Configuring FileWave Server Basic Preferences
This article explains the core FileWave Central preferences for General, Organization Info, Kiosk, Inventory, Mail, Editor, Proxies, Software Updates, and Upgrades. Mobile, LDAP, Apple Automated Device Enrollment and Apps and Books, and Imaging have their own articles.
General preferences
General preferences combine FileWave Server certificate and device defaults with settings that apply only to the local FileWave Central installation. The current General tab also contains optional AI Chatbot access and brute-force protection.
SSL Certificate Management
Review the active certificate chain, common name, and expiration date before replacing or distributing a certificate. Details opens certificate information, Upload PKCS12 Certificate replaces the Server certificate with a prepared PKCS#12 certificate, and Get Current Certificate downloads the certificate currently used by the FileWave Server. See Using Self-Signed Certificates with FileWave for trust and distribution considerations.
Server settings
- Limit Bandwidth for each connection to caps each Server-to-Booster or Server-to-Client Fileset transfer connection at the entered KB/s value.
- Default state for devices sets the tracking state applied to devices enrolled after the change. Review platform permissions, privacy requirements, and the difference between Tracked, Untracked, and Missing states in Location Tracking Setup before changing this default.
General preferences in FileWave Central 16.4: certificate details, Server settings, and the beginning of Local Settings.
Local settings
These settings apply to the computer where FileWave Central is running. They do not change the equivalent preference on another administrator's workstation.
- Language selects the FileWave Central interface language. System language follows the operating system.
- Theme selects Light, Dark, or Automatic appearance. Automatic follows the operating-system setting.
- Auto logout and quit admin after signs out the connected administrator and quits FileWave Central after the configured period of inactivity.
- More confirmation dialogs adds confirmations for actions such as moving or deleting items.
- Show non-generic unix owner and group names resolves Unix user and group IDs in Fileset contents to names known on the local computer.
- Show associations displays the legacy Associations workflow in FileWave Central. See How Are Deployments Different than Associations? before choosing between Associations and Deployments.
- Make new associations Kiosk by default (not including Software Update or Policy) makes Kiosk the initial distribution method for new Associations except Software Update and Policy items.
- Use alternating row colors for list and tree views changes list and tree appearance on this computer.
- Ctrl-C copies just the active cell copies only the selected cell when enabled; when disabled, Ctrl-C copies the whole row.
- Keep n servers in recent list controls how many recently used FileWave Servers appear in the Central login history.
The middle of General preferences shows the complete Local Settings list and the AI Chatbot control.
Features
AI Chatbot enables or disables the optional assistant in both FileWave Central and FileWave Anywhere. See FileWave Knowledge Base AI Assistant for access and cloud-processing details.
Brute Force Protection
Brute-force protection applies username-based lockouts with escalating delays to FileWave Central and FileWave Anywhere sign-ins. The General tab controls whether it is enabled, the allowed failed attempts, first lockout time, lockout increase factor, and maximum lockout time. See Brute Force Protection and Login Lockouts for defaults, behavior, logging, and troubleshooting.
The bottom of General preferences contains the AI Chatbot feature control and the complete Brute Force Protection settings.
Organizational Info preferences
Use Organization Info to record the managing organization's details. FileWave includes this information with the overall device information.
Kiosk preferences
The self-service Kiosk preferences allow you to create and edit the various categories of Kiosk items offered to end users. You can also change the icon for an existing Kiosk item.
Use the [] or [-] buttons to add or delete a Kiosk item. When you have selected an existing Kiosk item, clicking on the [] button allows you to create sub-categories. Double-clicking on the title of a category allows you to change the name of the category. The Change Icon button lets you select a new graphic to display as the icon for a category. Icons should be in .png, .tiff, or .jpg format. They should also be no larger than 512x512 pixels in size. This is to keep the file size reasonable.
If you want to clear out your category set and return the FileWave defaults, click on the Revert to Defaults button and you will return to the eight (8) entries you started with. The Kiosk can be further customized with background images and titling. See the FileWave Support site for more information and directions.
Inventory preferences
The current version of FileWave has the asset management process, Inventory, included in the main FileWave Server install. Earlier versions of FileWave supported an Inventory server that could run on a different computer. The settings for Inventory on the current version can be left at the defaults; but information on the provided settings is below:
Inventory Server
The FileWave Inventory server and MDM server are now running on the same server. The server address should be a valid FQDN (fully qualified domain name). The default TCP port is 20445. If you change the Shared Key in Inventory, it will break any RESTful API scripts or interfaces you are using, until they are updated to use the new key.
iOS Inventory
- Device Inventory Poll Interval - Default is 24hrs. This setting is how often all iOS devices will report their profiles, application, security and device settings.
- Device Not Checked-In Notification – (applies to all MDM-enrolled devices) Default is 30 days. When a device exceeds the timeframe set, the color changes in the Client and Inventory view to alert the administrator that that device has not checked in with the MDM server.
Smart Groups
Mail preferences
FileWave Server Mail Preferences supplies outgoing email for scheduled reports and other server-generated messages. Manual SMTP configuration has been available in FileWave for many releases; OAuth support for Google and Microsoft 365 was added in FileWave 16.1.1.
- Manual Setup: Configure Host, Port, TLS, Send from address, and credentials only when the SMTP service requires them. Leave Username and Password empty for an intentional no-authentication relay. FileWave 16.4 fixes prior validation that could incorrectly require those fields.
- OAuth: Register a provider application, enter the Client ID and Client Secret—plus Tenant ID for Microsoft 365—authorize the mailbox, confirm Token Available, and send a test message.
For the complete 16.4 workflow, provider callback URL, Google and Microsoft 365 setup, screenshots, testing, and troubleshooting, see Configuring FileWave Server Mail Preferences.
Editor preferences
Filesets can contain plain-text files such as batch (.bat), configuration (.conf), property list (.plist), and JSON (.json) files. The Editor preferences control which filename extensions FileWave administrators can open in the Fileset Contents text editor. Add an extension only for file types that are safe to edit as plain text.
Use the editor for text formats with standard Unix or Windows line endings. Test a file type before enabling its extension for every FileWave administrator. See Filesets / Payloads for related guidance.
Proxies preferences
If you are using proxy servers in your environment, this preference pane will allow you to enter the credentials needed to let your FileWave Server authenticate with the proxy service. If your users' devices must go through a proxy server to access the FileWave server from outside your network, then you will need to add credentials here to allow your FileWave server to respond through that same proxy. You may also create unique override credentials for your FileWave Admin to use or bypass the proxy service, as needed.
- Server Proxy Credentials – HTTP and SOCKS5 are the two protocol options, followed by host name, port, username and password.
- Admin Proxy Credentials Override – HTTP and SOCKS5 are the two protocol options, followed by host name, port, username and password.
Software Updates
In FileWave 16.2.0 and higher the Software Updates tab is where you can define how OS updates are determined to be obsolete. This will allow you to use "Obsolete Filesets Cleanup" in the Software Updates area of Central to remove updates that haven't been requested by any device for a set period of time.
Upgrades
FileWave 16.4 adds Upgrades as the last Preferences tab, immediately after Software Updates. It centralizes the controls for integrated Client upgrades and automatic Booster upgrades.
Client Upgrade
- Batch Size sets the maximum number of clients that can simultaneously download an upgrade for a specific target version.
- Error Threshold sets the number of permanent upgrade failures at which further upgrades to that target version are paused until the failures are resolved.
- Schedule client upgrade reports every n Days sets the reporting interval for the Client upgrade workflow.
Booster Upgrade
Automatically upgrade boosters n Days after upgrading server sets the delay between the FileWave Server upgrade and automatic upgrades of eligible Boosters. The screenshot shows the FileWave 16.4 default example of seven days.
FileWave Central 16.4 Upgrades preferences. The displayed values are examples; review them for your environment before beginning an upgrade.
See Upgrading FileWave Clients for integrated-upgrade eligibility and rollout guidance, and Monitor Booster Upgrades for Booster eligibility, status, and troubleshooting.
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