|
Product Information Online Documentation Administrator Website |
How the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST Administrator WorksPASSPORT WEB TO HOST consists of three parts:
The administrator website consists of a series of HTML files that provide easy to find information on how to get the PASSPORT software up and running as quickly and easily as possible. The following sections are included in the administrator website:
The default administrator website can be accessed at the following URL: http://YourWebSite/pecadmin on Windows Servers and from http://YourWebSite/passweb/Index.htm on Java Application Servers (WebSphere, BEA WebLogic, and so on). The administrator configuration program is launched from the administrator website by clicking on the Configure icon. This program has the look and feel of Windows Explorer and the BackOffice product family. This is where the user profiles, group information, session profiles, keyboard profiles, attribute profiles and system macros are configured. The session profile contains information regarding the host connection information such as the Host IP address, TCP port, security and other related information. A user profile can have display and/or printer session profiles assigned to it. A group can have users assigned to it, as well as sessions. Session profile names are used to identify sessions. A session profile can be configured to support an individual dedicated user, or can be configured to support a pool of users. All configuration information is stored on the Web server for centralized administration. The PASSPORT website is what the actual user views in their Web browser before establishing a host session with the host mainframe. The PASSPORT website must be accessed from the Web browser with a URL. The PASSPORT website is detailed below in the next section. How the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST Client WorksThe PASSPORT Client website consists of a series of HTML files that provide easy to find information on launching a PASSPORT session. The following sections are included in the client website:
The default PASSPORT website can be accessed at the following URL on a Windows Server: http://YourWebSite/pec/. On Java Application Servers, the default PASSPORT website can be accessed at: http://YourWebSite/passweb/Eclient/Index.htm The launch section of the PASSPORT website can start a host session in one of the following ways:
When the user displays a list of sessions, the user can then select the host session to start from the list. These sessions must have been previously configured and assigned to the user by the administrator. When the user starts a session directly, the session profile is directly specified by the user. When the session is launched, an ActiveX component is downloaded to the client’s PC from the Web server. The ActiveX component is only downloaded the first time a session is launched, or whenever the version of the ActiveX component changes to a newer version. In addition to the ActiveX component, the configuration information for the host session is downloaded to the client’s PC as well. Once downloaded and running in the client’s Web browser, a connection is made to the host system and a logon screen appears. PASSPORT has its own toolbar and button bars. PASSPORT menus are merged with the Internet Explorer menus. The client cannot reconfigure any of the host connection configuration information. All configuration information is stored on the Web server and can only be modified by the website administrator. The administrator can grant permissions to individual users or groups of users to modify keyboard layouts and attribute information. This user information is stored on the user's local PC. Advantages of PASSPORT WEB TO HOSTEasy to UsePASSPORT is designed to be the easiest Web to host solution to setup, configure and use. The PASSPORT Administration Configuration Program has the same look and feel as Microsoft Windows Explorer and BackOffice products. PASSPORT merges its menus with Internet Explorer using the same method as Microsoft’s Word and Excel and sports the same look and feel as an extension to Internet Explorer. Fast and CompactThe compressed cab file for the PASSPORT ActiveX component is very small. Other ActiveX and Java Web to host solutions can be as high as 4 to 5 times larger in size. PASSPORT is not a re-packaging of a fat client. It was designed from the ground up to be lean and mean. Since Java is an interpretive 8-bit byte code language, Java based Web-to-host solutions will always execute slower than 32-bit ActiveX based solutions. Also, because ActiveX components are only downloaded once every time a version change is made, Java based Web-to-host solutions can add to network congestion. ReliableBecause PASSPORT is an ActiveX component, there is a seamless integration with Internet Explorer and Windows operating system. Java based solutions run on top of a Java virtual machine that translates Java byte code into instructions the Windows operating system can understand. Because of Java virtual machine inconsistencies, there can often be unpredictable results with large complex Java programs such as terminal emulation programs. Rocket Software uses the latest development technology, including the latest Microsoft Visual Studio C/C++ compiler, NuMega Technologies Bounds Checker and the ACT ITF testing tools to ensure the highest quality code possible. Rocket Software has been in business over 18 years and has a large impressive base of corporate, government and educational clients. SecurePASSPORT provides advanced security features using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) version 3 (TLS) server authentication and encryption providing secure data access across TCP/IP networks. With SSL, your host sessions are protected from eavesdropping, tampering, or message forgery over TCP/IP. This feature can be critical for those organizations that use Web-to-host remote access across the Internet to access sensitive data on corporate mainframes. SSL is an optional feature. Centralized Administration and Text Based Session ProfilesOne of the major advantages of implementing PASSPORT WEB TO HOST is centralized administration. This eliminates the need to install and setup the software on individual client PCs. All session profile configuration is performed at the Web server. All configuration data is stored on the Web server in a text format that can be viewed by any text editor. System administrators with advanced technical skills can generate configuration files using scripting languages such as VBScript if desired. Standard Keyboard Maps and Keyboard CustomizationPASSPORT provides standard keyboard maps compatible with the Attachmate EXTRA! Personal Client, NetManage Rumba, and IBM eNetwork Personal Communications programs. This can ease the migration from one of these thick clients to PASSPORT. PASSPORT also provides the ability to re-map the entire keyboard, including keys like the right and left Ctrl keys. Java solutions do not have complete access to the Windows keyboard; therefore some key combinations cannot be re-mapped. Support for all Compliant TN3270E, TN5250E and VT ServersPASSPORT supports all TN3270E servers developed by IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, Novell and others that are fully compliant with the IETF RFC 2355 specification. Rocket Software was one of the first companies to fully implement the TN3270E standard and is an active member of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) TN3270E Working Group. Java versus ActiveXJava and ActiveX are the two most popular solutions for providing Web-to-Host access. Although Java is designed for platform independence, it does so at a great cost to users of Windows based PCs: performance, reliability and usability. Because of additional layers of software involved with the Java virtual machine, Java based solutions will always be slower than ActiveX solutions. Java solutions do not have complete access to all of the Windows functions. Java solutions can have reliability problems because of Java virtual machine inconsistencies. The repetitive downloading of Java applets adds to network congestion, whereas ActiveX components are downloaded only once for every version change. Learn about the Administrator Configuration ProgramTo start the PASSPORT Administrator configuration program, click the Configure icon at the top of the screen. The PASSPORT Administrator configuration program has the look and feel of the Microsoft Windows Explorer and the BackOffice family of products. When you start the program you will immediately see the similarity. The Administrator Configuration Program Window PanesThe administrator configuration program window is divided into two panes. The left pane lists the types of items that can be configured. The right pane lists the file names. Profile TypesThere are nine types of major profiles listed in the window pane on the left. For display profile types, there are session profiles, keyboard profiles, attribute profiles and system macros. For the printer profile types, there are only session profiles.
GroupsA group is a group of users. A group also has display and printer sessions assigned to the group. This is an easy way to administer sessions for a group of users. For each group that is configured, there is a .zgp file created in the ...\Eclient\Groups\ directory. UsersEach user can have several display and printer sessions assigned. Each user can also be a member of a group. Each user has access to all sessions assigned to the user, as well as sessions assigned to a group that it is a member of. For each user that is configured, there is a .zur and a .htm file created in the ...\Eclient\Users\ directory. CertificatesThe Certificates profile is an administrative tool option that allows you to import root certificates from a Certificate Authority. The certificates that are imported here should be the root certificates that are used to generate SSL certificates for your organization. Once a certificate has been imported into the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST Administrator, any SSL-enabled session will download the certificate from the server to the workstation and use it for data encryption. Display Sessions (3270, 5250, VT and Wyse)The session profile contains the host connection information for the session. There are also links to a keyboard profile and attribute profile. Standard keyboard maps and attribute settings can be applied to various session profiles easily. The properties of a configured display session are listed below:
The connection page is where you configure the IP Host name, TCP Port, connection time out value, screen size, extended attributes, auto reconnect and other settings. The advanced page is where the hot back up and keep alive is configured. The security page is used to configure the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) security information. The options page is used to select a keyboard and attribute profile. If no keyboard map or attribute profile is configured, the defaults will be used. For each session profile created, a .zwh file is created. For example, if you create a session profile called MyMainframe, a file called MyMainframe.zwh is created in the …\3270dsp\Sessions\ directory. The .zwh file contains the session connection information. Keyboards (3270, 5250, VT and Wyse)The keyboard profile contains the keyboard layout information. PASSPORT supports four standard keyboard maps:
You can also customize your own keyboard maps if you wish. For each keyboard profile created, there is a .zkb file created in the ...\Keyboards directory. The keyboard profiles are text based configuration files and store only the information that is different from the standard PASSPORT keyboard map. Attributes (3270, 5250, VT and Wyse)The attribute profile contains information that affects the display attributes and default values for PASSPORT. The properties of an attribute profile are listed below:
The colors page provides the ability to change the screen colors used to display text received from the mainframe. The cursor page allows you to configure the cursor type, cursor blink, cursor ruler and ability to toggle the cursor type while in insert mode. The edit page is used to configure settings for the clipboard cut, copy and paste operations. The hotspots page provides the ability to specify strings of text that can be double-clicked on to execute certain functions like sending host keys. The mouse page allows various functions and host keys to be assigned to the mouse buttons. The toolbar page provides to customize the toolbar icons including the ability to import custom icons. The transfer page is used to configure default settings for the IND$FILE file transfer such as transfer method, block size, host operating system, file type, and other settings. The window title page allows the configuration of what you want to appear on the title bar. The miscellaneous page is used to configure numeric field checking, the bell, and other various settings. For each attribute profile created, there is a .zat file created in the …\Attributes\ directory. The attribute profiles are text based configuration files. Macros (3270, 5250, VT and Wyse)This is where the system macros are stored. System macros can be assigned to be a startup macro for a session profile. Also, system macros can be executed by any user if the administrator grants rights. Printer Sessions (3270 and 5250)The session profile contains the TN3270E/TN5250E connection information for the printer session. The properties of a configured printer session are listed below:
The connection page is where you configure the IP Host name, TCP Port, connection time out value, and auto reconnect settings. The advanced page is where the hot back up is configured. The security page is used to configure the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) security information. The printer setup page is used to configure number of columns and rows per page, transparent printing, setup strings, etc. The window title page allows the configuration of what you want to appear on the title bar. The miscellaneous page is used to configure the host code page and keep alive feature. For each session profile created, there are actually two files created: an .asp file and a .zwh file. For example, if you create a TN3270E session profile called MyPrinter, a file called MyPrinter.zwh is created in the …\3270prt\Sessions\ directory. The session profiles are text based configuration files. The Action Menu CommandsThe following commands can be accessed from the Action pull down menu. Alternatively, the right mouse button pops up a floating menu that displays the same commands.
To use these commands, you must first highlight an item in either the left or right pane. Then use the Action pull down menu or click the right mouse button to select the command to execute. NewThe new command is used to create a new user, group, session profile, keyboard profile, attribute profile or macro. You are first prompted to enter a name for the profile. This is the name that will appear in the right pane and identifies what you are creating. You then can enter the configuration information. Add MacroThis command allows the administrator to add macros to the system macro directory on the server. OpenThe open command is used to open and edit an existing user, group, session profile, keyboard profile, attribute profile or macro. When this command is used, the property sheets for the highlighted item are displayed. The profile can be edited and then saved. ConnectThe connect command starts the browser and launches the selected session profile. This can be used to test a session profile configuration from within the PASSPORT Administration configuration program. The connect command can only be used with session profiles. BrowseThis command can only be used for a user profile. The browser is launched and the list of session profiles assigned to this user is displayed. You can then click on one of the session profiles to start the session. CopyThe copy command makes a copy of the highlighted session, keyboard, attribute profile or macro. The paste command can then be used to create a copy of the profile. Multiple items can be copied at the same time. PasteThe paste command creates a new user, group, session profile, keyboard profile, attribute profile or macro based on the profile that was last copied. The name of the new profile has the text "Copy of” prefixed to the name of the item that was last copied. Multiple items can be pasted at one time. RemoveThe remove command removes the highlighted profile. Multiple profiles can be removed at one time. DeleteThe delete command deletes the highlighted profile. When the delete command is used, you will be prompted to confirm the deletion. Multiple profiles can be deleted at one time. RenameThe rename command provides the ability to rename a profile. When this command is used, the highlighted profile name becomes an edit box. You can then type in the new name for the profile. Upgrading to a Newer VersionTo upgrade to a newer version of PASSPORT, run the msi from the CD or downloaded from the Rocket Software website. After viewing the license agreement, the setup program will detect if there is already another version of PASSPORT installed. The setup program then installs the software into the existing directory where PASSPORT was previously installed. The next time a client PC runs PASSPORT from the Web server, the newer ActiveX components will be automatically downloaded and installed on the client PC. Note: If version 4.0 or earlier of PASSPORT exists, it must be uninstalled prior to installing this version. You will not lose any session profiles created with an earlier version. UninstallThe PASSPORT WEB TO HOST program can be removed from the Add/Remove Programs Icon in the Control Panel
To Uninstall the PASSPORT WEB TO HOST Administrator ActiveX Component at the Desktop
Note: For Windows 7, Vista, and Windows 2008, this is done under Tools>Internet Options>Programs>Manage add-ons>Downloaded ActiveX Controls (32-bit). |