GroupPack
Installation Procedure & User's Guide

 

Introduction

Welcome to the GroupPack Installation Procedure & User’s guide. This guide is intended to assist System Administrators with the installation, configuration and operation of the GroupPack on their local network. GroupPack is the server-side component of Interface Dynamics modular communication framework, WuWu. With GroupPack you can establish a custom set of groups on your company’s network. This allows you to totally customize the groups and people who have access to this system, while remaining safely behind your company’s firewall. Groups can be arranged in any way you choose and can be customized to fit your business needs. They can be department-based, project-based, location-based, client-based, or any other scheme you see fit.


Components

GroupPack consists of 3 major components, ParrotNODE, Group Name Service (GNS) and RelayService.

ParrotNODE
ParotNODE is the primary component on which the system operates. It provides the basis for the presence exchange and discovery systems. This component is largely based on the ParrotNET Development Organization’s specification for the ParrotNET protocols. For more information about ParrotNET please visit the ParrotNET Development Organization’s web site at: http://www.parrotnet.org.

Group Name Service (GNS)
The GNS is the component that is responsible for tracking and maintaining the active list of groups on the ParrotNET. It is also the mechanism that supplies users with the names of these groups. It is possible to pre-supply the GNS with a list of group names, which gives you the ability to impose a hierarchical structure into your group-naming scheme.

RelayService
RelayService provides an external reference of IP addresses. This is used primarily for detection and negotiation of firewalls.

 

Installation / Deployment

Minimum hardware specifications
Operating system: Windows NT 4.0 or higher, Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional or higher.
Processor: Pentium 133mhz or higher
Memory: 32MB
Free Disk Space: 8MB
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 or higher

Installing GroupPack
The latest version of GroupPack can be obtained from our web site at:
http://www.interfacedynamics.com/Download/

  1. Run setup program.
  2. When the GroupPack Setup Welcome screen appears, read the information and click Next.
  3. Follow the instructions on each screen clicking next to continue. If you install your new software into the GroupPack folder that contains an older version of the software, the older version will be overwritten.
  4. When you see the prompt telling you that installation is complete, click Finish.

After the computer re-starts, the GroupPack Service will start automatically.

Configuring GroupPack
GroupPack can be customized to operate in different ways and on specific ports if you so desire. However, most users will not need to change any of the settings. GroupPack will run using default options unless custom values have been specified in the GroupPack.ini file. Detailed information on the GroupPack configuration file can be found below under “Creating a custom GroupPack configuration”.

Deploying WuWu for use with GroupPack
The latest version of WuWu can be obtained from our web site at:
http://www.interfacedynamics.com/Download/

Each Workstation that will be running WuWu on the internal network must be configured to connect to your GroupPack instead of a public system. You will need to know the IP address or a Resolvable Machine Name of the machine that is running GroupPack. This is necessary because the machines on the internal network must be told to connect to your GroupPack machine instead of the public default. You may also wish to define custom ports on which the system will operate. It is recommended that you use the default ports. Once you have all this information you are ready to prepare your setup.ini file. For your convenience we have provided you with an example setup file. It may be viewed by clicking on the icon under Start / Program Files / GroupPack / ExampleWuWuInstallSettings.ini. Once you have prepared your custom Setup.ini file, you must pass the setup program the name of this special configuration information so that WuWu may use these settings. This can be accomplished by using the command-line switch /M=setup.ini.

  1. Obtain the GroupPack Machine’s IP address or Resolvable Machine Name.
  2. Enter the above information into the Setup.ini file using ExampleWuWuInstallSettings.ini as a basis.
  3. Save this file to a known location. Note: It is recommended that you store this setup file and a copy of the WuWu setup program on a shared network drive so that it may be easily reached by all machines on the network.
  4. On each workstation in your network, run the WuWu setup program with the /M switch pointing to the file you have just created. example: WuWu_093.exe /M=F:\setup.ini
  5. When the WuWu Setup Welcome screen appears, read the information and click Next.
  6. Follow the instructions on each screen clicking next to continue. If you install your new software into the WuWu folder that contains an older version of the software, the older version will be overwritten.
  7. When you see the prompt telling you that installation is complete, click Finish.
  8. WuWu will then start on the workstation and automatically connect to your internal GroupPack.

Starting, Stopping and Restarting the GroupPack Service
To Start, Stop and Restart the GroupPack Service, you must go into Windows Service Control Manager. Once inside the Service Control Manager, select GroupPack out of the list of services and click on one of the tool bar buttons to perform the desired action.

Entering the Windows Control Manager from Windows 2000 / Windows XP:

  1. From the Start Button click Settings and then Control Panel.
  2. Once the Control Panel opens, double click Administrative Tools.
  3. When Administrative Tools opens double click Services. This will open the Service Control Manager.
  4. You may now select the service you wish to change.

Entering the Windows Control Manager from Windows NT 4.0:

  1. From the Start Button click Settings and then Control Panel.
  2. Once the Control Panel opens, double click Services. This will open the Service Control Manager.
  3. You may now select the service you wish to change.

Creating custom GroupPack configuration
The following is an in-depth look at the settings used to customize GroupPack for your network.

The GroupPack.ini file:
After installation, the GroupPack.ini file will be located in the directory that was chosen by you. There is an icon under Start / Program Files / GroupPack /GroupPack.ini that will open this ini file for editing. All lines in the ini file consist of either field value pairs, comments or blank lines (white space). Lines that are field value pairs should first list the field name followed immediately by an equals sign (=) and then immediately followed by the value. No more than one field value pair should appear on a single line and there should be no white space between the field, the equal sign, and the value. Comments are made in the file by placing a pound sign (#) at the beginning of the line. Any text on a commented line is ignored. For your convenience, the GroupPack.ini file that was loaded at installation contains all the possible fields along with a brief explanation of each. All of these lines have been commented out and need only be uncommented to be made active. Please note that after editing the ini file you must restart the GroupPack Service under Start / Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services. The following are the actual settings and their explanations.

Network: (Only on GroupPack 0.92 and higher)
Network is the Name of the Network that your GroupPack is participating in. Simple use a non-spaced personalized netwrok identificationname here..
example: Network=MyCompanyNetworkName

Group Name Service (GNS)
GroupNames:
GroupNames points to a fully pathed text file containing names of Groups you always want returned in the user's available groups. In the file there should only be one Group name per line.
Default = No File
example: GroupNames=C:\GroupList.txt

StoreGroups: (Only on GroupPack 0.92 and higher)
Stores the acitve Group information back into the GroupNames file once every number of hours specified.
Default = 0
example: StoreGroups=12

GNSFilter:
GNSFilter points to a fully pathed text file containing IP addresses that you want to refuse service to. These IP addresses can either be single addresses (65.32.1.15) or entire subnets (65.32.0.0/255.255.0.0). In the file there should only be one IP entry per line.
Default = No File
example: GNSFilter=C:\BlackList.txt

GNSDenyAll:
GNSDenyAll denies access to ALL connection attempts from IP addresses that are NOT listed in the filter file. This is the opposite of the default in which NO connections are denied except those that ARE listed in the filter file.
Default = 0
example: GNSDenyAll=1

GNSPort:
GNSPort defines the TCP port that the GNS will listen on.
Default = 28881
example: GNSPort=2889

GNS2Port: (Only on GroupPack 0.92 and higher)
GNS2Port defines the TCP port that the GNS2 will listen on.
Default = 28883
example: GNSPort=2991

 

Parrot NODE Service
ParrotFilter:
ParrotFilter points to a fully pathed text file containing IP addresses that you want to refuse service to. These IP addresses can either be single addresses (65.32.1.15) or entire subnets (65.32.0.0/255.255.0.0). In the file there should only be one IP entry per line.
Default = No File
example: ParrotFilter=C:\BlackList.txt

ParrotDenyAll:
ParrotDenyAll denies access to ALL connection attempts from IP addresses that are NOT listed in the filter file. This is the opposite of the default in which NO connections are denied except those that ARE listed in the filter file.
Default = 0
example: ParrotDenyAll=1

ParrotPort:
ParrotPort defines the TCP port that the ParrotNODE will listen on.
Default = 28880
example: ParrotPort=2887

 

Relay Service
RelayPort:
RelayPort defines the TCP port that the Relay will listen on.
Default = 28882
example: RelayPort=2990

RelayIP:
RelayIP is the Public IP Address that the Relay will return if a user is on the private network. This is used if you wish to enable Port Forwarding from your corporate firewall to allow users to also communicate with the outside world over WuWu.
Default = None
example: RelayIP=65.32.1.15

 

Copyright © 2002 Interface Dynamics, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
WuWu, his Likeness, GroupPack, the GroupPack Logo, and the Interface Dynamics Logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Interface Dynamics, Inc.
Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.