The RCCMD Web Interface

This article contains the following:

The Welcome Screen

Check system state

Connections

Heartbeats

Notification Settings

User Settings

Help

The Welcome Screen

After installation, log in via the web interface and start with the configuration of RCCMD. The user’s name is predefined by system and cannot be changed:

• All configured actions are administrative interventions in a running operating system.

Available password options

• If you did not assign a password during installation:

  In this case, use the default password RCCMD.

   

• If you assigned your own password during installation:

  Use the password that you assigned.

Note:

On initial setup, the system status is by default "not running".

In this system state, RCCMD will neither receive nor be able to convert valid signals. This is an intentional state because with the initial default start-up configuration state, any valid RCCMD shutdown signal will be executed accordingly.

Check system state

After logging in, you will be redirected to the current system status page. From here, RCCMD can be basically actively switched ON / OFF:

Start

Starts the RCCMD service. The configuration changes will be armed. As soon as RCCMD is active, incoming RCCMD signals will be logged and executed.

Stop

This function stops the RCCMD service. The incoming signals are not monitored and RCCMD will neither log nor trigger incoming RCCMD signals.

Restart

The restart stops the RCCMD service and then starts it again. This function combines the other two functions and can be used to initialize a configuration on the fly.

Note:

Why do I need an RCCMD „Restart “?

In some cases, RCCMD has to read configuration files and take them to the active configuration during initialization. However, this can only be done during a restart - the complete server does not have to be restarted for this, it is sufficient if RCCMD exits briefly and then restarts itself. If this is necessary when changing configurations, RCCMD will automatically inform you via a pop-up window.

Logfiles

Once RCCMD is active, it will log all incoming traffic and actions.

The log file holds all system relevant information, including

• Date and timestamp
• Sender address
• Requested action or function
• Execution status

With these files, RCCMD provides options for analyzes of the path of an RCCMD signal.

Connections

Within larger installations, it may happen that some senders are not necessarily allowed to shut down a specific RCCMD managed server. A typical example would be an SQL database that is only shut down when all connections have been closed properly, or special backup servers or domain controllers that have to shut down last and start first. There are also many scenarios in which an RCCMD client is only allowed to implement a signal from certain sources and must refuse execution in any other case.

Note: 

Within the RCCMD configuration, this setting is necessary if you want to unlock and define redundancy behavior: As soon as two or more UPS systems are present, the corresponding transmitters must be defined within this menu.

RCCMD UDP Broadcast Support

As soon as a CS141 sends information about a job over the network and no IP address is used, the message will be carried out via unidirectional UDP. These jobs can be identified by the fact that no IP address is defined within the CS141 job configuration dialogue at "Parameters", or simply the option "broadcast" is available.

However, an RCCMD client will ignore these broadcast messages until this feature is explicitly enabled. Keep in mind that UDP data packages are not ensured by handshakes as known with TCP by design – if broadcast messages are not in use, disable this feature to reduce the risk of IP spoofing.

RCCMD Message windows

In some cases, it is necessary to restart RCCMD briefly as a service. This can be done under System Status within the configuration interface.

If this step is necessary, RCCMD will inform you directly when accepting the data:

Never show again

This window is no longer displayed until you have closed the web browser and opened it again. You can therefore carry out all the configurations and then restart RCCMD.

OK

The critical RCCMD service generally waits for your instruction. This button is the general read confirmation. It will re-appear in case of any system critical changes are saved. RCCMD will only restart itself in exceptional situations if it is absolutely necessary for a configuration step.

Heartbeats

Under circumstances, the connection between RCCMD and CS141 can break down. This happens, for example, if a switch is forgotten during a power failure and simply does not work during the power loss. In this case, the CS141 would send a valid shutdown signal, but it would never reach its destination.

Another scenario would be a defective switch or router:

Since RCCMD is a pure receive program that reacts to the input of signals, it cannot know whether the connection is generally switched correctly. With Heartbeats, RCCMD will be able to interact with any IP address that is configured at Connections:

UPSMAN Traps

In this case, an RCCMD server sends an unsolicited trap message to the RCCMD client. The receipt of this message is logged accordingly.

By Polling

The RCCMD client cyclically requests a message from the RCCMD server and logs the availability of the remote station. If this connection is not possible, the process can be repeated freely definable often.

When the alive check fails, then RCCMD will use the following setting

This script is a standard file which can be freely edited. RCCMD does not give you any specifications as to what should or can be achieved with this script. Feel free to edit it as needed.

Note: Heartbeats and Redundancy

Redundancy and heartbeats are directly dependent on each other: RCCMD needs to know which devices to check. The list of devices to be checked is taken from the list entered at Connections. The heartbeat settings trigger RCCMD to run an active alive check in case of a power fail or an incoming shutdown signal for other reasons. 

Notification Settings

These batch files control the internal configuration of your RCCMD installation and determine which executable jobs as well as additional custom scripts. Via the built-in editor, they can be extended to implement additional functions and can even control complex script sequences.

Please note: These files are very sensitive!

1. The modification of the pre-set batch files is at your own risk. By changing the parameters and extending these files, you will change the basic behavior of the RCCMD client.
2. Make a backup copy of the original file before modifying!
3. Do not rename the files - RCCMD will not be able to find them.

At this point, RCCMD uses different groups of commands that can be received. Depending on which command you send from a valid RCCMD transmitter to this client, one of these three scripts is started first.

Message Notification

This is the script that controls the RCCMD Alarm Box, which gives you this beautiful window of notices on the screen. As soon as you receive messages from a CS141, this file is called.

Execute Notification

This script accepts RCCMD commands when commands are to be executed that start programmes or scripts.

Note These are the initial scripts within RCCMD! As soon as you send a "Custom Command", e.g., to start the batch file HalloWorld.bat, the "Execution Notification" organizes to run the according file - Whatever is added by user will be generally executed on calling and cannot be restricted to certain "jobs". 

User Settings:

Unlike the CS141, RCCMD only contains a pre-defined and hard-coded user. The password can be adjusted at any time to fit the password policies of any company:

Help

The Help section offers you two sub-items that provide further information:

Documentation and User Manual

Manual
The user manual that was current at the time your RCCMD version was released is stored locally on your RCCMD client. This allows direct access to the manual in case your installation is located in a specially protected area where no internet connection is available.

Online Documentation
This weblink leads to the Generex download portal, the manufacturer of this software. Here you will find the latest available system documentation as well as numerous additional resources.

Info Box

Each RCCMD license includes a two-year update entitlement. After this period, the licenses do not lose their general validity; however, when using a newer software version of RCCMD, you will notice that the license key can no longer be entered.
You can easily check whether your license is still eligible for updates via the Info Box:

The numbers are broken down as follows:
1.19 – The program version
.12 – The OEM version with which you purchased this RCCMD license
190604 – When read backward, the build date: June 04, 2019

According to this screenshot, the version shown has the following data:
It is program version 4.19 from OEM 12 – GENEREX with the build date June 04, 2019, and is eligible for updates until June 04, 2021.