After installing the portal on the server, you need to perform its initial configuration. To do this, run the Config.exe file from the portal folder.
Portal tab
Language – selects the default language for the configurator interface and portal.
The other settings on this tab are relevant when using the portal as a service. If you plan to use the portal in UniGUI HyperServer mode, leave all settings on this tab at their default values and proceed to the Database tab.
Portal port – sets the port through which the portal will be accessible. Make sure that this port is not occupied by other services. Before changing the port, you must terminate the portal service process (Fox24.exe), and after changing the port and saving the changes, restart it.
Portal status – shows the status of the portal. You can also check the current status of the portal manually by searching for the Fox24 process name in the Task Manager or the corresponding icon in the notification area, next to the clock.
The recommended way to close the Fox24 portal service is via the Shutdown menu item, which is available by right-clicking on the icon in the notification area.
The Start automatically checkbox enables and disables the automatic launch of the Fox24.exe portal service. Please note that this setting only applies to the current operating system user. If you want the service to start automatically regardless of which user is logged into the operating system, you will need to configure the Fox24.exe file to start manually. If you plan to work with the portal in HyperServer mode, this option must be disabled.
The Portal address field shows the current local address and port of the portal. Click Open portal to test the portal’s functionality on the server.
Please note that when accessing the portal via this address, it will only work on the PC running the Fox24.exe service (i.e., on the server). To provide access to the portal from other devices, you must use the server’s external IP address.
Access to the portal via an external IP address for other users will only work when the portal is operating as a service. If you plan to work with the portal in HyperServer mode, please refer to the relevant section in the manual.
If users cannot access the portal at the provided IP address, there may be several reasons for this:
- Typically, server software, as well as various antivirus programs and firewalls, restrict external devices’ access to server resources for security purposes. The system administrator must manually configure the operating system and these software products, allowing external access to the server via the specified port.
- If you are using IP addresses 192.168.xxx.xxx, 10.0.xxx.xxx, 100.xxx.xxx.xxx, 172.xxx.xxx.xxx, then most likely this is the local IP address of your subnet, so access to the portal outside this subnet will not work. If you need access from anywhere via the Internet, you need to find out the real external IP address of the server and use it. You can find out this address from your system administrator or by using third-party services, such as https://whatismyipaddress.com/
- The equipment used to organize network access and Internet access may require specific settings and filters. We do not provide technical support for configuring routers, IP addresses, and network configurations of third-party equipment, as we cannot predict all possible options and scenarios, and we do not have the necessary technical knowledge. Please contact your system administrator, who is responsible for the company’s IT infrastructure, to set up access to the server at the specified IP address and port.
You can view the service status by clicking the Open monitor button.
This information may be useful to a system administrator when evaluating server resource utilization.
Database tab
To work with the Fox24 portal, you need to create a database and specify access to it. For optimal performance, it is recommended to place the database on the same server as the Fox24.exe portal service.
The program supports the following server databases:
- MS SQL Server
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL
- IBM DB2
- Interbase
The Oracle database is currently not officially supported.
Working with the SQLite file database is also supported. This database stores all data in a file, but it is recommended to use it only for testing purposes, as simultaneous work with the file database by many users can lead to delays and unstable operation.
The server database must be created in advance. The database must be empty; do not connect to a database that stores data from another program, as this may lead to conflicts.
Specify all necessary database connection settings and don’t forget to click the Test connection button to make sure that the service has access to the database.
If you encounter problems while working or connecting to the database, refer to the section Additional database connection settings.
Restrictions tab
The more users are connected to the portal service, the more session instances are opened and the greater the consumption of RAM and server resources. One portal service (Fox24.exe) can handle a limited number of connections (sessions), and if there are too many of them, users may experience slow portal performance and various unpredictable errors. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended to set load limits by specifying the maximum number of sessions and connections.
Attention! The restrictions set in this tab apply to a single service, but when working in HyperServer mode, services are created dynamically, which means that the server will be able to serve several times more users than specified in the settings.
Max. number of connections – determines the maximum total number of active HTTP connections created by the portal service. These connections are not related to database connections. Each active user creates not one connection, but up to 10 at peak load, but usually you can expect an average of 2-3 connections per user. That is, for comfortable operation of 100 users, it is recommended to set the value to 200-250 allowed connections.
Max. number of active sessions – determines the maximum total number of active sessions allowed. Usually, each user has 1 active session, but there may be exceptions. If you have not set a session limit for 1 IP or 1 PC, the user can generate any number of active sessions by simply opening the portal in new browser tabs and not closing the old session. Also, keep in mind that closing a browser tab does not immediately end the session, but only after a certain timeout, so always set the number of allowed active sessions to be greater than the number of actual portal users. For comfortable work with 100 users, it is recommended to use a value of 125-150 maximum active sessions.
Session restrictions – determines the maximum number of sessions per portal user. The options 1 session per 1 IP or 1 session per 1 PC allow you to save server resources. In this case, if a user logs back into the portal, all of their previous sessions with the portal are automatically closed.
Ajax timeout – determines the acceptable response time for an active session from an external service or SQL script. If your server is quite slow and you are not using SSD, generating some reports may take a long time. When the time expires, the user’s browser will attempt to reconnect, and the user will see an error message. To prevent this from happening, increase the response timeout to the required value, but do not set it too high, because in this case, inactive sessions with the portal will “hang” in the server’s memory for a long time, consuming resources.
Connection timeout – determines the maximum lifetime of a single connection. Connections are created dynamically by the portal service as needed. Increasing this value reduces CPU load but increases memory consumption.
Session timeout – determines the time after which the session will be forcibly terminated if there is no activity on the part of the user. The higher the value, the more active sessions remain open and the greater the server memory consumption. Too low a value requires users to log in to the portal more often using their username and password.
Messages tab
The Fox24 portal can automatically send event reminders to users via Telegram or Email.
The Checking new events option determines the frequency of checking scheduled events in users’ calendars and notifying them about them. In order for the notification to be delivered to the user, the portal service must be running 24/7, and the user must specify their Email or Telegram. If you uncheck the box, the portal will not notify users about scheduled events.
The Messages interval option sets the interval at which emails will be generated when using mass mailings. Some email services may block your account if emails are sent too quickly.
To configure the sending of email messages through the portal, you must use your own mail server or a third-party service, such as Gmail.com. Each mail server has its own SMTP, authorization, and encryption settings. You can check the correctness of the settings by clicking the Test Message button. In order for messages to be delivered successfully, you need to ensure that the Fox24 service is available 24/7, and users need to specify their email address in their account settings.
In order for the portal to send messages to users on Telegram, you must create your own Telegram bot via @BotFather. The bot’s name and Token must be entered in the appropriate fields. Also, all users who wish to receive messages must add this bot to their Telegram account. Later, after registering on the portal, the user will need to specify their Telegram ID in their account settings.
SSL tab
When using the portal in HyperServer mode, it is sufficient to obtain an SSL certificate for the domain and configure IIS accordingly. No additional settings are required in this tab.
When using the portal in service mode, access is provided via the HTTP protocol by default. If you want to work with the secure HTTPS protocol, you will need to obtain an SSL certificate. This may require linking the portal’s IP address to a domain name.
There are many formats for SSL certificate keys, such as PEM, DER, PKCS#7/P7B, PFX (PKCS#12). Our portal works with keys in PEM format, which are ASCII files encoded using the Base64 scheme. Such keys usually have the extensions .pem, .crt, .cer, and .key. If you open such a key in a text editor, you will see that the code text in it begins with the BEGIN CERTIFICATE tag and ends with the END CERTIFICATE tag. If you do not plan to manually convert keys from one type to another using the OpenSSL program, it is better to order keys in the required format in advance.
Specify the path to all three keys in the Cert File, Root Cert File and Key File fields. The keys must be located on the server and the path to them must not change. If the key files are password-protected, specify the password in the Password (optional) field. In the SSL Version field, specify the protocol version that is compatible with the provided keys.
PDF tab
All documents that you create and edit online in Fox24 are saved in HTML format, but it is convenient to receive the final version of a document, such as an invoice or agreement, in PDF format.
To convert data to PDF format, you can use either the built-in wkhtmltopdf library or the Chrome or MS Edge browser. Complex document formatting is best handled by browsers.
You can also use portable versions of browsers, such as those available at portableapps.com, if you do not want to install the full version on the server.
In the Browser path field, enter the path to the browser you plan to use to convert documents to PDF format. A compatible version of the Edge browser is already installed on modern versions of Windows and Windows Server.
The Waiting time option specifies the time that the Fox24 service will wait for the conversion of a single document. The busier your server is, the more time it will need to process a single document.
Before saving data, be sure to test the conversion using the Test algorithm button.
ODT/DOCX tab
Configuring this tab is not mandatory, but sometimes you may need to save documents in a format that can be easily edited outside the Fox24 platform, such as Microsoft Word. To do this, our service uses the free LibreOffice program. You can either install it on the server or use the Portable version from portableapps.com.
We recommend using the ODT format as it is more compatible for working with documents that have complex formatting. This file format can also be opened in MS Word without any problems.
In the LibreOffice path field, specify the path to the soffice.com file.
The Waiting time option specifies the time that the Fox24 service will wait for the conversion of a single document. The busier your server is, the more time it will need to process a single document.
We recommend that you first test saving files in the desired format using the Test conversion button.