Switching to Other Supportworks Servers
| Status: | Published |
|---|---|
| Version: | 1.0 |
| Authors: | HTL QA |
| Applies to: | All Supportworks ESP versions |
Switching to Other Supportworks Servers
If you are running more than one Supportworks server on your network, the easiest way for a user to point their client at a particular server is by specifying its name or IP address in the login window, or by specifying it as the default in the client's shortcut.
However, there are situations in which such a method simply will not work (as in the example below), or where you need to enforce the switch remotely for all users (for instance, when redirecting operations to a backup server). In all such circumstances, the only alternative is to suitably modify, on each relevant workstation, the value of the Windows registry key that specifies the server to log into. The key concerned is as follows:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Hornbill\Supportworks Client 7.x.x\Settings\Server Name
where 7.x.x is the relevant version of the client instance used to access the server.
Example: Resolving the Automatic Client Upgrade Loop
If you have just installed an additional, newer version (up to 7.4.0) of the Supportworks server on your network (for example, a test server) and you now try to access it via your existing, older-version client (7.3.11 or below) by specifying its name or IP address in the login window, a prompt is displayed, inviting you to upgrade your client. If you then click Yes, the auto-upgrade proceeds to install the new version of the client. Once this is installed, you will find that you can use it to successfully log into the new server.
However, on attempting to log into the old server using the original client, the login window would fail to appear and you would immediately be presented with the auto-upgrade prompt. Clicking Yes would then merely install the new client again, and there would seem to be no obvious way out of this loop.
To resolve the problem, you have to suitably edit the Windows registry so as to point the auto-upgrader back to the old server. The procedure is as follows:
- Back up the Windows registry file on the workstation where you have the client instances installed.
- Relect Run from the Windows Start menu and type in "regedit".
- Click OK. The Registry Editor opens.
- Go to the following location:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Hornbill\Supportworks Client 7.3.x\Settings
- where 7.3.x would be the version of the older client.
- At that location, find the key "Server Name", double-click it and set its value to the name or IP address of the old server.
- Click OK and exit from the Registry Editor.
You should now be able to log into the older Supportworks server using the older client.