Customise Home Access Plus+ Text to School Name & Tabs

[Whistler]

Hi, recently got HAP installed for a school that I'm working alongside currently.

 

We want to customise the "Home Access Plus+" shown here: Home Access +

.... To the name of the school, like this: Home File Access - ICT@StrathmoreSC (Strathmore...)

 

Any idea on how to do this? I'm sure @nickbro would, but can't find anything on the site already relating to this.

 

Also, within the Login.aspx you can specify the page title, which I have done.

 

However, post login, it beings up the "Home Access Plus+" naming on the Tab, I'd ideally want this changed to "%SchoolName% - Cloud Portal" is possible, any idea how to do any of this?

 

We're set after this, it's been great!

 

Whistler.

[Whistler]

Bump, Bump, Bump!

[round2it]

shameless bump

 

 

I presume you want to change the name from Home Access Plus

 

I will have a look at mine and see if I can let you know the file you need to edit on the server

 

im sure nick will reply soon enough

 

Have a look in the login.aspx file first I know I changed something in that file and it now says our school name where it used to say access your school from home

Edited June 29, 2017 by round2it

[Whistler]

shameless bump

 

 

I presume you want to change the name from Home Access Plus

 

I will have a look at mine and see if I can let you know the file you need to edit on the server

 

im sure nick will reply soon enough

 

Have a look in the login.aspx file first I know I changed something in that file and it now says our school name where it used to say access your school from home

 

Haha! Tell me about it! I've been able to change the "Access your School from Home thing" to Login to .... %SchoolName%. However, I want to change the actual "Home Access Plus+" title text above it, to the School's logo. I've got it so when the "Home Access Plus+" is clicked it re-directs to the school site, however as I've shown above with my links provided, some schools have got it changed to their own.

 

Thanks,

 

Whistler.

[nickbro]

I don't think it's easy. But have you tried changing the language xml files?

[Boredguy]

I changed the Title via the strings.xml previously

[Whistler]

I changed the Title via the strings.xml previously

 

Nailed it! Thank you! Thanks given to all contributors!

 

Cheers!

[round2it]

I thought about changing it but nicks title is exactly what it is. He does not get enough credit for his hard work.

 

Out teachers love it so big thanks to nick.

[Whistler]

I thought about changing it but nicks title is exactly what it is. He does not get enough credit for his hard work.

 

Out teachers love it so big thanks to nick.

 

Definitely, I'm really surprised it's free. Massive Kudos to Nick for this! Interestingly @nickbro what's your stance with regards to the security of the product? Whilst it's "trusted" by many schools and IT administrators alike, what's the attack surface like for the product? (i.e what could potentially be exploited) other than brute forcing passwords or generating dodgy login screens for people to sign-in on? I suppose it's only as secure as the web server it's running off?

 

Last question(s), (for now!)

 

* Can I just change the port that the Application runs off inside of IIS, as the school currently has Remote Desktop Web on the standard SSL port. We would like to be port 9000.

 

* When an update to HAP+ is issued, is it "safe" to checkpoint the VM it's running off, and then if something breaks to just restore? I don't think there's any problems but just making sure!

 

* Any recommended spec's for running this as a VM? Currently we've got 4GB's of RAM assigned, and 2 vCPU's. It's only going to host 30 users, so that should be fine?

 

Cheers.

 

Whistler.

[round2it]

Mine runs on one core and 4gb of ram it basically does nothing max users ever was 30 at any one time and it held up.

[nickbro]

Definitely, I'm really surprised it's free. Massive Kudos to Nick for this! Interestingly @nickbro what's your stance with regards to the security of the product? Whilst it's "trusted" by many schools and IT administrators alike, what's the attack surface like for the product? (i.e what could potentially be exploited) other than brute forcing passwords or generating dodgy login screens for people to sign-in on? I suppose it's only as secure as the web server it's running off?

 

Last question(s), (for now!)

 

* Can I just change the port that the Application runs off inside of IIS, as the school currently has Remote Desktop Web on the standard SSL port. We would like to be port 9000.

 

* When an update to HAP+ is issued, is it "safe" to checkpoint the VM it's running off, and then if something breaks to just restore? I don't think there's any problems but just making sure!

 

* Any recommended spec's for running this as a VM? Currently we've got 4GB's of RAM assigned, and 2 vCPU's. It's only going to host 30 users, so that should be fine?

 

Cheers.

 

Whistler.

Security wise you only need port 443. So that reduces the foot print. It only allows 3 attempts per 5 mind from an iPhone address so after 3 it locks that ip address for 15 mins.

 

All passwords stored in configuration files are encrypted with a machine specific encryption key*. The app_data folder is one of asp.nets restricted folders which isn't shown. Since the system impersonates the user on the server it only can access what that user would otherwise have access too.

 

I run hap on our Webserver which also does adfs, remote access gateway, rd services so it can multi task and not conflict.

[Whistler]

Security wise you only need port 443. So that reduces the foot print. It only allows 3 attempts per 5 mind from an iPhone address so after 3 it locks that ip address for 15 mins.

 

All passwords stored in configuration files are encrypted with a machine specific encryption key*. The app_data folder is one of asp.nets restricted folders which isn't shown. Since the system impersonates the user on the server it only can access what that user would otherwise have access too.

 

I run hap on our Webserver which also does adfs, remote access gateway, rd services so it can multi task and not conflict.

 

 

Cheers for the info @nickbro. Very helpful!

 

Last question in conclusion for this post, do you run the RD Gateway role on the same system as the Web Server/HAP. From what I'm told, if you host the Remote Desktop Gateway and Web Host on 2 different Servers, you need 2 fixed external IP's, the school I'm working with only has one. I know not strictly HAP related, but insightful to know.

 

Thanks,

 

Whistler.

Edited June 29, 2017 by Whistler

[nickbro]

I only have 1 nic in the Web Server so it works

[Whistler]

I only have 1 nic in the Web Server so it works

 

So you've got both the Gateway and Web Access role installed on the IIS Server? @nickbro

Edited June 29, 2017 by Whistler

[nickbro]

So you've got both the Gateway and Web Access role installed on the IIS Server? @nickbro

Yeah. Rdp, gateway, Web access, sstp vpn, Web server, adfs on one server. I know it sounds a lot for one server, and a vm at that but it works, and works quite well. Since all these run over https it's less ports open, in fact we only have 443 for this server and 80 for papercut for our entire network coming in.

[Whistler]

Yeah. Rdp, gateway, Web access, sstp vpn, Web server, adfs on one server. I know it sounds a lot for one server, and a vm at that but it works, and works quite well. Since all these run over https it's less ports open, in fact we only have 443 for this server and 80 for papercut for our entire network coming in.

Cheers Nick. I'll move over the Gateway and Web Role to the Server. I think 8GB's of RAM for HAP, Gateway and Web Access should be more than sufficient?

 

In terms of delivering HAP, are you using a Reverse Proxy, or a DMZ?

 

Cheers.

[nickbro]

Cheers Nick. I'll move over the Gateway and Web Role to the Server. I think 8GB's of RAM for HAP, Gateway and Web Access should be more than sufficient?

 

In terms of delivering HAP, are you using a Reverse Proxy, or a DMZ?

 

Cheers.

We use a dmz. Ours runs with dynamic between 4+6gb. That's with xibo and mysql running as well.

[Whistler]

We use a dmz. Ours runs with dynamic between 4+6gb. That's with xibo and mysql running as well.

]

 

Hi @nickbro.

 

Got another issue with HAP. We've upgraded to Server 2016 and installed it. Everything went fine, however when logging in as an Admin - it's complaining it can't find a bookings.xml file. We didn't configure any bookings on the site, and now it's refreshing constantly not allowing us to make any changes under the management interface. Any suggestions? I've re-installed twice and re-installed the OS.

[nickbro]

]

 

Hi @nickbro.

 

Got another issue with HAP. We've upgraded to Server 2016 and installed it. Everything went fine, however when logging in as an Admin - it's complaining it can't find a bookings.xml file. We didn't configure any bookings on the site, and now it's refreshing constantly not allowing us to make any changes under the management interface. Any suggestions? I've re-installed twice and re-installed the OS.

Can you screenshot the error? You can try removing any booking system homepage link from hapconfig.xml in app_data

[Whistler]

Can you screenshot the error? You can try removing any booking system homepage link from hapconfig.xml in app_data

 

In true Blue Peter style I did earlier! I tried changing the name of the application pool to see if that'd make any difference. It didn't! I'll try what you said with removing the link. It works fine on normal users (i.e no prompt or refreshes) however the site is useless for Admins currently. I've tried creating a blank XML file, and throws up another booking error. The booking system stuff just seems to not work suddenly since the move to 2016. I've tried on 2012 R2 as well. As no-one else seemingly is having problems, it may be something that I'm doing?

 

Thanks.

 

[nickbro]

In true Blue Peter style I did earlier! I tried changing the name of the application pool to see if that'd make any difference. It didn't! I'll try what you said with removing the link. It works fine on normal users (i.e no prompt or refreshes) however the site is useless for Admins currently. I've tried creating a blank XML file, and throws up another booking error. The booking system stuff just seems to not work suddenly since the move to 2016. I've tried on 2012 R2 as well. As no-one else seemingly is having problems, it may be something that I'm doing?

 

Thanks.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]44394[/ATTACH]

How odd. Try removing the link in the configuration. It may not be happy. 3 files you aren't using the booking system it shouldn't have the plugin files for the booking system. The other option is to copy the xml file from the booking system l. It's not blank but it is empty if that makes any sense.

[Whistler]

Update: I've removed the booking system from the site, so it's stopping complaining about the XML. Also, it's now just refreshing on "checking for update" constantly. I cannot navigate within the UI.

 

I've installed ASP.NET stuff that I needed (from within Add Roles etc) which allowed me to load the site. Any idea if there's anything else I need to install?

[Whistler]

Yeah. I get the gist of what your saying. I can live without the booking system, and removed the instance of it under the "Management" section. Any thoughts on the refreshes? It's brand new 2016 build, nothing else apart from IIS and HAP installed.

[nickbro]

Update: I've removed the booking system from the site, so it's stopping complaining about the XML. Also, it's now just refreshing on "checking for update" constantly. I cannot navigate within the UI.

 

I've installed ASP.NET stuff that I needed (from within Add Roles etc) which allowed me to load the site. Any idea if there's anything else I need to install?

OK, you can try turning off the update checker. I forget how to do that however. I think it maybe going into updatechecker.ascx and removing something. Or I may of entered a configuration line for it

[Whistler]

 

Hi, this is the file. Any suggestions? I'm a noob when it comes to this! You are a living legend, Nick!

 

What OS are you running, still 2008 R2? If I can try and mimic what your running it may work! (hopeful!)