The Information category provides status information about the current status of the server's hardware and software. When applicable, it also displays warnings to highlight potential issues with system security or database usage.
The Information category provides a variety of information about the server, including:
- The version of Geo SCADA Expert that is running on the named server
- The License Site Id that you should supply to the Schneider Electric Support team, if you contact them with a support query. The Site Id is a unique identifier that is associated with your support contract (providing that your license agreement includes customer support).
The Site Id is also available from the License Details window (see Display the License Details Window on a Geo SCADA Expert Server).
- Warnings that relate to potential issues with system security or database usage (see below)
- The current state of the server, for example, Main
- The time that the server changed to its current state
- The time that the server last became Main
- The amount of available memory on the server
- The amount of available paging file
- The operating system that is being used
- The server ports that are in use and the applications that are using them
- The number of ViewX clients
Warnings Shown in Highlighted Text
When applicable, warnings are displayed to highlight potential issues with system security or database usage. These are shown towards the top of the Information category.
Database Lock Usage was Above a Configured High Limit
The Geo SCADA Expert database has a primary measure of performance, the total database lock time. This time is a percentage value, and is used to measure how busy the server is when performing data read, calculations, and fulfilling client requests.
The lock statistics are shown in detail in other pages of the Server Status tool: on the General/Locks page and the Database/Lock Diagnostics Read and Lock Diagnostics Write pages. They are also recorded in the
Geo SCADA Expert also monitors a single metric each minute - the 'Database Lock Usage' statistic. This measures the overall database read and write lock usage per minute. This value is compared against two alarm thresholds and will raise (text/one-shot) alarms whenever the thresholds are exceeded.
This warning message indicates that the 'Database Lock Usage' statistic has exceeded a configured threshold. The threshold levels can be adjusted from the defaults if required
'Everyone' has Access to Root Group
The 'Everyone' User Group is a built-in User Group. Every User Account that is created on your system is automatically associated with the 'Everyone' User Group and automatically inherits the access and permissions that are assigned to that User Group. This includes the Guest User Account (a built-in User Account) that can be used to access the database from various clients without logging on.
On new installations, the 'Everyone' User Group and the Guest User Account are inactive and not assigned any security permissions by default.
This warning message indicates that the 'Everyone' User Group is enabled on your system and is configured to provide all User Accounts with some form of access to the whole database (from the 'Root' Group onwards). If the Guest User Account is also enabled, this means that users will also have some form of access to the whole database without logging on. We strongly recommend that you remove any security permissions from, and then deactivate the 'Everyone' User Group and Guest User Account. Instead, 'configured' User Groups and User Accounts should be used to provide the relevant levels of access to the database.
If the 'Everyone' User Group has to be used, it MUST be assigned the minimum permissions required, with access restricted where possible to just the relevant parts of the database.
For more information, see Guest User Account and Everyone User Group, and see Allocating Security Permissions.
Exception Dumps Configured to Include Full Memory Dumps
You can enable an Exception Dumps feature on each server. When enabled, the server generates diagnostic files (in the form of minidumps) if there is an exception (application error).
This warning message indicates that the Exception Dumps feature is enabled on this server, and that the feature is configured to generate a 'Full' exception dump file. This setting can result in very large but comprehensive dump files that take a long time to generate. We strongly recommend that 'Normal' exception dump files are configured (rather than 'Full' exception dump files). You should only set the Dump Type to 'Full' if instructed to do so by Schneider Electric. Regardless of the option chosen, ensure that the minidump files are set to be written to a suitable partition that has sufficient disk space and does not impact on the space used for other files.
For more information, see Enable or Disable Exception Dumps, and see Define the Server Logging Settings.
Super User Enabled
The Super User account is a special user account that has access to all Geo SCADA Expert features and database items. The Super User account is created when Geo SCADA Expert is first installed, to enable administrators to set up the system security and create custom 'configured' administrator-level User Accounts. Thereafter, the Super User account should be disabled to help prevent unrestricted high-level access to all areas of the system.
This warning message indicates that the Super User account is still enabled on your system. We strongly recommend that you ensure that suitably configured custom administrator-level User Accounts exist on your system, and that you should then seriously consider disabling the Super User account.
For more information,
Upgrade Backup Disabled
By default, when you upgrade the version of Geo SCADA Expert software that is running on your Geo SCADA Expert server, an automatic backup is made of your database. The files are stored in a format that corresponds to the version of Geo SCADA Expert software that was running on the server just before the upgrade. If you decide that you want to roll back the Geo SCADA Expert software following the upgrade, you can downgrade back to that previous version of software and restore the backed-up database.
This warning message indicates that the feature to generate an automatic database backup on upgrade is disabled. Therefore an automatic backup of your database will not be made if you upgrade the Geo SCADA Expert software on this particular server machine. You should consider reinstating the automatic backup feature before the next software upgrade.
For more information,
Watchdog Dumps Configured to Include Full Memory Dumps
You can enable a Database Watchdog feature on each server. When enabled, the feature detects whether the server has 'frozen' (whereby excessive system loading or an error has caused the server to stop responding).
This warning message indicates that the Database Watchdog feature is enabled on this server, and that the feature is configured to generate a 'Full' watchdog dump file. This setting can result in very large but comprehensive dump files that take a long time to generate. We strongly recommend that 'Normal' watchdog dump files are configured (rather than 'Full' watchdog dump files). You should only set the Dump Type to 'Full' if instructed to do so by Schneider Electric. Regardless of the option chosen, ensure that the minidump files are set up to be written to a suitable partition that has sufficient disk space and does not impact on the space required for other files. If Geo SCADA Expert is unable to create a dump file due to lack of space, it will delete the partially created file.
For more information, see Configure the Database Watchdog Settings.
Web Server Key or Key Algorithm Insecure
This warning message relates to Original WebX.
As Original WebX clients connect to your system via the network, extra security measures are required; these include the use of certificates to encrypt client-server communications.
This warning message indicates that a weak certificate is being used for the Web server. We strongly recommend that your Web security settings are tightened to use a secure key algorithm and a private key length of at least 2048 bits.
For more information, see Define the Certificates Settings for Original WebX Clients, and see Using a Trusted Certificate from a Certification Authority.