Documentation forWeb Help Desk

Installation requirements

SolarWinds strongly recommends that you install Web Help Desk on a server that is protected from unauthorized access by the public. If your use of Web Help Desk does not need to be public or internet-facing, install it on a server that is neither public, nor internet-facing. To learn about best practices for configuring your Web Help Desk installation securely, see Best practices to secure SolarWinds Products.

This section describes the requirements for setting up a WHD deployment in a stand-alone or SolarWinds Platform deployment.

If you plan to enable Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 compliant cryptography in your deployment, see the WHD Administrator Guide for specific requirements.

Hardware and software requirements

Listed below are the hardware and software requirements for a WHD deployment.

Hardware

Component Requirements
CPU 64-bit Dual Core 3.0 GHz or faster
Memory

4 GB (up to 20 technicians)

3 GB (more than 20 technicians) plus 1 GB for every 10 additional technicians
Hard Drive Space 20 GB (recommended)

Operating system

Platform Supported versions

Microsoft Windows Server

Windows Server 2016

Windows Server 2019

Windows Server 2022

Microsoft Windows

(Trial evaluation only)

Windows 8.1 (64-bit)

Windows 10 (64-bit)

Windows 11

macOS

10.13.x (High Sierra)

10.14.x (Mojave)

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

RHEL 6.5 (64-bit)

RHEL 7.0 (64-bit)

RHEL 8.6 (64-bit)
CentOS

CentOS 6.5 (64-bit)

CentOS 7.0 (64-bit)
Fedora

Fedora 24 (64-bit)

Fedora 25 (64-bit)
Java Microsoft Open Java Development Kit (OpenJDK ) 11.0.15

Web browser

Because of frequent Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox updates, compatibility issues may exist between these web browsers.

Type Supported versions
Google Chrome Latest version
Mozilla Firefox

Latest version
Apple Safari

Safari 10

Safari 11
Microsoft Edge Edge 38 and later

Server sizing requirements

Determine the requirements for your Web Help Desk deployment size.

Deployments with fewer than 20 techs

If you plan to support 20 tech sessions or fewer in your deployment, you can run WHD on a system with:

  • A supported operating system
  • A 64-bit Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
  • 4GB 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 you plan to support more than 20 tech sessions in your deployment, SolarWinds recommends installing WHD on a system running:

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

Configure the JVM memory allocation

Calculate the amount of memory required for your JVM and increase the allocation as required.

Database requirements

WHD uses an embedded PostgreSQL database as its standard database. The following table lists the supported databases for WHD.

Database Supported versions
PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL 13.3

PostgreSQL 13.9

PostgreSQL 13.7 (External database only)

PostgreSQL 14.2 (External database only) 
MySQL

MySQL 5.7

MySQL 8.0

Microsoft SQL Server

SQL Server 2014

SQL Server 2016

SQL Server 2017

SQL Server 2019

For optimal external database performance, run WHD and a supported external database on separate servers.

Database hardware requirements

The following table lists the minimum hardware requirements for a database server running Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL with WHD.

Component Requirements
CPU 64-bit Dual Core 3.0 GHz or higher
Hard drive space 20 GB
RAM 3 GB with 1 GB additional RAM for every additional 10 techs

External database options

WHD supports the following SQL Server and MySQL versions as external databases:

  • SQL Server 2014

  • SQL Server 2016

  • SQL Server 2019

  • MySQL 5.7

If you are running WHD 12.6 and later, you can also configure the following PostgreSQL versions as external databases:

  • PostgreSQL 9.2

  • PostgreSQL 9.3

  • PostgreSQL 13.7

  • PostgreSQL 14.2

See Install WHD with an external PostgreSQL database for instructions.

See Database datatypes for information about mapping information types across other databases types.

Oracle Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver requirements

WHD for macOS includes an embedded Java Virtual Machine (JVM). If you are running an external Oracle JVM, WHD 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 WHD 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 Install the MySQL JDBC Driver in the WHD Administrator Guide for instructions.

Discovery connector requirements

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

Discovery Connector Supported Versions
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager (NCM)

NCM 7.5

NCM 2019.4
SolarWinds Network Performance Manager (NPM)

NPM 12.0

NPM 2019.4
SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor (SAM)

SAM 6.2

SAM 6.2.3

SAM 6.4.2

SAM 2019.4
Absolute Manage (HEAT LANrev)

Absolute Manager 7.3 (build 5642)
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 servers for WHD.

Product Version
Apache Tomcat 9.0.68

SolarWinds product integration requirements

The following table lists the SolarWinds products that can integrate with WHD.

To minimize port conflicts, install WHD and Dameware on separate servers. See this KB article for details.

Supported Product Version

SolarWinds Platform

2017.1 and later

SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor (NPM)

NPM 12.0.4

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor (SAM)

SAM 6.5

SolarWinds Network Configuration Monitor (NCM)

NCM 7.5

Dameware Mini Remote Control (MRC)

Dameware MRC 12.0.3

LDAP requirements

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

Product Supported versions
Microsoft Active Directory

Active Directory 2012

Active Directory 2012 R2
Open Directory

Open Directory 4
OpenLDAP

OpenLDAP 2.4

OpenLDAP 2.4.42

Mail server requirements

The following table lists the supported mail server, versions, and protocols for WHD.

Product Supported versions Supported Protocols
Microsoft Exchange Server

Exchange Server 2010

Exchange Server 2013 CU7

Exchange Server 2016

Microsoft 365 (previously called Office 365

IMAP

POP3

SMTP

Web Help Desk Mobile requirements

The following table lists the supported client operating systems for the SolarWinds mobile admin software available on the Apple iTunes website located at:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/web-help-desk-mobile/id385247187?mt=8

Software

Platform Supported operating systems
Apple

iOS 10

iOS 11

Supported protocols

  • IMAP
  • POP3
  • SMTP