If you are adding a workgroup using Oracle as your database type, please perform the procedure outlined in the Using Oracle Database Help section. Once you have completed these steps, return to this section and follow the procedure listed below.

Click on the Add button on the Button Bar to add a new workgroup. You will be prompted to fill in the following fields in order to create the new workgroup:

• Name
  A brief name to identify the workgroup. Example: productX

• Description
  A description of the workgroup.

• Location
  The path where the workgroup files will be located. We recommend you maintain this directory to be within your installation directory. By default, the installation directory is C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\NetResultsTracker. WMS will create a directory similar to the workgroup name under this location. Example: If the workgroup name is productX, and the location is C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\NetResultsTracker, then WMS will create the following directory C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\NetResultsTracker\productX and create workgroup files under this directory.

• Template
  Select the template type that corresponds to the environment where Tracker will be used. Each template comes with a basic set of fields and workflow steps modeled for the environment where it will be used. The following templates are available:
  • Product Development
    The Product Development template is intended for a product (software, hardware, service) development process. An explanation is available in the Product Development template section of the Administration Help Guide.

  • Web Site Development
    The Web Site Development template is intended for a web site development process. An explanation is available in the Web Site Development template section.

  • Knowledge Base
    The Knowledge Base template is intended for the process of publishing articles to a searchable Knowledge Base available to external users. An explanation is available in the Knowledge Base template section.

  • Help Desk
    The Help Desk template is modeled for a process where internal users are supported by a Help Desk. An explanation is available in the Help Desk template section.

  • Support
    The Support template is geared for a process where external users are supported by a Customer Support team. An explanation is available in the Support template section.

  • Base
    The Base template is a database with minimal configuration. If the rest of the template choices do not match with how you plan to use Tracker choose this template. It will allow you to set up your fields and process without having to change or remove extra fields, workflow and other configuration that you don't plan to use. An explanation is available in the Base template section.

  • Change Management
    The Change Management template is geared for a process where changes must be approved by a Change Control board. An explanation is available in the Change Management template section.

• Database Type
  Select the database type for this workgroup from the pulldown menu options. Access, SQL Server, and Oracle database types are supported. If you are adding a workgroup using SQL Server or Oracle as your database type, please complete the Preparations required for the version of SQL Server or Oracle you are using listed in the "Database Driver Software on Web Server Machine" and "Database Server Software" sections of that page. Additionally, for workgroups using Oracle, before adding a new workgroup please perform the procedure outlined in the Using Oracle Database Help section. Once you have completed these steps, return to this section to create a new workgroup using Oracle as the database type.

• Web Site
  Select the web site where the workgroup should be installed.

• Authentication
  Select the type of authentication that should be set for the workgroup. "NetResults Tracker" will be selected by default. NetResults Tracker is authentication performed by the Tracker application itself using a Login web page which requests the user's Tracker User ID and Password. The Microsoft IIS web server will be configured to allow "Anonymous" access (no authentication is performed by IIS itself). All other forms of authentication use the Microsoft IIS web server and Windows operating system to authenticate the user before they are given access to any Tracker web pages. The Tracker Login Page is not displayed. However, a user's web browser may display a pop-up to request the user's credentials (Windows user name, password, and, in some cases, domain) if it needs this information (or is configured to always request this information) in order to complete authentication with the IIS web server.

  Selecting "IIS Basic", "IIS Integrated Windows" or "IIS Basic and Integrated Windows" authentication enables single sign-on capability provided by the Microsoft IIS web server. If one of those authentication mechanisms is selected, the IIS web server and Windows operating system will authenticate the user and then verify that the user should be given access to the Tracker web pages (using the Windows file system permission settings on the web pages). If the Windows authentication and access control checks pass, then IIS will pass the request on to Tracker. Tracker will then search its own user account list for a matching entry (Windows User name matches Tracker User ID) to verify that the user should be given access to the workgroup before displaying the user's Home Page.

  A summary of the reasons why you might select one form of authentication over another is provided below. If after reading it, you are still not sure which one to pick, we recommend using "NetResults Tracker". You can use the Edit Workgroup function in WMS to change it later.

  Generally speaking, NetResults Tracker authentication is the simplest for you to set up and has the lowest Windows Server licensing costs. However, it does require that your users maintain a separate user account for Tracker and for Windows (if they are using Windows). If they routinely change their password, they will have to change their Windows password and their Tracker password. NetResults Tracker authentication works with all supported browsers running on any operating system.

  If you use one of the three forms of IIS authentication, your users will not need to maintain a separate password (authentication will be done by IIS using their Windows user account) and you can use Windows to enforce password policies. However, it is generally harder to configure and maintain (especially if you are using IIS Integrated Windows or IIS Basic and Integrated Windows). It may cost more for your Windows Server licensing to use Windows authenticated users (contact your Microsoft reseller and ask about Windows authenticated users accessing the IIS web server).

  IIS Basic Authentication works with all supported web browsers on any operating system. However, it sends Windows passwords in "clear text", so it should only be used in conjunction with SSL.

  IIS Integrated Windows does encrypt passwords (even without SSL), but can not be used with any browser other than Internet Explorer. Also, IIS Integrated Windows (or "IIS Basic and Integrated Windows") can not be used in an environment where there is a (hardware or software) firewall or proxy server between your end users (their web browsers) and the web server. Though it may appear to work in some cases, it will (sometimes intermittently) have situations where the browser requests the users credentials over and over. Keep in mind that software which acts as a firewall or proxy server may not label itself as such. It may be labeled as "intrusion prevention" software or "web acceleration" software. Some "pop-up blocker" software packages also use a proxy server. If you were using IIS Integrated Windows authentication and one or more of your users suddenly starts complaining that they are being repeatedly asked to enter their user name and password or are getting an "access denied" error, odds are that they are now using a firewall or proxy server (perhaps installed on their browser machine or in their network).

  If you wish to use one of the IIS authentication mechanisms, we recommend using IIS Basic combined with SSL. This will allow your users to use any supported browser (including Firefox) and will work through firewalls and proxy servers. For further details on the differences between these choices, please consult the Microsoft Authentication documentation:

  Windows Server 2012, IIS 8.0 and Windows Server 2012 R2, IIS 8.5
  Windows Server 2008, IIS 7.0 and Windows Server 2008 R2, IIS 7.5
  In particular, we recommend the summary table in this section.

• Windows Domain or Computer Name
  This option will only be available if something other than "NetResults Tracker" has been selected for the Authentication field. Enter the name of the Windows domain that contains the users that should be allowed to access the workgroup. The web server machine on which Tracker is installed must be a member of this domain. If the web server machine is not a member of a Windows domain or you only wish to allow access using local (to the web server machine) Windows user accounts, then you can specify the Windows computer name of the machine on which Tracker is installed instead of a Windows domain name. In that case, only local user accounts from that web server machine will be given access. This information will be used to fill in the choices on the Authentication Details page.

• Require SSL
  Check the box for this option if you have configured SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption for communications with the web site selected above. Please ensure you have entered a valid Server Certificate on your web server in order to apply the Secure Communications feature to your workgroup. Enabling this option will require your users to use https:// instead of http:// when browsing to this workgroup.

• Host Name or IP Address
  Select the radio button to specify either Host Name or IP Address that corresponds to the web site selected for the workgroup. This information will be used to configure the URL used to access this workgroup.

• Port Number
  If applicable, enter the port number associated with the web site you selected above. This information will be used to configure the URL for this workgroup.

• Comment
  This field can be used to add any information to describe the new workgroup.

The following fields are Internationalization settings. Please consider the following information when making your selection for these fields. Once you have added records to your Tracker database, you will not be able to change the character set selection. When making your selection, also consider what languages you will need to support in the future.

1. Character Set
   ISO-8859-1, Windows-1252, and UTF-8 are the character sets that are supported by Tracker.
   • ISO-8859-1 (also known as Latin1) is a standard single-byte character set that supports Western European languages including: English, Basque, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Scottish, Spanish, and Swedish. The ISO-8859-1 character set is a subset of the Windows-1252 character set. The image below displays the set of characters supported by ISO-8859-1.
     

   • Windows-1252 is a single-byte character set that supports all of the characters in ISO-8859-1, plus some additional European characters including: the Euro sign, tilde, caron, and per mille. The image below displays the additional characters which are in Windows-1252 (but are not in ISO-8859-1). If you require the use of any of these characters, then you can not use the ISO-8859-1 character set.
     

   • UTF-8 supports virtually all available languages. It includes support for all Western European languages mentioned above for ISO-8859-1 and Windows-1252 as well as other languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Tamil and many others. UTF-8 is an ASCII compatible encoding method for Unicode (ISO 10646).

   Even though UTF-8 supports the widest range of languages, each user must have all of the necessary fonts installed on their desktop (web browser) machine in order to view all characters. Also, UTF-8 generally uses slightly more processor power at both web server and browser. If you are confident that the workgroup will only require English or another Latin1 language that does not require the special characters in the Windows-1252 character set (e.g. Euro symbol), then you should use ISO-8859-1. If you are using a Latin1 language and require one of the special symbols in Windows-1252, then you should use Windows-1252 as the character set. If you are not using a Latin1 language (or expect to add use of a non-Latin1 language to this workgroup in the future), then you should use UTF-8.

   When selecting the character set for your workgroup, you should also consider the users that will be accessing the workgroup. Each user account has a set of profile information that is displayed within each workgroup. Each user account has a character set, which is based on the characters used in the user account's profile information. The User Character Set must be compatible with the workgroup character set. For example, a user account with UTF-8 characters in its profile can only be given access to a workgroup with UTF-8 configured as the workgroup character set.

   Some basic guidelines related to user / workgroup character set compatibility:

   • If a user account contains only ASCII characters (supported by ISO-8859-1 character set), this user account can be given access to any workgroup because all character sets support ASCII characters.
   • If a user account contains non-ASCII characters supported by the Windows-1252 character set, this user account can be given access to any workgroup that is configured with the Windows-1252 or UTF-8 character set.
   • As mentioned above, if a user account contains non-ASCII characters only supported by the UTF-8 character set, this user account can only be given access to a workgroup configured with the UTF-8 character set.

   To view a user's character set, use the Edit a User operation in the User Management System section.

2. Email Header Encoding
   Email headers must contain only US-ASCII characters. Headers that contain non US-ASCII characters must be encoded so that they contain only US-ASCII characters. This process involves using either B (Base 64) or Q (Quoted-Printable) to encode certain characters. The Q encoding is recommended for use when most of the characters to be encoded are in the ASCII character set; otherwise, the B encoding should be used. If you select Auto, Tracker will automatically select an encoding option.

3. Add Multipart Email
   This option determines whether the emails generated by Tracker will contain text or text and HTML within the messages. Selecting Yes for this option will allow the emails to contain both text and HTML. For example, if you selected UTF-8 as the character set for a workgroup, email generated by Tracker may also contain UTF-8 characters. If your email client cannot display UTF-8 characters, selecting Yes for the Email Add HTML Part option might help. With this option enabled, Tracker will send email with both text and HTML format. If your email client can display HTML format, UTF-8 email can be displayed.

4. Time Zone
   This option determines which time zone will be selected for users by default to view the workgroup data. Irrespective of the setting you choose for the default here, each user can select their own time zone setting in the Preferences section. For a list of available time zones, please refer to the following section:
   Windows Time Zones

5. Adjustment for Daylight Saving Time
   This option determines whether the workgroup date is adjusted to observe daylight saving time. If you have selected a time zone that observes daylight saving time, it is recommended that you check the box to enable Tracker to make the appropriate adjustments.

Once you have entered the relevant information to create the new workgroup, click on the Continue button. If you selected a method of authentication other than NetResults Tracker, you will be prompted to set the Authentication Details. If you selected SQL Server or Oracle as the Database Type, you will be prompted to enter the SQL Server Database Details or Oracle Database Details.

Authentication Details
If you selected an option other than "NetResults Tracker" for the Authentication field, you will be prompted to provide additional information for the authentication configuration:

• Windows Domain Name or Computer Name
  The Windows domain or computer name selected on the Add Workgroup page will be displayed. When you use one of the Microsoft IIS authentication schemes, user authentication and access control will be performed as follows. First, the Microsoft IIS web server in conjunction with the web browser and (in most cases) your Windows domain server will authenticate the user which is trying to access a web page in the workgroup. That authentication may be implicit (user will not see it happen) or it may be explicit (user may see a pop-up displayed by their browser requesting Windows user name, password, and, in some cases, domain) depending on the browser configuration, web server configuration, and your domain configuration. If the end user successfully authenticates to Windows/IIS, the IIS web server will then perform access control by comparing the Windows user account to the Windows file system permission on the web page being accessed. If that access control check passes, the web page request will then be passed on to Tracker. Tracker will then check its user account information to see if that user account exists in Tracker and has access to the workgroup. If so, the Home Page for that user will be displayed and the user's login session will be started. If the user was browsing to the Knowledge Base page or the Submit via Web for Unregistered Users page, then the last check will not be performed because those pages do not require that the user has a Tracker user account.

• Windows User Groups
  The Windows user groups available in the selected domain or computer will be listed. Select the Windows user group(s) that should be allowed to access this workgroup. To select multiple user groups, hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard as you select the user groups. The Windows file system permissions on the Tracker web pages for this workgroup will be modified to allow access by each User Group which you select.
  Note: Tracker only adds to or modifies your existing Windows file system permissions for the selected User Groups. It does not remove or modify any existing entries for other User Groups which you did not select. In other words, the file system permissions will be set to guarantee that users in the selected User Groups will pass the IIS access check. They will not be set to make sure that all other users will fail the IIS access check. If Tracker did that, it might remove access for users who may not need to browse to the web pages, but do need access to the files themselves (such as local administrators, backup operators, etc.). So, for example, if you have installed the workgroup in a Windows folder which has access for Everyone, then the IIS web server will give Everyone (who successfully authenticates with a valid Windows user account) access to the Tracker web pages. However, Tracker will still reject access for users who do not have a Tracker user account (excluding Knowledge Base and Submit via Web for Unregistered Users pages which don't require a Tracker user account). If you wish to narrow this list (so that more IIS access control is performed), then you should set the file system permissions on the folder that you selected as the Location in the first Add Workgroup page before you create (Add) the workgroup. Otherwise you may inadvertently remove file system permissions which Tracker added so that your workgroup can properly function. Also, be careful to not remove access that may be needed by users/tools which run on the web server machine (such as for the Administrators of the server, the user accounts that are used by the backup tool(s) which you use, etc.).

  After creating the workgroup, you must still add a Tracker user account with the User ID that matches the Windows user account for each user who will use the workgroup. Please note that changes made to the user profile information in the user accounts in Tracker will not be reflected in Active Directory (and vice versa).

• Windows User for Admin
  Enter the Username of the Windows user account that will be authenticated as the Tracker Admin user account for the workgroup. The user selected must be a member of one of the groups selected for Windows User Groups above and in the Windows Domain or Host Name selected above. This allows you to associate any Windows user with the Tracker Admin user account (so that you do not have to create a Windows user account with the user name Admin).

SQL Server Database Details
If you selected SQL Server as the database type, you will be prompted to provide additional information to connect to SQL Server:

• Location (Server)
  Enter the name of the machine where SQL Server is located.

• Use SQL Native Client Provider
  When enabling this option by checking the box, Tracker will use SQL Native Client Provider to connect to SQL Server. By default this property is unchecked so that Tracker will use SQL OLE DB Provider to connect. This property is optional and can be used if you want to take advantage of SQL Server features such as database mirroring. If you are not using SQL Server 2005 or newer, please *do not* enable this property. Use of this feature is only recommended in cases where you have an expert SQL Server administrator with detailed knowledge of SQL Server client configuration. Enabling this property may require you to download and install the SQL Native Client on the web server.

• Fail Over Location (Server)
  This property will only be displayed when Use SQL Native Client Provider is enabled. Specify the name of the "mirror" server that should be used in the event that the principal server fails. This property is optional and can be used if you want to take advantage of SQL Server features such as database mirroring. If you are not using SQL Server 2005 or newer, please *do not* enter a value for this property. Use of this feature is only recommended in cases where you have an expert SQL Server administrator with detailed knowledge of SQL Server client configuration. Even if you are using SQL Server 2005 or newer, please leave this property blank if you are not using database mirroring or are not familiar with database mirroring. Click here for more information about database mirroring.

• Database User Name
  Enter the User Name of the login that should be used by this workgroup to connect to the database. "NRTracker" is listed by default. The login does not need to already exist on SQL Server. You can enter the User Name for a new login to be created on SQL Server for use with this workgroup.

• Database User Password
  Enter the password for the Database User Name specified above to connect to SQL Server. If the Database User Name does not exist already on SQL Server, enter a new password to be used when creating the new login.

• Create Database User
  Check the box for this option if you would like to create a new login on SQL Server for use with this workgroup. Do not check the box for this option if the login specified in Database User Name already exists on SQL Server.

• Confirm Database User Password
  This field will only be displayed if the box for the option Create Database user is checked. Confirm the password entered in the Database User Password field above.

• Database Name
  By default, this will display the name selected as the workgroup name. You can change this in the space provided if desired. The database does not need to already exist on SQL Server. You can enter the Database Name for a new SQL Server database to be created for use with this workgroup.

• Create Database
  This option will only be displayed when SQL Server is selected as the Database Type.

  Check the box for this option if you would like to create a new database on SQL Server for use with this workgroup. Do not check the box for this option if the database specified in the Database Name field already exists on your SQL Server installation.

• DBA User Name
  This field will only be displayed when the boxes for either Create Database User or Create Database are checked.

  Enter the User Name of a login for a database administrator on SQL Server. "sa" is entered into this field by default.

• DBA User Password
  Enter the password for the login specified in the DBA User Name field.

• Database Name
  Shows the Database Name as it was entered on the previous page.
• Physical Path
  The location of the database files within SQL Server will be configured with the default path. You can enter a different path if desired. If the path you entered is not synchronized with the SQL Server installation path, you might get an error while creating the workgroup.
• Max Size
  The maximum size of the database. "UNLIMITED" will be set by default.
• File Growth
  The percentage by which the database file should grow automatically. "10%" will be set by default.

Oracle Database Details
If you selected Oracle as the database type, you will be prompted to provide some additional information to connect to Oracle. If you are adding a workgroup using Oracle as your database type, you must first create the database using the procedure outlined in the Using Oracle Database Help section. Once you have completed these steps, return to this section to create a new workgroup using Oracle as the database type.

• Location (Server)
  Enter the name of the machine where your Oracle server is located.

• Database User Name
  Enter the User Name of the user that should be used by this workgroup to connect to the database. "NRTracker" is listed by default. The user does not need to already exist on your Oracle Server. You can enter the User Name for a new user to be created for use with this workgroup.

• Database User Password
  Enter the password for the Database User Name specified above to connect to Oracle. If the Database User Name does not exist already on oracle, enter a new password to be used when creating the new user.

• Create Database User
  Check the box for this option if you would like to create a new user on your Oracle server for use with this workgroup. Do not check the box for this option if the user specified in Database User Name already exists on your Oracle server.

• Confirm Database User Password
  This field will only be displayed if the box for the option Create Database user is checked. Confirm the password entered in the Database User Password field above.

• Database Name
  By default, this will display the name selected as the workgroup name. You can change this in the space provided if desired. Before proceeding with connecting to Oracle, you should have already created a database on Oracle server for this workgroup. If you have not already done so, create the database using the procedure outlined in the Using Oracle Database Help section. Then return to this section to proceed with creating the new workgroup.

• DBA User Name
  This field will only be displayed when the box for the option Create Database User is checked.

  Enter the User Name of a user for a database administrator on Oracle. "system" is entered into this field by default.

• DBA User Password
  Enter the password for the user specified in the DBA User Name field.

• Database User Name
  Shows the Database User Name as it was entered on the previous page.

• Default Tablespace Name
  Select which tablespace in the database should be associated with the new user. Existing tablespaces for this workgroup will be available for selection or you can select "<Create new tablespace>". If you are unsure which tablespace to select, it is recommended that you either select the "<Create new tablespace>" option or select the USERS tablespace.

  When selecting "<Create new tablespace>", the options below will be displayed:

  New Tablespace Name
  Enter a name for the new tablespace. The name entered by default will match the name of the Database User to be created.

  Data File Name
  Enter the path where the database file (*.dbf) should be located.

  Size
  The initial size of the database. "50 MB" is set by default. The value entered must be at least 50 MB.

  Auto Extend
  This option determines whether the database should be allowed to grow as needed. "Yes" is set by default.

A Component Check will be done to validate the information entered for the new workgroup. If the Component Check is successful, a confirmation of the database information will be shown. If the Component Check is unsuccessful, details about the components that failed will be listed. If you wish to save the settings you entered above to be displayed as the default settings whenever adding future new workgroups, check the box labeled Save as default settings. You can click on the Back button to make any modifications to the database information. Otherwise, click on the Create Workgroup button as the final step to create the workgroup.

If you selected SQL Server or Oracle as the database type, click on the Initialize Tables button that appears after the workgroup has been created.

To login to your new workgroup, go back to the Workgroup Management System Home Page, find the name of the workgroup you added, then click on the key icon to the left of the workgroup name. A separate window will be launched with the Login page for your workgroup. Or, you can launch a browser window and enter the following URL to reach your workgroup:

http://servername/workgroupname/

where servername is the TCP/IP host name of the machine where you installed Tracker and workgroupname is the name of the workgroup you created.

Note: It is important to make regular backups of your installation especially the database and attachments for each workgroup. If you are using SQL Server or Oracle as the database type for your workgroup(s), a simple file copy or a simple file backup to tape is not sufficient for backing up SQL Server or Oracle database files because they are not standard files. More information on backing up your Tracker installation can be found in the Database Administration section.

Tracker workgroups can be configured to authenticate users via Active Directory. When a workgroup is configured to authenticate users via Active Directory, the users do not see the Tracker login page when attempting to login. To configure a new workgroup to use Active Directory for authentication:

1. Choose a form of Authentication other than "NetResults Tracker" when adding the workgroup
2. Ensure that each user that needs to access Tracker has a user account created in the User Management System. The User ID for the Tracker user account must match the User ID for their Windows user account in Active Directory that belongs to one of the Windows user groups you selected in the Authentication Details when creating the workgroup. Please note that changes made to the user profile information in the user accounts in Tracker will not be reflected in Active Directory (and vice versa).

1. Edit the workgroup to select a form of Authentication other than "NetResults Tracker"
2. Ensure that each user that needs to access Tracker has a user account created in the User Management System. The User ID for the Tracker user account must match the User ID for their Windows user account in Active Directory that belongs to one of the Windows user groups you selected in the Authentication Details when editing the workgroup Please note that changes made to the user profile information in the user accounts in Tracker will not be reflected in Active Directory (and vice versa).

User Passwords

For workgroups where a method of authentication other than NetResults Tracker has been selected, the Password entered for a user's Tracker account will be ignored because the password for the user's Windows account will be used for authentication. Entering a password when creating a user account in the User Management System (UMS) is still required in case the Authentication settings for the workgroup is ever changed to use NetResults Tracker.

Tracker supports the use of Database Mirroring on SQL Server 2005 or newer. Database Mirroring should only be used if you have an expert SQL Server administrator with detailed knowledge of SQL Server client configuration. Please consult the following references on Microsoft's web site about configuring database mirroring:

SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2014
SQL Server 2008
SQL Server 2005

In order to use database mirroring, you must set the properties "Use SQL Native Client Provider" and "Fail Over Location (Server)" for the workgroup when adding the workgroup (or edit an existing one). However, simply setting these properties for the workgroup is not sufficient to use database mirroring. If you are not familiar with database mirroring or SQL Server client configuration, please do not attempt to use this feature.