General

Installation / Upgrade / Uninstall

Connectivity

MobiControl Device Agent

A1. I installed the device agent on my device but it is not showing up in the device tree. How can I make it appear?
A2. How can I make sure that the clocks on my mobile devices have the proper time?
A3. Why is the MobiControl device agent changing the server host name/IP address information that I am configuring on the device?
A4. Can I use MobiControl to manage my Windows based computers, laptops, tablet pcs? If so, how can I create the agent?
A5. How do I remove the MobiControl agent from a PC running Windows 2000/XP/Vista?

Remote Control

R1. What settings should I use to remotely manage and also to establish remote control sessions to devices over cellular (e.g. GPRS) or Dialup connections?
R2. How can I use MobiControl to manage and/or remote control devices whose IP address is not reachable or not public (i.e. external or private addresses) as is often the case for GPRS connections?
R3. I need to remote control a device that is in the sleep /standby / powered off mode and is currently "offline". How can I wake up the device and force it to connect to MobiControl?
R4. Why do I get a Rapi initialization timeout error when I try to remote control my mobile device?

Skins

SK1. How do I use skins?

Security

S1. How do I put pictures into my lockdown menu?
S2. I don't trust all my support personnel equally, how can I restrict what a user of the MobiControl management console can do?

Package Creation / Deployment

PD1. How do I deploy registry settings?
PD2. Do I need a second Deployment Server?
PD3. I am running my application on all my devices. From time to time I have to update some settings in my applications INI file. I don't want to send the entire INI file each time, is there a better way?
PD4. I need to create a script that I will use in the package I deploy to my devices. Is there a way to test the script before I deploy it to my devices?
PD5. Does MobiControl support a fault tolerance deployment server?

Data Collection

DC1. What do I do when the device has gone through 3 update schedules, and there is still no data being collected?
DC2. I am trying to run a report, such as Battery Status Graphs, and I am not getting any data. What do I do?

Location Services

L1. When I right-click on a device and select 'Locate' or 'Track' I get a blank white window in the location tab. What do I do?
L2. I am trying to locate my devices and the request times out. What do I do?
L3. Why am I unable to view the Tracking History of my GPS enabled devices?

Scripts

SC1. Are there any API's available so that I can call and execute a MobiControl script from a custom application?

Database

D1. What are recommendations for doing backups?
D2. Can I use the third party reporting tool to generate my own custom reports?

General

MobiControl System Requirements:

1. Manager (Management Console)
2. Deployment Server
3. MS SQL Database
4. Device Agent

The following image shows a typical installation configuration. The Manager is installed on the workstations of the system administrator or support personnel, and the Deployment Server(s) and MobiControl database are installed on one or more servers.

The MobiControl Manager is a Windows application, and runs on any desktop on any desktop/notebook PC that is capable of running Microsoft Windows 2000 or later.

• A standard license places no restriction on the number of MobiControl Managers that can be installed. This allows each member of a support team to run the management console on their own desktop/notebook at no additional cost.
• Installation of the Manager on the same host that is running the Deployment Server is fully supported, but not required. You can run the Manager on any host that has network access to the Deployment Server. This gives you the convenience of managing the system, including the Deployment Server settings from a desktop/laptop host.
• When using Location Services in MobiControl to track devices, Internet Explorer 7 or higher is required.

The MobiControl Deployment Server is a Windows Service. Like the Manager, it can run on any desktop/notebook PC or server that is capable of running Microsoft Windows 2000 or later. In a production environment however, it is intended to be run on a server class host computer (i.e. Dell, HP, IBM, etc.) to ensure maximum performance and availability.

Only one Deployment Server is required in an installation. Some implementations may choose to utilize two or more Deployment servers for any of these reasons:

• Fault Tolerance
  If one server is down (e.g. for maintenance), the system can continue in a fully operational state.
  
• Scalability
  The load of a large number of devices can be shared by multiple deployment servers.
  
• Physical Location/Network topology
  For network topologies where device sites have a low speed connection to the database, it may be advantageous to locate a Deployment Server at the site. This allows an update to be retrieved from the database once by Deployment Server and then distributed to all connected devices.

MobiControl utilizes Microsoft SQL as its database server. MobiControl comes bundled with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express edition. Typically this database is adequate for device deployments ranging from 1 to 1000 devices. Beyond 1000 devices use of Microsoft SQL Server 2005/2008 is recommended as it contains numerous scalability/performance improvements.

As with the Deployment Server, the Database Server can run on any desktop/notebook PC or server that is capable of running Microsoft Windows XP or later. In a production environment however, it is intended to be run on a server class host computer (i.e. Dell, HP, IBM, etc.) to ensure maximum performance and availability.

• The Database and the Deployment Servers may be installed on the same host server depending on the number of devices and the performance of the host server.
  
• The database Server may be shared with other network resources, for example taking advantage of an existing SQL server. Considerations must be made however to ensure it is capable of the performance required to meet the need of each database it is hosting.
  
• The size of the database is dependent on the amount of historical log information that you wish to retain and the frequency with which the MobiControl system is being utilized for package deployment. The disk space recommendations leave plenty of room for growth.
  
• SQL Server Express 2005 SP1 is NOT recommended for Windows Vista and Windows 7.
  
• SQL Server Express 2005 SP2 is supported by Windows Vista and is NOT recommended for Windows 7. (This version is shipped with MobiControl V6.03 and below)
  
• SQL Server Express 2005 SP3 is supported by Windows Vista and Windows 7. (This version is shipped with MobiControl V7.00 and later)
  

The MobiControl device agent is a software program that is installed on each device managed by MobiControl.

Yes. You can use MobiControl on a Windows Vista computer. If you are connecting your device via USB to your computer you would need to download and install the Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center on your computer first. Please visit Microsoft's website to download Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center.

In the MobiControl Manager, from the menu bar click on Help > About MobiControl Manager to view the version and build information. Also listed in this window is the licensing information displaying the number of servers and devices licensed and how many devices are in currently used within your license.

MobiControl has several settings that allow you to optimize the device agent behavior to minimize battery drain.

1. Device Connection Sensitivity: (Right click on the Deployment Server under the Deployment Servers Tab and select "Deployment Server Properties"). You can set the "Send Test Message to Devices" to a higher interval to reduce the communication between the device and the server. This will increase the time it takes for the server to recognize a device as online/offline.

2. Device Retry Interval: (Right click on the device and select "Configure Device" and then "Advanced Settings". Set the Device Retry Interval to a higher number. The lower the number, the more aggressively the device agent tries to connect to the Deployment Server. For e.g. if it is set to 300 seconds, when the device is offline, it will try to connect to the DS every 5 minutes.

3. Device Update Schedule / File Sync Schedule: You can increase the time interval after which the device checks the server for updates / packages / file synchronization (when it is online and connected to the server). For Device Update Schedule, right click on the device, select "Configure Device" and then "Update Schedule". Typically, in a test environment, the update schedule is set to a shorter interval to quickly see the results of test packages, etc. In a production environment, the devices may not need to download updates for hours/days. Similarly, the File Synchronization schedule can be changed by editing the File Sync Rule under the Rules Tab.

4. Connection Mode: (Right click on the device and select "Configure Device" and then "Advanced Settings"). By default, the MobiControl device agent runs in the Persistent mode in which the device agent tries to maintain its connection to the Deployment Server whenever a data network is available. You may maximize battery life by changing the connection mode to "Scheduled" or "Manual" (depending on your environment), so the device agent only connects to the server within a limited time window (to download updates, synchronize files, or for support, etc.). Adjusting the connection mode would achieve the highest battery consumption efficiency.

We recommend that you do a backup as often as possible. If you are running MobiControl v2.06 or earlier, you need to backup your File Store and your Database. If you are using MobiControl v3.00 or later, you only need to backup your Database. To backup your File Store simply use the Microsoft File Explorer to copy the contents of the File Store to a backup folder. To backup your Database, if you are using the lightweight Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) you may need to purchase a third party tool to backup your database. If you are running the full Microsoft SQL Server you can backup your database using the Backup tool provided with Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Manager. Most Database backup tools provide an automated backup system so that your database will be automatically backed up at regular intervals.

The Device Name is considered the 'user-friendly' name for the device. It is not the unique identifier for the device in the MobiControl system (that is the role of the Device ID). It is possible to have more than one device with the same name, although that is not recommended because it will lead to confusion. From the device list, right click on the mobile device icon of which device you want to rename. A menu of device options will appear. Select the Rename Device option and enter your desired name for the mobile device. Note that you can also change the device name from the MobiControl applet in the General tab in the configuration options that runs on the actual device.

You can also have the mobile device have its name based on a custom data value. For more information please see Q3. How do I use 'custom' information to name my mobile devices (e.g. the Device Manufacturer's serial number)? in the Tips and Tricks page within the MobiControl Help.

Installation / Upgrade / Uninstall

During the MobiControl installation, when you get to the Setup Type option, there are two options listed; Full installation and custom installation. Full installation will install all the components of MobiControl including the Deployment Server, but you only want to install the MobiControl Manager only so the Deployment Server is not necessary in this case. The Custom Installation option is used to select the exact components you wish to install on the computer. Click on Custom Installation (Select components to install) and click on Next. In the next dialog, you'll notice three check boxes, check MobiControl Manager and click on Next. The next process is to enter the database data in the Data Link Properties to finish the rest of the installation.

If you haven't obtained your new MobiControl v5.00 Registration Code, you must exchange your current Registration Code by contacting customer support and providing your existing Registration Code followed by the company name and the person whom the product is licensed to.

Click here for recommended upgrade procedures.

You need to ensure that the Device Agents installed on the devices are updated with this information BEFORE you move the Deployment Server. The way to do this would be to add the IP address of the second/new Deployment Server as the 'Secondary External IP Address' in the Deployment Server Properties (please see the attached picture), while keeping the address of the first/old Deployment Server as the Primary External IP Address. Allow the settings to be propagated to the devices. Typically, these settings would be refreshed when a device disconnects and reconnects to the Deployment Server. Once all the devices have the new settings, then disable the old Deployment Server (right click on the Deployment Server and select 'Disable' or 'Shutdown'). Now, when you enable the new Deployment Server on the new server, the devices would be able to connect to the new Deployment Server (after they fail to connect to the old Deployment Server). After all your devices have connected, you can specify the IP of the new Deployment Server as the Primary External.

IE7 is required in order for Location Services to work correctly.

Connectivity

The most common reason why a MobiControl Device Agent cannot connect to a MobiControl Deployment server is because there is a firewall between the device and the Deployment Server that is blocking the connection attempt from the device. By default, MobiControl Device Agents open TCP/IP connections to Deployment Servers on port 5494. If this port is being blocked by an intermediate firewall (i.e. personal firewall or corporate firewall) then the device will not be able to connect to the server.

Personal Firewall: This can happen if you are running a firewall directly on the computer that is running the Deployment Server (i.e. personal firewall). For example, the Windows XP firewall (typically running by default) blocks several TCP/IP ports including port 5494. If you are running a Windows XP or another firewall on a computer that is running a MobiControl Deployment Server, make sure that TCP/IP port 5494 is not being blocked.

Corporate Firewall: If your devices are external from your corporate network and need to go through a corporate firewall to get to MobiControl Deployment Server(s), you will probably need to configure "external IP address(s)" for Deployment Server(s) and then setup firewall rules to map the connections from devices to internal Deployment Server IP addresses. To configure external IP addresses for your Deployment Servers:

• In MobiControl Manager go to the Deployment Server tab, and right click on the Deployment Server icon for a particular server and select properties
• In the Deployment Server Properties dialog, enter the external IP address and port and click on OK.

If you have multiple Deployment Servers, you need to configure a different external address for each server. Once you have configured external addresses, you need to generate new MobiControl Device Agents and install them on your mobile devices. The Device Agents will now use the external addresses to connect to Deployment Servers. To be able to establish remote control sessions to external mobile devices and/or devices whose IP addresses are not public you need to set the MobiControl remote control profile for your devices to 'TCP/IP (SERVER)'. The default remote control connection profile setting is 'TCP(IP)' you need to change it to TCP/IP(SERVER) in this case. You can set the default remote control connection profile when creating Device Configuration Rules or by right clicking on a device group or device in the MobiControl Manager device tree and selecting the Configure Device(s) menu option.

Note: MobiControl Deployment Servers always listen for connections on TCP/IP port 5494, this "internal" port is currently fixed. The Deployment Server properties dialog in MobiControl Manager allows you to change both the external IP address and the external port for deployment servers. If you do assign external IP addresses and ports for your servers, you must create a firewall/proxy server rule to map the external address to the internal IP address and port (i.e. 5494) of your deployment server computers. For example if you have configured a Deployment Server as follows:

Deployment Server External IP:Port = 209.151.100.111:2000
Deployment Server Internal IP:Port = 192.168.1.11:5494

You will need to configure a firewall rule to map the external TCP/IP address 209.151.100.111:2000 to the internal TCP/IP address 192.168.1.11:5494 of the Deployment Server computer.

To test if the MobiControl Device Agent that is installed on a device can connect to a MobiControl Deployment Server:

1. Click on the MobiControl icon in the system tray of the device (i.e. Bottom right hand corner of the home screen)
2. From the displayed menu, select the Configure menu item
3. In the Configuration tool, select the Sync tab
4. In the Deployment Server(s) section of the Sync tab select the address of a server (i.e. tap on the address) and then click on the Test button. A dialog will be displayed that shows the status of the connection test as it proceeds.

Note: If you have multiple Deployment Servers configured you can repeat the above test for each Deployment Server in the list.

You can set Device Connection Sensitivity 'Send Test Message to Devices Every' value to 60 seconds in Deployment Server tray applet. This setting is used to control how often the Deployment Server is to check connections to devices to see if they are working properly. The Deployment Server does this by sending a test message to the device, when the device receives the test message; it sends the message back to the server. If the server does not receive the test message back within a certain time it will terminate the connection to the device.

Another setting that will help slow connections is reducing the colors sent in images which further reduces the size of the data that needs to be sent on slow networks. You can change the Remote Control connection settings to view the device display in 16-colour grayscale or 4-colour gray-scale instead of the default full-color display. See Question R1 in the Remote Control FAQ for further details.

A Dynamic IP address automatically assigned to a host by a DHCP server is not a problem for MobiControl.

MobiControl Device Agent

Once the MobiControl device agent has been installed on your mobile device, click on the MobiControl Device Agent icon on your mobile device. On the pop-up menu, click on Configure. When the device agent menu comes up, on the General tab, you will see the Status field. If it says disconnected, click on the Connect button to establish a connection with the MobiControl Deployment Server.

If the status shows 'Connected', check MobiControl Manager to see if your mobile device is showing up or not. Once the connection is made, it can take a few minutes for the mobile device to show up in MobiControl Manager.

If the status shows 'disconnected' and nothing happens even after clicking on the connect button, then the mobile device is not being able to connect with the Deployment Server. Click on the Servers tab and verify that the server information is correct. If correct, then select that entry and click on Test. The test should complete successfully and when it does, go back to the General tab and click on Connect. If the deployment server test fails, please verify the deployment server information and also verify that the deployment server is running. If not deployment server information is not correct, please correct the deployment server information.

MobiControl supports two forms of Time Synchronization: Sync Time with MobiControl Deployment Server or Sync with SNTP/NTP Time Server.

Sync Time with MobiControl Deployment Server - When you enable this option the MobiControl device agent will synchronize the device clock with the Deployment Server clock each time it connects to a Deployment Server. To use this option you must enable it the Device Time Synchronization settings for a device (or group of devices). In the Device Tree select the device or the group and select 'Configure Device(s)' from the 'Device' menu and select 'Time Synchronization '.

Device Time Synchronization Settings

Sync with SNTP/NTP Time Server - This option uses the SNTP/NTP time synchronization protocol to synchronize the clock on your mobile devices with a public or private SNTP/NTP time server. You can configure this option using the MobiControl Configuration Applet on the mobile device. The most common problem with this form of time synchronization occurs when there is a personal or corporate firewall between your mobile device(s) and the time server. To correct this problem you need to make sure that connections from your mobile device(s) through UDP port 123 are not being blocked by a firewall. For more information on this topic, please see the Time Synchronization page in the help manual.

SNTP/NTP time synchronization option in the MobiControl Configuration Applet

The device agent is not changing the host name/IP address information on its own. It is the MobiControl Deployment server that is sending what it believes is the correct address information to the device and asking the Device Agent to update its address information.

When a device connects to a server, the server sends the device what it believes to be the addresses of MobiControl Deployment Servers. The MobiControl device agent then stores the server address information it receives and overwrites the previously configured address information. To make changes to host name/IP information stick you need to configure the changes to this information using MobiControl Manager. You can do this as follows:

1) In MobiControl Manager go to the Deployment Servers tab.

2) Right click the icon of the Deployment Server whose address information you want to change and select the Server Properties menu item.

3) On the Server Properties dialog, set the host name/IP address information as needed in the Primary or Secondary External IP Address fields.

4) Click on OK to save the changes. MobiControl Deployment servers will now send the updated information to devices when they connect.

You can use MobiControl to manage your laptops, tablet pcs and even your workstations. You can have the device agent installed on these devices and manage them as you would manage your other mobile devices with MobiControl Manager.

You can create the device agent using the device agent manager as you would for any other mobile device. When you are creating the device agent, please select "Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/XP Embedded (computers/laptops/thin clients)" for the Device Manufacturer (Step #2).

Microsoft Windows based Device Agent

Once this is selected, you will notice that you have now skipped to Step #5 of the device agent manager. The next screen will ask you for various software settings.

Microsoft Windows based Device Agent

Follow the remaining steps and once the device agent has been created, you are now ready to have the device agent pushed out to your computer/laptop/tablet pcs.

In order to uninstall the MobiControl agent from a Windows PC, you'll need to run the Uninstall.bat file which is located by default in the C:\Program Files\SOTI\MobiControl folder or the location you selected the agent to install. Once the Uninstall.bat has been run, it will remove the MobiControl agent from the PC.

Remote Control

Cellular and Dialup connections are typically low bandwidth (i.e. slow) connections. The information in this section applies to low bandwidth connections but also to other forms of connections such as WiFi.

Battery Consumption - Two of the main factors that affect battery consumption on mobile devices are: the device screen and the device radio. Most devices include a control panel applet to adjust screen power consumption. We recommend that you adjust the screen settings to minimize power consumption based on your usage patterns. To limit the amount of power consumed by WiFi and/or cellular radios, you need to minimize the amount of data sent and received by radio(s), the information in this section describes how to minimize the amount of data sent and received by MobiControl device agents.

Carrier Charges - If you are using a cellular connection (e.g. GPRS/EDGE), your carrier may be billing you based on the amount of data that you send or receive through their network. The information provided below describes various MobiControl settings that can be tuned to minimize the data transmitted on cellular networks.

Device to Server Connectivity Settings

Device Connection Sensitivity: MobiControl Deployment servers send test messages (i.e. 32 bytes) to devices periodically and then wait for the device to send the message back. If a deployment server does not receive a test message back within a specified time, it concludes that the connection is not functioning properly, and closes the connection to the device. For slow connections and/or situations where you are being charged based on your amount of data you send through the network (e.g. some cellular plans) we recommend that you set the Deployment Server 'Send Test Message to Devices Every' setting to 300 seconds.

Device Connection Mode: MobiControl provides three connection mode settings that allow you to control the time period during which MobiControl device agents are connected to servers. In order to conserve battery power and/or to reduce cellular data charges you can reduce the time period that devices are connected to server(s). The three connection modes provided are: Persistent, Scheduled and Manual. By default, the MobiControl Device Agents use the 'Persistent' connection mode and try to maintain a connection to a Deployment Server whenever network connectivity exists. The 'Scheduled' connection mode allows a connection to a server to be maintained only within a specified time window (e.g. 9:00am to 5:00pm). Scheduled mode can also be used to take advantage of a cheaper or higher bandwidth network that is only available during specific hours. The 'Manual' connection mode does not maintain a connection to the server. In this case the device user needs to explicitly initiate a connection from the mobile device when required. This mode can be used in situations where connectivity is only required to support users. In this case when an end-user needs support and wants the Helpdesk to remote control the device, he/she can initiate the connection from the device at that time.

Device Update Schedule: The update schedule determines how often server(s) check devices to ensure that they have the required software packages and configuration settings installed. The update schedule is also used to refresh the information shown in the MobiControl Manager Device Info view (i.e. battery/memory indicators, Custom data, etc.). By setting the schedule to be less frequent network traffic and device battery consumption can be reduced. Typically the update schedule should be set for once a day at an off peak hour, or once every two or three days.

File Sync Schedule: A File Sync schedule is used when a File Sync Rule has been configured for synchronizing data files between devices and the server. A File Sync schedule determines how often data files are to be synchronized with mobile devices. The File Sync schedule can be used to control when large files are transferred. File Sync schedule can be configured to take advantage of high-bandwidth WiFi connections and avoiding GPRS data usage during peak hours. It is important to note that even when all files are synchronized, the activity involved in checking to see if files need to be synchronized generates some data traffic. Typically a File Sync schedule should be set to synchronize once a day at an off peak hour, or once every two or three days.

For remotely controlling devices over slow networks, MobiControl provides options to reduce the amount of data that is sent over these networks. A second characteristic of these sorts of connections is that the IP address of the device is often private, meaning that MobiControl remote control desktop software will not be able to initiate a TCP/IP connection to the device. To deal with the private device IP address issue MobiControl has a TCP/IP(SERVER) setting which allows MobiControl to use a connection initiated by the mobile device for remote control purposes.

The table below summarizes the various options available for establishing remote control sessions to mobile devices over slow connections and also devices that have private IP addresses:

You can edit one of the existing remote control profiles and make the changes listed above or create a new profile. The MobiControl installation software creates a remote control profile called TCP/IP (SERVER) by default, you can edit this profile if you like.

Once the changes have been made, right click on the device or device group (i.e. if you want to use the profile for a group of devices) in MobiControl Manager and make sure that the remote control profile you just edited is configured for use.

The MobiControl desktop software does not need to initiate connections to devices, instead the MobiControl device software connects to servers. If the MobiControl device agent software is installed on a mobile device, it will attempt to connect to a deployment server and maintain that connection. In this way the desktop software does not need to connect to the device, it just uses the connection that the device software maintains to the server. Since the desktop software does not need to initiate connections to devices, dynamic device addresses are also not a problem.

MobiControl also allows external IP addresses and ports to be assigned to deployment servers. In this way devices can connect to external addresses that then get mapped to internal addresses and ports by firewall or proxy software. When initiating remote control sessions to devices with private addresses you need to use the TCP/IP (SERVER) connection profile. TCP/IP (SERVER) remote control sessions use device initiated connections to provide remote control, in this way remote control sessions go through an intermediate MobiControl Deployment server. In situations where devices do not have private addresses, using regular TCP/IP remote control profiles allows direct connections to devices with no intermediate servers. If a regular TCP/IP remote control profile is used, the connection is initiated from the desktop software.

If your mobile device is not showing up as online in MobiControl Manager and you want to establish a connection at that point in time, you can do so with MobiControl's Send SMS (to initiate connection to MobiControl) feature. It may be that your mobile device is in a suspended state (sleeping), or the data connection is not active. With the Send SMS (to initiate connection to MobiControl) feature, you can wake up the mobile device and also activate the data connection and have the mobile device connect to MobiControl.

Rapi Connection Error

When you receive a connection error "Rapi initialization timeout error" while trying to connect to your mobile device, it means Pocket Controller-Pro cannot communicate with Microsoft ActiveSync / WMDC and your mobile device. To resolve this error make sure you have your mobile device properly connected to your computer and to ActiveSync / WMDC.

Skins

A skin is an image of the body of your mobile device. MobiControl allows you to view your mobile device in a skin when you establish a remote control session to the device. The Skin Catalog is a dynamic collection of mobile device skins that is updated regularly and you can access the latest skins over the Internet using the Skin Catalog. When you launch the Skin Catalog, it automatically connects to the Internet to download the latest skins from SOTI's website.

• Step 1: Select a Device/Device Group - From MobiControl Manager, go to the Devices tab, then right click on a device in the device list and select Configure Devices > Remote Control Settings from the device options menu. You can also right click the device group in the device tree to apply all the devices in the group to use the selected skin. In the Remote Control Settings dialog, click on the 'Skins Catalog' button.
  
  
• Step 2: Select/Download a skin - In the Remote Control Settings dialog, select the Manufacturer and Model of your mobile device. If a skin for your device has already been installed it will immediately be displayed in the preview area. If a skin for your device in not available, click on the 'Skin Catalog' button to download the skin. Skins for most Windows CE .Net, Pocket PC, and Smartphone devices are currently available. When you click on the Skin Catalog button, the Skin Catalog tool window will open. Using the Skin Catalog you can download and install a skin for your mobile device. If you cannot find a skin for your mobile device, please contact us. When a Skin is selected and when you remote into the device, the buttons on the skin are mapped to the buttons on the device so you can access the device's buttons remotely using a skin by clicking the buttons.

Security

Lockdown menus are based on HTML template files. When you install MobiControl several sample template files are installed into the system. To create a lockdown menu screen with your own custom look and feel, open up one of the existing template files, and save it to a different file name. You can then edit the saved HTML template file and give it your own style. If you want to display images in the menu, then you need to make sure that the image files are located in stable storage on your mobile device. MobiControl does not automatically copy images referenced in template files to mobile devices. You can copy the images to your mobile devices either manually via a File Explorer tool, or you can get the images to your devices by using Deployment or File Synchronization rules. The main point being that the destination location for images needs to be in stable storage. The image files can be referenced by their absolute path on the mobile devices that they reside on. Once you have finished creating your HTML template file, add the new template to MobiControl and then use it to configure lockdown rules. For more information about creating and customizing template files please see the 'Device Lockdown' topic in the MobiControl help.

MobiControl includes a security system that integrates with your existing Windows Domain security system (i.e. Microsoft Active Directory). This means that you can configure permissions for your domain users, and MobiControl will allow or disallow access to specific functionality based on the permissions configured for the currently logged in user. For more information see the Manager Console security page within the MobiControl help.

Package Creation / Deployment

To deploy software, data or settings to your mobile devices you need to create a package and then create a MobiControl Deployment rule to send the package to your devices. To create a package you need to use the MobiControl Package Studio tool. You can access Package Studio from the Tools menu in MobiControl Manager. To initially generate the registry file that you want to deploy, open a MobiControl Remote Control session to a device that has the proper registry settings, then using the Remote Control Registry tool, export the registry settings to a .REG file. Once the .REG file has been created, create a package using Package Studio, browse to your registry file and add it to your package, and then build the package using the Package Studio 'Build' menu open. Package Studio recognizes certain file types such as registry files and sets these files to auto-execute by default when they are installed onto mobile devices. Once the package is built, in MobiControl Manager create a Deployment Rule to deploy the package to your mobile devices.

There are three reasons why adding additional MobiControl Deployment Servers may make sense for you:

1. Scalability- When you are running multiple Deployment Servers, MobiControl will distribute the load amongst functioning servers. This means that if you're existing server(s) are getting too loaded down, you can add additional servers to distribute the load amongst the servers. When connecting to servers, devices will distribute themselves amongst servers in order to balance the load across the servers.

2. Fault Tolerance- When you are running multiple Deployment Servers, if a particular server fails, or a server is down for maintenance, MobiControl will automatically move devices that were connected to the disabled server onto other functioning servers. When the server is available again, the system will again start rebalancing load to move load off other servers onto the available server. This feature means that all devices can be fully manageable even while one or more servers are not operating.

3. Bandwidth Management- In situations where an organization has remote sites, with each site having several mobile devices, and possibly a slow connection between head office and the sites, placing deployment servers at each remote site can mean less bandwidth consumption between head office and the remote sites and an overall increase in performance of the system. The reason for this is that if there is only one centrally located deployment server, each package delivery must be sent from the central server over the slow connection to each remote mobile device. Imagine a company with 10 remote sites with each site having 100 devices, and the connections between the central office and the sites being very slow or having limited bandwidth availability. In this case to deliver a package there would be 1000 deliveries from the central location to the remote devices over the slow connection. This would be very slow and would eat up available bandwidth between the sites and the central location. If on the other hand there is a server at each site, the package will be sent once to each site (i.e. 10 deliveries over the slow connection instead of 1000), the deployment server at each site will cache the package and then transmit the package to each of its local devices over the fast local network.

Our general recommendation is that you "typically" do not need to run more than one deployment server if you are managing less than 1500 devices, but you need to consider the information provided above, as well as any other network, infrastructure or other requirements your organization may have.

When you deploy packages with MobiControl, you can insert scripts into your packages. The MobiControl scripting language contains commands that allow you edit INI files. So instead of sending an entire INI file, you can just put in script commands to edit an existing INI file and add/remove entries as needed. For example the following command will edit the 'mov.ini' file and set the 'Color' value to 'Red' in the 'Video' section of the file:
writeprofstring \Movie\mov.ini Video Color Red.
For more information about MobiControl script commands, please view the MobiControl Script Variables page in the Help.

To test your scripts before putting them into a package, open a remote control session to your mobile device, and then click on the DOS Screen tab on the right edge of the remote control session window. If you copy your script to the mobile device file system you can run it by typing in the name of the script file at the prompt. When the script is executed you will see each line of the script execute in the DOS window. You can also test out individual script commands by typing them at the prompt.

For added fault tolerance, MobiControl provides the capability to add multiple deployment servers to ensure High Availability, and minimize downtime. With multiple deployment servers, you can set different deployment server priorities for your devices so in the event of the Priority 1 server being down; the devices would automatically and seamlessly connect to Priority 2 server. The multiple deployment servers can run in an Active/Active or Active/Standby mode, configurable from within MobiControl. For an added level of backup, you can even specify multiple external IP addresses for the devices to connect to. If the devices are not able to connect to the first IP, they would try to connect to another IP where a backup deployment server can service the requests. An additional server license is required for deployment server fault tolerance.

Data Collection

In order for data collection to properly collect all the data, the device and server time must match. It is recommended that you setup a time sync.

In order for the report to show you any information you must set up a Data Collection Rule to collect the status of the battery.

Location Services

This means that you do not have Internet Explorer 7 installed. This is required in order for Location Services to work correctly.

Verify that GPS is working on the device and that is it able to receive co-ordinates. This can be done by testing with any GPS application. If you have verified that you are able to receive GPS co-ordinates and you are still unable to locate the device, please Contact us.

In order for your device to pull the tracking history of its locations, you must set up a Data Collection Rule. The Data Collection Rule will pull information from the device, and store it there until the next time it connects back to the server.

Scripts

Yes, you can call a MobiControl script from a custom application; you need to use Commloader.exe with a switch to execute scripts. For more information see 'Q1. Can I execute scripts on the mobile device to accomplish various tasks? If so, what kind of tasks can I accomplish?' within the Tips and Tricks page in the MobiControl Help.

Database

We recommend that you do a backup as often as possible. If you are running MobiControl v2.06 or earlier, you need to backup your File Store and your Database. If you are using MobiControl v3.00 or later, you only need to backup your Database. To backup your File Store simply use the Microsoft File Explorer to copy the contents of the File Store to a backup folder. To backup your Database, if you are using the lightweight Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) you may need to purchase a third party tool to backup your database. If you are running the full Microsoft SQL Server you can backup your database using the Backup tool provided with Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Manager. Most Database backup tools provide an automated backup system so that your database will be automatically backed up at regular intervals.

Yes we can make the schema available. Please contact customer support for additional information.