Troubleshooting

Adjusting the Idle Timeout in FileWave Anywhere (WebAdmin)

What

This article will guide you on how to change the idle timeout setting in FileWave Anywhere (WebAdmin). By default, the idle timeout is set to 25 minutes. This means that if there is no activity on the interface for 25 minutes, the user will be automatically logged out. However, depending on your needs, you may find this period too short or too long.

When/Why

You might want to change this setting if the default 25-minute timeout does not suit your work patterns or security needs. If you frequently need to step away from your work but find yourself logged out when you return, you might want to extend this timeout. Conversely, if you're concerned about leaving the interface open and unattended for too long, you might want to reduce the idle timeout.

However, it is important to bear in mind that extending the idle timeout can potentially increase security risks. For example, if you log into FileWave Anywhere on a shared or public computer and forget to log out, you could remain logged in until the timeout occurs, leaving your account vulnerable.

How

To adjust the idle timeout, you will need to modify a specific line in the settings_custom.py file on your FileWave Server. This file is located at /usr/local/filewave/django/filewave/ on macOS or Linux systems.

Please note: If you are a hosted customer, you will not have direct access to the server and will need to contact FileWave Support to have them make this change for you.

Here is the process for self-hosted customers:

  1. Open the settings_custom.py file in a text editor.
  2. Add or modify the following line:
    UI_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT = 25 * 60 # seconds the UI can stay inactive before auto logoff
  3. Replace the 25 in this line with the number of minutes you want for your idle timeout. For instance, if you want the timeout to be 60 minutes, the line should read: UI_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT = 60 * 60.
  4. Save and close the file.
  5. To activate the change, you need to restart the server. Do this by running the following command in the terminal: fwcontrol server restart.

After these steps, the idle timeout will be set to the number of minutes you specified.

Could not create the /Volumes/XYZ directory error when opening client info

Problem

Error when opening client info for a client machine that it "Could not create the directory". The error is caused when you select "Export Current Tab" in Client info and save the file to a directory that is now no longer on the machine. This is most common when you save the file to a external hard drive and then disconnect the drive. Since the directory path no longer exists it gives the error like the one shown below. The path will most likely differ.

Solution

The error is resolved when you select a new location for Export current view. To do this follow the below steps. 


Dashboard Warning levels and Descriptions

Problem

The table below provides an overview of the information that is returned by the Dashboard in the FileWave Admin console.

Environment

FileWave Central Console

Resolution

Item Description
Free Disk Space Free disk space on fwxserver (db location). Warning if < 50GB or < 20% Total space, Error if < 25GB or < 10% total space.
CPU Load CPU Load on fwxserver. Always OK.
Google Cloud Messaging Returns Google Cloud Messaging status. Cached 1 minute. Error if configuration is not correct.
OS X APN for Engage Returns OS X APN certificate status for Engage. Cached 1 minute. Warning if certificate expires in less than 30 days. Error if certificate is missing, expired, or Root certificate is missing.
Total Disk Space Total disk space on fwxserver (db location).
Client distribution Returns client OS distribution (OSX, Windows, iOS, Android...). Cached 1 minute.
Free RAM Free RAM on fwxserver. Always OK as some systems like OSX will free memory on demand only.
APN for MDM Returns APN certificate status for MDM. Cached 1 minute. Warning if certificate expires in less than 30 days. Error if certificate is missing, expired, or Root certificate is missing.
VPP Tokens Returns VPP tokens status. Cached 5 minutes. Warning if token expires in less than 30 days. Error if token is expired or incorrect.
FileWave Client/Mobile License Returns License Status. Cached 1 minute. If you have more than 50 licenses: warning if available count goes below 10, error when 0. If you have less than 50 licenses: warning if available count goes below 4, error when 0.
Entreprise app file (ipa) Check ipa status. Cached 1 hour. Warning if IPA file is local but does not have expected size. Error is IPA file is not on disk for local IPA, or not reachable for external IPAs.
DEP Accounts Returns DEP Accounts status. Cached 5 minutes. Warning if access token expires in less than 30 days. Error if token is expired or incorrect.
Email sent Returns Email sent status for the 7 past days. Cached 5 minutes. Warning if mails are still in the queue (not sent) Error if mails could not be sent (SMTP error). Note that we can't check if the POP/IMAP server rejected the mail. returns the following dict : 'success': , 'pending': , 'error': : , ...
Email settings Returns email settings status. Cached 5 minutes. Error if can't connect to SMTP server.
LDAP Extraction status LDAP Extraction status. Warning if one or more servers have not been contacted yet, Error if there was an error during extraction.
Total RAM Total RAM on fwxserver.
iOS APN for Engage Returns iOS APN certificate status for Engage. Cached 1 minute. Warning if certificate expires in less than 30 days. Error if certificate is missing, expired, or Root certificate is missing.
Smart Group Count Number of evaluated SmartGroups. Warning if last report occurred more than 1h ago, error if 2h ago.

Related Content


Having DB folder on a different Volume(symlink) slows the admin performance

Issue : If you have a symlink to /fwxserver folder (Data Folder and DB folder are on network volume i.e NAS) it is possible that you experience performance issue's with the FileWave Central.

Resolution: We strongly recommend that you that if you are on version 4.0 & above only create the symlink to the Data Folder and keep the DB folder on the local machine

For creating a link for the Date Folder see: Store the FileWave Server/Booster Data on a Separate Volume

Opening FileWave Central (Admin) in a Specific Language (macOS)

What

FileWave Admin will automatically use the language, if supported, set on the workstation at installation (default English).  It is however possible to run FileWave Admin in a different language, as shown below, through an Apple Shortcut Menu Bar item.

When/Why

FileWave Central (Admin) doesn’t currently have the option to change Language preference in the application itself.  Only some languages are supported with this method.

How

The following command may be used to both open and specify a chosen language at runtime.  Apple Shortcuts app allows running scripts via a Menu Bar item.

/Applications/FileWave/FileWave\ Admin.app/Contents/MacOS/FileWave\ Admin --lang en_GB &

In FileWave 15.4.0, the above line will fail to launch the chosen language as is.  See below shortcut example for alternate script.

Available Language Options:

Language Option
English en_GB or en_US
German de_DE
Korean ko_KR
Japanese ja_JP
Chinese (Traditional and Simplified) zh_TW or zh_CN

 

Requirements:

Creating the Shortcut

  1. Siri Shortcut.png

    Open the Shortcuts Application on a macOS machine running Monterey or newer (macOS 12).

  2. In the Menu, under File, select New Shortcut.

  3. Name the Shortcut. For example: “FW Admin (EN)”.

  4. Select Run Shell Script as the action.

  5. Insert the command below, setting the preferred language. Below example showing US English.

    /Applications/FileWave/FileWave\ Admin.app/Contents/MacOS/FileWave\ Admin --lang en_US & 
exit 0

    In, 15.4.0 try the following script instead.  Example using German, but alter the temp_locale parameter as required:

     

    #!/bin/zsh

temp_locale="de_DE"

current_user=$(stat -f%Su /dev/console)
current_locale=$(defaults read /Users/${current_user}/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist AppleLocale)

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c 'Set AppleLocale '$temp_locale'' /Users/${current_user}/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

/Applications/FileWave/FileWave\ Admin.app/Contents/MacOS/FileWave\ Admin &

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c 'Set AppleLocale '$current_locale'' /Users/${current_user}/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

exit 0

     

  6. Shortcut Details tab (ℹ️), offers options for launching the Shortcut. As an example: pin to Menu Bar and create a keyboard shortcut for quick access to the FileWave Central App.


    Run FW in another lang macOS.gif

All done!

Opening FileWave Central (Admin) in a Specific Language (Windows)

What

When you install FileWave Admin, it will automatically use the language you have set on your workstation (if not available, it will default to English). If you want to change FileWave to run in another language, you have to launch Central/Admin with an argument that specifies the desired language. In this article, we will show you how to make a Shortcut on Windows that will launch the Admin in your preferred language automatically.

When/Why

FileWave Central (Admin) doesn’t currently have the option to change Language preference in the application itself. The current language options are English, German, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese (Traditional & Simplified).

How

If you want to open the FileWave Central/Admin Application in a different Language, you would use the following command to launch. In this article, we’re going to automate the process so it opens with your preferred language every time using a Desktop Shortcut.

Windows (FW 15.4.2 and lower)
"C:\Program Files (x86)\FileWave\FileWaveAdmin.exe" --lang us_EN
Windows (FW v15.5.0 or higher)
"C:\Program Files\FileWave\admin\FileWaveAdmin.exe" --lang us_EN

Available Language Options:

Requirements:

Creating the Shortcut

  1. On your Desktop, right-click and select New > Shortcut

    OpenFWOtherLang1.png

  2. In the next window, type the path to the Command Prompt and click Next.

    C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe

    OpenFWOtherLang2.png

  3. Give the Shortcut a Name and select Finish. I’ve gone with “FileWave Admin (EN)”

    OpenFWOtherLang3.png

  4. Once the Shortcut is created, right-click and select Properties.

    WindowsPropertiesMenu.png

  5. In the Target field, paste the following. Change “en_US” to whatever language you’re wanting to use noting the example below is for FileWave 15.5.0 or higher.

    C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c "C:\Program Files\FileWave\admin\FileWaveAdmin.exe" --lang en_US

    OpenFWOtherLang-Properties.png

  6. If you want to change the Shortcut Icon to the FileWave icon, select Change Icon. In Browse, select the FileWaveAdmin.exe in “C:\Program Files\FileWave\admin\” and click Open.

    OpenFWOtherLang-changeicon.png

    OpenFWOtherLang-selecticon.png

  7. Select OK or Apply to Save your changes.

    OpenFWOtherLang-FWAdminIcon.png

Now when you click on the Shortcut on your Desktop, the Admin should open in your preferred language!

You’re all set!


What is the difference between Revert and Restore?

Problem

Let's figure out the difference between revert and restore and when we need to use them.

Something has happened and you want to take a step back.

Maybe you have noticed under the Server menu → "Revert to Last Model"

revert.png

and in the command line there is a: 

sudo fwcontrol server restore [version]

Remember: when you open the FileWave Central admin we are making changes to a future model.

Resolution

Revert:

Is like a typical revert you would see in a document editor and takes things back to the last saved state.

Let's say I opened my FileWave Admin and the model was currently 10 (Any changes I would be making in the FW Admin would become model 11 once I applied it by updating the model).

So I make a fileset called "My Fileset A" delete a fileset called "Old Fileset B", and change an association for "Fileset C" from being to a "Group 1" to "Group 2"

At this point – if I did select "Revert to Last Model" from the server menu – It would undo everything I did by going back to the currently deployed model 10.

IF however, I updated the model to 11 and realized I made a mistake, a revert isn't going to help me out there. As it would be reverting to 11

Restore: 

Restore is not a Revert but has the ability to jump back to previous models. Taking the same story from above;

Let's say I opened my FileWave Admin and the model was currently 10 (Any changes I would be making in the FW Admin would become model 11 once I applied it by updating the model).

So I make a fileset called "My Fileset A" delete a fileset called "Old Fileset B", and change an association for "Fileset C" from being to a "Group 1" to "Group 2"

If however, I updated the model to 11 and realized I made a mistake. I can restore model 10 by doing

sudo fwcontrol server restore 10

The server only keeps the last 20 models.

After the command finished:

Restoring a previous model will not unerase a removed fileset. You need your backups for that.

Additional Information

Often if you make a big enough mistake, it is better to just contact support and have them help you get back to where you need to be.