and need a login, contact customer.success@filewave.com for free access. 

Reporting Issues

We want this KB to be the best it can be. If you run into an article that is wrong or information that is missing or confusing,  please email kb@filewave.com or raise a support ticket. You can also discuss anything here on Discord. 

What software powers our community: BookStackApp KB, wonderchat ChatBot, wonderchat-helper tool, Zapier Automations, Premium URL Shortener, Conncord. 

FileWave Knowledge Base AI Assistant

Who is Dave?

An AI-powered assistant from wonderchat with full knowledge of the FileWave Knowledge Base, capable of having conversations in any language about using FileWave.

How can I access Dave?

Right here in the KB you can always click the chat bubble in the lower right corner.

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You can also find the same chat bubble in FileWave 16.1.0+ to access the AI from FileWave Anywhere and in Central there is a button in the toolbar to open a chat session. If you want to hide the AI from Central and Anywhere you can go in to Preferences within Central and disable the chatbot. When you use the AI there is no processing performed on your computer. It's all in the cloud to avoid privacy concerns. The ability to access the AI from Central and Anywhere was added to make it easier to more directly find the answer to a question without needing to open the KB up to search.

Why is he called Dave?

Ever wondered why we named our AI assistant "Dave"? It's not just a random pick from a hat, we promise! Grab your astronaut helmet, engage hyperdrive, and let's journey through the realm of science fiction and beyond to understand why Dave is the ideal name for your trusty AI companion.

Let's start with the granddaddy of all sci-fi Daves - Dave Bowman from Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, "2001: A Space Odyssey". As the astronaut navigating the unpredictable and mysterious realms of space (and a rather moody AI called HAL), Dave is the epitome of calm and capable under pressure. Not to mention, he's a terrific troubleshooter. And isn't that exactly what you want your AI assistant to be?

Then, we have Dave Lister from "Red Dwarf". As the last human in the universe, Dave is the definition of resourceful and resilient - essential qualities when you're stuck in deep space with only a hologram and an evolved cat for company. Now, we're not saying our AI Dave will be your only companion, but it's reassuring to know he's built to adapt to any problem you might encounter!

Switching gears slightly, let's pay homage to our non-science fiction Daves who are nonetheless masters of handling strange situations. Consider Dave from the Ivan Reitman film "Dave", who ended up impersonating the President of the United States! Now that's versatility for you! And who can forget the lovably goofy Dave from "Hot Tub Time Machine", proving that even in the most bizarre circumstances, a Dave can be relied on to provide both aid and entertainment.

Finally, remember David from Ridley Scott's "Prometheus"? As an android assistant, David demonstrates the perfect balance between intelligence and a helpful, accommodating nature. Just like our Dave - always there to assist and never to override!

So there you have it! From battling rogue AIs, surviving alone in space, impersonating presidents, to traveling through time, Daves across the world of fiction embody the traits we want in our AI - calm under pressure, adaptable, resourceful, and dependable.

So next time when you say, "Hey Dave," remember you're in the company of the great Daves of past, present, and future. Dave is not just an AI. He's your steadfast sci-fi buddy, always ready to lend a digital hand!

Related Content

Using Email to stay updated on KB updates

What

As a user of FileWave, you want to know when KB articles are created or updated. The KB has a built-in function to watch for changes to articles to keep you up to date. Note that if you prefer an RSS feed we have that too. Using RSS to stay updated on KB updates.

When/Why

Some articles are very important to know about updates for like Default TCP and UDP Port Usage or the Downloads book so receiving an email on every edit is desired. 

Note that you need to login to the KB in order to use the Email notification system outlined in this article.

How

It’s now possible to be notified via email upon page changes within the KB! Alongside this you can also be notified upon new comments to pages. To provide some high-level user control, there’s a new “Notification Preferences” view which can be accessed via the “My Account” option in the header bar user dropdown:

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Within here are three new user preferences:

These options represent global defaults for notifications. This new “Notification Preferences” view also lists all the items you’re watching or ignoring. Watching or ignoring allows content-specific control of notifications that may work in addition to, or override, your global notification preferences. You can watch any book, chapter or page via the new “Watch” action:

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By default this will watch for new pages and page changes. This can be changed via the watch options menu, found by selecting the watch status in the details:

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This provides various different levels of watching of content, in addition to the ability to ignore any notification events if things are getting too noisy within a particular book, chapter or page.

In in similar manner to permissions, watch preferences cascade from books to chapters to pages unless those have their own watch preferences set to override the parent status. When a page or chapter has active watch preferences from a parent item, this will be reflected within its details:

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Notifications are sent upon relevant activity, and will include a few helpful related details in addition to a link to the relevant content:

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Page update notifications are somewhat debounced, meaning that the system will avoid sending notifications if re-updated by the same author within a time window. This is to prevent an attack of emails from an enthusiastically updating author.

Related Content

Using RSS to stay updated on KB updates

What

As a user of FileWave, you want to know when KB articles are created or updated. The KB has a built-in function called an RSS feed that can keep you updated on what has changed.

Note that the KB also has a native way you can be notified via email about updates to Books, Chapters or Pages. If you would prefer that then make sure to login to the KB and then look for "Watch" on the right side of the page while viewing something.  Using Email to stay updated on KB updates

When/Why

An RSS feed is a format for delivering summaries of regularly changing web content. Subscribing to an RSS feed lets you stay informed of the latest content from sites you are interested in.

RSS is not designed to be read in a regular web browser. Specialized RSS newsreader programs can check RSS files every so often, and tell you what's new on a site. Your reader may be on a website, a browser extension, part of your email program, or a stand-alone program.

How

Use any RSS reader to subscribe to one of the below feeds, and you will always know what is new. 

Feeds

Tools

The following are some popular RSS readers for various operating systems. 

Windows
Mac OS X
Multi-platform

Related Content

FileWave Product Management

At FileWave, Product Management plays a key role in determining the trajectory of our solutions. Our commitment to transparency involves regularly sharing our product roadmap, a strategy that both fosters trust with users and ensures our product evolution remains aligned with user needs and market trends.

Product Management at FileWave

Product Management at FileWave combines a breadth of expertise, drawing from domains such as software development, user experience, customer support, and relevant industry areas. This wealth of knowledge enables the team to develop and manage a product roadmap that truly reflects the needs and demands of our user base.

The product roadmap outlines the strategic direction for our product offerings. It details the enhancements and new features we plan to implement over the coming quarters. This roadmap is regularly updated and evolves in response to market demands, customer feedback, and technological advancements.

How to Access the Roadmap?

The roadmap is made accessible to all registered users of our knowledge base.

To access the roadmap:

  1. Click on the login link at the top right of this page.
  2. Once you're logged in, navigate to the "FileWave Roadmap Feedback and Product Suggestions Portals" article to access our roadmap.

Please note: If you don't have access, our Customer Experience team can help. Contact them for assistance in gaining access to this valuable resource.

Feedback and Suggestions

Feedback from our users is invaluable in shaping our products. We encourage you to share your thoughts, experiences, and suggestions for improvements or new features. This collaborative process ensures our solutions continually meet your needs and exceed your expectations.

The Feedback and Suggestions portals can be accessed using the same link above. once you're logged in, but even easier is that it is now in the Help menus for FileWave Central as of FileWave 16.0.0 so you can submit feedback even easier! We look forward to hearing from you!

FileWave Discord Server

discord_clip.pngEveryone who uses FileWave appreciates learning more about it and being able to discuss ways of using it with other customers. For that reason, we also run a Discord server that can be accessed via the button below. Look forward to live events with demos and training for all and AMA sessions.

Joining

Step 1: Join Discord - If you are new to Discord then you'll see the below text on the login screen and you can create a free Discord account.

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Step 2: When you join you'll initially be asked a couple of questions to customize your experience. By selecting (or not selecting) options you will decide how many topics you see in Discord, and can go back and change it at any time.

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Events

Step 3: Check out the events channel where you'll see all of our scheduled events. There you can use the  image.png icon to RSVP for an event and see a simple list of all the upcoming events. We have things like monthly Open Office Hours where you can ask our Pro Services / Training department anything. A full list of events is always available at: https://www.filewave.com/customer-events/ 

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Feeling stuck? Reach out to Customer Technical Support and we'll help get you through it. 

What is Discord?

Don't know what Discord is? Discord describes itself this way: "Imagine a place where you can belong to a school club, a gaming group, or a worldwide art community where just you and a handful of friends can spend time together. A place that makes it easy to talk every day and hang out more often." It's very popular as a chat platform and very community driven. Below is an excellent video to explain how to use it.

FileWave Alliance Forums

alliance_forums_clip.jpegEveryone who uses FileWave appreciates learning more about it, but attending training is hard - we get it!  That’s why we created the Foundry and the Alliance Forums. In the Foundry, you’ll find self-paced video learning and our FileWave Certified Administrator program. In the Alliance Forums, you’ll find your peers to run ideas past, and you can share your great solution to help others! The Alliance Forums are read-only when you first go there but pick to login, and you can post and interact. We’ve done this to protect the forums from spam. The login is the same SSO login we use for Support tickets and the Foundry. If you’ve never signed in to either, try picking “Forgot Password,” and if that doesn’t work, please reach out to customer.experience@filewave.com and they can help ensure that you are listed as a contact for your organization.

Alliance Forums

FileWave Foundry

Everyone who uses FileWave appreciates learning more about it, but attending training is hard - we get it!  Sometimes the timing or the location of the training won’t work, sometimes the budget won’t allow for it, but more often than not, the lack of TIME prevents IT staff from joining us in the classroom.

Enter the FileWave Foundry: Where great FileWave minds are forged!

What is it?

The FileWave Foundry is an online training and certification platform created by the FileWave team that gives access to learning materials on all things FileWave. This material is available 24x7, from any location, compatible with any device, and allows you to train at your own pace!
 
The Foundry’s learning materials (30 hours and counting!) are comprised of 3 levels of training content:

FileWave Certified Administrator

If just learning about FileWave isn’t enough, and you’d like to become a FileWave Certified Administrator (FCA), then the Foundry has you covered for that as well!  

The FileWave Certified Administrator course:

So whether you are interested in certification or just learning a little more about FileWave, the Foundry has you covered!

Accessing the Foundry

You can find the FileWave Foundry at https://foundry.filewave.com and can log in with the same single-sign-on credentials you use to log support tickets and Alliance Forums, but you do not need to be a support contact for Foundry access. You can also download the mobile app to use Foundry on the go!

We hope you love the Foundry as much as we loved building it for you!

Please contact Customer Experience for details on pricing for FCA. If you have any feedback about Foundry itself, you can email Foundry@FileWave.com any time.

Foundry Index of Materials

There is a lot of great educational material in the FileWave Foundry, but knowing what is in each module can be a bit of a challenge.  In the below index, we lay out for you a rough guide of the content (broken out into categories) so that you can quickly get to the content you want. 

Server Installation, Configuration, and Upgrades:

FileWave Server Installation (27 minutes) Synopsis: Basic server installation for each platform (macOS, Debian, Windows)

Basic FileWave Server Configuration (27 minutes) Synopsis: Configuration of FW server elements for managing computers.  i.e. the non-MDM and non-Chromebook configurations

FileWave MDM Server Configuration (64 minutes) Synopsis: Review of the necessary configurations for the MDM elements of the FileWave server (including VPP & DEP configuration)

Using Webmin to Configure Server Details (8 minutes) Synopsis: On (Debian) initial server setup you probably want to set a static IP and change the root password–webmin makes this considerably easy

FileWave Server Upgrade Process (43 minutes) Synopsis: FileWave Upgrades are released on about a quarterly basis.  This material walks through that process

New Version/Feature Overviews:

FileWave 12.7 Overview (18 minutes) Synopsis: Overview of new 12.7 features, including whiteboxing and custom fields

FileWave 12.8 Overview (28 minutes) Synopsis: Overview of 12.8 Apple specific release related to iOS/tvOS 11.3 and macOS 10.13.4

FileWave 12.9 Overview (17 minutes) Synopsis: FileWave 12.9 included mostly internal security updates and support for FileVault 2 key escrow

FileWave Client Enrollment:

FileWave Client Deployment Overview (20 minutes) Synopsis: Overview of methods and requirements for deploying FileWave clients (non-MDM)

Manual Client Deployment (15 minutes) Synopsis: Overview of client preferences during manual enrollment and overview of custom client creation

Using ARD for Initial Client Deployment (5 minutes) Synopsis: Walkthrough of using pre-existing ARD to enroll macOS clients in FileWave

Using an AD GPO for Initial Client Deployment (7 minutes) Synopsis: Walkthrough of using Active Directory to mass enroll Windows devices

Remotely Deploying Clients using Local Accounts (14 minutes) Synopsis: Challenging pre-requisites to use local accounts, but better than deploying by hand

Mobile Device Enrollment (70 minutes) Synopsis: A big module covering all of the deployment methods for mobile devices including iOS, Android and macOS

New Clients and Placeholders (18 minutes) Synopsis: Overview of how clients are "quarantined" upon first enrollment and discussion on using placeholders

Working with Client Devices:

Working With Computer Clients (Part 1) (39 minutes) Synopsis: Everything you ever wanted to know about the Client View, Client Monitor, and Client Info for desktop devices

Working with Computer Clients (Part 2) (37 minutes) Synopsis: Using Client State, Management Mode, the Observe (remote control) function, and geolocation lookup

Working with Mobile Devices (68 minutes) Synopsis: Using Client View, Client Info, and geolocation lookup specifically for mobile devices

Inventory Data:

Basic Groups and Smart Groups (47 minutes) Synopsis: The basics on using groups and smart groups, but does not include using inventory queries in smart groups

Inventory Queries (45 minutes) Synopsis: Examples of doing both simple and more complex inventory queries, looking at scheduled reports, and using inventory queries to support smart groups

Custom Fields (48 minutes) Synopsis: Custom fields provide you the ability to define your own inventory fields and use them to police your environment and build truly automated workflows.  This module walks through some example field creation

Custom Field Examples (book form) Synopsis: Custom fields ideas that you may find very valuable to your organization

Mobile Device Inventory Differences (27 mins) Synopsis: Inventory Information for mobile devices is mostly the same as for computers, but there are some differences in fields that matter to us, and the kinds of smart groups we might build.  This gives several ideas and best practices on managing the information coming from your mobile estate

Administrators and LDAP Integration:

Admin Rights and LDAP (63 minutes) Synopsis: Overview of admin permissions, setting granular rights on filesets/clients, and integrating FileWave with LDAP for admin authentication

Admin Changes with FileWave 12.9 (17 minutes) Synopsis: Overview of Admin rights changes that accompanied FileWave 12.9

FileWave Filesets:

Filesets Overview (49 minutes) Synopsis: Uses APP/Folder type filesets to review all of the properties of filesets in general including verification settings

Empty Filesets and the Import Process (46 minutes) Synopsis: Using empty filesets for Super Prefs, basic scripts, and client-side custom fields as well as review of importing filesets

macOS Config Profiles and MSI/PKG Filesets (57 minutes) Synopsis: Touches on App Store filesets and Software Updates, but focuses on computer Profiles and MSI/PKG fileset types

Mobile Device Filesets (121 minutes) Synopsis: Thorough review of all of the different fileset types for mobile devices.  Includes VPP apps for iOS and macOS, Android APKs, iOS Enterprise Apps, iOS Media Files, and configuration profiles

Fileset Magic (37 minutes) Synopsis: Walkthrough of Fileset Magic filesets on both Windows and macOS

Fileset Groups and Reports (19 minutes) Synopsis: Review of fileset groups being used for organization and association purposes and using fileset reports to track deployments

Scripting and Other Magic:

Requirements Scripts (13 minutes) Synopsis: Requirements scripts got more flexible with version 12.7 of FileWave.  This module looks at how to use them for various fileset pre-checks

Blocker Scripts (9 minutes) Synopsis: Using empty filesets for Super Prefs, basic scripts, and client-side custom fields as well as review of importing filesets

Whiteboxing (Customizing Kiosk) (12 minutes) Synopsis: Your customers are much more likely to use self-service tools if they look and feel like they come from your organization.  This module walks you through modifying the kiosk for this purpose

macOS FileVault2 Encryption and Key Escrow (37 minutes) Synopsis: FileWave has the ability to encrypt MDM enrolled macOS devices through the use of a configuration profile, including the ability to escrow both institutional and personal recovery keys

Patch Management:

OS and Software Update Management (52 minutes) Synopsis: Review of both Operating System and third party software updates.  If you are interested in keeping software up to date, this is where you want to be

Integrating AutoPKG with FileWave (48 minutes) Synopsis: If you are looking to integrate FileWave with AutoPKG to setup some truly effortless third party updates, then this is your module. (macOS only)

Associations:

Associations Overview (69 minutes) Synopsis: Managing associations properly is key to a well-oiled FileWave machine.  In this module we do a deep dive into associations, including best practices for keeping things neat and organized

License Management:

License Management (32 minutes) Synopsis: Want to save money on licensing expensive software for people in your organization?  This license management overview walks through license setup and reading actual app usage information

Boosters:

Booster Management (53 minutes) Synopsis: Boosters are used to lessen traffic on the FileWave server, and to address network bottlenecks.  This module reviews booster setup and some basic guidelines for booster location recommendations

Apple Caching Server (6 minutes) Synopsis: Of course Apple Caching Servers are not boosters, but they perform a very similar service for deployment of VPP applications and are important to understand

Chromebooks:

Chromebook Management (25 minutes) Synopsis: In this module, we walk you through the entire process of setting up your FileWave server to talk to your Chromebooks.  We also look briefly at some of the functionality and at location lookup for Chrome devices. 

Imaging:

Imaging Virtual Server (IVS) Setup (23 minutes) Synopsis: Before we can do any network deployment of macOS or Windows images, we need an IVS to serve them...this module walks through IVS setup and configuration

Imaging with Lightning (legacy macOS Only pre-HS) (29 minutes) Synopsis: This material is meant for pre-High Sierra only as imaging methods have changed drastically with HS and beyond.  Lightning is a beautiful tool though for creating and deploying pre-HS macOS images

Imaging macOS Using the IVS (legacy macOS Only, pre-HS) (24 minutes) Synopsis: This material is meant for pre-High Sierra only as imaging methods have changed drastically with HS and beyond.  Lightning is a beautiful tool though for creating and deploying pre-HS macOS images

Creating a Windows Image (38 minutes) Synopsis: We'll be using sysprep in this module to learn how to create a clean Windows image in a virtual machine environment

Windows Image Deployment and Driver Packs (31 minutes) Synopsis: Once we have our image created, we need a way to deploy it.  And, if we want it to work on any hardware, we need to learn to build driver packs.  This module covers both topics

Building Imaging Workflows (32 minutes) Synopsis: We want imaging to be as painless a process as possible...we want devices setup quickly, tailored for the customer, and with as little effort as possible by the IT staff.  This material covers best practices and general ideas about building workflows for imaging

The High Sierra "Imaging" Conundrum  (8 minutes) Synopsis: Pre-High Sierra devices cannot be directly refreshed to High Sierra...they must be upgrade first.  This module covers the why and how behind this

Remote Refresh of High Sierra (28 minutes) Synopsis: Why do we not call this "imaging"?  The most recent method of "imaging" really isn't imaging at all...it is rather a method for doing a remotely initiated clean install of the OS.  This module walks you through the whole process

Education Specific:

Setting Up and Using FileWave Engage (66 minutes) Synopsis: FileWave Engage is built for educators to manage a cross-platform classroom with ease.  This module reviews setting up the Engage server, and gives a walk-through of the feature-set

FileWave Support for Apple Classroom (37 minutes) Synopsis: FileWave supports Apple Classroom through the deliver of education configuration profiles to student and teacher devices.  This module walks you through a proof-of-concept for bring in students and teacher info for support of this tool

Customer Event Schedule

What

As a FileWave customer I want to know when FileWave is holding events for Training or other events run by Sales, Marketing, or other teams at FileWave.

How

The customer events calendar is posted at https://www.filewave.com/customer-events/ for you to be able to have a view of all events including when we release software.

Related Content

Customer Success

If you need assistance with updating your contact information, obtaining information, quotes, information on Cloud Hosting or anything related to your FileWave account, the Customer Experience (CS) team is available to help. To contact them, you can send an email. They'll be more than happy to assist you! For Technical Support issues, please contact our Customer Technical Support team.

📨 customer.success@filewave.com

At certain organizations, Customer Experience (CX) is equivalent to CS and fulfills the same purpose.

Customer Technical Support

Contacting Support

Do you require technical assistance or have any questions? We recommend using the web or email options to contact our support team, as they provide an opportunity for you to thoroughly explain your issue and for our representative to conduct proper research. These channels are typically the most effective means of getting the help you need. Note that you can only open support cases if you are a listed Support Contact. If you need that contact list adjusted at any time please reach out to Customer Experience who maintain the contacts.

💬 Support - https://help.filewave.com/
📨 Support - help@filewave.com

☎️ Phone North America +1 (888) 345-3928
☎️ Phone Switzerland +41 71 9143080
☎️ Phone Germany +49 211 54011690

What Does Technical Support Cover?

Technical Support primarily covers break/fix issues related to FileWave. These are instances where something isn't working as expected or there's a disruption in the service. Our team is dedicated to diagnosing and resolving these problems to ensure your FileWave experience is as smooth as possible. However, it's important to note that our support does not extend to certain areas. For more complex tasks such as Migrations, Health Checks, and Best Practices, we offer Professional Services. This is a paid service that provides in-depth assistance tailored to your specific needs. 

For non break/fix collaboration and discussions, we recommend using our Discord and Alliance Forums. These platforms are free to use and provide a space for FileWave users to share insights, ask questions, and collaborate on various topics. Remember, our goal is to provide you with the best possible support and resources to maximize your FileWave experience. Whether it's through our dedicated Technical Support, Professional Services, or our community platforms, we're here to help.

💼 Professional Services - Professional Services & Training
🗨️ Discord - FileWave Discord Server

FileWave Support Resources

These are tools that you will use with Technical Support to troubleshoot issues and this page can be accessed via https://go.filewave.com/supportresources or https://supportresources.filewave.com.

TeamViewer QuickSupport

macOS.png.     windows.png

Port Tester v16

macOS.png      windows.png

On Windows you may need to download the latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable downloads and then the scanner will function without issue.

Debug Uploader Tool

The Debug Uploader Tool (UT) is a utility that runs on the server that will collect the debug information and securely upload it to support. This is a command run directly on a FileWave Server;

/usr/local/filewave/python/bin/python /usr/local/filewave/django/manage.pyc ut

Updated TV URL: https://get.teamviewer.com/r6bwpyh 

Cloud Hosting

Cloud Hosting

Cloud Hosting Product Information

Overview

Imagine you're running your FileWave server on a spare computer in your office. It seems like a cost-saving move at first, but then a power outage hits, and your server lacks a UPS. The database gets corrupted, and suddenly, your team scrambles to recover lost data. You realize the OS hasn’t been patched in months, posing a security risk. When that old server finally dies, you're faced with the daunting task of migrating everything to a new machine. These are just a few scenarios that highlight the hidden costs and risks of self-hosting.

FileWave Cloud Hosting eliminates these concerns by handling backups, upgrades, and SSL certificates, allowing your team to focus on what they do best. It supports both FileWave Central and FileWave Anywhere administrative tools while maintaining your existing workflows.

Benefits of Hosted

Many benefits are outlined in the Cloud Hosting Current Customers.pdf, but key advantages include:

Differences from On-Premise

When transitioning to our Hosted service, there are a few differences to consider:

Why Choose FileWave Cloud Hosting Over Self-Hosting?

While it might seem cheaper to run FileWave on a spare server, consider the hidden costs:

These challenges are seamlessly managed by our dedicated cloud team, ensuring your FileWave server runs smoothly and securely.

Pricing

Please contact Customer Success for a quote. There is a one-time charge for the FileWave Server Migration and an annual charge based on the number of devices. The pricing is comparable to going directly to Amazon for their hosting.

Related Content

Cloud Hosting

Cloud Hosting / Services Maintenance Schedule

Maintenance

This document serves as a detailed guide to the deployment and maintenance processes for FileWave's array of services. Our aim is to clearly present the methods and strategies employed to deploy and sustain the optimal functioning of our services. It encompasses a range of topics from maintenance schedules and procedures to deployment guidelines, providing our customers with a clear understanding of how we ensure the efficiency and reliability of our services in their diverse technological environments.

Regular Weekly Maintenance Period

This section outlines the standard weekly maintenance schedule relevant to our routine operations. It is essential to recognize that this schedule exclusively pertains to regular maintenance activities and does not encompass FileWave Version Upgrades, Incident Responses, or any additional maintenance intervals that may be communicated separately.

Region Name

Region ID

Weekday

Local Time

CET

CEST

US East (N. Virginia)

us-east-1

Tuesday

UTC 07:00 - 09:00

8:00 - 10:00

09:00 - 11:00

Europe (Frankfurt)

eu-central-1

Wednesday

CET/CEST 21:00 - 23:00

21:00 - 23:00

21:00 - 23:00

Asia Pacific (Singapore)

ap-southeast-1

Thursday

SGT 21:00 - 23:00

14:00 - 16:00

15:00 - 17:00

Asia Pacific (Tokyo)

ap-northeast-1

Thursday

JST 21:00 - 23:00

13:00 - 15:00

14:00 - 16:00

Asia Pacific (Mumbai)

ap-south-1

Thursday

IST 21:00 - 23:00

16:30 - 18:30

17:30 - 19:30

Special Maintenance Period

In our commitment to transparency and minimizing operational impact, we proactively notify customers about impending special maintenance periods. Notifications are typically issued at least one week in advance, accompanied by details of the anticipated duration of downtime for each service. The execution of these maintenance activities adheres to the specific time frames detailed in the accompanying table, ensuring clarity and predictability for our customers.

Region Name

Region ID

Local Time

CET

CEST

US East (N. Virginia)

us-east-1

UTC 05:00 - 10:00

06:00 - 11:00

07:00 - 12:00

Europe (Frankfurt)

eu-central-1

CET/CEST 21:00 - 06:00

21:00 - 06:00

21:00 - 06:00

Asia Pacific (Singapore)

ap-southeast-1

SGT 21:00 - 06:00

14:00 - 23:00

15:00 - 00:00

Asia Pacific (Tokyo)

ap-northeast-1

JST 21:00 - 06:00

14:00 - 22:00

15:00 - 23:00

Asia Pacific (Mumbai)

ap-south-1

IST 21:00 - 06:00

16:30 - 01:30

17:30 - 02:30

Emergency Maintenance

During emergency maintenance scenarios, our primary objective is the rapid resolution of the issue at hand. We commit to informing our customers about such emergencies at the earliest opportunity, with the timing of communication being carefully calibrated according to the incident's severity. This approach ensures that our focus remains firmly on swift resolution, while still keeping our customers duly informed as the situation progresses.

Deployment Guidelines

FileWave Server

Infrastructure

Related Content

Cloud Hosting

FileWave SaaS Service Level Agreement

This Service Level Agreement (this “SLA”) is incorporated into the Terms of Service between FileWave and Customer (the “Agreement”).

The provisions of the Terms of Service resp. End-User License Agreement also apply to this SLA.

A. DEFINITIONS

“Designated Support Liaisons” means the two individuals specifically designated by Customer to coordinate error response and FileWave support.

*Note—Customer may request additional Designated Support Liaison(s) for an additional fee.

“Level 1 Error” refers to an error, excluding any Maintenance Period, that causes the FileWave server to cease operating, and which is likely to cause widespread or irreversible damage to the customer’s existing deployment or infrastructure.

“Level 2 Error” refers to an error, excluding any Maintenance Period, that causes the FileWave server to fail in regard to a critical or primary function in the current deployment environment, and which may cause reversible or localized damage to the customer’s existing deployment or infrastructure.

“Level 3 Error” refers to an error or product behavior, excluding any Maintenance Period, that causes a failure or undesired output from a minor component in the FileWave system, and while the error or behavior may be inconvenient for the customer, it does not cause imminent or irreversible damage to their deployment.

“Level 4 Error” refers to a minor error or unexpected product behavior, excluding any Maintenance Period, which includes user support for requests of best practices, templates, guidance for deployments, or feature requests.

“Maintenance Period” refers to any scheduled maintenance on the SaaS platform. FileWave will announce planned maintenance in advance to ensure minimal disruption. Details about scheduled maintenance, including timing and expected impact, will be available on our Cloud Hosting / Services Maintenance Schedule. Emergency maintenance may occur without prior notice.

“Response” refers to an email, telephone, or in-person acknowledgment of a Trouble Ticket.

“Trouble Ticket” means a written trouble ticket properly submitted to FileWave at help.filewave.com or help@filewave.com by one of Customer’s Designated Support Liaisons.

B. BACKUP

FileWave will perform daily backups of all Customer Data and securely retain these backups for a period of thirty (30) days. After this retention period, older backups will be automatically overwritten. FileWave is responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of these backups and will take all reasonable measures to protect Customer Data during the backup process.

C. ERROR RESPONSE TIME AND REMEDY

Level 1 Error – Response Time: 2 Hours.

FileWave will work to restore the server to a state of normal operation. This may be achieved using a work-around, temporary solution while a more permanent solution is found.

Level 2 Error – Response Time: 4 hours.

FileWave recognizes that this emergency may be caused by outside factors (deadlines, deployments, unexpected load) and will work to resolve the issue as quickly as possible for the customer.

Level 3 Error – Response Time: 8 hours.

FileWave will assist the customer in navigating around this issue while working to determine the root cause. If the issue is found to result from a defect in the FileWave product, the FileWave support team will follow the procedures for a Level 1 or 2 incident. If the issue is due to incorrect or lack of documentation, the support team will ensure the documentation is appropriately updated.

Level 4 Error – Response Time: 24 hours.

FileWave is available to assist customers with questions regarding best practices or other issues with their deployments. Every effort will be made to ensure these questions are answered in a timely fashion and feature requests are properly documented and delivered to the correct departments.

D. SUPPORT AVAILABILITY

FileWave provides technical support 24 hours a day, 5 days a week (24/5), from Monday to Friday. Support requests submitted outside these hours, including weekends, may not receive immediate attention and could be addressed on the next business day.

E. CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITIES

Server access:

For Level 1, 2, and 3 Errors, FileWave may need access to mission-critical servers and services (such as the customer’s FileWave server and related infrastructure). To assist with this support, the customer agrees to provide FileWave with system-level control of FileWave servers and appliances, or to remain available during the performed work to grant access on an as-needed basis for the support team. Failure to provide access to the required servers may impede FileWave’s ability to help resolve the issue.

Data collection:

FileWave may be required to capture a copy of the customer’s database and logs to further investigate the issue with the development team by using our uploader tool (UT) or by a manual process.

Environment access:

For all levels of incidents, FileWave may require access to the customer’s environment. This access will be provided using a screen-sharing tool or other remote access methodology to be determined during work on the incident.

Cloud Hosting

SSL Certificate Management for Custom Domains (FileWave-Hosted Servers)

What

This article explains how FileWave can manage SSL certificates automatically using Let’s Encrypt for customers who use their own custom DNS names (e.g., filewave.forrest.com) with FileWave-hosted servers. This eliminates the need for customers to manually renew SSL certificates, providing a more secure and convenient experience.

When/Why

When your FileWave Server is hosted by FileWave and you use a custom domain to access it, managing SSL certificates typically becomes your responsibility. However, FileWave now offers a way to automate this process using Let’s Encrypt.

By delegating SSL management to FileWave:

This option is ideal for organizations that:

Note: While the service is currently free, FileWave may introduce a small future fee to support its ongoing development and maintenance. Customers will always be informed in advance and may choose to opt out and return to managing their own certificates.

How

To allow FileWave to manage SSL certificates for your custom domain, follow these steps:

1. Open a Support Ticket

Start by opening a ticket with FileWave Support via the IT Service Desk. Indicate that you want to enable SSL management for your custom domain.

The Support team will:

2. Add the Required CNAME Record to Your DNS

To allow FileWave and Let’s Encrypt to automatically manage your SSL certificate, you need to add a CNAME record in your DNS settings. This record is used specifically for domain validation using the DNS-01 challenge method required by Let’s Encrypt.

Format:

_acme-challenge.<your-domain> IN CNAME _acme-challenge.<provided-subdomain>.filewave.net

Example:

_acme-challenge.filewave.forrest.com IN CNAME _acme-challenge.forrest.filewave.net

This CNAME allows the Let’s Encrypt system to validate the domain through FileWave’s infrastructure.

3. Check for Existing CAA Records

A CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) DNS record specifies which Certificate Authorities (CAs) are allowed to issue certificates for your domain. If a CAA record exists and does not include Let’s Encrypt (letsencrypt.org), then Let’s Encrypt will not be able to issue or renew your certificate.

To enable FileWave to manage the certificate, ensure your DNS includes a CAA record like:

yourdomain.com. IN CAA 0 issue "letsencrypt.org"

If you already have CAA records that restrict certificate issuance to other CAs, you’ll need to modify them to include Let’s Encrypt.

Need help with this? FileWave Support can assist in identifying and resolving any CAA-related issues during implementation.

4. FileWave Cloud Team Handles the Rest

Once the DNS CNAME record is in place, FileWave’s Cloud Team will:

Related Content

Digging Deeper

Let’s Encrypt uses the ACME protocol to verify control of a domain before issuing a certificate. In this case, DNS-based challenges are used, where you prove ownership by creating a specific DNS record—an _acme-challenge CNAME pointing to a FileWave-managed subdomain.

By doing so, FileWave can securely respond to these challenges on your behalf, allowing the automation of issuance and renewal processes. This approach is especially useful when the server is behind load balancers, proxies, or hosted in environments where HTTP-based challenges (port 80) aren’t feasible.

If you’ve ever missed a certificate renewal deadline or find SSL tedious to manage, this automation will save time and avoid outages due to expired certs.

Cloud Hosting

FileWave On-Premise Service Level Agreement

This Service Level Agreement (this “SLA”) is incorporated into the Terms of Service between FileWave and Customer (the “Agreement”).

The provisions of the Terms of Service resp. End-User License Agreement also apply to this SLA.

A. DEFINITIONS

“Designated Support Liaisons” means the two individuals specifically designated by Customer to coordinate error response and FileWave support.

*Note—Customer may request additional Designated Support Liaison(s) for an additional fee.

“Level 1 Error” refers to an error, excluding any Maintenance Period, that causes the FileWave server to cease operating, and which is likely to cause widespread or irreversible damage to the customer’s existing deployment or infrastructure.

“Level 2 Error” refers to an error, excluding any Maintenance Period, that causes the FileWave server to fail in regard to a critical or primary function in the current deployment environment, and which may cause reversible or localized damage to the customer’s existing deployment or infrastructure.

“Level 3 Error” refers to an error or product behavior, excluding any Maintenance Period, that causes a failure or undesired output from a minor component in the FileWave system, and while the error or behavior may be inconvenient for the customer, it does not cause imminent or irreversible damage to their deployment.

“Level 4 Error” refers to a minor error or unexpected product behavior, excluding any Maintenance Period, which includes user support for requests of best practices, templates, guidance for deployments, or feature requests.

“Maintenance Period” refers to any scheduled maintenance on the SaaS platform. FileWave will announce planned maintenance in advance to ensure minimal disruption. Details about scheduled maintenance, including timing and expected impact, will be available on our Cloud Hosting / Services Maintenance Schedule. Emergency maintenance may occur without prior notice.

“Response” refers to an email, telephone, or in-person acknowledgment of a Trouble Ticket.

“Trouble Ticket” means a written trouble ticket properly submitted to FileWave at help.filewave.com or help@filewave.com by one of Customer’s Designated Support Liaisons.

B. BACKUP

The Customer is solely responsible for performing regular backups of all Customer Data stored on the FileWave server. The Customer must ensure that these backups are conducted daily and securely retained for a period that meets their data retention and recovery requirements. FileWave is not responsible for the accuracy, integrity, or protection of Customer Data during the backup process. The Customer must take all reasonable measures to safeguard their data, including the use of appropriate backup tools and practices.

C. ERROR RESPONSE TIME AND REMEDY

Level 1 Error – Response Time: 2 Hours.

FileWave will work to restore the server to a state of normal operation. This may be achieved using a work-around, temporary solution while a more permanent solution is found.

Level 2 Error – Response Time: 4 hours.

FileWave recognizes that this emergency may be caused by outside factors (deadlines, deployments, unexpected load) and will work to resolve the issue as quickly as possible for the customer.

Level 3 Error – Response Time: 8 hours.

FileWave will assist the customer in navigating around this issue while working to determine the root cause. If the issue is found to result from a defect in the FileWave product, the FileWave support team will follow the procedures for a Level 1 or 2 incident. If the issue is due to incorrect or lack of documentation, the support team will ensure the documentation is appropriately updated.

Level 4 Error – Response Time: 24 hours.

FileWave is available to assist customers with questions regarding best practices or other issues with their deployments. Every effort will be made to ensure these questions are answered in a timely fashion and feature requests are properly documented and delivered to the correct departments.

D. SUPPORT AVAILABILITY

FileWave provides technical support 24 hours a day, 5 days a week (24/5), from Monday to Friday. Support requests submitted outside these hours, including weekends, may not receive immediate attention and could be addressed on the next business day.

E. CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITIES

Server access:

For Level 1, 2, and 3 Errors, FileWave may need access to mission-critical servers and services (such as the customer’s FileWave server and related infrastructure). To assist with this support, the customer agrees to provide FileWave with system-level control of FileWave servers and appliances, or to remain available during the performed work to grant access on an as-needed basis for the support team. Failure to provide access to the required servers may impede FileWave’s ability to help resolve the issue.

Data collection:

FileWave may be required to capture a copy of the customer’s database and logs to further investigate the issue with the development team by using our uploader tool (UT) or by a manual process.

Environment access:

For all levels of incidents, FileWave may require access to the customer’s environment. This access will be provided using a screen-sharing tool or other remote access methodology to be determined during work on the incident.

Professional Services & Training

If you seek expert help with your FileWave account or need to onboard new staff, the Professional Services & Training (PS&T) team is at your service. This team is led by Josh Levitsky, CISSP. In addition to Josh, the team includes Emma Ainsworth, Andrew Kloosterhuis, Sean Holden, and Rommel Navarro. With team members positioned across North America, the UK, and the Philippines, we provide global coverage.

For any assistance or inquiries, feel free to contact us at the following email, or you can easily schedule a meeting with Josh Levitsky at this link. or email us at 📨 professional.services@filewave.com 

Our professional services and training offerings include:

We're always here to help with any Professional Services and Training questions.

FileWave Community Edition

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The FileWave Community Edition is your exclusive ticket to the FileWave Management Suite, absolutely free for up to 15 mobile, desktop, or tablet devices.

Designed for individuals and small-scale organizations, the FileWave Community Edition ensures that your device management remains simplified yet efficient.

✔ Manage up to 15 devices each for mobile, desktop, and Chrome.
✔ Multi-platform support for iOS, macOS, Windows, Android & ChromeOS.
✔ Access to Discord community, Knowledge Base, and Foundry video courses.
✔ Easy maintenance with compliance to data regulations, along with detailed reports on device usage and security status.

So, if you are looking to run a personal instance of FileWave or maybe are a very small organization with a small number of devices then this may be for you. You simply need to be able to run your own Debian or macOS system to act as a server. If you are new to running virtual servers, then check out Linode: https://go.filewave.com/linode There you can run a server for about 2 months for free with the initial credit they give.

Sign up: https://www.filewave.com/pricing/ 

⚠️ Please note that TeamViewer is not included in Community Edition, and there is no official Technical Support beyond the community support in Discord and the Forums. If you ever want to switch from Community Edition to Professional just reach out to Customer Experience for a license quote.