TrueEdit Remote Connection Brief

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Date Issued: February 3, 2009 Document Number: 45082597

TrueEdit Remote Connection Brief

Background

TrueEdit Remote (TER) is actually the same application as TrueEdit; the only difference is that TER runs on a “remote” computer instead of the MicroPress Server. TER uses Distributed COM (DCOM) to communicate with the MicroPress Server. DCOM is a standard communication method provided by Microsoft for Windows platforms. DCOM relies on Microsoft’s Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service and uses TCP ports 135, 139, 49185, and 59230.

In order for DCOM/RPC to communicate between the client computer and the MicroPress Server, the client computer must be able to establish a trusted connection with the server. First, the client and server must be on the same network. Secondly, DCOM must be enabled on both the client and the server. Finally, the client via DCOM must be able to authenticate itself “think logon” to the server. DCOM will use the credentials (user name and password) of the account running TER, or those supplied by the user, to attempt to authenticate itself on the server. If the no matching credentials are found on the server the connected will be refused.

Historically, DCOM/RPC was configured to work by default. However, with recent security updates from Microsoft (including XP SP2) DCOM/RPC no longer works by default. For these cases it must be configured manually to allow DCOM/RPC and TER to connect to the MicroPress Server. Below are the standard guidelines for setting up both the MicroPress Server and the client computer for TrueEdit Remote. Also included are some troubleshooting tips, including how to determine if the issue is a network configuration issue with DCOM/RPC. If this is the case please contact your System Administrator to determine how to allow DCOM/RPC to communication with client and server computers.

Setup Guidelines for TrueEdit Remote (TER)

On the MicroPress Server:

1. Share the VP folder under the MicroPress folder. Make sure that sharing and security permissions are set so that the user(s) of TER have full access to the files. This can be tested by using

Windows Explorer from the client computer and making sure that you can create a new file and delete it.

2. Verify that the firewall is disabled. After connection is established it should be possible to re-enable the firewall, as long as you make sure there are firewall exceptions for:

• “COM+ Surrogate” -- referring to c:\windows\syswow64\dllhost.exe • “PSServer” – referring to c:\micropress\psm\psserver.exe

• “TrueEdit” – referring to c:\micropress\psm\pseditor.exe • File & Printer Sharing

• TCP ports 139, 49185, and 59230

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3. Verify that DCOM is enabled. See the section below How to Enable DCOM. 4. Verify that a Job is present in at least one of the VEs.

On the Client (TER) computer:

1. Verify that the latest version of TrueEdit is installed.

2. Verify that the user(s) of the client computer (TER) have a logon on the MicroPress Server that matches the logon on the client (username and password). This can be a

domain/username so long as both computers are on the same domain and the user is logged into a domain account on the client computer. Otherwise the MicroPress Server will need to have a User with the same user name and password as the client computer. Note: the

MicroPress Server doesn’t have to be logged into this User Account – it just needs to be present so DCOM/RPC and authenticate the remote user.

3. MicroPress version 8: As an alternative to step 2, users with MicroPress version 8 can now enter the logon information for the MicroPress Server when creating a new network

computer via the Add New Computer button, or by clicking the Password button. This logon information is stored in the client’s registry and is used by DCOM to connect to the

MicroPress Server. The logon information is stored in the

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\T/R Systems\TrueEdit\Computers\<computer name> registry key as three string (REG_SZ) values (one for domain, one for user, one (encrypted) for password). If these strings are not present, the user will have to enter them through the Password button. Please note, step 3 is an alternative for MicroPress 8 users only. This is

not an option for users with earlier versions of MicroPress.

Troubleshooting

On the client (TER) computer:

1. Verify that you can ping the MicroPress Server from the client computer.

2. Verify that that the .NET framework is installed, and that service pack 1 for .NET framework is also installed. You can update .net framework from Windows update.

3. Make sure that the PSServerps.dll is in the same folder as TrueEdit and that is registered. To do this, from a command prompt in MicroPress\PSM folder. type: regsvr32

PSServerps.dll

4. From the Component Services dialog add the MicroPress Server Computer under Component Services/Computers. Once this is added try to view the Running Processes and COM+ Applications if this gives an error the problem is most likely a network configuration error with DCOM\RPC. Please consult with your Network Administrator. 5. To have TER display error/status messages – add a registry string value “DebugEnabled”

under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\T/R Systems\TrueEdit key and set the data to “true”. Remember to delete this when done.

6. Check the System Event log for Errors or Warnings. You can view these by right clicking on My Computer and selecting Manage. The System Events can be found under Event Viewer also check Application and Security Events.

7. Run True edit remote in offline mode. This removes the security requirements. If it works in offline mode it is a security issue. To enable offline mode click on

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mode will put a watermark on the bottom of the document. Work with a printer test page so you do not corrupt a customer’s job. If this is the case please contact your System

Administrator to determine how to allow DCOM/RPC to communication with client and server computers.

8. If it does not work in offline mode then it is a software issue with True edit. Usually an error will pop up when launching if it is not going to work. One example “FATAL ERROR TRTiff.dll” in this example copying the TRTiff.dll from the Micropress server located in the \\Micropress\Common directory to the TER computer’s \\Micropress\common directory solved the issue. Then after offline mode was removed, TrueEdit remote worked normally.

On the MicroPress Server:

1. Verify that the MicroPress PrintStation Server service is started.

2. Check the System Event log for Errors or Warnings. You can view these by right clicking on My Computer and selecting Manage. The System Events can be found under Event Viewer also check Application and Security Events.

3. Verify .NET framework is installed, and that service pack 1 for .NET framework is also installed.

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How to Enable DCOM

For Vista, XP, and Windows 2003:

1. Run dcomcnfg from the search field on the Start menu. On XP or Windows 2003, click Start->Run.

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9. Make sure that DTC security is properly configured.

On XP/Windows 2003, click on the Security Configuration button on the MSDTC tab as shown in step 8 above. The Security Configuration dialog looks basically the same as the Local DTC Properties screenshot shown on the next page.

On Vista, Go to Component Services->My Computer->Distributed Transaction Coordinator->Local DTC.

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14. Configure the MediaCatalog COM+ Application for Remote Access. Go to Component Services->Computers->My Computer->COM+

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then right-click and select Properties. Click on the Security tab and make sure the settings match the screenshot below: