SERVER

Cloud server setup

Refer Start an attendance management system with Cloud section for more details.

Install On-premises server on Linux

Refer this document to setup Docker for Linux. Once setup the Docker, follow the below sections to complete setup.

1. Prepare the program data directory

2. Run the server

Prepare the program data directory

To prepare the program data directory

1. Create a directory “ProgramData”

2. Copy the following license files to “ProgramData/NCheck/License” directory.

   1. license.lic

   2. config.xml

Run the server

Use the following commands.

1. Run the server

   docker run -d -p <port>:8443 -v <ProgramData>:/ProgramData –name ncheck ncheckadmin/bioattendance:<version>

2. Stop the server

   docker stop ncheck

3. Start the server

   docker start ncheck

4. Configurations

   Refer Configurations section for more details.

Configurations

Additional Arguments can be passed as Environment variables.

docker run -d -p <port>:8443 -v <ProgramData>:/ProgramData -e VARIABLE1=’value1’ -e VARIABLE2=’value2’ –name ncheck ncheckadmin/bioattendance:<version>

The following configurations can be used.

1. Database type (Optional)

2. Keystore (Optional)

3. Restore (Optional)

4. NMatcher configuration(optional)

Database type (Optional)

Database type can be selected to configure the database to connect to HASQL, MySQL, MSSQL, Oracle. If not, HSQL will be used. For each database type (DB_TYPE) the following configuration should be used

1. . SQLITE

   1. DB_FILE

      Database file name. Database will be stored in “ProgramData/NCheck/databases/server”

2. MYSQL, MSSQL or ORACLE

   1. DB_URL

      Database URL.

   2. DB_USER_NAME

      Database username

   3. DB_PASSWORD

      Database password

   4. DB_MAX_CONNECTIONS

      Maximum connections for the database. Default value for connection type is 30.

Keystore (Optional)

To setup SSL Certificate copy the keystore file (pfx) to “ProgramData”/NCheck/Keystore/<KeystoreFile>.

1. KEYSTORE

   Keystore file name

2. KEYSTORE_ALIAS

   Keystore Alias

3. KEYSTORE_PASSWORD

   Keystore password

Restore (Optional)

Copy the Backup file to “ProgramData>/NCheck/databases/server”

1. DB_BACKUP_FILENAME

   Backup filename

2. DB_BACKUP_PASSWORD

   Backup file password

NMatcher configuration(optional)

1. NMATCHER_HOST

   NMatcher name

2. NMACTHER_PORT

   NMacther port

Install On-premises server for Windows

Refer Install for Windows section for more details.

Monitoring and Managing On-premises server

NCheck server monitoring and managing is done through the server tray.

On-premises server tray

NCheck On-premises server tray provides the following options to monitor and control NCheck On-premises server.

1. Icon status

2. Notifications

3. Tray icon tooltip

4. Tray icon menu

Icon status

NCheck On-premises server tray icon indicates the following status.

Table 8 Tray icon statuses

	Server is running and ready
	Server has stopped
	Server has stopped with errors
	Server is running with warnings

Notifications

NCheck On-premises server notifications are showing when the status changes. Sample notifications are as follows,

Table 9 Server tray notifications

Notification	image
Server has started	Figure 38 Notification when server is started
Server has stopped	Figure 39 Notification when server is stopped
Server has ready	Figure 40 Notification when server is ready

Tray icon tooltip

Tray icon tooltip shows the following information.

1. Status of the NCheck service

2. Status of the NCheck On-premises server

3. NCheck On-premises server database path

4. NCheck On-premises server port

   

   Figure 41 NCheck tray icon tool tip

Tray icon menu

Figure 42 NCheck tray icon menu

1. Configuration

   Open NCheck On-premises server configuration as mentioned in On-premises server configuration section.

2. Start

   Start NCheck On-premises server.

3. Stop

   Stop NCheck On-premises server.

4. Control panel

   Open the NCheck Control panel.

5. NCheck

   Open NCheck client application for Windows.

6. Application logs

   Open NCheck logs files folder.

7. License manager

   Open NCheck licensing window.

8. Generate diagnostic info

   Diagnostic info can be generated to keep track of existing problems and bugs in the NCheck On-premises server or windows client application for NCheck developers. The diagnostic file is generating in “C:/ProgramData/NCheck/Diagnostic” folder.

9. Exit

   Exit NCheck On-premises server tray icon.

On-premises server configuration

NCheck On-premises server using the configuration can be applied using the NCheck configuration window. It has the following configuration sections

Figure 43 Windows service configuration window

1. Server

2. Database

3. Restore database

4. Load default button

   Load default values to configuration dialogue.

5. Save button

   Save the configuration and restart the server. The error messages could appear when saving configuration has shown below.

Table 10 Error messages of server configuration save

Error code	Description
1001	Could not connect with MYSQL/MSSQL {server url}: {port} server.
1002	Could not connect with the email server {host name}: {port}.
2006	Invalid SSL certificate file.
2007	Invalid key store password or SSL key alias.
2008	Invalid port number. Please select the valid port.
2009	Port is used by another application.
2010	Invalid SQLite database or password. Please recheck the database file or password.
2012	{database name} could not be found.
2013	Invalid MYSQL/MSSQL username and password.
1002	Could not connect with the email server {host name}: {port}.
2016	Could not connect with the email server {host}: {port}. Invalid username or password.

Server

The Server configuration section allows to add SSL certificate to the NCheck On-premises server. SSL certificate is significance to,

1. Encrypt the data sent across internet so that only the intended recipient can access it

2. Authentication to ensure that you communicate with the right server

Note

You are allowed to use self-signed certificate without purchasing a certificate. NCheck server uses a self-signed certificate to enable SSL features.

The SSL configuration settings are,

Figure 44 NCheck Windows SSL configuration

1. Key store file

   SSL certificate file path

2. Key store password

   Password of the certificate file.

3. SSL key alias

4. Port

   HTTPS port for NCheck server. The default port is 8443.

Database

NCheck server can be configured with following databases

1. HSQL

2. MySql

3. MSSQL

4. Oracle

Proceed through the Setup database section to for more details.

Setup database

HSQL

Figure 45 NCheck Windows SQLIte configuration

1. Provide the location of the SqLite database file. If the file does not exist, a new database will be created.

2. Provide the password of the database.

   The password should be given to use with the NCheck system. Once the password is given, it will be saved securely by the application.

If the provided HSQL database file is out of date, the database will migrate to the new version automatically when the NCheck server is starting. The status of the database migration will be shown in tray icon tooltip as shown in Tray icon tooltip section. The possible errors on database migration have been shown below.

Figure 46 Confirmation dialogue on password encryption change

Table 11 Error messages of SQLite database migration

Error code	Description
2011	SQLite database migration has failed with the following errors. Error 1 Error 2

MySql

NCheck on-premises server compatible with MySql product version 5.6 onward.

Figure 47 NCheck Windows MySql configuration

1. Provide MySql Server name or IP address

2. Provide the MySql server TCP port. This is 3306 by default

3. Provide existing database names in the server. Otherwise, you must create a database first

4. provide a username with all privileges on the database

5. Provide the password of the users

MSSQL

NCheck on-premises server compatible with MSSql version 2014 onward.

Figure 48 NCheck Windows MsSQL configuration

1. Provide MSSql Server name or IP address.

2. Provide the MSSql server TCP port. This is 1423 by default

3. Provide existing database name in the server. Otherwise, you must create a database first

4. provide a username with all privileges on the database

5. Provide the password of the users

Note

NCheck connect to MSSql server using TCP/IP protocol. TCP/IP protocol for the SQL server should have enabled in the SQL server Network configuration

Oracle

It is required to install and configure Oracle database as mentioned in here. After installing the Oracle database,

1. Create a full privileged user for the oracle db

2. Configure service and network as mentioned in this link.

To configure Oracle database with NCheck server,

Figure 49 NCheck Windows Oracle configuration

1. Provide Oracle Server name or IP address.

2. Provide the Oracle server port. This is 1521 by default

3. Provide existing database name in the server. Otherwise, you must create a database first

4. provide a username with all privileges on the database

5. Provide the password of the users

Restore database

The database can be restored back to NCheck server.

Figure 50 NCheck Windows database restore configuration

1. Backup file

   Select the database backup (zip file format) to restore. The database backup can be created as mentioned in Backup data section.

2. Password

   Enter the database backup password

Database restore status are shown in the trey icon tooltip as shown in Tray icon tooltip section. The possible error messages when restored database are shown below.

Table 12 Error messages of restore database

Error code	Description
2015	Data restore has failed. Could not decrypt the file with the given password.
2014	Data restore has failed. Invalid backup file.
4002	An unidentified error occurred during data restore. Please contact administrator or NCheck support for more details.