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Web Crossing/Multi Sysop Documentation

Table of Contents

Overview
Site management Stand-alone Web Crossing conferences

» Overview

Web Crossing/Multi allows you to run multiple separate Web Crossing conferences through a single server.

Each Web Crossing conference has its own directory/folder, containing:

   webx.db             [settings for Multi sysop]
   logNN files ...     [log files if turned on]
   standard.tpl        [standard templates]

   Images              [directory]
      button images... [shared buttons]
      help files...    [shared help files]

   conf1               [directory for Conference 1]
      webx.db          [database for conf1]
      standard.tpl     [standard templates]
      webx.tpl         [custom templates for conf1]
      expNN files ...  [export files if any]
      deleted          [recovery for deletes]
      html             [optional directory]
         html files... [optional whole files]
         
   conf2               [directory for Conference 2]
      webx.db          [database for conf2]
      ...
   ...

When you install Web Crossing/Multi, it automatically creates conf1, conf2, ... directories as specified in your license certificate. A single Web Crossing/Multi server can support up to 60 totally separate Web Crossing conferences.

The various settings supported by the Web Crossing/Multi server are documented in the Multi and individual conference sysop control panels. This document focuses on overall site management issues.

» Site management

» Installing new conferences

You install new conferences through the Multi sysop panel. Just click on the confNN link to the conference settings, fill in the various settings, and click on the OK button.

After you install a new conference, it is a good idea to give the conference sysop FTP access to his/her conference directory/folder, so that import/export files can be accessed.

» Logging

You may enable logging if desired. A single log file is used for all conferences.

A log file is typically not required, because usage statistics are kept for you as the Multi sysop, as well as for each conference for the individual conference sysops.

» Usage statistics

Web Crossing/Multi keeps track of the number of hits and posts across all conferences. These hit/post counts are displayed in the main Multi sysop control panel. You can clear these counts at any time.

You should check these counts periodically to make sure that no individual conference is swamping the Web Crossing/Multi server. If any one conference is taking an inordinate number of hits, you should move it to a stand-alone Web Crossing server so that the other conferences do not suffer degraded performance.

For the individual conference sysops, Web Crossing also keeps tracks of hits and posts for each folder and discussion in each conference. These counts are available to the individual conference sysops, and can be cleared by these sysops.

» Memory Usage

Web Crossing/Multi will run any number of conferences with the minimum memory settings. However, this will typically require conferences to be rolled into memory when they are accessed.

By allocating more memory for Web Crossing/Multi, you can increase the number of conferences that can be cached in memory at any one time. See the Memory usage command in the Multi sysop control panel.

The memory usage display includes information about the number of memory reclaims (to open folders/discussions), and about the number of disk pages read from disk and later discarded to make room for other information. You can use these counts to help tune the Web Crossing/Multi server performance.

» Backup

The Web Crossing database is designed to be very robust, but it is still possible to lose the database for your site for any number of reasons. It is important to back up your database regularly and to keep a copy on removable media or another machine. You should always keep a copy off-site as well.

As the Multi sysop, you can backup your site's settings and you can also backup all of the individual conference databases. Each conference host can also backup their conference individually.

The Web Crossing database is kept in a file named webx.db. You can make a backup copy of this file directly if you first shut down Web Crossing. Do not make copies of the webx.db file while Web Crossing is running. If you happen to copy this file during a database save, you will not have a valid database, and your backup efforts will be for naught.

The preferred method for database backup is to use the Backup panel from the Sysop Control Panel. Bring up the backup panel and click on the Backup button at the bottom of the panel to make a backup file.

The Backup panel makes a new backup named webxdb.1. This file can be copied to removable media or another machine at any time, as it is never modified by Web Crossing after the backup has completed.

The Backup panel also lets you keep a roll-forward log. This is an ASCII file that keeps a record of all changes to the database following the point in time when the webxdb.1 backup was written. In the event that you lose the main webx.db file for any reason, you can recover all database changes from the backup webxdb.1 and matching roll-forward log webxroll.1.

Keeping a roll-forward log is highly recommended. The cost is small because only database changes are recorded, and the extra protection it gives your database will be invaluable should you ever need it.

Do not remove the webxroll.1 file from the Web Crossing directory. Web Crossing will open this file each time it starts up, and will continually append database changes. You may however make a copy of the webxroll.1 at any time, as it is plain ASCII and is written in append mode only.

Note that the Backup command will automatically rename older backups with the next higher suffix number. So a backup will first rename an existing webxdb.1 and webxroll.1 to webxdb.2 and webxroll.2, and so on. If you have more backup sets than specified in the Backup panel, the oldest sets will be automatically deleted.

To recover your webx.db file from the roll-forward log, use the following steps:

Step 1. shut down Web Crossing,
Step 2. rename the corrupted webx.db file (instead of deleting it, just in case it turns out to contain useful information),
Step 3. make sure that webxroll.1 and the matching webxdb.1 are present in the same directory as the Web Crossing program,
Step 4. restart Web Crossing.

Web Crossing will automatically detect that there is no webx.db file, but that there are webxroll.1 and webxdb.1 files, and will then recover your current database.

» Chat

Chat is an option for Web Crossing/Multi. Your initial purchase includes a license for up to 5 simultaneous chat users so you can evaluate the service.

In Web Crossing/Multi, the Multi sysop panel has all the configuration settings for chat. Each of the individual conferences can have chat enabled or disabled through its sysop control panel.

For more information on chat, please see the Chat Documentation.

» Shutting down a conference

Shutting down a conference, either to move it to a single-user server or to delete it, requires shutting down the Web Crossing/Multi server.

After you shut down the server, simply rename the confNN folder for the conference to be removed. Then restart the Web Crossing/Multi server. The server will automatically create a new empty conference.

» Upgrading to more conferences

Upgrading to additional conferences is done by ordering a new license certificate that allows additional conferences. Call sales at (510)521-5855 or e-mail to sales@lundeen.com to order a new certificate.

You install a new certificate by using the Install new certificate command in the Web Crossing/Multi sysop control panel.

» Stand-alone Web Crossing Conferences

» Serving a stand-alone conference

To serve an existing stand-alone Web Crossing conference through a Web Crossing/Multi server:
  1. Create a temporary directory/folder for the existing conference, named temp. Move webx.db, webx.tpl, standard.tpl, exp*, and html (if any) into this new directory/folder.

  2. Run Web Crossing/Multi (if not already running), and make sure that you have an unused conference slot for the existing conference.

  3. Shut down the Web Crossing/Multi server (use the Shut down command in the Multi sysop control panel).

  4. Rename the confNN directory/folder you are going to assign to the existing conference. For example, if you are going to use conference 3 for the existing conference, then rename conf3 to conf3.old.

  5. Move the temp directory/folder into the Web Crossing directory/folder. Rename temp to the confNN directory/folder you removed. For example, if you removed conf3, then rename temp to conf3.

  6. Restart the Web Crossing/Multi server.

  7. Use the Multi sysop control panel to assign a script name and/or conference code.

  8. Login to the conference as its sysop to set its Images and Help directories/folders. (Use the sysop General Settings command.) If the existing conference uses the standard buttons, you can change its Images and Help URLs to be blank. Otherwise, you will need to set these to the location of the correct directory/folder.

» Converting a conference to be stand-alone

You can move a conference from a Web Crossing/Multi server to a stand-alone server. This might be required, for example, when the traffic for a conference requires requires that it be moved to its own machine.
  1. Note the conference directory/folder for the conference to be moved.

  2. Shut down the Web Crossing/Multi server.

  3. Rename the confNN directory/folder for the conference to be moved to temp.

  4. Restart the Web Crossing/Multi server.

  5. Install the Web Crossing stand-alone server as desired. Link to it through a Web browser to make sure that the setup is correct (but you do not need to go through the HTML installation forms).

  6. Shut down the stand-alone Web Crossing server.

  7. Move all the files in the temp directory/folder into the new stand-alone Web Crossing server's directory/folder (replacing the webx.db, etc. that were created by the stand-alone server).

  8. Start the stand-alone server, and make sure you can link to it through a Web browser.

  9. Install a certificate for the now stand-alone conference (use the Install certificate command at the end of the sysop control panel). You may also need to adjust its Images and Help URLs (use the General Settings command in the sysop control panel).


Copyright © 1996-98 by Lundeen & Associates, Alameda, California.