5 FileFly Admin Portal Reference

5.1 Introduction

Caringo FileFly Admin Portal is the web-based interface that provides central management of a FileFlyTM deployment. It is installed as part of the FileFly Tools package.

While the Admin Portal interface should be largely self-explanatory, this chapter is provided as a reference guide for completeness.

Getting Started

Open Caringo FileFly Admin Portal from the Start Menu. The FileFly Admin Portal will open displaying the ‘Overview’ tab.

The main FileFly Admin Portal page consists of seven tabs: the ‘Overview’ tab, which displays a summary of the FileFly Admin Portal status and any running tasks, and a tab for each of the six types of objects described below.

Servers

Servers are machines with activated agents – see §5.3. Status and health information for each Server is shown on the ‘Servers’ tab.

Sources

Sources are volumes or folders upon which Policies may be applied (i.e., locations on the network from which files may be Migrated) – see §5.4.

Destinations

Destinations are locations to which Policies write files (i.e., locations on the network to which files are Migrated) – see §5.5.

Rules

Rules are used to filter the files at a Source location so that only the required subset of files is acted upon – see §5.6.

Policies

Policies specify which operations to perform on which files. Policies bind Sources, Rules and Destinations – see §5.7.

Tasks

Tasks define schedules for Policy execution – see §5.8.

Note: The Caringo FileFly Webapps service needs to run continuously in order to launch scheduled tasks.

5.2 Overview Tab

The ‘Overview’ tab displays a summary of the FileFly Admin Portal status and any running tasks as well as recent task history. Additionally, objects can be created using the ‘Quick Links’ section. A ‘Quick Run’ panel may be opened from the ‘Quick Links’ section which allows Tasks to be run immediately.

If there are warnings, they will be displayed in a panel below ‘Quick Links’.

On the ‘Overview’ tab it is possible to:

  • View the Global Task Log
  • Stop All Tasks
  • Suspend/Start Scheduler to disable/enable scheduled Task execution
  • Click the name of a Task to reveal the details of the particular Task run
  • Click Details to expand all running/recent Task details – see §5.9.1
  • Clear the ‘Recent Task History’
  • Show/Hide Successful Tasks in the ‘Recent Task History’ section

In a given Task run’s details:

  • Go to Task to open the corresponding ‘Task Details’
  • Go to log to open the corresponding Task run’s ‘Log Viewer’
  • Stop a running task

5.3 Servers

The ‘Servers’ tab displays the installed and activated agents across the deployment of FileFlyTM. Health information and recent demigration statistics are provided for each server or cluster node.

Servers are added during the activation phase of the installation process. However, it is also possible to retire (and later reactivate) servers using the ‘Servers’ tab, as described in the following sections.

Servers and cluster nodes with errors will have their details automatically expanded, however details for any server or cluster node can also be expanded by clicking on the relevant Server address link or on the Expand Details link at the top of the page.

5.3.1 Adding a Server or Cluster

To add a new standalone server or the first node of a cluster:

  1. From the ‘Servers’ tab, click Add New Server
  2. Select the appropriate server type from the server type drop-down
  3. Follow the instructions on the page to enter the appropriate FQDN for the server or cluster
  4. Click Next
  5. Follow any further instructions on the ‘Confirm Server Address’ page
  6. Click Next (or Reactivate if the server has previously been activated)
  7. For a new installation, enter the activation code displayed on the server and click Activate

Note: To add a new node to an existing cluster, refer to §5.3.3.

5.3.2 Viewing/Editing Server or Cluster Details

Click on the name of any server or cluster to enter the ‘Server Details’ page.

From this page it is possible to update server comments, upgrade the server to a HighAvailability cluster (after the relevant DNS changes have been made) or add nodes to an existing cluster.

Additionally, statistics are displayed for various operations carried out on the selected server or cluster nodes. This information can be useful when monitoring and refining migration policies. This information may also be downloaded in CSV format.

5.3.3 Adding a Cluster Node

Upgrade a Standalone Server to a HA Cluster

  1. Make any necessary DNS changes first

• ensure these changes have time to propagate

  1. Click Upgrade to HA Cluster
  2. Select the new cluster type from the drop-down list
  3. Select the address for the new node
  4. Click Next (or Reactivate if the server has previously been activated)
  5. For a new installation, enter the activation code displayed on the server and click Activate
  6. Click Add Cluster Node
  7. Select the address for the new node
  8. Click Next (or Reactivate if the server has previously been activated)
  9. For a new installation, enter the activation code displayed on the server and click Activate

Add a Cluster Node to an Existing Cluster

5.3.4 Retiring a Server or Cluster

To retire a single server or cluster node, simply click Retire Server in the drop-down details for the server or cluster node of interest. To retire an entire cluster, click on the name of the cluster, then click Retire Cluster on the ‘Server Details’ page.

5.3.5 Reactivating a Server or Cluster

A server may be reactivated by following the same procedure as for adding a new server – see §5.3.1.

5.3.6 Viewing System Statistics

Click System Statistics to view operation statistics aggregated across all servers. Statistics can also be downloaded in CSV format.

Statistics for individual servers can be seen on their ‘Server Details’ pages.

5.3.7 Upgrading Server Software

The system upgrade feature allows for remote servers to be updated automatically with minimal downtime. Click Upgrade Servers to begin the System Upgrade process – see Chapter 8 for further details.

5.4 Sources

Sources are volumes or folders to which Policies may be applied (i.e., locations on the network from which files may be Migrated).

Sources can be grouped together by assigning a tag to them. For instance, tags may denote department, server group, location, etc. Tagging provides an easy way to filter Sources which is particularly useful when there are a large number of Sources.

5.4.1 Creating a Source

To create a Source:

  1. From the ‘Sources’ tab, click Create Source
  2. Name the Source and optionally enter a comment
  3. Optionally, tag the Source by either entering a new tag name, or selecting an existing tag from the drop-down box
  4. Create a URI using the browser panel (see §5.4.5)
  5. Optionally, select inclusions and exclusions – see §5.4.4

Note: To exclude a directory from being actioned use a Rule. See Appendix B.

Tip: On the ‘Overview’ tab, click on the Create Source ‘Quick Link’ to go directly to the ‘Create Source’ page.

5.4.2 Listing Sources

On the ‘Sources’ tab, Sources may be filtered by tag:

  • ‘[All] by tag’ – displays all Sources grouped by their respective tag
  • ‘[All] alphabetical’ – displays all Sources alphabetically
  • ‘tagname’ – displays only the Sources with the given tag
  • ‘[Untagged]’ – displays only the untagged Sources

From the navigation bar:

  • Create a new Source – if a tag is currently selected, this will be the default for the new Source
  • Show the full URIs of each of the displayed Sources
  • Show the relationships that the displayed Sources have with Policies and Destinations

5.4.3 Viewing/Editing a Source

Click on the Source name on the ‘Sources’ tab to display the ‘Source Details’ page.

From the ‘Source Details’ page:

  • Edit the contents of the page as necessary and click Save when complete
  • Click Delete to remove the Source

5.4.4 Directory Inclusions & Exclusions

Within a given Source, individual directory subtrees may be included or excluded to provide greater control over which files are eligible for policy operations. Excluded directories will not be traversed.

In the Source editor, once a URI has been entered/created, the directory tree may be expanded and explored in the ‘Directory Inclusions & Exclusions’ panel (Figure 5.1). By default, all directories will be ticked, marking them for inclusion.


Figure 5.1: Directory Inclusions & Exclusions

Branches of the tree are collapsed automatically as new branches are expanded. However, directories representing the top of an inclusion/exclusion remain visible even if the parent is collapsed.

Ticking/unticking a directory will include/exclude that directory and its subdirectories recursively. Note that the root directory (the Source URI) may also be unticked.

The ‘other dirs’ entry represents both subdirectories that may be created in the future, as well as subdirectories not currently shown because their parent directories are collapsed.

When a Source’s inclusions and exclusions are edited at a later date, the Validate and edit button must be clicked prior to modifying the contents of the panel. Validation verifies that directories specified for inclusion/exclusion still exist, and assists with maintaining the consistency of the configuration if they do not.

5.4.5 Source URI Browser

The URI browser appears under the URI field. A URI can be created by typing directly into the URI field, or interactively by using the browser.

5.5 Destinations

Destinations are storage locations that Policies may write files to (i.e., locations on the network to which files are Migrated).

Like Sources, Destinations can be grouped together by assigning a tag to them. For instance, tags may denote department, server group, location, etc. Tagging provides an easy way to filter Destinations which is particularly useful when there are a large number of Destinations.

5.5.1 Creating a Destination

To create a Destination:

  1. From the ‘Destinations’ tab, click Create Destination
  2. Name the Destination and optionally enter a comment
  3. Optionally, tag the Destination by either entering a new tag name, or selecting an existing tag from the drop-down box
  4. Enter a URI as directed

Tip: On the ‘Overview’ tab, click on the Create Destination ‘Quick Link’ to go directly to the ‘Create Destination’ page.

Write Once Read Many (WORM)

The ‘use Write Once Read Many (WORM) behavior’ checkbox turns on WORM behavior for the Destination.

If a Destination is set to use this option, the Migrated file on secondary storage will not be modified when files are demigrated. Secondary storage space cannot be reclaimed.

5.5.2 Listing Destinations

On the ‘Destinations’ tab, Destinations may be filtered by tag:

  • ‘[All] by tag’ – displays all Destinations grouped by their respective tag
  • ‘[All] alphabetical’ – displays all Destinations alphabetically
  • ‘tagname’ – displays only the Destinations with the given tag
  • ‘[Untagged]’ – displays only the untagged Destinations

From the navigation bar:

  • Create a new Destination – if a tag is currently selected, this will be the default for the new Destination
  • Show the full URIs of each of the displayed Destinations

5.5.3 Viewing/Editing a Destination

Click on the Destination name on the ‘Destinations’ tab to display the ‘Destination Details’ page.

From the ‘Destination Details’ page:

  • Edit the contents of the page as necessary and click Save when complete
  • Click Delete to remove the Destination

5.6 Rules

Rules are used to filter the files at a Source location so that only specific files are Migrated (e.g. Migrate only Microsoft Office files). A Simple Rule filters files based on file pattern matching and/or date matching, while a Compound Rule expresses a combination of multiple Simple Rules.

Rules are applied to each file in the Source. If the Rule matches, the operation is performed on the file.

5.6.1 Creating a Rule

To create a Rule:

  1. From the ‘Rules’ tab, click Create Rule
  2. Name the Rule and optionally enter a comment
  3. Optionally, to omit the files that match this Rule, check Negate
  4. Complete the following as required:
  • ‘File Matching’ (see §5.6.4)
  • ‘Date Matching’ (see §5.6.8)
  • ‘Owner Matching’ (see §5.6.9)
  • ‘Attribute State Matching’ (see §5.6.10)

Note: Creating a compound rule is detailed later, see §5.6.11.

Tip: On the ‘Overview’ tab, click on the Create Rule ‘Quick Link’ to go directly to the ‘Create Rule’ page.

5.6.2 Listing Rules

Rules are listed on the ‘Rules’ tab. From the navigation bar:

  • Create a new Rule
  • Create a new Compound Rule
  • Show the details of each of the displayed Rules

5.6.3 Viewing/Editing a Rule

Click on the Rule name on the ‘Rules’ tab to display the ‘Rule Details’ page.

From the ‘Rule Details’ page:

  • Edit the contents of the page as necessary and click Save when complete
  • Click Delete to remove the Rule

Note: Rules that form part of another Rule (i.e., Compound Rules), or are included in a Policy, cannot be deleted. The Rule must be removed from the relevant object before it can be deleted.

5.6.4 File Matching Block

The ‘File Matching’ block selects files by filename.

The ‘Patterns’ field takes a comma-separated list of patterns:

  • wildcard patterns, e.g. *.doc (see §5.6.5)
  • regular expressions, e.g. /2004-06-[0-9][0-9]\.log/ (see §5.6.6)

Notes:

  • files match if any one of the patterns in the list match
  • all whitespace before and after each file pattern is ignored
  • patterns starting with ‘/’ match the entire path from the Source URI
  • patterns NOT starting with ‘/’ match files in any subtree
  • patterns are case-insensitive

5.6.5 Wildcard Matching

The following wildcards are accepted:

  • ? – matches one character (except ‘/’)
  • * – matches zero or more characters (except ‘/’)
  • ** – matches zero or more characters, including ‘/’
  • /**/ – matches zero or more directory components Commas must be escaped with a backslash.

Examples of Supported Wildcard Matching:

  • * – all filenames
  • *.doc – filenames ending with .doc
  • *.do? – filenames matching *.doc, *.dot, *.dop, etc. but not *.dope
  • ???.* – filenames beginning with any three characters, followed by a period, followed by any number of characters
  • *\,* – filenames containing a comma

Examples of Using * and ** in Wildcard Matching:

  • /*/*.doc – matches *.doc in any directory name, but only one directory deep

(matches /Docs/word.doc , but not /Docs/subdir/word.doc)

  • public/** – matches all files recursively within any subdirectory named ‘public’
  • public/**/*.pdf – matches all .pdf files recursively within any subdirectory named ‘public’
  • /home/*.archived/** – matches the contents of directories ending with ‘.archived’ immediately located in the home directory
  • /fred/**/doc/*.doc – matches *.doc in any doc directories that are part of the /fred/ tree (but only if the *.doc files are immediately within doc directories

Directory Exclusion Patterns

Wildcard patterns ending with ‘/**’ match all files in a particular tree. When this kind of pattern is used to exclude directory trees, FileFlyTM will automatically omit traversal of these trees entirely. For large excluded trees, this can save considerable time.

For other types of file and directory exclusion, please refer to Appendix B.

5.6.6 Regular Expression (Regex) Matching

More complex pattern matching can be achieved using regular expressions. Patterns in this format must be enclosed in a pair of ‘/’ characters. e.g. /[a-z].*/

To assist with correctly matching file path components, the ‘/’ character is ONLY matched if used explicitly. Specifically:

  • . does NOT match the ‘/’ char
  • the subpattern (.|/) is equivalent to the normal regex ‘.’ (i.e. ALL characters)
  • [^abc] does NOT match ‘/’ (i.e. it behaves like [^/abc])
  • ‘/’ is matched only by a literal or a literal in a group (e.g. [/abc])

Additionally,

  • Commas must be escaped with a backslash
  • Patterns are matched case-insensitively

It is recommended to avoid regex matching where wildcard matching is sufficient to improve readability.

Examples of Regular Expression (Regex) Matching

  • /.*/ – all filenames
  • /.*\.doc/ – filenames ending with .doc (notice the . is escaped with a backslash)
  • /.*\.doc/, /.*\.xls/ – filenames ending with .doc or .xls
  • /~[w|$].*/ – filenames beginning with ˜w or ˜$ followed by zero or more characters, e.g. Office temporary files
  • /.*\.[0-9]{3}/ – filenames with an extension of three digits
  • /[a-z][0-9]*/ – filenames consisting of a letter followed by zero or more digits
  • /[a-z][0-9]*\.doc/ – as above except ending with .doc
    • *.log, /.*\.[0-9]{3}/
    • matches any files with a .log extension and also any files with a three digit extension

Example of Combining Wildcard and Regex Matching

5.6.7 Size Matching Block

The ‘Size Matching’ block selects files by size.

In the ‘Min Size’ field, enter the minimum size of files to be matched. The file size units can be expressed in:

  • bytes
  • kB (kilobytes), 1024 bytes
  • MB (megabytes), 1024 kB
  • GB (gigabytes), 1024 MB

Optionally, set the ‘Max Size’ field to limit the size of files, check the Max Size checkbox and select the maximum size for files.

5.6.8 Date Matching Block

The ‘Date Matching’ block selects files by date range or age.

In the ‘Date Matching’ block:

  1. Select the property by which to match files
  • ‘Created’ – the date and time the file was created
  • ‘Modified’ – the date and time the file was last modified
  • ‘Accessed’ – the date the file was last accessed
  • ‘Archived’ – this option is currently unused
  1. Select the date element for the file property
  • To include files after a particular date, check the After checkbox and select a date.
  • To include files before a particular date, check the Before checkbox and select a date.
  • To include files based on a particular age, check the Age checkbox • select if the age is More than or Less than the specified age
  • type a figure to indicate the age
  • select a time unit (Hours, Days, Weeks, Months or Years)

Note: Matching on Accessed Date is not recommended as not all file servers will update this value and it may be modified by system level software such as file indexers.

5.6.9 Owner Matching Block

The ‘Owner Matching’ block selects files by owner name.

  • The ‘Patterns’ field uses the same format as the ‘File Matching Patterns’ field see §5.6.4
  • Windows users are of the form domain\username

5.6.10 Attribute State Matching Block

The ‘Attribute State Matching’ block selects files by the following file attributes: ‘ReadOnly’, ‘Archive’, ‘System’, ‘Hidden’, ‘Migrated’, and ‘DoNotMigrate’.

File attribute ‘DoNotMigrate’ is set on files that FileFlyTM has determined must not be migrated. FileFlyTM does not migrate files with this attribute.

Multiple attributes can be matched simultaneously; only files that meet all of the conditions will be selected.

Example:

• to match all read-only files, set ‘Read-Only’ to true, and set all other attributes to don’t care

5.6.11 Creating a Compound Rule

To create a Compound Rule:

  1. From the ‘Rules’ tab, click Create Compound Rule
  2. Name the Rule and optionally enter a comment
  3. Optionally, to omit the files that match this Compound Rule, check Negate
  4. Click on the ‘Combine logic’ drop-down box and choose the logic type (see Combine Logic §5.6.12)
  5. From the ‘Available’ box in the ‘Rules’ section, select the names of the Rules to be combined into the Compound Rule, and click Add

• To remove a Rule from the ‘Selected’ box, select the Rule name and click Remove

Tip: On the ‘Overview’ tab, click on the Create Compound Rule ‘Quick Link’ to go directly to the ‘Create Compound Rule’ page.

5.6.12 Rule Combine Logic

‘Combine logic’ refers to how the selected Rules are combined.

When ‘Filter (AND)’ is selected, all component Rules must match for a given file to be matched.

When ‘Alternative (OR)’ is selected at least one component Rule must match for a given file to be matched.

5.6.13 Viewing/Editing a Compound Rule

Click on the Rule name on the ‘Rules’ tab to display the ‘Compound Rule Details’ page.

From the ‘Compound Rule Details’ page it is possible to:

  • Edit the contents of the page as necessary and click Save when complete
  • Click Delete to remove this Compound Rule

Note: Rules that form part of another Rule (i.e., a Compound Rule), or are included in a Policy, cannot be deleted – otherwise the meaning of the Compound Rule or Policy could completely change, without becoming invalid. Such Rules must be removed from the relevant Compound Rule before they can be deleted.

5.7 Policies

Policies define which operations to perform on which files. Policies traverse the files present on Sources, filter files of interest based on Rules and apply an operation on each matched file.

5.7.1 Creating a Policy

To create a Policy:

  1. From the ‘Policies’ tab, click Create Policy. The ‘Create Policy’ page will be displayed
  2. Name the Policy and optionally enter a comment
  3. Select the operation to perform for this Policy – see Chapter 3
  4. For Policies with Rules, a file must match ALL selected Rules for the operation to be performed

Tip: On the ‘Overview’ tab, click on the Create Policy ‘Quick Link’ to go directly to the ‘Create Policy’ page.

5.7.2 Listing Policies

Policies are listed on the ‘Policies’ tab. From the navigation bar:

  • Create a new Policy
  • Show the Relationships each of the displayed Policies have with Sources, Destinations and Tasks
  • Click Create Task to create a Task for the particular Policy

5.7.3 Viewing/Editing a Policy

Click on the Policy name on the ‘Policies’ tab to display the ‘Policy Details’ page. From the ‘Policy Details’ page:

  • Edit the contents of the page as necessary and click Save when complete
  • Click Delete to remove the Policy

5.8 Tasks

Tasks schedule Policies for execution. Tasks are executed by the Caringo FileFly Webapps service. Tasks can be scheduled to run at specific times, or can be run interactively via the Run Now feature.

5.8.1 Creating and Scheduling a Task

To create a Task:

  1. From the ‘Tasks’ tab, click Create Task
  2. Name the Task and optionally enter a comment
  3. In the ‘Policies’ section, select Policies from the ‘Available’ list using the Add/Remove buttons
  4. Select the times to execute the Policies from the ‘Schedule’ section
  5. Optionally, enable completion notification – see §5.9.3

Tip: On the ‘Overview’ tab, click on the Create Task ‘Quick Link’ to go directly to the ‘Create Task’ page.

Defining a Schedule

The ‘Schedule’ section consists of various time selections to choose how often a Task will be executed.

The ‘Enable’ checkbox determines if the Task Schedule is enabled (useful if temporarily disabling the scheduled time due to system maintenance).

Note: To disable all Tasks, click Suspend Scheduler on the ‘Overview’ tab.

The available options in the ‘Schedule’ section are:

  • ‘Min’ – controls the minute of the hour the Task will run, and is between 00 and 55 (in 5-minute increments) in the graphical display.
  • The ‘Time Spec’ field allows integers up to 59, but will still operate in 5minute increments.
  • If a number is input directly into the ‘Time Spec’ field that is not listed in the graphical display, e.g. 29, nothing will be highlighted in the Min field of the graphical display, however the item is still valid.
  • ‘Hour’ – controls the hour the Task will run, and is specified in the 24 hour clock; values must be between 0 and 23 (0 is midnight).
  • ‘Day’ – is the day of the month the Task will run, e.g., to run a Task on the 19th of each month, the Day would be 19.
  • ‘Month’ – is the month the Task will run (1 is January).
  • ‘DoW’ – is the Day of Week the Task will run. It can also be numeric (0-6) (Sunday to Saturday).

‘Time Spec’ Examples

05 * * * *

five minutes past every hour

20 9 * * *

daily at 9:20 am

20 21 * * *

daily at 9:20 pm

00 5 * * 0

5:00 am every Sunday

45 4 5 * *

4:45 am every 5th of the month

00 * 21 07 *

hourly on the 21st of July

5.8.2 Listing Tasks

Tasks are listed on the ‘Tasks’ tab. From the navigation bar:

  • Create a new Task
  • Show the Details of each of the displayed Tasks

5.8.3 Viewing/Editing a Task

Click on the Task name on the ‘Tasks’ tab to display the ‘Task Details’ page.

From the ‘Task Details’ page:

  • Edit the contents of the page as necessary and click Save when complete
  • Click Delete to remove the Task

Once a Task has been saved, additional options are available on the navigation bar of the ‘Task Details’ page.

5.8.4 Running a Task Immediately

Run a Task immediately rather than waiting for a scheduled time by clicking Run Now on the ‘Task Details’ page or via Quick Run on the ‘Overview’ tab.

5.8.5 Simulating a Task

Run a Task in simulate mode by clicking Simulate Now on the ‘Task Details’ page. In simulate mode the Sources are examined to see which files match the Rules. The results are a statistics report (accessible from the ‘Task Details’ page) and a log file of which files matched.

5.8.6 Viewing Statistics

Click View Last Stats on the ‘Task Details’ page to access the results of Policies that produce statistics reports (i.e. the ‘Gather Statistics’ operation or Simulations).

5.8.7 Downloading DrTool Files

Click Download DrTool Files on the ‘Task Details’ page to access the results of Policies that produce DrTool Files (i.e. the ‘Create DrTool File From Destination’ and ‘Create DrTool File From Source’ operations).

The ‘Download DrTool Files’ page also allows files from previous runs of the Task to be downloaded. To configure retention options for these files see §5.10.

5.9 Task Execution

5.9.1 Monitoring Running Tasks

While a Task is running, its status is displayed in the ‘Running Tasks’ section of the ‘Overview’ tab. When Tasks finish they are moved to the ‘Recent Task History’ section.

The following Task information is displayed:

  • Started/Ended – the time the Task was started/finished
  • State – the current status of a Task such as ‘waiting to run’, ‘connecting to source’, ‘running’, etc.
  • Files examined – the total no. of files examined
  • Directory count – the total no. of directories examined
  • Operations succeeded – the no. of operations that have been successful
  • Operations locked – the no. of operations that have been omitted because the files were locked
  • Operations failed – the no. of operations that have failed
  • Logs – links to the logs generated by the Task run

The operation counts are updated in real time as the task runs. Operations will automatically be executed in parallel, see §D.4 for more details.

Note: The locked, skipped and failed counts are not shown if they are zero.

If multiple Tasks are scheduled to run simultaneously, the common elements are grouped in the ‘Running Tasks’ section and the Tasks are run together using a single traversal of the file system.

When a Task has finished running, summary information for the Task is displayed in the ‘Recent Task History’ section on the ‘Overview’ tab, and details of the Task are listed in the log file.

Tip: click the Task name next to the log links in the expanded view of a running or finished task to jump straight to the ‘Task Details’ page to access statistics, DrTool files etc.

FileFly Admin Portal can also be configured to send a summary of recent Task activity by email, see §5.10.

5.9.2 Accessing Logs

Tasks in the ‘Running Tasks’ and ‘Recent Task History’ sections can be expanded to reveal more detail about each Task. Click Details next to either section to expand all, or click on the individual Task name to expand them individually.

While a Task is running, view the log information by clicking Go to log to open the ‘Log Viewer’. Use this to troubleshoot any errors that arise during the Task run. These logs are also accessible by expanding the ‘Recent Task History’ section after the Task has completed.

The ‘Log Viewer’ page displays relevant log information about Tasks. By default the ‘Log Viewer’ displays entries from the logs relevant to this Task only. The path and filename of the log file is shown beneath the main box.

  • Click Show All Entries to display all entries in this log file
  • Click Download to save a copy of the log

5.9.3 Completion Notification

When a Task finishes running, regardless of whether it succeeds or fails, a completion notification email may be sent as a convenience to the administrator. This notification email contains summary information similar to that available in the ‘Recent Task History’ section of the ‘Overview’ tab.

To use this feature, email settings must be configured beforehand – see §5.10. Notifications for a given task may then be enabled either by:

  • checking the notify option on the ‘Task Details’ page
  • clicking Request completion notification on a task in the ‘Running Tasks’ section of the ‘Overview’ page

5.10 Settings Page

From any tab, click the settings icon in the top right corner to access the ‘Settings’ page. Note: Admin Portal settings can be returned to default values using the Defaults button.

License Details

The License Details section shows the identity, type and expiry details for the currently active license.

• Click Install New License... to install a new license

Administration Credentials

This section allows the password for the Admin Portal administrative user to be changed.

Email Notification

It is strongly recommended that the email notification feature be configured to send email alerts of critical conditions to a system administrator. Additionally, a daily or weekly summary of FileFlyTM task activity and system health should be scheduled. Adjust the Operation Time Limit to control how long FileFly Admin Portal will wait before notifying the administrator of a file operation that is taking an unexpectedly long time to complete.

Fill in the required SMTP details. Only a single address may be provided in the To field; to send to multiple users, send to a mailing list instead. It is advisable to provide an address that is specific to the FileFly Admin Portal in the From field. The From address does not necessarily have to correspond to a real email account, since the FileFly Admin Portal will never accept incoming email.

The SMTP server may optionally be contacted over TLS. If the server presents an untrusted TLS certificate, the ‘Allow untrusted certs for TLS’ checkbox may be used to force the connection anyway.

The email notification feature supports optional authentication using the ‘Plain’ authentication method.

The Test Email button allows these settings to be tested prior to the scheduled time. Once configured, any error encountered when sending an email notification will be displayed in the warnings box on the ‘Overview’ tab.

Configuration Backup

  • Schedule: day and hour
  • Schedule a weekly backup of FileFly Admin Portal configuration
  • A daily backup can be performed by selecting ‘Every day’
  • Default value is 1am each Monday
  • Keep: n backups
  • Sets the number of backup file rotations to keep
  • Default value is 4 backups
  • Backup Files: read-only list
  • Dated backup files currently available on the system

The Force Backup Now button allows a backup of the current configuration to be taken without waiting for the next scheduled backup time.

Please refer to §6.2 for further information.

Work Hours

Specify work hours and work days which may be used by migration policies to pause migration activity during the busy work period.

Individual policies may then be configured to pause during work hours – see §5.7 for supported operations.

Backup & Scrub Grace Period

  • Minimum Grace: n
  • Sets a global minimum scrub grace period to act as a safeguard

Please read the text carefully and set the minimum grace period as appropriate and after consulting with your backup plan. It is strongly recommended to review this setting following changes to your backup plan. For example, if backups are kept for 30 days, the grace period should be at least 35 days (allowing 5 days for restoration). See also Chapter 7.

5.10.1 Advanced Settings

The following settings should not normally require adjustment. It is advisable to consult with a support engineer before changing these values.

Recent Task History

  • Display: n tasks
  • Sets the maximum number of Tasks displayed in the ‘Recent Task History’
  • Default value is 40 tasks
  • Max: n days
  • Sets the maximum number of days to display Tasks in the ‘Recent Task History’
  • Default value is 10 days
  • Min: n minutes
  • Sets the minimum number of minutes Tasks remain in the ‘Recent Task History’ (even if maximum number of Tasks is exceeded)
  • Default value is 60 minutes

Performance

  • Threads: n
  • The maximum number of threads to use for file walking
  • Default value is 32 threads
  • Throttle: n files examined per second per thread
  • Restricts the rate at which files are examined by FileFlyTM(per second per thread) during a Task execution
  • Default value is an arbitrarily high number which ‘disables’ throttling

Logging

  • Log Size: n MB
  • Sets the size at which log files are rotated
  • Default value is 5 MB

Network

  • TCP Port: n
  • Sets the port that Caringo FileFly Admin Portal contacts Caringo FileFly Agent on
  • Default value is port 4604

  

DrTool File Retention 

  • Keep at least: n files - controls the minimum number of rotations of DrTool files that will be retained
  • Keep for at least: n days - controls the minimum age at which rotated DrTool files will be considered eligible for removal

5.11 About Page

From any tab, click the about icon in the top right corner to access the ‘About’ page. This page contains information about the FileFly Tools installation, including file locations and memory usage information.

The page also enables the generation of a support.zip file containing your encrypted system configuration and licensing state. Caringo Support may request this file to assist in troubleshooting any configuration or licensing issues.

5.12 Service Probe

To remotely test whether the Caringo FileFly Webapps service is responding, perform an HTTP GET request on the following resource: https://<serverFQDN>:<port>/ffap/probe

For example, to probe with curl:

curl -i -k 'https://server.example.com:8080/ffap/probe'

The service will respond with 200 OK.

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