1. Follow the procedures in the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide to install the software on your WHD server.

2. Check for any available hotfixes and install as required.

   1. Open a web browser.

   2. Go to WHD Hotfixes located on the SolarWinds Support website.

   3. Locate your WHD version.

      If a hotfix is not available, the installation is completed.

      If a hotfix is available, click the Hotfix 1 link and follow the steps in the hotfix release notes to download and install the hotfix on your WHD server.

   4. Install any remaining hotfixes in descending order (if available). For example, after you install Hotfix 1, install Hotfix 2.

1. Go to WHD Hotfixes located on the SolarWinds Support website.

2. Locate your WHD version.

   If a hotfix is not available for your version, you are finished.

   If hotfix 1 is available for your version, click the Hotfix 1 link for your version and follow the steps in the release notes to download and install the hotfix on your WHD server.

3. Install any remaining hotfixes in descending order (if available). For example, after you install Hotfix 1, install Hotfix 2.

1. Determine the upgrade path from your version to the latest version.

   For example, if you are upgrading from WHD 12.7.7 or 12.7.8 to 12.7.10, no prerequisite version is required. If you are upgrading from WHD 12.7.5 or 12.7.6 to 12.7.10, upgrade to WHD 12.7.7 first. When you are finished, upgrade to WHD 12.7.10.

   

2. If a prerequisite version is not required, see Upgrade WHD in the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide for instructions on upgrading to the latest version.

   If a prerequisite version is required, click the version link and follow the upgrade directions for the selected version. Install each prerequisite version based on the upgrade path. For example, if you are upgrading from WHD 12.7.5 or 12.7.6 to 12.7.10, upgrade to WHD 12.7.7 first. When you are finished, see Upgrade WHD for instructions on upgrading to version 12.7.10.

   

   For a successful upgrade, be sure to follow all upgrade procedures. These procedures include preparing your environment for the upgrade and reviewing any upgrade gotchas.

3. Go to WHD Hotfixes located on the SolarWinds Support website.

4. Locate your WHD version.

   If a hotfix is not available for your upgraded version, the upgrade is completed.

   If a hotfix is available for your upgraded version, click the Hotfix 1 link and follow the steps in the hotfix release notes to download and install the hotfix on your WHD server.

   Each WHD version includes all available hotfixes from the previous version.

5. Install any remaining hotfixes in ascending order (if available). For example, after you install Hotfix 1, install Hotfix 2.

See Migrate WHD to a new server for instructions.

See Activate the license for instructions.

See Set up your email accounts for instructions.

See this KB article located on the SolarWinds Support website for more information.

Your Microsoft 365 Open Authorization (OAuth) token expired and needs to be renewed. See How to renew an expired Office 365 token in WHD located on the SolarWinds Support website for instructions on how to renew the OAuth token.

Your email credentials may be incorrect. Perform the following steps: 

1. Update your email password. Another user may have changed the password, or the password expired.

2. If you are running Microsoft 365, ensure that multi-factor authorization (MFA) is disabled.

3. Ensure that you are using the correct mail servers for your incoming and outgoing email accounts. See Set up your email accounts for instructions.

This error message displays in the WHD Administrator Console for systems running WHD 12.7.6 or earlier.

This error occurs when you update a ticket, and then click Save and Email to send a ticket email notification to your clients and techs. The outgoing mail server requires Transport Layer Security 1.2 (TLS 1.2), which is included in WHD 12.7.6 Hotfix 1 and later.

To resolve this issue:

1. Download WHD 12.7.6 Hotfix 1 from the SolarWinds Customer Portal and install the software on your WHD server. This version include TLS 1.2. See the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide for upgrade instructions.

   If you decide to upgrade to the latest version, see Determine the upgrade path to the latest WHD version located in the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide for guidance.

2. Update the Advanced email Properties in the WHD Administrator Console. See this KB article located on the SolarWinds Support website for instructions.

See LDAP fails to connect when initiating a connection located on the SolarWinds Support website for instructions.

See WHD 12.7 and later: Unable to connect to LDAP on a secure LDAPS port located on the SolarWinds Support website for instructions.

See An error occurred attempting to authenticate with LDAP Connection and getting a connection refused in the Web Help Desk located on the SolarWinds Support website for instructions.

See Create a ticket for instructions.

See Update and resolve tickets for instructions.

Modify or archive the request type.

Modify a request type to hide a request type from your clients. Only techs can view the request type.

1. Log in to WHD as an administrator.

2. Click Setup > Tickets > Request Types.

3. In the Request Types column, click the request type that you want to hide from clients.

4. Deselect the Visible to clients checkbox.

5. Click Save.

Archive a request type when a request type is no longer in use. This option allows you to retain all reporting and search functionality on the request type. It also prevent techs and clients from viewing and selecting the request type in a ticket. See Archive a request type for instructions.

A checklist helps a tech assigned to several tickets ensure that all tasks in a ticket are completed before the ticket is closed. It also ensures that all necessary steps are documented for governance purposes. See Create a ticket checklist for instructions.

See Create and edit reports for instructions.

See How to merge duplicate tickets located on the SolarWinds Support website for instructions.

See Link child tickets to parent tickets for instructions.

See Start and stop Web Help Desk Services for instructions.

The Linux server hard drive may not have enough available disk space to start these services.

To resolve this issue, allocate additional disk space on your WHD server hard drive. See Web Help Desk or PostgreSQL does not start because the Linux server disk space is full located on the SolarWinds Support website for instructions.

After you install a new SSL certificate on a WHD server running Windows Server, the following message displays:

ERROR MESSAGE: Connection refused. This page cannot be displayed.

WHD will not open due to one of the following issues:

• The Java Keystore (JKS) file contains certificate information. If the keystore.jks file was not installed in the default location located at C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\conf, WHD cannot locate the SSL certificate and generates an error.

• The keypair alias is not named tomcat.

• The keypair and keystore password does not match the password stored in the whd.conf file.

To resolve this issue:

1. Verify that the whd.conf file includes the correct path to the JKS file.

2. Import the new certificate using Portecle. This procedure will correct the keypair alias and match the keypair password for a Windows installation.

See Unable to access WHD after applying new SSL certificate located on the SolarWinds Support website for instructions.

See Submit a WHD feature request located on the SolarWinds Support website for instructions.

See Performance Tuning in Web Help Desk to fix slow performance. This KB article describes various activities and configurations that may cause slow application performance.

This issue occurs after you configure WHD to run on HTTP port 80 instead of HTTPS port 8081. To resolve this issue, perform the following steps on the WHD server: 

1. Verify that no other application is using the port. Run one of the following commands based on the port number (port 80 or 443) to check for the listening application:

   netstat -an | findstr 80

   netstat -an | findstr 443 

   You may need check for different ports accordingly.

2. Verify that Microsoft Internet information Services (IIS) is not running. If IIS is still running, disable the website running on port 80.

3. Verify that Microsoft SQL Server is not running on the server. If SQL Server is running on the server, verify that SQL Server Reporting is NOT enabled.

4. Verify that the BranchCache service is not running. If it is not being used, uninstall it.

5. Check the Windows Firewall settings. Ensure that TCP Port 80 is open.

6. Verify that Web Help Desk was not started twice. Having multiple processes accessing the same port can generate a 404 error.

See the following resources to learn more about SolarWinds and how to get the most from WHD and other SolarWinds products:

• New to SolarWinds Products

• Virtual Classroom Office Hours

• On-demand Classes

• SolarWinds Smart Start Onboarding Program

1. Go to the SolarWinds Resources website.

2. In the Filter menu, maximize Category/Product > IT Service Management.

3. Select the Web Help Desk checkbox.

   All available training videos display in the right column.