Implement large deployments with Web Help Desk

Background: Prior to version 10.0.16, Web Help Desk consisted of two separate applications: "Helpdesk" and "WHDReminderDaemon." WHDReminderDaemon ran as a background service providing services for tasks such as checking for new e-mail tickets, syncing with LDAP on an automatic schedule, and checking for expired warranties. From version 10.0.16 onwards the services provided by WHDReminderDaemon are now bundled into a single Helpdesk application.

For standard deployments of Web Help Desk, the installer automatically configures the Helpdesk deployment descriptor (web.xml) to run daemon services in the background.

For multiple instance configurations, however, one instance MUST be configured to provide daemon services as either dedicated or background. Having more than one instance provide daemon services can result in the creation of duplicate tickets and the unnecessary use of system resources. Consequently, all but one application instance should run without daemon services (WHDDaemonMode=none). The single daemon instance can be set to either dedicated or background.

The other instance must have be set to none. Below describes the function of the daemon settings.

• dedicated: The application instance functions only as a daemon, and the login page is disabled.
• background: The application instance functions as a daemon but users can also log in to it.   
• none: (default) The application instance does not execute daemon tasks.

To configure a multiple instance installation, set the memory, the tomcat deployment descriptor, and the WebObjects daemon mode.

Memory
Daemon processes should be allocated at least 256MB of memory. If the WHDDaemonMode is set to background, it should be given an additional 256MB of memory beyond the amount given to other instances, since it will provide daemon services in addition to serving the application user interface.

To set the daemon memory:
1. Stop Web Help Desk.
2. Open the \WebHelpDesk\cong\whd.conf file.
3. Change the MAXIMUM_MEMORY setting to MAXIMUM_MEMORY=1024.
4. Save the whd.conf file.
5. Restart WHD. 


To set the Tomcat deployment descriptor daemon mode:
1. Stop Web Help Desk
2. Open \WebHelpDesk\conf\tomcat_web_tempate.xml.
3. Set the WHDDaemonMode (near the end of the xml file) for the instance type as described above.  
4. Save the file.
5. Restart web Help Desk

To set the daemon mode for WebObjects Monitor deployments:
1. Stop Web Help Desk.
2. Open \WebHelpDesk\bin\wrapper\conf\wrapper_template.conf
3. Add the following parameter to the end of the # Java Additional Wrappers section.
wrapper.java.additional.14=-DWHDDaemonMode=background
4. Save the file
5. Start Web Help Desk.

Note: We recommend creating a separate WebObjects Monitor application for the daemon instance, naming it HelpdeskDaemon.  This will ensure that the WebObjects adaptor will not attempt to direct login requests intended for the Helpdesk instance to the daemon instance.
Like the other application instances, the daemon instance should have its application path set to /Library/WebHelpDesk/bin/webapps/helpdesk/WEB-INF/Helpdesk.woa/Helpdesk.
Since the default daemon mode is "none," it is not necessary to set the WHDDaemonMode argument for non-daemon instances.