Documentation forWeb Help Desk

Prepare for the installation

Before you install WHD, complete the pre-installation checklist below. This checklist helps you:

  • Verify that system requirements are met, all required software is installed, and required roles and features are enabled.
  • Gather the information required to complete the installation.

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.

Review the release notes Review the WHD release notes located on the Success Center.
Review the system requirements

Make sure your environment meets the hardware, software, and database requirements for the installation.

(Optional) Review the system requirements and procedures for a FIPS installation If you plan to enable Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS 140-2) cryptography in your deployment, see Enable FIPS 140-2 compliant cryptography in the WHD Administrator Guide for additional requirements and procedures.
Notify your company Send a message to your company about the installation schedule and maintenance window. If you need additional help, contact and allocate staff to be available.
Create a standard access account
(if required)

If you are new to SolarWinds, create a standard access account on the Customer Portal.

  1. Locate the SolarWinds Customer ID (SWID) issued to your company. If you are a new SolarWinds customer but do not have a SWID, contact SolarWinds Customer Support.
  2. Open a Web browser and go to customerportal.solarwinds.com.
  3. Click Register.
  4. Enter your email address and SWID.
  5. Click Register.

    The account administrator will review the request. When it is approved, you will receive an email with further directions.

  6. Follow the directions in the email to access the Customer Portal.
If you are the administrator for your account, you can access the company profile settings screen and view users who have access to the Customer Portal for your company. You can add users, assign roles and contact types and review other information related to your account.
Check for anti-virus software

Determine if any antivirus software is installed on the server(s) where you plan to install the application. To ensure the installation goes smoothly, exclude the SolarWinds directory.

For example, on Windows Server 2012 R2, exclude C:\ProgramData\SolarWinds\.

Do not exclude executable files. SolarWinds assumes that C:\ is the default volume.

Gather WHD credentials

Make sure you have all account credentials, SQL Server database credentials, your SolarWinds account, and local admin server credentials.

Use the Local Administrator account to install WHD.

The Local Administrator account is not identical to a domain account with local admin rights. A domain account is subject to your domain group policies.

To download SolarWinds products and licenses, obtain a SolarWinds Customer Portal account.

Set up the database server

(External database only)

If you plan to configure WHD with an external MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server database, ensure that the database server:

  • Meets the database hardware requirements.

  • Is running a supported external database.

  • Can communicate with the Web Help Desk server in your Enterprise network.

See the System Requirements for more information.

Verify the server collation setting

(SQL Server database only)

If you are installing WHD for the first time, verify that the server collation in your SQL Server database is set to case insensitive. If the server collation is set to case sensitive, open SQL Server Management Studio and create a new SQL Server database with the server collation set to case insensitive.

See Prepare the WHD database for details.

Gather SolarWinds Platformcredentials

(SolarWinds Platform integration deployment only)

Obtain sysadmin rights to the SolarWinds server and any additional servers, including High Availability (HA) server pairs, Additional Polling Engines, and Additional Web Server.

Required: Check the footer in the SolarWinds Web Console and verify that the SolarWinds Platform is running version 2016.1 or 2017.1 and later. WHD requires either version to integrate SolarWinds alerts into trouble tickets.

Open ports according to requirements For the firewall and server ports, open the required ports based on the port requirements. SolarWinds uses these ports to send and receive data.
Schedule the installation

Set up the maintenance window, preferably during off-peak hours. Depending on the number of products, size of databases, and size of environment, you may need additional time to complete the installation.

Installations in an existing SolarWinds Platform environment require polling engines and SolarWinds services to be offline for a length of time. This may cause you to lose a portion of polling data.

Prepare the product license

Review the current product license and determine if you need to make any changes. You can download updated license keys through the Customer Portal.

If you need to modify your licenses, contact your SolarWinds account manager or SolarWinds Customer Sales.