REAL-TIME DASHBOARD GUIDE

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Important

You must purchase this integration separately from your BeyondTrust software. For more information, contact BeyondTrust sales.

This document describes how to install and configure the BeyondTrust Real-Time Dashboard. The Real-Time Dashboard is a web-based dashboard that shows the current state of your B Series Appliance in real time. This diagram illustrates how the dashboard operates:

When the end-user accesses the Real-Time Dashboard from the web, the request is handled by Internet Information Services (IIS), which acts as a reverse proxy to the dashboard application. The dashboard application runs as a Windows Service on a local port. The dashboard communicates with the BeyondTrust Appliance B Series over port 443.

Prerequisites

To complete this integration, ensure that you have the necessary software installed and configured as indicated in this guide, accounting for any network considerations.

Applicable versions

• BeyondTrust Remote Support: 17.x and newer

Network considerations

The following network communication channels must be open for the integration to work properly:

Prerequisite installation and configuration

• The Real-Time Dashboard is a BeyondTrust Middleware Engine plugin.

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Note

For more information, see the Middleware Engine Guide.

• The host computer must be a fully patched Windows Server 2012 R2 or later.
• Microsoft IIS must be set up as described in [Microsoft IIS setup for real-time dashboard integration.
• For best results, the B Series Appliance and the server hosting the BeyondTrust Middleware Engine should have synchronized clocks. Clock drift between the servers could cause inaccurate time durations to appear on the dashboard.
• CA-signed SSL certificates are recommended for production deployments. While self-signed certificates can be used for product staging and test deployments, a self-signed certificate is NOT recommended for production use.

Microsoft IIS setup

To use the Real-Time Dashboard, Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) must be installed. The steps below describe how to set up IIS to act as a reverse proxy to the Real-Time Dashboard, with a minimal amount of configuration.

Install websocket support into IIS

While websocket support is not strictly required, a websocket connection is preferred for its efficiency. If enabled in IIS and supported on the user's browser, a websocket connection is used for the dashboard.

1. From the Server Manager dashboard, click on Add Roles and Features.
2. In the wizard, click through the first few screens until you get to Server Roles.
3. Select Web Server (IIS). If prompted to add extensions, click OK.
4. Leave the Features options at the default.
5. Under Web Server Role (IIS) > Role Services, expand the Application Development section and select WebSocket Protocol.
6. After completing the installation, restart IIS services.

Install additional IIS modules

If not already installed:

• Download and install the Microsoft IIS URL Rewrite module.
• Download and install the Microsoft IIS Application Request Routing module.
• Restart IIS services or restart the server.

Set up reverse proxy

These instructions assume that the Default Web Site application will be used. However, it is possible to create a new website at a specific context path, as well.

1. In the IIS Manager, go to the Default Web Site.
2. Double-click on URL Rewrite.
3. Click Add Rule(s).
4. Choose Reverse Proxy. If prompted to enable proxy functionality, click OK.
5. Enter localhost:53487 as the server name, leaving the other options as default.
6. Restart the Default Web Site.

Create a self-signed certificate

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Note

This step is only for product staging and test deployments. A CA-signed certificate is recommended for production use.

1. In IIS Manager, select Web Server.
2. Double-click on Server Certificates.
3. Under Actions, click on Create Self-Signed.
4. Enter a name for the certificate (e.g., Default SSL).
5. Select Web Hosting for the certificate store.
6. Click OK.

Create an SSL binding

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Note

This step is only for product staging and test deployments. A CA-signed certificate is recommended for production use.

1. In IIS Manager, select the Default Web Page.
2. Select SSL settings.
3. Select Bindings.
4. Select type https.
5. Select port 443.
6. Select the SSL certificate (from the example above, Default SSL).
7. Click OK.
8. Click Close.

Configure BeyondTrust

Several configuration changes are necessary on the B Series Appliance to implement the Real-Time Dashboard. All of the steps in this section take place in the BeyondTrust /login administrative interface. Access your Remote Support interface by going to the hostname of your B Series Appliance followed by /login (e.g., https://support.example.com/login).

Verify the API is enabled

This integration requires the BeyondTrust XML API to be enabled. This feature is used by the BeyondTrust Middleware Engine to communicate with the BeyondTrust APIs.

Go to /login > Management > API Configuration and verify that Enable XML API is checked.

Create an API service account

1. Go to Management > API Configuration and click Add to create a new API account.
2. Provide a name for the API account.
3. Under Permissions, check Read Only to the Command API.
4. For the Reporting API, check Allow Access to Support Session Reports and Recordings and Allow Access to Presentation Session Reports and Recordings.
5. For the Configuration API, check Allow Access.
6. For the Real-Time State API, check Allow Access.
7. Be sure to copy the values for both the OAuth Client ID and OAuth Client Secret for use in a later step.

Configure real-time dashboard plugin

Now that you have configured Microsoft IIS and the B Series Appliance, the next steps are to deploy and configure the Real-Time Dashboard plugin.

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Note

For more information, see the Middleware Engine Guide.

1. Copy the provided plugin ZIP file to the server hosting the BeyondTrust Middleware Engine.

2. Extract the plugin ZIP file to the Plugins folder in the directory where the BeyondTrust Middleware Engine is installed.

3. Restart the BeyondTrust Middleware Engine Windows service.

4. From the server, launch the middleware administration tool. The default URL is http://127.0.0.1:53231.

5. The Real-Time Dashboard Plugin shows in the list of plugins. Click the clipboard icon to add a new configuration.

BeyondTrust Appliance B Series

The first portion of the plugin configuration provides the necessary settings for communication between the plugin and the BeyondTrust Appliance B Series. The configuration sections include:

• Plugin Configuration Name: Any desired value. Because multiple configurations can be created for a single plugin, allowing different environments to be targeted, provide a descriptive name to indicate how this plugin is to be used.
• Appliance Id: This can be left as Default or can be given a custom name.
• B Series Appliance Host Name: The hostname of the BeyondTrust Appliance B Series. Do not include https:// or other URL elements.
• BeyondTrust Integration API OAuth Client ID: The Client ID of the OAuth account.
• BeyondTrust Integration API OAuth Client Secret: The Client Secret of the OAuth account.
• Locale Used for BeyondTrust API Calls: This value directs the B Series Appliance to return session data in the specified language.
• Disabled: Enable or disable this plugin configuration.
• Allow Invalid Certificates: Leave unchecked unless there is a specific need to allow. If enabled, invalid SSL certificates are allowed in calls performed by the plugin. This would allow, for example, self-signed certificates. This is not recommended in production environments.
• Use Non-TLS Connections: Leave unchecked. TLS cannot be disabled for this type of plugin.
• Real Time Events Types: Specify which events the plugin processes when received by the middleware engine. The following should be checked:
  • Real Time Data Unavailable
  • Real Time Data Available
  • Real Time State Changed

Real-time dashboard instance

The remainder of the plugin configuration provides the necessary settings for communication between the plugin and the Real-Time Dashboard instance. The configuration settings include:

• Company API Name: The value found on the /login > Status > Information page of the BeyondTrust Appliance B Series.
• CSAT Polling Interval: (Optional) The interval in minutes for the plugin to pull customer surveys to obtain a customer satisfaction average. If this functionality is not desired, leave blank or set to 0.
• CSAT Question Name: (Optional) The Question Name of the survey question to use for customer satisfaction levels. This is found by going to /login > Public Portals > Exit Surveys and editing the desired question.
• Public Sites to Poll for CSAT: (Optional) A comma-separated list of public site IDs to poll for CSAT responses. If your BeyondTrust setup has only one public site, you can leave this field blank or enter 1. Otherwise, go to /login > Public Portals > Public Sites and edit each site you wish to include; the site ID appears in the URL. For example, if the URL is https://support.example.com/login/public_site/5/edit, then the site ID is 5.
• Allowed Support Teams: (Optional) A comma-separated list of support team code names to include in the dashboard. This is considered an allow list of teams. Code names are found by going to /login > Configuration > Support Teams. If left blank, all teams are allowed.
• Ignored Support Teams: (Optional) A comma-separated list of support team code names to exclude from the dashboard. This is considered a deny list of teams. Activity related to these teams is ignored by the real-time state API. Code names are found by going to /login > Configuration > Support Teams. If left blank, no teams are ignored.
• Valid Session Start Methods: The types of sessions to show in the dashboard.
• Real Time API Idle Timeout: The connection to the real-time state API is restarted if no data has been received within this number of minutes. If this functionality is not desired, leave blank or set to 0.
• Waiting Session SLAs: Used to describe service-level agreements for waiting sessions by team. If a session has exceeded the SLA, an exclamation icon appears next to that session.
• Real Time Dashboard Web Address: The local address on which the dashboard runs (e.g., http://localhost:53487/).
• Format of representative names displayed in the Real Time Dashboard: The preferred format for displaying names in the Real-Time Dashboard.
• Enable session details pop-up: If enabled, the Real-Time Dashboard contains links in various panels to view details about closed sessions.

After saving the configuration, click the test icon next to the new plugin configuration. No restart is needed.