WHD 12.3 System Requirements

Last Updated: May 8, 2015

Supports: Web Help Desk 12.3

Important: These system requirements define the minimum requirements for Web Help Desk 12.3. For additional information about requirements, see the Web Help Desk 12.3 Release Notes.

Server hardware and software requirements

Hardware

See Port requirements for all SolarWinds Products for a list of all ports required for communication with Web Help Desk.

Component Requirements
CPU 64-bit Dual Core 2.0 GHz or faster
RAM

3 GB (up to 10 technicians)

Add 1GB for every 10 additional technicians
Hard Drive Space 20 GB
Application Ports

8081 (or alternate browser port)

1433 (Microsoft SQL Server)

Operating system

Platform Supported Versions

Microsoft Windows Server

(less than 20 technicians)

Windows Server 2003 (32-bit)

Windows Server 2008 (32- and 64-bit)

Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit)

Windows Server 2012 (64-bit)

Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit)

Microsoft Windows Server

(more than 20 technicians)

Windows Server 2008 (64-bit)

Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit)

Windows Server 2012 (64-bit)

Microsoft Windows

(Trial evaluation only)

Windows 7 (64-bit)

Windows 8.1 (64-bit)

macOS

10.8 (Mountain Lion)

10.9 (Mavericks)

10.10 (Yosemite)
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 20 (64-bit)

Fedora 21 (64-bit)

Web browser

Due to frequent Google Chrome v32 and Mozilla Firefox v32 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 9

IE 10

IE 11

Apple Safari

Safari 7

Safari 8
Microsoft Edge Latest version

Web server requirements

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

Product Version
Apache Tomcat 7.0.59

Server sizing requirements

SolarWinds Web Help Desk software manages help desk operations for networks of any size—from small corporate LANs to large enterprise and service provider networks. Most Web Help Desk systems perform well on 3.0GHz systems with 3GB of RAM. However, when you create a large number of techs, consider the existing hardware and the system configuration. SolarWinds recommends adding 1GB of memory to your Web Help Desk server for every 10 technicians.

If you plan to integrate Web Help Desk with existing SolarWinds products, ensure that your SolarWinds server is running SolarWinds Orion Platform 2012.2 or later. Web Help Desk requires this version to integrate SolarWinds alerts into trouble tickets.

For information about SolarWinds upgrade paths and compatibility, see the SolarWinds Knowledge Base article Compatibility of SolarWinds Orion Products for Installation and Upgrade. For SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM) software upgrade and licensing instructions, see Installing SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor, in the SolarWinds Orion Network Performance Monitor Administrator Guide.

SolarWinds product integration requirements

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

SolarWinds SAM and SolarWinds NCM must be running with SolarWinds NPM to integrate with Web Help Desk.

Supported product Version
SolarWinds Orion platform Version 2012.2 and later
SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)

NPM 10.4 and later

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor (SAM)

SAM 5.5 and later
SolarWinds Network Configuration Monitor (NCM) NCM 7.1.1 and later

Database requirements

Web Help Desk uses an embedded PostgreSQL database as its standard database. See Embedded Database Requirements for specific requirements. The following table lists the supported databases.

Database Supported versions
PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL 9.2

PostgreSQL 9.3.2

PostgreSQL 9.4

MySQL

MySQL 5.6

MySQL 5.7.4
Microsoft SQL Server

SQL Server 2008

SQL Server 2012

SQL Server 2014

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

See MySQL Requirements and SQL Server Requirements for more information about software and hardware requirements.

Embedded database migration requirements

Web Help Desk does not support a FrontBase database. To automatically upgrade an embedded FrontBase database to an embedded PostgreSQL database, upgrade your software to Web Help Desk 12.0 and then upgrade to the latest version.

External FrontBase databases must be manually migrated to the embedded PostgreSQL database.

To ensure that the Web Help Desk database upgrade starts automatically after the v12.0.0 upgrade, ensure that:

  • Both FrontBase and PostgreSQL are running.
  • The embedded FrontBase uses the whd and user whd schemas.
  • The new server includes enough free space to support the database migration. Web Help Desk notifies you about the space required before migration begins.

The migration process creates a $WEB_HELPDESK_HOME/temp folder with the associated files. The system administrator performing the installation must have write privileges on both the FrontBase and PostgreSQL databases.

After you upgrade to 12.0, you can upgrade to the latest version. The version 12.0 upgrade converts your embedded FrontBase database to an embedded PostgreSQL database. No additional database conversions are required.

MySQL requirements

The following table lists the minimum software and hardware requirements for a MySQL database server.

Product Supported versions
MySQL database

MySQL Community, Cluster, or Enterprise (version 5.5 or later)

MySQL Workbench Tools
CPU speed Dual Core 2.0GHz or better
Hard drive space 20GB
Memory 2GB plus 1GB for every additional 10 techs

SQL Server requirements

The following tables list the minimum software and hardware requirements for a database server running Microsoft SQL Server.

Software

Software Requirements
Microsoft SQL Server

SQL Server 2008 Enterprise, Express, or Standard Edition

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise, Express, or Standard Edition with the following components and requirements:

  • SQL Server Database Engine
  • SQL Server Management Studio
  • SQL Server Management Tools
  • TCP/IP enabled
  • SQL authentication support

Hardware

Component Requirements
CPU Dual Core 2.0GHz or higher
Hard drive space 20GB
RAM 2GB with 1GB additional RAM for every additional 10 techs

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 7.2

NCM 7.2.1

NCM 7.2.2

NCM 7.3

NCM 7.3.1

NCM 7.3.2

NCM 7.4
SolarWinds Network Performance Manager (NPM)

NPM 11.0

NPM 11.0.1

NPM 11.5
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor (SAM)

SAM 5.5

SAM 6.0

SAM 6.0.1

SAM 6.1.1

SAM 6.2

Absolute Manage (HEAT Lanrev)

Absolute Manager 6.5

Absolute Manager 6.6

Absolute Manager 6.7
Apple Remote Desktop

Apple Remote Desktop 3.7.2
Casper

Casper 8.6

Casper 9.0

Casper 9.63
Lansweeper

Lansweeper 4

Lansweeper 5

Lansweeper 5.1

Lansweeper 5.2.0.24
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager
(SCCM)

SCCM 2007

SCCM 2012

SCCM 2012 R2 Cumulative Update 3 (CU3)

Hypervisor requirements

Web Help Desk can be installed on a VMware or Microsoft virtual appliance when the hosting server meets the minimum server requirements. The virtual machine includes a supported version of the CentOS operating system and the latest version of Web Help Desk.

The following table lists the supported hypervisor requirements.

Microsoft Hyper-V Server is included with Windows Server 2008 and later.

Product Supported versions
VMware® VMware 5.5
Microsoft Hyper-V®

Hyper-V Server 2008 R2

Hyper-V Server 2012

Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

LDAP requirements

The following table lists the supported Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) software products.

product Supported versions
Microsoft Active Directory

Active Directory 2003

Active Directory 2008

Active Directory 2012

Active Directory 2012 R2
Open Directory Open Directory 4
OpenLDAP

OpenLDAP 2.4

OpenLDAP 2.4.40

Mail server requirements

This section lists the required mail server software and supported protocols.

Software

Product Supported versions
Microsoft Exchange Server

Exchange Server 2010

Exchange Server 2013 CU7

Supported protocols

  • IMAP
  • POP3
  • SMTP

Mobile Admin requirements

The following tables list the host server and mobile client requirements for the SolarWinds Mobile Admin software.

Host server requirements

Component Supported operating systems
Licensed version

Windows Server 2003 (32-bit)

Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit)

Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012 R2
Free Trial / Evaluation

Windows Vista

Windows 7

Windows 8.x
Microsoft .NET Framework .NET Framework 4.0
RAM 2GB
Hard Drive

200MB RAM minimum

20GB for optimum performance

Mobile client requirements

The following table lists the supported client operating systems for the Web Help Desk Mobile software.

Platform Supported operating systems
Apple

iOS 7

iOS 8

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
80 TCP Non-secure traffic from the Web Help Desk Console (VA)
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

Configure firewalls 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: