Millimeter/Submillimeter. Report on the ALMA Helpdesk from the second Integrated Test

Transcription

1 Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array Report on the ALMA Helpdesk from the second Integrated Test August September 2010 Kelly Sharp September 27, 2010 (Draft)

2 1. Summary The ALMA Helpdesk was included in the second round of ALMA integrated testing in two respects: as one of the systems being tested, and as a forum for communication among staff of issues related to the integrated testing itself. Two testers at each ARC were designated to perform ticket Triage duties, as well as a number of additional testers playing the role of User Support Specialists. Two more staff members were allocated at the EU ARC specifically for handling issues related to the integrated testing. The most significant changes in Helpdesk configuration for this round of testing were the implementation of single sign-on with the User Portal and the extraction ARC-preference information from the ALMA User Repository. This was achieved through the use of a customized LoginShare module coded in-house to allow the Helpdesk to authenticate using CAS and to retrieve data from LDAP. In most other respects, configuration of the Helpdesk software was the same as in the previous round of testing, with a few minor changes. Among the most noticable of these were the integration of the Helpdesk web page into an Iframe within the UserPortal, and the use of Service Level Agreement alerts, which were added to prevent tickets from lingering unanswered in the system. This was done in response to feedback from previous testing. Nine testers were assigned the role of Helpdesk Users for this test, whose primary task was to submit tickets simulating Observer issues. Twenty-three testers were assigned roles as Users for the OT Test Issues department, and of those 21 were also Helpdesk Triage or User support Specialists. Fourteen test matrices have been received to date, along with feedback from a few individuals. Although the amount of feedback to this point has been significantly less than after the first round of testing, what has been received so far indicates that testing was generally successful, with test matrix scores of 730 pass, 14 partial and one fail. 2. Problems and Issues A. Portal IFrame versus Link-integration The integration of the Helpdesk into the User Portal differed from other systems in that it was included as a Plone Iframe content type rather than as a link. This led to a couple of unforeseen issues involving cookie handling across different web browsers and the passing of URL parameters into the helpdesk via links. On the first day of testing some users were unable to login to the system with the Safari web browser, while those using Firefox seemed to have no difficulty. After some investigation it was discovered that the default setting for third-party cookie handling was different between the two browsers Safari disallowed accepting such cookies by default. This was a problem, because when the user clicked the Helpdesk node on the Plone navigation tree, the Iframe content type then initiated a link to the helpdesk nrao.edu domain without user interaction. When the server subsequently attempted to transfer cookies for authentication, the Safari browser rejected them as third-party cookies. This was not a problem in Firefox, since the default settings allow such cookies. A knowledgebase article was created to describe for users how to alter the setting. Another issue related to the use of the iframe was in regard to how the query string portion of

3 the URL was handled. When a user submits a new ticket, an autoresponse is sent which contains a link back to the helpdesk. The link contains a query string which directs the browser directly back to that specific ticket id. Plone was not properly handling the query string, which resulted in a page not found error appearing inside the iframe. This problem was temporarily fixed for testing by modifying the Kayako template to format the link without a query string, but the result of this was that the user had to select the ticket from a list by ticket id. To eliminate the latter issue, for the next round of testing the helpdesk will be configured so that when submitting a new ticket, or when following the link provided in the system-generated s, the helpdesk will open it's own browser window. B. Other Issues 1. Ticket status changing back to "response overdue" after being marked as resolved. This was a configuration error on the part of the system administrator. Configuration for this setting is in the Ticket Automatic Close Settings of the administrator UI. 2. CAS error on login: Warning: CAS user could not be inserted into Kayako!... This error was due to an error in setting up the test environment. A user was added to the Kayako database with a particular address and username before the CAS authentication module was activated, which resulted in an error when that user tried to login through CAS. The fix required deleting the user from Kayako and asking them to login again through CAS. The LoginShare module code could be modified to handle this situation, but that is not really essential because the problem is an artifact of testing - in the production environment, predefined users will not exist in the Kayako database. 3. Autoclose and autoresponse s with "NRAO" in signature: This requires minor template changes. 4. User doesn't get alert if ticket is marked as "resolved" without a staff member posting a reply: Process fix - staffers should alway post a reply when marking tickets as resolved. This point will be covered in the staff documentation for the next round of testing. 5. System-generated links missing in some cases: This requires minor template changes. 6. System-generated links do not point directly back to ticket: see discussion in section 2.A. 7. Still some confusion over ticket views for staff members: Staff can inadvertently alter their default view setting. This point will be covered in the staff documentation for the next round of testing. A knowledgebase article will also be set up.

4 8. Suggestion to include ticket body in autoresponse To be researched before next round of testing 3. Test results and Comments A. Test Matrix totals Tester Role Pass Partial Fail 1 USS 20 2 USS Observer 64 4 USS 10 5 Triage Observer 64 7 Observer 64 8 Triage 33 9 USS Observer Observer Observer USS USS 35 Totals

5 B. Tester Comments Tester Location in matrix Comments [test matrix not received] n/a Ticket Status: Tickets that were resolved re-opening (although the user can reopen I think?) and saying "Response Overdue" The same two tickets did this twice. (OME and NXG ). In the end we "closed" the tickets to try to stop this happening. n/a Ticket Forwarding: this worked in some cases and not in others (for example it worked when I forwarded to stewart.williams@stfc.ac.uk but not when I forwarded to alan.bridger@stfc.ac.uk) n/a I had used the "forward" to Alan, but he couldn't view it. Earlier, I had used the "forward" to someone else in the OT team without a Helpdesk account, and they could view it. The difference between the tickets was their Helpdesk status. The one that could be viewed was "open", the one I forwarded to Alan was "resolved". 3 O1: Step 1 General Comment: The first time I got into the Helpdesk from ASA I ONLY say one of the 4 icons (the one checking prior tickets) This was solved by logging out and coming back in O2: Step 1 Test 4 ended up into Overdue status took a while to get a reply 8 T1: Step 5 The instructions should tell people to indicate that they are quoting from a KB article T2: Step 6 There is no "owner" field T3: Step 7 Todd submitted a question about the ACA that I really wanted to know the answer to, so used the "Edit" tab, and added my work as a 3rd party onto this ticket. If this works, and I see the follow up on this, then this needs to be entered into the staff manual. I created a few KB articles based on my recent , and put one of them under the category "test", and another under "ALMA-OT". But these do not appear when I look at the KB as a user - it seems to me that only tickets in

6 the "ALMA Demo" category are being displayed or searched. I cannot find my new KB articles at all from the user interface. When I log into the user portal and click on helpdesk, a login screen appears there. Is it possible to remove? You still need to change the "overdue" notification - needs link to the ticket; needs not to be from NRAO - have it be from ALMA Helpdesk if it can be personalized, then have it come from the appropriate arc: The NA ALMA Helpdesk etc. More concerning - as a user, I never received a notification that this ticket was "resolved". Did you resolve it by sending a reply, or simply change the status to resolved? [suggestion to Include ticket body in autoresponse s] 9 O1: Step 2 It failed the first time I clicked on the helpdesk link. There were 4 errors on the screen which disappeared and then I got the following error: Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'InvalidTicketError' with message ''ST-129- UjHOfdhhQC5VeyyerYCY-cas' is not a valid service ticket' in /export/data_1/kayako-test/kayakotest.cv.nrao.edu/content/includes/loginshare/nrao/cas. php:43 Stack trace: #0 /export/data_1/kayakotest/kayakotest.cv.nrao.edu/content/includes/loginshare/nrao/login.php(103): CASService->validate_service_ticket('ST- 129-UjHOfdhh...') #1 /export/data_1/kayakotest/kayako-test.cv.nrao.edu/content/cas-login.php(13): CAS_loginShareAuthorizeTicket('ST-129-UjHOfdhh...') #2 {main} thrown in /export/data_1/kayakotest/kayakotest.cv.nrao.edu/content/includes/loginshare/nrao/cas. php on line 43. On a second effort, I was able to log in. O2: Step 1 My from the ASA does not contain a link to the ticket. It gives me the ticket number but no link S2: Step 6 You mean "Pending"? S2: Step 9 Following the steps described in the test did not transfer the test in the post reply step. It did not find the ticket I had just assigned to pending but found another one by Remijan so I kne the function was working. So I then tried to go back to the ticket and changed status to pending and hit go. Now it was transferred!

7 Following the steps described in the test did not transfer the test in the post reply step. It did not find the ticket I had just assigned to pending but found another one by Remijan so I kne the function was working. So I then tried to go back to the ticket and changed status to pending and hit go. Now it was transferred! S2: Step 14 Now advanced search does pick up this ticket as resolved. 11 [general comment] Overall: no problems at all. Worked fine for me. 12 O1: Step 2 For some session the complete Helpdesk appears only the second time. O1: Step 8 The Logout button is invisible O2: Step 3 I got the answer about the ticket directly from the EU-ARC person (OT related). 13 O1: Step 7 can not find "support center" bottom, using "home" instead 14 O2: Step 8 This also shows unassigned tickets and tickets assigned to others. Is this the intention? [test matrix not received] I could not login to Helpdesk with InternetExplorer8 while I could with Firefox3. 5 It would be very helpful if the s sent by the system could have some kind of prefix (like "ALMA Helpdesk") or the like. As of now the subject lines of the tickets start with New Ticket... Status Change... Ticket Move...A common prefix would be nice for easier "recognition" but would also come in handy for automatic filtering. I am dealing with 3 different helpdesk systems on a nearly daily basis and it would be nice if a filter in the program could put these in subfolders automatically. But also for the general users, I think it would be nice to have such a prefix so that the mails stand out of the normal mail load and have perhaps a slightly more professional touch.

8 My feeling is that the names of the categories in the helpdesk should be harmonized. It says Visits (ESO) Transfer to EU Transfer to NAASC Transfer to NAOJ Return to Triage (ESO) which is conceptually inconsistent. I would suggest to use EU, EA, NA throughout. Visits (EU) Transfer to EU Transfer to NA Transfer to EA Return to Triage (EU) etc. I would prefer that solution to e.g. changing EU to ESO as conceptually ESO and NAASC are not the same either. Comparable entities are NAASC and EU ARC which are ARCs as well as ESO and NRAO which are organisations. This would be also consistent with the naming scheme of the UserPortal upon registration (except for the fact that there it is EU, EA and US(!) but that can be changed easily). When I click on a headline (e.g. Home, Tickets, Teamwork,...) I find myself often clicking on the first sub-item. If it is easily possible, perhaps one could set the system up so that when clicking on Tickets, the Manage Tickets menu is selected straight away. When cookies are switched off in the browser, no login is possible. It would be nice to have a reminder in that case ("WARNING: cookies must be allowed in order to be able to use the helpdesk system") On the page it says that cookies from other servers must be accepted. Is there a chance that this will change in the future? I can imagine that some people will not have this option enabled as default due to privacy issues which indeed is a concern. Once the ticket comes back to the user after it has been resolved there is no direct link to the ticket included in the mail. Instead, a general link to the helpdesk is delivered ( The user has therefore to go through the list of tickets and find the one that was resolved in order to close it. If there is *any* possibility to ship the correct link to the ticket to the user (as it is done in the mails to the triage staff!) this would be a huge improvement. In the current situation, it is likely that many users will not close their tickets once they get resolved. The same is true for the automated response. This response says You can check the status of or reply to this ticket online at: Again a direct link would be a big improvement here. Along the same lines, it might be good to investigate if it is really necessary that the user closes the ticket. This

9 action only benefits the helpdesk team and as mentioned, the user might be inclined to "forget" it. This results in a large number of resolved tickets that are still shown in the "Triage View". One could imagine a situation where the staff closes the ticket after resolution and the user can answer to it (=reopen it) if he thinks that the answer was not satisfactory. By doing so, the user would have less work in most of the cases and the same amount of work in the cases where the answer was not satisfactory. The Manual says that "The reply includes a request to the user to close the ticket if they are satisfied with the response". We will have to write such a sentence potentially a thousand times in the near future. Is there a way to automatically add such a sentence by the system if the status changes to "resolved"? That would be the ideal solution. If 8) can not be resolved "automatically", we could use the "Predefined Replies". However, I tried to add two and they do indeed show up in the Tab (Tickets- >Predefined->Manage Replies). But when I answer to a ticket and click on "Predefined replies" in the "Post reply" tab, then these do now show up there. What do I have to do in order to be able to select them? There is also a billing tab in the system. If we do not use that, could it be removed? In general, I would suggest to remove all functionality that we do not need in order to simplify the interface. In my version of konqueror, I have to click on "Log in" in the helpdesk frame after I have logged into the UP. With firefox this is not necessary (nor is with opera). as reported already, I do not see all the ticket categories when I log into the helpdesk over the asa portal with konqueror. I do see them, when I go directly to In the "Post reply" tab, it is possible to quote the recent conversation. My feeling is, that it might be nice to have this enabled automatically as a default. If a user does not close the ticket, an automated mail is sent. This ends with > >National Radio Astronomy Observatory Maybe that could be "ALMA Helpdesk" as the message also appears when sending tickets to the other ARCs. Again: given that it is so easy for the users to not close tickets, my feeling is that we will see not so many closed and

10 have them closed only automatically which means that we see them (potentially) all the time. A suggestion is to change the "Triage View" so that resolved tickets are not shown any more. Would that be good? The "Response overdue" mechanism does not seem to count workingdays as one might think. A ticket (test#3 (VIY )) was submitted to us on at 5:30 PM and John Hibbard added a note to it on :07 PM. An automatic mail was sent to us with status change from "open" -> "response overdue" on :00. Apparently, the weekend was counted as working time. This is strange as in the Dashboard» Preferences» Work Schedule, the times seem to be set absolutely correctly. I saw that it is possible to change the timezone for each staff user separately. That is great. I have switched to some local time. Probably it would be good to tell that to all staff users. It looks to me as if the helpdesk users would have the EDT set. Is that correct? Are there plans to either allow them to change that, or to set some default values? Or to take that information from the AMLA log in? It probably would be nice for the users, too, to see the times and dates in "their" timezones. As ESO Triage staff, I got mails for the ticket "[#IME ]: test #4: transfer to EA ARC". I am not sure that should be the case. If I try to see it, the system says "ERROR: Unable to load the ticket. You either do not have permissions to the department the ticket resides in or the ticket does not exist". Although, personally, I think I would prefer if everyone would get and see all the tickets from all the ARCs (i.e. forming one big helpdesk) I think the policy is different. [revision] This is probably not correct. I think I got the ticket as USER fstoehr instead of as STAFF. So as far as I can see, that's all fine. All mail is coming from...@nrao.edu because the helpdesk is installed there. Would it be possible to change that to some alma address? alma.cl or something? As the mailaddress does not exist anyway, it probably does not make a technical difference. (Ideally of course, that would be site-dependent but I think if that's not absolutely easy to do, it is overkill). Time format: any votes for a time format without the AM/PM but a 24HR notation? i.e. Time Format: H:i Date Format: d M Y H:i

11 With Dirk we have made a test of forwarding a ticket to an external expert (external because this time Dirk is not part of the integrated test). This works but there is no valid reply-address in the mail which makes it impossible for the external non-staff expert to answer. > >[~CJY ]: test#4: Flux Extrapolation Not Working > >From: "Felix Stoehr" <do-notreply@nrao.edu> > > To: dpetry@eso.org > >Date: Today 10:15:30 I discovered that one can change the -address and also one can quote the mail text. Probably it would be good, if both actions would be done automatically upon a forward. Is there such an option in KAYAKO? Especially the -address one would be important. I also checked "Add to Recipients" but am not sure what it does. The new recipient does not show up in the list when clicking on the binocular icon. SSL? At the moment, I think, the login information is sent unencrypted over the web. Is there a way to change that per default to SSL. There may be some sensitive information in the tickets and just for "cleanness" SSL perhaps would be nice. It might also give the users an even more serious feeling (just a very wild guess) of the helpdesk. Transfer tickets This is just out of curiosity: I have transferred a ticket to NAOJ (TGB ) and as it has not been resolved, yet, I got a "Response Overdue" mail. The two questions I have: 1) in real life, how should we do in this case? 2) Does someone there get a "Response Overdue" mail, too? I wondered, because the owner of the ticket is "Unassigned" as requested by the test matrix.