Setting up a Scheduled task to upload pupil records to ParentPay

Transcription

1 Setting up a Scheduled task to upload pupil records to ParentPay To ensure that your setup goes ahead without any issues please first check that you are setting the scheduled task up on the SIMS server to alleviate any infrastructure or mapping issues that could incur. Ensure also that you have installed the most recent version of MIS:Sync which can be downloaded from the ParentPay website via the Help icon at the top of the screen. First log in as an administrator with full rights to the network and make sure that your SIMS account is also setup with the minimal permissions of an Administration Assistant. Please also be aware that when you create a new task you need to ensure you are signed in with the same administrator profile otherwise this could prevent the task from running. Setting up initial MIS:Sync configuration First log into MIS:Sync with your ParentPay credentials, the credentials you will need have to belong to a manager account with the permission level set to Overall. This account needs to be activated which occurs after your first login to the ParentPay website. Click on Tools and then browse to Settings

2 Add your SIMS Username and Password into MIS username and MIS password fields. Click the yellow browse folder to ensure SIMS location is automatically populated. Put a tick into Click here to enable Windows Auto Scheduler. Ensure that the same SIMS username and password are used below also. Press Save. Please note you can click on Test these settings to ensure the SIMS path is correct. Add a Notification and ensure that the options are ticket. Press Save

3 Next browse across to the Auto update tab and ensure that the Check for updates at start up tick box is empty. Close down MIS:Sync and re-open to ensure that the 2 messages: - A connection to ParentPay was established with these settings, your username and password were correctly authenticated. - Successfully connected to SIMS (not displayed below)

4 Setting up scheduled task for MIS:Sync Windows Server Click on Start icon and open the location labelled control panel, select the following icon Scheduled Tasks: 2. Double click on Add Scheduled task to start the setup wizard or if you would prefer a more direct link to the advanced settings right click and select create new task. 3. Select from the list of installed programs MISsync application. 4. Select from the list of installed programs MISsync

5 Setting up scheduled task for MIS:Sync Windows Server 2008 Navigate to Start > All Programs > Administrative Tools > Server Manager. This brings you to the Server Manager interface Select and open the Configuration icon, open the Task scheduler option. When you have opened the Task Scheduler right click on the Task scheduler and you will be able to see within the dropdown list Create Task click on this to open the advanced task options. On the General tab give your task a title to identify the task. Check that the correct administration exchange account is in use (this needs to be the same account that you are logged in as or the task will not run) Ensure that the Run whether user is logged on or not radial button is selected. Also make sure that Run with Highest Privileges Version tick box 1.0: is 04/01/2013 selected.

6 On the Triggers tab select the New option to open the runtime scheduler. By default the first option will always be On a Schedule, but make sure this is displayed anyway. Ensure the start time runs outside of working hours and that the run time doesn t conflict with any scheduled backups of SIMS. You can choose to run the task Daily or Weekly (Daily is preferable) via available radial options. Tick the Stop task if it runs longer than selection and enter 1 hour from the drop down box. It is vital that the Enabled tick box is marked as this turns the scheduled task on. Click Ok to save. The next step is to click on the Actions tab. To open options to select the MIS:sync program click on New

7 The New Action Window gives you the option to browse to a program or enter a script that will perform a given task. To set this up for MIS:Sync first click on Browse to open up the explorer search/open options. Search for the C: drive /ProgramFiles/ParentPay folder and click on the MIS:Sync application as below. The last alteration that is required is to add the arguments/ triggers to allow the scheduled task to open MIS:sync in the background whilst logged off the server profile. The can be done by entering /sims and /quiet as above. Please note that the order in which these triggers appear will have no bearing on the setup. The Conditions tab does not need altering as new tasks open with correct default settings. (Please note that if you are using a UPS monitoring application that runs over the on screen standard mains power display then the setting Stop if the computer switches to battery power tick box is blank)

8 Within the Settings tab ensure that the Allow task to be run on demand is selected. Enable the Stop the task if it runs longer than: option to stop at 1 hour. Also enable the If the running task does not end when requested, force it to stop. Scheduled task MIS:sync checklist 1. The task needs to be setup on the SIMS server directly. (Task scheduler is required to run on a Server/ PC that remains powered on). 2. The user profile that is logged in needs to have administrator permissions. 3. The author of the scheduled task needs to be the same as the login profile. 4. ParentPay2010 report needs to be installed on SIMS. 5. MISsync is configured with an admin SIMS username and password on the Tools/Settings/SIMS location. 6. The enable scheduled task is ticked on the same Tools/Settings/SIMS location using identical login credentials as above. 7. The login credentials are saved on the task itself under settings as this allows the server to login to the correct profile the scheduled task is saved to. 8. If the scheduled task is being run with the SIMS.ini saved to a mapped drive or running via virtual location then a NetUse script will need to be run simultaneously with the task. (This maps the process to the correct drive)