System requirements

This section contains the system requirements for Web Help Desk. For additional information about requirements, see the latest Web Help Desk Release Notes.

Server hardware and software requirements

Hardware

Hardware Requirements

CPU

64-bit Dual Core 3.0 GHz or faster

RAM

4 GB (up to 10 technicians)

3 GB (more than 20 technicians) plus 1 GB for every 10 additional technicians

See Server sizing requirements for details.

Hard Drive Space

20 GB

Application Ports

8443 (default)

20293 (PostgreSQL)

Operating system

If you are upgrading your Web Help Desk server to macOS 10.13x (High Sierra), some Tomcat web applications will fail. See Tomcat web applications fail after upgrading to macOS 10.13.x (High Sierra) for a workaround.

Deprecation notice: Although you can install Web Help Desk on systems running Microsoft Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 (64-bit), these versions are deprecated and will not be supported on future Web Help Desk releases. SolarWinds strongly recommends that you upgrade to Windows Server 2016 or later at your earliest convenience.

Operating System Platform Supported versions

Microsoft Windows Server

Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit)

Windows Server 2016

Windows Server 2019
Microsoft Windows
(Trial evaluation only)

Windows 7 (64-bit)

Windows 8.1 (64-bit)

Windows 10 (64-bit)
macOS

10.13 (Sierra)

10.14 (High Sierra)

10.15.x (Catalina)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
(RHEL)

RHEL 6.5 (64-bit)

RHEL 7.0 (64-bit)
CentOS

CentOS 6.5 (64-bit)

CentOS 7.0 (64-bit)
Fedora

Fedora 24 (64-bit)

Fedora 25 (64-bit)
Java Platform Open Java Development Kit (OpenJDK) 14

Web browser

Due to frequent web browser updates, check the SolarWinds support website for the latest information about compatibility issues between these web browsers and the latest version of Web Help Desk.

Type Supported versions
Google Chrome Latest version
Mozilla Firefox Latest version
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE)

IE 11

Do not enable Enterprise Mode in IE. This setting forces IE to emulate version 7, which is not supported.
Apple Safari

Safari 10

Safari 11
Microsoft Edge Edge 38 and later

Server sizing requirements

Use the following sections to determine the requirements for your Web Help Desk deployment size.

Deployments with fewer than 20 techs

If your deployment will support 20 tech sessions or fewer, you can run Web Help Desk on a system with:

  • A supported operating system
  • A 32-bit Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
  • 4 GB RAM (up to 3.7GB for the tech sessions, JVM support, operating system, and any additional services you need to run on the system)

This configuration supports 10 - 20 tech sessions with no onboard memory issues.

To adjust the maximum memory setting, edit the MAXIMUM_MEMORY option in the <WebHelpDesk>/conf/whd.conf file.

Deployments with more than 20 techs

If your deployment will support more than 20 tech sessions, SolarWinds recommends installing Web Help Desk on a system running:

  • A supported operating system
  • A 64-bit JVM
  • 3 GB RAM for 20 tech sessions plus 1 GB RAM for each additional 10 tech sessions

Configuring the JVM

To increase the max heap memory on a JVM, edit the MAXIMUM_MEMORY option in the <WebHelpDesk>/conf/whd.conf file.

For other operating systems, install your own JVM and then update the JAVA_HOME option in the <WebHelpDesk>/conf/whd.conf file to point to your Java installation.

Database requirements

Web Help Desk uses an embedded PostgreSQL database as its standard database. The following table lists the supported databases.

Software

Database Supported versions
PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL 9.2

PostgreSQL 9.3.2

PostgreSQL 9.4

PostgreSQL 9.6
MySQL

MySQL 5.7
Microsoft SQL Server

SQL Server 2008 R2 SP3

SQL Server 2012 SP2

SQL Server 2014

SQL Server 2016

SQL Server 2017

For optimal external database performance, run Web Help Desk and a supported external database on separate servers.

Hardware

The following table lists the minimum software and hardware requirements for a server hosting MySQL and SQL Server.

Product Requirements
CPU speed 64-bit Dual Core 3.0 GHz or better
Hard drive space 20 GB
Memory 3 GB plus 1 GB for every additional 10 techs

Oracle Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver requirements

Web Help Desk for macOS includes an embedded Java Virtual Machine (JVM). If you are running an external Oracle JVM, Web Help Desk preserves your Java settings during the installation procedure and continues to use the external Oracle JVM.

If you are migrating from an external JVM to the embedded JVM included with Web Help Desk and you are using a MySQL database, ensure that the new embedded Java directory on your Web Help Desk server includes the Oracle Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver.

See the Oracle website to download the latest JDBC driver.

Discovery connector requirements

The following table lists the supported discovery connectors used for asset discovery.

Discovery connector Supported versions
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager
(NCM)

NCM 7.5
SolarWinds Network Performance Manager
(NPM)

NPM 12
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor
(SAM)

SAM 6.2

SAM 6.2.3
Apple Remote Desktop Remote Desktop 3.8
Casper Casper 9.96
Lansweeper Lansweeper 6.0.100.75
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager
(SCCM)		 SCCM 1511 (64-bit)

Web server requirements

The following table lists the supported web server for Web Help Desk.

Product Version
Apache Tomcat 9.0.37

SolarWinds product integration requirements

The following table lists the SolarWinds products that integrate with Web Help Desk.

Supported product Version
SolarWinds Orion platform Version 2017.1 and later
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)

NPM 12.0.1
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor (SAM)

SAM 6.4.2
SolarWinds Network Configuration Monitor (NCM)

NCM 7.5
DameWare Mini Remote Control (MRC) DameWare MRC 12.0.3

LDAP requirements

Product Supported versions
Microsoft Active Directory 1

Active Directory 2012

Active Directory 2012 R2
Open Directory

Open Directory 4
OpenLDAP

OpenLDAP 2.4

OpenLDAP 2.4.42

1 Only Active Directory is addressed in this guide. For other LDAP systems, see the Web Help Desk Installation Guide.

Mail server requirements

Mail Server Supported versions
Microsoft Exchange Server

Exchange Server 2010

Exchange Server 2013 CU7

Exchange Server 2016

Office 365

Mobile client requirements

The following table lists the supported client operating systems for the SolarWinds mobile admin software.

Platform Supported Operating Systems
Apple iOS®

iOS 10 and later

Supported protocols

  • IMAP
  • POP3
  • SMTP

Port requirements

Web Help Desk provides communication ports for the following resources: 

Web Help Desk interfaces

The following table lists the Web Help Desk ports for secure and non-secure interface traffic.

Port Type Description
135 TCP Asset Discovery using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
389 TCP Non-secure traffic from the Web Help Desk server to a designated server (usually a domain controller) for use with the Directory Service tool (LDAP and Active Directory)
443 TCP Secure traffic from the Web Help Desk Console
8081 TCP Non-secure traffic from the Web Help Desk Console (Windows, Linux and OSX)
8443 TCP (Default) Secure traffic from the Web Help Desk Administrator Console (Windows, Linux and OS X)
17778 TCP Communications from the SolarWinds Orion server (Orion integration only)
61616 TCP Web Help Desk Discovery engine (JMS queue port)

Databases

The following table lists the Web Help Desk ports for external and embedded database communications.

Port Type Description
1433 TCP

Communications with a Microsoft Microsoft SQL external database, including:

  • Microsoft SQL Server
  • Microsoft Systems Management Server
  • Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)
  • SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)
  • SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NCM)
  • SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor (SAM)
3306 TCP External MySQL database
5432 TCP Communication with an External PostgreSQL database
20293 TCP Communications with an embedded PostgreSQL database

Email

The following table lists the Web Help Desk ports for email traffic.

Port Type Description
25 TCP Traffic from the Web Help Desk server to your email server for automated email notifications
80 TCP Non-secure connection with Microsoft Exchange Web Services (EWS)
110 TCP Non-secure traffic with the POP3 mail server
143 TCP Non-secure traffic with the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) mail server
443 TCP Secure traffic with EWS
993 TCP Secure traffic with the IMAP mail server
995 TCP Secure traffic with the POP3 mail server

LDAP and Active Directory

The following table lists the Web Help Desk ports for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol / Active Directory (LDAP / AD).

Port Type Description
389 TCP Traffic from the Web Help Desk server to a designated server (usually a domain controller) for use with the Directory Service tool (LDAP and Active Directory)
636 TCP Secure traffic from the Web Help Desk server to a designated server (usually a domain controller) for use with the Directory Service tool (LDAP and Active Directory)

Asset Discovery

The following table lists the Web Help Desk ports for Asset Recovery.

Port Type Description
135 TCP Asset Discovery using WMI (WMI calls uses port 135 and then chooses a random port for further communication)
1521 TCP Communication with the Oracle Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) connector for asset discovery
3306 TCP  Communication with the MySQL external database, LANrev, and Casper 8 and lower
4445 TCP Remote log server reader
5433 TCP Communication with Apple Remote 3.2 for asset discovery
7100 TCP Communications with a Sybase database for asset discovery

Firewall port requirements for data traffic

Firewalls between any two points of communication must have the requisite ports open to inbound or outbound traffic according to the relative direction of the communication traffic.

For additional port information, see: