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GridMagic Server 3.3 - Administrator's Guide

Table Of Content


I. About This Guide

The Purpose of This Guide

  • To show available installation options and explain about requirements and preparations needed to successfully setup GridMagic Server.
  • To serve as step-by-step guide for System Administrator to carry out the GridMagic Server installation procedure.
  • To serve as reference for System Administrator to perform day-to-day administration of GridMagic Server, such as how to add new CALs, how to enable new users and reassign CAL license.
  • To help IT Manager plan for required resources and coordinate the deployment of GridMagic Server.

Target audience

  • System Administrators who prepare or execute installation procedure.
  • IT Managers who plan and coordinate software deployments.
  • Anyone who wishes to understand more about GridMagic Enterprise Solution in the aspect of software installation.

About GridMagic Server

  • GridMagic Server is the core component of GridMagic Enterprise Solution which enhances BlackBerry smartphone usability and productivity on Microsoft Excel workbooks securely to empower mobile user with more functionalities bringing it closer to what can be done on computer workstation.
  • BlackBerry smartphone, its built-in software and BlackBerry Enterprise Solutions provide most essential needs of mobile users such as securely deliver emails and provide viewing capabilities to Word documents and Excel workbooks in email attachments. However the it does not provide some essential features such as opening password-protected Excel workbooks, zoom in/out Excel workbooks and compose emails with Excel workbooks.
  • While GridMagic software enables full-fledge spreadsheet viewing and editing capabilities on BlackBerry smartphones, with the GridMagic Server it further extends its capability to open/edit Excel attachments and to compose emails with Excel attachments, securely by connecting from smartphones to the user's corporate email server.
  • GridMagic Enterprise Solutions leverages on the same proven architecture as the BlackBerry Enterprise Solutions and BlackBerry Infrastructure that ensures High Data Security using industry standard encryption.
  • GridMagic Server runs as Windows service. On Lotus Domino platform it also run as a Domino server task. This design and architecture model after BlackBerry Enterprise Solution. If you have deployed BlackBerry Enterprise Solutions you should be familiar with this.
  • For more details of GridMagic Enterprise Solution, please visit GridMagic Enterprise Solutions product page.

Software Compatibility

  • GridMagic Server is designed to work with BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) or BlackBerry Professional Software version 4.1 or above. In this guide, BES refers to either BES or BlackBerry Professional Software.
  • GridMagic Server currently supports BES for Microsoft Exchange and BES for Lotus Domino.

1. GridMagic Server Installation Options

Installation Considerations

  • The recommended installation option is to install GridMagic Server on the same machine as BES. This option is straightforward because no additional hardware or OS is required. GridMagic Server takes up very less computing power and I/O to serve its functionality to open/read/send email attachments.
  • Administrators who prefer not to change or add anything at all on the production mail server and/or BES machine, can choose to install GridMagic Server on a separate machine that is different from the existing mail server and/or BES machine.

Support for Different Mail Server Platforms

  • The GridMagic Server Installer covers installation for two platforms: Microsoft Exchange Server and IBM Lotus Domino Server. During installation, the installer detects installed software on machine and presents the relevant installation components for the administrator to proceed. 
  • Please take note that for Lotus Domino Server there are several additional preparation steps required, which will be described in the next chapter: Installation Preparations and Hardware/Software Requirements.

Installation Options for Microsoft Exchange Platform

  1. Install GridMagic Server on the same machine as BES machine
  2. Install GridMagic Server on a different machine from the existing BES machine

Installation Options for IBM Lotus Domino Server Platform

  1. Install GridMagic Server on the same machine as BES machine
  2. Install GridMagic Server on a different machine from the existing BES machine

2. Installation Preparations and Hardware/Software Requirements

General Preparations for All Installation Options

  1. A Blackberry smartphone with GridMagic software installed on it. Please refer to GridMagic User Guide to see how to install GridMagic software on your smartphone.
  2. Decide on a TCP port number for GridMagic Server service that is not used by other programs on the GridMagic Server machine.
  3. Prepare a Windows user account to be used as service account to run GridMagic Server. This account is used by GridMagic Server to run service, and for Microsoft Exchange Server Platform, it uses this account to access Exchange mailboxes. If BES database uses MS SQL Server with Windows Authentication, this account must have read access to BES database. You may use BESAdmin account or a new user account with similar permissions for this purpose.
  4. Prepare GridMagic Server Client Access Licenses (GridMagic Server CALs).
    • You do not require to have CALs license for trial period of GridMagic Server and GridMagic software on smartphone.
    • As soon as trial period expires on either GridMagic Server or GridMagic software, the user will not be able to use GridMagic enterprise solution features.
  6. Make sure you have a BES that is configured and working properly.
  7. You will need the BES database instance settings information, including:
    • Database server name
    • Database instance name
    • User authentication information that has read access to the database. 
      Note: GridMagic Server does not require write access to BES database.
  9. You will need BlackBerry Manager access to perform the following tasks:
    • Add a new user defined IT Policy setting for GridMagic Server URL.
    • Map the IT Policy to the intended user who will have access to GridMagic Server.

Preparation for Option to Install GridMagic Server on The Same Machine as BES for Exchange Server

No additional steps required as all required hardware/software is the same as what is required by BES itself.

Preparation for Option to Install GridMagic Server on Different Machine from the existing BES for Exchange Server

  1. Prepare a machine for GridMagic Server with the following requirements.
  2. Hardware requirements:
    • Intel Pentium IV processor (2GHz or greater), 1 GB RAM
    • Minimum 500MB harddisk space
  4. Software requirements:
    • Windows 2000 Server (Server or Advanced Server Editions) or Windows Server 2003
    • Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) Runtime Environment Version 5.0 or above
    • Microsoft Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) Version 1.2 or above
  6. The GridMagic Server machine must be in the same domain as Microsoft Exchange Server.
  7. Make sure OS/network firewall does not block the GridMagic Server service port which is used by the GridMagic Server to communicate with the BES machine.

Preparation for Option to Install GridMagic Server on The Same Machine as BES for Lotus Domino Server

No additional steps required as all required hardware/software is the same as what is required by BES itself.

Preparation for Option to Install GridMagic Server on Different Machine from the existing BES for IBM Lotus Domino Server

  1. Prepare a machine for GridMagic Server with the following requirements.
  2. Hardware requirements:
    • Intel Pentium IV processor (2GHz or greater), 1 GB RAM
    • Minimum 1GB harddisk space
  4. Software requirements:
    • Windows 2000 Server (Server or Advanced Server Editions) or Windows Server 2003
    • Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) Runtime Environment Version 5.0 or above
    • Any Lotus Domino Server version supported by BES, i.e. IBM Lotus Domino Server Version 5.0.x, 6.0.x, 6.5.x and 7.0.x
  6. IBM Lotus Domino Server software must already be configured and working properly.
    If the Lotus Domino server is newly installed, you must start it and stop it before you install the GridMagic Server.
    Lotus Domino Server on GridMagic Server must be running using a Server ID that is a member of the same Domino organization certifier and belongs to the same Domino domain as the one running on BES machine.
  7. Make sure OS/network firewall does not block the GridMagic Server service port which is used by the GridMagic Server to communicate with the BES machine.

3. Installing the GridMagic Server software

Please make sure you have chosen a suitable installation option and gone through the installation preparations in the previous chapter before proceed.

  1. Log in to the machine you intend to install GridMagic Server using the service account prepared.
    Make sure you login using the Windows account prepared with the appropriate administrative rights.
    If you are using MS SQL Server with Windows Authentication make sure this login account has read access to BES database.
  2. Launch GridMagic Server Installer by double-clicking gms_setup.exe
  3. Complete the instructions on the installer screen:
    1. Choose [I Agree] to agree on GridMagic Server license agreement to proceed.
    2. Choose the mail server target platform to install GridMagic Server.
      If the installer detects that no IBM Lotus Domino Server installed, it disables installation option of GridMagic Server for IBM Lotus Domino.
    3. Specify service account to run GridMagic Server service.
      1. Enter the GridMagic Server Configuration Web Site login password.
        Note: Please remember this configuration ID and password. You need to supply this ID and password every time you access GridMagic Server Configuration web site.
      2. Enter the Gridmagic Server service port number.
    5. Choose target installation location.
      Default location is "C:\Program Files\Simprit\GridMagic Server"
    6. Choose target Start Menu folder and click Install to proceed with installation.
    7. Choose Finish and proceed to 4. Configuring GridMagic Server Software.

4. Configuring GridMagic Server software

Launch the GridMagic Server Configuration web site

  1. You can launch GridMagic Server Configuration web site from Start Menu on the GridMagic Server machine, i.e. Start Menu > All Programs > GridMagic > GridMagic Server Configuration

Alternatively, you can also open a web browser, then enter the URL to access GridMagic Server Configuration web site.

Log in to the GridMagic Server Configuration web site

  1. Launch your GridMagic Server Configuration web site.
  2. Type your User ID and Password.
  3. Click Log In.

To log out of the web site, click Log Out.

Review Configuration checklist

  1. When you log in to the GridMagic Server Configuration web site successfully, you will see a Welcome page showing a configuration checklist.
    Configuration checklist shows the list of configuration tasks required to complete GridMagic Server configuration.
    You can come back to this configuration checklist by clicking on Home link from left pane of GridMagic Server Configuration web site.

    There are 3 configuration tasks in the checklist that you need to do:

    1. Configure BES Server Settings
    2. Set up BES IT Policy
    3. Add Client Access Licenses
  2. You can read more about a specific task by clicking More Information.
  3. Some outstanding tasks will come with a Start option. You can click Start to complete the task.
  4. Once a task has been completed, a check mark will be displayed in the task list.

Configure BES Server Settings

  1. Using a browser on your computer, log in to the GridMagic Server Configuration web site.
  2. In the left pane, click Settings.
  3. Click Add.
  4. Enter your BES database settings according to the database server used by your BES.
  5. Please make sure the database user authentication information entered have the read access the BES database instance. 
  6. Click Test Connection and Save to test if the database instance settings and authentication information is correct.
    If the testing is successful, the BES server settings will be saved.

Set up BES IT policy

Please note that this configuration task is to be performed in BlackBerry Manager and not performed in GridMagic Server Configuration web site.

In following procedures we are going to add a new user defined IT Policy for GridMagic Server URL and then map the policy to user smartphones. We are also going to test GridMagic connection from user smartphone to verify that the BES connection and IT Policy are set correctly.

Add a new user-defined IT Policy in BlackBerry Manager

  1. In the BlackBerry Manager, in the left pane, click BlackBerry Domain.
  2. On the Global tab, click Edit Properties.
  3. Click IT Policy.
  4. In the IT Policy Administration section, double-click IT Policies.
  5. Click the desired IT policy.
  6. Click Properties.
  7. In the Properties list, click User Defined Items.
  8. Double-click IT Policy Template.
  9. Click New.
  10. Click IT Policy Template Item.
  11. Set the Name as GridMagic Server URL.
  12. Set the Type as String.
  13. Click OK, then click OK again to close the IT Policy Template window.
  14. In the Policy Item Settings section, set the value of GridMagic Server URL as <your server name>:<port used for GridMagic Server> (e.g. MYSERVER:8000).
  15. Click OK.

Map the policy to user smartphones

  1. From the IT Policy Administration section from the above steps, double-click on IT Policies to User Mapping.
  2. Make sure that the IT Policy is assigned to intended users.
  3. Click OK.

Test GridMagic connection from user smartphone

This step is to verify that GridMagic Server Configuration, BES settings, and IT Policy settings are set correctly.

This step requires the above configuration steps done and a BlackBerry smartphone with GridMagic software installed. Please refer to GridMagic User Guide to see how to install GridMagic software on BlackBerry smartphones.

To verify your GridMagic Server configuration:

  1. On the BlackBerry smartphone, launch GridMagic software from BlackBerry Home screen.
  2. While in workbook list screen of GridMagic, click Options on the menu.
  3. Click Connection Settings.
  4. Verify if you can see the GridMagic Server URL field.
  5. If not, click Refresh on the menu.
  6. Click Test GridMagic Server on the menu to verify your configuration.

If the IT policy you set earlier has not been sent to your BlackBerry, the GridMagic Server URL field and the Refresh option on the menu will not be displayed. In this case, you can wait for awhile and try it again later.


Manage Client Access Licenses (CALs)

During trial period of GridMagic Server and GridMagic software, you can access all GridMagic Enterprise Solution features without adding any CALs, but after the trial period it is required to add CALs to allow BlackBerry smartphones to use GridMagic Enterprise Solution features.

Each CAL entitles a BlackBerry smartphone to connect to GridMagic Server.

When you purchase CALs you will get a CAL license key and a GridMagic software registration key:

  • The CAL license key is to be added to GridMagic Server Configuration.
  • The GridMagic software registration key is to be given to smartphone users to register in GridMagic software on the smartphone.

If you purchase CALs in different batches, you will have more than one GridMagic software registration keys. You can give any one of the registration key to the smartphone users as any one works the same way. The user will be able to register using the registration key with the GridMagic Server if there are unused CALs available in GridMagic Server Configuration.

Add CALs into GridMagic Server configuration

  1. Log in to the GridMagic Server Configuration web site.
  2. In the left pane, click Licenses.
  3. Enter the name of the license owner.
  4. Enter your license key.
  5. Click Add.

View CALs and number of licenses in GridMagic Server configuration

  1. Log in to the GridMagic Server Configuration web site.
  2. In the left pane, click Licenses.
  3. You will see the name and number of licenses for each of CALs added. 

Remove CALs from GridMagic Server configuration

  1. Log in to the GridMagic Server Configuration web site.
  2. In the left pane, click Licenses.
  3. You will see the name and number of licenses for each of CALs added. 
  4. Click button on the CALs in the list to remove CALs from configuration

Register BlackBerry Smartphones to use GridMagic Enterprise Solution features

During trial period of GridMagic Server and GridMagic software, you can access all GridMagic Enterprise Solution features without registering BlackBerry smartphones, but after the trial period it is required to register BlackBerry smartphone to allow it to use GridMagic Enterprise Solution features.

The GridMagic Enterprise Solution features include the following:

  1. Securely open and edit Excel email attachments in mailboxes of corporate email server.
  2. Detach and save Excel email attachments in mailboxes of corporate email server to BlackBerry smartphones for backup or for further editing.
  3. Compose new emails with new or edited Excel workbooks from the BlackBerry smartphones securely through GridMagic Server residing in corporate LAN.
To proceed with registration of a new BlackBerry smartphone device, you must have IT Policy configured and mapped to the user, and there must be unused CALs available in GridMagic Server Configuration

Distribute GridMagic software registration key to the intended users

  1. You must have mapped the IT Policy containing GridMagic policy to the intended users in BES Manager.
    If you have not, please refer to Set Up BES IT Policy in the earlier section of this guide.
  2. Give the GridMagic software registration key to the intended users.
    You can choose to send the registration key through email, or any other way you prefer. You may include a simple instruction to tell user how to register the GridMagic software.
    Note: GridMagic software registration key is the key you get when you purchase CALs. If you purchased CALs in several batches and have multiple registration keys, any one of the keys will work, because GridMagic Server checks against the actual number of available CALs upon registration.
  3. Please proceed with Register GridMagic software section below on the BlackBerry smartphone device.

Register GridMagic software

  1. To proceed you must have GridMagic software installed on your smartphone device and a GridMagic software registration key given by your administrator. Please refer to GridMagic User Guide to see how to install GridMagic software on your smartphone.
  2. On the BlackBerry smartphone, launch GridMagic software from BlackBerry Home screen.
  3. While in workbook list screen of GridMagic, click Options on the menu.
  4. Click then click Registration.
  5. In the Registration Key field, enter the registration key.
  6. Click to register.

Testing GridMagic Enterprise Solution features

Open, Detach, and Edit Excel Workbook in Email Attachments

  1. On the BlackBerry smartphone, open a message that attached with Excel workbooks.
  2. Click Open with GridMagic on the menu.
  3. Click the attachment you want to edit and then click Open on the menu.
  4. You can detach the attachment and save directly to BlackBerry smartphone by clicking Save on the GridMagic menu.
  5. You can also edit the Excel Workbook directly when you open attachment with GridMagic, and save the modified workbook.
  6. After you click on Save in GridMagic menu, type a workbook name and press Enter.
  7. To go back to the attachment list, click Close on the menu.

Compose an Email Attachment with an Excel workbook in GridMagic

  1. On the BlackBerry smartphone, compose an email.
  2. In the email message you are composing, after finishing the email content, click Send via GridMagic on the menu.
  3. Select the workbooks you want to send as attachment (by pressing Space).
  4. Click Send on the menu.

Manage registered BlackBerry Smartphone devices

When a BlackBerry smartphone user registers his/her GridMagic software using a GridMagic software registration key, GridMagic Server records the device identification and associates CAL to the device identification.

If you want to reassign this CAL license to another BlackBerry smartphone device (for example when the user changes his smartphone device because the old device is out-of-order or lost), you can unregister the smartphone device identification. This allows the CAL to be reassigned for other smartphone device.

View Registered Devices in GridMagic Server configuration

  1. Using a browser on your computer, log in to the GridMagic Server Configuration web site.
  2. In the left pane, click Devices.
  3. You can then see the list of registered devices on the page.

Unregistering a Device from GridMagic Server configuration

  1. Using a browser on your computer, log in to the GridMagic Server Configuration web site.
  2. In the left pane, click Devices.
  3. You can then see the list of registered devices on the page.
  4. Click button on the device in the list to remove it from configuration
  5. After unregistering the device, you can view the available CALs by clicking on Licenses link in left pane.

Change your GridMagic Server Configuration web site password

  1. Using a browser on your computer, log in to the GridMagic Server Configuration web site.
  2. In the left pane, click Password.
  3. Enter your new password.
  4. Enter your new password again.
  5. Click Save.

5. Upgrading from a Previous Version of GridMagic Server software

If you have installed a previous version of GridMagic Server software on a machine, you can upgrade to the current version of GridMagic Server software by running the GridMagic Server Installer on top of it.

You are not required to remove the previous version of GridMagic Server software.

Reinstalling GridMagic Server software on the same machine

  1. Please go through the 2. Installation Preparations and Hardware/Software Requirements section above in case there are any additional requirements since the previous version you installed.
  2. Login using the same user account as what you used in the previous installation.
  3. Launch the GridMagic Server Installer by double-clicking on gms_setup.exe
  4. After accepting the license agreement, the installer will show that it detected GridMagic Server was previously installed, and prompt to choose whether to keep the existing configuration/data or to overwrite existing configuration/data.
    • If you choose Do not overwrite existing configuration and data, the installer will keep the existing GridMagic configuration, including BES settings, CAL licenses, registered devices and configuration files. The installer will only updates GridMagic Server program and binary files with the latest ones in installer package.
    • If you choose Overwrite existing configuration and data, the installer will overwrite the previous installation and will wipe out all existing data including BES setttings, CAL licenses, registered devices and configuration files.
  6. Continue with the Installation procedure in the 3. Installing the GridMagic Server software section of this guide.

6. Removing the GridMagic Server software

  1. If you are using GridMagic Server for BES for IBM Lotus Domino Server, please shut down the IBM Lotus Domino server.
  2. Launch the Uninstall shortcut from Start > All Programs > GridMagic > Uninstall.
    Alternatively, you can use the Windows Add/Remove Programs from Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs, choose GridMagic Server and click on Remove button.
  3. Click on Yes if you are sure to remove GridMagic Server.