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evergreen-user:registering_staff_client_to_different_working_locations

We should deprecate this page. Three is a better way to handle multiple workstations: http://pines.georgialibraries.org/creating-evergreen-workstation-profiles


Registering an Evergreen Staff Client to Different Working Locations (In Windows)

Introduction

Sometimes, an administrator may need to log on from different working locations. For example, if one wishes to edit Shelving Locations, one may only do so for the registered location of their current Workstation. If my Workstation is registered to ARL-ATH, then I can only see/edit ARL-ATH shelving locations; if I need to edit ARL-BOG, I need a Workstation registered to ARL-BOG (as well as appropriate permissions and working locations set up within the Permissions Editor).

Background

The Evergreen Staff Client stores information about Workstation registration both locally and on the Evergreen server(s). The locally stored information links a server URL with the workstation name, so when you enter a URL into the Login screen, it automatically logs you on as the Workstation you registered with that server. This information is stored per Windows login, so different users of the same machine will have different Workstations registered.

The remotely stored information links the Workstation name with the working location. So, for example, if I have registered my Workstation with "gapines.org" as "WS1" at location "ARL-ATH", when I enter "gapines.org" into the "Hostname" field, the Staff Client knows that my Workstation is ARL-ATH-WS1. When I log on to the server, it sees that my work station is ARL-ATH-WS1 and knows that ARL-ATH is the working location for any operations I perform.

Multiple Workstation Registrations

There are various ways to register different Workstations on the same machine.

Different Windows Logins

The first is to have different Windows logins for each workstation. In most situations, this is probably undesirable as it requires the user to log off of Evergreen, then log off of Windows, then log back in as a different user. It is most useful when several different users share a machine but desire to have different Workstation names.

Varying Hostname Capitalization

If the Workstation is registered with "gapines.org" at "ARL-ATH", then altering the capitalization in "gapines.org" allows the Workstation to be re-registered. For example, one can enter "gapines.ORG" and register the Workstation to a different location. For occasional operations, this works well, but once one has registered with a given capitalization, it won't be reusable (in other words, "gapines.ORG" will always be registered to the same location).

This is not recommended, but one can manually delete or edit the file in which the Staff Client stores the relationships between the Hostname and the Workstation name. See Changing Workstation Registration by Editing wsinfo for further information.

Editing the Windows "hosts" File (Preferred)

This method allows a user to register the workstation with multiple locations without having to delete or edit wsinfo each time, remember variants of capitalizations, or log into Windows as a different user. It requires a one-time edit of an existing Windows file and allows all Windows users to register the workstation to different locations. This is very useful to administrators who routinely need to log onto Workstations registered to each branch within a system.

What is the "hosts" File?

Windows has a file called "hosts" that allows users to map URLs to particular IP addresses. This file is usually located in “C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\”, though you may need to use the Windows Search function to find it on your computer if you're using a version of Windows other than XP.

So, for example, say I want anyone using my computer to be able to type "my.alternate.url.for.google" into a web browser and see a page located at "64.233.167.99". I can create an entry in my hosts file linking this URL to this IP address. Then, any time someone tries to browse to"my.alternate.url.for.google" from my machine, they will automatically be directed to the web page located at 64.233.167.99 (also known as www.google.com).

Step-By-Step Explanation

  1. Log onto Windows as an Administrator and get the IP address for your Evergreen server.
    1. The IP address for gapines.org is 209.168.247.199.
    2. If you know the URL of your Evergreen server, but not the IP address, you can find it thusly:
      1. Open a command prompt by choosing "Run" from the Windows Start Menu, entering "cmd" and clicking "Ok". run_cmd.jpg
      2. Enter "ping <Server URL>" at the command line. If there are no network issues, you'll see some output resembles this:
        C:\>ping gapines.org
        
        Pinging gapines.org [209.168.247.199] with 32 bytes of data:
        
        Reply from 209.168.247.199: bytes=32 time=29ms TTL=40
        Reply from 209.168.247.199: bytes=32 time=27ms TTL=40
        Reply from 209.168.247.199: bytes=32 time=27ms TTL=40
        Reply from 209.168.247.199: bytes=32 time=28ms TTL=40
        
        Ping statistics for 209.168.247.199:
            Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
        Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
            Minimum = 27ms, Maximum = 29ms, Average = 27ms
        
        C:\>

        In this case, the IP is 209.168.247.199.

  2. Locate the "hosts" file on your machine. It is usually located in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\. Note that there is no ".txt" file extension. hosts_file_location.jpg
  3. Open the file with a simple text editor such as Notepad (Don't use MS Word).
  4. The file will probably contain the following text (possibly with more entries, if it’s been edited before):
    # Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp. 
    # 
    # This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows. 
    # 
    # This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each 
    # entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should 
    # be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name. 
    # The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one 
    # space. 
    # 
    # Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual 
    # lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol. 
    # 
    # For example: 
    # 
    # 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server 
    # 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host 
    
    127.0.0.1 localhost  
  5. For each location that you wish to register a Workstation with, create an entry in the hosts file.
    1. The entries should each be added on a separate line and will look like this:
      IP Address    made.up.URL

      For example, to allow Workstation registration with the gapines.org server for the locations "ARL-ATH", "ARL-BOG", and "ARL-BKM", add the following lines to the hosts file:

      209.168.247.199 arl-ath.gapines.org 
      209.168.247.199 arl-bog.gapines.org
      209.168.247.199 arl-bkm.gapines.org 

      The entire file will look like this:

       # Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
      #
      # This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
      #
      # This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
      # entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
      # be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host 
      
      name.
      # The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
      # space.
      #
      # Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
      # lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
      #
      # For example:
      #
      #      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
      #       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host
      
      127.0.0.1       localhost
      209.168.247.199 arl-ath.gapines.org 
      209.168.247.199 arl-bog.gapines.org
      209.168.247.199 arl-bkm.gapines.org 
  6. Save your changes. Be sure that your saved hosts file does NOT have the ".txt" file extension. To save the file properly using Notepad, use the ctrl-s hotkey combination. You can also use the "Save As" dialog; select file type "All Files" and overwrite the current "hosts" file.
     IMPORTANT! Make sure that you actually double click the 'hosts' 
    file within the Save As dialog after you select the "All Files" 
    file type.  If you type the name in or just click "Save" (even 
    though the file name is correct in the filename box, Notepad WILL
    save your changed version as a ".txt" file (for some reason).  
    
    If you don't get a "Are you sure you'd like to overwrite this file?" dialog, 
    Notepad probably saved it as a text file.

    overwrite_current_hosts_file.jpg

  7. Exit Notepad and start the Evergreen Staff Client. Enter one of your newly created URLs as the host name. In this example, I'm entering "arl-ath.gapines.org". As this screenshot indicates, the Status and Version both show up as Ok. arl-ath_login_screen_unregistered.jpg
     NOTE: If the server isn't found, verify that: 
    A) You typed the Hostname into the login screen exactly as you entered it into the hosts file
    B) That you have the correct IP entered into the hosts file
    C) That your hosts file is NOT a ".txt" file.
  8. Login and register the Workstation to the desired location.

arl-ath_workstation_registration.jpg

Note: If you get the following warning when registering or logging in, just click "Continue" and then log in.

domain_mismatch_warning.jpg

evergreen-user/registering_staff_client_to_different_working_locations.txt · Last modified: 2022/02/10 13:34 by 127.0.0.1

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