FileWave Central - Additional Settings Menu Items

In the FileWave Admin application, there are several other settings and menu items that come into play as you manage and configure your devices. They appear in two menu sets (Server & Assistants) as shown:

Some of these items have already been covered, and others will be discussed in depth later in this manual. Here are basic descriptions of the function of these menu items.

Activation Code…

This is the access to the code you received when you purchased your FileWave license. Setting this up was discussed early in Chapter 2.

Update Model…

FileWave, at its core, is a SQL database. As such, it is constantly managing large amounts of data as you, and possibly other administrators, add new clients, create Filesets for new content distribution, and manage your devices. When you are performing many of these operations, the information is being written into RAM on the server. A Model is an instance in time for the FileWave database. When you choose the Update Model, you are telling the server to write the changes you have made into the database, and create a manifest for the Clients. This manifest is sent to each Client when it checks in, telling it what changes have been made. If there is a change that effects the Client, it will then request any new or updated Filesets and will then make the appropriate changes on the device. Whenever you make changes to device(s), edit Filesets, or do anything that may affect the relationship between a device and the server, you should update the model.

Revert to Last Model…

If you have made a change to the Model, then realize that you may have damaged a setting, or distributed a broken application, you can revert to the previous model within the FileWave database. In many cases, this can be done without any irreversible changes to the client devices.

Get Logfile…

This menu item allows you to grab a copy of the latest FileWave server process log. It will tell you how your server is behaving, and what is going on. It is very useful for troubleshooting problems.

Open Logfile Folder

This menu item opens the folder on the FileWave Admin system that contains all of the logfiles that have been requested by that administrator. These are copies of the FileWave server logs retrieved when you selected the Get Logfile… menu item.

Client Monitor

The Client Monitor is a tool used to observe the status of a specific device. It displays the current state of the device, the current Model number on the device, and you can see if the device is reacting to changes being made by clicking on the Verify button. Detailed information on Client Monitor is in the Chapter Clients.

Fileset Magic

Custom content can be created using the Fileset Magic tool. It allows you to take a snapshot of the current status of a device, install and configure new content, take a second snapshot, and build a distribution Fileset from those changes. More on Fileset magic in the Chapter on Filesets.

Find Software Updates…

This menu item opens a management pane to look for all iOS / macOS / Windows software updates that are available. The updates can be viewed by just the ones that your devices have been requesting, or by every update published for that platform. The use of this capability is covered in the Chapter on Filesets.

Imaging…

This item opens the Imaging pane that allows you to associate disk images with OS X and Windows devices for re-imaging. This is covered in detail in Network Imaging / IVS.

Enroll iOS Device…

This item opens the pane with the various settings for enrolling iOS devices, and AppleTV, either manually or automatically. 

Search App Store…

This menu item opens a search pane to look for content on the Apple App Store. Details on using this item are in the Chapter on Filesets.

VPP Code Management… / VPP User Management…

These two menu items relate to Apple's Volume Purchase Program within FileWave. They allow you to manage the distribution of institutionally purchased content. 

DEP Association Management…

This menu item relates the Apple Device Enrollment Program within FileWave. You use this pane to configure DEP profiles, and associate them to institutionally purchased devices. .

Activation Lock Management…

This menu item displays the status of your supervised iOS devices with activation lock active. The bypass codes are stored on the FileWave server for your use when taking these devices out of service. 

Manage Administrators…

This menu item opens the management pane for creating, editing, and managing the FileWave administrator account and sub-admin accounts.

Show Locked Items

This menu opens the window with a display of any and all aspects of the FileWave Admin UI that has been "taken control of" using the Take Control button, or that is in use by another FileWave administrator. For example, when an administrator needs to work on editing the sub-administrators, changing some settings in Clients, or editing a Fileset, they can Take Control of those specific items (and when they are finished, they can Release Control).

In the meantime, any administrator trying to work on those areas, can use the Show Locked Items menu to view areas they cannot control.

If an administrator has left items locked too long, or walked away from their system with items still locked, you can force quit that administrator (see Administrators Online… below). You should also make sure your sub-administrators set a reasonable auto-logout time in the General preferences of their FileWave Admin application.

Audit History…

This menu item displays a log of all actions taken by FileWave administrators, broken out by day.

Administrators Online…

This assistant menu lets you view the status of all of the FileWave administrators. If an administrator has been logged in too long, or has locked something you need access to, and they are not at available, you can force logoff that user.

LDAP Browser…

This menu selection displays a tree of your LDAP configuration that matchs what you entered in the LDAP preferences.

File Search…

This item displays a search window that allows you to locate any item in a Fileset using a text string search.
Once you have located your item, you can click on Reveal in Fileset to display the contents of the Fileset with that specific item.

Unmanaged Devices…

This menu item displays a pane with the "non-client" devices you are keeping track of. You can enter items such as printers, scanners, cameras, etc. to the set by clicking on [+] in the window.

Scheduled Reports…

This menu item allows you to create and generate Inventory reports that are automatically sent to designated email accounts.