Rest Communicator Installation Guide

Version 9 introduces Rest Communicator to Rest Professional.

The Rockend Communicator Service provides secure access to Rest Professional data over the internet, allowing registered services such as the Web Portals to provide real-time access to information.


Ensure you have read this installation guide in full before starting the installation, this will assist with a smooth setup.

This document will cover the following:


Flow of Information

The diagram below demonstrates the flow of information that Rest Communicator follows:

The Rockend Message Handler (RMH)

The RMH stores requests from the Owner and Tenant Portals. Requests are held in a queue here until the corresponding agency processes the message.

The RMH Database

The RMH Database acts as a temporary storage location for requests and responses, and also stores the configuration and login information for registered services.

The Agency Message Handler (AMH)

The AMH collects messages that are held by the RMH for this agency. This is done by making a request to the RMH over the internet, ensuring that your agency data is not exposed.

The Rest Professional Message Handler (RPMH)

The RPMH accepts messages collected by the AMH and processes them against the Rest data. Each request is validated and the RPMH provides the information so that it can be collated before being returned.


Prerequisites

Rest Professional Version

  • You must be running a minimum of Rest Professional Version 9 to install Rest Communicator.  Rest upgrades are available from the Rockend Customer Lounge
  • Unique alpas must be activated in Rest System Options.  Click here for instructions

Identify The Machine on which to Install Rest Communicator

Rest Professional configuration files are used in order for Rest Communicator to gain access to your Rest database. Rest Communicator must be able to access the same databases that Rest Professional can access on a particular machine. It is recommended that the following conditions be met when deciding on which machine to install Rest Communicator:

  • Rest Professional version 9 or above must be installed on the machine.  Some recently added features will require an upgrade to a newer version of Rest Professional
  • The machine must have access to all Rest databases in your office
  • Install Rest Communicator on the same machine as the Rest data files
  • The machine must be running 24/7 so that clients can have access to their data at all times

To install Rest Communicator you must:

  • Be logged in to the machine as administrator.  Please contact your system administrator or IT professional if you need assistance with administrator rights to the machine
  • Be logged into Rest Professional with the highest security level (Statistics/Company Details/Passwords & Above).

Enable Rest Communicator within Rest Professional

To install Rest Communicator, the Rest Communicator feature must be activated in Rest System Options by a user with the highest security level (Statistics/Company Details/Passwords & Above):

  1. Ensure all other users are logged out of Rest Professional
  2. Click Other > Utilities > System Options
  3. Select the System tab
  4. Select the checkbox Enable Rest Communicator
  5. Click OK.


Install Rest Communicator

Users with the highest level of security in Rest Professional will have access to the Rest Communicator Configuration screen.  When it is loaded for the first time the installation files required for Rest Communicator are downloaded from the internet.  Installation may take several minutes depending on the speed of your internet connection, each time the Configuration Tool is launched you will be prompted if a newer version is available and it will be automatically installed.

  1. Select Other > Utilities > Rest Communicator Configuration
  2. Click Installation

NOTE: for new installations the configuration screen will default to the installation page.

  1. In the Install Components section click Install, click Agree to the Terms of Use
  2. The Rockend Web Access Setup Wizard will be displayed, Click Next
  3. Select Next. It is recommended to accept the default folder location and access for Everyone
  4. Click Next to confirm the installation; this may take a few moments
  5. Click Close on completion of the installation.
  6. Click Refresh and click Yes to auto refresh. Rest Communicator will start to communicate with the Rockend Rest Communicator server over the internet to register each REST Professional database on this machine. This may take a several minutes depending on the speed of your internet connection. The Agency Message Handler (AMH) will display as connected in the Communicator Services section when your database has been registered.
  7. Select the checkbox Active in the Local Message Handlers section to active your database.

  1. Click the Save Changes button
  2. The installation of Rest Communicator is complete.  Click Exit

When the installation of Rockend Web Access is complete the Install button will be disabled on the Installation page of Rest Communication Configuration Tool. Should you need to uninstall Rest Communicator this can be done through the Windows Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs or Programs and Features depending on your operating system.


Troubleshooting

We have attempted to make the installation and operation of Rest Communicator as easy as possible but there is always the chance of a problem occurring.

The Installation page of the Rest Communicator Configuration tool enables you to check the status of the two main components of Rest Communicator.

The sections Agency Message Handler (AMH) and Rest Professional/ Local Message Handler (RPMH) show details of these components. Both of these components are installed as services within Windows, meaning that they are programs that are run by the Windows operating system even if you are not logged into Rest Professional

Agency Message Handler Problems

The Agency Message Handler (AMH) section is blank or displays as Not Found in Rest Communicator Configuration.

The Agency Message Handler (AMH) service has not started correctly or has not been installed.

  • To see whether the program has been installed you will need to check the list of installed programs through the Windows Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs or Programs and Features depending on your operating system.  Rest Communicator is displayed in the list of installed programs as Rockend Web Access.  If this program is not displayed it will need to be installed. Follow the steps above for Install Rest Communicator.
  • If the list of installed programs displays Rockend Web Access but the Agency Message Handler (AMH) section is still blank.  Uninstall Rockend Web Access and then reinstall using the steps above for Install Rest Communicator.  If the AMH area is still blank please contact Rockend Support for assistance.

Rest Professional /Local Message Handler Problems

The Agency Message Handler section shows that the AMH is connected but there are no details listed under the Local Message Handlers section.

The Rest Professional/Local Message Handler (RPMH) uses configuration information from Rest Professional in order to access the database. By default RPMH looks for Rest Professional in the default location on your workstation (C:\Rest). If your installation of Rest Professional is not in C:\Rest, the RPMH configuration file will need to be updated as follows:

  1. Locate the RPMH configuration file in the default installation location, C:\Program Files\Rockend\Rockend WebAccess for 32 bit machines or be C:\Program Files (x86)\Rockend\Rockend WebAccess for 64 bit machines
  2. Open the file RestMessageHandler.exe.config
  3. Locate the setting for RestExeDirectory
  4. Edit the value to be Rest application directory on this machine

The setting is near the top of the file as shown in the following excerpt. The value that needs to be changed is highlighted below:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<configuration>

  <appSettings>

    <add key="LogFileName" value="RPMHdvm.log" />

    <add key="LogFilePath" value="C:\temp\webaccess\" />

    <add key="LogLevel" value="4" />

    <add key="PDFDirectory" value="WebAccessReports" />

    <add key="ReportTimeoutMilliseconds" value="30000" />

    <add key="TempUpdatePath" value="C:\Temp\Update" />

    <add key="CenturyCutOff" value="80" />

    <add key="RestExeDirectory" value="C:\Rest" />


  1. Save the changes to the RPMH configuration file
  2. In Rest, select Other > Utilities > Rest Communicator Configuration
  3. Click Installation, to display installation page
  4. Click Re-Start, the services will restart this make take several minutes
  5. Click Refresh and click Yes to auto refresh.  Rest Communicator will start to communicate with the Rockend Rest Communicator server over the internet to register each Rest Professional database on this machine.  This may take a several minutes depending on the speed of your internet connection.
  6. When the Agency Message Handler (AMH) displays as connected in the Communicator Services section and your Rest database Serial Number and Computer Name display in the Rest Professional/ Local Message Handlers (RPMH) the installation of Rest Communicator is complete.


For more information, click the links below to view other articles about Communicator:

09/03/2022 7:28 pm AEDT

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