Hardware and software requirements

Listed below are the hardware and software requirements for a WHD deployment.

Hardware

Operating system

If you installed macOS 10.3.x (High Sierra) on your WHD server, some Tomcat web applications will fail when you start Web Help Desk after the installation. See Tomcat web applications fail after upgrading to macOS 10.13.x (High Sierra) for a workaround.

Deprecation notice: Although you can install WHD on systems running Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2 (64-bit), these version are deprecated and will not be supported on future WHD releases.

Web browser

Because of frequent Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox updates, check the SolarWinds Support website for the latest information about compatibility issues between these web browsers.

Server sizing requirements

Use the following sections to determine the requirements for your Web Help Desk deployment size.

Deployments with fewer than 20 techs

If your deployment will support 20 tech sessions or fewer, you can run Web Help Desk on a system with:

• A supported operating system
• A 32-bit Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
• 4GB RAM (up to 3.7GB for the tech sessions, JVM support, operating system, and any additional services you need to run on the system)

This configuration supports 10 - 20 tech sessions with no onboard memory issues.

To adjust the maximum memory setting, edit the MAXIMUM_MEMORY option in the WebHelpDesk/conf/whd.conf file.

Deployments with more than 20 techs

If your deployment will support more than 20 tech sessions, SolarWinds recommends installing Web Help Desk on a system running:

• A supported operating system
• A 64-bit JVM
• 3GB RAM for 20 tech sessions plus 1GB RAM for each additional 10 tech sessions

Configure the JVM memory allocation

Calculate the amount of memory required for your JVM and increase the allocation as required. See this KB article for details.

Database requirements

Web Help Desk uses an embedded PostgreSQL database as its standard database. The following table lists the supported databases for WHD.

For optimal external database performance, run WHD and a supported external database on separate servers.

Database hardware requirements

The following table lists the minimum hardware requirements for a database server running a Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL database with WHD

External database options

Web Help Desk supports SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2014, and MySQL 5.7 as external databases. You can also use an external PostgreSQL 9.2 or PostgreSQL 9.3 database with Web Help Desk 12.6 and later.

See Database datatypes for information about mapping information types across other databases types.

Oracle Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver requirements

WHD for macOS includes an embedded Java Virtual Machine (JVM). If you are running an external Oracle JVM, WHD preserves your Java settings during the installation procedure and continues to use the external Oracle JVM.

If you are migrating from an external JVM to the embedded JVM included with Web Help Desk and you are using a MySQL database, ensure that the new embedded Java directory on your Web Help Desk server includes the Oracle Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver.

See the Oracle website to download the latest JDBC driver.

Discovery connector requirements

The following table lists the supported discovery connectors used in WHD for asset discovery.

Web server requirements

The following table lists the supported web servers for Web Help Desk.

SolarWinds product integration requirements

The following table lists the SolarWinds products that integrate with WHD.

To minimize port conflicts, install Web Help Desk and Dameware on separate servers. See this KB article for details.

LDAP requirements

The following table lists the supported Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) software products for WHD.

Mail server requirements

The following table lists the supported mail server, versions, and protocols for WHD.

Web Help Desk Mobile requirements

This section lists the supported client operating systems for the Web Help Desk Mobile software available on Apple iTunes.

Software

Supported protocols

• IMAP
• POP3
• SMTP

Mobile client requirements

The following table lists the supported client operating systems for the SolarWinds mobile admin software.

Asset Discovery

The following table lists the Web Help Desk ports for Asset Recovery.